Hogwarts (Challenges and Assignments): Assignment 7

Mythology: Brazilian Mythology

Task #7: Cuca: Prompt: Write about receiving a warning in a dream.

[No Warnings]

Regulus opened his eyes, but he didn't wake up.

The canopy above him was a deep, indigo blue. A vibrant, velvet starscape of silver thread spanned the space above the four poster bed. Regulus didn't have a four poster bed, although he knew one royal prick who did. It looked remarkably similar to this one, now that he thought about it, but that had to be a mistake. He only ever slept in James Potter's bed once before, when he was recovering from a harsh wound, but that was a year ago. Perhaps longer. And he was nowhere near James's house, so there was no possible way that—

Regulus blinked, but he didn't wake up.

It was a dream, he realised, with a mix of horror and relief. His body came alive the moment he worked it out, and he stretched indulgently. It was James Potter's four poster bed that he was lying in, and this must have been his room too, although it was a shade too dark to see properly.

"It's been a long time since I had one of these dreams," Regulus muttered to himself.

A rustle from the corner made him reach for a staff that wasn't there. There was somebody else in the dream with him. He was sure of it. It was dream-knowledge; hard to quantify, hard to describe, but certain in a way that nothing real was. Wherever his real body was, it was sleeping soundly. The rest of him had retired to this strange dream to share it with—

"Aw, you dream about me often?"

"Oh, absolutely not," Regulus said.

He swung his legs over the bed, finding plush rugs strewn across the bare, polished floorboards. An icy blue fire shimmered in the hearth, caged behind a painted screen depicting more stars, and swirling planets, and great, fiery comets. The entire ceiling was a dome lit by dull starlight, caught and held aloft in fingers of wire.

It was definitely James Potter's room. And James was there too, silhouetted in the doorway, a dark shape that housed a crooked grin.

"Took you long enough. I thought you'd never get out of bed."

Regulus glanced skyward, and fixed his gaze on a passing star as it soared through the paint. "I do not deserve this." He ignored the chuckle that followed. "I may have committed horrible crimes, and I may have joined a Necromancer's Army, and I may have fed my brother boil-inducing tea, but I still do not deserve to share a dream with you."

"Don't be so dramatic," James said. "That's my forte."

"Get out of the doorway."

"Why, so you can run away? Be my guest, but you won't like what you find on the other side," James said, gesturing over his shoulder. "I slipped out to make sure it wasn't a trap while you were drooling all over your pillow, but there isn't anything out there. Just shadows."

It was a difficult battle, but Regulus managed not to check the pillow or wipe his chin. He expected James to say something more, to fill the silence as he always did, but instead he left the door ajar and crossed the room, sinking into one of the two armchairs that flanked the fire. He looked exhausted. Regulus thought it was unfair for him to look so tired in a dream. Worry ignited in his chest.

The thing was, Regulus was very good at worrying. He did it secretly, keeping his concern locked up tight and only taking it out to obsess over it when nobody else was looking. He was very good at worrying, but not so good at knowing how to ease the worries, whether they were his or not.

"I was not aware that you finally accomplished dream-walking," Regulus said stiffly, as he crossed to sit in the other chair. "It's supposed to take years to master such a thing."

"Is that a compliment?" James teased. "Careful."

Regulus grit his teeth.

"It isn't dream-walking," James said, taking pity on him, although not without flashing him a grin first. "I've tried walking into other people's dreams, and they always wake up straight away. Remus forbade me from trying it on him, like actually forbade me, with a contract and everything, and Sirius said if I gave him another headache, I'd end up without a head."

"It certainly feels like dream-walking, Potter. I know for a fact that I didn't do it."

"It's dream-sharing, technically. I can only do it with you."

Regulus snapped his mouth shut. The fire made noises between them, but it wasn't the usual crackle and pop that accompanied firelight. It had music behind it, the music of stars burning, the music of water rippling underneath swathes of moonlight. They both knew why the dream only worked with Regulus. They both knew neither of them would say it out loud.

Neither of them needed to say it aloud. That was the nature of soulmates and their bonds.

He cleared his throat, and said, "Why did you need to see me?"

"Maybe I just wanted to check on you," James said. "Make sure you haven't died in a ditch, or been kidnapped by pirates or something. Is that so bad?"

In the armchair, sprawled and comfortable, James looked relaxed. But it was a front. A false veneer that cracked at the corners of his eyes, where the tension pulled the tightest. His grin was bright, but it was a lie.

