I Will Follow You Into The Dark || Jegulus

60. It's Been a Long, Long Time

The next morning when Regulus went to eat breakfast, he was immediately bombarded by everyone he knew. He already dealt with Barty and Evan, but the rest of the school was curious as to what happened. To them, it was a big deal, dementors showing up on campus to take Regulus away. The second Regulus and his friends walked into the great hall, they were surrounded by the entire student body. People were pushing and asking questions, overwhelming Regulus.

"Out of the way!" Barty shouted, giving everyone in the crowd his best Slytherin trademark death glare, but all he got was shoved out of the way by some Ravenclaw demanding to know who Regulus killed.

"Oy assholes, out of the way!" Regulus heard Sirius shout, and he and the marauders shoved their way to Regulus, hexing anyone that got in the way.

"back to your tables or I will start taking points!" James threatened, flashing his head boy pin, which got some reactions. People started wandering back to their respective house tables, but some still lingered, "I'm not joking." James glared down at one Slytherin girl who kept berating Regulus. Once she was gone, James went up to Regulus and pulled him into a hug, practically choking him. Sirius and Remus joined in as well, Peter awkwardly stood on the sidelines, patting Regulus on the shoulder.

"I'm so glad you're back, I was so scared." James whispered, not letting go of Regulus, as if he would disappear if James let go.

"I won't leave you again. This time I promise."

James only hugged Regulus tighter, relishing in the feeling of being near him publicly, not having to pretend anymore. He could feel stares, judging eyes on him, but he couldn't care less.

"Alright, break it up lovebirds," Sirius pushed between them and began to coddle his brother, "If you would have gotten arrested, I would have killed you." He said, then pulled Regulus in for a hug.

"I love you too Sirius," Regulus tried to push him away. "Can I go eat my breakfast now?" He rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah - yeah. I'm sorry. uh, have fun? I mean uh-" Sirius stammered.

"Go eat with your friends, idiot." Regulus shoved his brother toward Remus, then gave James a quick kiss on the cheek before dragging Evan and Barty to their usual spot, ignoring all the whispering he heard as he walked past his peers.

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Regulus spent as much time as possible training his quidditch team. They were understandably pissed at him for all the lost time that had accumulated from the weeks he missed.

"Look, you guys can be angry all you want after our game against Ravenclaw." Regulus crossed his arms, and with groans and sighs, his team compiled, not willing to waste any more time.

The team practiced until well after sunset. Regulus only let them go because of curfew. Their game against Ravenclaw was just a few weeks away, and Regulus needed his team to win if they wanted to win the quidditch cup, and as the Slytherin captain for the first time, Regulus did not want to let his team down. Quidditch was one of the few things he loved, and gods forbid if he wasn't going to beat James during his last year. Next year just wouldn't be the same without the best quidditch players the school has had, like James fucking Potter, the only boy who could even slightly compete against Regulus.

When Regulus left the changing room, he saw James leaning against the doorframe, "How was practice?" He asked.

Regulus sighed, "They're all mad at me. They wouldn't stop asking questions about what happened either." He frowned.

"Hey, how about tomorrow you come down to Hogsmeade with us?"

"That sounds nice." Regulus reached out for James's hand, and walked beside him back to the castle.