Chapter 2
"You agreed to do what!" Regulus just sighs, they've been over this multiple times since he finally got back to his dorm room. He'd not gone to find Sirius after talking to James, having needed to get somewhere quiet to go over what he'd just agreed to. Barty wasn't the only one surprised by his agreement, he still wasn't sure why he agreed to it himself. "Yes Barty, I agreed to go to Potters over the holidays. I miss my brother, sue me"
"But it's Potter! He's been a thorn in your side since the year started, and all it took was one measly conversation to get you to cave in?" Throwing his hands up Barty crosses the room and flops down unceremoniously next to Evan, "I mean seriously Reg, aren't you a bit worried?"
Obviously he's worried, the anxious feeling that settled with him at the end of his conversation with James had stayed with him through the rest of his classes for the day and caused him to duck and avoid his friends, who had been trying to catch up to him all day, not put out by his avoidance. Pandora probably already knows how he's feeling, she always seems to know what was going on with all of them at all times. Now is no exception as a loud knock on the door startles Regulus out of the staring contest he had been having with Barty.
"come in!"
Pandora and Dorcas both enter the room and head straight to Evans unused bed to sit. "You guys think Reg has gone off it too, right?"
"Well Barty it would be nice to know why exactly you think he's gone off it first?" Dorcas looks rather unimpressed with Regulus and his avoidance of them all day. With a sigh, Regulus starts his story again and explains his conversation and James' offer.
"Oh that sounds lovely Reg, you need to be able to spend some time not worrying about what could happen if your parents found out you're still talking to your brother" And Pandora's right, he's already looking forward to just being able to breathe. If he can find a way to get rid of this anxious feeling he's currently carrying around with him it would be even better, but he's not even sure he can pin point whatever is causing it. He reasons once he's actually at the Potter's he'll feel better.
Barty is still rolling his eyes, clearly wanting to get back onto their original conversation.
Sighing, Regulus picks up where he left off "of course I'm worried Barty, but it's just because Potter is annoying and i feel like he's definitely going to bother me all holiday even tho he said he wouldn't"
Now Dorcas is rolling her eyes "obviously he's still going to bother you even tho he said he wouldn't Reg, this is James Potter we're talking about here after all" and Dorcas is right. He's regretting his decision more and more by the minute but "there's no backing out now, Sirius will never let me hear the end of it".
Regulus and Sirius had always been close, the last couple of years have been straining and testing for both of them. But Sirius seems to want to put the effort in now that he's living with the Potters, and Regulus wants his brother back. If that means they have to sneak around, so be it, he will. And he'll even go to Potters for a two week break if it means theres a chance to get his relationship with his brother back to what is used to be. Walburga and Orion seem deadset on keeping Regulus far away from Sirius, but he doesn't care, as long as he can be subtle and keep his head down everything will be fine. James doesn't know how to be subtle though, which is why Regulus agreed to go, maybe Potter will surprise him and actually be useful.
"Well Reg, you've got until the end of the week to really decide don't you, term ends in two weeks but you'd better decide this week so you can sort anything out you need to so that you can avoid your parents?" Evan is right, of course. And really, Regulus has already decided. He supposes he'll need to speak to his brother soon then. But for now he just needs to sleep it off, if he has to think about all this for much longer he's liable to have a meltdown. Sensing his all around discomfort, Pandora clears her throat "alright well, we're gonna head back to our dorms. Let us know what you decide Reg, and please don't avoid us again"
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Regulus wakes up early the next morning, the low green glow coming in from the windows looking out into the lake providing a peaceful ambiance. He casts a quick tempus to check the time, 0530, too early really but Regulus knows he won't fall back to sleep now that he's up and decides on a shower to help quell the already pooling anxiety in his stomach at the thought of talking to his brother and a professor about how best to avoid his parents. It's going to be a long day. Regulus is in the great hall by 0730 for breakfast, along side Barty and Evan, who had essentially had to drag him from their shared dorm and who are also currently making a plate for him. His appetite is basically nonexistent at this point, but as the plate is sat in front of him, he at least tries to pick at it, knowing that Barty will call him out if he doesn't at least try to get some food into him. the great hall is quiet at this time of morning, not many people like being up so early, but Regulus enjoys the quiet of it. He thinks to himself that it's probably this quiet because his brothers lot haven't made it down for breakfast this early, although Regulus can see some of the other people his brother hangs around, Macdonald and Evans are sat close with their heads down looking at something between them, with Mckinnon sat across from them talking to Dorcas who has decided to have breakfast with the Gryffindors this morning.
