“Barty can you help me with this-”
“No can do Reginald. Incoming.” Barty interrupted the dark haired boy, staring over his shoulder instead of listening to his friend.
Regulus sighed “For fucks sake, not again”
“Hello Darling! What brings you to the library on this gorgeous day? Oh, and hi Barty.” James Potter. His brother’s practical soulmate, and the bane of Regulus’ existence.
In lieu of a response, Regulus turned back to the book that he had been reading for their charms class. The one that Barty was supposed to be helping him study for. Barty was instead enjoying riling up James. “What’s up Jimbo? I’m feeling a major lack in pet names compared to good ol’ Reggie over here.”
Regulus smacked away the hand that was reaching towards his hair. “Yes Potter, instead of calling me names, can’t you go and find some starstruck girl to go and drool over you instead? And Barty I seriously need help with this spell, the one that you promised to help me with.”
Regulus felt a warm body leaning over his shoulder. “Oh I could help you out with that Darling.”
Barty jumped out of his chair, a manic grin on his face. “Perfect! Then I can go and see Rosie! Have fun Reginaaaald!” Regulus spluttered, planning on calling him back, but before he could get the words together, Barty was out of sight, and an obnoxious Gryffindor was seated right beside him. Regulus looked to his left to see a blinding smile staring back at him.
Thud.
“Woah, Baby, what did you do that for? Are you okay? Let me see your forehead.” James was pulling him back up from his position facedown on the desk and Regulus decided that if he had to deal with Potter’s flirtation, the same one he used on practically every person in all of Hogwarts, he was going to get some revenge.
While James continued to inspect his forehead, Regulus slid his hand onto James’ knee and murmured “I’m alright Sunshine, just a little frustrated with this spell… I really hope that your help will help me release some aggression.” Regulus looked through his eyelashes at the older Gryffindor and preened at the boy’s sudden blush. James, who was usually the most talkative person in the room, was now stunned speechless.
“I- I- Uh- What?” James was speaking in an abnormally high tone and Regulus was beside himself, just barely holding back a laugh.
“Are you okay Sunshine? You’re looking a little warm? I hope you’re not coming down with something…” Regulus began to reach for James face in a mockery of the moment just before, but the older boy jumped out of his seat, cringing at the loud squeaking sound that he made with the chair.
“I think you're right! I am definitely sick! And I am gonna go to the infirmary right now! I’ll see you later Reggie!” And away he went. Regulus watched in amusement as Madam Pince scolded James for practically running out of the library. His grin faded after returning his gaze to his book. He still didn’t have any idea how to do this spell!
A few days later with complete radio silence from Potter, Regulus had the naive thought that maybe he was gone for good, scared away by the possible reciprocation from anyone who wasn’t his red-haired first love. A few seconds after that thought, Regulus bumped into James yet again. This time was more literal though.
“Oh my go- Oh- Reggie- I am so extremely sorry about this, I didn’t see you, and- here let me help you pick those up.” And for the second time in less than five minutes, James smacked into Regulus. Regulus swore he heard the sound of their heads clanging against each other and he drew back with a burst of pain behind his eyeballs.
“Fucking owwwww” Regulus groaned as he dropped all of his recollected items and he only opened his eyes to glare at the man across from him. “Really Potter? You must have the grace of a toddler, bumping into people left and right, does someone need to teach you how to walk again?”
James grimaced, seemingly embarrassed for his clumsiness, but he still reached out to look at Regulus’ face. “I’m so sorry Baby, I was just in a bad mood and I wasn’t looking where I was going.” James pressed a gentle finger against the red skin on his forehead and observed his face for any reaction. “How does that feel? Should I run and grab you some ice, Reggie?
Still somewhat stunned by hands framing his face, Regulus almost didn’t catch the part of James’ statement where he said he was having a bad day. “Its- I’m okay Potter. Don’t worry about it.”
James was evidently ignoring him and instead conjured some ice with his wand. Regulus thanked an invisible deity that he was just on his way to the library after dinner and therefore no one was roaming the halls as the two of them were still sprawled out on the floor surrounded by Regulus’ books. “P- Potter- Stop it!” Regulus pushed away the bag of ice and looked into the concerned eyes of the boy across from him. James' own forehead was a bright red, so Regulus pushed the ice onto his forehead instead and made the effort to stand up. He then pulled the other boy up and used a spell to conjure all of his items back into order. “Follow me.”