Something was wrong. That wasn't dream-knowledge, but Regulus was still certain of it.

"It isn't so bad," Regulus murmured. "It also isn't true."

James's grin faltered, and then dropped away entirely. He scrubbed a hand over his eyes, mouth scrunched up in frustration. "You know, it would be so much easier if you couldn't read me," he said. "Every time I think about you leaving, denying the soulbond, I convince myself that it was for the best, like you said. Well, not even said, you couldn't even be bothered to tell me to my face. Like you wrote, then. We're polar opposites, we'd drive each other mad, you're evil inside, yadda-yadda-yadda. But then you go and prove yourself wrong."

There was nothing Regulus could say to that. He felt rooted to the spot. He remembered the first and last time he woke up in James's bed, both of them feverish with words unsaid, and he remembered the tender way that James mended his wounds, fixing him up and making sure he slept peacefully. It was the first time in years that he felt wanted. It was the first time in a long time that he felt loved, and safe.

The following morning, he snuck out of the castle, stole a horse, and never looked back. He responded to James's letters only a week after he left, beaten down by his own stupidity. He remembered writing we are polar opposites, and couldn't help his grimace. Guilt struck him, thin and sharp, and nestled deep inside his chest. He knew exactly what to say to hurt someone irreparably, and he'd stopped just short of that. Enough damage to keep James from coming after him, but hopefully not so much that it couldn't be fixed.

"Those were not the reasons I left," Regulus admitted. "I know I told you that we were too different, and that it would end badly in the long run, but truthfully, I…"

"You think I don't know you were talking out of your arse?"

Regulus looked up from his hands, startled. "Pardon?"

"Pardon, he says," James muttered. "I'm supposed to be the posh, royal twat."

"There is nothing wrong with exhibiting good manners."

Regulus narrowly dodged a small throw cushion as it soared towards him. He grasped it, and when he looked up, James threw himself out of the armchair, pacing up and down in front of the fire. It was like he was trying to outrun something. It was like he didn't want to look at Regulus. It irked him, even though he knew he deserved it.

"You're the one that brought me into this dream," Regulus said. "If you can't even stand to look at me…"

"Oh, that's rich, coming from someone who literally ran away from me the minute things got a little too serious! Don't talk to me about what I can and can't stand, idiot. It's been a year, and you're still running."

"Why am I in this dream?" Regulus snapped, rapidly losing patience.

James rolled his eyes to the heavens; it was a gesture made that much more effective by the starlight above them. "I stepped in because you're in danger," he said. "Don't go to the mountain."

Regulus surged out of the chair and stumbled towards him, wide-eyed. "How do you know about the mountain? What's going on?"

"I told you, idiot. I know you. So I know exactly which army you joined when you were younger and even more of an idiot. Don't worry, I haven't told Sirius. But I will, if you don't come home."

"You know I…?"

"That you're a little baby necromancer with cold feet?" James winked. "Oh yea, I know about that. It's kinda hot."

He shoved James away. "It's not hot."

James rebounded off the arm of the chair, laughing. Regulus scowled terribly, but his chest felt light and full, and he couldn't quite pinpoint what he was feeling.

"You're not disgusted with me?" he murmured.

"Could never be. Unless you ate something really gross, or licked Sirius's toe. Then I'd be disgusted." Regulus rolled his eyes, but James wasn't done. His smile softened, and he said, "But I'd still crawl into your dreams to tell you that there's a whole bunch of bad waiting for you on the mountain. That's where the army's all holed up, right? What, did you think you could wipe them out?"

That was the plan, yes. He couldn't relax until everyone that had reason to come after him was taken care of. He couldn't come home until they knew not to follow him there. He refused to put James in danger.

"Don't," James said. "Don't do anything stupid. This isn't just me worrying over nothing, Regulus. They've got the whole mountain on their side. The minute you step foot on it, you'll get swallowed up. So do me a favour, and come home instead, hey? We'll figure it out. Even you can't fight a mountain all on your own."

"At the risk of sounding like my soppy, romantic, ridiculous brother," Regulus said stiffly, "I was always intending to come back home to you, if I could."

James stepped closer, eyes bright, and whispered, "I know." He got up on his tip-toes, like he was going to kiss Regulus. His hand was rough but gentle. There was nowhere to go, and Regulus didn't want to go anyway. He didn't want to run.

Regulus shut his eyes, and woke up.

[Word Count: 1822]