James and Regulus broke up after Regulus got the mark.
James got with Lily some time after but he knew a part of him will always be in love with the boy named after a star.
He was happy with Lily, he really was and he loved her the only way he knew- with all his heart.
He loved the little house they got and how they made it their home, made it everyone's home. Sirius, Remus, and Peter would pop up and just hang out and it was just like the good old days back in the Gryffindor tower just being teenagers and having fun and pulling pranks.
There was almost no time for laughter in the middle of a war.
Every day they got the word of something bad happening it was like there was no good news, only bad ones.
When James got the word that Regulus died, he went outside in the middle of the night.
He looked at the dark night sky and tried to look for the brightest star in the Leo constellation.
He couldn’t find it.
He cried that night like he never cried before.
After that night he spiraled.
He didn’t eat, drink or sleep and Lily couldn’t do anything to help him.
He would disappear in the middle of the night, no one knew where he was going.
Lily got so worried she talked to Sirius, Remus, and Peter but they didn’t know what to do either.
How do you cheer the boy who usually cheers? How do you make the sun shine again?
They were so used to James being the brightest they didn’t know what to do in the dark.
Sirius tried to talk to him, but James just kept disappearing.
One of the nights Sirius decided to follow him.
Turning into padfoot he walked in the shadows following his best friend into the place they all knew and loved and called home for 7 years.
Hogwarts.
He walked surprised after James who sneaked into the castle and almost lost him when James put on his invisibility cloak, but he could smell him as padfoot and the trail led him into a small room.
He had never been in this room before and it was abandoned mostly except for a big mirror with strange writing on it that stood in the middle of the room.
James set there, staring at the mirror with tears in his eyes.
Sirius turned back into himself and look at the mirror, expecting to see his reflection, and for a second, he did.
but as he looked closer, he gasped.
It wasn’t him in the mirror even though the boy looked like him. They had the same black hair and the same blue eyes but the boy in the mirror looked younger.
He recognized his brother Regulus and tears filled his eyes.
Regulus in the mirror smiled and set between James and Sirius.
He looked so happy.
James finally looked at Sirius and he smiled slightly.
"You see him too, right?"
His voice was rough and his eyes were red with tears.
Sirius set down and together they looked at the mirror.
They talked for some time about the boy they loved and lost and told storied and shared memories, reminiscing the days when they were happy together.
After that, they left and went to the astrology tower.
They looked at the sky and searched for the brightest star in the Leo constellation.
They found the Regulus star glittering in the night sky and the Sirius star as well and together they waited for the sun to shine again.