The Time is Near
October 31st, 1976
Halloween has always been James’ favorite time of year. He loves it. Loves the costumes, the festivities, all of it. But Halloween at Hogwarts? Now that's really special.
The castle is decorated for the holiday, covered in bewitched pumpkins and orange and black tinsel garlands. The feast is amazing, and the food is even better than usual. And the parties– oh, the parties. They're the best.
This year, though, there aren't any Halloween parties. Not large, house-wide ones at least. People are stressed and keeping to themselves as Voldemort’s dark presence grows in strength around Britain. Attacks have increased in numbers and more students seem to be going home at the word of bad news, and not returning. It scares James and makes him sad. People are going missing, the parents of his classmates, family friends. No one seems to be safe. He feels useless, like there’s nothing he can do. To be frank, there isn't anything he can do. He's 16 years old and hasn't even finished school, let alone made it to NEWT level Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. It doesn't stop from wishing he could, though. Doesn't quench the thirst he has these days to join the fight.
Anyway, the lack of real parties is how James finds himself standing in the boy’s dormitory on Halloween with Remus, Sirius, and Pete, wearing dress robes. Well, Pete’s not wearing dress robes, but that's because he wasn't invited. To the Slug Club Halloween party, that is.
“You'd think he'd invite me since he invited all of you,” Peter grumbles, his arms crossed as he slouches on his bed, looking them over. “He knows we’re all friends.”
James sees Remus hold back an eye roll at Pete’s petulance. They already had this conversation multiple times since the invitations went out, including at the Halloween feast earlier that evening. Nothing has changed.
“Oh, Wormy,” Sirius sighs, his voice full of a teasing pity, “Consider yourself lucky. Do you really want to spend your Halloween with old Sluggy?”
“Well, I'd rather do that than sit here waiting around for you lot to come back!”
“We won’t be gone long, Pete. Don't worry about it, we never stay the whole time.” James assures him with a smile.
“That’s because you always get kicked out,” Remus sighs, “You really need to stop getting caught.”
-
“Alright, are you guys ready for this?” James asks Remus and Sirius, as they make their way to Slughorn’s. “I say we try to stick it out, but if it's shit, then we make all of the goblets explode and leave. Deal?”
“Deal,” The other two boys respond in unison, nodding.
“I also have something that'll make the night better,” Remus says, his eyes twinkling. He opens the pocket of his robes to show them both a bottle of fire whiskey. “Knicked it over the summer. Saved it for a special occasion.”
“Oh, Moony!” Sirius bellows, grabbing Remus’ face and kissing his cheeks dramatically, “Have I ever told you how much I love you?”
“Occasionally,” Remus grumbles, his cheeks tinged pink and a smile fighting at his mouth.
“Not enough, Remus. Never enough.” James grins, leaning in to kiss him too.
“Oh, shove off,” Remus groans, pushing James away and walking ahead of him and Sirius. “Let's open it up behind one of these tapestries.”
-
About twenty minutes later, all three boys feel a little bit more tipsy than they did before, and they make their way to Slughorn’s. He’s reserved a large room on the fifth floor for tonight’s festivities, and it’s been decorated completely for the holiday. Floating and enlarged pumpkins hover just under the ceiling, twinkling orange, purple, and black balls of light flicker on the walls and ceiling, and faux cobwebs are strung over tables, chairs, and columns throughout. There’s also a dark purple-ish black fog spreading across the floor. It’s all very well done, in James’ opinion. Spooky, as his mum would say.
“Wow, Slughorn went all out this year, didn’t he?” Sirius observes, letting out a low whistle and nodding his head appreciatively. He turns to look at Remus and James, his face solemn, “Should we blow it up?”
“Patience, Sirius,” Remus shakes his head, flashing a fond smile, “I’d like to enjoy the party for a bit. I need to find Lily. She'll kill me if we start any pranks before we see each other.”
“Lily’s here?” James asks, his eyebrows flying up. He shouldn’t be surprised. Lily is top of their year in potions, aside from Snape. Slughorn loves her.
“Of course, Evans is here,” Sirius rolls his eyes at James, “Damn, Prongs, you’ve really lost your touch.”
