James was starting to regret his choice of words when he spoke with Regulus a few months ago. And yes, it had been months. It felt like a lifetime ago. Sirius had finally let go of whatever grudge he had against James and things had gone back to normal. Or mostly normal anyway.

Sirius drummed on the table, grabbing James from his thoughts, "So? What's the plan?" They all turned to look at James who would normally have the answer. He returned their expressions with a confused look of his own.

"Sorry, I didn't sleep particularly well last night," James spoke apologetically and Sirius rolled his eyes. "What exactly are we planning?"

"Breaking into the dungeons to join the Slytherin's party, of course," Sirius explained as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I don't see it being too difficult. I think if I sweet talk her, I can get Marlene to let us in."

James raised an eyebrow, his gaze flickering over to Remus for the briefest moment before focusing on Sirius, "You and Marlene are still a thing?"

"On and off," he waved off. "But she owes me a favor and it's about time that I cash in."

"Right, so you do that and if you fail...we can just have Wormtail wait outside with the invisibility cloak and then when the door opens, stick a rock or something in before it closes and we'll be able to get in that way," James suggested.

"Rather boring but it works," Sirius shrugged, "That solves that so on to next matters. Our next prank. The first one was good, but not good enough." James frowned at this. What first prank? "Oh, you missed it, Prongs. We couldn't find you so we went ahead without you. But you can head this one, if you'd like. If you're not too busy that is."

"No, I should be good," James said, "Quidditch practice doesn't start for another week."

"Huzzah," Sirius cheered, dramatically, raising his glass. "To the return of Prongs and the band of Marauders!" The three boys looked at him incredulously but the boy didn't waver. They clinked their glasses against his before they all settled down. "I actually have a few ideas. I think we can pull them off tonight."

"Didn't you say we were sneaking into the Slytherin party tonight?" Peter asked.

Sirius grinned mischievously, "Exactly."

"Alright, here's the plan," Sirius announced from where they stood in the Slytherin common room. Marlene had come through and let them in, though she was reluctant at first. Sirius handed a bag to James, "Prongs, you take these and plant them in each of the Slytherin's dorm rooms. We'll be down here. You should be in the clear but we'll holler if anyone starts going up."

James raised an eyebrow, "That's not much of a plan, Pads."

"You can improvise," Sirius waved off. "Hurry, you only have so much time."

James was starting to regret having agreed to head the prank before he knew Sirius's plan. It wasn't as though he were beneath breaking into Slytherin's room for a prank, it was more so that he was afraid he would run into someone. A very specific someone that he didn't particularly want to encounter especially when his excuse for breaking and entering wasn't exactly a good one.

And as though he thought it into the universe, a voice spoke, "Who's in here?" James stilled, immediately recognizing the voice as the only person he didn't want to see tonight. He immediately entered one of the quarters, hiding behind the curtain. He looked around in panic, trying to think of a way out. "I know someone's in here. The party is supposed to remain downstairs so you need to leave." James held his breath in hopes that he would just give up and leave. He should have known better. "Revelio."

James let out a breath of defeat and moved out from behind the curtain. "Sorry, I got a little turned around," he excused as he made his way to the exit. "I'll be leaving now."

Regulus placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, "You're not going anywhere." He looked down at the boy, "We found your friends a few minutes ago. I figured you'd be around here somewhere."

He clapped his hands together, "Hey! You found me. So if you'll excuse me." He made for the door again but Regulus stopped him once more.

"Not so fast," he said, gently pushing him back into the room. "What did you do?"

"Pardon?"

"What is it?" he asked. "A cursed object? A dung bomb? What stupid thing did you come up with this time?"

"Nothing," James shook his head, "I didn't come up with anything."

"Did you find him?" someone asked from the hall and both boys stiffened at this.

Regulus looked down at James, something new filling his expression, "I'm sorry." James was about to ask what he was sorry for when the door opened to reveal a group of people. "He's right here. He was hiding."

Bellatrix pushed her way to the front of the group, "Well, well, well, if it isn't the grand Potter boy himself."

James took a cautious step back. "Bellatrix," he greeted, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Lovely to see you, as always." He was not getting out of this unscathed. Regulus had moved toward the wall where Evan had joined him, the two whispering amongst themselves. Crabbe and Goyle, however, started walking towards him on either side of Bellatrix.

"My Aunt and Uncle aren't particularly happy with you," Bellatrix informed the boy. She pushed his chin up with her finger, "Not happy at all."

James merely smiled, "Feel free to tell them that the feeling's mutual." He started toward the door, "I'll be on my way out now."

