black brothers causing chaos
James’ pov
Is there really anything better than ice cream? James doubts it. Maybe cotton candy. Or Quidditch. Still, ice cream was pretty high up on his list.
Il melted on his tongue, chocolate and mango (he swore on this combination), while he listened to Sirius chatter excitedly in the bright green chair across from him.
Padfoot had ice cream smeared around his mouth and a grin so broad it almost looked comical. Remus sat besides him, looking relaxed and happily taking licks of his ice cream (chocolate, of course).
He was discussing something with Regulus, who’s vanilla ice cream was melting in his hand as he was talking intensely about something, probably forgetting that he was even holding an ice cream. It was not fair for a person to be so endearing. James sighed, then focused on Sirius again.
His best friend seemed completely in his element, leaning in Remus’ direction while retelling their adventures to James who was nodding along but not quite listening.
His thoughts were with the Slytherin who now suddenly seemed to remember that there was an ice cream in his hand.
An ice cream cone. Very important detail. Because had it been in a cup, Regulus would have eaten it with a spoon. No problem there.
But see, he had wanted a cone. And now he is licking the ice cream. With his tongue. The fucking vanilla ice cream. That was melting. The melting vanilla ice cream. That Regulus was licking. With his tongue.
That was obscene. James could not handle this right now.
Okay, back to Sirius. Still talking. They had bought something for a prank. Mhm. He was absolutely listening. Il would be an amazing prank. James laughed. Didn’t know if it was appropriate. Wasn’t listening that well after all.
Eyes flicking to Regulus. Shit. He had finished licking the ice cream and was now back to telling Remus about books. With glinting eyes.
James rubbed his eyes. How dare he be so passionate about books. It was so hot.
He might like Regulus better than ice cream and cotton candy.
“Prongs? You alright?” Padfoot looked at him a little worried, head tilted to the side. Huh. Regulus sometimes tilted his head like that too.
“Um, what? Yes, sorry. I was listening. Go on.” Padfoot did not look convinced at all, but shrugged before turning to Remus. His green chair squeaked a bit. “Well, we had a lot of fun. And you, Reggie? Did you have fun? Bored James to death?”
Regulus glared at his brother then turned his gaze to James, now a little unsure.
“I had a good time. I don’t know if I can say the same for James though”, he took another lick of ice cream, “He had to carry all of my books.”
“Ah little brother, don’t worry. It makes him feel important if he can do things for others. Win-win situation.”
James chuckled. “I had fun. I learned a lot about how to make a good plot twist. Real interesting.” He found himself actually meaning the words. He felt like he knew Regulus a lot better now. Seeing him feel so comfortable in a space and letting loose a little was amazing.
“Did you buy a book for Euphemia?”, Remus asked.
Shit. He knew he had forgotten something.
Remus must have seen the guilty look he and Regulus exchanged because he sighed. “I can come and help you pick something, if you want.”
Sirius perked up at this. “Great! You and James go, and me and little Reggie can have some brother quality time!”
James did not like that grin. It was his mischievous grin. He squinted his eyes at Padfoot, who quickly averted his gaze.
He was sure Remus sensed the weird vibes too, but the werewolf just shrugged. “Alright. As soon as you have finished your ice cream, we can go.”
A few minutes later, he and Moony were on their way to the bookstore once more. The little bell chimed as they entered and the lady behind the counter smiled at them and looked a little confused at James’ reappearance.
They strolled along the high shelves and James listened to Moony’s excited chatter about… some book.
James was sure it was a very interesting book, but he couldn’t bring his brain to actually pay attention to Remus’ words. His thoughts were with a cute Slytherin boy who was doing Merlin knew what with Sirius at the moment.
What were the brothers up to now? James sighed. Moony looked at him funnily.
They quickly found something that they thought James’ mom would enjoy and James was ready to pay and go search Regulus and Sirius.
Moony had other plans. He took his time looking at what James thought was every. Single. Fucking. Book. That the store had to offer. He then proceeded to have a little crisis because he couldn’t decide on what books to buy.
