They Say Love's a Losing Game

AN: I'm sorry for the delay and also the line breaks, I have tried every chapter but they just don't seem to want to work for me! I hope you like the chapter, G x

It was already half an hour past curfew and Regulus was growing impatient. It wasn't that he was scared of getting caught, although he would hate to give Potter the satisfaction of giving him a detention, but he had hoped he could try and catch Harper before she headed back to her common room. Now, with Evan nearly forty minutes late, that option was looking a lot less likely.

He sighed in frustration and checked his watch again, debating whether to leave it and just head back to the dungeons when he heard the faint sound of footsteps to his left.

"Evening, Black," he smiled, stepping round the corner as Regulus turned to greet him, relieved to see that it was Evan and not Potter.

"Finally decided to show then?" He challenged, annoyed at being made to wait. "What's going on, Evan? Why did you ask to meet me here? Couldn't we have just discussed whatever it is in the common room?"

"No, there are too many prying ears. I thought we should speak somewhere a bit more … private," he replied, leaning back against the brick wall as he studied Regulus.

"About what?"

"Your loyalties, Black," he smiled darkly.

"What do you mean?"

"I appreciate that your brother is somewhat of a … loose cannon and you can't be blamed for his behaviour," he placated, his tone even and deliberate.

"He's not part of our family anymore, he's blasted off the tapestry," defended Regulus, annoyed that once again the ramifications of Sirius's actions were reflecting poorly on him.

"I'm aware. However, your brother's not the only thing that concerns me about you, Regulus," frowned Evan, narrowing his eyes as he scrutinised the younger Slytherin.

"What do you mean?"

"Your friendship … with the mudblood," he sneered.

"Harper?"

"Yes."

"We're not friends, I just have a couple classes with her. Slughorn pairs us up, you know what he's like. He's all for the houses working together," he defended, trying to keep his tone as casual as possible.

He felt terrible for lying about her like this but ultimately it was for her own protection. None of the other Slytherins, least of all Evan, could get wind of his relationship with Harper. If they knew how similar a route Regulus was taking to his brother, he had no doubt there would another blasted hole in the Black family tapestry.

"Stop making excuses," he sneered. "I've seen you; it's definitely more that polite conversation. She's scum, Regulus. You shouldn't associate with that filth, unless …" he paused, eyeing Regulus dangerously.

"Unless what?"

"Maybe one disgraced member of your family is not enough. Are you going to shack up with the mudblood, Black?"

"I'm not Sirius," he frowned, shifting uncomfortably under the older boy's penetrating glare.

"Then prove it. If you're serious about joining the Dark Lord then you need to clean up your act," he warned, lowering his voice at the mention of Voldemort.

There were more than a few rumours circulating about the older Slytherin boys' affiliation with the Death Eaters but there was also a difference between hearsay and proof and neither Regulus nor Evan wanted to provide Dumbledore with the latter.

"You have a week to prove to me that you're worthy of the honour of being one of his followers and that you understand the severity of your actions if you choose to defy us."

"I'm not going to defy you, I …"

"A week, Black. If you're in, the mudblood's got to go … unless …" he trailed off, smiling darkly.

"Unless what?"

"Unless you think there's someone else we want more," he answered cryptically, turning his back on Regulus who was leaning against the cool brick of the wall feeling sick to his stomach as he gripped his hair in frustration.

[line break]

There was half an hour before the game between Gryffindor and Slytherin and Harper was hoping to catch Regulus before he set off for the pitch. It was one of the biggest games of the year and given the fierce rivalry between the two houses, there was bound to be some tension. It was true that Gryffindor had one won the Quidditch cup several years running and under James's leadership that winning streak was set to continue but if Regulus's rigorous training sessions were anything to go by then Slytherin weren't willing to go down without a fight.

The castle was pretty empty as she made her way to the Slytherin common room, with most of the school taking their seats in the stands outside. He was waiting by the statue of the One Eyed Witch when she saw him, nervously pacing and muttering to himself under his breath. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he failed to notice her as she snuck up behind and slipped her arms round his waist, kissing his cheek softly.

