Lover Boy (Regulus x James)

Chapter One:

Regulus clutched onto his bag and slowly made his way down the hill towards the forest. He had made a habit of visiting after class when he found out Pandora came to feed the animals during her free time. As he came closer to their meeting spot Regulus noticed Pandora lying on the ground, panicking, Regulus ran over only to find her sobbing over the baby creature.

"Pandora, what happened?" Regulus came down to the ground, cradling his crying friend and staring at the corpse next to them that was holding on for dear life, its shuttering breath visible in the misty air.

Pandora explained how the baby thestral had been attacked, her own arm was wounded but she was determined to find the mother who had been dragged further into the woods and return her child.

"Pandora, are you sure?"

"Her baby was taken from her Reg! The least we can do is bring him back to her"

Regulus nodded and lifted the baby thestral into his arms, he held Pandora close and the two followed the dragged dirt off to where they believed the mother was lying. As the two neared a thicket of bushes, Pandora spotted the dark, injured creature bent down in the bristle. Pandora took the baby from Regulus and with cautious, gentle steps came closer to the mother who lifted her head to look at Pandora.

Regulus watched in adoration as the horse-like creature slowly rose from the ground, bowing its head to Pandora before sniffing the baby as Pandora placed him on the ground. The mother pushed her child into the safety of the bushes and leaned her head against Pandora's palm as Pandora left a piece of meat on the ground for the baby to chew on.

Pandora walked back over to Regulus and the two stood in silence, simply watching as the mother attempted to heal her baby's wounds as well as her own. Regulus then looked to Pandora whose arm was also injured,

"What happened to your arm?"

"I tried pushing that other beast away but it scratched my arm and flew off before I could get back" Pandora looked at her arm, not particularly bothered but she could tell it needed to be bandaged in case it got infected, "we'll go and see Hagrid".

Pandora and Regulus bowed to the thestrals then left, making their way slightly back up the hill to the cozy hut that sat comfortably at the entrance of the forest. They watched as smoke came out the chimney, Hagrid noticing the two through his window and greeting them at the back door.

"Regulus! Pandora! What on earth do yous think you're doing in the forest? Pandora- what happened to your arm?!" Hagrid started to look panicked and rushed the two inside where he had a first aid kit.

Pandora and Regulus sat on the seats inside, unaware they were going to have extra company. The four students made eye contact with each other and James and Sirius sat awkwardly opposite the two Slytherins, everyone avoiding eye contact.

Pandora and James knew that Regulus and Sirius hadn't exactly "made up" yet so they tried to cut the tension by talking to each other instead.

"Hi James, Sirius" Pandora smiled at James, then nodded to Sirius.

"Hi Pandora! And Regulus" James smiled at Regulus and Sirius responded to Pandora with a polite nod in return. The two Black brothers simply staring at each other with neutral faces that hid their true expressions.

"So, what are you guys doing here?"

"Oh we're hiding from Remus"

"Why? Aren't you guys like best friends?"

"In the span of ten minutes, we managed to smash his favourite chocolates and ruin his reading time so Hagrid is letting us camp out here until Remus has calmed down." James rubbed the back of his neck guiltily, he didn't mean to upset Remus but the damage had already been done and now it was just a matter of time.