A now slightly annoyed James offered to just buy Moony all of the books he wanted. Remus shot him a glare.
Right. Remus was an independent strong young man. Didn’t like his stuff paid for.
Get it together, James, he thought, you are a better friend than this.
So he made an effort to listen to Remus’ pros and cons for each book, tried to make useful comments and even made an attempt to memorize the titles, so he could buy them Moony for Christmas.
Clearly, he couldn’t hide his impatience as well as he had hoped.
As soon as they were out of the book shop, Remus turned to him with a curious look. “What’s got you so nervous?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I just think our friends were a little suspicious before and I want to know what their up to.” He shrugged.
Remus raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure it’s nothing too bad. Sirius is very protective of Regulus, he wouldn’t let anything happen to him.”
That was a good point. Unfortunately, it did nothing to calm James’ nerves.
So they went to the corner where they had agreed to meet with the brothers. And they waited.
It didn’t take too long for their friends to arrive, but to James it had felt like years.
“Found a book for Effie?”, Padfoot prompted as soon as they were in hearing distance.
“Yes, we did. What have you been up to?”, Remus asked.
James inspected them. Sirius seemed a little jittery, like a child on Christmas morning. His shiny black hair fell over his shoulders and his cheeks were a little red. Regulus was a lot calmer but then he grinned at them, as if he couldn’t help it.
So overall they looked… fine? Normal?
But the glances that they were exchanging told a different story. What in Merlin’s name had they done?
“Oh nothing, just”, Sirius shrugged, “You know, what brothers do. Let’s go home, I’m tired.” And with that he tugged Remus on his sweater and began walking.
James shot one last glance at Regulus, then followed his friends down the street.
They almost made it to the Leaky Cauldron, when Padfoot giggled at something Remus had said and then reached up to tug some strands of hair behind his ear.
Next thing James knew, he collided with Remus’ back. “What the-“
“What is that”, he heard Moony exclaim. He quickly took a step back and followed Remus’ gaze to Sirius.
More specifically to Sirius’ ear.
Where a new shiny ring pierced through.
“You got another piercing?!” Remus stared at him “Really? A helix? What the hell? Wha-“, he rubbed his temple, “Why didn’t you tell us?”
Padfoot looked almost sheepish but also a little sly. “I did not get one other piercing.” He shrugged elegantly and Moony’s eyes threatened to fall out of his head.
“I got two”, he smirked at Remus, who reacted exactly the way Sirius had wanted. Putting his head in his hands, muttering to himself before reappearing and trying his hardest to act collected.
“What’s the other one?”, he asked through his teeth.
Sirius sticked his chin out and looked at Remus provocatively. “Belly button.”
And with that, he turned around once more and started walking towards the Leaky Cauldron again.
Remus was left standing there dumfounded, his mouth hanging a little open and looking as if his thoughts were anywhere but in the middle of Diagon Alley right now. Probably doing all kinds of unholy thing to Sirius in his head.
But wait. James’ brain was slowly catching up to what just had happened. “Wait. Wait, wait, hold on. Sirius, come the fuck back. No. Merlin. Wait.”
James turned to Regulus, not really bothering to check if Padfoot had kept walking or not.
“Did you also get a piercing?”, he asked the younger boy intently.
Regulus smiled. “Yes, I have.” He raised his eyebrows at James. “And wouldn’t you like to know where it is?”
And with that he made a few quick steps to catch up with his brother. The linked arms and began walking away, giggling to themselves.
Merlin. James felt a little dizzy. No, very dizzy. And a little hot. This boy would be the death of him.
Remus’ conditions wasn’t much better. James elbowed him in the side, which seemed to snap him back into reality.
“They are lunatics”, Moony stated, shaking his head. James made a humming sound in agreement before they followed the brothers into the shabby pub.
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The thing about the piercing was, James could not stop thinking about it.
The next morning, he woke up with the weird feeling that he had dreamt about it. He then proceeded to miss his cup then pouring coffee, before burning his tongue on it. His mom shot him a look.
