Only the Brave

Chapter 35: To dance at a party

In a truly impressive display of pettiness and stubbornness that James has only ever seen matched by one other person in his life (Sirius Black), Regulus doesn't leave his dorm all of Sunday. Monday after class, when James sees in the map that Regulus is making a beeline straight for Slytherin again and that there's no way he'll ever catch up, James decides that his only choice is to beg Dorcas for help.

Deep down, James understands he shouldn't have made such a fuss at the Slytherin game, nor should he have involved other people. But he also thinks it's reasonable for him to be fucking worried about the fact that his boyfriend apparently took a beating of some sort and is badly hurt. Cracked ribs level of hurt. Definitely severe enough to warrant James' concern.

They need to talk about it, whether Regulus likes it or not. And this whole avoidance situation is not going to work. James is not going to allow his little shit of a boyfriend to get away with it.

"What do you want the password for?" Dorcas asks him, frowning. "It's not like you can waltz in through the common room. Someone will assault you. I guarantee you that."

"Your house peers sound truly lovely, Dorcas," James points out. "Just tell me. Please. Leave the logistics to me."

"It's a bad idea, James," Dorcas warns him. "Regulus is dealing with some stuff."

"I just... Dorcas, please," James begs. "If you don't tell me the password, I'll stalk the dungeons until I find it out. I'm getting in, one way or another. If you help, it'll be quicker."

"You never give up, do you?"

"No. When it comes to Regulus, I don't."

Reluctantly, Dorcas tells him the password, muttering about how insane he is under her breath. There is, however, a small smile on her lips that he chooses to read as encouragement to never give up on Regulus.

Satisfied, James takes his invisibility cloak with him to Quidditch practice so he can go sneak up on Regulus immediately after.

Practice goes well, as always, and Sirius doesn't tackle him at the end of it because he knows James is in a hurry to go find Regulus. In a very strange, unsettling role reversal, Sirius has been less histrionic about it than James, but he too is worried about his brother.

"Moony has a prefect patrol with Lily and I'll be annoying them the entire time," Sirius tells him with a cheeky grin. "Do you have the mirror?"

"Yes, Pads, calm down. I'll call you if I get into trouble."

They very, very rarely need to use the mirror in Hogwarts. Since James gave it to Sirius last summer, they've used it maybe once. They spend most of their time together anyway. It does, however, come in handy now that James is going to brave the dungeons to talk to his boyfriend.

Safely hidden under his invisibility cloak, James finds his way inside the Slytherin common room. It's late afternoon, just over an hour before dinner. Most students are either here or in the library.

Manoeuvring through the crowded spaces is complicated, and James almost bumps into people a few times. Fortunately, he manages to make it to the staircase leading down to the boys' dormitories without any serious hiccups.

He's not entirely unfamiliar with the Slytherin lair, having snuck inside a couple times in previous years to prank them. However, James doesn't know which room is Regulus' so he has to try two doors before he gets it right on the third go.

Regulus looks up from his bed, where he's sitting amongst a series of books and pieces of parchment, as soon as the door opens. His beautiful, distrustful green eyes narrow for a split second, then he sighs.