James doesn’t say anything to that, just gives Sirius a weak smile, shrugging. It still shocks him a bit, how little he thinks about Lily since Regulus showed up. It’s like he came around and changed the weather.
“ Oh,” Sirius breathes, “Look who it is, lads.”
They turn, only to see Snape walking in alone. His hair is draped over his face, and he’s one of the few teens at Hogwarts that acne has actually afflicted. His dress robes are old and fraying around the edges, obviously second-hand. It’s kind of depressing, seeing him. He’s like a walking bat. He fits right in with the theme of the party, James thinks.
“Hey! Snivellus!” Sirius shouts, his chest puffing out, “Great outfit! I didn’t know they sold ‘ugliest git around’ costumes in Diagon Alley.”
“Sirius,” Remus warns, “Don’t.”
Sirius’ smile falls from his face and he glances at Remus before looking back to Severus, who is staring at them like he’s gonna kill them with his eyes alone. It gives James the creeps, but he's not in the mood to engage, and it's clear that Remus isn't either.
“C’mon, let’s go,” James urges, moving Sirius and Remus along, “Let’s grab drinks.”
Most of the people from Gryffindor seem to be congregated at the refreshments table, chatting idly as people continue to arrive. Marlene and Lily obviously arrived before them as they’re already standing by the food, giggling to each other from behind their glasses.
“Ladies,” Sirius says, bowing dramatically, “How are you on this fine Hallow’s Eve?”
“Better before we saw you,” Marlene says, dryly. James laughs because she doesn’t really mean it. She and Sirius have always been pretty close, actually. Marlene felt the loss of him on the Quidditch just as much as James, if not more. He was her partner-beater.
“Marlene, you wound me,” Sirius cries, before offering his hand, “Will you dance with me to make up for it?”
Marlene rolls her eyes, smiling, and takes his hand and the two of them make their way to the floor, falling into graceful swoops around it.
“You know, it’s rather annoying how graceful he is when he’s so infuriating,” Lily says to James and Remus, watching Sirius lead Marlene.
“Tell me about it,” Remus grumbles, blowing a huff of air out of his mouth that causes his dirty blonde curls to raise up in the air slightly.
“Er, I think it’s quite nice,” James says, looking between the two of them, “He’s having fun?”
“Of course you do, James,” Lily sighs, “He’s your other half and all of that. We get it, I promise you. Me, personally? I’ve always preferred Regulus.”
“What?” James splutters, “Regulus? You don’t even know him!”
“I don’t need to,” Lily says, loftily, “He’s quiet, smart, talented– the whole package. He’s like Sirius, but humble. I mean, they look exactly the same, so that’s really what the difference is.”
James is speechless, his mouth quite literally hanging open as he gapes at Lily. He knows he had some fire whiskey before this, so he's not all there, but there's no way he's drunk enough to be hallucinating this right now.
“I used to think Sirius was the better-looking one,” She continues, “But I don’t know, Regulus is quite handsome, isn’t he?”
“Sure, Lils,” Remus laughs, “He’s handsome.”
“What is going on right now?!” James asks, genuinely distressed. “Also, Regulus and Sirius do not look exactly alike.”
“What?” Lily asks innocently, ignoring his last comment. “You don’t think Regulus is good-looking?”
“Of course I– I mean, what, no? Why are we even talking about this? Why do you think Regulus is handsome?”
“Look, there he is,” Remus says, lifting his hand up and waving, “Regulus, get over here!”
Lily and James both turn to see Regulus, who has clearly just arrived. He’s flanked by Pandora, Evan, and Dorcas. He’s wearing a pair of onyx black dress robes with glittering silver constellations on the collar and wrists. He looks– well he looks rather beautiful, really, James thinks.
As Regulus approaches, James’ heart starts pounding in his chest. He doesn’t know why he’s so nervous. That’s his– well, that’s Regulus. He needs to be normal.
“Lupin,” Regulus greets, nodding at him, “You wanted something?”
“We were just talking about you!” Lily says, brightly. Oh, James thinks, oh no. Regulus is not going to like that.
