Runaway love | Jegulus

Chapter 10

Christmas with the Potter's was exactly as anyone would anticipate; it was perfect. The days leading up to the twenty-fifth consisted of Euphemia and Regulus baking hundreds of different cakes, pastries, biscuits, dishes, custards, creams, every sweet treat imaginable. Regulus spent a lot of the time, when he wasn't cooking, in the library. Fleamont had told him of an extension they'd had done and the two spent hours discussing which books should go in this new section, Fleamont swore he'd show the area to Regulus after Christmas. The rest of Regulus spare time was dedicated to Sirius, James and Remus. Remus was fantastic company, Regulus found. He, unlike Sirius, enjoyed sitting quietly and reading whilst it rained and the two boys would often sit silently under the huge windows in the Library and read. Sirius seemed determined to banish any unpleasant Christmas memories Regulus had and replace them with entirely new ones. They rode their brooms around the vast gardens, they listened to Muggle music, they ventured into the town and created stories for every stranger that passed them.

"He's definitely just been stood up at dinner by the person he thought would be his true love." Sirius had whispered and pointed slightly to a man across the street, as they trudged home from town, through the thick snow. The man in question had a pristine black suit on and a bunch of flowers in his hand, he was muttering to himself, as though reciting a monologue. Sirius would exclaim a statement along those lines, during this new game, and then dive into his reasonings and analysis. Regulus would usually just laugh along and agree but with that particular man he couldn't agree.

"Not a chance! He's definitely on his way to propose to his girlfriend of 8 years and she will say yes, because they're in love and its Christmas." Regulus smiled at the scene he'd imagined in his mind.

"Godric Reg! You've become such a romantic optimist since you started your affair with your secret, and totally not imaginary, girlfriend" Sirius nudged Regulus as he teased. Regulus huffed out a laugh and kicked snow at Sirius. He thought about how true Sirius had been, he was more optimistic since being with James. He still felt a twist of shame when Sirius talked about him having a 'girlfriend', but he knew he meant no harm by it and wouldn't care either way. People would always have certain expectations of him, and he would have to live with that fact.

On Christmas Eve, the Potter's, Sirius, Regulus and Remus all sat together in the garden. All of them were wearing thick winter coats, scarves, hats and gloves, charmed with warming spells. Embarrassingly, and apparently by pure coincidence, the only spare scarf for Regulus was a Gryffindor one that was red and gold and covered in golden lions. Regulus sighed as he wrapped it around his neck and headed out into the snow. The other five were already outside, chatting happily, when he joined them. Euphemia walked to him and wrapped her arm around him, hugging him tightly to her side. He smiled happily at her and rested his chin on her head. It was a sweet moment until Euphemia produced a handful of snow from behind her back and swiftly dropped it on Regulus's head. Euphemia laughed and backed away quickly, readying another snowball. Sirius was laughing too hard to notice Remus pick up a pile of snow and launch it towards his head, hitting him square in the face. This started a very large, very aggressive, family snowball fight that lasted for hours.

In the end, the group were left soaked through, faces red with the cold and with happiness. Euphemia and Fleamont were making snow angels and Sirius and Remus were holding hands and looking at the stars. James and Regulus were sat together, not far apart but not close enough, looking at the constellations. They sat in silence, Regulus breathed deeply, drinking in feeling of the cold air in his lungs. He looked over at James, his nose was red, and his cheeks had a similar rosy hue, his hair was spattered with snowflakes and he wore a content smile as he looked around at his parents and friends. He met Regulus's eye. Regulus's world stopped, as it always did when James looked at him that way, no one else mattered, they were the only two people on earth. He smiled back at him, the most genuine smile, the one that made James's stomach flip every time he saw it.