"You're not going anywhere," Crabbe informed him. "Not until we've sent a message." Goyle grunted in agreement.

"Regulus," Bellatrix said and the boy's head shot in their direction. "I think you should have this one."

"Oh," he said, panic rising in his chest. "I don't know about that, Bella. I've never done this before."

"It's good practice," she said simply, taking a step back. "Go on. He's all yours."

Regulus glanced back at Evan, the two communicating without saying anything. The latter nodded before slipping out of the room. Regulus crossed the room to James and James did nothing but watch him.

"Can I ask what exactly is going to happen?" James asked, not an ounce of fear in the boy's tone. "You guys have been pretty vague with the threats and I've always been the type of guy who likes to hear how it is. No need for sugar coating or any of that."

There was a chair pushed against his legs and he was pushed back into it. Regulus looked as though he wasn't sure as to what he was supposed to do. James scanned over the room. Four on one wasn't too bad. If he played his cards right.

"You'll be begging for sugar coating by the time he's finished with you," Bellatrix informed the Gryffindor.

"Oh, I assure you, Bellatrix, I don't beg."

Regulus smirked slightly at this and James narrowed his eyes. Now certainly wasn't the time for either of them to be thinking about what they had done at Quidditch camp.

Bellatrix had her hands on the back of his chair and she smiled as she looked up at Regulus. "I think it would be a great time for you to practice the Unforgivable curses," she decided and this wiped Regulus's smug expression right off and replaced it with fear. "Use the Cruciatus Curse."

"What?" Regulus asked and the anxiety was clear in his tone. James was certain that the others in the room had picked up on that as the air seemed to shift. "Isn't that a bit far, Bella? He didn't actually do anything."

James figured this was a good moment for him to keep his mouth shut and not admit that he had in fact already set the prank in motion. Apparently he did know when to be quiet. "You do it or I will," she said and that shut Regulus up immediately.

Regulus looked down at James and the Gryffindor could see the conflict in his eyes. A part of James wanted to comfort him and tell him that no matter what happened, it would all be okay. But in reality, it probably wouldn't be. He moved closer to the chair, "I can't."

"Oh, don't be a coward," Bellatrix huffed. "It's just boring. This is the person who took everything from you. He took your brother. He tore your family apart. You should want to destroy him! Here he is, on a silver platter. It was practically meant to be!" she shrieked. She circled the chair, her wand was out, dragging across his face. Something flickered in Regulus's expression and James understood immediately. "Go on, Regulus. Do it."

James sprung into action within seconds, his right hand rose, swiping Bellatrix's wand from her hand. She screamed in distaste but he was quick, jumping up onto the chair and pointing her wand at her, "Incarcerous." The ropes flowed from the wand and despite the fact that the wand felt wrong in his hand, it was doing what he wanted.

He heard footsteps and made the mistake of focusing on that. "Crucio," Crabbe yelled and the spell hit James right in the back.

"No!" Regulus exclaimed. James fell forward, right into Regulus's arms. "James," he said, his eyes widened. They both fell to the floor as James screamed in pain. He thrashed and Regulus held onto him. "Oh, James, I'm sorry, I-"

"Get away from him," Sirius demanded, pulling his brother out of the way. Regulus almost didn't let go but he knew better as Peter and Remus joined James on the floor. James thrashed on the floor, as the pain seemed to ebb and his breathing became more regular. Sirius threw his brother to the ground as he joined his friends, "He's okay, right?"

"I - I think so," Remus said, shaking his head slightly. "I - I don't know," he admitted, looking up at Sirius, "We need to get him to Pomfrey."

"Don't touch him!" Regulus said quickly as Sirius moved to grab his friend. They all turned to look at him but he was looking at James. "It hurts when you're touched after," he explained, looking up at his brother pleadingly, "Remember?"

Sirius locked eyes with his brother, so many questions running through his mind but he merely shook his head in disbelief. "He's right," Sirius said after a moment. "Maybe we can levitate him?" he suggested. "Remus, you're the best at it."

"I can't do it on my own," he pointed out.

"I can help," Regulus announced.

"Don't you think you've done enough?" Sirius pointed out.

"Sirius, I need someone who knows what they're doing," Remus informed him. "He can't hurt him more than he's already been hurt."

Sirius sat with this for a moment before huffing, "Alright, fine." He turned to his brother, "You better hope he fully recovers from this. Or I'm coming after you. I don't care if you were the one to cast the spell or not."

Regulus nodded quickly. He would blame himself too. He should have done something but he didn't. He just let it happen. Sirius could come after him all he wanted and Regulus wouldn't fight. "I understand."