Chapter 4
“Can I talk to the two of you?” Remus blurts out, laying two hands against the lunch table and leaning forward, glancing between James and Sirius. He looks over at Pete and smiles for a second. “Hi, Pete.”
“Hi, Remus. Everything alright?” Peter smiles back tentatively. James has to ignore their small conversation to help Sirius stop choking on a piece of food. By the time his coughing fit is over, Peter is sliding his chair backward to get up and leave for class. “I’ll see you both this weekend for the party then, right?”
“Oh, most definitely, Pete,” James nods, smiling warmly. Peter nods back, waving to the three of them before leaving. James watches him walk away, a smile staying planted firmly on his face.
Peter is James’ longest friend, the two having met each other while riding their bikes, and then learning that they lived on the same street. Since then, they had seen each other every day for the past eleven years. He and Sirius were slow to warm up to each other, but they did eventually. The three were the talk of the school from day one.
“So,” Remus starts, sliding into the chair that Peter left abandoned, sat between James and Remus, “Regulus saw Spider-Man rescue him Saturday night.”
Sirius chokes again, James instantly going to help him despite the lurch his stomach does. Both of them look at Remus, panic settling in their eyes. How did Regulus see him? Why didn’t he say anything? Oh yeah, the Black’s hate Spider-Man.
“James, I thought you said he was knocked out,” Sirius whispered, hitting James on his shoulder.
“I thought he was,” James defended himself, his eyes widening as he stuck his hands up in defense. “I mean, he definitely was after he hit the ground. Before, though, it’s possible that–”
“Jesus fucking Christ, James,” Sirius sighed, leaning forward and resting his head in his hands. “I thought we were able to skip over explaining how Spider-Man knew where I lived.”
“He’s pretty fucking convinced, too. Saw the colors and such,” Remus huffed, taking a seat next to Sirius. “I couldn’t just tell him that he didn’t see him.”
“I can’t lie to Reg,” James grimaced at the thought, his whole body completely hating the idea. Sirius swatted him upside the head.
“Don’t call him that,” Sirius pointed a finger at James, one of his eyes twitching like they do when he’s extremely stressed. “You’re lying to everyone all the time, James. This one thing can’t be that hard.”
“The only reason I haven’t told him is because he hasn’t asked,” James sighs, running a hand through his hair. “You know how he’s always been able to tell when I lie! The little shit has gotten me in trouble countless times because of his weird sixth sense.”
They all pause, because it’s true. Ever since they were kids, Regulus had instantly been able to call whatever bluff James had come up with, only needing to glance at his eyes to know. He had never intentionally told an authority figure that James was lying, so it was impossible to be upset with him for it, but he hadn’t been able to keep his mouth shut in front of teachers or, even worse, his mother, which had resulted in James getting in trouble for things he would have otherwise gotten away with. Regulus used to apologize for it, but then James had told him to automatically assume he was forgiven, so he stopped verbally saying sorry.
“Sirius, that leaves you,” Remus looks over at the boy, looking at him with wide, hoping eyes. “You can lie to Reg, right?
“I can try, but I don’t know if he’d still be able to tell,” Sirius shrugs, swiping a ahnd over his face. “I can maybe be a bit mean about it? That usually–”
“Absolutely not,” James shakes his head, ignoring the scoff Sirius gives him for cutting him off. “Regulus calling you meant something, Sirius. He trusted you.”
“He told me I was a last resort,” Sirius says flatly, his lips flattening into a bored looking expression on his face.
“That doesn’t mean you actually were, though,” James explains, flaying his hands around to help him get his point across. “His last resort would be Walburga, or Bellatrix; not you.”
Sirius was quiet, biting the inside of his lip as he thought, because James was right. James knows he’s right. It was pretty easy to see that Regulus had shown a small moment of weakness and needed his big brother, despite what other excuses he tried to come up with. James heard how scared Regulus sounded over the phone, how desperate he sounded for his older brother to come and save him, even though he had to keep up an act for the people attacking him.
