Chapter 1
Sirius was happily and nonchalantly following his boyfriend, he didn't know exactly where he was taking him but that didn't matter, he would always follow Remus anywhere.
It was a pleasant spring day, the sun was shining softly, the heat didn't feel stifling and a cool breeze made the weather absolutely perfect. Sirius's favourite. He wasn't a big fan of summer, too hot a climate wouldn't allow him to wear his precious leather jackets without the risk of roasting and the humidity made it harder to deal with his hair. Winter wasn't completely disagreeable for him, but Moony didn't have a very good time of it as his body was very sensitive after full moons and the cold certainly didn't help the situation of his bones much. Therefore, Sirius didn't appreciate winter either if it made life more difficult for his boyfriend. Autumn was fine, he supposed. But spring, the time of the year when everything blooms with life and colour and the days are longer to spend with his friends was simply the best.
Remus began to slow his pace and Sirius turned his attention to his surroundings.
They were on the shore of the Black Lake on the far side of the castle, a few yards away he saw that there was a blanket spread out on the grass and there were James and... Regulus?
What was his brother doing there?
Sure, he and Regulus had a good relationship and they used to get together at least twice a week but his little brother had always said that it wasn't necessary for his friends to be his friends or to be together every minute of every day. Sirius, who knew that Regulus was the type of person who needed his space, respected that. His relationship with his friends was cordial and polite but distant, so Sirius was surprised to see them together.
He looked at Remus for a second with a raised eyebrow but all he got was a blank stare and a small shrug. "James asked me to bring you here."
When they were in front of them Sirius launched himself at his best friend and his brother to crush them in a hug.
"Prongs, Reggie what are you doing here?" he said in a cheerful tone, maybe after a long time James had gotten Regulus to change his mind about being friends with him. It would be a great achievement worth remembering considering his brother's stubbornness. But Sirius wouldn't complain, as long as he could spend more time with the people he loved.
After a minute they finally broke apart (Regulus got tired and pushed him off and James almost fell down with him) and sat down next to Remus on the other side of the blanket.
Regulus glanced out of the corner of his eye at James and cleared his throat. "We needed to talk to you about something."
"But before that, we brought you something" James pulled out from behind his back a bunch of food containers. He placed some in the space between them and opened them, there were chocolate chip cookies, strawberry ice cream, chocolate frogs, skull lollipops, and those little blown candy spheres that contained a prediction of your future made by a local seer. Plus a big bottle of cold butterbeer.
Huh.
All his favourites.
When Sirius gave them a suspicious look James handed him the largest container he still held in his hands, a blue tupper, with a wobbly smile.
Sirius opened it and let out an excited squeal, like a little kid opening presents on Christmas Eve. "JAMONCILLO!"
He couldn't help himself. He took one of the brown pieces, broke it into a small bite and popped it into his mouth, enjoying the soft candy melting in his mouth and how the sweet, sugary taste invaded his taste buds and made them dance with happiness.
When he met James in their first year, and they decided they were soulmates they shared every aspect of their lives, wanting to know absolutely everything about each other.
One of the first things they talked about was their family. James had told him with much pride that he had Mexican ancestry from his mother's side. She was born and raised there and when she turned eleven she attended Ilvermorny School, being selected for Pukwudgie, a house that favoured healers. After she finished her education she became a quite talented one, which enabled her to find work easily when she decided she wanted to travel the world.
That's how she ended up at St Mungo's taking care of Fleamont Potter who had been there because of an exploding potion he had been experimenting with. That was how their love story began.
Effie had taught James a lot about their Mexican culture. James could speak English and Spanish with equal fluency (although when he got really angry he would start ranting and cursing in Spanish), he used to go visit his family in Mexico during the holidays, he participated in the traditional celebrations and the part that Sirius loved the most, the food.
Well, at least the sweet ones, he'd had a couple of really embarrassing experiences with the spicy part. The first time during the holidays of his first year when James had invited him and his family to his house for dinner, Sirius had seen a small basket of vegetables that looked like mini green peppers. He thought they looked so adorable that he decided to try one. It turned out to be a hot pepper. By the time the Potters realised his mistake it was too late, Sirius was panting like a dog, his face flushed, flames on his tongue and an unbearable burning on his lips, he tried to drink water, which only made his situation worse. James rushed over and placed a glass of milk in his hands and instructed him to drink while Effie recommended that he put some butter on his lips to soothe the pain.
All the adults were around Sirius checking that the effects of the spice had been completely counteracted. Once the scare had passed his mother scolded him.
"Sirius, didn't you listen when Mrs. Potter warned that those were spicy?"
For the first time during dinner Sirius heard his little brother speak in a tone far too petty for a ten year old. "I guess he was too distracted talking to his new best friend to pay attention to anything else."
Sirius knew Regulus was a rather possessive kid but he hadn't realised how jealous he had been. Sirius had tried to get Regulus to join him and James when they went to play in his room but Regulus had refused and went to sit next to his parents who were talking to Mr and Mrs Potter. After that moment Sirius learned his lesson and didn't leave Reggie's side for the rest of the night, even if he had to beg and drag Regulus with him.