The Gryffindor trailed along wordlessly, seemingly unsure as to whether he could ask where they were going or not. After a few minutes of jaw flapping they arrived at their destination.
In front of them was the Great Lake. Regulus sat down in front of a tree and beckoned James over. “Come sit Potter.”
James followed his order without any question and soon enough the two boys were staring out over the water in silence. Regulus pulled out a book for himself and began to read. After what must have been an hour of silence, James seemed to find the courage to ask his question. “Reggie, Darling? What are we doing out here?”
The younger boy set his book down so that he could place his full attention on the boy beside him. “You said you had a bad day. This is where I go when I’ve had a bad day.” Regulus had thought that was obvious. Surely James was trying to go somewhere quiet when they had crashed into each other earlier. James seemed to find the idea much less evident.
“You brought me- because I-” stumbling through his sentence, James cut himself off and stared down at his hands instead. “Thank you, Baby”
Willing to help James out when he had a bad day, but not willing to let more pet names slide, Regulus rolled his eyes and used the same tactic that managed to shut James up a few days prior. “Of course, Sunshine.”
Yet again the taller boy’s jaw seemed to snap shut and a pretty red blush rose up from his neck. Satisfied, Regulus leant back against the tree and read his book in silence.
This time James didn’t wait as long to annoy the Slytherin, instead cornering him after his last day of the class and dragging him along with zero explanation. Regulus spluttered but followed along in shock as his friends Barty and Evan laughed with no attempt to help him escape. “Potter! Where are we going?” Regulus crashed into the solid expanse that was James’ back.
James turned to face Regulus but seemed to look just over his shoulder, a blush already rising from his neck. “I don’t think you should call me that. I mean… you can call me by my first name, or uh… the other thing, if you’d like…” But before Regulus could even attempt to process what that meant, James was running off again, no longer dragging Regulus, but correctly assuming that he would follow him.
Regulus himself wasn’t fully sure why he was following after James Potter, his clearly insane personal nuisance, but he decided that it revolved around his desire to gain an explanation from the Gryffindor. So he continued to chase him up the numerous staircases until they finally reached the astronomy tower.
This time, when James turned to look at Regulus he actually looked him in the eye. “Since it’s winter it gets darker out quicker, and I mean, you probably already know this, but uh, your star is out.” Regulus managed to decipher the stumbling message that the boy in front of him was trying to deliver, and peered out into the dark expanse above the school. He actually had not realized that his star was out yet, he had seemingly lost track of time and now that winter was beginning to end, his star was visible. James apparently felt the need to fill up the silence. “I just wanted to- Since yesterday-” James stopped and took a deep breath. “Thank you for yesterday first of all. I wanted to say thanks but I didn’t think that words were enough so I wanted to repay you and take you to my spot… where I usually go when I have a bad day.” James gestured to the space around them.
This time when Regulus viewed the space he saw the vulnerability that James was exposing. He nodded quickly in an effort to affirm James. “I didn’t realize my star was out yet.”
James' face seemed to brighten at the comment. “Yea! Well it actually first appeared yesterday, so I’m not really surprised that you weren’t aware… I was uh watching out for it. I always look for you and Sirius first when I’m up here.” James glanced away for a second before steeling himself and staring Regulus in his eyes. “Your star is beautiful of course, but it doesn’t compare to you, Love.”
Regulus felt himself begin to blush uncontrollably. Honestly, he knew that James was just a huge flirt and he was very obviously in love with Lily as his years of love declarations proved. But the idea of James looking for his star each night, and the idea that he found him beautiful… Well Regulus is only human, and James is objectively a very handsome male specimen. A handsome male specimen who apparently found Regulus beautiful. Yes Regulus found it justifiable that he was blushing. However no justification would be enough to prevent him from getting slight revenge. “My star may be beautiful but nothing shines as bright as you do, Sunshine. I’ll never comprehend how a mere human could embody the sun with how kind you are, and how much you seem to… well, shine.”