Neither of the Black brothers were good with emotions, James knows that more than anyone else does, which is why he will always try and help them both express their feelings the best he can. If Regulus can’t tell Sirius how he really feels, how badly he wants him back into his life, then James will. It’s true that Regulus could read him like an open book, but Regulus was readable the same way a graphic novel is–you only get the dialogue, the words he says, but the emotion is painted so clearly on his face that it’s shocking no one else can see it.
“Either way,” Remus says, snapping both James and Sirius out of whatever trance they both seemed to be trapped in, “Regulus is too smart to not figure this out eventually if he continues to believe that he saw Spider-Man that night, and that puts him in danger.”
James flinches at the idea of Regulus being caught up with someone who truly despised Spider-Man, and a part of him wonders what it would take for Regulus to reveal his secret identity. On one hand, James wanted to believe that he would never, but realistically, it probably wouldn’t take much. Regulus doesn’t like James–he might even hate him–so he has no reason to keep the major secret that most would kill to know.
“I can be convincing, I think,” Sirius nods, not taking his eyes from Remus’. As the two fell silent, James suddenly felt as if he were third-wheeling, and with that, decided to get up and throw his garbage away.
***
Friday approaches way too fast, in Regulus’ opinion. He’s been spending most of his week trying to analyze the pattern of Spider-Man’s patrols, scouring the internet for any sightings of him, writing down the days and times, and even trying to see the hero a few times himself. He hadn’t thought twice about it, really, until Sirius had come up to him and insisted that he was making things up to sound cool.
“That doesn’t even make sense, Sirius. I’ve only told Remus, which means Remus told you,” Regulus had huffed, rolling his eyes as his brother intruded on his personal space.
“I was there, Regulus, and I would’ve told you if fucking Spider-Man was, too,” Sirius had responded, and Regulus scoffed and walked away after that. That was on Tuesday.
Now, he was pulling out his writing notebook and putting away his English supplies. Instinctively he reached for his headphones, then was sorely reminded of his recent loss of them. He winced, closing his eyes and pulling himself together before his mind and body made a big deal over it again. The last thing he needed to do was cry in the back of a classroom over a pair of headphones he had gotten as a fourteenth birthday present. Ridiculous and embarrassing.
Regulus watched as everyone else fled into the classroom, his eyes staying glued to the door the entire time. Subconsciously, he knew who he was looking for, but anyone around him would just paint it as him zoning out. In a way, he was, thinking deeply about the whereabouts of a particular superhero. He had asked everyone he knew if they knew Spider-Man’s schedule whatsoever, even slipping it into a conversation with Barty and Evan during lunchtime. Well, almost everyone he knew.
James walked through the door with a bright smile on his face, per usual, holding his bookbag with one hand and a square box with the other. He cheerfully greeted Dorcas and Pandora, having a small conversation with the two before making his way over to the desk sitting next Regulus’. Fortunately, Regulus had looked away right before he could feel James’ burning hazel eyes on the side of his head.
“Hello,” James greets, and Regulus pretends to have not noticed him before, sending a small half-smile his way. “How were classes today?”
“Boring,” Regulus shrugged. “I spent most of them in the library.”
“Really? You can do that?” James asks, his eyebrows raising in surprise.
“There’s benefits to being well-behaved, you know,” Regulus smirks as James rolls his eyes. “I can ask to borrow you from a class or two next week if you want.”
James’ posture straightens at this and his smile grows much wider. “You’d do that?”
“Yes, but,” Regulus pauses, looking down at his hands. How was he going to ask this without sounding like an idiot, “I have a question.”
“Oh, there’s a catch,” James nods, his smile faltering a bit, but never falling. Regulus lightly shakes his head in response.
“Not really, I’m just,” Regulus sighs, tucking a strand of hair behind his head. God, he’s so awkward around James and he hates it. “Do you know anything about Spider-Man?”
