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Regulus was staring at the stars above Hogwarts; he was on the Astronomy tower and could
see his own star.
James had always called him the heart of the lion, said that he needed Regulus to lead him and to show him the way. Regulus’ pessimistic side was safe in times like these; no one could betray them if they were very careful.
The cold breeze was grounding for Regulus on the warm summer night. It was way too warm during the day and the Slytherins liked to stay in their cold common room.
James appeared next to him, he pulled his invisibility cloak from him and his usually kind brown eyes looked filled with anger.
“Sirius said what happened, with Dumbledore that night.” James’ voice sounded pained.
Regulus kept himself from flinching and tried to act casually.
“A greeting would be nice, Potter.” He rolled his eyes with a slight smirk.
James blinked a few times and looked at Regulus.
“Yeah Reg, hi,” he said, a little softer than before.
James' eyes hardened again and added, “You got the mark the day Sirius ran away.”
Regulus froze. “How do you know–”
James drummed impatiently with his fingers on the edge of the tower underneath them.
“Like I said, Sirius.”
Those kind brown eyes locked on Regulus’; they looked almost deer like.
“Sirius also said that you begged Dumbledore to be saved; a few weeks before you got it.”
Regulus swallowed.
“That doesn’t matter now,” he mumbled.
“It does Reg!” James looked murderous. “Dumbledore could have saved you too; could have saved Sirius before it got that far.”
Regulus looked at his star again, not able to look James in his eyes. A horrible burning sensation was behind his eyes.
He couldn’t cry now, not here.
He forced out, “Our headmaster isn’t very fond of the Slytherins.” He made sure his voice was as flat as possible and the burning lessened a little.
James seemed to realize that something was wrong and wrapped an arm around Regulus.
It felt so nice; James was so warm, as always and he smelled like a mix of mahogany and old broomstick wax and butterbeer.
Regulus took a deep breath and loved James’ scent.
James’ voice was softer when he spoke again. “But I am very fond of my Slytherin and Dumbledore has no right to treat you like that.”
Regulus laughs shortly but it doesn’t sound happy. “Except he has the right, he’s the headmaster, leader of the light.”
James held Regulus closer and kissed his forehead. “Well, not my leader anymore.”
Regulus’s head shot up, “What? No, you can’t leave. It’s not safe. You’d have to join the dark lord.” He looked panicked at James. “You can’t fight a war on your own Potter.”
James didn’t look panicked at all; he had that typical marauder spark in his eyes and a bright smile.
“I won’t be on my own, Reg.” He ruffled Regulus’ hair. “Sirius agreed of course, he hates the dude after he found out. Moony was harder to convince but he followed Sirius of course, they can’t bloody stay away from each other. And Peter–”
Regulus yelped, “Wait Sirius and Lupin are–”
He shook his head. “Never mind, I don’t want to know.”
Dumbledore, and James… He can’t leave the order.
He had to remind himself. “You won’t leave the order, neither will Lupin or Sirius.”
James teased, “Too late, Black.” He grinned and added, “They already agreed, so did your friends.”
“They would never, and you shouldn’t either.” Regulus protested.
James hugged him. “It was already coming. We’ll figure it out, okay?”
Regulus buried his face in James’ shirt and nodded.