James turned red yet again, this time though he managed to string together a sentence. “I… I don't think that I’m very much like the sun. Everyone always says that to me weirdly enough, but I’ve never really understood why…”
Regulus looked at James’ hunched back and his eyes that seemed to flicker over everything in the room except for Regulus, how ironic that the person responsible for so many people’s good days, couldn’t understand why people compared him to the sun. “Potter-” James let out a huff at the name. “-everyone compares you to the sun because you make their day brighter. You go around this castle causing pranks that make everyone laugh, but you also talk to everyone, you remember things about people and you always make people feel like the centre of the universe when you put your attention on them. I mean your smile alone has been known to make people feel happier, I think it’s obvious why everyone wants to compare you to the sun.”
Since James’ blush never went away the first time, his face after Regulus’ declaration was a bright tomato coloured red. Regulus could say that the sight didn’t fill him with amusement or pride, but Regulus is also a very good liar. Despite obviously being flustered, James attempted to respond. “I’m- But the-” James let out a huge sigh. “Reggie you can’t just say stuff like that so nonchalantly!” James let his head fall into his hands and Regulus just watched in amusement.
“I just thought that since you were complimenting my star, that I should be able to praise the sun.” Reg shrugged. “It seems only fair.” James' only response was a couple grumbles let out into his hands. He sat back up after, and his face contorted into a wince. This time, when Regulus used the nickname he didn’t even notice. “Are you alright, Sunshine? Did you want to talk about your day?”
“I just have a slight headache, sorry Reg. I think lifting my head too fast made it worse.” Regulus watched James' apologetic face and remembered what Barty always did for Evan’s migraines.
Regulus tried nudging James into the proper position for what he was planning. “Lie down, I can help.” Seconds later, the bane of Regulus’ existence was lying down on Regulus lap, his face looking at Reg’s feet, and the tips of his ears broadcasting his blush. Tentatively, Regulus began to run his fingers through the mess of black hair, laughing at the legitimate whimper the older boy let out. Despite James' tense frame though, it seemed as though it was actually helping and Regulus reminded himself to thank Barty for the idea.
Regulus was finding himself entranced in the softness of the messy black hair when James began to speak. “We had a quidditch practice yesterday.” While James seemed to search for the rest of the words to tell his story, Regulus hummed to acknowledge that he was listening. “And this will sound stupid because I’ve been the captain of the team since the beginning of the year. But before every single practice so far, I manage to work myself up into an anxious mess. I know so many breathing techniques, and I know that logically the day will go just as it always does, my brain doesn’t even come up with worst case scenarios, like I know that no one will die, and they aren’t going to randomly uprise against me and demand I’m replaced, but my stomach just gets so tied up into knots, and I get really fidgety, and I just don’t know how to stop it! Then when I get to the practice everything goes great, I can handle it perfectly and I feel fine, but I get so anxious, even the night before a practice, so I have to take a potion for sleep. And it just really hit me yesterday that I am always going to be like this. I might stop getting so anxious before practice, but then it’ll be something else. I am always going to be anxious, and it is just so tiring.” James finally came to the end of his rant, appreciating the consistent fingers running through his hair and the lack of interruptions.
Regulus waited a couple more seconds to make sure that he wouldn’t speak over James. “I know that you think your anxiety will never go away, and I won’t contradict you and say that you’re wrong, because I know that you deal with this a lot, and I don’t want to lecture you on that. But Jamie, you can get through it. There are going to be lots of anxious moments, but how you described being okay during your quidditch practices, well that is something that you’re good at. You enjoy that. There are going to be so many more moments in your life where you are happy and having fun rather than being anxious. I wish that you didn’t have to deal with anxiety at all, you of all people deserve better, but I’ll do my best to make sure that the good moments stand out even more. It’ll be okay, Sunshine.”
James was holding on tight to Reg’s legs, seemingly trying to pull him even closer than he already was. “I… I like it when you call me that.”
Regulus took the topic switch in stride, assuming that James was overwhelmed. “When I call you Sunshine?”
James nodded. “That too, but you also called me Jamie. I like that.”
