Chapter 15
James, Regulus and Lily were lucky, the boat was still there.
Regulus squeezed past the other passengers. It was all men, as the women (and a few men) were already in the almost full boat.
"Remus!"
"Oh, thank god," Remus murmured. "Come on board!"
The black-haired young man nodded. He turned and waved James and Lily over.
Regulus returned on time, but he had not counted on being three of them. They had completely misjudged the situation.
Regulus and James glanced at each other. The two young men agreed that Lily had to get into the lifeboat.
Only the second part of the plan was not so unanimous. James wanted to put Regulus and Boot and Regulus James.
"Lily, get on board," James and Regulus said at the same time.
"What? No, I-"
"Lily, get on the boat," Remus ordered her.
It might have worked with anyone else, but not with Lily. She raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.
"I won't- Hey!"
The young woman had no time to protest. James picked her up and just put her in the lifeboat.
She swayed at first and held on to Remus. The young officer helped her sit down before looking back at James and Regulus.
"James, you're an idiot!" Lily hissed angrily.
"I know," James replied.
He gave her a small smile. Lily smiled back slightly but felt like crying. She realized that James had never intended to get on one of the boats.
Now that Lily was safe, all James had to deal with was Regulus.
"Ok, Reggie, you're next," he said.
"What? No, I'm not going without you," Regulus explained.
"No, you have to go, now."
"No. You go. Lily is waiting for you. Just–"
"Get in the boat, Regulus."
"No, James."
"Yes. Get on the boat!"
"No!"
"Yes, get on the boat, Regulus," the young man heard a familiar voice.
Snape had appeared next to the two.
Regulus looked at him in surprise. What was he still doing here? The young man would have expected Snape to have left already.
"Oh my God, look at you," Snape said, looking worriedly at Regulus. "You look a fright. Here."
Snape removed his cloak and draped it around Regulus' shoulders.
"Put this on. Come."
"Leave me alone," Regulus said, stepping away from Snape.
James stepped between the two and Regulus moved closer to the lifeboat.
"Go on. I'll get the next one," James assured.
"No, not without you," Regulus repeated, like the steward at the small staircase a few minutes ago.
"I'll be all right. Listen, I'll be fine. I'm a survivor, all right? Don't worry about me."
Regulus scoffed. The ship sank, most of the lifeboats were already gone and James told him not to worry.
"I'll always worry about you," Regulus reported.
James looks softened.
"Reggie-"
"I have an arrangement with an officer on the other side of the ship," Snape explained. "James and I can get off safely. Both of us."
James looked at Snape. He did not believe a word the other man said. But he had to admit that they had the same goal, to get Regulus to safety.
He turned back to Regulus and tried to sound convincing. James was an awfully bad liar.
"See? I got my own boat to catch."
"Go on, hurry. They're almost full," Snape added.
"Step aboard, Regulus," Remus said.
The young officer helped him onto the boat.
No sooner had Regulus stepped on the boat than he was embraced by his brother.
"Thank God I thought- When Remus said you were going to run back, I thought-"
"I'm ok, brother."
Sirius released his little brother and Regulus punched his arm.
"Ow-"
"You just took off like that."
"Sorry, I didn't think you would notice."
"Of course, I do," Regulus said sourly. "Never do that again."
"I promise. Now sit down, we have to go."
Regulus took the vacant seat next to Lily - the boat was full.
Sirius helped Remus and Lovegood launch the boat. And for the first time since the ship had started to sink, he could breathe deeply.
His brother was the most important person in his life and the thought that he wouldn't make it to the boat in time was torture.
The older Black brother looked at Regulus while the latter kept his eyes on James.
Sirius followed his brother's gaze.
James glanced over at him- he knew he wasn't going to make it. With his eyes he asked Sirius to take care of his little brother and Lily because he couldn't anymore.
Sirius nodded unobtrusively.
No words had to be exchanged. Regulus' brother would of course take care of him like he always had.
Of course, he would not let Lily down either. Sirius could only imagine what life must be like for a single woman and he would help her as best he could.
James looked back at Regulus and Lily and a slight smile returned to his lips.
He looked at them and knew that this would be the last time he saw Lily and Regulus. It pained him to know that he wasn't there to help them.
But they could manage without James. Neither Regulus nor Lily were alone.
"Clear the rail, please. And, lower away!" Mr. Lovegood's voice snapped Sirius out of his thoughts.
The young man helped the officer and steward launch the lifeboat.
"You're a good liar," Snape said when Regulus was out of earshot.
"Almost as good as you," James replied. "There's no – there's no arrangement, is there?"
