evidence - jegulus - platonic prongsfoot - @into-the-jeggyverse - word count: 618 - (might expand this, what do you guys think?)
“Prongs, I think…I think we need to talk.”
Sirius’s sad, slightly-betrayed voice made James’s heart break even before he sat up to look at his friend. But once he caught the confused, horrified, devastated look in those familiar gray eyes?
Because finally, Sirius knew.
“Pads,” he said softly, moving to sit cross-legged on his bed and face the other boy, thankful that the room was empty, save for the two of them. “Pads, I–”
“I didn’t want to think it was true, you know?” Sirius said sadly, face still twisted into a grimace. “All the times you snuck out with the Map, the little marks on your neck…it was obvious, you know? But I thought maybe you and Evans’d finally started something up and you wanted to keep it secret? Even from me? Dunno…” Sirius shook his head, looking away. “And then I realized you smelled like cologne, and I thought, ‘Oh, I guess that makes a little sense. I don’t know why he wouldn’t trust me to share that with, I’m always snogging Moony and we’re best friends, but–’”
“Pads,” James whispered, lip quivering, broken. “It’s not that sim–”
“Obviously, it’s not that simple! Because it’s not just any bloke is it?” Sirius asked a little angrily. “I followed you, James! I know you’ve been meeting in the Potions practice rooms! It’s not like many students have keys there! Did you not think I’d figure it out?”
Torn between being angry at Sirius for following him and guilty for his own betrayal, James looked down. “I was going to tell you..” he murmured.
“Were you? Or were you going to wait until you couldn’t deny it? Until I had so much evidence you had to admit it?” Sirius demanded.
James stayed quiet, tears prickling at his eyes.
“The sad thing is, mate, if you’d just said something, I would’ve at least heard you out. I care, and I want you to be happy. But Godric, he’s such a prick to all of us, even you! I don’t understand why you’re interested in him,” the shorter boy sighed, face confused, now.
He bit at his lip, trying not to get defensive. It was true, he was a bit of a prick sometimes, but he wasn’t awful–
“I mean, he hexed me just the other day! He insulted Lily and made her cry! What d’you–” Sirius continued to rant.
But this took James off-guard. “He what?” he asked, shaken.
“C’mon, don’t play dumb. You know what he’s done. Who he is. Who he wants to be. And don’t deny it either,” Sirius snapped, throwing a Slytherin tie towards him. “I found this. I know you’re hooking up with Snape.”
The resulting silence was deafening. James had to take several long moments to process what had just happened, who they were both talking about, before a completely hysterical laugh bubbled through his lips. “No, I’m not,” he said truthfully.
Sirius narrowed his eyes. “Potter, we’re supposed to be best friends, don’t lie–”
Sirius’s face twisted and turned into so many different emotions that James was a bit convinced he’d been hit by some sort of spell. Shock, denial, defeat, relief, more shock, disgust… “Regulus.” he repeated flatly, a muscle in his jaw jumping.
“Yeah,” James nodded, smiling nervously.
“I…can’t decide whether to hug you or hex you,” Sirius said stiffly, hands clenched at his sides.
“That’s…that's fair, mate,” James laughed, wincing.
But in the end, Sirius sighed, threw himself onto his own bed, and ironed his hand over his face. “Thank Merlin I don’t have to be your best man when you marry Snape. I would’ve died.”
James let out another chuckle. “Same here, Pads.”
