Chapter 8
Regulus saw James in the courtyard. Before he could walk over, however, Lily came over and poked James' side. He laughed and poked her back. "You've been awfully hard to find, lately. You aren't hiding something, are you?" she asked, taking his hand. Regulus struggled to keep his jealousy under control.
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," James replied, and he started walking with her.
"Alright, Prongs, who's the chick?" Lily asked with a laugh. He put his hand on the back of his neck shyly, and didn't answer. "Or the bloke?" she questioned. He elbowed her in the side as they walked.
Regulus couldn't tell what exactly was happening, and he knew he should walk away, but he couldn't make himself, so he just stood where he was and kept watching.
"There isn't one, Lils. I've been studying," James lied, and he nervously tugged at his collar. He slightly forgot about the mark Regulus had left the night before until he caught Lily looking at his collarbone. He quickly put his collar back where it was and tried to pretend that nothing happened.
"Then what's that?" Lily accused, pointing at his chest.
"Oh, uh, I got a mosquito bite," he replied, quite proud of himself for coming up with that on the spot.
Regulus tried to pull himself together, but his jealousy got the best of him, seeing her touching his chest. He started walking over, hoping to interrupt it without causing suspicion. James saw him over Lily's shoulder, and tried to frantically motion with his eyes to leave.
Unfortunately, Lily saw him and whipped around to stare at Regulus. Regulus played it off rather well, scowling and saying, "Potter. Evans."
Or at least he thought he played it off well. Lily turned to James, looked back and forth between them quickly, then breathed out, "Please tell me that's not the mosquito." Regulus was confused, and James didn't say anything, but Lily scolded, "Are you daft? Padfoot is gonna kill you."
"He's only gonna kill me if he finds out," James quietly corrected.
"So I'm right?" Lily asked, although she knew the answer.
Regulus just looked exasperated, and James anxiously pleaded, "Please, don't tell him, Lils."
"When Sirius inevitably finds out, I never knew anything. ...I was wondering why Black's been watching us for ten minutes," she remarked, looking at Regulus.
Regulus told her, "Reg is fine. Or Reggie, if you must."
"Not Regulus?" she inquired, confused as to why the untouchable Black brother would want her to use a nickname.
"My mother calls me Regulus. As I'm sure you've heard from my brother, that is reason enough for me to dislike the name."
"Okay, then, Reg. You should probably get the hell out of here before someone who would tell Sirius sees you."
Regulus looked between the two, gave Lily a cold look, then turned around and walked away.
"Your boyfriend's lovely," Lily said semi-sarcastically, after he left.
"He's just jealous. I think he’s still a little upset we were dancing at the last party."
"Do we need to reassess?"
James looked where Regulus had disappeared, and told her, "He agreed that I shouldn't start acting any different around my friends. Clearly we might need to talk about that more, but for now, just do the usual."
She nodded and took his arm again, questioning, "Did you inform him of why we act like we're dating?"
"Hm?"
"Mary?"
James had clearly forgotten about the relevance of that bit. Lily scolded, "You should have told him. That would probably help him understand more."
"In my defense, that would be outing both of you," James mentioned.
"You're right, but don't get cocky. You have my permission to say I'm dating a girl, just don't say who," Lily told him, and patted his shoulder.
"Other than that, and other than the fact that he's my best friend's little brother, what do you think of him?"
"You’re opposites. I've never seen him smile, and you can't stop grinning. He won’t talk to anyone, you're friends with half of the school. He’s untouchable, you shove people around and expect to get shoved back."
"And?"
"I don't know yet. He must be different when you're alone, for you to put up with him."
“Not that much,” James answered, looking in the direction he left.