Regulus Black typically didn't like to go to these things. He thought it was stupid to gather with a bunch of other teenagers and drink just to celebrate winning a quidditch game. especially since he wasn't even celebrating his own house. But since Dorcas had recently developed an infatuation with a certain blonde gryffindor, Regulus and his friends had decided to help her win marlene's affection at this party (and by "decided" I mean Barty annoyed them until they agreed to help).
Regulus sighed heavily as he looked at the clothes in his dresser trying to decide on what to wear to the party. "oh, what's the matter Black, can't find an outfit that'll impress Potter." Evan said in an attempt to mock Regulus. Evan was sitting on Barty's bed with his legs hanging off the edge, while Barty clung onto his neck with his head nestled in between Evan's shoulder and neck. Regulus flung his head around to look at Evan and said in an annoyed tone "Shut up Evan, tonight isn't about Potter it's about helping Dorcas with her crush on Mckinnon." "oh come on Reg, you can't possibly be saying that you didn't agree to this because it comes with the added bonus of being able to stare at Potter all night." Evan said in an accusatory tone. Regulus rolled his eyes and turned to face his friends "actually, I never agreed to do this in the first place, Barty just told me I was going and nagged me til I said yes in an effort to shut him up." Evan looked at Regulus with a smirk on his face and said "oh come on mate, we both know that Barty can't actually make you do anything, if you didn't want to go you wouldn't be going." Regulus sighed he knew that was true, he would never do something simply because Barty wanted him to, he was much too stubborn for that. "True, but that still doesn't mean I'm going so I can see Potter." Regulus said angrily he was getting sick of Evan's nagging. "oh yeah, then why are you staring at your dresser trying to find something to wear if you're not trying to win him over tonight." Evan said with a knowing look on his face. Regulus didn't even attempt to answer that question, he simply turned back to his dresser and continued trying to pick out an outfit.
-Later that night, at the party-
Regulus was standing next to his friends in the corner of the party. Barty and Evan were laughing about something stupid having already had way too much to drink, even though it had barely been 15 minutes since they arrived. Pandora was leaning against the wall with a drink in her hand looking at the people around her as if she were bird watching. and Dorcas was already dancing with Marlene having apparently needed no help whatsoever to win her over. He figured since he couldn't leave he might as well try to pass the time by talking to Pandora. He walked over to her and leaned up against the wall next to her "hey Panda." he said giving her a small salute "looks like Dorcas didn't need our help after all." he continued gesturing to Dorcas and Marlene dancing in the center of the room. "I think it's less that she needed our help and more that she needed us to come with her so she wouldn't be alone." Pandora said, turning her head to look at Regulus. "I guess that makes sense," he said looking down at the cup in Pandora's hand "I never would have pegged you as a drinker Panda." He pointed at the cup in her hand with a concerned look on his face. "I'm not, this is apple juice." Pandora said, raising her cup and taking another drink, "and I could say the same for you." She said in an accusatory tone pointing at the cup in his hand. "Well how else do you expect me to get through this insufferable party, I'm bored out of my mind" Regulus said, taking another sip of his drink as well.
The pair sat in silence for a moment, and then across the room Regulus spotted James. he looked like he was slightly drunk and he was still wearing his school uniform but he had undone his tie, rolled up his sleeves a bit, and undone the top two buttons of his shirt exposing a bit of his chest. The music playing in the room switched and the song Dancing Queen came on. James's eyes lit up and he yelled "OH MY GOD, Sirius this is my favorite song!! Come on, Pads dance with me." All of a sudden James jumped onto a table in the center of the room and pulled Sirius onto the table with him. James immediately started singing along with the song and Sirius happily joined him. Regulus watched him as he screamed the lyrics extremely off key and used his wand as if it were a microphone. James turned his body and faced Regulus for a moment. their eyes met and a smile grazed both of their faces. Regulus felt as if this moment had lasted an eternity, and then in a fraction of a second it was over, Sirius had grabbed James's arm and turned him back to himself.
"uh, Hello earth to Reggie," Regulus flinched a bit at this interruption, he turned to see Pandora with a concerned look on her face, "Reggie are you alright you just kinda dozed off there." she said with worry painted on her face. "oh, yeah, I'm fine Panda, I was just spacing out for a second there." Regulus attempted to laugh it off like he wasn't staring at James but Pandora saw through his nervousness and turned her head to see what Regulus was looking at. upon seeing James a wave of realization washed over her face "ooh," she said with a knowing smirk "that explains the drool." she remarked, whipping a bit of spit from the corner of Regulus's mouth. Regulus through her hand away from his face and said "I was not drooling, agh, shut up Panda." "jeez, so defensive, fine, I'll let you get back to your DROOLING." Pandora said, raising her hands defensively. "what did I just tell you I was NOT drooling." he said, turning his head back to James.
