The Day the Music Died | Jegulus, Wolfstar

Red Tenderness

It's amazing,
With the blink of an eye, you finally see the light.
It's amazing,
When the moment arrives that you know you'll be alright.
It's amazing,
And I'm sayin' a prayer for the desperate hearts tonight.

He closed his eyes. Why did he close his eyes? Regulus wondered, moving his head around to get a better view of James.

Lily was rushing next to him. She kissed him. Why would she kiss him?

She had no right to do that, she had no business touching him, she didn't know him like Regulus did, it wasn't fair.

He instantly got up and ran off the great hall, his body filled with the demons of jealously, walking so fast he almost tripped over his robes. He wasn't in his place to undergo those feelings, they were friends.

The image of James' kiss filled his head, opaquing any other thoughts. Why would he even care? James could kiss whoever he desired, it shouldn't affect him. It didn't affect him.

Friends. Just friends.

Suddenly a firm, cold hand gripped his shoulder, he turned around, Barty was smiling smugly.

"He wants to see you," he said, licking his lips like a filthy snake.

Regulus nodded. James wasn't important, it was selfish of him to think he'd wait. He'd lost his chance.

***
Half of the year went by, for James, smoothly; Lily had grown very tender with him, he was sure he didn't have any feelings for the redhead, but there was nothing wrong in enjoying some affection when he felt like it, sort of like a stress reliever.

Regulus and him often saw each other, talked for a while and left before it was too evident, the younger Black had grown colder for some reason. Maybe it was spending so much time with death eaters that was corrupting him, maybe he just didn't like James as much as he did before, either way it felt awful.

On the other hand, Regulus couldn't stand being in Hogwarts any more, the Dark Lord, the dreadful Slytherins and everything happening to him, James seemed to make everything easier, but now they barely spoke to each other. He hated Lily, he hated her for liking James. The persistent flirting between them never seemed to end, it was unbearable, seeing his beautiful hands touching Lily's waist, slithering under her shirt... it was revolting.

James wasn't his... but well, he didn't want him to be from anyone else.

He got up from the Slitherin's table, accidentally knocking his pumpkin juice filled goblet.

"What's with you, Black?" Evan frowned, pulling a grimace at him.

"Nothing. I just need to clear my head," he hissed, stomping away from his classmates.

Her heard some teases coming from Barty, but he deliberately ignored them and exited the great hall.

He let his legs drag him, he wasn't thinking where to go, he'd found himself often doing this, unable to think of something else that wasn't James Potter. He had no clue why that Gryffindor boy was incapable of getting out of his head, before... well before it wasn't that strong, now it was unbearable, maybe it was out of jealousy, if that was the case... he was deeply ashamed of himself, he was in no age of fancying anyone, there were more important things in his life right now, which didn't involve a hazel-eyed boy.

Pushing away his thoughts, he pushed open the door of professor Flitwick's class open, he often stayed there during weekends, since it was empty most of the time, but very unfortunately, this wasn't one of them.

"Sirius?" he stammered, seeing the black-haired boy kissing someone. That someone was Remus Lupin. His mouth dropped open, how could he not realize before? His brother was... well. Into guys?

The older Black pushed a very confused Remus out of the way and locked eyes with his younger brother, his mouth was open too, framed with, red, plump lips from snogging. Remus frowned and pursed his lips as soon as he spotted Regulus.

"I'll just, uh..." he looked at the two brothers back and forth, "alright, bye bye."

He walked to the door and closed it behind him, the Black brothers looked paralysed, not breaking eye contact once.

"Do you have, any problem, with this?" Sirius drawled, hopping off from the table he was sitting on and approaching his younger sibling with smug steps.

"No."

"That's what I thought," he nodded. Both of them became silent, the faint chirping of the birds and the muffled chatting of the students filled the room, Sirius narrowed his eyes, his voice became softer, "I've been meaning to get a word with you. I just didn't know how, thought you'd be furious at me after all I said."

Regulus shock his head feebly. "I'm not angry, you're right after all."

"What?" Sirius frowned, walking closer.

"I'm a Death Eater because I was weak, I betrayed you," he lowered his eyes to the floor, Sirius grabbed his shoulder.

"You know I didn't mean all of that seriously, right? You know we're still brothers, we'll always be, Death Eater or not."

"I'm sorry, Sirius, for everything. I'm sorry for not being strong enough to protect you, I should've gone with you when I could," blubbered Regulus.

"It's alright, Reggie... cm'ere," he smiled feebly, opening his arms.

Regulus looked at him reluctantly, he looked down, and dragged his feet to his brother's embrace, they hugged, Merlin knows for how long, they mumbled a 'I'm sorry' every once in a while, and then they would hug tighter.

  "I need you to be completely honest with me, Regulus," Sirius whispered, inches away from his ear.

Regulus didn't release his brother from the embrace, but nodded.

  "Are you really, on Voldemort's side?" Sirius' voice was shaky, his throat scratchy.

  "I have a plan, Sirius, I promise," Regulus shut his eyes closed. "I need you to trust me."

The older Black raised his hand to Regulus' black curls, caressing the back of his neck. He inched away from his younger brother, and pressed their foreheads together, looking into his glassy blue eyes.

  "I promise I'll never leave you alone again, Reggie, I promise," Sirius mumbled, gripping his neck, obliging Regulus to meet his eyes.

  "Thank you, Sirius," Regulus whispered, letting the weight of his arms fall at either sides of his torso.

***

They talked. The words seemed to flow like a river. They spoke like brothers were supposed to speak.

It couldn't feel better, it couldn't be better.

It's like a piece of their heart was missing, and now it was back in its place, like it was never missing in the first place. They talked about his torture, the Dark Mark, the death eaters, the Dark Lord... but they also remembered old memories, fun, beautiful moments they had forgotten over time. And how they'd missed each other, regardless of the classes they were supposed to be attending.

God, if they missed each other. More than anything in the world.

"Brothers forever, yeah?" Grinned Sirius, ruffling Regulus' hair.

"Yeah. Forever."

Till death do us apart.

***