Chapter 3
When James woke that morning, he was pleasantly surprised to find that he could actually see through his window. There was a distinct lack of the trademark fog James had come to associate with Godric’s Hollow. As he approached his window to get a better look, his heart leapt. Snow coated every available surface, the trees looked beautiful with it.
Upon seeing that his father had already left for work, he felt his nerves begin to overtake him. James was a good driver, but he’d never actually driven in the snow. He was clumsy on his good days and while he tried his best to never let that carry over into his driving, he couldn’t help but feel anxious by this new terrain.
James could very clearly not go on a run that morning, so he used the extra time to make himself a nice breakfast. Despite his trepidation, James couldn’t help but feel excited to go to school. Not for the stimulating curriculum, or the company of his new friends. The honest answer was that school meant a chance to see Regulus, and that made James feel very, very stupid.
After all of his own mindless babbling the day previous, James should avoid Regulus like the plague. He also couldn’t help but be suspicious of Regulus lying about his eyes, why did he feel the need to? And no thought of Regulus is complete without a little fear that he would fall back on his cold, stand-offish personality traits. James felt tongue-tied even thinking of Regulus’ face, nevermind actually looking at it.
James, while fairly confident he wasn’t ugly, was not entirely sure how he looked to other people. Though he knew with absolute certainty that himself and Regulus were in two totally different leagues. James knew that, despite his growing attraction, he had no chance with Regulus. So, he decidedly shouldn’t be excited to go to school.
Mind made up, and heart disagreeing, James began his trek to school. His near-fall in the driveway did not bode well for the day, but he tried to keep a positive attitude nonetheless. Dad wouldn’t have left me at home this morning if he didn’t feel confident in my driving capabilities. I can do this, it’s just a little snow. He talked himself down the entire drive to school. The truck seemed to be doing fine, but that did little to quell James’ nerves.
When he pulled into the parking lot and got out, he saw why he’d had such little trouble. Each tire now had snow chains wrapped around them. James felt his heart swell. His dad must have gotten up very early to make sure this was handled for James, and he felt incredibly touched. He pulled out his phone to send a picture of the tires in the group chat he had with his parents, and thank them for their foresight.
He had just snapped the photo when James heard a high-pitched squeal, painfully loud, and coming his way. The noise startled James into looking up. In a fit of adrenaline, James found himself taking in many details at once.
First, there was Regulus Black, four cars down and staring at James with a look of pure terror on his face. His face stood out, like it was a magnet and James’ eyes were the purest metal. Always attracted to it. Second, and much more importantly, there was a gold minivan that was skidding through the parking lot. Tires locked, brakes squealing, and headed right for James. Thirdly, James saw that it was only going to hit the back corner of his truck. Coincidentally, that was the exact place he was standing. The van was coming right towards him.
Suddenly, James felt himself be pushed in the opposite direction he’d expected. His head smacked against the icy parking lot, as something cold and hard pinned him to the ground. He noticed that he was lying on the ground behind the green car he had parked next to. There was no time for any other observations, however, as the van was spinning around and reeling directly towards James again.
When a voice muttered a small “fuck”, James realized he wasn’t alone. When he was unable to see who was speaking, James realized he had lost his glasses, though he felt he could recognize the voice in his sleep at this point. Two large, pale hands shot out in front of James, and the van stopped a foot from his face. The hands left a large dent in the side of the vehicle.
The hands then moved so fast they blurred. James suspected the blur had little to do with his lack of glasses, and more to do with the speed at which they moved. One hand was now supporting the underbelly of the van, while the other was swinging his legs around, until they hit the tire of the green car. He heard a metallic creak, and all the tires returned to the ground. Exactly where, just a millisecond ago, his legs had been. The glass shattered and popped onto the asphalt around them.
James heard multiple voices yelling his name, but none mattered more to him than Regulus Black’s frantic voice in his ear.
“James? James are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” he said, though he thought his voice sounded odd, as he tried to sit up. It was then that James realized he was being firmly held against Regulus’ side. When he remembered this fact later, he would absolutely freak out, but the whole ordeal left him more dazed than he'd like to admit.
“Be careful, you have to move slowly, you’ve hit your head.”
