Not a Normal Tuesday After All
Written for Quidditch League:
Holyhead Harpies - Chaser 1 - Round 9 - Write a story about a known Quidditch player. Write about a witch or wizard protecting someone. 13. (dialogue) "Should we tell him that it's fake?" / 2. (word) defeated / 14. (colour) lime green
Hogwarts:
Muggle Music - Write about someone whose past is having an impact on their actions in the present.
The Valentine's Making Station - Write about a platonic friendship between two men.
Golden Ticket Event - 136: Dirty smirks - Write about Regulus Black
The Musical Category Challenge - The Right Hand Man - Write about someone who needs help.
For James, it was a usual Tuesday. Go to work, come home, have dinner and keep an eye out in case an owl appeared or a patronus found him, urgently asking for his assistance.
What he didn't expect was to find Regulus Black on the other side of the door. His clothes and hair were soaked. His skin was damp too.
Regulus reached up, his sleeve wiping over his eyes, which had little effect seeing as his sleeve was dripping with water, and James' gaze moved past Regulus. There was no rain outside. He glanced at Sirius' brother once more and waited.
"Well, are you going to invite me in?" Regulus asked, his tone tired and lacking the haughty tone it would have previously had.
"I don't know. Am I?" James replied.
"I imagine you are," Regulus said. "First and foremost, I'm your best friend's brother, despite everything else. Second, your Gryffindor nature wouldn't leave me like this."
James went to close the door, already rolling his eyes.
"And third, you want to know why I'm here."
James paused. That was true. Plus, despite how Sirius complained about Regulus, he knew that Sirius wouldn't be happy if James had passed up a chance to help Regulus. He pulled the door open. "Into the bathroom. You should take a shower and I'll get you something dry to wear," he said, somewhat reluctantly.
Regulus gave a tiny, tired smile in James' direction and James narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "If you really are Regulus," he added, lifting his wand.
Regulus merely rolled his eyes, not looking threatened in the slightest at the wand pointed at his face. "Ask what you need to ask, I'd really like to take that shower sooner rather than later."
"Fine." James thought hard about a question. "What… what… is Sirius' biggest secret?"
"Him and Lupin, I'd suspect. Though I wouldn't class that as a secret. My brother isn't as discreet as he believes. How about we discuss the cardigan that he kept under his pillow the last summer he spent at home?"
James considered the answer. Only someone who had shared a room or house with Sirius would know about the cardigan incident. He lowered his wand. "Go."
Regulus unsteadily headed down the hall, glancing in doorways as he went until he reached the bathroom. James flicked his wand, getting rid of the wet patches where Regulus had stepped, before heading to the airing cupboard for clean towels. Once he had retrieved a couple and some spare clothes, he opened the bathroom door and pushed them through the gap, onto the counter.
As he closed the door, he could hear the sound of the shower turning on.
...oOo…
Two cups of hot water were poured under Regulus' watchful eye and James glared at him. "I'm not going to spike your drink," he said, somewhat angry at the unspoken accusation as he popped the teabags in.
"I never said you were," Regulus replied with a slight shrug of his shoulders. James glanced at him. Regulus didn't look like Regulus now. There were no expensive trousers and robes, no gold thread lining his clothes. In James' old tracksuit bottoms, thick socks and long-sleeved lime green t-shirt, he looked more like Sirius than ever. Especially since his damp hair was pulled back into a messy bun.
James wondered if Regulus hated the feel of wet hair against his neck as much as Sirius hated it.
"You're watching me carefully," he replied, biting back any other retort and trying to be as civil as possible.
"I am. I'm considering where to start with my story and how you'll react. I'm also wondering why anyone would own clothing this colour and if you picked this on purpose just to torment me."
"Story? You have a lot to tell? I somehow doubt that." James stirred a couple of sugars into his tea before glancing at Regulus. He decided not to comment on the t-shirt or how Regulus was right on why he picked that colour.
"Two also," Regulus replied. James turned back to the drinks. James expected him to say more and fill the silence but Regulus seemed more content not speaking and James didn't have much to say.
Once the drinks were made, he walked through to the living room and set them on the table. Regulus dropped down onto the sofa and let out a sigh.
"They think I'm dead. No, that's not right. They would suspect it by now I would assume."
"I'm sorry, what?" James asked uncertainly.
Regulus' lips curved up at the corners slightly. "I believe right now, it's best that they continue to assume that I'm dead."
"Who?"
"You know who I'm talking about," Regulus replied. "I've got an item I believe is of importance to… him. It is perhaps a key to stopping him. Whatever it is and whatever it means, it's valuable and he went to extreme lengths to have it protected."