Regulus hummed. He hadn’t realized that he had done that, it just slipped out. In an attempt to make James feel more comfortable about his own vulnerability, Regulus decided to give out a bit of his own feelings. “I liked it when you called me Love. You haven’t done that before.”
James twisted his body so that he was facing up. “I wasn’t sure if it would be too much.”
Regulus looked at the boy who found him everyday in the halls, calling him numerous nicknames such as Darling, Baby, Reggie, and he found himself laughing at the ridiculousness of James thinking that calling him Love would make him too much. “Jamie. You are so, so much, all the time. I don’t think that one extra nickname for me would send me running.”
James flushed at the reminder of every time he had tried to get Regulus’ attention but he let out a quiet chuckle as well. “Thank you for this, Love. I really do appreciate it.”
Regulus shrugged. “I was just helping with your migraines, it’s really not a big deal.”
After that night’s events, Regulus found himself accompanied by James more and more. Evan had started poking jokes at the both of them, but Barty had surprisingly befriended James too. Because of this, the entire school was witness to the bizarre experience of James Potter eating dinner at the Slytherin table. It was because of this that Dorcas and Pandora were also able to interact with him, and soon enough Regulus found himself surrounded by people who were willing to sing James’ praises. Truly, what had his life become?
“Bats, when you see James later can you give him back these notes and tell him I say thank you.” Dorcas passed Barty a stack of transfiguration notes that were written in surprisingly neat writing.
After interacting with James more at dinner and whenever he was hanging around Reg, Dorcas had found out that James was the top of their grade in transfiguration, and like the Slytherin that she was, she was using it to her advantage. That however did not explain why Barty was meeting up with James later and Regulus was trying to figure out how willing he was to deal with his friends teasing if he asked why.
“Sure Cas, it’s going to be later than usual though, so remind me after dinner.” Later than usual. How often was Barty meeting James? Eventually Regulus couldn’t deny his curiosity any longer.
“What are you and Potter going to be doing?” He regretted it. Oh gosh he regretted it. The smirk that grew on both Barty and Dorcas’ face was enough to make him consider obliviating them. Who cares about six years of friendship when your friends are as evil as his are. “Actually. Nevermind. Have fun Bats, see you guys later I’m gonna go find Pandora.”
But Regulus must have the worst luck this world has ever seen, because just as he attempted to make his daring escape, he crashed right into the topic of their conversation. “Reggie! I was just looking for you! Are you free for the next hour?”
Regulus ignored the sound of his friends snickering behind him and evaluated the fidgeting boy in front of him. James’ hair was slightly more messed up than usual and his eyes were flickering around the room as though he were nervous for Reg’s response. “I suppose I can spare an hour, just get me away from these two maniacs.”
James looked to where Regulus was gesturing and waved at the two Slytherins he hadn’t noticed. “Hey Barty! I found the perfect transfiguration spell for Evan’s present, I’ll make sure to show it to you tonight. And Dorcas! I hope the notes I gave you were helpful?”
“Your notes were surprisingly legible, thank you James.” Dorcas grinned at James as she passed over the stack of papers. James stuffed them into his bag and gave a small laugh at the teasing.
“Don’t worry about tonight Jimbo, it sounds like you’ll be otherwise occupied, and I can go and bother my Rosie instead.” Barty smirked at Regulus while he responded, but Regulus was avoiding his gaze and attempted to drag James away so that they could leave.
“Oh alright, we’ll reschedule then, bye!” Finally the duo was escaping the library. Regulus sighed in relief once they were out of sight of the two Slytherins. “Hey, are you alright, Love?” The taller boy was looking down at him with concern evident on his face.
Regulus sighed, he was not about to tell James he was hoping to escape his friends teasing him about a possible crush on James himself. He wasn’t even sure if his feelings for James could be classified as a crush. He just happened to feel really happy when they were hanging out, and he couldn’t stop himself from wanting to touch his hair again. James hadn’t had any more migraines since the last time though, so Regulus didn’t have any proper excuse. “I’m okay Jamie, my friends are just annoying, I don’t know how you hang out with them as much as you do.”
