You could call me James
~Sirius~
After he had talked with James's things had been a little better. He still misses his little brother of course, but he now knows that his little brother can't be saved from a place he loves.
Sirius is angry about it.
But then again, isn't he always angry?
Tomorrow is the first of September, and he Prongs and Wormy have already gotten all they need.
So now, they are packing.
“PADFOOT WHERE IS MY QUIDITCH SHIRT”
“I DON’T FUCKING KNOW PRONGS; YOU WORE IT YESTERDAY”
“Language Sirius!”
“SORRY EFFIE”
There's a lot of walking up and down stairs, well running really.
“Hi Sirius.”
“Hi Pete?”
Peter looks around the room looking for something.
“My tie?” Peter asks, looking up at an annoyed Sirius.
“Jesus Peter my room doesn't contain your tie, it's all messy now, could yo-”
Sirius gets interrupted by peter, in fact, finding his tie.
Peter grins up at him; “You were saying?”
“MOONYYYYYY PETER IS BULLYING ME” Sirius says, a bit too whiny maybe.
“YES, I’M COMING CHILDREN” Remus yells from downstairs.
~Regulus~
“Regulus.” His mother calls him.
He runs downstairs, quietly, she's in a bad mood today. And he's about to figure out why. “Mother”
“I talked to Dumbledore.” She says his name with such disgust Regulus is surprised he manages to stay still.
“You're in the boy dorms now, with your little friends.”
He breaths, for the first time in a while.
A smile climbs it's way on to his face “Thank you, Mother.”
His mother sighs and leaves. Regulus stays there. He will have to come out to his friends, but he would have to anyways.
Regulus stops walking when he sees Sirius's door. He stops walking. He stops breathing. He stops blinking. He stares.
He's gone
Sirius is gone.
Gone
G
O
N
E
G
O
N
E
And he won't come back.
Because he hates Regulus.
And maybe,
he's right to.
Regulus would be lying if he said he didn't hate himself too.
~
As he walks onto platform 9 ¾ he has to remind himself to breath. He isn't drowning, he knows that.
Yet-
“Juni?”
Evan stares at him very VERY confused.
“Hi, Evan”
Regulus answers, pulling Evan to the train by his sleeve.
When they've found an empty cabin Regulus turns to him. “I-uh”
“What the fuck? What happend to your hair? And your clothes, and you?”
“E-Evan I need to tell-”
“There you are.”
Says his saviour, Pandora. “I love the new hair.”
Evan looks at her like she holds all the mysteries of the universes and then turns to Regulus “Mate, you look like a boy.”
“I am a boy.”
Regulus answers, no place for doubt in his voice.
“Isn't that lovely Ev? You know, yesterday I read this article about muggle bugs, and it appears people find them scary! Oh, I just feel so bad-”
“Fuck you mean you're a boy?”
Regulus stares at him, and Evan stares back. “I am a boy; my name is Regulus.”
Pandora smiles absently and Evan keeps staring at him. Trying to peel him apart with his gaze and find the ‘problem’.
“No you-”
“Evan. He's clearly a boy. A lovely one too, I bet Regulus does want to hear about muggle bugs.”
“But she-”
“Evan.”
Pandora looks at him, eyebrows raised.
“I just don't understand.”
Pandora smiles, Regulus looks at him; “I always was a boy, but my body didn't agree.”
Evan keeps staring at him. “Yes, okay sure. That's fine I guess. Just give me a minute.”
And under his breath; “It's way to early for this.”
Regulus rolls his eyes. “It's 11 o’clock.”
“exactly.”
They are quiet for a while. Then Evan looks up; “J-Regulus, Barty?”
Regulus stares at him “Wh- oh.” Barty woun't be okay with this.
Barty had already thrown a fit when Evan came out as ace.
Evan looks at him “We’ll figure it out Reg.”
“You promise?”
Regulus sounds scared, Evan notices. Regulus barely ever sounds anything, let alone scared.
“Always.”
A few minutes later Barty does indeed walk in, he looks at Regulus.
“Barty, let him explain?”
Evan sounds uncertain.
“Him? Fuck no.”
Barty still hasn't taken his eyes off of Regulus; “You're a fucking girl don't act like that's something you can choose.” His voice is filled with venom, yet he isn't shouting. Must've picked that up from his father, Regulus thinks.
