Jegulus - I'll be good

Part Thirty-Six

Another part is finished.
Remember how I said I will have more time to write again? Haha. Nothing with more time, we are understaffed again, so...goodbye to a new attempt of regular updates :/
Aaaanyway. I hope y'all are doing okay so far...since Halloween is coming up I hope you're staying extra safe ♥

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CW for polyamorous phobia (is that even a word? Does it exist? You know what I mean lol), violence

Regulus couldn't believe how easy James took the news. His own world felt completely shattered, perhaps because there wasn't much left of it anyway, but James had a calm reaction that was far from what he would've expected. No big deal? They would figure something out? Either the Potter had so much trust in their relationship after such a short time or he didn't believe they would last long enough for that arranged marriage thing to become an issue. His brain wanted to fixate on the last part. Of course he was still very insecure about that all, but he tried to be reasonable too. When he entered his dormitory, his roommates stopped talking and stared at him, like he had just interrupted a secret meeting.
"What?", he asked annoyed and grabbed his pyjama, "don't worry, I'm not interrupting you idiots for longer than necessary." As soon as the bathroom door closed behind him, he heard them whispering again. Such idiots...they surely were planning one of their stupid pranks that weren't funny at all and in the end just really harmful. He got ready for bed and jumped right into it, after taking his earmuffs. He very much wasn't in the mood to listen to their voices for the whole night. Thankfully he fell asleep much faster than expected, the whole drama must have drained him more than he thought.

The next day brought a sunny morning and Reg decided to take his coffee outside to drink it in the sun. Before he could sit down on the stone bench, something hit him hard from the left side and pushed him to the ground, spilling the coffee everywhere and giving him a sharp pain in his wrist.
"What in Merlin's name...Sirius?!", he yelled in disbelief and surprise as his older brother was standing a few steps away and staring at him with a bewildered expression, with a big hint of anger.
"You're fucking my best friend?? ARE YOU SERIOUS? DO YOU KNOW THAT HE'S IN A RELATIONSHIP? You're so goddamn fucked up, I can't believe I forgave you!"
It took a second until Regulus processed what Sirius was yelling at him and when he did, his heart dropped into his pants and his stomach turned upside down. Shit, shit, shit.
"It's not what you think, it's-", he tried to explain and raised his hand in defence, but Sirius crossed the few steps and grabbed his collar, lifting him up from the ground harshly. His face was only a few centimetres away from his own: "First you steal my place in the family and now you're stealing my best friend and ruining his relationship?"
Reggie didn't know how to respond for a second and also didn't dare to make a move. Sirius wasn't a bad person, but he had a temper and acted before thinking a lot of times....and Regulus didn't want to have a broken nose again after it was just healed from the last time.
"Please let me down", he said calmly, but his brother didn't make a move at all, so he just continued to talk, "I didn't take your place in the family, you know that. You never liked their ways of functioning. And I also didn't ask to be born, just for the notes."
Sirius huffed and let his brother down, still staring at him angrily and not saying a thing.
"And I'm not... I don't...you know...with James. We are dating, yes", he admitted quietly and quickly stepped away so Sirius didn't grab him again, "but it's different than you think. Lily knows it. We are both dating him."
The Gryffindor pulled a face like he would vomit every moment: "That's even worse. I didn't know you're such a pervert, nor did I expect it from Lily and James. Holy shit."
Regulus crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked to the ground: "How can you say such a thing about a consensual commitment? You know what would be worse? Cheating. But not that. Just because you don't understand something doesn't make it a bad thing automatically. You're still talking about your best friend."
Sirius shook his head and kicked a little stone towards the Slytherin: "Fuck off. Keep your disgusting hands off him. I shouldn't have trusted you, this can all just be part of a sick plan to play in Voldemort's hands. No sane person would agree to something like that."
Disappointment took over Regulus' emotions. Of course it hadn't been nice to keep it a secret from Sirius, but if anyone, he thought that his brother would be open minded enough to understand it. But now he saw that being victim of prejudice and discrimination didn't automatically mean that someone wouldn't be prejudging. And, he should've known, right? He had also a lot of wrong views and prejudices.
"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before. Alone admitting my feelings for James has been very difficult for me and I'm not as courageous as you are for showing it to the whole world and I understand if you're upset about not knowing. But acting like you do because of my relationship being differently than yours just makes you an asshole", Regulus let him know and magically cleaned his robes from the coffee, "I hope you take the time to think about it again and come again so we can talk like adults about it."
"Oh come on. Don't act like you're so grown up, you're just a kid", Sirius rolled his eyes, "one time...just once I want you to not act like you're better like anybody else."
"I beg your pardon? I don't act like I'm better than anyone, not anymore", the Slytherin shook his head. He couldn't say he didn't do that in the past, because he definitely was guilty of such behaviour like this in the past. That was what he had been taught. But with realising how wrong all these views were, he also understood that this didn't apply to reality. When he was honest, it was quite the opposite – he was so far below the people he tried to harm in the past and he was just now learning to be a better person.
"Yeah? Haven't seen much of a change yet", the older Black spit out and shook his head, "this conversation is over. I'm not going to discuss that nonsense anymore. You're destroying a great relationship and if James gets his heart broken, you'll get some bones broken." Before Regulus could say anything else, Sirius turned on his heel and stamped back into the castle. The Slytherin stood there with a crazily racing heart and stared at the spot his brother had just left. Was he right? Would their arrangement destroy everything? Maybe it really wasn't the best idea from the start...But on the other hand he wouldn't stop the relationship just because of a few words. He would never know if it worked out if they stopped trying immediately. What really scratched on his conscience and little sense of security was that Sirius was so terribly angry about that all. And the question if he acted the same towards James and possibly Lily too, since all three of them were involved.