Regulus raises a brow at her, his eyes cold, “Oh? And what were you saying?”
If it was James, he would have withered underneath Regulus’ gaze, but Lily doesn’t falter. Maybe she’s met her match, or Regulus has met his.
“Only good things, I promise,” She smiles, tilting her head to the side.
Regulus looks at her, his lips pursed. After a moment, he gives her a close-mouthed smile, extending his hand. “Well, assuming that’s true, thank you very much. I’ve heard great things about your talents from Professor Slughorn, and I can't forget your hospitality at the Gryffindor party.” Lily smiles widely at him, her green eyes lighting up. James looks between the two of them, shocked. Are they flirting?
“Regulus, your pureblood heir side is showing,” Evan sings from behind him, “Quit with the handshakes and niceties, it’s a party.”
“You can’t blame him, Ev,” Dorcas says, “It’s all in the breeding.”
Regulus rolls his eyes, looking at James. “Potter.”
“Regulus,” James says back, unable to stop himself from smiling. “Hi. I didn’t realize you’d be here. I mean, I’m happy to see you, obviously. I just didn’t think about it– not that I don’t think about where you’ll be, but yeah. Hi. It’s nice to see you.”
Regulus raises his eyebrows at James, the corners of his mouth twitching. “It’s nice to see you, too.”
James can hear Dorcas, Pandora, and Evan tittering from beside Regulus, but James doesn’t pay attention, or care if he's making a fool of himself. His eyes are on Regulus, and it might be the greatest sight he’s seen. Regulus’ grey eyes look especially silver in color tonight, the constellations on his robes bringing out the colors.
“James,” Remus says, clearing his throat. James turns to look at him and Remus raises his eyebrows at him. Oh, he’s staring. Shit.
“Sorry,” James mutters, his face flushing.
“Are those two together?” Dorcas asks, breaking the awkward silence and pointing at Sirius and Marlene, who are holding hands and spinning wildly around the dance floor, laughing.
“Sirius and Marlene?!” Lily practically shrieks, turning to Dorcas, her voice far more frantic than James would have expected it to be. “Merlin, no! Never, ever.”
“Ah, okay. Thanks, Evans.” Dorcas says, nodding her chin in response with a slight smile.
“Why don’t we greet Professor Slughorn?” Pandora asks, peering at the group, “Do you lot want to join us?”
“I’m going to hang back,” Regulus tells her before looking at James. “I’ll find you in a few minutes.”
Pandora nods at him, smiling and squeezing his hand. The group walks away, leaving James and Regulus standing across from each other, alone.
“Hi, James,” Regulus smiles, and James’ heart flutters, “You’re ridiculous, as usual.”
“You look amazing,” James says, quietly, so only Regulus can hear him.
“You do too.”
They smile at each other a moment, until Regulus spots something over James’ shoulder, going rigid.
“What is it?” James asks, looking around. There’s nothing, or no one, that catches his eye.
“It’s nothing,” Regulus says, shaking his head, but his eyes are still trained behind James. He looks back to him again, meeting his eyes, “I should probably make some rounds. Maybe we can meet afterward? Go to the Room?”
“Yeah,” James agrees, “Definitely. I’ll just go there when I’m done and we’ll meet each other when we meet each other, yeah?”
“Yes, that sounds good,” Regulus says, distractedly before giving James a nod and walking away. He’ll ask Regulus more about it later, James decides as he watches him walk away, eventually losing the back of his head in the crowd of people.
James sees Sirius, clearly leaving the dance floor, and makes his way over to him.
“Hi Pads, having fun?”
Sirius grins at him, tossing his hair over his shoulder, “Always. Hey, have you seen Moony?”
“Last I heard he was going with Lily and Reg’s friends to say hello to Professor Slughorn.” James shrugs, “Haven’t seen him since.”
“Reg’s friends?” Sirius questions, “Reg is here?”
“Oh, yeah! I just saw him, but I’m not sure where he went. He said he had to greet some people.”
“Huh,” Sirius murmurs, scanning the room. “Well, keep an eye out, why don’t you? I’d like to hang out with him a bit if he’s here.”