“Ow,” James whispered, as it became apparent to him that he did, in fact, hit his head. Quite hard, if the pain was anything to go by. When Regulus spoke again, he sounded amused, like he was trying not to laugh.
“That’s what I thought.”
“How the… Are you alright? How did you get over here so fast? Your hands must be hurting.”
“I was standing right next to you, James. My hands are fine, they’re holding you.” If there was a double meaning there, James was too out of it to recognize. He thought Regulus was just trying to sooth him, so he nodded and said:
“My hands are holding your jacket, so at least we know all four of those made it out.”
James moved to sit up then, and Regulus let him go. James stared at Regulus, his blurry face turned away from James. But the injured boy was too busy staring at the beauty that was Regulus Black’s hands, which still happened to be very close to him.
James heard shouts of “help is on the way!” and “get him out of the car!”, but his eyes remained fixed on Regulus. He felt the need to get closer, to see every speck of those eyes as best he could and commit them to memory. He must have moved because Regulus moved his beautiful hand to James’ shoulder and said:
“Stay down for now.”
“But ‘m cold, Reg,'' James was shocked to hear Regulus laugh, though there was an edge to it. James tilted his head in confusion.
“You were over there.” He stopped laughing. “You were over by your car.”
“No I wasn’t James, I was right next to you.”
“I saw you.” he whispered, vaguely aware of the approaching adults. James knew he was right, and needed Regulus to admit it.
“James, I was standing right next to you. I pulled you out of the way, and that’s all there is to it, okay?” His voice was firm, and his head was turned towards James, who still didn’t have his glasses.
“If you’re glaring at me, I can’t see it, so it won’t work. Because you knocked my glasses off. When you ran at me from across the parking lot.” He didn’t know why he was acting this way but, screw it.
“Please, James,” there was a desperate edge to Regulus’ voice that made James reconsider.
“Why?”
“Just trust me.”
“Do you promise to explain everything to me later?”
“Fine.”
“Your pinky, if you please?”
“My what?”
“You said you promised, now pinky promise.” James held up his own pinky for the boy.
“No.”
“I have an injury, Regulus, and am doing you a favor, pinky promise me.” If James didn't have a head injury, he'd probably be smirking and making it seem more like a joke. But he was shaken, and cold, and some small part of him just wanted to touch Regulus again.
“Fine, but know, injury or not, you’re one of the dumbest people I’ve ever met.”
“Thank you,” James says as their fingers intertwine, thanking him for the promise and the insult. Even in his stupor, James is shocked by the temperature of Regulus’ hands, though he figures they’re cold from resting in the snow.
“We still need to get you a pair of mittens.” The world returned to focus as Regulus placed James’ glasses on his face.
“There you are,” they said at the same time. James with a smile, and Regulus with a polite tone, after having returned his glasses.
It took a total of eight people to move the gold van away from the two of them for stretchers to be wheeled in. Regulus was vehement in his refusal to be strapped to one, but when James did the same thing, it was Regulus who told them he’d hit his head. James' head hurt too bad to care about the neck brace they put him in. Though he was mortified to find the whole school watching. Nevertheless, James' heart leapt when he heard Chief Potter was on the scene.
“James!” He shouted in a panic, and James found a moment to be grateful he hadn’t called him “Jamie” in front of Regulus.
“I’m okay, Dad, there’s nothing wrong with me.” Monty turned to the EMT for a second opinion, and James began to review everything that had just happened. When he had been lifted on the stretcher he got a view of the shoulder-width dent that had been left behind from Regulus’ hands… that had definitely stopped the van, somehow.
Then there was his family. From across the parking lot, Regulus’ siblings seemed disapproving and annoyed rather than concerned for their brother’s well-being. James tried to put the pieces together in a way that didn’t result in him sounding insane.
The ambulance had an escort to the hospital, courtesy of Chief Potter. James felt ridiculous sitting there in a neck brace and stretcher when it was Regulus that stopped the van. Didn’t his hands hurt? Wasn’t anyone concerned about him?
