lips
“Reggie, I think you should loosen your grip a little. You’re going to break -“
Snap.
“- another quill,” Pandora finished.
“Third one this week,” Evan mumbled, pushing his scroll away from the splattered ink.
Regulus ignored them in favor of glaring daggers at the Ravenclaw girl currently flirting with James at the front of the library. She was holding a box of chocolate cauldrons in one hand and twirling her hair with the other, batting her eyelashes at him. James scratched the back of his head and shifted his weight from side to side. Any second now, Regulus thought. He watched with satisfaction as the girl’s smile slowly dropped and she hurried back to her friends.
All week people had been coming up to James with sweets and flowers, hoping to be his valentine, and all week, in retaliation, Regulus had to keep dragging him into empty classrooms and hidden alcoves to snog him senseless. So what if Regulus was a little jealous. Everyone’s got their faults.
“I’ll be right back,” Regulus said, getting up from the table, eyes still glued to the back of James’ head. As if feeling his gaze, James turned to look at him, and Regulus saw his face break out into a cheeky grin.
“No, you won’t,” Barty laughed, right as Dorcas grumbled, “I’ll bring your books back to the common room. Again.”
Regulus would deal with them later. For now, he was pretty sure the fifth-years’ Muggle Studies class just let out.
---
“Ready?” James asked, shooting Regulus a nervous smile.
“You don’t have a hippogriff in there, do you?”
“Not quite,” James said, as he reached for the handle of the door right as it finished materializing in the middle of the seventh floor corridor.
The retort died on his lips when Regulus took in the room they walked into. There was a crackling fireplace on one wall, casting a soft glow over the small space along with floating lights that dimmed and brightened like fireflies. The floor was covered with what looked to be comfortable bedding and in the center of it stood a fort made of fluffy pillows and blankets, in front of which was a feast of various cheeses, fruits, and desserts.
“You mentioned a couple of months ago that you never got to make a pillow fort as a child and, well, I guess you technically still haven’t, because I made it for you, but I can knock it down again if you want and we can rebuild it together? Oh and I stole the food from the kitchen, or well the house elves helped me out, but I didn’t know what kind of fruit you liked so I got one of everything, except maybe some weird tropical fruits -”
“James,” Regulus said, cutting him off.
“Yes?” James eyed him anxiously, cheeks red and eyebrows drawn together.
“It’s perfect.”
James’ eyes softened and he grinned, before almost knocking Regulus over with the force of his hug. Regulus melted in his arms.
“Happy Valentine’s day, love,” James breathed against his neck, sending a shiver down his spine.
“You know technically you never asked me to be your valentine,” Regulus said, fighting a losing battle to keep his voice level.
“Alright,” James said, and turned his head until his lips brushed the shell of Regulus’ ear before he whispered, “Will you be my valentine?”
“James.”
“Is that a yes?”
Instead of answering, Regulus decided to quit wasting time and snogged him senseless some more.