Only the Brave

Chapter 31: Drowning

Poppy takes longer to fix his ankle than he'd like, but James doesn't have the heart to complain. Not with how exhausted the nurse looks. He thinks, rather relieved, that's it good the full moon just passed. He wouldn't want Poppy to have to deal with that right now on top of everything else.

From where he's standing watch over his bed, Sirius keeps craning his neck to try and get a glimpse of Regulus and Dorcas, who have very deliberately cast a silencing spell around them. They look to be deep in conversation, the topic of it making them both frown. Well, making Dorcas frown because Regulus is, generally speaking, quite a scowl-y person. James thinks it's adorable.

As soon as he's cleared by Poppy to put weight on his ankle, James jumps to his feet. But before he goes to see Regulus, he puts a careful hand on Sirius' shoulder.

"You alright?"

He's pretty sure Sirius didn't know his father is unwell until he heard it just now. And even if Walburga insists Orion will be fine, well. It's still his father, right? James has no idea if Sirius feels any particular way about it, but if he does, he's here to help.

"I'm fine."

"It's okay if you're not," James says gently.

Steely resolve hardens the lines of Sirius' face, which only concerns James more. His father's health aside, Sirius hadn't seen Walburga since the night he ran away, and James knows his friend well enough to be ready for this to throw him into some sort of spiral. It's coin-toss with him. You never know what is going to trigger Sirius. Doesn't matter though. Not to James. He's ready for it. Whatever Sirius needs.

"Reggie first," Sirius says. And that's that.

The flick of Dorcas' wand doesn't escape James' notice as he approaches the bed where Regulus rests. Sound comes back with a light pop in his ears as the silencing charm is dropped. And James hesitates. He doesn't know what's okay. If Regulus even wants him here in the infirmary where anyone could walk in any moment. They're not alone so it wouldn't be an obvious giveaway, but it's also very unusual for him to be here at all. Even more so to be here with Sirius.

James decides to settle for looking and not touching, letting his eyes roam over every part of Regulus he can see, drinking him in.

"I'm so glad you're okay," James says at the same time Sirius snarls, "what the fuck were you thinking?"

Dorcas' lips twitch. She sits herself on a stool on the other side of the bed like a spectator about to watch a sports game, apparently delighted to witness the upcoming spat between the Black brothers.

With a single, scathing look at Sirius, Regulus lets out a long suffering sigh, before deliberately choosing to ignore his brother. He looks at James, tilts his head to the side. "What happened to your ankle?"

"What—What happened?!" Sirius is beside himself with indignation. "He broke it because we had to run here to save your life this morning!"

"I was asking him," Regulus points out.

James grimaces, rubs the back of his neck. "Well. That's kinda it, really."

He gives Regulus his best apologetic smile, which does very little to soften the look of annoyance on his boyfriend's face.

What did Regulus expect? That Dorcas would tell James he's fighting for his life and James would not run to his side? If he broke his ankle in the process—or strained it, like Poppy said—that's a very small price to pay for having saved Regulus' life.

Not that he did. It was Sirius. And Moaning Myrtle, which James still doesn't understand but alright. He's not judging.

"What were you thinking, Reggie? You could have died," Sirius insists, hands fluttering at his sides. "You're lucky Dorcas brought you here and got us on time."