"Hey you," she whispered, his face relaxing slightly as he realised it was her.

"What are you doing here?"

He was looking around nervously and taking the hands that had snaked from his waist to his shoulders gently in his hands, keeping her a safe distance from him.

"I thought I'd come and wish you luck before the game. Although when it starts I will be booing you along with everyone else," she laughed, frowning slightly as Regulus stared blankly back at her. There were dark circles under his eyes and his usually soft black curls were matted slightly at the ends like they were when he repeatedly ran his fingers through his hair. Harper was used to seeing him so immaculate and well-presented; right now he looked like he'd barely slept in a week and the fingers that held hers were cold and shaking slightly. He looked a mess.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine," she frowned, touching his forehead lightly with the back of her hand. His skin felt warm and her brow furrowed in concern. "Are you nervous about the game?"

"A bit," he nodded, reaching up to bring her hand from his face to her side.

"I know it's a big game and you hate to lose but just go out there and do your best," she smiled, edging closer to him so that her body was flush against his.

"If it makes you feel any better I think Lily might be making a rare appearance so you can count on one player being distracted," she joked, smiling when she saw the corners of his mouth twitch.

"I'll keep that in mind," he smiled weakly, casting a quick glance at his watch. "I should probably go, Lestrange likes to run over tactics again before the game, so …"

"OK, well good luck. I'll be cheering for you … on the inside," she teased, giving him a quick hug before she disentangled herself from him and leaned against the stone wall.

"Bye, Harper," he whispered, taking a step towards her and brushing his lips lightly against her forehead. She closed her eyes as she felt his lips graze her lips and she waited for him to deepen the kiss but when she opened her eyes he was gone.

[line break]

The match had started by the time she reached the top of the stands as she clambered, slightly out of breath, to the spot at the back that her friends had saved for her. It seemed like all of Gryffindor house had turned out for the game.

"There you are, what took you so long, we thought you weren't going to show," exclaimed Marlene, sliding further up the bench to make room for her. Her Gryffindor scarf was wrapped tightly around her scarf and her blonde hair scraped back into a messy ponytail.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" She gushed, holding her hands up in mock surrender. "I'm here now, what did I miss?"

"It's just started, Potter did a few laps, messed his hair up a few times," Lily deadpanned, briefly looking up from the book in her hand. Only Lily could bring a book to a Quidditch game, she smiled, shaking her head at her friend fondly.

"Lily loved it," Marlene smirked.

"Did not," she huffed.

"How are Slytherin looking then?" Harper asked, scanning the pitch for Regulus.

"Does it matter? We're going to wipe the floor with them," Marlene smiled smugly.

"Nice sportsmanship there, Marls," Harper laughed. Of course she wanted Gryffindor to win but she wasn't looking forward to dealing with Regulus if they lost.

It wasn't even ten minutes into the match and Gryffindor had already taken a significant advantage, leading Slytherin seventy points to ten. The conditions were good but the teamwork demonstrated by the Gryffindor players was far more coherent than their opponents; they worked as a unit and the Slytherin team were struggling to break through their defences.

As James scored again to bring the score to 90-10, the Gryffindor stand erupted into cheers as Marlene got to her feet, clapping excitedly.

"Harper, are you even paying attention? We're thrashing them, why aren't you more excited?" She frowned, sitting back down again.

"I am, I'm just better at containing my excitement Marls," she smiled forcefully. If she was being honest, she couldn't care less about the score at this point; her attention was fully focused on Regulus who had narrowly missed a Bludger and was now circling higher to try and get a better view of the pitch.

She forced her gaze away from him and tried to focus on the rest of the game, clapping and cheering whenever Gryffindor scored and booing respectively whenever Slytherin succeeded in getting the Quaffle past the Gryffindor's Keeper. The game had been underway now for well over an hour but there was still no sight of the Snitch. Marlene was chatting animatedly in her ear about how hot Fabian Prewett was and Lily still had her head in the book although Harper had caught her once or twice sneaking a quick look in James' direction.

