I Will Follow You Into The Dark || Jegulus

22. Thrashville 2/3

After his odd study session, James was curious. Regulus intrigued him, and he wanted to know what made him so... unsettled by other people. Could it be his cruel parents? Or more weight on top of him.

James knew it was rude to pry, but he had no control over his emotions, and every muscle in his body wanted him to be near Regulus.

One particular night, James found himself staring at the map. It was addicting sometimes, seeing everyone in the castle. Gave him a sense of security. As he was looking around the castle, seeing students in common rooms, teachers and prefects in the corridors, he noticed a particular familiar name in the astronomy tower.

James was never fond of astronomy, it confused him more than anything else. He decided to head to the tower though, a place he never went to often, but the view was always astounding.

"James, what are you doing?" Remus asked, James jumped and quickly closed the map, mumbling mischief managed quietly.

"Nothing." He mumbled. James had been a mess since... well he never thought about it. He thought maybe the party, getting humbled and punched in the face by Regulus. He didn't fully know why, but that fucked him up. The area around his bed was messier than Sirius's part of the room, and that was saying something. He was not himself.

But who was he? and was he ever truly himself? dealing with bipolar almost completely on his own was hard. Of course the Slytherin, Barty said he would be there for James, but how would he even get in touch with him? and more importantly, could James trust him?

"James... what's up? you know you can always talk to us?" Remus said. James tried not to snap, but he couldn't control himself. It was either that or break down in tears, and James didn't want to do either.

"Leave me alone!" he snapped, "Fuck... I didn't mean it that way." he covered his mouth. How did he even have friends at all? He terrified himself, he didn't even do anything yet, but the thought of hurting his friends in any way terrified him. "I need... I need to be alone right now." James rushed out of their dorm, snatching his invisibility cloak on the way. 

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James aimlessly wandered around the palace, unsure of where his feet were bringing him. He held tears back until he calmed down, and eventually, he found himself in the Astronomy tower. He didn't know why, what compelled him, but he walked up all the way to the balcony on top. 

The sight he saw was unexpected. Regulus was lying in the snow, curled up in a ball, tears running down his face. "I fucking hate you." he mumbled to nobody.

"Regulus?" James gasped. 

Regulus jumped up, a look of anger spread across his face in an instant. "Get out." He sneered. 

James noticed Regulus shivering. He didn't have a jacket. "You're going to get hypothermia out here!" James threw the cloak over Regulus's shoulders, not thinking about him finding out.

"What the fuck is this? an invisibility cloak?" Regulus asked, but still wrapped it around himself, leaning into the warmth.

"uhm - fuck... yeah?" James said, "How about we go inside, you're going to die out here." He suggested, and surprisingly, Regulus followed him. James didn't know what he was doing, but he was doing it. James almost tripped over his feet on the way to an indoor sitting space. He sat down next to a shivering Regulus.

Even cold and wet, James thought he was beautiful. Why he was out there, James didn't know, and he wouldn't pry. All he could think about was Regulus looking up at the sky, shivering, as if the sky offended him so much that he would suffer just to glare at it.