1976
On the 31st of October 1976, Regulus sat, rereading his copy of The Dead Poets Society, which Sirius had gifted him for his 10th birthday when they watched the movie together and Regulus was obsessed. There was something about the movie that caught his attention, and he found himself watching it over and over again. The book Sirius had given him was one of his only things he had from Sirius that his parents hadn't taken when he was disowned. They never knew it was a present from Sirius, and Sirius never knew Regulus had kept it and treasured it all these years later.
Regulus hated Halloween, so every year, when his friends would dress up and go to different parties, he would hide somewhere to avoid everyone. This year, he decided to avoid the library because he knew there were going to be pranks pulled in there and instead found solitude in the middle of the room of requirement. The room was cluttered with various items such as cupboards, shelves, and other miscellaneous objects, which were completely useless to Regulus. All he wanted was to relax in the quiet. Normally, he was able to focus on the book entirely, forgetting his surroundings as it faded into the fictional world he was reading about. However, tonight, he was completely on edge. Any sound made him jump; each time he tried to read, he would only be able to focus for about 2 minutes before getting lost in thought. This time, in particular, he'd read about 4 pages before hearing a noise; a door opening, and then closing again. Silently, Regulus stood up, holding his book tightly to his chest, and hid behind a cupboard. Though it was dark, Regulus was able to make out the silhouette of someone, leaning against the closed door, breathing heavily. Regulus quietly took a step closer, attempting to get a better look, but accidentally knocked a pile of books off a desk.
"Fuck," Regulus muttered. "Who's there?" A voice echoed through the room and Regulus took a step back, darting behind a couch.
"Regulus?" The voice asked, and immediately after his name was said, Regulus realised who was looking at him.
"Potter," he sighed, moving away from the couch, going back to the chair he sat in earlier.
"What're you doing in here?" James inquired, walking closer to Regulus.
"Reading." He muttered, trying to ignore the other boy's wide grin as he spoke.
"In the dark..?" He questioned. "Yes, in the dark, now can you shut up? Why are you even here anyway? Shouldn't you be out partying?" Regulus spat, about to gesture to his costume before realising he wasn't actually wearing one, just his quidditch jumper.
"The parties got really wild. They were trying to get me to ask out Marls." James explained. He stood directly in front of Regulus now, thinking about where to sit before setting himself down directly next to him on the arm of the chair. Regulus rolled his eyes, moving back on the chair to get further away from James.
"Cmon, I don't bite," James laughed at Regulus' attempt to get further away.
Though he said otherwise, Regulus secretly didn't despise James like he hated Sirius' other friends. Sure, he'd stolen Sirius away from him, pulled pranks on him and annoyed him for years, but he was hot so Regulus could forgive him. It's not like he was forgiving him just because he was attractive, he thought that maybe if he and James got along, Sirius would like him more too.
"Wait, you asked out Mckinnon? I didn't know you liked her," Regulus said, crossing his legs and beginning to read again. "No, no I love Marlene as a friend but not in that way," James laughed. Regulus nodded, turning back to his book.
"What are you reading?" He asked Regulus, after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. "Dead Poets Society." Regulus responded, closing the book knowing he wouldn't be able to read while Potter was next to him, trying to make small talk.
'No way, I love that movie! I didn't know it was a book. I'm not a big reader, you see, but I-" "You're clearly not a reader, you're a big obnoxious moron who can't get the hint when someone wants you to shut up. Can't you see I'm trying to read?" Regulus interrupted. He hadn't meant to snap but when people annoy him he can't help it. He expected James to start yelling at him or storm out of the room but to Regulus' surprise, he started... laughing?
"What are you doing, Potter? Seriously, you make no sense sometimes." Regulus said, completely confused by James' obscure behaviour.
"Sorry I just... you're really fucking cute when you're mad." James whispered, not even realising what he had said until after. "Shit," James froze, as his face dropped. "I didn't mean to say that." He muttered, getting off the chair and moving to the door. He had gotten up so quickly, like a deer, and Regulus had barely even had time to register what was going on,
Regulus, who had been completely flustered and frozen, snapped back into reality and called out, "Potter, it's fine, please just stay here."
'Please just stay here? What am I doing, I didn't even want him here in the first place. Idiot.' Regulus thought.