Regulus dozed off again getting lost in James's dreamy hazel eyes. when the song finished he watched as James jumped down off the table and met the gaze of Lily, she had a disappointed look on her face and her head was buried in her hands. James quickly started talking to Lily but Regulus couldn't hear what they were talking about, and he thanked Merlin that he couldn't. he didn't think that he could bear to listen to James attempt to flirt with her, in all truth he wished that James would look at him the way he looked at Lily. He wished that he could crawl into Lily's skin just to feel James's gentle touch against his arm, to hear James compliment him and tell him how pretty he looked. In that moment Regulus also wished he could just evaporate into thin air, he wished he could just simply cease to exist. At least that way he wouldn't have to watch the man he loved flirt with someone else. At least if he wasn't here James could be happy with Lily with out Regulus getting in the way. 'fuck' he thought to himself 'I'm gonna need a lot more alcohol to get through THIS'
-an unhealthy amount of alcohol later-
It had been about an hour and a half since Regulus had decided to get black out drunk and it was going great (if your definition of great is being so drunk you can hardly function as a human being). Regulus was standing in the corner of the room again next to Barty and Evan this time drunk enough to find their jokes funny. "hey I knew you would have fun at this party Reggie, see isn't this more fun than hanging out at the library with Panda?" Barty asked without really expecting Regulus to answer. Regulus could hardly even understand the words coming out of Barty's mouth, he was trying to find a way to make the room stop spinning. "oi mate look, it's Potter, you should go say hi." Evan blurted out (probably a bit too loudly). Regulus squinted his eyes and looked at where Evan was pointing, and sure enough there was Potter, gorgeous as ever. James was standing next to Remus, Sirius, and Peter probably talking about something Regulus would find extremely boring like their next prank, or new ways they could piss off the people around them. before Regulus could even respond to Barty had taken him by the shoulder and thrown him into James.
Regulus stumbled into the friend group and James caught him in his (surprisingly muscular) arm. "wow mate are you alright, you don't look too good." James said with a concerned look on his face. Regulus was surprised that James still looked so handsome even when he had a look of worry painted across his face. Regulus tried to catch his breath and think of something to say in response but the words got caught in his throat. he was looking up at James's beautiful eyes like a deer in the headlights. "alright mate why don't I walk you back to your common room, you need to get some rest, hey pads I'm gonna go get the cloak quick why don't you hang onto your brother." James said. Regulus always loved how caring James was, he admired how James would drop anything to help someone who really needed it. Regulus tightened his arms around James's waist and gripped onto him as if he were a baby koala gripping onto a tree. Regulus heard Barty and Evan crying with laughter in the corner. "or not, her Siri why don't you go grab the cloak and I'll hold onto him." James said, very confused by Regulus's actions, if Regulus was sober he would rather die then dare to do anything this forward, but since he was wasted and could barley tell where he was he was a lot more clingy and a lot less cautious.
When Sirius got back with the invisibility cloak and James had managed to walk Regulus out of the party, he swiftly flung the cloak over his and Regulus's shoulders covering the both of them. Regulus quickly grabbed onto James's neck hanging off of him. James was no longer phased by Regulus clinging onto him, he simply wrapped one arm around Regulus's shoulders and let a small smile grace his lips.
"James, are you in love with Lily?" Regulus asked in a sleepy voice. at this point Regulus couldn't even filter what he was saying, he simply said every thought that popped into his head. James was confused by this question, he had never seen Lily in that way before. "no, we're just friends." James said in a confused tone. "are you sure? I've seen the way you look at her." Regulus asked, showed by the answer he had received. Regulus was sure that James liked Lily. "ya I'm sure." James said in a gentle voice. "well, that's good" Regulus said pulling James even closer to him. a confused look washed over James's face. "why do you say that?" he asked with a small laugh. he found it cute how Regulus was clinging onto him and asking him these silly questions. It was a nice break from his usual stiff exterior and harsh words. "because if you're not in love with her then that means that you two are never going to date." Regulus said gently placing his chin onto James's shoulder with his eyes closed. James turned his head towards Regulus even more concerned by this response than the last. "and, why is it good that me and Lily will never date?" James asked. "because I'm in love with you, and watching you date someone else would basically be torture for me." Regulus said as if the answer to James's question was obvious. James's eyes widened and he stopped walking for a moment "you, you love me?" James asked. James wasn't sure what he was feeling at this moment, he was happy that Regulus liked him back but he was also shocked by it. He thought that Regulus resented him for 'stealing his brother from him'. Regulus opened his eyes and looked deeply into James's eyes. James felt his heart beat quicken. Regulus put both of his hands against James's face and stepped closer to him. James slid his hand down Regulus's back and rested it on his waist pulling him ever so slightly closer to him. finally Regulus leaned in and kissed James, and James tightened his arms around Regulus's waist pulling him even closer to him.