They wheeled James into the emergency room and moved him to one of the beds in a long line, divided by thin pastel curtains. He was hooked to all sorts of wires and monitors to check his vitals. James considered removing his neck brace. He was fine, and all of this fuss was a bit ridiculous. But the look of panic on Monty’s face played through his mind once more, and he kept it firmly in place. Coincidentally, right after he let that thought stop him, a nurse came to warn him that if he removed it himself, he could cause even worse damage than there ever was in the first place. So, the neck brace stayed firmly put, for everyone's sake.
A flurry of motion saw Gilderoy Lockhart being rolled into the lineup as well. He had bloody bandages wrapped around his head, yet he looked directly at James.
“Well, that was a right scare then, wasn’t it?” Lockhart spoke clearly, so James assumed his head hadn’t been hurt too bad.
“It was, yeah. Are you alright?” His words were a little stilted by the brace. As they were speaking, the nurses began to undo his bandages, and James saw a series of cuts and scratches across his forehead.
“The doctors have to call my parents, it seems I’m at serious risk of concussion, and they're my emergency contact. Plus, with this head wound, I may even need a transfusion! I thought I was going to die in that car, I’ll tell you!” One of the nurses snorted but covered it with a cough. James was quite sure he would be behaving differently if he had been the driver of the car, but had no choice but to acknowledge Lockhart anyways.
“I’m sure everything will be fine, and your parents will get here soon.”
“It must have been a lot less scary for you, seeing as how I was able to get the car to stop, you needn’t have been frightened.” What an odd thing to say to someone you definitely almost hit with your car.
“Oh, um, yeah, between that and Regulus pulling me out of the way, I would’ve been fine either way," he mumbled. He would not have been fine either way, but he had never spoken to this boy before and had no idea what to say when someone so clearly needed attention. So, he did his best.
“Who?”
“Regulus… Regulus Black? He was standing right next to me.”
“Oh, I didn’t know he was standing by you. Nevertheless, he pushed you for nothing, I’m afraid, because I finally got the vehicle under control.” James was beginning to wonder if he, himself, had lived a totally separate chain of events from everyone else. Lockhart did not stop the van, Regulus did.
Lockhart’s words caught up with him then I didn’t know he was standing by you. So James wasn’t totally crazy. There was a huge dent in the side of the van, and Gilderoy hadn’t seen Regulus. Regulus stopped the van, and he hadn’t been standing next to me. James felt vindicated, though he did wish the other boy would shut up now. James had been in more danger than Lockhart ever was, yet he continued to brag about his driving capabilities.
James got his reprieve from the boy by being taken for X-Rays. He tried to insist that he was fine, or that he could go home and just wait there for the doctor to call him with the results, but was unsuccessful. After being returned back to the room, James pretended to fall asleep to escape Gilderoy and his unending bolstering. But then James couldn’t help but pity the boy a bit, Monty hadn’t left the waiting room once, James was sure. Gilderoy’s own parents hadn’t shown up yet, or even called, as far as James knew. Maybe he’s seeking that attention out from other people, and me in particular right now.
The thought made James feel guilty enough that he was just about to “wake-up”, and re-engage with him when he heard footsteps approaching.
“Is he sleeping?” James heard Regulus ask.
“Regulus, ole chap, James says you pushed him out of the way. An honorable thing but rather unnecessary, as I was able to steady the vehicle on my own.”
“Well, let us all be grateful for your abilities in making astute observations.” You didn’t have to be a wise man to know Regulus didn’t mean it as a compliment, you just had to be Gilderoy Lockhart to take it as one.
“Thank you! Shame James fell asleep, I was trying to explain to him how I did it.”
The doors swung open again, and a new set of footsteps approached.
“Mr. Potter?” Called a woman’s voice, it was somehow firm but gentle at the same time. As if to suggest that James was definitely going to open his eyes, but she felt a little bad to ask him. He opened his eyes and gasped as much as a neck brace allows.
This must be Dr. Pomfrey-McGonagall, and she was a sight to behold. She wore maroon scrubs and a welcoming smile. Long, curly blond hair was tied into a knot with wisps framing her face. Her angular face was pale and beautiful, her eyes were a similar shade of gold to Regulus’, though a bit darker than his were today. This just helped to further confirm to James that his eyes had changed colors since they met.
