It’s far too early to be awake let alone flying around in the icy air on a broom. But here he was, freezing his ass off with James Potter, running drills because Sirius decided sleep was much more preferred than brotherly bonding. To be completely fair, Regulus was desperate to sleep instead of being out here.
“C’mon, Reggie! At least pretend you’re trying!” James yelled across the pitch.
“Stop calling me Reggie, Potter,” Regulus groaned back. He was so not in the mood for any of this at this early hour, but if he was going to be out here freezing half to death he might as well kick James’ ass.
“What? Are you scared?” James teased.
“I don’t get scared, Potter,” Regulus said before shooting like a bullet down the pitch, aiming straight for James. Quickly he swerved out of the way at the last minute, flipping himself upside down on his broom and laughing triumphantly at the shocked look on James’ face.
“Oh, so that’s how we’re playing then,” James said as he cracked his knuckles and settled on his broom a little better. “Let’s fucking go, Black.”
Like two speeding sparrows, the two boys zoomed after each other around the quidditch pitch. Regulus was doing some fancy tricks to try and distract James, almost causing him to go face first into a hoop. It made Regulus slow down just long enough for James to get right up next to him mid-air, he knew what he was doing. Sirius did this all the time when they practiced together, leaning in really close to try and make Regulus slip off of his broom. But Regulus knew all the tricks that Sirius used and that James was going to try all of them this morning, he wasn’t playing dumb. What he wasn’t ready for was to have a really weird feeling in his stomach as James flew in closer with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Out of nowhere, the messy haired boy took a speedy nose-dive downward before quickly flipping back upwards and laughing maniacally.
“What the fuck are you playing at, Potter?” Regulus shouted.
“What?” James fluttered his eyelashes. “Did I scare you?” Hopefully the redness caused by the cold hid the blush creeping onto Regulus’ face.
“You’re insufferable, you know that right?” Regulus huffed. “It’s fucking freezing, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“Really? Hadn’t noticed it,” James chuckled as he saw Regulus shiver as a gust of wind blew in. “We can go in soon, I just want to race one more time.” He pulled a snitch out of the pocket on the inside of his quidditch robes.
“Where the hell did you get that?” Regulus asked.
“Don’t worry about that. I’m going to let it go in the center, we have to fly to opposite sides of the pitch and whoever catches it first wins. Are you game?” Regulus gave a determined nod and flew over to his side of the pitch while James let go of the flying gold ball and did the same. “GO!”
The two were off, racing after the snitch that was near impossible to see in the misty morning. Regulus was darting quickly on either side of James, face full of focus as he zeroed in on the snitch. His hair was flying behind him as he flew straight forward, laying down flat on his broom to go as fast as he could, reading his hand out. He hadn’t even noticed that he had lost track of where James was. Just as he was about to grab the snitch and end this freezing morning, James came from above, hanging upside down off of his broom and snatching the snitch right out of Regulus’ grasp.
“Ha! Yes! You suck!” James said with a triumphant laugh.
“Va te faire foutre, Potter,” Regulus spat as he started his descent.
The two flew down and landed in the wet grass, James tossing the snitch back and forth from one hand to the other.
“Thank Merlin, I’m sure I am frozen solid,” Regulus rubbed his hands together as they walked into the changing room. “D’you know if Sirius is awake yet?”
“Not a chance, when I left he truly looked dead. There is no way he is awake before noon today,” James said as he took off his wet shoes and robes. The two started changing out of their cold and wet quidditch uniforms, Regulus desperately trying to go as quickly as he could so he wouldn’t look over at a nearly naked James Potter.
“Are you going to Hogsmead this weekend?” James asked as he pulled a jumper over his head, making his hair messier than before.
“Yeah, I think so. I want to grab some things from Flourish and Blotts. What about you?” Regulus replied, nearly done getting dressed, however he hadn’t noticed that his shirt was on backwards. It was one that Sirius had given him over the summer when he was thirteen, it was black with some little gray bats embroidered onto the chest pocket. James giggled a little at the lack of composure that Regulus usually has.
“You got somewhere to go in a hurry, Reggie?” James asked as he put his uniform into his locker.
“What? What do you-”Regulus looked down, realizing his mistake he blushed even more. “Didn’t I tell you to stop calling me Reggie, Potter?”
