meet the gang
Many days later, there's yet another knock at the front door. Regulus gets it, he always does now. It was probably just the post, it normally is.
However, James is taken by surprise when 4 new faces show up, none of which he recognised. Sirius obviously knew one or two of them, as he leaps out of his seat (Remus' lap) to go greet them, shaking their hands and grinning. James stays sat where he was. He didn't know these people before, why should he now?
This backfires when Regulus, of all people, grabs his wrist and digs his nails into the soft skin, dragging him towards the group.
It hurts, but James likes it. He likes it? Like, likes it? No, that's impossible... Unless? With a quick shake of his head, the thoughts are gone. Now is most definitely not the time to start discovering thing about himself. One by one, he goes around the group, learning names.
First, there's Pandora. She's quite short, but has such long, curly hair and sparkling blue eyes, she's hard to miss.
Next, James is introduced to Evan, who he finds out is Pandora's twin brother. The resemblance is striking, they had the same blonde hair, yet Evan was about a head taller than Pandora was, and Evan's eyes were more of a deeper blue, like a stormy ocean.
After Evan comes Dorcas. Dorcas is incredibly cool. Her eyes are so dark they're almost black, and her hair curled down to her shoulders, adorned with streaks of silver.
Finally, there was Barty. Barty. Even the name tasted sour in his mouth. He was shorter than James, with short brown hair that looked like it had been cut himself, and brown eyes. There was no depth behind those eyes.
Without realising, James' hand searches for Regulus', holding on tight and soaking in its warmth. Glancing carefully over at the boy next to him, he sneaks a quick kiss to the shell of his ear, back where he stood before anyone could notice.
Instantly, Regulus' entire face turns pink, and he gives James' hand a gentle squeeze. A warning squeeze, if you will. The only issue is, James didn't know what the warning was for. Was it a 'do that again and I'll punch you' warning, or a 'do that again and I'll find a way to sneak us into my room' warning? He guessed there was only one way to find out...
Whilst everyone was so absorbed in various conversations, James leant over Regulus and pressed a quick kiss the side of his neck, just long enough to feel the burning warmth of his blush spill down onto his chest, before pulling away again. When Regulus turned to glare at James, he put on the most innocent face he could muster, before slinking away to go talk to Dorcas.
James had left Regulus dazed and alone, once again.
He could see him out of the corner of his eye all night, glaring at everyone James talked to. He'd joking called him selfish before, but now he is really beginning to believe it. If looks could kill, James would have a trail of bodies behind him. Sauntering back over to the boy in the corner - his boy - James smirked at the murderous look in Regulus' eyes, turning the sharp grey into a murky black.
And fuck, was it hot. All James could think about was stealing him away from this little gathering they had going on, and taking him up to his room.
God, his mind was filthy. Regulus looked ready to kill, and the only thing James could think about was sex. He really needs to pull himself together.
"Doing alright there pretty boy?" Regulus' head snaps up, his gaze softening when it lands on James. It takes him a minute to realise what he'd just been called, but when he did his face turned a dark crimson, and he bit his bottom lip, hard.
Eyes dragging down James' body, Regulus raised one eyebrow. "Pretty boy? Really? And I'm doing perfectly fine, thank you very much!" He huffed, crossing his arms and glaring at the smirking boy in front of him. James reaches out a hand, cupping the side of Regulus' face and stroking with his thumb. He leaned into the touch, sighing happily and letting his eyes flutter shut, his long lashes brushing against his cheeks.
He really was beautiful, almost otherworldly.
Throughout the night, James discovered that there was something going on between Barty and Evan, when he found them making out in a corner. He scrunched up his nose, before retreating back to Regulus to find a new way to piss off his best friend's brother.
When Sirius finally made his way over, James had to stop himself from reaching out to grab at Regulus' hands, as his brother was standing right there. If Sirius was going to find out, he'd rather it not be in front of all their friends.
Once Regulus' friends had finally left, the boys scattered off to their separate areas. James went to his room, Regulus disappeared to the library and Remus and Sirius curled up together on the sofa, their legs intertwined. How those two hadn't realised that they like eachother was beyond James. Sometimes people are such idiots.
Alright, the same could be said about his love for Regulus that he refuses to confess to, but this is different. He doesn't know how, but it is.
When James' phone rings, he doesn't think anything of it at first. It was probably just one of Regulus' friends trying to continue a conversation they had earlier, it was unimportant.
However, when the same number rings a second, third and fourth time, he begins to worry. He didn't recognise the number, did he maybe forget to put a contact name? Maybe it was Dorcas, calling to tell him about her rings. Or maybe it was Pandora, calling to update him on the vegetables in her garden. He gingerly picks up the phone, bringing to his ear.
"Hello, is this James Potter?"
"Yes, who are you?"
"I'm afraid I'm the bearer of terrible news..."
The phone drops to the floor with a thud when he hears the words, "Your parents were in an accident James, I'm so sorry."