“Don’t try to speak but your X-Rays came back clear, so we’re gonna take this neck-brace off, alright?” She called a nurse over to support him and they did exactly that.
“Now then James, how are you feeling?”
“I’m really okay, just a little bump,” James was trying to sound mature and grown up, this was Regulus’ mother. She began to feel around his scalp, and he couldn’t contain his wince.
“Still tender?”
“Just a bit, but nothing I can’t handle. Trust me, I fall all the time. Am I good to go?”He heard a scoff from Regulus and looked over just in time to see the boy rolling his eyes. James felt his stomach start to turn.
“We’re going to let you go, your father is out in the waiting room, but if you feel dizzy or sick, you should come back and see us, alright?”
“Yes ma’am,” he nodded, “am I allowed to go back to school?”
“I’m afraid not, James, you better just rest for the day.” To her credit, she did sound truly regretful.
“Does he get to go back to school?” James’ tone was pointed at Regulus, he wanted his answers now.
“Of course,” Regulus said with a patronizing smirk, “who else would tell everyone you survived?”
“Actually, half the school is in my waiting room.” The doctor said, bemused.
“Please tell me you’re joking,” James did not want to deal with that right now.
“Would you like to stay?” She raised an eyebrow, it reminded James of Regulus.
“No, no! I’m definitely out of here,” he hopped off the bed quickly. Too quickly, apparently, because he almost fell down. Dr. Pomfrey-McGonagall caught him.
“I’m fine, thank you, sorry. Is it a requirement to graduate medical school that every doctor has cold hands?” He asked, trying to lighten the mood.
“It’s at the top of the list, how’d you know?” She laughed, “take some Tylenol for the pain if you must.”
“Thank you, Dr. Pomfrey-McGonagall.” The name felt like it tumbled out of his mouth, but by God this woman had worked for her doctorate with a hyphenated name and James wasn't about to disrespect that, thank you very much.
“Oh, dear, just call me Poppy.”
“Thank you, Poppy.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, James, but I hope to not see you again soon.” This made him laugh, maybe a little too hard.
“The feeling is mutual.”
She turned to Gilderoy then: “You, my dear, will be staying with us a bit longer.”
James looked at Regulus, who stared back.
“Can I please speak to you for a moment?” James was trying to be nice, this was a public setting, and the boy’s mother was right there.
“Your father is waiting for you.” His jaw was set, and James felt his composure slipping.
“I would like to speak with you alone for a moment, please.” James tried to say it just as Regulus had in the parking lot. He glared at James, then turned around and walked out of the room, and up the hallway. James felt as though he was sprinting to keep up with the boy. They turned the corner of a short hallway when he abruptly turned on James.
“What do you want?” His voice is annoyed, and James felt a bit intimidated by the malice, but continued on anyway.
“Will you please explain it to me now?”
“What’s there to explain? I saved your life.”
“Yes, and then pinky-promised to explain all of this afterwards. You can’t break a pinky-promise.”
“A pinky-promise? What are you, five?” His voice was cruel, “you hit your head, you have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my head, your mom just said so.” James didn’t realize it was possible for Regulus’ glare to get more intense.
“What do you want from me, James?”
“Just the truth. I want to understand why I’m lying for you.” His voice sounded desperate even to his own ears.
“Well what do you think happened?”
“I- You- All I know is that you were on the other side of the parking lot. Lockhart hadn’t seen you either, so I know that much is true. The van was going to crush both of us, but didn’t. And your hands left dents in the side of it, but you insist you’re not hurt. And then my legs were going to get crushed, but you held it up…”
James felt crazy saying all of it out loud, so he let himself taper off. His frustration was rising, and he felt the reflective tears gather in his eyes. Please just explain this to me. He wanted to beg, but he found that he had not entirely given his dignity over.
“You think I pulled a van off of you?” His tone was incredulous, as if James really was imagining things. However, it made James feel even more suspicious. The words didn't fall naturally from Regulus' mouth. It was like it was a script the boy was reading. Cue cards being waved at him from some out of sight location. A lie, and a desperate one at that. James nodded, not wanting to speak, and kept his jaw tight.
