James is simping
James’ pov
Regulus hasn’t spoken to him for the whole day. The Slytherin kept sneaking glances at him, sure, but not once has he thought it necessary to talk to James about what happened. And, well. James was losing his fucking mind.
Because once he had started thinking about how much he actually liked the other boy, he couldn’t stop. They were sitting at the table again, eating dinner, and Regulus wasn’t even doing anything.
Except that his silky hair was curling perfectly around his face and he was smiling about something his mother said. And Merlin that smile. James’ stomach swooped.
James put his focus back on the warm dish in front of him. It smelled delightful and he continued shovelling mouthfuls of spaghetti into his mouth. The atmosphere was a little strained and James was pretty sure that his friends and parents had noticed that something was up. Padfoot was trying to convince Remus to get matching tattoos (“Come on Moony, it would be so punk rock!”) while Remus kept shaking his head and countered all of Pads arguments with claiming that he was an idiot.
James nodded along the conversation and chirped in every once in a while to ask about the difference between muggle tattoos and magic ones. Then he took a sip water and decided that it was safe now to glance at Regulus.
Big mistake.
He had a little bit of tomato sauce smeared on the corner of his mouth.
The water in James’ mouth somehow missed the right way down and he started coughing. Everyone at the table looked at him, his mother drew her eyebrows together and Padfoot patted his back but shot him weird looks. Merlin’s balls. Regulus was looking at him. He was looking at Regulus.
How adorable can a person be?
James excused himself to the toilet shortly after. Gripping the sink with both hands, he stared at his reflection in the mirror. He could feel the cold tiles through his socks and tried to focus on the sensation. Anything but the way Regulus’ eyes locked with his.
No one should have the power to take James apart with only one look. But oh, well, here we are. And now he had to deal with this stupid fucking crush all summer long.
And even worse, after the summer he would have to deal with hardly seeing Regulus ever.
Five minutes later he was back at the table, laughing a little too loudly and smiling a little too brightly. He was fine. Absolutely fine. When Sirius pulled him aside after dinner and asked him what was up, that was his response. And when his mother asked how he was feeling while they were cleaning the dishes a little while later, that was what he claimed.
Not that they believed him but at least they didn’t ask any further questions.
They settled down in the living room after they had finished cleaning up. His parents on one side of their comfy couch, his mom leaning her head on Monty’s shoulder while they quietly talked together.
James was nestled on the other side of the couch, next to his father. Which was an excellent spot, not only because of the snuggly blanket he managed to claim but also because of the view.
Vis-à-vis of the couch were three armchairs, all in the same deep red as the couch. Remus was in the one on the left, his long legs sprawled out in front of him and crossed at the ankles. A well-loved book was in his hands, the pages an old yellowish colour. He was pretending to read, though he hadn’t turned the page in five minutes and very clearly kept getting distracted by Padfoot, who was sitting in the armchair on the right.
Padfoot had his legs swung over one armrest, letting them dangle in the air. His back was against the other armrest, his head lolling back and his eyes closed. Now, what probably kept making Remus glance over was the stripe of bare skin on his stomach that was exposed due to Padfoot’s dramatic position.
James rolled his eyes. His friends were so obvious.
But the reason his spot on the couch was so perfect was in the armchair in the middle: a calm Regulus snuggled into a blanket with a cup of tea cradled in his hands. James could stare at him without it being suspicious and he was feeling very smug about it.
“Anyone up for a game of chess?”, his mother asked cheerfully in the relaxed atmosphere. James smiled a little. They had all given up playing against his mother, no one had ever been able to beat her. Remus was the only one who actually was a challenge for her. But he doubted that Remus was in the mood to play right now, he looked half-asleep in his chair.
“Sure”, Regulus surprised everyone. His mother beamed at him and accio-ed their chess set. She set it up on the little coffee table that stood between them and Regulus shuffled a little forward in the armchair, draped the blanket over his shoulders and placed the mug on the table next to the chess board. Then, they started playing.
