James was on his way to get a drink when suddenly an unknown hand slipped into his. He immediately turned to look at who it belonged to.
“What the fuck.”
It was Regulus Black.
James Potter has been to many, many parties over the years. Being the lead guitarist in The Marauders comes with many perks, as it turns out. He knows who Regulus is in more ways than one.
Publicly, Regulus Black is an award winning actor, coming from a family full of directors, actors, producers... name any job in the film industry and a Black has done it. Regulus was known to be a bit of a player as well, having dated various celebrities throughout the film and music industries. The people love him.
Privately, Reggie is Sirius’ little brother. He and Sirius had taken care of each other growing up, but have not talked in many years due to an ongoing feud between them. Sirius pretends that he forgets of Regulus’ existence majority of the time, but James has caught him more than once watching one of Regulus’ movies or interviews.
James had never actually met Regulus before until now. Regulus’ hand was cold inside of James’. James looked at him with confusion, but Regulus completely ignored it. “Don’t you look dashing? How come I’ve never seen you in that suit before?” Regulus’ head titled to the side in an adoring way.
James only grew more confused by the minute, “Er- Maybe because we have never m-”
Regulus squeezed James’ hand tight, as if telling him telepathically to shut up. “You’re so funny, Jamie .” Regulus added a giggle at the end.
Now, James was convinced he was hallucinating. Not only had he giggled, but Regulus Black had called him, “Jamie”.
James looked into Regulus’ eyes, trying to search for answers. Regulus’ eyes flicked to the right, and James’ followed.
Barty Crouch Jr. was leaned against a wall with a drink in hand, staring James and Regulus down so hard that James was afraid Crouch’s gaze would make him combust. When James’ turned back to look at Regulus, it all made sense.
James had never personally met Barty Crouch Jr. All James really knew about him was that he was a true “ nepo baby” . James does not usually judge this, especially because James himself would not be where he was today if it weren’t for his mum having been friends with the owner of a record company. James does, however, judge Barty Crouch Jr. All James knows about him is that his father is a director, and that he doesn’t actually do anything besides go to parties that his father gets him invited to.
Regulus subtly moved closer to James.
James was still mildly confused, but came to the conclusion that Regulus was pretending that he and James were a thing to either make Barty leave him alone, or to make Barty jealous. James hoped it was the first option, because he was about to go along with it.
James wrapped his arm around Regulus waist, which felt surprisingly natural. “How have you been enjoying the party so far, Sweetheart?”
Regulus leaned into James, “It’s a little bland, don’t you think?” James did in fact, not think that. This was likely the biggest party that he had been invited to. Every person he ran into seemed to be a big name of some sort.
James turned to see if Barty was still watching them, which he was. Regulus had obviously glanced over as well, due to the frustration plastered on his face.
Regulus leaned in closer, resting his face on James’ shoulder, allowing his mouth to be right by James’ ear, “Can I kiss you?”
The hot breath was warm against James’ neck, causing goosebumps to run down his back. James stole another look at Barty, who was still watching.
James did not know how to reply to this. Surely, that was overstepping a bit. By now, it was a definitive that Regulus was trying to get Barty to leave him alone for some reason. It would not make sense for them to kiss mouth to mouth simply to get some guy to leave Regulus alone… Would it? Well, it is not like it would be an important kiss. James has kissed many people, and Regulus likely has too.
After a moment of hesitation, James leaned in, bringing their lips together.
Wow. Is the only main thought that comes to James’ mind.
Regulus surprisingly is a bottom-lip type of kisser. James does not know why this is surprising, it’s not like he has thought about how Regulus kisses in the past. Besides, it works well due to the height difference.
The second shock is how gentle Regulus is. James has always thought of him to be the type of bloke to kiss with anger and fire behind each movement. Instead though, he is soft and calm with it, letting his hands sit on James’ cheeks while he slowly kisses James.
It only lasted a few seconds, but James knew by the end that Regulus Black was a bloody good kisser.
Regulus turned to where Barty was, and James’ followed his gaze. Barty was no longer standing there.
Regulus couched awkwardly, “I uh- needed that guy to leave me alone, sorry." He spoke so quietly that James could barely hear him over the loud party music. “I assumed that you would go along with it… and you did , so uh- thank you.” James had never heard Regulus speak so awkwardly before. In all his interviews, he seemed proud, not self-centered, but confident sort of.
“Yeah, o’ course. Any time.” James said, not thinking much of it.
Regulus tilted his head to the side, “… any time?” He spoke with a honeyed voice, which concerned James slightly.
“Yeah, I guess. If you ever need to get out of some situation of course I’ll-”
Regulus cut James off, “Kiss me?”
