All Right, Evans?

Chapter 12

Wednesday 6:17 P.M.

Sirius wasn't at dinner.

"What d'you reckon's up with him?" James asked his friends who had shown up at the Gryffindor table. He craned his neck to get a better view of the doors to the Great Hall, sure that Sirius would appear there. "He never misses an opportunity to eat."

"Dunno," Remus said, but from the tone of his voice and the dark look that passed over his face, James thought that Remus most certainly did know.

"What is it?" he asked, looking from Remus to Peter, who looked equally as disturbed. "Come on, what have I missed?"

"Snape and Regulus were at the match together on Saturday," Peter told him. "Sirius was rather put-off about it, and I don't see Regulus at the Slytherin table now, either."

James followed Peter's gaze across the hall to the Slytherin table and, sure enough, there was no sign of Regulus.

Snape and Regulus... That must have been what Sirius was so bothered about Saturday night, James thought, and he was suddenly hit with a wave of guilt. He'd been so preoccupied with Lily that he hadn't troubled himself to ask Sirius about that again.

And he needn't have worried about Lily at all, he thought, stabbing at the baked potato on his plate. They'd just gone back to normal after the weirdness of Saturday; neither of them had mentioned it and although it was slightly disappointing, James decided it was better that way if it meant Lily still wanted to be friends.

But even if she hadn't, even if everything was weird, even if she went back to hating him again, James knew he should have been more worried about Sirius. And he hadn't been. And he felt like such an ass because of that.

"Has Sirius mentioned it since?" James asked the others, both of whom shook their heads in response.

"If he's not showing up for meals, it must be getting to him," Remus noted. "We should talk to him."

"Yeah." James dropped his fork so it clattered loudly against his plate. He didn't have much of an appetite anymore. "Look, I'll go on ahead and find him. I feel like a right git for not knowing about this sooner."

"You're not -" Peter began, but James cut him off.

"Yeah, maybe not, but I still feel that way." He stood from his seat and messed up Peter's hair. "But thanks, Wormtail. I'll see you lads later."

James started down the hall, walking between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables, when he passed by his Seeker, Raiff Okerley, sitting with a group of his fourth-year friends. James was struck with a sudden idea that would perhaps help him reassure Sirius.

"Hey, Raiff," James said, doubling back to where Raiff was sitting.

"Cap'n." Raiff acknowledged him with a nod, his mouth full of food. James grimaced, wondering if that's what he'd looked like on Saturday when he'd been shoveling food into his face. He made a mental note to never let that happen again.

"Got a question for you," James said, and Raiff motioned for him to continue. "Right. So. You got any double periods with the Slytherins?"

"Sure." Raiff swallowed and wiped his mouth on the back of his sleeve. "Why?"

"You know Regulus Black?"

"Your mate Sirius's brother?" Raiff nodded. "Yeah. He doesn't talk much or anything, just sort of keeps his head in his book and does his work. Seems a bit boring to me."

James nodded. It wasn't much to go on, especially since it wasn't as though Snape would share those double classes, so Raiff couldn't know if the two were friends. But if Regulus just kept to himself - if he wasn't cursing Muggle-borns or shouting his allegiance to Voldemort or whatever else - it might be enough to put Sirius's mind at ease. So he thanked Raiff and bid him good-bye, and then he was off to the common room again.