𝓟𝓱𝓲𝓵𝓸𝓹𝓱𝓸𝓫𝓲𝓪 || Regulus Black

2.7 - Accusations

After his fall on the Quidditch pitch, James was rushed to the school's hospital wing for immediate medical treatment. His team members, his friends, and his sister all followed him to make sure he was alright. 

The game was put on time out, so the game was paused until one team forfeits, or the Gryffindor team chooses to resume the game without James. 

Since the game was paused and he wasn't playing at the moment, Regulus left the Quidditch pitch and followed Ophelia to the hospital wing. 

He met her outside the infirmary, standing a few metres from Sirius and the rest of James' friend group. 

"Oh my Merlin, Reggie." Ophelia said when she saw Regulus and immediately ran into his arms. "They won't let us inside yet, but he's unconscious and they don't know anything else."

"What happened?"

"The Quaffle just went crazy and it was like a cannonball. James was just unlucky enough to fly in front of it." Ophelia explained from what she'd been told. 

"Oh, please." James' friend Peter Pettigrew spoke up. "Quaffles don't just go crazy like that."

Ophelia looked at him with a confused gaze. 

"What do you mean?" She asked. 

"I mean it was sabotage." Peter told her.

A chill crawled down Ophelia's back. The thought of how scarily competitive Quidditch can get never crossed her mind until now. She began to get scared for her brother and Regulus, who both played, and could also get very competitive sometimes. 

"You have no proof of that." Regulus said. "You can't just throw around accusations like that."

"Really?" Asked Sirius. "Well, how about this one? I have a sneaking suspicion as to who was behind the sabotage."

Sirius stared at his brother, implying that he was talking about Regulus.

"Don't be ridiculous, brother." Regulus rolled his eyes. 

"I'm not being ridiculous! You charmed the Quaffle! Admit it!" Sirius shouted. "Your face right before the game just screamed 'up to no good'."

"Sirius, stop it." Ophelia said firmly. "Regulus is right. You have no real proof and you have no right to make accusations like that until you find some."

Sirius looked down at her, riddled with frustration he couldn't let out, especially not aimed at Ophelia. 

"And so until then," Ophelia continued. "James is in the infirmary right now, you could focus on that instead of petty, baseless arguments with your brother."

"Fine." Sirius sighed. "Sorry."

Sirius apologised, but it was the kind of apology a mother would make him retry over and over until he actually sounded even a tad empathetic. 

"Thank you." Ophelia said. "Now, I'll be back before James wakes up."

Ophelia started to walk away, pulling gently on Regulus' arm to signal for him to come with her, which he obeyed. 

As they turned the corner of the hall and were out of earshot from the fourth years, Ophelia looked Regulus in the eyes and asked "You didn't really do it, right?".

"Now you're sounding like all of them." Regulus scoffed. 

"You're not denying it." Ophelia said, looking down at the ground. 

"Ophelia, I don't know what you want me to tell you." 

"I want you to tell me the truth." She told him. "Regulus, I have defended you for years and I will always defend you but I can't do that unless I know what I'm defending."

Regulus looked into Ophelia's eyes, him feeling the guilt increasing in his chest. 

"Now just tell me." Ophelia said. "Regulus Arcturus Black, did you charm that Quaffle?"

"I did." He confessed. "But that wasn't how it was supposed to go. It wasn't meant for James."

In that moment, Ophelia realised exactly what happened. 

"It was meant for the Keeper." She sighed. "It was meant for Sirius."

"Yes." Regulus admitted. "It was meant to be a shot he couldn't stop. I didn't know it would do that."

"Okay."

Regulus looked at Ophelia, confused as to what her response meant. 

"I'll help you get out of this. As usual." She said. 

"Thank you." Regulus let out a sigh of relief. "You're a lifesaver."

Ophelia let out a small chuckle. "Again, as usual."