James laughed once he realized that Regulus was actually alright. “They aren’t that bad! And most of the time we end up talking about you anyway, Love. They all really care about you, it’s nice how close you guys are.” Regulus hummed in agreement. James was right that they did care about him, despite their teasing, Reg knew that he could ask them to help bury a body and they would also provide him with an alibi, a scapegoat, and all without asking any questions. They were his family.
“I suppose that they have their moments. Where are we going, Sunshine?” So far James had led them outside and it looked as though they were about to head into the Forbidden Forest. Which was, you know, forbidden.
“Don’t worry Reggie, we're only going past the tree line, so no one will see us. I’ve been here plenty of times before, and I’ll make sure nothing bad happens.” Regulus narrowed his eyes as the Gryffindor pulled him along but he listened and followed him.
“If I die here, Barty will make sure that you are completely flat down there,” Regulus gestured to James’ crotch. “Just like a Barbie doll.”
This time James hesitated, “...Perfectly safe in here. Promise.” Regulus laughed at his stricken expression. He wasn’t lying though, Barty was very protective, and while James had managed to become on a first name basis with him, Regulus and Barty were brothers. So yea, Barty would have no problem making sure that James could never have children.
After a few minutes, James gestured to the spot and told Reg to sit down. “I asked the house elves if they could make us some food, and I made us a little picnic!” James looked so proud of himself, but one piece of his hair was sticking up and Regulus couldn’t help himself so he ran his hand through the extremely soft hair yet again. He watched as James jaw snapped shut and his eyes fluttered shut.
Regulus knew that James was an extremely touchy person so maybe he wouldn’t find it so bizarre if Reg continued to pet his hair. He seemed as though he liked it at least. Regulus made a quick prayer to a god that he didn’t believe in that Lily had never gotten to touch James’ hair. He may not be the one that James wanted to love but he allowed him to be so close to him that sometimes Regulus allowed himself to pretend. “Okay Jamie, let’s eat then.” Regulus was graced with the view of James' red-tinted face. It didn’t happen as often anymore, James seemed to be getting used to the reciprocated flirting. So when it did happen, Regulus made sure to savour it.
Regulus pulled his hand away from James’ hair and reached into the basket to find all of his favourite foods. “How did you…”
“I told you that me and your friends always end up talking about you. It just came up. Is… is it too much?” James tried to look nonchalant but his face was too expressive to ever pull off such a gesture and Regulus could easily tell that James was nervous.
“It’s perfect. Thank you so much Jamie.” And then Regulus did something even more risky than randomly touching James’ hair. He hugged him. It was worth it though. James immediately relaxed into his hold and when they pulled apart, both boys were blushing.
“It's uh- It’s no- You’re welcome Reggie.”
Later that night, after a long evening with James and way too much food, Regulus went to kill Barty. He burst into the dorm he shared with Evan and Barty, not surprised to see Pandora and Dorcas hanging out in there as well, and he threw a stinging hex at Barty who yelped in surprise. “OW! What was that for?!”
Regulus glanced at Evan who was watching in amusement. “I won’t expose you, but you know what that is for Bartemius.” Regulus watched as it clicked in Barty’s brain that he meant he was hexing him for earlier in the library. He shrugged and gave a little smirk. Obviously planning on teasing him about it later. Regulus didn’t care about the teasing anymore though, he needed help, and he needed it now. “I think I fancy Potter.”
Regulus watched in despair as everyone passed a galleon to Pandora. “You bet on me? What in Merlin’s saggy balls?”
Pandora just smiled at him. “I told everyone that you would figure it out by the end of the week. They didn’t believe me.”
Dorcas made the decision to cut in before Regulus went on another long rant about the lack of loyalty between friends. “What happened tonight? How did you finally figure it out?”
Regulus sighed. “He made me a picnic. With all of my favourite foods. And his hair is really soft and he gives good hugs. And what am I supposed to do!” Barty burst into laughter at the sight of Regulus falling onto his bed dramatically.
“His- His hair is soft? When did you even touch his hair” Evan wheezed. The only one not breaking into hysterics right now was Regulus. Even the two girls were giggling as Regulus continued to huff.
“Well today! But also a few days before Barty invited him to sit at our table for dinner. He had a headache and I was copying Barty.” This seemed to make Barty laugh even harder and when he did respond it was barely understandable.