"And you're here because…" James trailed off, hoping Regulus would fill him in on the reason. After all, Regulus could have gone to Dumbledore.
"Because for some reason, I trust you," Regulus admitted. "For everything you did to protect my brother, I feel you are trustworthy enough to help me. Plus… I don't know where my brother lives. In fact, he'd probably have slammed the door straight in my face."
"Probably."
"Most likely… unless Lupin was there. But if that was the case, he'd be angry about Lupin being on my side. This way, you can be the mediator to resolve this. But I know what you want to hear. James Potter, I'm here because I need your help."
James couldn't help the smile that appeared on his lips. Those were words he had never expected to hear from Regulus and they did feel good to hear. "Of course you do. Now, first things first. The item."
"A locket." Regulus reached into the pocket of the tracksuit bottoms and pulled it out. "He almost killed Kreacher in the attempts to hide this. It was guarded by a potion that made me want to die. Inferi almost dragged me down into the water. I'm not sure what Kreacher did at the last minute…"
James recalled the water that was dripping from Regulus' clothes upon his arrival. "Don't tell me that you came immediately here?"
"I did," Regulus confirmed, handing over the locket. "Well, I wasn't going to go back to Grimmauld Place, was I? I replaced it with a fake one of course. In case it's checked. He'll just think that I didn't get to the bottom of the bowl and died. I have to of course use blood to open the door in—"
"Regulus, you're not making sense," James insisted. "Tell me why he'll think you're dead."
"Because my blood was used to open the main door. I would imagine that the Dark Lord would become aware of someone going into his cave and activating the door with their blood. But if he goes to check, the locket remains and I'm missing. He'll assume that I'm dead."
"And what is the locket?"
"I don't know," Regulus confessed. "It means something to him. He went to great lengths to hide it in the first place. Can you feel the darkness radiating off it?" He watched James expectantly.
"Yeah. It makes me feel… wrong," James muttered, passing the locket back. He watched as Regulus carefully took it by the chain between two fingers as though he didn't want to touch it more than he needed to, and it was dropped onto the sofa.
"It might be important," James continued. "I'll have to show it to Dumbledore."
"Don't let a single person know about this except for my brother. If anyone finds out you have this locket, they'll know that I'm alive."
"And what do you plan to do now that you're 'dead'?" James asked.
"Well, in return for information about the Death Eaters and this locket, I'm requesting your protection."
"My… my protection?" James spluttered. "What makes you think I'd help you?"
"Firstly, I'm your best friend's brother. Second, you are a Gryffindor and it's in your nature to help those in need."
"And third?" James asked, raising his eyebrows and repeating Regulus' earlier words back.
"Well, thirdly, you want that locket."
"I'm not sure if any of those are good enough reasons."
"How about the fact that if they find me, I'll be classed a traitor and they'll kill me."
James let out a sigh. Regulus was right again. James couldn't let Regulus leave. He was too valuable to the Order and too valuable to Sirius.
"You can stay for now," James offered.
...oOo…
Voldemort's long fingers moved over the entrance to his cave where the dark blood stained the rock. His wards had been right: someone had been there recently.
He thought about who it could be. The only person who knew of the cave was the old house-elf.
It took only a couple of seconds to connect the dots. It had been a lower Death Eater that had given him use of the house-elf. A Death Eater that had failed to return to him on the last summons. The blood was old enough for the events to add up.
If the house-elf had somehow survived, it could have told the Death Eater of his purpose in the cave. That would explain his absence. Voldemort's lips twisted into a rare smile. Of course, that Death Eater would be dead now. The potion would have been too much, he would have been dragged into the water, solving all issues.
Voldemort turned, his gaze on the two Death Eaters he had summoned to accompany him. He would obliviate them later, but first he wanted to ensure that the locket was still there. It was better to be sure. Lucius was to come with him of course, as his trusted second in command. As for the second, he needed someone expendable. Someone who would do his bidding without complaint.
Pettigrew, his bumbling spy who had caused his Death Eaters to go on too many wild goose chases, was the second to come. Pettigrew would serve his purpose.
"Go across and show me the contents of the pedestal," he ordered. Lucius froze, his eyes widening at the word 'pedestal'. He had been the one tasked to find a way to contain something and had been the one to present the idea to Voldemort in the first place so he knew what was about to happen.
Voldemort's lips curved up again. "'Wormtail' is looking quite thirsty," he added, enjoying the way Pettigrew flinched at the mention of the nickname his friends had given him.