James seems to choke on air after Regulus asks, which has Regulus giving him a very confused look. What was he expecting Regulus to ask? Was his questions really that odd? It didn’t seem like it, but Regulus can’t really tell when things seem odd.
Once recovered, James looks up at Regulus with wide-ish eyes, his glasses a little crooked from what had just happened. “Spider-Man?”
“Sorry, it’s just I could’ve sworn I saw him that night I ended up at your place,” Regulus sighs, deciding to look at his desk and play with a pencil instead of making eye contact with James. “Sirius says I’m just saying that to sound cool, but I’ve barely told anyone. I’m probably being an idiot about it or something, but–”
“He patrols around the one coffee shop you like at around nine every night, seven on Saturdays,” James cuts him off, and Regulus looks up at him in shock. The shining hazel in his eyes indicates that he’s telling the truth. Oh my God. But wait–
“How do you know that?” Regulus asks before he can even think about it. The question is valid, because how does he know? Is James friends with Spider-Man? No, he couldn’t keep a secret for the life of him, let alone one that big.
“I’ve just been around there enough times to know,” James shrugs, a soft smile on his face. Regulus nods slowly, incredibly confused, then turns to face Dorcas, who is preparing to give them the short story prompt of the day. Before she starts, something is set on his desk from next to him. He looks up at James who nods toward the box enthusiastically. “Since you haven’t replaced them.”
Regulus removes the lid from the box and has to try his best to hold back the smile he wants to wear, the small urge to fucking giggle making him feel ill. In the box laid a pair of headphones in his favorite color–dark, earthy green. Unlike his old pair, they were wireless and much smoother. They looked expensive. Under the headphones, there were a few stickers representing music artists that he liked: Hozier, Arctic Monkeys, Cigarettes After Sex, etc.
Looking up at James, Regulus could see the way his eyes were much softer than they had been previously, and his smile almost seemed proud. He should be; this is fucking awesome.
“Thank you, James,” Regulus gave into his temptation and let a smile tug at his lips.
“It’s no big deal. I felt bad,” James half-shrugged. “They’re noise-cancelling, too, so you don’t get distracted or anything.”
The rest of writing club went smoothly, Regulus putting his new headphones to the test(they were great quality, truly) as he wrote his short story. This one was much less creative than his tale from last week, definitely not as inspiring. The prompt had been warmth, so Regulus wrote of friends sitting around a fire, representing the word physically and emotionally.
Once it was over, Regulus had the weekly prompt written in his notebook and had begun packing up his things. James was quieter than usual, Regulus noticed, which was odd. He hadn’t been quiet when he came into the room, but now he looked liek he was lost in thought, which made Regulus wonder what he had to think about. Did it have something to do with his question?
“Prongs, my love!” Sirius bursts into the room rather loudly, Regulus flinching at the sudden loud noise. Sirius walks over to James, a wide smile on his face as he wraps his arms around him and plants a loud smooch on the top of his head. James laughs at this, not seeing the small look Sirius sends Regulus.
“Padfoot,” James greets, smiling wide as he begins packing his things away. He was really out of it, it seems, because he turns to Regulus and, in a low voice, asks, “What was the prompt again? I didn’t get it written down fast enough.”
Regulus sighed, somewhat annoyed that he had to pull out his notebook so that James could copy down the words into his own notebook. James gave him an appreciative smile and started writing, his quick movements resulting in writing that looked something close to chicken scratch.
“Let me know what classes you want me to get you out of next week and I’ll try my best,” Regulus was putting his notebook away again while he spoke, so he didn’t see James’ reaction, but he did hear an elated gasp and a dramatic scoff.
“You’ll take him out of classes but not me?” Sirius gave Regulus a dirty look as he turned back around.
“Why the hell would I take you out of classes? You’re a fucking prick,” Regulus questioned, scrunching his nose and raising an eyebrow. Who did Sirius think he was?
