MAROON

LXXI. The War: Rowena Ravenclaws Diadem

December 30, 1978

REGULUS ARCTURUS BLACK

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Regulus woke up in cold sweat. He instantly sat up, breathing heavy. He knew it had to be the middle of the night but James woke up regardless.

James placed a hand on his arm. "What's wrong, love?" He asked him soft but groggily. "Is it the same dream again?"

Regulus slipped off his shirt because he had sweat through it. He met his boyfriend's concerned gaze. "Yeah, I'm alright though. You can go back to bed."

"Bullshit," James told him as he pulled him into his arms. Regulus melted into the embrace. James ran a hand through his curls. "I thought our thing was we weren't pretending to be fine around each other anymore."

Ever since Regulus had killed that death eater, he had been having dreams about it over and over again.

"I wish I could fight away the dreams for you," James told him. "You didn't have a choice. It's not like you did something terrible."

Regulus didn't believe that last part but he didn't feel like fighting with James right now. Everything around him felt so fragile and he was afraid he would say the wrong thing and shatter it all. It seemed like something he would do. He was a Black after all no matter how hard they tried to change it and he tried to hide it.

Instead of objecting, Regulus shifted the focus off of him. "And how are you?"

"Scared shitless," James admitted truthfully. "I'm terrified I'm going to lose you in this war. I've always imagined us both making it out of this war but with everyone dying... it's starting to hit me that we might not."

Regulus placed a soft kiss to James's collarbone. "When did you become the pessimist in this relationship?"

"It's only the truth, Reggie. I'm so fucking tired of pretending I'm not slowly losing myself in this war too. It's affecting me like it's affecting the rest of you. I hate the fact that we might lose each other but it's only the truth."

James had gotten good at communicating with him. He didn't feel like his feelings were such a burden anymore. Regulus was proud of him. They had both come a long way since they first started dating.

"We aren't going to lose each other, Jamie. I'll make sure of it. We've worked too hard to be together to die in a fucking war," he reassured James. "And when we make it out of this thing... maybe I will consider the baby thing."

That made James break out in a smile. "Really? You'll think about it?"

"When you first brought it up I wasn't too keen on the idea but thinking about it now... raising a kid with you doesn't sound absolutely terrible."

James tackled him into a bone crushing hug. "Thank you. So what are your name ideas?"

Regulus pulled away and looked straight into James's hopeful eyes. "Hold on, I didn't say yes yet. It was a hypothetical statement."

James raised an unconvinced and knowing eyebrow at him. "But you will say yes. You can't resist me when I get excited like this."