“Yeah but I like it, it’s cute,” James sat down next to where Regulus was and leaned against the lockers. “You always take everything so seriously, someone has to be here to add some light.” And of course the light was being brought by James Potter, the literal embodiment of the sun. As Regulus leaned over to tie his shoes James reached over and messed up his almost fully black head of hair, saved for a small gray streak on his temple. James always liked that part of Reggie's hair, it stood out in such a lovely way, some light in the darkness.
“James,” Regulus sighed while he pushed James hand away from him, letting his fingers linger ever so slightly on the other boy's hand. He turned quickly to avoid the other boy's happy face. James intimidated Regulus in a weird way, he was so loud about his love for anyone. He shows how much he loves his friends and family so fiercely that it sometimes freaks Regulus out. He didn’t know what it was like to love someone so loudly, it wasn’t what he was used to.
“How do you do that?” Regulus asked as he shut his locker.
“What do you mean? Do what?” James asked. Regulus sat himself next to James on the little wooden bench and leaned back.
“How are you so…you? You’re so loud and excited and just…you are just so you and it's weird,” Regulus said as he wiggled the family crest ring on his finger.
“I dunno. Why are you so you?” James looked over to Regulus, meeting his mercury eyes with his own astonishingly bright green eyes. A stark contrast of color from his dark brown skin, like little gems in a dark case or something. Regulus shook his head, this was stupid, he shouldn't be getting lost in some boys eyes in the middle of a changing room. This was so stupid.
While Regulus was spinning out in his own mind, James inched his finger to lay over the other boy's insanely cold hand.
“Holy shit you are freezing!” James said in astonishment. Regulus shrugged in response and giggled. Jame reached over and passed his denim jacket to Regulus. “Put it on, you’re going to get sick if you stay this cold.”
“I’m okay, really, James!” Regulus tried to pass the jacket back but James pushed back harder. “I’m not gonna die, relax!” James all but tackled Regulus into the jacket, buttoning the center to ensure that he was closed in.
“No. You are going to freeze into a statue, and I really don't think that your older brother would appreciate a Regulus icicle,” James joked, ruffling his hands through the soft black hair again and letting their eyes meet once more.
“You’re being stupid, Potter,” Regulus whispered in an attempt to sound angry but it was ruined by the small smile sneaking its way onto his lips.
“Yes, that is a well known fact. Remus is the smart one, Sirius is clever, Peter is funny, and I’m just the pretty one,” James winked which simply made the blushing problem even worse. James leaned in a little closer into Regulus’ personal bubble. Usually that would not be welcomed but currently there was no protest.
“You’re not wrong,” Regulus whispered as he quickly snuck a glance at James’ lips. A wide smile spread across his face, James was absolutely beaming.
“You think I’m pretty?” he said happily.
“No, no I do not,” Regulus argued back as he began to get up from the bench and run straight through the door. James quickly grabbed Regulus by the hand and pulled him back to the bench.
“What, so you think I’m ugly? Wow, that is just mean, Reggie,” James replied with a fake pout on his face.
“Nonono, that’s not what I said at all,” Regulus said, his mouth suddenly very dry.
“So you do think I’m pretty!” James said in excitement, his face was practically inches away from Regulus’ now and his eyes flickered towards the other boy's pink lips.
“Fine, yes. You’re very pretty, Jamie,” Regulus sighed. “You’re really pretty.” James brought his hand up and ran it through Regulus’ very soft hair, letting it finally rest at the back of his neck.
“I think you’re pretty too, Reggie,” James whispered as he leaned in just a little closer. Regulus must have had a look of worry or something for James to ask, “Are you alright, Reggie?”
“Mhm, yeah. I’m fine,” Regulus said as he brought his hand up to cup James’ face.
“Hey, Regulus?” James said quietly, he hummed in response. “Can I kiss you?” Regulus pulled James in immediately, crashing their mouths together. A small gasp came from the older boy's mouth as he returned the favor, letting his hand run through the other boy's hair.
“Is this okay?” James asked against Regulus’ lips with a smile.
“This is very okay, Jamie,” Regulus responded, pulling him in for another long kiss.
“We should go get some breakfast,” James finally said after a while. “We’ve had a long morning”
“Yeah, okay,” Regulus in an almost dreamy voice.