“And you’re a whiney twat!” Sirius exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air like a mad person. Regulus just rolls his eyes in response because that’s the only way anyone could really get an argument to end with his brother; just don’t verbally respond.
“You have to let me take you home today,” James’ cheerful voice cut through the tension like a knife, Regulus looking over to see him resting his chin on his palm, his eyes impossibly soft. Regulus has to keep serious control of himself to not melt right then and there.
“I’d rather not,” Regulus glanced up at Sirius, who sticks his tongue out behind James’ back, then back to the boy he was talking to. “You’ve done enough for me. I’ll pay you back for the headphones.”
“You don’t have to,” James shakes his head.
“No, I really must. It’s not–”
“Come to a party tomorrow, if you insist on giving me something back,” James cuts Regulus off, and Sirius very loudly protests the idea.
“I beg your pardon?” Regulus furrows his eyebrows, tilting his head and acting as if he didn’t hear James correctly. A party? Absolutely not.
“Remus will be there, and I’ve never seen you have fun,” James shrugs, moving to stand up. “It’s at my house, so it won’t be impossible for you to find a room to hide away in.”
“I have fun, just not at parties,” Regulus rolls his eyes again. The idea of going to a party seemed beyond ridiculous to him, because why on Earth would he put himself in the position–
“Spider-Man will stop in,” James says quickly, and Sirius’ eyes widen to the size of saucers. Regulus just freezes, looking James dead in the eyes to search, once again, for the smallest shimmer of untruthfulness. There’s none.
“How the hell will Spider-Man be there?” Regulus questions, still not completely buying it.
“Well, let’s just say I have my ways,” James hold his bookbag with one hand, then props it onto his left shoulder.
“Whatever, give me your number and text me the details,” Regulus sighs, reaching his hand out for James’ phone. Sirius lets out a weird, defensive noise, but it’s ignored. James lets out a huff of laughter before fishing his phone form his pockets.
“There are smoother ways of asking for my number, you know,” James smirks as he places his phone in Regulus’ open hand.
“As if, Potter,” Regulus scoffs, hiding a smile as he types his number into James’ phone and sends a small text to his own phone, feeling it buzz in his back pocket. With a small, joking wink–Sirius full on yelps like a hurt puppy–Regulus James’ phone back to him and stands up from his seat, wrapping his bag around his shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
—
“What the fuck was I thinking?” Regulus paced back and forth across his bedroom, Remus watching him with an amused look in his eyes.
“I don’t think you were. I think you were distracted by the fact that you’re smitten with him,” Remus visibly tried to hold back his laugh, and Regulus launched a pillow at his face.
“I’m not smitten with him,” Regulus glares, crossing his arms over his chest. “He got me something and I felt like I owed him. That’s what it was.”
“So, you’re not excited about it at all?” Remus raised an eyebrow, a smug smile on his face. Regulus froze for a second, and that must’ve given Remus the wrong idea, because he burst into laughter.
“I’m not! I’m actually dreading it,” Regulus ran a hand through his hair, and the churning feeling in his stomach returned. “I’ll be surrounded by people I don’t like, you and Sirius are going to be too busy trying to eat each other for me to hang around, and James will likely be too drunk to function! Why would I be excited about that, Remus?”
“Because, even if he’s drunk, you know James will still want to be latched to your side,” Remus’ laughter calmed down. “And, if you’re there, I won’t get with Sirius. That would be weird.”
“One of his last family dinners here, you guys locked yourselves in his room and were in there the rest of the time you were over,” Regulus stopped his pacing, looking at Remus with a pointed look. “I can’t imagine you would be any better inebriated.”
Remus was quiet, squinting and biting both of his lip as Regulus just stood and stared, his lips pursed. “Okay, that’s fair, but I’m sure James will be thrilled to hang out with you all night.”
“Whatever, Remus,” Regulus sighs, moving to sit at his desk and beginning to work on his story for writing club.