Unfortunately Regulus didn't have the chance to find out if they got "attacked" by Sirius the same way he did, because he didn't see James for the whole day. He thought that the headboy was probably caught up in duties. Wasn't uncommon that he had to go from one duty to another, especially now that the Quidditch training started again too.
"So, Sirius knows about us", the Gryffindor's voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere and Regulus almost dropped his books with shock. Just in the last moment he managed to catch them.
"Why do you always appear out of nowhere? You're giving me a heart attack one day", he complained and looked over his shoulder. James look confused him. He seemed way too excited and happy for how Sirius must've reacted.
"Sorry. With all the things we have going on, one learns to be quiet and as part of the most amazing pranksters of them all anyway", he informed him laughing and softly nudged him, "but at least you'd get some fresh colour in your pale face. Sometimes I almost mistake you for one of the ghosts."
"That's not very nice and I know that you don't. I might be pale, but I'm not that pale. But to get to the point...how does he know? And why are you so happy about it? He was really angry and disgusted about that all this morning", he informed James in confusion and leaned towards the wall, taking the moment to admire his boyfriend. Honestly, he still couldn't believe that sometimes. A few months had changed so much in his life. And it also changed him as a person. Nothing he was mad about.
"Well...to be honest, he wasn't exactly happy about it when he came to me either. Said how he couldn't believe that I'm putting my relationship with Lily in danger because of someone who doesn't even know who he is and just wants to experiment", the Potter shook his head. Regulus opened his mouth to protest, but James' raised hand let him stop in the tracks.
"Of course I know that's not what's going on and even if it would be the case, I don't really see an issue. We all are just finding out who we are, right? Some might know early, some might live up to expectations all their life and have no sense of self for years. And Sirius recognised how stupid he sounded too in the end, but he still doesn't really approve our relationship. And I don't think he'll apologise to you either, but he won't manipulate it."
Regulus didn't know if he was relieved or disappointed that Sirius listened to James apparently, but refused to listen to him, his own brother. On the other hand, was he really surprised? They haven't had a really brotherly band in years.
"That's a beginning, I guess", he mumbled and had to swallow a knot in his throat, "maybe we should've told him from the beginning. I think he didn't take it well that we kept it a secret. I'm so stupid."
"Nah, I think that's okay. Nobody should out themselves if they aren't ready. And honestly, I really would like to know how he found out", James sighed, "either way, that's a little bit why I'm happy – now that he knows, we can be more...open about it. Right?"
Regulus bit his lip nervously. That was a really good question. Once Sirius knew, the whole school would know in no time. So maybe keeping it a secret wouldn't work much longer anyway and if he was honest with himself, he was sick of doing so too. James was amazing and hiding his luck to have him really didn't feel good anyway.
"Yes. I guess we can be more open about it", he answered with a smile, which let James literally beam....and Regulus' heart went back into racing mode. This was the right decision. It had to be. The consequences would be worth it.