“You- you copied a couple- and you didn’t know- you didn’t know you liked him yet?” The blush that rose on Reg’s face seemed to be answer enough for Barty who was now shoving his face into a pillow to muffle himself. Luckily Dorcas seemed to take pity on him and gave him some actual advice.
“You should tell him that you like him Reg” It wasn’t good advice. But it was advice.
“Nonononono. I’ll just flirt harder until he figures out that I like him back.” It was a good plan. It had started out as trying to get revenge, but honestly Regulus wasn’t the type to flirt with people so it should be fairly obvious to James. He didn’t want to expose his feelings without some confirmation that James liked him back for real and not just for a joke.
Regulus’ friends watched in amusement and scoffed as Reg decided to ignore their perfectly reasonable advice.
The first time that Regulus tried to put his plan into place was when he decided to start out strong and sit at the Gryffindor table. This unfortunately had the consequence of putting himself in direct contact with his brother, who would most likely be a big obstacle to Regulus’ plan. He may as well hit two birds with one stone.
“Scoot over Potter.” Regulus watched in amusement as James did as he told without properly processing who the voice belonged to. James attempted to continue his conversation with the tall Lupin boy before whipping his head to look back at Regulus. By this time, Regulus was already seating himself on the bench and ignoring the questioning look from his brother who was directly across from him and practically in Remus’ lap.
“Reggie! What are you doing here, Love?” Regulus watched as Sirius eyes widened at the pet name and flickered between them. When he looked to his left though he saw James’ face practically glowing and allowed a smile to slip onto his own face.
Before he could manage to respond to James, his brother interrupted. “Hey Reg, can I talk to you for a second?” Regulus sighed but stood up and followed his brother out of the Great Hall. Hopefully this conversation would go alright.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were dating my best friend! Me and James can be brother-in-laws!” Regulus found his face smushed into Sirius' shoulder. What was happening?
“We- We’re uh, not dating yet Sirius.” Too late Regulus heard his own sentence and naively hoped his brother hadn’t.
“Yet!” Regulus was never a lucky person. “Oh Reggie, this is so exciting! Do you need any help? Just let me know what to do and I’ll do it!” Regulus tightened his grip on his brother and shoved his face back into Sirius’ shoulder. They were never as close as they used to be after Sirius left, but it was always nice to know that his brother was there when he needed him.
“Thank you Sirius. Really. I don’t need your help though, I’m just trying to make sure that he isn’t still pining after Evans.” Regulus' head began to shake as Sirius laughed uncontrollably.
“Evans? Like Lily? Trust me Reggie, that boy is gone for you, and for you alone. I say go for it.” It was the same thing that Dorcas had said but Sirius had the advantage of being James’ bestest friend so Regulus allowed a little bit of hope to slip past his walls.
“Okay. I just need a little bit more time. I will though. Thank you Siri. I love you.”
“I love you too, Reg. Now let’s go give me a brother-in-law!” Regulus laughed as they rushed back into the Great Hall for the end of dinner.
He caught James’ eye just as he walked into the room and the concerned look on his face seemed to disappear at the bright, grinning faces of the brothers walking back in together. “Everything alright, Love?”
Regulus let out a little chuckle and sat back down on the bench, now much more assured about his and James’ relationship. “Everything is absolutely perfect, Jamie.” This statement was maybe ruined by the sound of Sirius evil-laughing from the other side of the table.
James was obviously curious but he held back all of his questions and passed Regulus the roasted potatoes without being asked. “I made sure to save you some. Moony is a little sad that I wouldn’t let him finish them off but I knew you’d be disappointed if you didn’t get any.”
Regulus smiled and leaned closer so that their arms were touching as he accepted the dish. “Thank you! I love roasted potatoes!”
From the other side of the table, Sirius was apparently unable to hold back his evil laugh and was now being ushered out of the room by Lupin. Oh well. His brother was supportive, if not absolutely moronic. Regulus appreciated it anyway. He turned back to James who had an eyebrow raised. Regulus just smiled and ran his hand through James’ hair once. “How’s your head been? No more headaches?”
James hummed, eyes shut in bliss. “It hurts a little… That really helps, Reggie.” Regulus laughed and continued to stroke James’ hair, periodically eating his roasted potatoes.