“Sure,” James nods, and the two begin walking, presumably looking for Remus or Regulus. James guesses it's really just whoever they find first.
“Are you having fun, Prongs?” Sirius asks, giving him another smile. “I thought I saw you talking with Lily while Marls and I were dancing. Any luck with that?”
“Oh, no,” James shakes his head and looks at his feet in the dark fog they’re walking through. “No, I think that’s well over.”
“Finished before it even began,” Sirius says, dramatically, giving James puppy eyes. “The saddest love story of all time.”
James just laughs, shaking him off. “Y’know, it was a bit odd, really. Lily was asking about Regulus, and said she thought he was handsome.” He spares a glance at Sirius out of the corner of his eye, trying to gauge his reaction.
“Handsome? Reg?” Sirius says, obviously bewildered. “Does Evans fancy Reg? I mean… That would be– disturbing, frankly. That’s my little brother we’re talking about.”
“He’s not that little,” James finds himself saying, “He’s not really little at all, actually.”
“What are you on about? You really want Lily to fancy my brother?! Come off it!”
“That’s not what I said,” James argues, getting a bit irritated, “I’d prefer she didn't actually.”
Sirius shoots James an apologetic look, “Sorry, Prongs. I didn’t mean to rub it in.”
“No, I-” James opens and closes his mouth. He really shouldn’t keep talking about why he doesn’t want Lily to fancy Regulus to Sirius . “It’s fine, don’t worry about me.”
Sirius looks at him, pity lining his face, but doesn’t comment. “I think I see Pete and Marlene over there, let’s go.”
-
Regulus has never been one for Slughorn’s parties. He wouldn’t have agreed to come tonight if it wasn’t for his friends. They were insistent that he attend, which they usually are, and it doesn't change anything, but Regulus has been more agreeable lately. Lighter. More of James’ influence, his friends tease him. He rolls his eyes when they say it, but he thinks it’s true. It’s rather nice, really, to be influenced by someone who’s just– all good.
“Regulus,” Pandora gushes, “Oh, you look so fit.”
He looks at himself in the full-length mirror in this boy’s dormitory. He does look rather nice, he supposes. Since he left Grimmauld Place without any notice, he hadn’t been able to bring any of his usual clothes or dress robes. He wasn’t sure what he was going to wear tonight, but he placed a custom order to Madam Malkin’s for constellation-themed robes and billed it to his family vault, just to see if it would work. It did, which is both good and concerning. He’s not going to think about the concerning part right now.
“Thanks, Pandora,” He says, looking at her through the mirror. “You look beautiful.”
Pandora smiles widely, giving Regulus a curtsy in her billowing lavender robes.
“Will you-know-who be there tonight?” She asks, wiggling her eyebrows at him.
“I’m really not sure,” Regulus looks down, adjusting his cufflinks. One of them has his constellation engraved into it, and the other has Sirius’. It’s pretty sentimental of him, but no one will be able to see them under the sleeves of his robes. It’s just for him.
“I’m sure he will,” Evan says, walking in the door, “He likes to act like some class-clown jock, but Potter is smart and has a good family name, according to most people. I’m sure Slughorn will have invited him.”
Regulus nods because Evan is right. He had thought about it and factored seeing James into his decision to go tonight. He feels excited and nervous at the prospect, but isn’t quite sure of how to interact with James around others. His friends– Evan, Pandora, and Barty, know what’s going on, so things can be civil-- friendly even, but he still has to watch his interactions. There’ll be a lot of Slytherins at tonight’s party, including Snape. There’s also the fact that Barty won’t be there and Dorcas doesn’t know. He needs to tread carefully. As nice as it is to feel like this–- lighter and happier–- Regulus knows it’s dangerous to accept and show fully, for a number of reasons.
“Barty’s off sulking, Merlin knows where,” Evan continues, “Dorcas is waiting in the common room, whenever you two are ready.”
Pandora lets out an exasperated sigh, “Barty wouldn’t need to sulk if he’d start doing his school work for Potions. It’s not as if he hasn’t been invited in the past. He’s slacking and the consequences are presenting themselves.”