"No, there is," Snape replied. "Not that you'll benefit much from it."
James looked away from the boat that was just being launched and at Snapes direction.
"I always win, James," Snape said. "One way or another."
James turned his gaze back to his best friend and Regulus.
Regulus looked at James and James stood and watched the boat getting farther and farther away from him.
The younger Black brother realized he could not go. He could not leave James.
Regulus looked back at his brother.
"I'm sorry, frère," he murmured.
Sirius furrowed his brows. Regulus should be sorry for what?
Suddenly Regulus is moving. He lunges across Lily next to her. Then he reaches the gunwale, climbs it.
"Regulus!" Sirius shouted.
He wanted to stop his brother, but since he was holding the ropes, he could not. Sirius held the rope with one hand and grabbed Regulus with the other.
But Regulus hurls himself out of the boat to the rail of the A-Deck promenade, catching it, and scrambling over the rail.
"No! Stop him!"
"Reggie, what are you doing?!" James yelled.
The young man landed on the deck while the Boat continues to go down.
Regulus Black was back on Titanic.
~~~~
James pushed himself off the rail and immediately ran towards the other man.
Regulus and James met at the bottom of the stairs. Regulus practically threw himself into the other man's arms.
James didn't know what to think. He was glad to be able to hug Regulus again. On the other hand, the other young man was now back on a sinking ship.
"Reggie! You're so stupid! Why did you do that, huh?"
James broke away from the younger man and kissed him.
"You're so stupid, Regulus. I thought you were smart."
"I am... normally," Regulus said and kissed James.
"Then why did you do that? Why?!" James wanted to know.
"You jump, I jump, right?" Regulus reminded James.
"Right."
They hugged again.
The younger man buried his face in James' neck.
"It's all right," James assured. "We'll think of something."
Suddenly Snape appeared at the stairs, and he didn't seem happy about that.
"Come on!" James said. "Move!"
He grabbed Regulus' hand and pulled the young man with him, Snape close on his heels.
They ran down the stairs and the bottom of the grand staircase is flooded several feet deep.
James and Regulus ran down the stairs two at a time and ran straight into the water. They forded across the room to where the floor slopes up, until they reached dry footing at the entrance to the dining saloon.
"Come on! Come on Regulus."
~~~~
The two young men walked through the partially flooded dining room.
"Come on!"
They hid in one of the corridors and listened to see if they were still being followed. Neither of them knew that Snape had given up.
"Your ex is mad," James mumbled.
"He's not my ex," Regulus replied, extremely glad to say so.
James raised an eyebrow.
"Your mother and Snape would say otherwise."
"James!" Regulus hissed.
James raised his hands defensively.
For a moment, all Regulus heard was the running water and the creaking of the ship. Then they heard someone scream – a child.
James and Regulus looked and there stood a little boy, wet to the bone and terrified.
"Dada!"
The little boy reminded Regulus of himself when he was his age.
Regulus was afraid of the dark back then and even cried at times. His parents didn't care - he should learn to deal with it. It was Sirius who always came to calm him down.
"We can't leave him."
James nods and they leave the promise of escape up the stairwell to run to the child. The older man picks up the kid and they run back to the stairs but–
A torrent of water comes pouring down the stairs like rapids. In seconds it is too powerful for them to go against.
"All right, come on!"
They walked the other way and down the flooding corridor, while they blasted up spray with each footstep.
At the end of the hall James and Regulus found heavy double doors.
They approached the doors and saw water spraying through the gap between the doors right up to the ceiling. The doors groaned and started to crack under the tons of pressure.
"Go back!"
Regulus and James ran back the way they came, taking a turn into a cross-corridor. A man was coming the other way.
He saw the boy in James' arms and cries out. He stepped up to her and grabbed the boy away from James.
The father started saying something in another language, probably insulting James.
Then he ran away with the boy–
"It's the wrong way! Come back!"
"No, not that way! Come back! Stop!"
The man ignored James and Regulus and grabbed his trunk again. He was now standing with his son directly in front of the double doors.
Then, out of nowhere the double doors blasted open, and a wall of water thundered into the corridor.
The father and child disappeared instantly.
"Go!"
James and Regulus ran as a wave blasted around the corner, foaming from floor to ceiling.
The ice-cold water knocked them like a locomotive.
They were knocked over by the force of the water. They were swept along by the water a few meters until they hit a grating.
The water rose steadily and rapidly.
"This way!"
James and Regulus shimmied along the overhead pipes to a small stairway.
They rushed up the narrow steps and had to stop again. They were standing in front of a locked grate again.
James looked down and saw that the water had reached their ankles.