Falling
“Good morning, my love” Regulus woke up to nice sunlight, and a warm body around him. He felt a light flutter in his heart. “How did you sleep?”
Regulus grabbed onto the hands around him and threaded his fingers through them. Pulling them up to his chest. “Really well”
“Did you?”
“I sleep better when you’re here” he murmured.
“I’ll sleep with you anytime you like”
“Fucking pervert”
“You know you like it”
Regulus tuned over and pressed his face into his chest. “Shut James.”
“That’s what you said last night before-”
“Shh” Regulus kissed him, slowly, like they had all the time in the world.
Regulus awoke with a start. “Shit!”
“Why the fuck are you cursing so early in the morning fuck face!” Barty shouted from his bed.
“Go back to sleep” Evan hissed at Barty.
“Okay”
He stared at the ceiling, breathing heavily. “No, no, no!” He muttered and pushed a pillow over his face. “Not again”
Regulus remember this, but he wasn’t twelve years old anymore, he wasn’t. He couldn’t be.
No more crushes, now his actions were worth a damn.
God he hated being fourteen.
When Regulus was eleven years old he met James Potter for the first time. He remembered the first thought he’d had about him, he remembered whispering it to Sirius.
“That boy looks like the sun”
“Heart to match it” Sirius had whispered back and ran forward to give his friend a slap on the back.
Regulus looked at his feet and tucked his hair behind his ear.
“Don’t be a stranger Reggie!” He shouted as he brought James, a boy with dark brown hair, to match his eyes, and a smile to match the sun. Remus, a mousy brown haired kid with a few scars down his face, a fond look as Sirius started talking more at him than to hims. And Peter, a blond boy with green eyes, standing slightly behind them with his head down, chubbier and shorter than the rest.
“Hi” he muttered. “I’m Regulus… like the star”
“Astronomy huh?” Remus whispered to Sirius. “What is that? Just a weird family kink-“
“Shh!” Sirius laughed and shoved his hand over the other boys mouth.
Regulus wasn’t paying attention, he was watching James, who had his head tilted a bit at him. The sun shined bright behind him, running through his hair and brightening up his soft brown eyes.
He smiled and stuck his hand out “I’m James” he tilted his head a bit farther, swinging into his thoughts. “Your eyes are quite something aren’t they?”
Regulus shook his hand awkwardly. “I guess”
“You look like Sirius!” Remus shouted from behind James, who had now dropped his hand.
“No shit!” Sirius shouted.
“Sirius!” He shouted at him, shocked that he would say something like that.
“It’s the truth” Remus shrugged.
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” He stitched his eyebrows.
Sirius gave a fake gasp as if he took offense to the question.
“Why wouldn’t it be?” Remus looked over and Sirius awkwardly.
The memory faded loosely, that was a long time ago. He remembered the moment the hat opened its mouth to say something else and he begged it to say Slytherin a bit too loudly.
“This isn’t what you want kid” it had murmured.
“Please, my mum would… she would-“
“Slytherin!”
He also remembered watching Sirius’s face. The way the smile fell slowly and he struggled to clap. He looked so disappointed, but that wasn’t really the worst part. He simply looked sad, he really thought Regulus could be different. Often he wonders where he’d be now if he had been different, if he let himself be different.
Regulus ran to the Slytherin table.
He ever what happened to Sirius when he came home over winter, a Gryffindor tie adorn his neck.
The screams still echoed in the back of his head.
Well that was a long time ago, no need to bring it all back.
After all he was in Slytherin, even if he wasn’t a Slytherin. He didn’t want to know what the hat was going to say.
He stood up and pulled on a large green sweater, ignoring Barty’s tired screeches.
“Where are you off to early in the morning your ignorant whore-“
“Out to the pitch”
***
Regulus loved flying the mornings, no one could see him, so no one would ever know how good or bad he was.
The Warskies feint at the game certainly put him on the map. After all the time he’d spent telling himself he couldn’t do it, he’d tried it one day. A day where he almost didn’t care if he lived or died.
But after the fear wore off it was normal, falling, flying, maybe somewhere in between.
Then he started teaching himself how to do things he’d never seen anyone do, how to stop flying and instead start falling.
Sure he spent half the summer in his yard, Kreatcher sitting there to cast a cushion charm in case he fell. Which he did quite a bit.
The trick to falling was the same as running, escape.
“Shit!” He screamed as the tail of his broom grazed the ground as he pulled up. That could get him disqualified since it would count as a land. Regulus dove into an Excalibur’s roll. “Fuck!”
“Quite the mouth on you huh baby black?”
Regulus wanted to throw himself off his broom.
Not James potter
Anyone but him!
“What do you want Potter!” Regulus hissed. Please say me. A part of his head that he didn’t want to admit existed whispered. He thwarted the thought.
“To fly” he shrugged and threw a leg over his broom. “Can you teach me?”
“No-“
“The Warskies feint”
“You’ll fall”
“Then I fall” James swiped past Regulus. “Wouldn’t you find that funny?”
That though ran past his mind, James potter falling, no, no that wasn’t going to happen. “I’m not cruel” he spat.
“Oh am I thawing your heart just a bit baby black?”
“Shut up and I’ll teach you”
“Deal”
Regulus rolled his eyes. He could not believe he was doing this, but he couldn’t help but shoot James a glance. The warm sun behind him sparking on his eyes and smile. Holding onto the broom with one hand and fixing his hair with the other, though his hair looked just fine. Regulus felt a childish spark of joy in his heart.
“So how do you do it huh? The speed at least?”
Regulus blinked. What? Oh.“Falling” James tilted his head. “Gravity isn’t your enemy, stop holding on and just fall.”
“How do you pull yourself back up so quick of you’re not actively driving?” He stitched his eyebrows.
“Do it”
“Okay” He shrugged and dove confidently.
Regulus watched and followed him, watching as James allowed himself to fall.
Because Regulus told him to.
Regulus was… worth a damn to him.
He spent years of his life telling himself there wasn’t a world in which James Potter would kiss Regulus Black.
He blinked at a plummeting James Potter.
“Fuck!” Regulus screamed as he could already see James getting too close to the ground. He made a rash decision and threw himself at James. Pushing both of them off there brooms and onto the ground.
Regulus landed on top of James, grunting as he fell onto the other boy, who looked absolutely delighted.
“Hi”
“You realize that you need to remember to take control back of your broom right?”
“Sure” James shrugged under him, but he knew that James’s mind was on nothing but Regulus, his knees on either side of James’s hips.
He stood up and kicked James a bit to get up. “Try again, I won’t catch you this time”
“Okay” James stood up and started towards his broom.
“And-“ Regulus grabbed onto James’s arm. “Don’t tell anyone about this”
“Of course not, baby” James winked at him and pulled his arm away from him.
Regulus blinked and swallowed hard. “Baby” he whispered to himself. “Shit”