The Marauders Year Five Part 2 #Wattys2017

Death Eaters Don't Cry

Death Eaters Don't Cry

James came out of the parlor room at exactly the same time as Regulus came up from the dungeon stairs. They both bore the look of someone who'd just come from something that they didn't particularly want the other to know about - guilty looks whispered over their faces. And both of them recognized the guilt written on the other's face. James shoved his fists into his pockets and stared at Regulus as he walked over, trying to remind himself not to sound like he was accusing Regulus of anything when he spoke. "What'cha up to, Reg?" he asked as casually as he could, though there was a tremble to his voice.

Regulus answered, "Just went to... to get my jumper," he lied. He noticed his sleeve was still popped and quickly hastened to pull it down over his wrist again, his fingers clasping over the hem, and he looked up, nervous that James might've seen the Dark Mark.

He hadn't. But he had noticed Regulus pull the sleeve down and James felt the tightness of suspicion in his throat. He took a couple steps closer to Regulus and he looked around as the Great Hall was clearing out and he hoped that maybe Remus and Sirius would go and open up the Secret Meeting Room - he was going to be late. He looked Regulus in the face. "We need to talk."

Regulus felt a pit in his belly. He nodded.

James thought about going back to the parlor room, but he decided it was too risky - too many professors frequenting the area that might check in there for some reason. This was a conversation that he didn't want interrupted. He nodded to the stairs, "C'mon." He led the way up to the third floor and turned to look at Regulus. "Can you keep a secret?"

I already keep so many, Regulus thought. He nodded.

James waved for him to come along and when they got to the tapestry, he lifted it and waved for Regulus to go ahead into the darkness behind it... At first Regulus thought he was mad but as he stepped forward, he found there was a tunnel there and his eyes widened as James waved his wand. "Lumos," James said, then, "Be careful. There are pits. We've only really explored one of them. It goes down to the laundry room... Peter reckons the others go to dragon lairs but he's an idiot." He waved Regulus along the Trophy Room Passageway, telling him how to get over the pits 'til they'd reached the alcove halfway up, and James waved his wand to light the lanterns that he and the other Marauders had brought down.

Regulus looked about. The walls were papered with notes and pictures, older than either one of them, from a time long before their own. He looked over the photos on the walls and recognized Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall in one photograph together that was labelled Poppy & Minnie, and another, much older picture where two boys were grinning and holding up broomsticks - they were faces he recognized though it took him a moment to realize why. One of them was Newt Scamander and the other looked like it was probably his older brother. Newt was grinning - his front teeth looked even larger when he was that age - probably thirteen or fourteen, about the age that Regulus was then. And he wore a Hufflepuff Quidditch jumper and a helmet that strapped under his chin awkwardly, making his cheeks look almost pudgy. The wizard next to him, by comparison, looked like an adonis of a boy, with chiseled muscles and normal-sized teeth. Regulus thought of the morning in the Care of Magical Creatures barn...

"I was the brother that never quite lived up to it," Newt had said (though, with a bit more "uhs" and stutters mixed in, of course), "I wish I'd told him that I was proud to be his brother..."

Regulus watched the little Newt in the photo grinning as his helmet slid down his head and over his nose and the brother laughed, having pushed the helmet down, smirking rather haughtily out from the picture as Newt shoved his helmet back up on his head and continued on grinning adoringly, desperately up at his Gryffindor elder brother.