The Slytherins were getting desperate now and it was becoming increasingly evident through their underhand nature of their tactics. Lestrange had rammed one of the Gryffindor Chasers into the Ravenclaw stand and sending her to tumbling to the ground. The Gryffindor stand erupted into a roar of protest as Madame Hooch hurried onto the pitch to remove the fallen player and send her up to the Hospital Wing.

In the next ten minutes, Slytherin had capitalised on their foul play and were now only trailing by twenty points. Harper was focusing more on the game now as Regulus flew in and out of view, but nearly two hours in and neither seeker had caught sight of the Snitch. Clearly growing impatient, the Slytherin captain was shouting instructions too his players, grabbing one of the Beater's bats and sending a Bludger hurtling in the direction of James' broom. Harper heard a sharp gasp beside her as Lily leaned over the railing of the stand, her knuckles white as she watched James cradling his left arm. He had ducked to avoid being hit but the Bludger still seemed to have clipped him on the elbow and Harper heard Sirius swear loudly as several of the Slytherin supporters cheered at his injury.

"Do you think he's alright?" asked Lily, releasing the railing and sitting back in her seat. She had still not taken her eyes of James.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Lils," Harper smiled reassuringly, squeezing her hand.

"Yeah, hate to break it to you but Quidditch is pretty brutal. It could have been a lot worse."

"Not helpful, Marls."

"Well, if she's going to be the girlfriend of a Quidditch player then she's got to be prepared for this kind of stuff," teased Marlene, laughing as Lily scowled at her.

"Who said anything about being his girlfriend? I was just showing concern," she insisted.

"Course you were," winked Marlene.

"I was! You two are always going on at me to be "nice to Potter" and on the rare occasions I am nice I get mocked by you two! Was I concerned that he may have hurt himself? Yes. Does that mean I want to his girlfriend?"

But Lily's rhetorical questioning was interrupted as the entire Gryffindor stand erupted into cheers and applause. The three girls whirled round in time to see the Gryffindor Seeker clutching the Snitch triumphantly as he headed towards the ground, closely followed by his team mates who were patting him on the back. Marlene was cheering loudly in her ear but Harper's gaze was trained on Regulus whose retreating figure was heading quickly towards the castle, leaving the game and a murderous-looking Lestrange behind him.

[line break]

As soon as the match had ended, the spectators had started to make their way down from the stands and on to the pitch to congratulate their team. Lily held back as she watched the players slowly make their way back to the castle to carry on the celebrations in the common room. Whatever injury he had sustained didn't seem to be bothering him as she watched James wrestle one of the bludgers back into the crate. Even under his Quidditch robes, Lily could see the distinct outline of his muscles as he carried it into the tent where the players assembled before the match. He had his back to her as he grabbed his own broom and she tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"Good game out there, Potter," she smiled coyly, watching as the startled Chaser ran his hands through his hair as he cleared his throat. "Er thanks, wasn't expecting to see you out there."

"Had to show my support, didn't I?"

"You don't usually come," he challenged.

"How do you know that?"

"Because I always look out for you," he said earnestly. It wasn't something James had ever thought he would admit but during the first warm-up laps before Madame Hooch blew the whistle, he would always circle to Gryffindor stand to see if she had turned up. Today was the first time in a while that Lily had decided to show and despite the initial jolt of nerves when he spotted her next to Marlene, her presence had definitely spurred him on to win even more.

"Well I figured I should make the effort," she smiled, taking a seat on the wooden bench the players would gather on before the game, gesturing to the space next to her.

"You sure you didn't come just to see me," he smirked, elbowing her gently.

"You got me," she laughed.

"It's alright Evans, I won't tell anyone. Next time though," he paused, bringing his face close to hers so that his breath tickled her ear and she shivered at the close contact. "Don't bring the book," he whispered, laughing as she frowned and swatted his arm playfully.

"How did you … do you ever pay attention to the actual game?"

"I keep an eye out," he defended, satisfied to see her looking embarrassed for once.

"Comforting to know," she deadpanned. "Is it always so violent?"

"It's not usually as bad as that but we were playing Slytherin today and they don't exactly play fairly. Plus it's not as if they don't deserve it," he shrugged, lounging back on the bench.

