Don't Blame Me

The Prank

I stand in between Regulus and James. Herbology has gotten worse since the argument. James is completely insufferable, and Regulus loves to antagonize him.

"That's too much water. Are you trying to drown our plant, Potter?"

James slams the watering can down and faces Regulus. "I know what I'm doing."

"Oh, so making us fail is your goal then?"

"Stop the smartass comments, and let's handle this like men," James says, pulling his sleeves up.

Regulus scoffs, "As if you'd know anything about being a man."

James pushes me back and lunges at Regulus. The two of them fall to the ground, and they begin fighting. It takes me and two Gryffindor boys to pull them apart.

"Are you kidding me? What the hell is wrong with you two?!" I yell.

The professor walks over, "You three detention, tomorrow night."

"I didn't do anything," I argue.

"There is no cursing allowed in my class."

Oh, this has to be a joke.

I turn to Regulus and James, "You two need to start acting your age. You don't have to like each other, but please, for the love of Godric, keep me out of this feud."

"Class is dismissed. You two boys need to go to the infirmary," the professor says.

I grab my bag and storm out of the greenhouse. James runs after me, "(Y/n)! Wait!"

Other students watch us curiously. I can hear them whispering as I try to get away. James grabs my robe and pulls me to a stop.

"I'm sorry-"

"Oh, so now you can talk to me?"

He flinches at my voice. His eyes are full of regret, but I don't care. He sighs, "I'm sorry we've been assholes."

"No, you don't get to do that, James."

"Do what?" He asks.

I laugh bitterly. My anger has already reached its limit. "You can't treat me like shit just for talking to someone, then fight that same person and come running back to apologize. James, if you actually felt sorry about ignoring me, then you would've apologized sooner, not just because you got me in trouble and feel guilty."

He doesn't follow me when I walk away, but someone else does. Regulus is by my side within seconds, bending down to whisper to me as we walk. "I'm sorry."

"You should go to the infirmary."

He scoffs, "Please, Potter barely hit me."

"Your lip is busted," I reply.

"The ground did more damage than he did."

I roll my eyes, "Just because you didn't start the fight doesn't mean I'm not mad at you too."

"Yeah, well, I'm used to your being pissed at me. So, it doesn't bother me. Potter, however, looked like he was going to sob."

"Good, he deserves it," is what I say, but that doesn't reflect the insane amount of guilt I feel.

I glance at his lips, "You should go get that treated."

"I'll live," he says with a shrug.

His demeanor switches, and the usual confidence he has is gone. He almost looks....nervous. "Are you still up for meeting tonight?"

I think about it for a few seconds, weighing my options. While I am very mad about getting detention, I also can't help but want to spend more time with him. "Yeah, but only because I like the moon."