Brother's Best Friend

Chapter Three

Regulus muttered to himself as he approached the library. He could already see James Potter's lanky figure waiting for him. Why did he agree to this? Well to be fair, he never actually agreed, but it would be rude to leave James waiting. Wait. Since when did he care about not being rude to James Potter? His mother would be furious. But then again, a lot of things he was doing would make his mother mad. Regulus kept his head down as he walked up to James, so none of his fellow Slytherins would recognize him. That all went out the window though, as James, with a grin on his face, said quite loudly, "There you are Regulus!" Regulus looked around quickly to see if anyone heard, and sure enough, who else would be there but Severus? Severus narrowed his eyes, and Regulus rolled his. He would be questioned later, no doubt about that. Regulus sighed. "Let's get this over with." They started walking towards the staircases. James grinned excitedly.  "Sirius is going to be so happy to see you!" Regulus scoffed. "Yeah right. He's probably going to be annoyed that I'm intruding." James shook his head. "You're not intruding if I invited you. Besides. Sirius wouldn't think that." Regulus looked around. They had reached the seventh floor. "Where are we going? I had never heard of the room of requirement before." James smirked. "Not many students have." Regulus hated that smirk. It made him feel weird feelings in his stomach. James stopped. He looked over at Regulus. "Wait here." He walked three times in front of a certain spot. Regulus wasn't even that surprised when a door appeared. James opened the door, and walked through. Regulus followed. A bunch of 7th year Gryffindors were seated in a circle. Regulus quickly spotted Sirius. He was sitting on Remus' lap. Regulus was behind James, so Sirius didn't see him yet. "Hey Prongs! It's about time! Who's that behind you? Is that the surprise guest?" James nodded and walked over and sat down, leaving Regulus at the door. No one noticed him yet. James looked over and grinned. "Come on Regulus! We don't bite." At the sound of his name, about 20 heads whipped toward his direction. Including Sirius'. Sirius' eyes widened. He turned toward James. "You invited my brother? And you didn't tell me?" Sirius turned toward Regulus and grinned widely. Regulus kept his head down as he walked towards the only spot open, which of course was beside Potter. He felt eyes on him as he sat down. He was the youngest one there, and the only one who wasn't in Gryffindor. He looked around. There were bottles of firewhiskey all around the circle. Regulus vowed not to drink any. He didn't want to slip up and tell everyone his secrets. Especially his brother. And Regulus had a lot of secrets. James explained the rules to everyone and Regulus listened, since he never played before. He kept ignoring the looks people were giving him, and looked at his brother. Sirius wasn't paying attention, and was chugging a bottle of firewhiskey. Remus caught Regulus' eye, and shook his head. Regulus gave him a small smile. He had always liked Remus. He was not like the other three he hung around with. Sure he helped them pull pranks, and was dating his brother, but on more than one occasion Regulus had spotted Remus sitting alone in the library, books spread all over the table. The one time Regulus had talked to him, he was nice, even though Regulus was interrogating him. It was when Regulus found out that Remus was dating Sirius, and pulled him aside to make sure he wasn't going to hurt Sirius. Even though Sirius barely talked to Regulus anymore Regulus didn't want him to get his heart broken. James cleared his throat, jarring Regulus from his thoughts. "Okay! I'll start! Sirius, truth or dare?" Sirius grinned. "Dare of course." James smirked. I dare you to do seven minutes in Heaven with Remus." Sirius jumped up, grabbed Remus' hand, dragging him to a closet Regulus hadn't noticed before. Seven minutes went by, and James went to the closet door, shielding his eyes, which earned laughter from the group. Sirius and Remus emerged from the closet. Remus' hair was rumpled, and Sirius' shirt was unbuttoned. A couple people whistled, and some girls giggled. They sat back down, and the game started back up again. Firewhiskey bottles were passed around, as it got later into the night. James handed Regulus a bottle. Regulus decided just to take a little sip, then leave it alone. Regulus took a swig and grimaced. It burned going down his throat, but it made his stomach feel warm, almost as warm as… No. He didn't want to finish that thought. Somehow it was already James turn to ask the question again. "Okay okay." He said, a little tipsy. "Regulus truth or dare?" This was the first question anyone had asked him. "Truth" He slurred. He was pretty sure he was already drunk. He looked down at his empty bottle. James got a mischievous look in his eye. " Tell us a secret about yourself." Regulus giggled. "Okaay. My parents want me to be a death eater, but I don't wanna." After he said that, his eyes went wide. He clamped a hand over his mouth. He heard a bottle break. He turned toward his brother. A few minutes ago, Sirius had been drunkenly kissing Remus, but now he looked sober. "What?" He whispered. "THEY WANT YOU TO DO WHAT?" Everyone was silent. Regulus felt his chest tighten. "I don't want to Sirius please understand. But Bellatrix is coming to pick me up tomorrow. There is nothing I can do about it." Sirius stood up. "You could have at least told me. Instead you're running around behind my back WITH MY BEST FRIEND, AND YOU COULDN'T EVEN TELL YOUR BIG BROTHER!" Regulus felt tears forming in his eyes. "Siri I'm sorry. I'm not running around with James, he asked me what was wrong, so I told him. I need to go now." He ran out of the room. He heard shouting, and a pair of footsteps behind him. "Regulus wait!" It was James. Regulus stopped and whipped around. "What do you want, Potter?" He yelled. "Come to ruin my life a little bit more?" James looked like he wanted to hug Regulus, but he kept his distance. “I’m really sorry Regulus. I shouldn’t have had firewhiskey there. Sirius can get a little unpredictable when he’s drunk. I shouldn’t have given you a bottle. I’m so so sorry. How can I make it up to you?” Regulus was stunned. Potter just apologized? He seemed sincere. Regulus sighed. “I’ll get back to you on that one Potter. Right now please leave me alone.” James nodded, and went back into the room of requirement. Regulus walked back to the Slytherin common room. Severus was standing near the door, waiting for him. “Why were you with Potter?” Regulus scowled. “None of your business Snape. Leave me alone.” He staggered into the 6th year boys dorm, crashed onto his bed, and sobbed.

***Sorry for the angst, I love you all***