The Bug Collector | marauders

Resistance

Breakfast the next morning was awkward.

The silence hadn't stopped between Rose and Sirius, and Rose wasn't sure if he was still mad or simply refused to be the bigger person about the whole thing.

Occasionally this would happen between him and Moony, even him and Peter but he and James never seemed to have any problems like this.

Exams and subsequently summer break would be fast approaching and Rose knew this littoe issue needed to be settled before then. Arguing back and fourth via Peter's letters during the summer would not be the best course of action, so Rose decided to try and get to the root of the problem, Regulus Black.

—

After most of her classes were concluded for the day Rose went to her dorm for her free period, bringing out a journal she'd been keeping of her time at Hogwarts and going back through it, she found loads of entries about the marauders and an expectational amount about Sirius alone, but chose to flip all the way back to her first year, the last time she was openly friends with Sirius' brother, back when they spoke daily instead of every few months or so.

She recalled some arguments she'd had with Sirius back then, his distaste for Slytherin wizards prevalent through the writings.

"Whatcha doing?" Ode spoke up from across the room. The two of them still spent plenty of time together, each day she would return from classes or some adventure with the marauders and Ode would be on her or Stephone's bed reading.

While they had seemingly grown apart there was no hard feelings between them, and they would remain roommates for years to come so it was unlikely they would ever dislike one another like Rose and their fourth roommate who looked down heavily on Rose's blood status did.

"Trying to help a friend." Rose answered as she reached over to her beside table and picked up one of the thin, tall candles and leaned the flame over to light the wicks of her few other ones before placing it back in it's proper place, a few drips of hot wax had trailed down her fingers and hardened in the process. She picked it off easily and shut the journal.

She needed a far more updated account on what Regulus was really up to, and better than her own. Sirius had complained after each holiday that year that his brother was far more distant at home. Rose was beginning to put together why Sirius seemed so upset at her.

To get this inside information Rose considered going straight to the source, but figured her time would be utterly wasted on Regulus' friends. Evan Rosier was growing into a major prick, and even acknowledged Rose from time to time just to say some pure-blood bureaucratic bullshit and Barty Crouch Jr. gave her the creeps. The older boy seemed unhinged in a somehow playful way which was scary as hell.  Occasionally when Rose and the marauders would prank Snape little Barty Crouch would take notice, he'd laugh along with them but send a threatening glare their way before disappearing off to wherever he did with his free time.

Thus, going to one of Regulus' friends was a no go.

"I'm gonna head back out Ode, tell Steph I said hello when she gets here."

"Gotcha" Ode said stretching out on her bed.

"Where you going?"

"To threaten a quidditch player until he tells me what I want to know." Rose said plainly.

"Very direct approach." Ode said with a laugh as Rose got up and left the room.

—

And now she was mere inches away from James Potter with her wand stabbing into him gently, mostly to scare him, never to actually harm the boy Rose had begun to view as an older brother, taking the place in her heart where Petunia should have been.

"I see you watching him at practice, Potter. I see you talk to him after too, and you never mention it to Sirius, so what's up?!" She asked dramatically.

"You act like Lily when you're angry!" James said squirming a bit and trying to avoid the question.

"James! Come on, mate!"

"Okay okay, Sirius is too stubborn to, so I've been keeping watch on Regulus."

"And what have you found?"

"You're not going to like it. Sirius sure wasn't too happy when he realized it for himself."

"What, James?" Rose said lowering her wand from where it was poked gently into his abdomen, probably only enough to tickle the boy.

"From what I've gathered, it seems his companions are getting rather interested in the dark arts, I can only assume..." He trailed off leaving Rose to come to her own conclusion on the matter.

"Bloody hell" She breathed out a sigh.

"You're the a pretty decent spy though, James." Rose said trying to find some silver lining to what she has just learned.

"Yeah." He said running a hand through his curly hair.

—

And now for the hard part. The talk with Sirius about the one thing that never failed to make him incredibly uncomfortable, his little brother.

Rose couldn't deny that Sirius' entire home-life seemed tortuous from what the group had seen. Such as, angry letters sent in from midnight-black owls, Sirius returning from holidays and needing time to relax back into the safety of his friends company, and the temperament he seemed to have gained to protect himself from a tumultuous household.

The same temperament that got them into these situations.

—

Walking beside him silently, Rose and the rest of the group was headed to the quidditch pitch to watch James practice for the final game of the season, Gryffindor verses Ravenclaw.

Rose nudged him gently, speaking barley above a whisper.

"Sirius?" She asked, being the first one to break their silence that had been going all day.

He looked at her and slowed his pace, allowing the two of them to fall back for the other boys.

"Can we talk?" She continued, he stopped and gave James a look.

"We'll catch up, Jamsie." He said as Rose stopped beside him.

Once the other three were out of earshot Rose spoke again, she had wanted to grab his hand, or maybe place her arms around his shoulder, but she couldn't even look him directly in the eyes when she first started speaking.

"I know it's hard for you, to see what Regulus could become every time you go home, but we don't have to fight just because I don't quite see it that way yet. I know you care about him, of course you care for him, but so do I. I wouldn't endanger him and I won't let him endanger me, Sirius." She said, taking a breath before she continued.

"We— Me, Regulus, your friends...we love you Sirius. And like you...not all of us really know how to do that properly. James does for sure, but trust me, you don't have to protect yourself from us, mate."

A look of surprise crossed his pale face, and then a smile crawled to his lips. A welcomed sight.

"Why is it every time we have one of these talks you do all the talking?" He asked.

"I think I'm still trying to learn how to be your friend without hurting you." Rose admitted.

"I should be saying the same thing. I know, you don't mean any harm with Reggie, and that's more than I can say for the other people he hangs around, but you know it's just not a great idea. I won't stop you, though." He said in response pausing before continuing in a more joking tone.

"As long as you never hangout with Snivellus." He said giving her a gently bump with his shoulder.

"Are you kidding me? He'd just pretend I was Lily the whole time, no way." She said with a laugh.

"Good. Let's get back to those prats then, yeah?" He said as he began walking towards the boys once more, when they arrived James put his arms around both their shoulders.

"Ravenclaw is going to be utterly destroyed, lads." He said with a smile full delight