"He hit your arm," she frowned.

"I know and he'll pay for it but my arm's fine; Madame Pomfrey fixed me up as soon as I landed," he smiled reassuringly. "It's just part of the game, Lils. But we won and Lestrange and all the other gits on his team will be in a foul mood for days so it's all good," he laughed.

"I guess, your Keeper was very good."

"Prewett? Yeah he's one of our best players."

"I think Marlene had her eye on him," she laughed.

"What happened to Fenwick?"

"They parted amicably," she smiled knowingly.

"She ditch him?"

"Yeah," she nodded, trying not to laugh.

"Well you didn't need a crystal ball to work that one out," he chuckled, rolling his eyes. "You got your eye on anyone then, Evans. Any dashingly handsome Chaser catch your eye?" He smirked, extending his hand to pull her up from the wooden bench.

"No, I must have missed him," she smiled innocently, taking his hand. "I'll have to look out for him next time."

"So there will be a next time?" He pressed, eyeing her hopefully.

"Maybe," she smiled coyly.

"I'll make a Quidditch convert out of you yet, Evans," he said confidently, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as they headed into the castle.

"When is your next game?"

"Two months … Hufflepuff. Should be a breeze."

"Well it's good to know you're not feeling too overly confident about it," she replied sardonically.

"You don't win the Quidditch cup four years in a row being humble, Lily."

"Clearly," she muttered.

"Plus it's easy to be that confident when you have a team like ours," he said smugly.

"Speaking of your team mates, shouldn't you be off celebrating with them instead of chatting to me?"

"Nah, they already like me so I don't need to make as much of an effort as I do around you," he joked, although they both knew that it was true. She hated to admit it but once you stripped James of his arrogant bravado, he could actually be quite sweet.

"What if I came with you?" She offered.

"Is this your way of asking me out, Evans?"

"No!"

"You don't have to be embarrassed …" he joked, nudging her gently as they paused outside the portrait hole.

"Come on," she sighed half amused, half exasperated and she rolled her eyes and grabbed his elbow.

They were headed to the common room when they heard the sound of footsteps pounding and someone wheezing, struggling to catch their breath. "Prongs! Wait up!" he choked, struggling to catch his breath as he clutched the stitch in his side.

"Wormtail? What's going on?" James frowned, placing a hand on his shoulder to steady him.

"I've been trying to find you for ages … then I checked the map and …"

"What map?" Lily interrupted, turning to look at James.

"I have no idea," he lied, narrowing his eyes at Peter for the slip-up.

"Prongs, you have to come with me," he said firmly.

"Can it wait, Wormtail? Lily and I were kind of in the middle of something," he tailed off, winking at Lily who mouth dropped open as she quickly let go of the slight hold she still hand on him.

"No we were not. We weren't, Peter. You interrupted nothing," she assured, frowning at James who was looking at her with an amused glint his eye smirking at her furious blush.

"Nothing yet anyway," he waggled his eyes suggestively.

"It's Sirius, he's hurt."

Lily watched as the slight grip James had on Peter's shoulder tightened as the colour drained slightly from his face.

"McGonagall found me and Remus on the way here, he got into a fight with one of the Slytherins after the match, he's in the Hospital Wing," Peter explained hurriedly. "Marlene's with him now and me and Remus split up to try and find you."

"Is he alright?" Lily asked but James interrupted her.

"Which one?" He snapped, relinquishing his grip on Peter as he balled his hands into fists so tight that Lily could see the whites of his knuckles through his skin.

"What do you mean?" Peter frowned.

"Which one of those low life … snakes was he fighting with?" James spat, his shoulders physically shaking with anger. This was a side of James that Lily had never seen before and it was starting to scare her.

"James, it doesn't matter. Come on, just calm down and we can go and see him. He's with Madame Pomfrey and he'll be fine," she soothed, reaching out tentatively to place a hand on his shoulder but he shrugged it off.

"Tell me, Wormtail … now," he warned.

"It was his brother."

Thought I'd leave it on a nice cliff hanger for you, please review and let me know what you think!