Lucius gave a slight nod of his head and began to instruct Pettigrew to the boat and Voldemort turned his attention away. Clearly he needed better wards than the ones he had already set on the place. Keeping an eye on the boat's progress, he began to add power to the wards and spells that were designed to keep others out.
He laughed as he heard Wormtail cry out at the first taste of the potion.
...oOo...
Lucius stared down at Peter, taking in the empty, defeated look in his eyes, with a sneer on his own face. The look had appeared many drinks ago and there was little more of a whimpering, shivering shell of a man. The type that wouldn't come back from digesting so much of the drink of despair, but would remain a mess.
Knowing his lord was looking, he turned to glance at the prize, but his eyes widened. Their lord had pushed the image of a locket into his mind before he had crossed. Now the potion was gone, Lucius could see that this locket was different.
He picked it up to examine it. "Should we tell him that it's fake?" he asked, knowing that the man who sobbing on the ground wouldn't answer. He resisted aiming a kick at Pettigrew, not wanting to sully his shoes any further. There was already enough filth on them from their journey, not that he would dare complain in front of his lord.
Lucius knew the punishment would fall onto him. He had been the one to come up with the idea of the potion and hiding the item within. If his lord found out that the potion had failed, he would blame Lucius.
Lucius turned to his lord who was watching from the other side, and held up the locket. He received a nod in return, and replaced the locket. The second the locket touched the bottom, the bowl filled once more.
With a flick of Voldemort's wand, the boat raised up to meet them and Lucius grabbed Pettigrew up from the ground, pushing him towards the boat and taking delight in the way the man fell into it. Unfortunately he was in no state to row them across, which meant Lucius had to.
But in the scheme of things, he'd rather do the rowing than be the one to drink the potion. His master didn't need to know that anything was different on the island, and Lucius wouldn't have to be punished.
...oOo...
James had started to keep a closer eye on his housemate. After his initial suspicion of Sirius' brother, he had watched carefully but Regulus was content to stay indoors and flick through his books, throwing the occasional complaint about the lack of choice. James found himself starting to trust Regulus.
Sirius had visited too and though there were some harsh words exchanged, James could see past the words and knew that Regulus would see past them too. The worry and concern for Regulus' safety was clear in Sirius' eyes and James had then been ordered to keep Regulus safe.
Books from Sirius and Remus' apartment were sent over to keep Regulus busy whilst he wasn't talking to Dumbledore about Death Eater activities and secrets.
Two weeks later, James woke up to the sound of whimpering and gasping from the other room. His wand was pulled from under his pillow and he ran out of his room, wearing just his boxers, barging into Regulus' room, his wand at the ready.
Regulus was alone, but the sweat was evident in the way his hair was sticking to his skin. He was struggling to breath, letting out choked sounds, his hands clenching around his throat desperately.
"Accio bezoar," James shouted, unsure what else he could do. If it wasn't an effect of a poison as he suspected, he would be wasting time.
One quickly shot into his hand and James rushed to the bedside. He grabbed Regulus' jaw with one hand and shoved the stone past his lips with the other.
Regulus' body shook and his glassy eyes fixed on James.
"Come on, let this be poison," James whispered desperately, watching Regulus.
Suddenly Regulus had flipped over, drawing his knees under him and coughing. The stone fell from his lips, landing on the bed below him, and Regulus' head hung down as he drew in breath after breath.
James waited silently.
"Thank you," Regulus said, one he was able to lift his head once more. "I believe it's time I see a healer."
"What happened?" James asked. "We've been eating and drinking pretty much the same thing."
Regulus just shook his head, his body shivering slightly. James grabbed a blanket and helped Regulus into a sitting position on the bed. "I drank an unknown potion before I first arrived here. It's possible that… maybe that's what caused this."
"What potion?"
"I've been researching but have failed to work it out just yet. It drains your energy. It makes you relive your worst moments. It—"
"Drink of Despair," James said softly. "I've read about that actually. There can be various side effects. You should have been treated straight away. Had I known…"
"I should have known better than to think that my arrival here would be the end of everything," Regulus mumbled.
"It should have been!" James exclaimed. "This is just one set back, Regulus. I'm here to protect you and that's what I'm going to do. I promise you'll be safe with me."
The corners of Regulus' mouth twisted upwards ever so slightly. "Careful, Potter. People might think you're actually starting to grow fond of me."
"Fond isn't the word I'd use," James muttered with a snort. "But maybe you're growing on me."
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2743 words
Thanks to my team for all the help!