It was now James’ turn to cough awkwardly, “Sorry, what?”
“You’ll kiss me any time I need help?” James was properly taken back by this. Was Regulus Black flirting with him?
“I er- yeah? If you need help.” James was absolutely gone. He was gone to the point of no return. There was no coming back from this. Part of him didn’t want to flirt back. He knew that Regulus was known for being a bit of a flirt and was likely trying to have fun, now. Which was honestly what got him into the predicament with Barty in the first place. The other part of James wanted to find an empty wall to slam Regulus up against and continue kissing him for all of eternity. James was torn between the two sides.
“What if I need help right now?” Regulus’ tantalizing hands trailed up to James shoulders, causing James to still at the contact.
“Why do you need help?” James replied.
“Does it really matter to either of us?” Regulus countered.
And that did it for James. Option two it is.
James suddenly grabbed onto Regulus’ arm and started pulling him towards the back door of the pub. Regulus does not resist at all.
The moment they have exited into the hidden alleyway outside, Regulus is shoved against the brick wall with James’ kissing him passionately. Regulus groans into the kiss, causing James to only kiss with more intensity.
When they do pull away, all Regulus says is, “Your place or mine?”
“Mine” is James reply as they walk to James’ car, in quite a frantic rush. It’s a difficult and awkward car ride, as both of them were eager for their destination.
-----
It has been two months since the first night that they met at the party. They were officially dating, and most of their friends knew. They had not announced their relationship to the public, but they had not been quiet about it either.
Today, Regulus wanted to take James to meet his friends. They planned on meeting for coffee at a local café (that Regulus’ manager had cleared out for them) to chat and have introductions. The driver pulled up to the café, but unfortunately, the paparazzi must have heard about Dorcas or Evan entering, because they were already swarming outside.
Regulus sighed, but got out of the car, James following behind. Almost immediately, cameras started flashing and questions started being asked.
“Regulus, how long have you been dating James?”
”James, does Sirius know?”
“How did Sirius react-“
James took his baseball hat and covered Regulus’ face with it, as well as wrapping his other arm around Regulus’ shoulders as they walked into the café.
The moment they were inside, the chaos of the paparazzi concluded. The chaos of Regulus’ friends, however, abruptly started.
James did not know who all was coming, but he was able to spot out Dorcas and Evan pretty quickly as Dorcas was a very famous model and Evan was a well known actor. There was also a blonde girl as well as... Barty?
James’ eyes glared at Barty. He had not seen Barty since the party. What was he doing here? Why would Regulus invite him?
Regulus must have not noticed the tension between James and Barty, “These are my friends. That’s Dorcas, Evan, Pandora, and Barty.” There were variations forms of “ hello ” or “ nice to meet you ” said amongst the group, but James’ cold gaze did not shift from Barty.
At this point, Regulus did notice, “James? Everything okay?”
James still did not move his eyes away from Barty, “What is he doing here?” Barty looked properly confused.
Regulus looked back and forth between Barty and James, “Do you two know each other?”
James almost scoffed. Had Regulus forgotten that night? Their first night? “Do you not remember the party? When we kissed for the first time so he would leave you alone?”
Roaring laughter immediately started filling the room. It took James a moment to realize it was coming from Barty. “Did you- HA- did you not tell him?” Barty sputtered out, doubling over in laughter. James turned to look at Regulus who had red cheeks from embarrassment now.
“It had not really come up.” Regulus mumbled, making Barty laugh harder.
Now it was James who was confused, “Tell me what?”
“It was planned.” Regulus said, not meeting James’ eyes.
James was really confused. He did not even reply, simply looked at Regulus while furrowing his eyebrows together.
Barty had calmed down his laughing, “He like, totally masterminded you, dude.”
Regulus quickly started explaining to try and cover up Barty’s strange reaction, “I- Well I had been interested in you for a while and Barty knew that so we just kinda... made a plan?” Regulus spoke quietly, obviously embarrassed. He then frantically added, “In my defense, it worked . And I was going to tell you at some point.”
James lightly cupped Regulus’ cheek and guided his face up to kiss him, “Do you think I’m mad? That is absolutely hilarious, Love.”
Regulus sighed, “I technically lied to you.”
James shrugged, “Eh, it was for a good cause. I find it endearing, really.” He then kissed Regulus again.
“Aww.” Some voices were cooing. James turned to see the two girls who he had almost forgotten were there.
“Let’s get some coffee, yeah? And I’m dying for a muffin right now.” James said, successfully moving the conversation on. He put his arm around Regulus’ shoulders to guide him over towards the counter.
James knew that if Regulus had simply walked up and asked James out, he likely would have agreed.
But James also knew that he did not want it any other way.