The role you made me play, of the fool.
Regulus sighed as he put away the now-clean dishes and checked the clock on the stove again. He shook his head and walked over to the living room, settling in his favorite chair and pulling his book out of the end table next to it. He barely glanced up at James when he came bounding into the room, a bright smile on his face.
“Reggie!” His boyfriend exclaimed upon seeing him.
“Oui?” Regulus muttered, keeping his eye on the words in front of him.
“I was wondering if you wanted to go with me to the shops.”
Regulus just shook his head. “Non, thank you.”
“You sure? I can get you that book you’ve been wanting.”
Regulus recognized what James was doing, how he wanted to go shopping but didn’t want to go alone. “What about Remus?”
James shrugged. “Taking a nap.” Regulus nodded, knowing that Remus’s chronic pain and fatigue sometimes made him miss out on things.
“Okay, I’ll go with you.” James smiled and did a little happy dance, wiggling around. “On one condition.” Regulus chuckled as his boyfriend froze mid-wiggle, standing still skewed off to one side.
“Anything, mi corazón.”
“We get Remus a couple of books too. If this flare-up lasts as long as the last one did and is as bad as that one, he’ll be bed-bound soon and I want to make sure he has something to keep himself entertained.”
James nodded and returned to his dance, humming a tune he made up on the spot as he grabbed his and Regulus’ shoes and brought them over to the man still relaxing in the chair.
Regulus chuckled and slipped his bookmark in the crisp pages before closing it and setting it back in the drawer in its spot before sliding on his shoes and standing. James grinned and grabbed his keys from his hook by the door before holding it open for Regulus and beckoning him through the threshold of their apartment.
Regulus rolled his eyes and followed the man out the door, making sure it was locked behind them. As he walked to the car, he sent Remus a text explaining that he and James were going shopping and to call him if he needed anything. He finished the text with an “I love you” and a singular heart emoji before sending it and shutting his phone. He slipped it in his pocket and chuckled as James opened the door of the car for him.
After he slid into his seat and pulled the seat belt taut, he watched James turn on the car and he scrolled through the radio, insisting that James keep his eyes on the road and he’ll pick the music, thank you very much. After deciding that none of the radio stations were to Regulus’ liking he huffed and pulled out his phone before connecting it to the aux cord and pulling up his playlist on Spotify and shuffling the songs. With a gentle smile on his face, he leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes, humming along to the music and letting the car's gentle movement relax him.
When they made it to the center of town Regulus was roused from his short nap when the car stopped. He watched the rows of buildings go by and grinned as he watched James pull into the parking lot of the bookstore, knowing they would have to drop off their books before they went into any other shops. James smiled over at him and he grinned back before raising his eyebrow.
James opened his door and raced around to Regulus’ before he could open his own.
“Such a gentleman, Jamie.” Regulus chuckled when James helped him out of the car with an extended arm.
“Anything for you, mi estrella.” James returned with a warm smile before leading Regulus towards the shops lining the streets.
Regulus made sure he walked into the bookstore first, getting lost among the shelves of new and old books always calmed the train of anxiety that ran rampant in his mind.
James caught back up with him after leaving some books that Remus had mentioned he wanted at the checkout with the clerk and his name. Regulus smiled at his boyfriend as he wrapped his arms around his waist and tucked his head into Regulus’ neck, breathing in the scent of his perfume. Regulus chuckled as he felt James relax around him.
“Enjoying yourself Jamie?” Regulus smiled as he pulled a book off the shelf and read the back.
James nodded, “Mhm. Love your perfume.”
Regulus rolled his eyes. “I know, you always say that when I wear it.”
“It smells like the ocean, you can’t blame me.”
Regulus chuckled again. “Is that your way of saying you want me to book us a trip to the coast?”
James just nodded again and breathed in deeply.
Regulus smiled and wiggled his way out of James’ hold before handing him the stack of books he had been carrying. “Here, hold these.”
James smiled and chuckled as he grabbed hold of the books and held them close to his chest, following Regulus around the section dutifully.
After an hour and multiple trips to the counter to drop off the stacks of books Regulus had acquired for their quickly growing home library, they were finished and before long the backseat of James’ car had been filled with loads of books both new and old.
Regulus pulled his phone out when he felt it buzz with a new text and he felt the icy chill of his anxiety flood his veins again.
“Shit. James.” Regulus handed James his phone and leaned back on the car as he attempted to catch his breath.
“Fuck, okay. It’ll be okay baby. Breathe, love. I need you to breathe with me.” James kept his voice calm as he spoke, knowing that one of the two of them had to keep calm or nothing would get done. He could have a breakdown later. Right now, Regulus needed him.
When Regulus was finally able to breathe normally again, he looked up at James, who could see the panic still in his eyes.
“We’ll go to Mary’s and see if she knows anything. If not, we go home and tell Remus and we all regroup and figure out where to go from there.”
Regulus nodded and took another deep breath before James led him to Mary’s cafe.
Mary smiled at the two when she saw them though Regulus could swear he saw a glimmer of sadness in her eyes.
“Hey, Mary.” James greeted with a smile, his tone not betraying how panicked he actually was.
“Hey, James!” Mary smiled at him.
“We were wondering if you had seen Sirius earlier. Something happened and I know he usually comes here to hang out when he needs a break.”
Mary nodded before she spoke. “He was, then he left with some weird-looking guy.”
Fear flashed through Regulus. Barty. He left with Barty. Fuck.