Back to hogwarts!!!
It was early in the morning, far too early in James's opinion, when he heard his mother yell again. "James, we have 5 minutes until you need to be down here; Peter and Sirius have been up for hours. Hurry, please!" she called.
He blinked a few times, trying to wake himself up, only to find a snickering Peter and Sirius sitting on the edge of his bed. "Morning, princess," Sirius remarked. "Ngh, it's too early," he muttered groggily. "Here, this should help," Peter said, tossing him a little bag of chocolate-covered coffee beans from the shop down the street. "Pete, you're my favorite," he said, shoving a handful of the beans into his mouth.
Thankfully, James packed his bags last night, so there was not much to do this morning except get dressed. As he shuffled around, Sirius and Peter just sat on his bed, talking. "You know you two could have woken me?!" James said in frustration, trying to locate his wand. "Thought you wanted your beauty sleep," Sirius laughed, tossing James his wand. "Yeah, not to mention last time we woke you," Pete shivered.
James mumbled something about them both being annoying gits before kicking them out of his room and down to the kitchen to help Effie clean up the breakfast Peter and Sirius were treated to three hours prior.
James finished getting his red high-top Converse on right as his mother yelled, "James now, please!"
He was about to dash out of his room when he heard a knock at the window – it was a luxurious black owl! Reg's owl, Picease! James fumbled with his window lock and snatched the letter in the green envelope from the owl's talon.
'Morning love, I'm writing this late at night but figure you will get it before you leave. I haven't really been able to sleep lately, so I thought writing to you might help. It kinda sucks here right now, and I can't wait to see you again today or my tomorrow. Just wanted to say, as per usual, my heart is yours, R.A.B.'
James smiled sadly reading the letter. It was good to hear from Reg, but bad that things suck at home. He neatly folded the letter and placed it with the rest from Reg – you could tell they were from Regulus since he always used a red, gold, or green envelope. "James, now or you won't go to school, and I will send you off to stay with your cousins!" Effie yelled as a last resort. "Coming, Mom," he yelled, running down the stairs. Effie did her normal goodbye hugging the boys and kissing their hair – admittedly rushed this time, but they were sent off with love nonetheless.
Once at the station, Sirius and James's eyes were both focused on finding one thing – Regulus and Moony. This time, Monty trusted them to make it on the train, so he bid his son farewell and left them on the platform. "Sirius, James!" Lily called happily, running up to them. "Hey Evans," James grunted, hugging her. "How's your holiday been?" he asked. She shrugged. "It was eventful; I ended up staying at Pandora and Evans for the most part," she sighed. "Oh, cool," Sirius said. The Rosiers were known for having a good time; Evans always had something stowed away, and doing anything while on Evans' goods made life way more fun.
James only got to experience the wonders of it once when Reg was given some. Watching the sky while on it was really trippy but the coolest thing he had ever done.
Lily laughed. "Yeah, it was great; I spent a lot of time with Pandora in the woods and listening to her talk about those animals and things." "Hey Evans, over here!" Marlene called gruffly, waving one arm while the other was in Dorcas's grasp. Lily giggled. "Got to go," she said before running off.
James and Sirius kept looking around, finding Mary, Barty, and Frank respectively before finding Regulus and Remus leaning against the train, talking about books or something. "Moon!" Sirius exclaimed, grinning. He quickly dashed over to Remus with James in tow. James smiled and rested his arm on Reg's shoulder. Reg rolled his eyes at Sirius and Remus. James nodded in agreement. "Woah there, lover boy, save some space for Jesus," Barty joked, walking over to Reg and James. Reg blushed and stepped away. "Shove it, Barty," he smirked. "Well, your little boy toy had his hands all over you," Barty remarked. "It was my shoulder! Are you Mormon or something now?" Reg sighed.
Evan leisurely strolled over and quickly buried his face in Barty's neck. "Well, unless they suddenly have a change of heart and think homosexuality is super godly, I don't think so."
James was shocked, not by Evan and Barty being a thing – that was expected, more or less – but that they knew! "Do they know?!" James whispered. "Sorry, they weren't supposed to; it just kinda happened," he apologized. "It's cool, pothead; we won't tell anyone," Barty smirked.
Sirius turned away from his conversation with Remus. "Shit, did Sirius hear them?" Reg whispered frantically. "James broke your rule too, I know," Sirius remarked. Then he turned back to Remus, ignoring the sputtering Reg.
"Come on, let's get on," Remus said, gesturing to the train. Reg paused for a second. "James, empty compartment?" he asked. James grabbed Reg's hand and pulled him along to find an empty compartment.
Once alone in one, James asked, "What's up, or did you just want to come here to shag?" James joked. Reg paused – he wanted to tell James what was happening, wanted to explain everything but remembered he couldn't. Maybe I should just say something happened I can't talk about it and break up… he thought. Reg ashamedly looked up at James, then back to the floor, then back to the gorgeous boy smiling at him.
Well, maybe he can pretend for a little longer…
Reg just smiled. "Nope, everything is better now," he said. "Are you sure?" James asked a bit confused. "Positive," Reg said softly as he stepped closer, resting his hands on James's shoulders. "Well, if you insist," James chuckled, leaning closer to kiss Reg