Re: Steve and Bucky
James jerked at being touched with his nerves already frayed, about to snarl out an insult when his attention fell back to the dog. He bit his lower lip instead, struggling to piece together what was happening. It was a cute dog, he supposed, not really remembering much interaction with animals or how to handle them. Maybe it'd try to bite him if he shoved at Steve again. He had to remind himself again not to get confused who the enemies were, even if his feelings regarding the other student were conflicting.
"Me?" he sounded confused, glancing around even though it was obvious there was nobody else that Steve could mean. He heard other students rushing down the hallways, shouts for people to hurry and get inside the common room. Like they were all supposed to, and he'd been about to run off the other direction with no plan and no knowledge of what was even happening.
Between the implications of the rumor, the Hufflepuff's seeming obsession with him not being dead, and now trying to seek him out specifically... "What do you know?" he challenged lowly at the mention of the Death Eaters. His paranoia about being caught again made it a very easy conclusion to jump to, but to hear it spoken by somebody else. His heart pounded heavily, wondering if Steve knew or suspected his own involvement. Was that why he was coming? To stop him?
"I was going to go fight them," he insisted, his senses finally catching up with his instincts and realizing how bad of an idea that really was. Giving away his location, risking falling back under their control, the damage he could do to the other students if they managed to get back into his head. He wanted to get away from this, not throw himself back into it. He ran his hand through his hair in frustrated defeat.