Regulus laid in his bed, it was about to reach midnight as he was mindlessly scrolling through someone’s posts. He heard some rattling and shut off his phone and looked at the door. His roommate, Dorcas, walked inside with a bag in her hand.
“Hey Mysterious Regulus!”
“You can’t keep on calling me because I won’t tell you about my past.”
“Why not?”
She made a slight frown before shutting the door and turning on the light. Dorcas walked over to a table and set the bag down and started taking some stuff out. A soft creak came from the bed as regulus sat back down, turning on their phone.
The picture of him and James on the beach. It’s where they got engaged. He smiled, looking at the picture. The time turned to 00:00 and he got a notification on his phone.
“Jamie’s 25th birthday!”
Regulus looked at it and burst into tears. He wept for a second until he heard Dorcas talking to him.
“Regulus! What’s the matter-?”
He sobbed and couldn’t form words properly. Regulus felt warmth surround his body as Dorcas hugged him tightly, leaning down and holding him carefully.
“It’s okay… I’m here, I’m right here.”
The only words he formed out was, “why him?”.
A couple minutes later- he calmed down. Dorcas sat on the floor in front of him and looked up at him, her eyes lidded and with a somber expression.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
He placed his hands in his lap and looked at her, his face red and nose puffed up.
“Sure… I hope so.”
“So what happened?”
A pause came between the room before he spoke again.
“It’s Jamie’s birthday- his 25th..”
“Who’s ’Jamie’?”
Regulus picked up his phone and handed it to Dorcas. She turned it on and looked at the Lock Screen.
“Oh… isn’t that a good thing?”
His face twisted and he breathed deeply.
“No… James um.. which is his name. James has been dead for about two years.”
“Oh my god.”
Dorcas looked at him in shock. Her eyes softened and she set the phone on the bed and then grabbed Regulus’s cold hands, rubbing them.
“Were you dating?”
“Engaged. We had been since I was 19- we were supposed to get married a couple months before his death.”
“How did he die?”
“A car crash.. someone hit his car and I barely made it out alive-.”
His voice choked up and his chest sank with dread.
“I just wish I didn’t have to see him dead on the concrete- I wish my last memory of him was us in the car driving home.”
Tears seeped out of his eyes and Dorcas got up from the floor and hugged him, wrapping her arms around him and holding him tightly.
He fell asleep in her hold, almost quickly.
“I’m right here, regulus.”
She whispered, laying him down on his bed as she grabbed his cover and gently pulled it over him. His phone was grabbed by her and set on the table, plugged onto the charger. Dorcas continued what she had to do before going to sleep.
Around 2pm, Regulus stuffed some things in his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. His roommate, Dorcas, looked at him with confusion.
“Where are you going, regulus?”
“I’m going to the art room as I usually do. I have class.”
She smiled and then went back to reading on her bed as Regulus left the dorm room. He walked down the hallway and turned a couple corners, going down a couple stairs then turned left. The walls were painted yellow with white aspects. This was the visual arts group of classes.
He saw a red door to the left and opened it, walking into the huge room with tarps up, stools scattered everywhere, many shelves full of in-progress artworks, and buckets.
“Welcome Regulus, you’re just in time to finish your sculpture.”
His professor spoke. She was a soft spoken woman, but easily in her late 50s. Regulus nodded and walked over to his station. There were about 10 other people in the room, at their respective stations.
He set down his backpack outside of the tarp and pulled it open, revealing his artwork to the whole room.
A soft sigh came from him as he discarded his jacket. He pulled his hair back into a small tiny ponytail so it was out of the way.
Moments went by and he felt like he was ready- he was determined to finish the art work. His professor watched as he finished sculpting out some of the biceps, dragging his fingernail across to make some crevices. By now, his hands were covered in clay but that was always expected.
Regulus stepped back and looked at it for a moment. He tilted his head and nodded.
“What, regulus?”
“It’s done, the body is done. I need to make the head now.”
“You’re doing an amazing job.”
