Stolen Glances, Whispered Breaths: a jegulus microfic
very angsty, major character death(canonical)
“James,” the way Regulus says his name makes him pause. His voice sounds so broken, like his vocal cords were constricted by the raw emotion consuming his every thought. James looks down at the mark on his left arm, and feels his heart stop.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
“Regulus,” James answers him in return, his breathing uneven and there’s a tremor in his hands, and oh, Gods. Regulus knows he doesn’t understand, or maybe he does and that’s why he’s blinking tears from his eyes. He can tell James wants to reach for him, but the other quickly turns and walks away, as if he couldn’t stand the thought of losing him this way. Standing in the astronomy tower alone, Regulus whispers to the boy who can’t hear him anymore, “I’m sorry.”
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
When James gets the letter in two years time, he locks himself in his room at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, and wails. His heart hurts, like someone has ripped it from his ribcage and he can’t breathe. Regulus, his Regulus, is gone and can never be brought back. If only he reached out more(James knows deep down he could’ve reached as far as the Sun and Regulus still wouldn’t have accepted his hand). It almost makes him wonder if Regulus was prepared to die this entire time.
It shouldn’t have ended this way.
Buried underneath a swarm of inferi, Regulus Black knows he’s dying alone in this cave. He’s dying. Drowning in his own regrets, guilt, and sorrow. He screams for his older brother to save him, even though he knows he’s not coming. He thinks about the only boy he had ever loved, his name is on the tip of his tongue, but he can’t even breathe it out.
It shouldn’t have ended this way.
