November 22, 1974 (Friday)
JAMES FLEAMONT POTTER
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"So you and Sirius are going to the three broomsticks tomorrow? Like just the two of you?" He asked Remus.
"Yes," Remus confirmed.
"Why? Why can't the four of us just all go together?"
Remus buried his face in his hands, "For once in your life please use your brain, James."
James was still very confused. "I still don't get it. Why?"
"James if you were to ask Lily to the three broomsticks what would it mean?"
"That I was offering for her to come get a butterbeer with me? You asked her the same thing last year."
"Yeah, but I don't like her like that."
"Neither do I," James defended.
"Yeah, haha, very funny James," Remus said. "Well what does it usually mean when you ask someone who you like to Hogsmeade?"
James blinked in surprise, "You like Sirius?!"
Remus reached over to cover his mouth so no one would hear him, "Yes, now shut up before someone hears you dumbass."
"You actually like him?"
Remus seemed to relax a bit. He rested his head against the back of the common room couch. "Yeah I do. I don't know if he likes me like that though. It's hard to tell with him."
"I mean he did accept the offer," James reasoned.
Remus shrugged, "I guess so. I'm still not sure though. So who are you going to hang out with at Hogsmeade."
"I don't know, Wormtail has some date with some Hufflepuff girl so I'll probably just hangout with the girls."
"Alright, Sirius and I can still hang out with you towards the end of the trip though. Just give us some time alone first, okay?"
"Yeah, alright," James agreed. "Good luck on your little unofficial date tomorrow."
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November 23, 1974 (Saturday)
James was walking amongst all the students going to Hogsmeade that weekend. He was walking alongside Mary, Marlene, and Lily. The three of them were chatting excitedly about what they were going to do all day. James put in his input once in awhile.
He caught sight of a certain someone walking all alone ahead of them and he tapped Marlene on the shoulder, "I'll be right back."
James jogged over to Regulus, "Hey, Regulus!"
Regulus turned to look at him. "Potter," he greeted.
James joined him on his side as they continued to walk to the carriages. "Are you all alone? Where are your friends?"
"Aidan has a date, Kian is sick, and Hez is staying back to practice Quidditch. He is stressing over the next game like crazy right now," Regulus explained.
"So what? You are just going to walk around Hogsmeade all alone? That's no fun at all."
Regulus shrugged, "It's better than being stuck in the castle."
"Well, I'm not going to let you just walk around by yourself. Come walk around with me and the girls. Sirius and Remus are doing there own thing today and Pete has a date so it's just Marlene, Lily, Mary, and I."
Regulus gave him a skeptical look like he was trying to figure out what kind of trick James was playing on him. "Why should I?"
"Come on let yourself have fun for once in your life, Regulus. Let yourself hang with Gryffindors other than your roommates. Embrace the maroon," James said, saying the last part extra dramatic.
Regulus raised an eyebrow at him, "Embrace the maroon?"
"Yeah, you heard me right."
Regulus let out a little laugh while shaking his head in disbelief. "You're an idiot, Potter."
James flashed him a smile, "I know."
Regulus seemed to cave into the idea, "You know, I guess I'll go with you guys, but only if we can stop at the bookstore. They have some muggle books there I heard. I want to see what ones they have."
James smile only grew, "I knew you would cave in eventually. Also Lils can probably help you pick out some books. She has read and a lot of muggle and wizard books so she can probably recommend some to you."
Regulus just nodded and they walked the rest of the way in silence. When they got to the carriages, Regulus climbed in with him and the girls. "Black is coming with us?" Mary asked.
Regulus nodded stiffly. "Yes, do you have a problem with that, Macdonald?"
She quickly shook her head. "No, no. I didn't mean it like that I'm just shocked I guess. I didn't take you as the type of person to go to Hogsmeade with two muggleborns and James Potter. Well and Marlene, but Marlene is just Marlene. She is a pureblood and is pretty chill. Basically the opposite of James."
"Yeah well Potter is a menace when he wants to be and I don't feel like fighting him right now. He was quite insistent that I go with you guys instead of going alone," Regulus explained.
When they arrived at Hogsmeade, they of course went to Honeydukes first. They all bought tons of sweets before leaving. They then stopped by the post office so Lily and Mary could send letters to their parents. After that they went to the bookstore. Lily and Regulus automatically made their way to the back of the store where all the books they called "good" were and where all the muggle ones also were. Marlene, Mary, and him stayed towards the front of the shop and pretended to look like they were interested in any of the books they were seeing.
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REGULUS ARCTURUS BLACK
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"What kind of books are you looking for?" Lily asked as they walked towards the back of the store.
"I wanted to look at the muggle ones," he answered. "Don't really know what certain ones to look for though. I don't really know very much about muggle books."
Lily clicked her tongue and she started to look at the muggle section. "Well luckily, I can help with that." Regulus just kind of stood there awkwardly as she looked at all the options that were available. "Ooh look! This is one of my favorite books! I've read it like a million times."