His professor smiled at him and he looked at her and gave a slight smile before going over to a large table.
It seemed like about half an hour went by and Regulus looked at the sculpture of how it was turning out. Regulus sighed and figured he would try his best to finish the head by today- he had no other classes so it would be fine.
Two hours passed, Regulus was on a stool, finishing up the nose whenever his phone rang.
“Shit- um..”
By now, it was just him and his professor in the room.
“I’ll pick it up, just give me a minute.”
She smiled, nodding her head and going back to grade papers. Regulus got up and got most of the excess clay off his hands before washing them thoroughly. The phone stopped ringing as he was drying off his hands.
“Damnit.”
He grabbed the phone and turned it on, seeing a picture of him and his late fiancée, James. A soft smile came from him as he sat down on the table near to him and called the person who called him earlier.
“Hello?”
“Hey… um… is this Regulus Black?”
“Yes- it is? What do you need?”
“It’s Sirius..”
His heart softened as he sighed before speaking into the phone.
“Hey Sirius. What do you need?”
“It’s just um.. I know it’s been a long time and I wanted to say I’m sorry I never reached out to see how you were when he died.”
Regulus' mind flashed back to that night. The car, James car to be precise. It was a red glamorous car with Regulus’s name branded right above the tire. He had bragged about it for months after James got it done, saying how amazing it was that his fiancée did that just for him.
It was nighttime. March 27th. James was turning 23. He wanted to go out and have some drinks with Regulus, Sirius and Remus.
“Hey sirius!”
James smiled, his teeth showing brightly in the dark sky.
“Prongs!!”
Sirius ran over to the car and leaned her head into the window, looking at Regulus in the passenger seat and James in the driver. They smiled at both of them before stepping back, allowing them to get out of the car. Remus smiled, interlocking fingers with Sirius as they waited for James and Regulus to get out of the car.
After their dinner it was around 9pm, Remus had work in the morning so they agreed to do it again another night to stay out longer.
James and Regulus got into the car, saying goodbye to Sirius and Remus. He started the car and waited for it to get slightly warm for Regulus before turning around, hand on the steering wheel and backing out of the parking lot. Regulus put on his seatbelt and watched as James turned his head back and looked at the road.
James drove down the road at a stable pace, 50 miles per hour. They turned onto the highway and started driving slightly faster.
Their favourite song came on, “Hymme A L’Amour” by Édith Piaf.
James hummed along while Regulus sang, his hand rested on Regulus' thigh. He took it off for a moment to put both hands on the steering wheel.
The sound of someone's car was loud, but they were about 30 yards away from it, at least that’s what James could tell by it.
He reached out his arm to turn up the radio whenever Regulus’s ears rang loudly. The sound of glass shattering and someone yelling. Tires screeched and he could hear someone driving. He opened his eyes slightly and saw that he was upside down. What had just happened?
He groaned in pain as he tried to move his arms. He blinked and looked forward. He was looking at the asphalt from the street. The window was shattered and glass was everywhere. He turned his head and looked at the driver seat.
Regulus grabbed at the seat and noticed James wasn’t there. He started to freak out and turned his head to the other side and saw his window shattered as well.
With all of his strength, he unbuckled his seatbelt and managed to get out of the car. He crawled out of the car that was smashed to pieces.
He cried in pain as his face was bleeding and his body was covered in glass and blood. He managed to get to his feet and saw someone standing outside on the phone, frantically yelling. They were crouched over something on the pavement.
Regulus hobbled over to him- it wasn’t too far away but he couldn’t see what it was until he was less than a feet away from him.
“Jamie…?”
He whispered- his voice cracked. Regulus stumbled to James' side and shakily grabbed onto his face. It was covered in glass- piercing his tanned face. He looked at his body and saw his leg and left arm. The bone was exposed and skin was rubbed almost completely off on his stomach where his shirt was ripped.
“James!”
Regulus screamed, grabbing onto him and pulling on his shirt.