Now that Regulus was assured that James had some reciprocal feelings, or at least wasn’t still in love with Lily, he had to make a plan to tell James. Somehow.
Regulus wasn’t exactly known for being a romantic, but being extra flirty with James wasn’t the concise confirmation that he wanted.
While Regulus was trying to make a plan, he didn’t see James sneaking into the library. Still lost in thought and sitting on a couch by himself, there was absolutely no warning when James came flying onto the couch beside him and laid his head on Reg’s shoulder.
“Well ‘ello there, Love!”
Regulus looked over to see the boy of his frustrations smiling up at him and his breath hitched. “Hi Jamie, how’s your day going?”
James scrambled up so that he was sideways on the couch, sitting criss-cross-applesauce and facing Regulus. “Oh man Reg, you have no idea! First of all, Sirius has been all goofy since whatever you guys spoke about and now he keeps staring at me when he thinks I’m not looking, or laughing evilly. Last night I was lying in bed and he thought I was asleep, so I opened my eyes to him standing over me laughing like a mad man! I thought the Black madness got to him! It was bloody insane! I’ve been running away from him today, Peter and the girls have been keeping me company. Speaking of the girls, guess who got their nails painted!” James stopped talking to show off his bright red nails, the ring finger a gold colour.
Regulus considered them before finally saying “While that is insanely Gryffindor of you, they fit you.”
James laughed at the slight dig and inspected them a little more himself. “Yeaaa I never claimed to be anything but a proud lion! I was thinking of doing a green colour, kind of like Slytherin, but I decided that it fit you better. Although you do look bloody good in red too. Actually I don’t think that there is any colour that you don’t look good in. Have you heard of those people whose job it is to find out what colours look good on certain people? It’s actually so cool but I’m sure it costs a ton. It has something to do with skin tone and stuff, I don’t know, I always watch the before and after videos and I can’t really see a difference but I trust it!” The boy kept talking and Regulus stared at him with fondness. Eventually James looked back at him and cut himself off, smiling sheepishly and rubbing the back of his neck. “Oh sorry Reg, I’m talking a lot, I have a tendency to control conversations a lot, since I talk really fast, so Sirius and everyone else usually let me know when I need to shut up. You can do that too, just like smack me or something, I’ll get the message.”
While James explained how Regulus could get him to stop talking, the Slytherin was getting himself comfortable on the couch, angling his body to face James more, and stretching his legs out on the floor. “It’s okay Jamie, that’s actually really interesting, I did know that certain colours look different on different skin tones but I had no idea why. Keep talking.” Regulus didn’t love to talk that much, but he was enjoying listening to James speak, he was obviously passionate about this random fun fact and it was very enjoyable to watch him rant about it.
“...okay.” James looked hesitant but eventually he continued. “Well, obviously colours can look different compared to the skin tone, but colours actually influence our thinking a ton, like certain colours, like red and yellow make people feel more hungry, so tons of restaurants, especially fast food places always use those colours in their interior. Meanwhile the colour yellow can have a ton of influence on newborns, babies are way more likely to cry if their room is bright yellow! Which is kind of sad because I would love to give my kid a yellow room someday, something gender neutral you know. Speaking of gender related colours, pink actually used to be considered a boy’s colour, which honestly, colours shouldn’t be considered feminine or masculine. That stuff is stupid, same with clothes and stuff, like skirts are so comfortable, but the men’s uniform needs bloody trousers! I want to wear a skirt!” Regulus burst into laughter at James' honest offence regarding the clothes he had to wear for school.
“Honestly James you would look hot in a skirt” Regulus grinned as James’ face turned bright red. “I say wear whatever you want, it’s not like prefects are all that strict with the dress code anyway, that’s more monitored by the really old professors like Slughorn, and you would probably be able to convince him to wear a skirt if you really wanted. You’re pretty persuasive.”
James pretended to gag at the idea of Slughorn in a skirt. “Ew Reggie, I haven’t eaten supper yet, you’re gonna make me lose my appetite. Ugh.” Regulus laughed at his antics. Suddenly James stopped his fake gagging, he leaned his head forward to rest on Regulus’ shoulder and groaned, “Reggie… my head hurts again… I think I’m dehydrated.”