Can you blame him? Regulus had gotten a piercing. A mysterious piercing in an unknown place. So it wasn’t in his face, because then you would be able to see it.
James was also pretty sure it wasn’t on his ears, but it was hard to tell because his lovely black hair kept hiding parts of his ears.
So where the fuck was it?? Belly button like Sirius? But Regulus wasn’t really a belly button-piercing-person, James thought. But what if?
It drove him absolutely insane. He spent most of the day trying to discreetly ask Sirius about their piercings.
They had gotten it at a little shop where they did magical tattoos and piercings. But their piercings were “muggle” so to speak, not magical in the way tattoos could be magical.
Sirius went on a rant about how piercing came from muggle culture and were not that spread in the wizarding society, so the little shop was fairly new.
And the people there were so nice, he said, helping them choose piercings that fit them. And they had had spells to ease the pain and make sure they would heal nicely.
“It still hurt a little, but not as much as I thought it would. Well, the helix hurt a little more than the other.” Sirius was practically glowing, he seemed very happy with his life at the moment. “The belly button was a little uncomfortable to pierce, because I had to lay down, but it was fine.”
He laughed a little then looked to Regulus. “And the piercer was not looking bad exactly…” Regulus snorted and James wanted to commit a crime.
Moony also didn’t seem to like this information. And James could understand him, the idea of someone else’s hands on Regulus? James did very much not appreciate it.
So the day progressed and James was loosing his mind. He gave up trying to find out Regulus’ piercing and went to his room to calm down a bit.
The afternoon sun shone through his window, which James had opened to get some fresh air.
Then he heard a knock on the door. “Yes?”, he called out.
Padfoot’s head peeked through the door. “Can I talk to you?”, he asked, looking nervously at everything except James.
“Of course, come in”, he said, standing up from his chair at the desk and sitting on the floor. He patted the spot next to him, prompting Sirius to join him.
As soon as they were settled, Padfoot cleared his throat. “So. You’re my best friend. And I can tell you anything.” He shot an unsure glance in James’ direction, who nodded encouragingly.
So this would be the talk James had been waiting to have for ages now.
“Um. Yes. So hypothetically, if I were to like someone-“, he looked at the ceiling, fidgeting with his rings, “And that someone-“, he swallowed, then lowered his voice, “Wasn’t a girl.”
Sirius had both of his eyes shut and his face scrunched up, waiting for James’ reaction.
Oh yeah, James was ready for that one.
“Sirius”, he said gently, taking both of his best friend’s hands into his own, “Thank you for telling me this. You know I love you, right? I am so proud of you.”
He could barely finish his last sentence before he found himself in one of Padfoot’s bear hugs. He heard a soft sniffle. So James held on a little tighter.
“I also wanted to tell you something”, James murmured, “I am not straight either.”
Padfoot pulled away, his eyes big and round and a little red. Then he went for a hug once more, now really crying but also kind of laughing at the same time. “Oh, James”, was all he said.
And they stayed like that for a long time, and it would be a lie to say James didn’t soak Sirius’ shirt with his tears.
A while later, the two of them had made themselves comfortable on James’ bed, looking at the ceiling and talking.
Suddenly, Sirius went quiet.
“It’s Remus”, he whispered.
Fucking finally.
James could have said that, yeah, he had known that for ages. That Remus was so in love with him, it was unbearable to watch sometimes. Or that they were destined to get together since the very beginning.
But he only said “That makes sense” before hitting Padfoot with a pillow, claiming he could have told him sooner.
“I know, Prongs. I was scared.” And he sounded so sad that James’ heart broke a little.
“You don’t have to be. And just for your information, I think that Moony likes your piercing. Like, really likes your piercing. You should show it off more often.”
Sirius grinned at him. “I love you, Prongs.”
And James grinned back. “Love you too, idiot. Go get your man.”
He was hit by a pillow before getting tackled by Sirius and before any of them knew it, a pillow fight broke out.