“C’mon crouch don't act like you aren't a fucking faggot.”
Barty might be cold, but two can play the game they were raised to survive.
“I see how you look at him when you think nobody is looking. What? Now your fucking scared because I’m not only a better person than you, but also more off a man?”
Regulus is staring him down, intimidating him, he is scaring him. They all knew it. Yet none of them would ever admit it.
One second Barty is staring at Regulus,
the next Barty's wand is to Regulus's truth.
“What. The. Fuck. Are you talking about Black?!”
Regulus doesn't flinch, doesn't look scared.
“Oh, you know what I’m talking about. You scared I’m going to steal your boy from you?” Well don't worry Crouch, you didn't stand a chance anyway.”
Evan is pulling on Barty's arm, but they know it iss pointless. Pandora had looked up from her books and looked worried.
“You are fucking unlovable Crouch.”
Regulus sees something switching behind Barty's eyes.
“DIFFINDO.”
Regulus's throath is bleeding, it is deep, but not irreversible. He falls to his knees.
He know he looks pathetic, he is kneeling, he had failed.
“Next time it’ll be fucking Crucio Black. You're a fucking little girl.”
Barty leaves. Regulus is nearly unconscious.
“Reparo.” Evan whispers, the cut healing. It leaves a small scar, an irreversible scar. Well, it won't be Regulus's first.
He kneels beside Regulus.
“Fuck Reg, you okay?”
Regulus manages to nod in respond.
He is still on the floor, blood on his shirt and Evan's hands,
When Potter walks in.
He looks startled, at the blood then at Regulus, a flash of anger being visible in his face.
“Whose blood is that Regulus?”
Regulus rolls his eyes;
“Calm down, it's mine.”
Potter does not, in fact calm down.
He lets himself fall to the ground
“What happened?”
Regulus stares at him for a second,
“Crouch got a bit... upset at the situation.”
“What was the situation?”
Evan looks at Potter
“It wasn't his fucking fault Potter; Barty was being homophobic.”
Regulus gives Evan a look. “Well for what that matters, he was indeed being a bit homophobic. Nothing I couldn't handle. What are you doing here?”
Potter sighs; “Well it doesn't look like you handled it.”
“Potter. What are you doing here?”
Potters stares at him, a flicker of something, sympathy? Being visible in his eyes.
“I-uh I was looking for Mo-Remus"
Regulus glances at him.
“Well, he's not here, is he Potter?”
Potter shakes his head “You could call me James you know, I wouldn't mind.”
Regulus raises an eyebrow and shakes his head; “A friend of my brother is no friend of mine.”
~James~
He might have imagined it, but James thought he saw something in Regulus. Desperation? Desire?
Fear?
James obviously hates Regulus, but he knows it can't be easy for him. He was cut open by his fucking friend, who the fuck does something like that?
He understood the situation though; in second year Sirius had been acting a bit weird the first few days. When James took him apart, he told James he was scared. Scared for his little brother. Because he had to be his sister. James had felt bad for Regulus, but he didn't know how to do anything about it.
And while he might dislike Regulus at the moment, he knows how to do something now.
So even though he is searching for Remus, he is not displeased that he finds Barty Crouch instead.
He sits down next to him, and even though Barty looked at him weird, and upset? He does not move.
“Hi Barty”
“Why are you here Potter?”
“You hurt Regulus, why?”
“Her name is Juniper.”
Well this is going no better than he had expected. “You know it's not Barty” Barty looked away, and James notices the redness of his cheeks.
“He couldn't stand up you know. Evan looked so scared. He did too, Regulus, I think at least.”
Barty meets his eyes for the first time during the conversation; “She should be, nobody will accept this.”
“I will. And Evan has, and Pandora, and Sirius, even his parents have.”
“They're stupid then, the dark lord will not appreciate this.”
James's breath hitches in his throat at the mention “I don't think.... I don't think he cares about things like that. He just cares about blood purity and power.”
James struggles not to get mad, why would it matter what he thinks.
Barty rolls his eyes; “Why are you doing this Potter? I thought you'd hate Juniper after Sirius” He says his name so venomously that James winces “disappointed them all.”
“Sirius cares about him, whether he wants to or not.”
“Whatever Potter, go away.”
With that, James knows his luck is up and he leaves to actually find Moony this time.