“No one will ever believe you.” His tone was scathing and James was torn down the middle. Part of him wanted to walk away, to forget everything about this, forget Regulus Black. The other part, the part he was more ashamed of, wanted to get down on his knees and beg for Regulus to trust him enough to tell him the truth. Because clearly there was truth to tell. Why else would Regulus think James was worried about being believed?
“I wasn’t-” his voice broke, “I wasn’t going to tell anyone.”
It became obvious that James was right when his statement shocked the pale boy, “then why does it matter?”
“It matters to me. I don’t like lying to others, and I certainly don’t like being lied to. Please, I just want to understand. If it’s something you don’t feel comfortable with everyone knowing, we can figure it out, together. I’ll help you, I swear. But first, please, just give me some answers?”
“Can’t you just thank me and get over it?”
“Thank you!” James was shocked, he really hadn’t said thank you? “Of course, thank you! I appreciate having my life saved as much as the next guy. How about we go out for some coffee and just talk this through, yeah? My treat, as a “thank you for saving my life”?” The need to cry receded, but didn't entirely disappear. He felt like he was trying to coax an injured animal out of its shelter. That, James was fairly confident he could do.
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“Well then, I hope you’re used to disappointment, James Potter.”
Later, James would blame his mood swings on the shock. He felt his tears returning to his eyes, and he felt the foolish words leave his mouth before he could get a grip on them. Perhaps it’s because he was drinking in every detail of Regulus’ face, glaring at his own.
“Then why bother, Regulus? Why did you even go through the trouble of saving me?” James felt he was at the end of his rope. Today was a whirlwind, and he was ready to go home, goddamnit.
His question made the younger Black pause once more.
“I don’t know,” it was a whisper, but it was the most honest response James had received from him. Regulus turned then, and walked away, without so much of a glance in his direction.
James’ nerves were fried. He stood there in the hallway for a moment, collecting himself. Breathing deep, he began his trek to the packed waiting room. Peter and Monty were the first to greet him, Peter wrapping him in the biggest hug James has received in a while.
“Oh, James, thank goodness you’re alright!” It warmed James to know someone cared for him so much, and so quickly.
“I’m alright, Pete, really, I am.” Monty’s hug followed after, but James kept it short, knowing that if he stayed wrapped in his father’s arms he really would start crying.
“Let’s get you home, son,” and so they did. Monty signed the necessary paperwork, after the nurse reiterated everything Poppy had said to James. Peter stayed diligently by his side, even offering to come home and keep James company so Monty could go back to work. His dad was moved, and welcomed Peter to come over another time, but said that tonight would be a night dedicated to calling and reassuring Effie. James was grateful to both of them for different reasons.
He held his dad’s hand the whole ride home. He knew it was not the stereotypical teenage-boy move. He knew it wasn’t the stereotypical dad move either, but the Potter men had a love language of physical touch and, in that moment, each needed reassurance that the other was there.
“Alright, Jamie, shower, or bathe I guess, just something warm, then a nap. Then we can call your mother and eat dinner together tonight, okay?” James nodded and the plan commenced. When he woke up from his nap, his dad had made soup, and was already on the phone with Effie.
“If you’d like to come home, that’s okay. I don’t think you’ll get any complaints from us. Oh, James is awake.”
“Oh, Jamie, how are you feeling, my dear?” It was a relief to hear his mother’s voice.
James shrugged, “Better after sleeping, I suppose. Did Dad say you’re coming home?”
“I think I should, you’ve just had a fright, and it’s been about a month since I’ve been home anyways.”
“I’d like it if you did. But don’t feel like you have to cancel any events over it.”
“James, I’m your mother first, always. I’ll cancel any event, any time I want if you need me to.” He gave his mother a small smile.
“Well, then, I guess we’ll be seeing you soon.” The three chatted about lighter topics, Effie booked her flight, Monty wrote the details on the whiteboard on the fridge for important notes. Currently it held the good-bye message Effie had written last time she left, James’ flight details from the previous week, and the dinosaur James had drawn there over a year ago.
James went to sleep early that night, still feeling a bit frazzled. He took pain medicine from the bathroom cabinet, brushed his teeth, and said goodnight to his father. As the pain decreased, James began to fall asleep.
That was the first night he dreamt of Regulus Black.