A/N: Sorry that this chapter took so long. I had a lot of work to catch up on at school for taking a week off when I was sick…not to mention finals coming up and my Hikari distracting me over Thanksgiving. But here it is, finally. ;

Title: Bedside Visiting

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James walked quickly, making sure that he never fell behind Snape. A part of him wanted to pull Regulus out of Snape's arms and hold the youngest Black close to himself, but he knew that it was not an option. They couldn't let anyone know just how much James cared for Regulus, but not being able to comfort the boy he loved when Regulus needed it was heartbreaking.

James sighed, not even sure that Regulus would want him to comfort him. Snape had said that Regulus returned his feelings…but how could he be sure? Maybe it was all a game and Snape was trying to get even for every prank the Marauders had ever pulled on him? James forced the thought to the back of his mind. Prank or not, he still cared for Regulus, and Regulus was horribly sick right now.

Reaching the Hospital Wing, James ran and knocked on Madam Pomfrey's office door. He watched, out of the corner of his eyes, as Snape gently laid Regulus down on a bed and brushed hair out of the younger boy's eyes. Sirius seemed torn between glaring at Snape suspiciously, and looking worriedly at Regulus. James wondered what was behind Sirius's glare.

"Yes? Oh, dear," Madam Pomfrey said as she opened the door and saw her patient. She quickly hurried to Regulus's bedside, and began checking him over.

James bit his lip, feeling useless. He desperately wanted, needed, to do something to help the Slytherin, but he didn't know what to do. Staying out of the nurse's way seemed like the only option at the moment, and that was not at all an easy task when James's heart was screaming at him to crawl into Regulus's bed and pull the smaller boy into his arms. Which was not something that he should even imagine doing without knowing exactly how Regulus felt about him.

Sirius put a hand on James's shoulder, and James smiled slightly. He had spent so long hiding his feelings for Regulus from everyone, but right now he was sure that anyone could read his helplessness a mile away. Why was it that it was harder to hide your feelings when there was a chance that they were returned? That was dangerous, and something he would clearly need to work on. He refused to put Regulus into any more danger than was absolutely necessary.

"I gave him a potion that should settle his stomach as well as re-hydrate him," Madam Pomfrey said finally, "It has, however, put him into a deep sleep; so I suggest you all go about your business."

"If it won't do any harm, I'd…we'd prefer to stay," Snape was glaring at the nurse, and James smiled inwardly. A battle of the wits between Snape and Pomfrey would be amusing if it weren't for the fact that the outcome would decide whether or not he was allowed to stay with Regulus.

"It won't do any harm, but it won't do any good either. Honestly, what is the point of visiting a sleeping patient?" Pomfrey glared right back, and James remembered the furious fight the Marauders had with the nurse to let them visit Remus after the full moon each month. Pomfrey cared deeply about every patient she had, but she honestly didn't see the benefit of having visitors.

"That is our business. We're staying," Sirius pushed past the nurse and conjured an armchair for himself. James and Snape quickly followed suit and Madam Pomfrey huffed but let them stay. She knew a futile cause when she saw one.

After the nurse had left, the three boys sat in awkward silence. Maybe staying had been an idiotic idea after all, but James wanted to be there when Regulus woke.

"I was under the impression that you couldn't care less about your brother," Snape sneered at Sirius, "Why the sudden change of heart?"

James watched as Sirius stiffened, "What do you care?"

"About you or your emotions, I don't," Snape's sneer turned to a cold glare, "But if you are just here to fight with Regulus when he wakes up, then I'd advise you to leave." There was no mistaking the silent threat behind the Slytherin's words.

"Nobody is going to be fighting," James looked at both boys, making sure that each of them would behave. Both boys looked back at him defiantly. "We are all here for Regulus, because we care about him. So show it by at least being civil for a day."

James glared at Sirius. He had thought that Sirius had wanted to apologize and try and make things better with Regulus. How could Sirius do that if he was fighting with the one person that had always been there for Regulus? James guessed that Sirius's little epiphany didn't include that Snape might not be as bad as they always thought. Hadn't he listened when James had told Sirius what Snape had done for him and Regulus? Stupid git.

"Just because I want to make up with Regulus, doesn't mean that I'm going to welcome Snape into the family with open arms." Sirius, it seemed, could read minds.

"Sirius," James sighed, and was about to continue when Snape cut in.

"I don't want to be apart of your little 'family.' I don't want to be apart of anything that includes someone who abandons their brother."

"I…You…He…" Sirius was fuming.

"Very good, now how about trying for complete sentences? Think your brain can handle that?"

"Enough," James glared at them both. "Sirius, you are here because you wanted to try and fix things with Regulus. Snape is a part of Regulus's life, and probably always will be, so learn to deal with that. Snape…Sirius has done a lot of things that he regrets. You of all people should understand how that feels," here, James's eyes flashed to Snape's left forearm. They didn't know for certain that Snape was a Death Eater, but even if he wasn't the not-so-subtle hint would remind Snape of everything that he had done that followed their beliefs. After the conversation in the classroom earlier, however, James was pretty sure that Snape was a Death Eater. "Just…shut up if you can't be civil."

No one said anything for a long time after, and James mentally patted himself on the back for a job well-done. Apparently, he needed to yell at people more often to get anything through their thick skulls.

"How is he?"

The three boys turned as they heard the quiet question. Lily was walking over to them, looking worried.

"Sleeping, but looking a lot better," James smiled, "What are you doing here?"

"There were rumors going around that Regulus was in the hospital wing with Sirius Black, James Potter, and Severus Snape. The Slytherins are betting on who will make it out alive. I decided that having a prefect here would be a good explanation as to why no bodily harm had been done." Lily's eyes narrowed as she took in the tension between the three, "No bodily harm has been done, has it?"

James snickered, "Close calls, but no blood has been shed yet."

Lily shook her head, smiling bemusedly, "Boys. You all think with your crotch and talk with your fists…or wands, I guess, as your wizards."

"So, wanna join us then?" James winked and conjured up a chair.

Lily laughed and took the seat between Sirius and Snape, "Why not?"

James smiled. What a group of bedside visitors they made. Two of them wanted to kill each other and would probably both settle for killing him at the moment, and the other two were still trying to figure out where they stood after that kiss and confession that James fancied Regulus, not Lily. Yes, this wouldn't be awkward at all for Regulus when he woke up.