“Baby, please wake up!”
He cried and sobbed , his face burning. Regulus felt someone grab him and pull him off of James as they attended to both of their wounds.
Regulus was put in an ambulance, he couldn’t stop crying and asking for James.
“Sir- we need you to calm down.”
“My Jamie- is he okay?!”
He sobbed hysterically as they kept reassuring him and attending to Regulus the best they could on the way to the hospital.
Regulus woke up, the lights bright on his face as he gained consciousness. He turned his head and saw a nurse standing by him, checking his vitals.
“What’s… what’s happening?”
“Oh dear…”
She turned around and looked at regulus.
“You were in an accident.”
It all rushed back to him. The car, the blood, the shattered windshield- James.
“James- where’s my Jamie?”
“James potter?”
“Yes my Jamie… where is he?”
She had a somber expression before watching someone rush into the room.
“Um ma'am- you aren’t allowed to-“
“Regulus!”
She saw him and started sobbing , her purse falling to the floor as she grabbed onto him.
“Ri’- you’re hurting me..”
“Shit sorry.”
“Um ma'am.. it’s only family visiting right now…”
“I’m his sister.”
“Okay..”
She smiled, leaving the room. Sirius looked at Regulus for a moment until leaning up and kissing his bandaged forehead.
“Where’s Jamie, Sirius?”
“You…”
She looked baffled for a moment.
“What do you mean , regulus?”
“Where’s my Jamie..”
“Oh regulus..”
He realised what had happened and just looked at her for a moment.
“He’s dead. Isn’t he?”
“He was pronounced dead on scene… it’s a miracle you didn’t end the same way.”
Regulus bursted into tears and started sobbing and wailing. He grabbed onto Sirius and heaved into her shirt and she held onto him.
Regulus snapped back to reality whenever he heard Sirius voice speak again.
“Regulus?”
“Shit.. sorry just thinking.”
“It’s fine, just… how are you feeling?”
“I dunno… miss him I guess.”
“If you want to go see him, we can.”
“Ok. I can today.”
He said timidly, his voice cracking.
“Okay reg… if you want to come see him, I’ll be there to pick you up at 5.”
“Okay, Love you, Sirius.”
“I love you more reg.”
He hung up the phone and sat it down on the table. Regulus sighed and looked at the picture of him and James.
His stupid fucking smile that made him feel like he was looking the sun. He loved him, no, he loves him.
Regulus smiled before shutting off his phone and looking at the head placed onto the table. He squinted and looked at it for another moment.
It wasn’t James. He was trying to make James but- it wasn’t him. Regulus grabbed a tool off the table and started jamming it into the shaped clay. He noticed his professor looking at him confused. She got up from her chair whenever she noticed regulus grabbing into the face and hitting it, prodding at the defined lines and punching it.
“Regulus- dear- what on earth are you doing…?”
She softly spoke, grabbing onto his arm and taking him back into reality.
“I-“
He looked at the mangled piece of clay that was once a perfect replica of James' beauty.
“I’m sorry I just… got caught in my feelings.”
“It’s okay dear… just breathe, alright?”
He apologised profusely before helping clean up.
Half an hour passed and he had left the room, going back into his dorm room where Dorcas was making some dinner.
“Hey Dorcas.”
“Regulus, hey!”
She smiled at him and he felt it was appropriate to smile back at her.
“How you feeling?”
“I just destroyed my artwork in class but I'll start again tomorrow.”
“Oh.. that’s sad, but I’m glad you’re gonna start again.”
Dorcas kept things positive even when regulus felt at his lowest.
“Do you have any plans tomorrow?”
“No but I’m going out tonight with my sister… we’re gonna go see James' grave.”
Docas' eyes softened as she looked at him.
“Whenever you come back, I’ll have dinner ready.”
“Okay Dorcas.”
“It’s not an issue, Regulus.”
She smiled at him and he smiled back, taking his shoes off.
Maybe he can heal and feel happiness from mourning the loss of his life.