At first, James only watched Regulus. It was a perfectly good excuse too look at the other boy. Regulus’ eyebrows were drawn together just a tiny bit and a stand of black hair fell into his face. The lamp behind the sofa spread warm light through the room and illuminated Regulus’ face. He looked like he was glowing. His piercing eyes were focused on the board and his lashes casted shadows over his cheeks. James may or may not felt dizzy at the sight.
But then, something happened. Something that never had happened before. Something that surely must go against some law of nature.
Euphemia Potter was losing.
He didn’t even notice it first, busy staring at the masterpiece that was Regulus Black, but when Remus whispered: “Merlin’s tit”, he looked down to the board. His eyes widened and he looked over to his mother. Who was looking absolutely delighted.
Now focused on the game, he kept watching them make their moves. And Merlin, Regulus was good. He was outsmarting his mother in record-breaking time. Remus, Padfood, his father and him were following the game in absolute wonder. Euphemia was a unchallenged champion in their household. She loved to play, especially against Remus, and she liked to challenge anyone who visited.
And her chess talent, which James had unfortunately not inherited, was now being matched by Regulus’ apparent chess talent.
Merlins’ kidney. How was this boy real.
James was swooning. It was nothing new that he found smart people attractive. Competence was hot after all.
Yet, the way he felt his cheeks grow red and avoided looking at Regulus for the rest of the evening in fear of fucking exploding probably wasn’t normal.
He went to bed after taking a very cold shower and prayed his feeling would go away eventually. The sooner the better.
-------
The summer flew past them in a breeze, full of days by the lake and laughter. James was loving every second of it.
(Except when he was laying alone in his bed at night, staring at the ceiling and wishing Regulus wouldn’t hate him. But we did not talk about that. Ever.)
Remus and Sirius kept flirting with each other, leaving James with a never-ending chant of Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!in his head every time they interacted in any way.
These fucking idiots.
Anyway, James was having a blast. He loved summe. He lived for the ice cream and the warmth and seeing his parents so much.
It didn’t take long and the old quidditch equipment was pulled out, cleaned and put to good use. They played in their garden, sometimes his father joined in, showing them tricks and telling them about the good old days he was a star player himself.
His mother was their audience at first, clapping and cheering them on. But after one to many times of Monty talking about how amazing he had been, she swung herself on a broom and revealed to everyone’s amazement (except James’, of course, he had heard this story countless times) that she had been quite the quidditch celebrity too. A seeker, and a bloody brilliant one too.
His father fondly rolled his eyes, and told them about fiery young Euphemia, never letting anyone tell her what she could or couldn’t do. Apparently his parents had been in some sort of rivalry during their school days before realising that they were head over heels for each other.
The beginning of school was sneaking up on them and without warning there suddenly was only one week of holidays left.
Regulus still refused to talk to James and every time he tried to corner the Slytherin to get proper answers to all of his questions, Regulus just left. It was terribly frustrating.
Padfoot and Moony had both asked him about it, worried that they might have fought. He tells them that he has no idea what was going on and he must’ve sounded pretty desperate because they seemed to believe him. Even though Remus looked at him weirdly and told him that he’ll talk to Regulus.
For now, that had to be enough. James just hoped that Regulus didn’t hate him. He couldn’t hate him. Please don’t hate him. Just don’t hate me, please, just don’t hate me-
One morning, his mother asked when the wanted to go to and buy all the necessary supplies for the schoolyear.
“Tomorrow?”, James proposed and shrugged. His friends all agreed and so it was settled. They would visit Diagon Alley and shop a little. James was looking forward to it, especially to browsing in Zonko’s and Sugarplum’s Sweet Shop. He knew that Moony’s chocolate stock was coming to an end and he was eager to buy him some.
Padfoot and Regulus exchanged some meaningful glances that James had no chance of deciphering. He hoped it was nothing illegal.
Then he immediately banished all thoughts of Regulus from his head before he could get sucked into the current of his mind that tried to figure out the Slytherin.
Well, he would have to let himself be surprised by whatever the brothers were planning.