Regulus walked over to look at the book she was holding. "Pride and Prejudice."
"It's basically a classic muggle book that every reader is required to read at least once in their lives. It's one of my favorites," she explained.
He read the back of the book and it seemed interesting enough, "Yeah, I guess I'll buy it. Thanks for the help, Evans."
"No problem, Black, but now if you don't mind I'm going to go look at the mystery novels." With that Lily disappeared behind some shelves of books.
"What book have you got there?" James's voice asked from behind him.
Regulus turned to look at him. He was still smiling. He literally looked like the human personification of the sun 24/7. "Pride and Prejudice."
"Pride and what?" He asked raising an eyebrow.
"You are painfully stupid," Regulus said with an eye roll before he started to make his way to the cashier.
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Lily and him checked out the books they had bought and the five of them left the bookstore. When they did they came face to face with Sirius. Regulus shot James a glare. Of course he tricked him.
"Regulus? What are you doing here?" Sirius asked his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"Going shopping with your friends," Regulus answered, stating the obvious.
"Yeah I see that... but why? I mean you realize Lily and Mary are Muggleborns? Mother and father won't be please you know. Since that seems what you tend to care about the most."
Regulus gave him an incredulous look. "My best friend is a muggle born in case you didn't notice and for your information, Potter asked me to hang out with them because my friends weren't coming to Hogsmeade today so you can stop being a fucking dick," he snapped.
That certainly shut Sirius up. "You aren't going to say anything to defend me, James?" Sirius asked after a moment of silence.
James bit his lip nervously next to Regulus. "I mean he has a point, Sirius. You really didn't have to bring your parents into this. It was a dick move. I mean we were all having fun. You didn't have to come over and be an arse."
Regulus blinked at James in surprise. Since when did James defend him? Especially when he was calling out Sirius simultaneously.
"But he's always a dick to me, James! Why is it suddenly a problem when I'm mean back."
James seemed to only be getting more mad. "It's a problem because he wasn't being mean just now. He was having fun and he was happy. He told you why he was here and then you started being a dick suddenly. That's the problem."
Sirius just rolled his eyes, "Fuck you, James. You know what, it doesn't even matter what you say it doesn't change the fact that he is just a coward."
"For fucks sake, grow up Black!" Lily said with a scoff. "I'm leaving if anyone wants to come with."
Marlene and Mary quickly followed her and James and Remus reluctantly went too. Regulus just took off in a sprint in the opposite direction. He really needed to get away from Sirius right now. The crunch of gravel behind him reminded him that Sirius was still chasing after him. He turned down some random ally and he just spun around so he was facing and he just lost it. He shoved Sirius against the wall and started to yell at him.
"I told you that you weren't sorry! You said you were and you just did the same thing again! Why do you always do that?!" He yelled as tears streamed down his face. "I- I was actually happy for once. And- and then you just came over and ruined it. I was actually being a fucking Gryffindor once. I was letting myself have what I wanted for once. I- I know I'm not perfect and I'm also a dick Sirius but I'm trying. I'm fucking trying."
Sirius was crying now too. "I know and I'm sorry. I really am this time. I- I just get so bloody mad sometimes and I don't know how to control it. It's fucking terrifying, Reg."
Regulus wiped some tears away from his eyes. "I'm trying to be more like you, but it's scary Sirius. I see what mum and dad do to you because of how you are and I don't want them to do that to me too. I- I don't want to be their perfect son. I just- I don't know how to be anything else. I'm scared, Siri."
Sirius didn't even seem to hesitate, he just pulled him into a hug. Regulus ignored the voices of his parents in his head and he hugged Sirius back. He buried his face into his older brothers shoulder and he just let himself sob there. Sirius just hugged him tighter. "I'm so sorry, Reggie. I'm so fucking sorry. I'm going to help you okay? I promise. We will figure this out together as brothers. Okay?"
Regulus just nodded against his shoulder. "I love you."
"I love you too, Reggie." Sirius rasped out.
His sobs eventually stopped and he pulled back from Sirius. Sirius was the first to speak, "Do you wanna go visit the three broomsticks?"
Regulus sniffled as he wiped his nose on his sleeve. "Didn't you just go there with Remus?"
"Yes, but I could always kill for another butterbeer."
Regulus broke out into a helpless smile. "In that case, yes. Let's go."
They spent the rest of their visit in The Three Broomsticks just talking. When it came time to leave they even rode back to Hogwarts in the same carriage.
If Regulus had learned anything from that day it was definitely that the maybe the marauders weren't as bad as he though they were. I mean James had defended him after all and Lily, Mary, and Marlene were pretty cool. Regulus was just happy to have his big brother back. He needed Sirius in all of this.
***
Well this chapter was a roller coaster of emotions.,Regulus certainly had a very long day.
Words: 2,024