James looked up at the big clock over the trap door of the astronomy tower.
08:56
“Fuck” he whispered to himself, standing up quickly to grab his clothes, buttoning up his shirt swiftly but badly and putting on a tie in the hurry.
He buttoned up his pants and tried to manage his hair, but to no avail. Regulus was still lying asleep on the floor. They had snogged, fucked and fallen asleep in the astronomy tower accidentally whilst snuggling afterwards, forgetting everything about what their friends might think in the morning when they came back.
None of their friends knew about Regulus and James' secret relationship, though they had planned on coming out soon enough, they just didn’t know how and when.
He pressed a kiss to his sleeping boyfriend's forehead, brushing a curl away from his forehead, before walking towards the trapdoor of the astronomy tower.
Regulus looked so peaceful when he was sleeping, his guard unknowingly fully down -a rare thing to see in him, though James didn’t blame him. That was one of the many cons of being a Black, after years of mistrust and abuse, trust was very hard to earn from a Black.
Though James didn’t dislike him for that, not at all, he knew better. He knew that his boyfriend didn’t mean anything bad, and James would wait a thousand lifetimes to witness that comfortable and relaxed smile every day.
Not just “would wait”, he will wait, unless Regulus pushes him away clearly and fully. Though, there’s where it gets complicated, Regulus doesn’t believe he’s worth being loved, and pushes away anyone when they get too close. He was afraid that whatever he had wouldn’t last, but James would spend his entire life to prove him wrong, how Regulus deserved everything, and James would hold Regulus’ trust and most prized moments in a tight and possessive grip if he could, never wanting to let go.
He managed to break his gaze away from his boyfriend eventually, opening the trapdoor and exiting quietly.
He felt horrible for leaving his boyfriend trapped in the tower, sleeping and vulnerable, and that’s part of the reason they wanted to make their relationship official, they didn’t like hiding anymore.
Back when they were only sleeping around there was a piece of excitement in the hiding, the glances only they knew the meaning of, the giggling when Sirius almost caught them and Regulus had to hide under his bed or in their closet, but after a while the lines drew hazy, and sleeping around became much more intimate. The hiding around became more of a burden, and James wanted nothing more than to display his love to the world.
James certainly wasn’t complaining though, he was the happiest he had been in a long time.
He ran down the corridor at lightning speed, not bothering to check his neck for hickeys, or for correctly buttoned up buttons or how horrendous his hair was.
When he opened the door to the great hall he didn’t expect much attention, sure, he was James Potter, and James was never late for meals with his friends, but he couldn’t gain that much attention.
He was wrong, when he entered the hall a big part of the students were staring at him, he froze.
He walked over to his friends slowly, a confused and questioning look plastered on his face.His friends broke out into loud giggles,
“What??” he asked, bewildered.
“Have you picked up a sudden liking for green Prongs?” Sirius asked, trying hard to keep back laughter but clearly failing, his other friends struggling just as much as he did.
James looked at his friends confused, “What are you talking about? Why is everyone staring? What did I do now?”
“First off” Remus starts, “You look thoroughly snogged, you have more hickeys than a human being should have, did you date a vampire??” James flushed embarrassingly.
“Second off,” Peter chimed in, “You’re wearing a Slytherin tie”
James looked down quickly, flushing a deep red as he started stuttering. His friends burst into loud laughter, attracting even more unwanted attention to the situation.
“Who’s the lucky girl?” Sirius asked, intrigued.
The comment, girl, made his brain go haywire, what would he even answer to that?
“No one” he said quickly, not believing that anyone would really believe him.
“Come on, tell us!” Sirius urged.
"No" He said decisively.
“You’re.. hiding this person? James Potter is actually hiding his love” Sirius states, actually quite stunned. James doesn’t know what to respond with, luckily -or unluckily, he wasn’t sure- he wouldn't have to.
The following second a just as thoroughly snogged looking Regulus strode into the hall with something clutched tightly in his fist. His hair was ruffled and his tie was missing, the collar of his white shirt was halfway folded up, and the top buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned. James had to admit, he did look quite hot.
What he does next surprised everyone, even James.
He walked up to the Gryffindor table, pulling the golden boy towards him roughly, quickly removing the Slytherin tie, opening his other hand to release the Gryffindor tie he was holding and placing it down on the table in front of the stunned mute friends.
“Idiot” He says as he removes the tie fully and walking over to the Slytherin table as if nothing had happened.
Sirius looks at James with a shocked expression, not moving or saying anything, James mirrors that expression. In fact, the entire great hall seems to do that.
“You have exactly five seconds to run” Sirius says after a few seconds of silence, finally breaking the deadpan and frozen expression he had been wearing.
“Fair enough-” James replied, immediately stressed. He bounced up from the table and started immediately sprinting. Sirius had -in fact- not given him five seconds, but had rushed up just as James had moved.
For those sitting in the Great Hall the sound of a loud bang, similar to that of a seven year boy tackling another seven year boy to the stone floor, could be heard from outside.