Prompt 20 - Constellation
@jegulus-microfic June 20, Word count 476
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Regulus was still reeling from coming home to find Barty on his doorstep. He had no idea who Evan was, but he was grateful he’d turned up and defused the situation because Sirius may have looked calm, but he was just waiting for Barty to make one wrong move, and he’d have launched himself at Regulus's ex.
Remus slid a cup of hot chocolate across the kitchen table towards him. He grabbed the cup and wrapped his hands around it, relishing the burning heat as it warmed his hands.
“So that was fun,” Sirius joked as he opened a packet of chocolate hobnobs and dumped the whole packet onto a plate that he placed in the middle of the table. Remus immediately snatched one up and dunked it into his hot chocolate.
Sirius was flipping the card Evan gave him over in his hand. “What are we going to do the next time he ‘stops by’? We can’t keep letting this happen,” Sirius muttered darkly.
“He’ll get the picture eventually,” Regulus replied quietly. He wanted all this Barty business to be over with. He was sick of having to look over his shoulder all the time. “Can we just stop talking about him now? We were having a good time until he turned up,” he looked over at the stuffed lion James had won for him. It made him smile. No one had ever won anything for him.
They finished up their hot chocolates and said goodnight. Regulus insisted that James use the bathroom first, and he’d wait. In the quietness of his room, he let out a shaky breath. Would Barty ever leave him alone? He just wanted to be free of him. Live his new life and enjoy it. He put his lion on the dresser and opened the sash window fully, slipping out onto his little balcony. He lifted his head to the skies and sought out the Leo constellation and from there his namesake.
His star glittered back at him brightly, but a little to its right was a far brighter star. His brother’s star. He sighed, Barty had been the only one to prefer him over Sirius. Even James had bonded far more with Sirius than he ever had. He was always going to be that little bit duller than Sirius. Always to the left and never beside. Inferior.
“Hey, love, bathrooms free,” James said happily as he poked his head out of the window.
“Thanks,” Regulus smiled back. He knew it hadn’t quite met his eyes, but James didn’t say anything about it.
When he came back to his bedroom, James was already snuggled under the covers. Regulus paused a second when he passed his dresser before scooping up his lion and getting into bed. He hugged it all night long while James held him close in his strong arms.
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