soulmate (again!) - jegulus - @jeggyverses-jegulus-microfic - word count: 381
It wasnāt that Regulus was scared to turn seventeenā¦
It was that he was terrified.
The thought of waking up to his soulmark scrawled somewhere on his skin; his fate permanently etched on his bodyā¦it made him want to scream into his pillow. So many choices had already been taken from him that the idea of choosing who he spent forever with was laughable, but stillā¦sometimes he caught himself staring across the Great Hall at dark, messy hair and hazel eyes covered in stupid circular spectacles.
Every morning, Potter smiled at him, waving and greeting him with an āAlright, Reg?ā or āMorning, Reggie!ā which just drove the knife deeper into his chest. It reminded him that Potterās seventeenth birthday had already passed long ago and he hadnāt done anything, so that ship had sailed.
So when Regulus awoke on his own seventeenth, he didnāt feel joyous or excited. He just felt resigned.
So resigned, in fact, he didnāt even bother looking for new marks on his skin until breakfast, when Potter did not acknowledge him. No, instead, the older boy simply stared from across the room, his gaze so confused and hurt that Regulus was forced to cast his eyes downward to his own hands.
And the sun on the inside of his wrist.
āI have to go,ā he whispered to nobody in particular, standing and moving to leave the Hall. For some reason, he knew Potter would follow.
Maybe it was a soulmate thing.
Once outside and down a corridor, he finally turned back, the Gryffindor nearly crashing into him as he did.
āYouāreā?ā he demanded, every possible emotion warring for dominance in his brain.
āYes,ā James breathed, pulling back to reveal his collarbone, where the Leo constellation was branded, the star of Regulus larger than the rest.
āYou knew this whole time.ā It wasnāt a question, but it was meant to be one.
āI wanted you to choose me,ā the older boy mumbled, shrugging. āI didnāt want you to feel like you had to. You still donāt, Iād never force you, Reg.ā
At this, Regulusās heart sang. Because heād chosen James before heād even known he had a choice.
āIdiot,ā he murmured, before grabbing Jamesās tie and pulling him into a kiss.
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