When the awkward moment had passed the Potters brought out a bunch of homemade sweets, keeping the slightly spicy ones away from him. That day Sirius met the love of his life, besides Remus, the jamoncillo.
A soft, sweet dough that melted in your mouth like a piece of heaven. That night he had hijacked the whole plate for himself despite his mother's scolding for his lack of manners followed by Effie's laughter assuring her that it was fine. After that holiday Effie began sending Sirius little boxes with candy along with James'. But he had never received as many as he did today, usually because they knew Sirius had a sweet tooth with no self-control. Sue him for deciding not to deprive himself of life's little pleasures.
Sirius quickly abandoned any caution he had harboured at the sight of what was clearly blackmail with his favourite food.
Whatever they had done would be forgiven and forgotten. Sirius could be understanding.
"Where did you get them James?"
"I asked mum if she could make them and send them to me. Besides they're all for you."
"THEY'RE ALL MINE?" Sirius hugged the tupper against his chest looking at the contents as if it was a coffer full of diamonds.
James nodded in amusement as his brother looked at him with a disappointed expression and Moony reached out to steal one of his sweets. Sirius slapped his hand before closing the tupper and holding it close to his heart again.
Remus looked at him with a surprised and indignant expression.
"I'm sorry Moony, I love you, but there are boundaries that even couples shouldn't cross. These sweets are like your chocolate."
Remus changed his expression and nodded with understanding. "Okay, that's fair enough."
Sirius sent him a charming smile before turning his gaze back to James and Regulus. He took a deep breath once preparing himself for whatever they had done.
The only thing unforgivable by his standards was destroying his favourite leather jacket and since he was wearing it at the moment the option was out of the question.
"Alright, let it go." he said as he reopened his treasure and stole another piece of jamoncillo.
His brother and best friend looked at each other, clearly having a silent chat.
He didn't know they could do that. Weird.
"First of all we want you to know that it all happened accidentally and innocently. Neither I nor Regulus planned this. It just happened."
"All right," he said unconcernedly.
"And nothing will change how much I love you Pads."
"I believe you."
"What's between us will still be special."
"I'm sure."
"Why does James sound like a guy who's about to ask his partner to open their relationship?" asked Remus confused.
Regulus gave Remus a dirty look.
When Regulus looked back at Sirius he took James' hand without breaking eye contact with his brother as he intertwined their fingers.
"James and I are dating."
Sirius choked and began coughing furiously trying to get oxygen into his lungs. His face flushed red from exertion and shortness of breath and he felt Remus beside him patting his back and James on his other side holding his arms in the air.
Distantly he heard his brother whisper something that sounded very similar to 'dramatic as fuck'.
He couldn't be too sure as he was fighting for his life, refusing to let his tombstone have such an undignified death motive.
"Sorry Regulus, I think I misheard you, what did you say?" he blurted out as he finally finished choking and soothed the dryness in his throat with a swig of butterbeer.
"James and I are hanging out."
"As friends."
"As boyfriends"
"Friend-boys."
"Boy-friends" his brother said in exasperation, stressing each syllable as if he were teaching a child a new word.
Sirius took a moment analyzing it all over again before falling backwards onto the blanket and squirming like a worm letting out inevitable giggles that made his stomach start to hurt. He spent minutes laughing as his brother, his best friend and his boyfriend all gave him worried stares as if he had gone mad.
Finally he sat up straight again and wiped away the tears that had gathered at the corners of his eyes. "What a good joke lads, very funny."
"It's not a joke Sirius," James said as he scratched the back of his neck in an awkward gesture.
"Of course it is Prongs, you and my brother? Yeah, sure."
"Pads, I don't think they're lying."
"You're part of the plan too Moony? I feel betrayed. You broke my heart." He pouted at his boyfriend. "Is this because I broke your favourite quill? I promise it was an accident Reggie."
"IT WAS YOU!? I blamed Barty for weeks you asshole."
Oopsie
"No, it was definitely Barty," said Sirius so serious and convinced that if he hadn't admitted his crime just a second ago anyone would believe him.
"Sirius..." tried James before his brother interrupted him.
"No, leave it James, if my dumb fucking brother doesn't want to believe us then let him not. We've already done our part."
"Whatever you say Reggie. I'm not falling for it. Now if you'll excuse me." He stood up in one fluid motion and scooped all the containers into his arms before setting off on his way back to the castle.
James and Regulus, who would be so naive to believe such a thing.
They were the most opposite people he had ever met.
James was extrovert, sensitive, playful, mischievous, and extremely clingy, he was like a hyperactive puppy.
Regulus was introverted, reserved, liked silence and quiet and enjoyed his time alone and his personal space.
James was a morning person whereas Regulus had always been prone to staying up all night.
The place where James did best was where there were lots of people, noise and light, when those were the spaces that made his brother the most anxious, preferring to stay up reading a book in the quiet of his room at night.
He had never seen Regulus stay at a party for more than half an hour and he had never seen his best friend spend more than five minutes still in silence.
How could they ever work?
Sirius loved them both with all his heart but honestly they would probably kill each other if they were left alone in the same room for a couple of minutes.
He didn't know what the point of the prank was but Sirius wouldn't fall for something so ridiculous.
He wouldn't.