Once upon a Midnight Dreary - Regulus Black

Chapter 16

"ℭongrats. It was a pretty good game." James and Jiao were standing a few paces away from me.

I turned away from the celebrating Slytherins and melted into the crowd of depressed Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. After the past – rather intense – twenty minutes, my body was at the limit of its endurance. Exhausted, overheated and dehydrated, I wished nothing more than to take a nap. I cast a quick glance over my shoulder, but my teammates were elated and high as a Muggle kite. Apart from Regulus, they couldn't notice me talking to James and Jiao, and I drew nearer to them.

"You've got the right teamwork," James went on, an uncharacteristically half-hearted smile on his lips. His face was drawn with fatigue, dark circles shadowing his spectacled eyes. Though he was holding hands with Jiao, I couldn't help but notice a strange tension between them, the type that lingers in the air before a fight is about to break out. "I can tell that you're managing your team fine. Those gits seem to respect you."

"I'm not to be credited," I answered flippantly. "The secret is not to have any expectations. I just told them to play like we usually do, and it all worked out well in the end."

He had visited Jiao a couple of times during the past month, but now it was the second week of November, and lately he has not been around quite as much. Jiao would never complain, but her constant worries about his well-being and the hardships of their relationship were clearly taking a toll on her. She looked strangely dull and tired, too, her mouth set in a nervous line.

"What are you doing here, by the way?" I investigated.

"I just dropped by to say hi. Plus, I figured I could watch the first match and see how well Gryffindor does now that I'm no longer around. Pretty shittily, if you ask me," James explained. He addressed the next few words to Jiao only, "I've got some super important secret missions coming up this month, so I won't be able to come and visit often. I needed to take advantage of the little time I had and spend it with you."

"When will you be back?" she queried softly, her gaze growing more concerned.

"I'm not sure how long it'll take for me to run Dumbledore's errands. I'm going with Padfoot this time, though, so we ought to be back soon. We always make an effective team." He reached into his pocket and took out a letter. There was no postmark, no address on it; it was merely a plain envelope that he gave over to me. "This is for Regulus. Sirius asked me to deliver it. It was quicker this way, since I was going to come here to meet Tao Jiao, anyway."

"Where's Nott? What's taking him so long?" I heard Rosier's whiny voice from behind. Another quick glance confirmed that my teammates were waiting for me to return so we could attend the victory party in the common room.

I thrust the letter into the pocket of my Quidditch robes, and turned back to James and Jiao to say my goodbyes. I wished we didn't have to pretend to be on the opposite sides, but it was safer this way. I wondered if we were ever going to enter an era in which we were free to spend time together, without having to lie and sneak around.

"I must go now. I've got to keep my reputation clean." After a flicker of hesitation, I told James, "Watch yourself out there. I hope to run into you again sometime soon."

His grin turned more sincere and even his exhaustion seemed to falter, as if my admission managed to cheer him up. He raised his hand, about to pat my shoulder, but then he remembered that we weren't supposed to be seen together. With an abrupt movement, he lowered his hand again, after rumpling his hair rather awkwardly.

"Yeah, I hope so, too."

I noticed that his eyes flickered away from me, resting upon a faraway point. His smile wavered, and when I followed his gaze, I noticed that he was looking at Cole Burton. The latter must have been staring at Jiao because he seemed a bit embarrassed, as if someone had caught him at some kind of wrongdoing. Whistling ostentatiously, he pretended to be studying the cloudy morning sky. On my way back to my teammates, I couldn't help but wonder if the odd tension between James and Jiao had to do with Burton.