It had been two weeks since the kiss with Regulus. James didn’t tell Sirius what had transpired in the locker room the other morning. He didn’t really plan on ever telling Sirius if he could help it. It’s not that James was ashamed or anything of Regulus, but also he was Sirius’ little brother and they both had their own issues with each other. And truthfully, James didn’t really want anyone to know. He liked having something that no one knew about, it felt so special and he was worried that if someone knew then Regulus would get scared and leave. He never did like attention all that much. James had this habit ever since he was young, whenever he was overwhelmed or anxious about something he just started picking at his skin, either on his face or his arms, he didn’t know why he did it but it was always his tell to people who knew him. The dorm room was empty, James was laying on his back, staring at his canopy of his four poster bed while his brain spun itself dizzy when Remus came back from the library.
“Hey, Moony,” James said quietly as he continued to stare upwards. Remus set his books next to his bed and knelt next to James’ bed.
“You’re thinking about something,” Remus said curiously.
“Why do you know everything?” James grumbled as he turned to face his friend.
“I just do. Do you want to talk about it?” Remus asked as he situated himself to a sitting position on the food while James sat criss-cross on the bed. “You don’t have to, y’know. But, if I know anything about you, if you don’t talk about whatever it is soon you will blow up.”
“I’ll say it again, why do you know everything?” James took his glasses off and rubbed frustratedly at his tired eyes. “You can’t tell anyone. Okay? Not even Sirius.” Remus nodded with a straight face.
“My lips are sealed, don’t worry, Prongs,” Remus assured him.
“I kissed Regulus,” James blurted out almost too quickly for Remus to understand. James squinted his eyes shut for fear of seeing Remus look disappointed or something.
“Okay,” Remus said nonchalantly, his face not changing to the news he just heard.
“Wait, what? That’s it? You’re not upset?” James was surprised by the relaxation of his friend.
“Did you think I would be?” Remus inquired.
“Yeah, I did,” James replied slowly, blushing creeping up his neck.
“Did Regulus want to kiss you?” Remus asked, keeping a calm face while James was still sitting in surprise at his friend's composure.
“Yeah, I think he did,” James responded.
“Was it a good kiss?” Remus asked.
“Why do you want to know?” James said accusingly. “Wanna see for yourself?” he waggled his eyebrows.
“You know I don’t, Prongs,” Remus rolled his eyes. “I don’t see an issue. You both wanted to kiss each other, so you did. You’re both glad you kissed each other. Why are you laying here in a silent panic, then?” James flopped backwards on the bed, nearly crushing his glasses.
“I don’t know, Moony!” James complained. “Why did I kiss him?” Remus moved to sit next to James on the bed.
“You wanted to because you like him, at least that’s my best guess at the present moment,” Remus said.
“Do I need to tell Sirius?” James worried. Remus reached over and grabbed James’ hand, tapping a little rhythm on them while he spoke.
“If you want to, you can. If you don’t, don’t tell him. You are your own person, you know? You can have secrets if you want, and that’s no problem,” Remus said. “But, just think about this, if this secret will eventually hurt you or Sirius or Regulus in the long run, is it worth the secret? Sure, if you tell Sirius that you kissed his little brother he will probably not take it the best at first. Sirius is dramatic and we all know that. But he’ll come aroundq. He always does, because he loves you and he loves Regulus too.”
“When did you get all wise and shit?” James asked. “And why do you suddenly know so much about relationships?”
“I don’t tell you everything, Jamie,” Remus said with a raised eyebrow.
“What do you mean? Tell me things, Remus!” James whined as he shook Remus’ shoulders.
“Hmm, let me think,” Remus dramatically rubbed at his chin. “How about, no.”
“You are the worst, Lupin,” James complained.
“So, are you going to rot in your bed for the rest of the day or are you actually going to do something?” Remus asked as he rose from the bed.
“Do I have to do something?” James grumbled.
“No, but I’m gonna go. Have fun rotting, I guess,” Remus laughed as he ruffled James’ hair while he passed to the door.
“Wait, where are you going?” James perked up.
“None of your business, Jamie,” Remus left the room with a sly smile growing on his face. He knew exactly where he was going and knew exactly who he was going to go see. James didn’t need to know the who or where details, sometimes secrets were okay.
END