“No need to explain it all to me, Pandora,” Evan laughs.
“Barty will never do his Potions work and even if he did, he’d find something else to piss Slughorn off,” Regulus scoffs, “Let’s go get this over with.”
-
“Well, don’t you look positively dapper,” Dorcas exclaims, walking beside Regulus. “How’d you get your hands on robes like that? I thought you didn’t bring any of your old things.”
“It’s not important how I got them, Dorcas. Just important that they got here.”
She gives him a quizzical look, and Regulus knows that she must know. Know that it has something to do with his parents. But, Regulus hasn’t done anything to actually contact them– he’s just used their gold. There shouldn’t be anything wrong with that, he tells himself.
But– he knows that it’s not right. Not because he has an issue with taking their gold, but because they let him take their gold. The Black Family vaults are monitored down to the smallest moving of galleons, so they’re definitely aware that Regulus used some of their funds. They approved the transaction.
Regulus knew his great-great-grandfather was likely telling the truth, but this is concerning. They really are waiting. He shoves the thought down. Now isn’t the time.
“Everyone try to be polite tonight,” Pandora says as they approach the entrance to the party, “Slughorn is a nice old man. Let him have fun and don’t cause any problems, please.”
“Pandora,” Regulus rolls his eyes, “You’re talking to us, not Barty, we’ll be fine.”
-
Regulus is right, the party is fine, good even. He was able to speak with James, which was nice, even if James was openly ogling him. He swore he caught a glimpse of Snape watching him speak to James, but when he left to find him, he was nowhere to be found. It has him feeling on edge, which is why he pulls his wand out when he bumps into someone coming around the corner.
“Merlin, Regulus,” Sirius yelps, looking down at the wand Regulus put to his throat, “What the fuck are you doing?”
Regulus blinks, looking at his brother. It's just his brother. He lowers his wand and steps back.
“Are you following me?” He asks, eyes narrowed at Sirius.
“You bloody drama queen, no. I saw you come around the corner so I wanted to say hi, but I’m not following you.” Sirius narrows his eyes back at Regulus. “Even if I was, were you going to curse me?”
Regulus looks at Sirius and thinks before responding. He honestly isn't sure if he would have cursed him, had he surprised him enough, but that’s probably not what he should say.
“There’s no productivity in exploring hypotheticals,” Regulus says, tightly.
“You’re such a little prick. What are you doing lurking back here anyway?”
“I wasn’t doing anything and I wasn’t lurking ,” Regulus rolls his eyes, “I wanted a moment alone, is that not allowed?”
Sirius purses his lips, looking Regulus up and down. “Well, you got your moment, let’s go back to the party.”
The two of them enter the party room and a strange sense of nostalgia hits Regulus as he walks side by side with his brother. They step in unison, heads held high, shoulders back in their perfectly pressed dress robes. People stare as they walk through the room. It reminds him of when they were younger, attending family events or pureblood balls.
Sirius turns to look at him, apparently reading his mind, and flashes a grin, “Kind of like old times, yeah, Reggie?”
Regulus allows himself to give Sirius a small smile. They used to have fun at things like this, back when they were kids. Before Sirius was too young to get into fights with their mother, they’d run and play together, laughing gleefully as they hid from the other children. A part of him wishes that they could do that now.
He opens his mouth to say something to Sirius when a strange quiet falls over the room. Regulus’ head snaps to the center of the room where a glowing, phoenix made of light is hovering. Sirius grips Regulus’ shoulder and steps in front of him, seemingly shielding him from the Patronus.
“Horace, there’s been an attack in Hogsmeade and across parts of Britain. Muggle and Wizarding families have been affected. Werewolves were involved. Please join me in my study at your earliest convenience.” Dumbledore’s voice rings out, deep and serious. Gasps and whispers begin to spread throughout the crowd of students.
“How were werewolves involved?” Regulus asks Sirius, quietly. “It’s not even the full moon.”
Sirius looks to Regulus, his face pale and eyes wide, “Reggie, I- I have to go find Remus, but you go back to your dorm, okay? I’ll find you tomorrow.”