Regulus rolled his eyes but went to run his fingers through James’ hair, silently chuckling as his body immediately relaxed and he began to shuffle closer, sticking his face into the crook between his shoulder and neck. “Jamie, let’s lie down.” James lifted his head, a haze of confusion in his eyes. Regulus snickered. “Just get off the couch for a second” James groaned but he did get off the couch, albeit incredibly slowly. Regulus shifted so that his head was on the arm rest and his body was lying on the couch before patting the small part of the couch next to him. “It’ll be more comfortable if you just lie down on me. Won’t strain my wrist as much either.” At this point James' jaw was hanging open a bit but he seemed eager to accept Reg’s invitation, so seconds later, James Fleamont Potter was lying half on top of Regulus Arcturus Black. It was so monumental for most of the school that it could have been put into the history books. As it was, they were in a quiet, hidden part of the library, and no one saw them.
They spent the next hour like that, Regulus running his hand through James’ hair and James lying on his chest, arm and leg thrown over him.
“Reginald. Oh my gosh. Turn around.” Regulus whipped around as Barty stared in shock over his shoulder. And there, walking down the corridor was James, wearing a skirt. But not just any skirt, a mini skirt.
“Holy Merlin.” Regulus spun back around, but before he could escape, an arm was thrown over his shoulders.
“Hey baby, where are you going? I thought that you had potions next?” Regulus cursed the fact that James was right and just caught him running away from him. “What do you think? Were you right about me looking hot in a skirt?” James smirked as he caught the blush rising to Regulus’ ears.
Regulus refused to be the only frazzled one though, so he spun around in James’ grip and grabbed his shoulders. “Honestly Sunshine, you’ve surpassed my highest expectations.”
Behind him, Regulus could hear Barty choke on his spit but he wasn’t worrying about him just yet. In front of him was James who had stopped breathing as soon as he turned around, but now that the word’s he said seemed to be catching up to him he was turning a bright red. “Stop it, Love. That is not fair.” James dropped his head onto Regulus’ shoulder, burying his face into his neck.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about Potter.”
“Don’t call me that!”
“Jamieee~” Regulus jumped as James squeezed his hip in revenge.
Barty, who was still watching the interaction, spun around and began walking away, “Get a room you nasty kids. Sheesh. This is a school. An educational facility!”
Around the corner appeared Evan, who was grabbed by Barty and pulled into a kiss, before the two hurried off, in what was definitely not the direction of their class.
“Love, can I talk to you in private?” Regulus turned his head to bury his face in the messy, but very soft black curls and before giving his agreement.
James lifted his head and grinned before dragging Regulus off to sit by the lake in the very spot that Regulus had once brought him.
When Regulus went to sit down James continued to stand, rubbing the back of his neck and grimacing slightly. “I uh, I can’t actually sit in this skirt very well, I love it, but it rides up a little and I’d rather not flash anyone who happens to walk past…” Regulus burst into laughter at the confession, luckily already on the ground as he couldn’t breathe and he curled up slightly. “I’ve heard it before, Reggie, but you have a beautiful laugh.” After James said that Regulus let out a snort and suddenly the two boys were both caught up in their laughter. Eventually their giggles stopped and Regulus stood up so that they were relatively eye to eye, minus the height difference.
“Alright Jamie, what are we doing here?” A hand reached out for his and Regulus let him take it, evidently noticing the older boy's sudden bout of nerves.
“Well you know how we’ve been hanging out a lot more recently, and I’ve obviously been calling you pet names for like years… Well ever since you’ve started calling me ‘Sunshine’ and ‘Jamie’ I thought that maybe I had a chance.” James lifted his eyes so that they were looking at each other now. “Regulus Arcturus Black. I have had a crush on you since fourth year, and I was wondering if maybe, just possibly, you might like me back, and maybe you’d want to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend…?”
As Regulus stared up at the Gryffindor he felt a smile bloom across his own face. So, giddy with joy, and almost unbelieving that he had heard him right, Regulus reached up and pulled James in for a kiss. After what could have been seconds, or lifetimes, he pulled away just enough to whisper “Yes” before diving back in.