evoke - @jegulus-microfic - word count: 289
Hogwarts without James was miserable.
No. That wasn't true. It was..it was fine. But as Regulus exited the thestral-drawn carriage and approached the castle, it hit him over and over that James wasn't there.
"It's one year, baby," James had reassured him before he left, both of them clinging to each other. "I'll be waiting for you the entire time. Kick arse on your NEWTs and come back to me, yeah?"
But as confident as Regulus tried to be in his and James's relationship, every corner of the castle seemed to remind him of his boyfriend- seemed to evoke a feeling of unease and longing. He missed James. And how was he supposed to go so long without him?
The feast passed sluggishly, but he waited until he got to his dorm- now labelled Seventh Years before he opened the present he promised James he would wait to unwrap. He wasn't sure what would make him feel better, but he did it anyways, eager for even a small token of love.
So he was a bit let down and shocked to see a mirror in the wrapping. "What the-?" he stared to ask, before he realized it wasn't his reflection in the glass, but James's. "Jamie?" he asked, emotion flooding through him at once.
"You didn't think I'd wait a whole four months to see your beautiful face, love?" James grinned back at him through the mirror, his entire face alight. "I begged Sirius to let you borrow this for the year. He agreed as long as we didn't use it for anything unsavory."
Choking with laughter on unshed tears, Regulus murmured, "What Sirius doesn't know won't hurt him."
He fell asleep with the mirror by his pillow.