“Remus?” Regulus asks, his eyebrows drawing together, “His family? Were they attacked? How do you know?”
“No, it’s not his family, it's- I just have to find him. I’m sorry.” Sirius squeezes Regulus’ shoulder and quickly makes his way through the crowd.
Slughorn swiftly begins dismissing students and ordering them to their dorms. It’s pure chaos– people are crying and shouting, milling about the room as they attempt to leave the party or find their friends. Regulus searches the room for a familiar face, but he doesn’t see anyone that he wants to find. He decides to leave, and meet James at the Room of Requirement as they had promised.
When he makes it into the hallway, he parts from the rest of the Slytherin students heading to the dungeons and makes his way upstairs. Once he’s on the stairs, he casts a quick disillusionment spell and keeps going.
Regulus has always been on the paranoid side, he knows this, but after a few minutes he can feel the prickling sensation on his neck that means one thing: someone is watching him.
He pauses, looking around the dimly lit staircase. His disillusionment spell is holding, but he knows they're never perfect. Disillusionment spells aren't like invisibility cloaks– they don't hide the caster, they just disguise them, like a human chameleon. This means that if someone really is watching him, their spell has kinks in it too. He squints, trying to make out the telltale ripple of the enchantment.
There, just a few steps below him, he sees it, the stone taking on an unnatural shimmer. Wordlessly, he casts a revealing spell and in quick conjunction, expelliarmus .
“You,” Regulus hisses, catching Snape’s wand in his hand with ease and undoing his disillusionment. “What are you doing following me you creep?”
Snape stares back at Regulus, his gaunt face colorless and his eyes wide. His eyes flicker to his wand in Regulus’ fist.
“Well?” Regulus demands, pointing his own wand at Snape. “What are you doing?”
“I-” Snape stutters, obviously shocked to have been found. This brings Regulus some minor relief. At least it seems like Severus wasn’t planning to attack him.
“Speak!” Regulus shouts, taking no chances as he advances towards Snape, the point of his wand pressing into the other boy’s throat. Regulus watches as Snape’s Adam’s Apple bobs against the wood of it. “You're always eager to run your mouth in class and the common room, Severus. What’s with the hesitation now?”
“I know something is going on between you and Potter ,” Snape finally says, practically spitting James’ name. “You should know that he’s hiding something from you, and so is that pathetic blood traitor you call a brother.”
Regulus doesn't respond, his face still screwed up in anger as he glares at Snape. He swallows the rush of hatred he feels towards the other boy at the insult toward Sirius. Regulus presses his wand harder against Snape’s throat, threatening him to continue.
Snape attempts to put space between himself and Regulus’ wand, but he just bumps into the stone wall as Regulus closes the space he made.
“Those attacks tonight?” Snape asks, his face pained as he speaks, swallowing hard, “I can promise you that your brother and Potter know more than they're letting on– just ask Lupin.”
Regulus’ stomach knots as he recalls Sirius dashing off to find Remus after the announcement of the attacks. No, he thinks, there’s no way. Absolutely no way that Sirius, James, or Lupin could be involved in something like that.
“You're the pathetic one, Severus,” Regulus shakes his head, huffing out a cruel laugh, “How on earth would James or Sirius have anything to do with that? Or Lupin? Have you become so unreasonably obsessed with my brother and his friends that you've resorted to daydreaming about them? Making up idiotic stories like this one?”
“I always liked you, Regulus. Thought you were better than your ridiculous brother,” Snape grits out, clearly struggling against Regulus' wand, “After this summer, my opinion faltered, but even then I never took you to be a fool. But this? Your ridiculous denial and clear weakness for James Potter? You're worse than a fool.”
“You expect me to take you at your word? Against my brother, my own blood?” Regulus refuses to acknowledge any mention of James from Snape.
“Think, Regulus,” Snape says, almost pleadingly, “Haven't you ever noticed that Potter and your brother, and Lupin and Pettigrew are unavailable on certain days of the month? Haven't you ever wondered why?”