A loud crash at the other side of the hall interrupts Regulus' train of thought, his brother and Potter have come barreling into the great hall, followed closely, but not as destructively, by Remus and Peter. All of them making their way over to sit at the table where the girls are, Sirius immediately pulling Remus to sit next to him while simultaneously stealing a muffin from Mckinnon's plate. "Oi! piss off Black, get your own muffin. Remus control your man would you!" Regulus blinks, watching the interaction. He doesn't realise he's been staring for too long until Potter looks up and makes eye contact with him. He tries to hold his gaze, but after a moment Regulus looks down at his food, unable to meet Potters inquisitive eyes. He takes another peak up and see's that James has leant over and is now whispering to his brother. After a moment Sirius looks up and catches him watching. Regulus see's the moment Sirius decides he is going to come over to the Slytherin table, with a sigh he prepares for whatever his brother could possibly need to say right now in front of half of his classmates instead of waiting until later when they can be alone.
"Salut, frere. James a dit que tu avais accepte de venir avec nous pour les vacances?" At least using French can keep the conversation slightly more private. "oui, je l'ai fait. Pouvons-nous faire le reste apres, s'il vous plait?"
Sirius just nods his agreement and walks off, Regulus takes a look down the Slytherin table, it's still too early for anyone who would cause trouble to be awake, so he takes a relieved breath. "What did he want?". He only just remembers he is sat with Barty and Evan, "He was just asking if I actually agreed to come to the Potters, I said I am but also asked if we could just talk later, speaking in French will only protect me so much." He's not naive enough to think that him and Sirius are the only people at the school who can speak French, so it's best to just speak in private. Being seen speaking to Sirius in French is just as bad as being seen speaking to him in English.
Sirius meets regulus in the abandoned classroom they agreed on at the start of the year, its not the best or safest place to meet but it's still better than most of their other options.
"So, James sent an owl off to his parents yesterday. He said they'd likely get in contact with Minnie as soon as they can so everything can go smoothly."
"That was fast, I figured he would at least wait until I'd spoken to you about it." Definitely no turning back now it seemed. "Will we need to get Slughorn involved or do you think we can go over his head even though he's my head of house?" Theres no specific reason Regulus doesn't want to involve Professor Slughorn, other than he's a bit obsessed with Regulus' apparent status. He doesn't think he would, but he'd be worried about whether Slughorn would say something to his parents, and would rather just avoid the possibility all together.
"I'll talk to Minnie, I'm sure she would be able to work something out for us." Regulus would never tell anyone, but he'd always been jealous of his brothers Gryffindor status, having a head of house he could actually get good and unbiased advice from. The last time Regulus went to Slughorn for something, he was brushed off rather fast after he declined yet another invitation to the Slugclub. His parents hadn't been happy when they heard he had turned him down the first time, but Regulus had been able to convince them that it's not all that impressive this year, Lily Evans being in the Slugclub helped him there. Regulus doesn't feel any type of way about her but his parents know her as a muggleborn so Regulus used that to work in his favour.
"So we're actually doing this then?"
"Don't sound so put out little brother, it'll be fun! Moony and Wormy usually join us on the second week too! You'll like Remus I think, you're both nerds" Just what he needs, more witnesses to his poor judgement. Regulus feels like the next couple of weeks were going to go by extremely slowly.