Hogwarts
Regulus sat down next to Barty. They had already been on the Hogwarts Express for about an hour. "awe what's the matter Reg? Can't find your lover boy?" Barty asked mockingly. "Fuck of Barty!" Regulus said in an annoyed tone. "Wow, no need to get violent. You're the one who decided to tell us about you and James." Barty said defensively. "Merlin, I only told you because I knew it would be impossible to keep it from you." Regulus said, resting his head in his hands. "Why? Cause you two love birds can't keep your hands off each other." Barty said with a shit eating grin on his face. "No, because James is a shit liar. He could barely handle lying to Sirius." Regulus said, sitting back in his seat. "ya, because you two can't keep your hands off each other." Barty said, putting his arm around Evan who was sitting on the other side of Barty. "No!" Regulus said, putting his head back into his hands, "Do you wanna know what book James said he was borrowing from me as an excuse for being in my room?" "Yes!" Barty said enthusiastically. Barty loved hearing about any form of gossip even if it was small. "The Very Hungry Caterpillar, he could've picked any book and yet that's what he said." Regulus said with a look of disappointment on his face. Barty burst out laughing. "I can't believe you would actually date someone that stupid!" Barty yelled out. "He's not stupid. He's just too honest to be a believable liar." Regulus said defensively. "Mate, he's an idiot." Barty said as if he were stating the obvious.
Regulus got up quickly in frustration. "That's it I'm leaving" Regulus said as he walked out of the train car where he was sitting with his friends. Regulus shut the car door behind him as he walked down the hall towards where Sirius and his friends were. Regulus opened the door to the car that Sirius, Remus, James, and Peter had settled into shutting the door behind him. When Regulus looked around the car he was shocked to find that only James was left in the car. "What happened to the other dumbasses?" Regulus asked. Even though he was willing to murder Barty for calling any of them dumb he found it fine to call them that himself. "They went to bother the girls, but I decided to stay behind." James said, turning his head away from the window and towards Regulus who was still standing at the door. James smiled at Regulus softly. Regulus drew the curtain on the window of the car that faced the hall and walked over to sit by James. Regulus put his head on James's lap and laid down across the bench. James began running his hand through Regulus's hair smiling down at him. "So why did you leave your friend? I mean I'm not complaining I like having you here but what happened?" James asked. 'God damn it why does he have to be so fucking sweet?' Regulus thought to himself. "Barty was just being a prick, as usual." Regulus said, smiling back up at James. "Do you wanna talk about it?" James asked. It was much harder for Regulus to shove his feelings deep down inside him when James kept bringing them back up. "No," Regulus said. "Ok Reggie." James said, looking deeply into Regulus's eyes.
Regulus reached into his bag and grabbed a book. "Can I read to you?" Regulus asked, presenting the book to James. James gently took the book from Regulus's hands and read the title aloud, "The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. Sure, read it to me, love." James said, handing the book back to Regulus. After a minute or two of Regulus reading, James's thoughts began to wander. He looked out the window and watched as the trees went by, he looked at Regulus's eyes and how focused on the book he was, and he would even just close his eyes and listen to Regulus's voice. James loved it when Regulus read to him, not because he liked the books that Regulus was reading to him, but because he got to listen to Regulus talk and see how focused he was on the book.
After about 20 minutes Regulus finally closed the book. James blinked his eyes, the slam of the book snapping him out of his daydream. "James? were you even paying attention?" Regulus said, sitting up. "What?! Of course I was paying attention!" James said. 'damn he really is shit at lying' Regulus thought to himself. "oh yeah, what was it about?" Regulus said, folding his arms. "uh, it was about... a heart... that... tells tales." James said, it was more of a question than a statement. Regulus laughed a little, James joined him. "So, if you don't pay attention to the book. Why do you like it when I read to you?" Regulus asked. James shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, I just like hearing you read to me." James said simply.
Suddenly the door swung open. "We're back mate!" Sirius shouted as he walked into the train car. "oh, hey Reg, what are you doing here?" Sirius asked, stopping dead in his tracks. "uhhh" James said, turning to look over at Regulus. "I wanted to see you, and James said you would be back soon, so I waited here for you." Regulus said. 'how is he such a good liar?' James asked himself. He could never think of a good answer like that on the spot. "oh, ok." Sirius said, taking a seat on the bench across from James and Regulus.
-Later on, in the great hall-
Regulus couldn't seem to stop zoning out. He looked around the table at his friends. Barty was stuffing his face with food, and Dorcas and Evan were gossiping. Regulus looked down at his plate. He couldn't believe that anyone really enjoyed this food. It was all so bland and had no seasoning. Normally during the school year he would bring his own spices with him so that he could season the food himself, but he had forgotten them this time. Regulus looked up from his plate and saw James looking at him from across the hall.
The pair sat there looking at each other for a while, until finally Barty started snapping his fingers in front of Regulus's face. "Hello, earth to Reg." Barty said obnoxiously. "Piss off!" Regulus said. "Awe, were you looking at your boyfriend." Barty said in a mocking tone while turning around to look at James. "ugh, shut it Barty." Regulus said, putting his face in his hands to hide the fact that he was blushing. "What's the matter mate? Have you been separated from your boyfriend for more than twenty minutes?" Barty asked in an annoying tone. "knock it off Barty." Evan said sharply. Barty turned his head to Evan and then back to Regulus. Barty didn't poke fun at Regulus for the rest of the evening.