RIP
He didn't know what to do, where to go. His parents were gone. Dead, deceased, passed on. Whatever you call it, it means only one thing. They weren't coming back. James stumbles out of his room, heading to the place he knows best: the library. His footsteps are like thunder in the calm of the room, and a mess of black curls pops up from behind a chair.
"Oh, James! Hello! What brings you-"
He immediately goes silent when James collapses into his arms, weeping into his chest. Regulus wraps his arms around the boy, who's sobs wrack his entire body.
"Oh, love... What's happened?"
James just shakes his head, pulling Regulus closer. He doesn't want to talk about it, he just wants someone to hold him. Hands reach up to wipe the tears from his cheeks, gentle and quick. He looks up, meeting Regulus' concerned gaze. His voice is rough and scratchy in his throat, but he just manages to whisper, "My parents are gone."
Regulus gasps quietly, pulling James closer and pressing gentle kisses to his forehead. "I'm so sorry Jamie. Is there anything I can do? Do you want me to leave?" He shakes his head, twisting Regulus' shirt in his fists. He didn't want to let go, he wasn't gonna have Regulus taken away from him too. "Can we go back to my room? You come with me." James croaks, standing up and wiping his eyes. Placing his hands slowly on James' hips to steady him, Regulus stands up and begins the short walk back to the bedroom across the hall, still peppering kisses onto James' forehead.
Once they reach the bed, James sits heavily onto it, staring up at Regulus with watery eyes. He tilts his head, beckoning the boy in front of him to sit down with him. He does.
"Hey Jamie, is there anything you want me to do?" Regulus asks quietly, so quiet James could barely hear him. He just wraps his arms around Regulus, burying his face in the crook of his neck and playing with his black curls.
James couldn't remember how long they stayed like this, but Regulus never left.
He could have, at any point, pushed James off and returned to the library to do whatever he was doing before he was interrupted by a distraught James. But he didn't. He stayed the whole night, until the sun started peeking through the blinds.
Regulus had stayed.
James had managed to cry himself hoarse, his throat was painful when he tried to form words. So he didn't. He stayed shut in his room all morning, and even when Regulus reluctantly left, James sat there in silence, curled up in his bed. No one had bothered him, Regulus had probably told them what happened.
How was Sirius taking it? Although they weren't his birth parents, Sirius considered Effie and Fleamont family.
What pulled James out of bed was him telling himself, "They wouldn't want you to be like this, don't disappoint them." At the time it seemed like that thought would make thing so much worse, but it gave James the motivation to leave his bedroom and go look after himself.
When James eventually stumbled downstairs, he found that Sirius was just as upset, and the two boys were drawn towards eachother, Sirius sobbing into James' arms. "There there Siri, I've got you..." James shushes, placing a sympathetic hand on they boy's shoulder. When Sirius lets go and returns to his seat on Remus' lap, Regulus slowly walks up to James, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Doing alright there pretty boy?" James says weakly, grinning at Regulus, who rolls his eyes but smiles.
With a michevious glint in his rubbed-raw eyes, James sits down on the sofa across the room from Sirius and Remus, pulling Regulus down onto his lap. His eyes widen, but the grey darkens, so James knows he doesn't really mind. He even takes things a step further by turning around so he's facing James, and playing with his hair and humming happily.
Remus figures out what they're doing almost instantly, and represses a chuckle to avoid giving it away to Sirius, who's too busy tracing his fingers along Remus' arm. The poor boy was smitten.
Too focused on his little crush to notice his little brother on his best friend's lap.
Sirius never looked up. He just stared straight ahead, occasionally burying his face into Remus' chest. James reckons his parents' deaths had hit Sirius a lot harder than it had him, as Sirius had essentially had two families in his life, and he now has neither of them. James picked Regulus up by his waist, placing him back on the sofa despite his silent protests. Eventually, after many quick kisses to the backs of his hands, Regulus let James go. He walked over to Sirius, carefully stroking his back.
"Hey Siri, how are you doing?" There was no response. James quickly glanced up at Remus, who was gazing down at the boy on his lap, a small smile dancing on his lips. Talk about Sirius being smitten, Remus was worse.
Shrugging, James decided to retreat back upstairs, feeling a lot better after talking to his friends. Regulus didn't follow him, though James wished he had. All he wanted at that minute was him.
He just wanted Regulus. Everything about him. After their first kiss in the dark closet in that restaurant, he's felt like they need to be attached at all times. Any point where he isn't within reaching distance of Regulus is completely unbearable. James could walk back downstairs, scoop him up and bring him up here, but that might cause suspicion, and the last thing James needs is his friends thinking he's fucking Sirius' little brother.
Just as he stands up to make the quick trip downstairs to collect Regulus, the door quickly opens and he sees a mass of black curls peer into the room.
"Hey Reggie. Need something?" James grins, walking over to the door to open it wider and pull Regulus into his arms. God, he has missed him. It had only been about 20 minutes, but James didn't care. When they're apart, minutes feel like hours.
Regulus smiles up at him, the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly. "Hey love... Busy in here?" He looks around the room carefully, "Obviously not."
James scoffs. "Well, come in and give me something to do, since I obviously wasn't busy!" Regulus raises an eyebrow, running a hand through James' hair.
"Did you have something you needed to tell me Reggie? You need to have showed up at my door unannounced for a good reason." Regulus nods, gazing up at James from beneath his eyelashes.
"I missed you." his reply was simple, but it put a wide grin on both boys' faces. Regulus had missed him.
"Oh, you missed me did you? Come inside then, let's make up for lost time!" James wiggled his eyebrows as the younger boy smacked a hand to James' chest, snorting quietly.