The gears in Regulus’ head begin to turn quickly as Snape’s words fall into place. Regulus has noticed that James is unavailable at certain times, sometimes for a whole day, usually beginning in the evening. He never thought much of it– Regulus takes plenty of time for himself and his friends as well. As for Sirius, he doesn’t keep as close of an eye on him, but he does always join James on those nights. But, the attacks? There's no way, no way they could be a part of them, I mean werewolves– werewolves , Regulus realizes, his stomach dropping. They couldn't possibly be working with werewolves.
Remus flashes in Regulus’ mind. His tall frame and surprising strength, both physically and magically. His tendency to fall ill regularly. His scars. Regulus tries to keep his expression neutral as the realization comes to the forefront of his thoughts, but his brow furrows without his permission, and he knows Snape sees it.
“You understand don't you,” Snape asks, eagerly, like the two of them share some kind of inside joke now. “What he is?”
“You're disgusting,” Regulus sneers, pulling his wand back. Snape rubs at his throat, his face confused as he watches Regulus’ reaction. “Speak a word against any of them, any of them, and you'll wish you were never born. I mean that, Severus. Don't take me for a fool. I'm not a fool, I'm something much worse, I promise you. You'll find yourself wishing that's all I was.”
Snape gapes at him, his face turning red as he flushes with anger. Then, he lunges towards Regulus, making a grab for his wand, and all hell breaks loose.
Snape kicks Regulus in the knee, causing his leg to buckle as he falls to the ground. Snape climbs atop him, wrenching his wand from Regulus’ hand. Regulus quickly pushes him off, shooting a knock-back jinx at Severus. It hits him in the shoulder, throwing him slightly off his kilter, but he recovers quickly, sending an expulso curse toward Regulus, who manages to deflect it smoothly.
Regulus scrambles backward, getting to his feet and adopting a dueling stance as he realizes this is a real fight. Severus does the same.
The two of them go back and forth, matching each other somewhat equally, although Regulus has a slight upper hand. He'd have even more of an advantage if he was willing to use dark magic against Snape, but they're at school. He can't, not yet.
Anyone familiar with the Black family, or the current Death Eaters, would be able to recognize that Regulus spent time being trained by Bellatrix. He moves quickly, light on his feet– almost playful if he wasn't actively trying to hurt someone. There’s also a steadfast ruthlessness to his form. He casts wordlessly, his wand slashing through the air with no hesitation detected. He advances towards Snape, sweat building on his forehead.
He's never dueled someone who isn't Bella, Rodolphus, Lucius, or Narcissa, so he’s not exactly sure how to predict Snape. His inability to cast wordless magic helps, but there's only so much that stunners and shields can do for the two of them.
A spell goes whirring past Regulus’ ear that reeks of dark magic and Regulus’ heartbeat picks up. Fine, he thinks, the voice in his head sounding like Sirius, if Snivellus wants to play dirty, then we’ll play dirty.
He throws a curse at Severus, one that Bella taught him, that causes intense pain and burning sensations on the skin of the victim. It’s not as intense as the Cruciatus curse, but it still hurts like a bitch. Regulus would know– she only taught it to him after demonstrating it on him.
When it hits Snape, square in the chest, he falls to the ground, crying out in pain. Regulus wonders if he should feel bad about that, but he doesn't. He stares down at Snape, stepping on his wand arm.
“Finished yet, Severus?” Regulus asks, cocking his head to the side. “I think it's best if we end here.”
Snape grumbles under his breath, wincing from the weight of Regulus’ shoe and the lingering pain of the curse. “Fine.”
Regulus steps back, giving Snape space to get up.
You know, Regulus has never been a very trusting person, so he’s not sure why he allows Snape to recover without disarming him, but he does. Snape stands slowly, visibly shaken. He glares at Regulus through a curtain of his dark hair. Regulus looks back at him, raising a brow at him.
When Snape straightens, he turns around to leave. Regulus is surprised that he's willing to accept defeat like that, but also quite relieved.
Suddenly, Snape whips around, his wand pointed at Regulus’ chest, “Sectumsempra!”