He looked away from where James was standing. He had stopped walking and didn't move, turn or say anything, after Regulus told him he could stay. He wasn't even sure James was breathing. Although, he wasn't even sure he was breathing, waiting for James' response. James never responded. Instead, he just turned around and walked back to Regulus silently.
"Can I sit next to you?" James asked quietly, and at this, Regulus actually laughed. It was the nicest thing James had ever heard and it immediately became his favourite sound. It wasn't a mocking laugh, he wasn't laughing at him, more just with him, even though James wasn't laughing.
"Yes, you can sit next to me. Did you really think you had to ask?" Regulus said, his voice sounding enchanting. He shuffled over so there was space for him and James sat next to him. Even though he had moved, the chair was small so they were close enough that their thighs and shoulders were touching. Regulus continued reading in an attempt to hide his extreme blushing. He took a look at James and even though it was dark, Regulus thought he could see him blushing too. James noticed him watching him and grinned.
"What?" Regulus whispered, a small smile appearing on his face. "Nothing." James smiled.
Regulus continued reading but didn't pay attention at all. Instead, all his attention was on James. He was fidgeting with his sweater and kept biting his nails. His leg was bouncing, too, but he never took his attention off Regulus.
James was carefully analysing all his features, his eyes, which he got lost in constantly, his cheeks, which had a light pink tone to them, his hands, which James longed to hold, he wondered if their hands would fit perfectly together.
Regulus turned the page of his book, pretending to read, while still thinking about James. James, on the other hand, was obsessively biting his nails and seemed stressed. Regulus turned to him and, without thinking, reached up and grabbed James' hand, pulling out away from his mouth, so he couldn't bite his nails, and interlocked their fingers with their hands now resting on James and Regulus' thighs. Regulus was now blushing too much to hide and he knew James could see it so he brought up his book to his face and hid behind it.
'Yep. My hands are made to hold his.' James thought.
"Aww, come on, I don't get to see you at all now?" He complained with a wide smile. He knew Regulus was flustered and knew he was blushing too, but didn't bother to hide it.
"Oh shut up," Regulus muttered, though James could hear from his voice that he was smiling.
He carefully reached out to Regulus and pulled the book away from his face staring intently into his eyes. James brought his hand up to Regulus' face and gently cupped his cheek, leaning closer, and before he could stop himself, he kissed him.
It wasn't a harsh kiss, filled with lust and desperation, it was soft and gentle, full of love and care. Regulus wrapped his arms around James, leaning further into the kiss and smiling against James' lips.
James was the first to break away, leaning back and resting his head on the chair, still looking up at Regulus with a smile.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Regulus asked with a small smile.
"Like what?" James inquired, even though he knew exactly what he meant
"Like you have the world in your hands or something to boost your ego," Regulus joked. James just grinned and looked down at their hands, which were still interlinked. "I do have the world in my hands," James whispered, close to Regulus' ear.
"Merlin, why are you so flirty," Regulus blushed, nuzzling his face on James' shoulder in an attempt to hide.
James wrapped his arms around Regulus, pulling him closer and running his free hand through Regulus' hair, twirling his curls around his fingers. They stayed like that for a while before Regulus moved so he was looking up at James and smiled. His real, genuine smile was so sweet and caring and it made James's heart flutter.
"James?" Regulus asked. "Yeah?" James asked, sitting up straighter to see Regulus.
"What are we?" Regulus muttered quietly, looking away from James.
"I don't even know honestly. What do you want us to be?" James said, lifting Regulus' chin so he's looking directly at him. He blushed profusely, starting into James's gorgeous eyes.
"Up to you... I just want to be with you, honestly." Regulus whispered. He squeezed James' hand tighter and waited for his response.
James smiled, leaning closer to Regulus and kissing his cheek. "We don't have to figure all this out now. I just wanna learn all about you, like, what's your favourite colour?" James asked.
"Are we really doing icebreakers?" Regulus chuckled before continuing, "My favourite colour's green, you?"
These back and forth questions went on for the next few hours, with them talking non-stop, before Regulus' exhaustion finally caught up to him and he fell asleep. James stayed awake for a while, admiring the boy in his arms. Eventually, he kissed Regulus' forehead gently and closed his eyes to sleep.