Regulus is no stranger to pain. In fact, he'd go as far as saying the two are pretty well acquainted. But this- this pain isn't like anything he’s felt before. The curse slices to the bone, shredding his dress robes, and his skin in tandem. He screams, falling over from the pain and force of it. He frantically palms at his chest, wincing as he feels the gashes on his chest and torso. He brings his hand to his face, only to find it covered in hot, red blood. He can feel it soaking his clothes, running down his skin like water.
“What did you do?” Regulus whispers, looking up at Snape. He swears he sees a flicker of fear in Severus’ eyes, but just as soon as it's there, it's gone again.
“You got what you deserved,” Snape responds, his voice shaking, making him sound much less threatening than he clearly intends to, “Let’s see if your brother and Potter come to your rescue this time, too.” He turns again, and this time he really does leave.
Regulus lays there, slumped against the stairs. He forces himself to raise his arms and apply pressure on the wounds to slow the bleeding. He whimpers in pain as he presses on the wide gashes, his fingers slipping into the valleys of them from the slickness of the blood pouring out. He’s going to lose a lot of blood. He is losing a lot of blood.
“ Oh, Merlin,” Regulus laughs, wincing as his body shakes and stretches the cuts that litter his torso. He looks down at his blood-covered hand, noticing that the stars on the cuffs of his robes for his mother and father are soaked with blood, too, glittering with it. Rather fitting, really. “I’m going to die.”
He’s not sure how long he lays there because time seems to be passing both incredibly slowly and quickly, but the blood keeps coming. He can't reach his wand, it's fallen a few steps below and he's too weak to move to grab it. His head begins to feel faint, and his vision seems to blur at the edges. It's almost pretty, the way he sees the world like that. Everything seems to have a sheen to it. He can feel his consciousness fading, but he fights to stay awake. He thinks about Sirius as his cufflinks catch his eye. Where is Sirius?
“Regulus,” A familiar voice laughs, from not too far away, “What are you doing lying there?”
Regulus can barely lift his head at this point, and even his eyelids feel heavy as he looks up to see who found him.
“I- I need some help,” Regulus whispers, his voice weak.
“Regulus? What’s wrong?”
“Please,” Regulus pleads, closing his eyes, “Help me.”
He feels strong hands gripping his shoulders, “Regulus, what the fuck happened to you? Who did this?”
Regulus opens his eyes, that pretty sheen still covering the world around him. He smiles weakly when he realizes it's James who found him. Of course, it’s James. James looks so scared, his eyes wide and frantic as he presses against the wounds on Regulus’ chest.
“Ow,” Regulus groans, his head falling back against the stairs.
“I'm sorry,” James says, his voice high and strained, “I’m so sorry, love. Regulus, I'm going to have to lift you up or cast a levitation spell. We have to get you to the hospital wing.”
Regulus just nods. He doesn't feel like fighting right now.
“You have to stay awake, okay, Reg? You can't fall asleep.”
Regulus just groans. He’s so tired. Doesn't James get that?
“I'm just going to send a Patronus to Pomfrey, okay? So she's ready for us,” James says, speaking so fast that it's hard for Regulus to keep up, “And Sirius. I'm going to tell Sirius to meet us there.”
Regulus pays attention then, his eyes opening. “Sirius,” He rasps, “I want Sirius.”
“I'm going to get him for you, Regulus, I promise,” James assures him, his voice thick. Regulus looks up at him again and sees that his face isn't just shiny from the sheen, but from tears too.
“You're crying,” Regulus realizes, frowning slightly, “Why are you crying?”
That seems to be the wrong thing to ask because James cries harder, a muffled sob ripping out of him. He goes to cover his mouth with his hand, smearing blood on his face.
Things become disjointed for Regulus after that. He remembers seeing James’ patronus gallop away– a large stag. He remembers James levitating him into the air and how the shift in position made him cry out in pain, which made James panic.
Then, he's in the hospital wing and Madame Pomfrey is leaning over him, casting quick incantations that he doesn't recognize.
He's fading in and out, the lights of the infirmary blinding him, when he sees Sirius– his face only inches from his own.
“Sirius,” He gasps, his voice rough, “You came.”
Sirius looks back at him stricken, his mouth open to speak, and that's the last thing Regulus sees before he loses consciousness.