Glances, playlists and dances.
“I don't understand why it's so necessary, that's all.” Regulus said, looking again at the blank screen of the phone that Pandora had chosen for him, while James was looking at another one not far from them.
“Because you need the phone, Reggie! So we can update.”
“We can get updated even without spending all this money. Twice."
“I already explained to you that money is not a problem.”
“There are still a lot of them.” Regulus said shrugging his shoulders as Pandora sighed again.
“So let's put it this way. It's a gift. Can I give you a gift?” The girl said and Regulus gave her a flat look.
“Look what I found!” James said the next moment appearing with a phone in his hand slightly larger than the one Regulus was holding as both boys looked up at him, “It's on sale! Half the normal price, so we can get two and pay half what we would pay if we got two of those,” he said, nodding at the one Regulus was holding and adding, “and so I'm sure Reg would agree to buy them, right, Reg?” James asked while Pandora smiled widely,
“Only you could find this kind of phone at this price, James, seriously.” Pandora said and the boy smiled at her, before turning to Regulus,
“So? What do you think?”
“I don't know, okay? It's still a lot of money, and I really don't understand why we have to take it,” the boy replied in an uncertain tone,
“It's just a phone, Reggie. And you two really need a phone for the time you will be here, which we don't know how long yet.”
“But—”
“James, your job will be to convince him. I'm going to get two before they run out.” The girl said, taking what James had taken and then heading back to where the boy had come from.
“Don't.”
“I wasn't going to say anything!” James said throwing his hands in the air and Regulus raised an eyebrow high, “okay, maybe I was gonna say something. But really, something small,”
“It doesn't seem fair that she has to pay, okay? I mean, I know it's Pandora, but we already live in her house and… I don't know, what if we were a burden?” Regulus said in a low tone as if he were talking more to himself than to James, who however could hear him,
“That's not true.” James said turning towards him, to meet a Regulus who was looking straight ahead, "You'll never be a burden, Regulus,"
“Of course you would say that.” Regulus said with a sarcastic smile that disappeared the moment after he appeared, barely perceptible lowering his head, his hair now covering his face,
“Regulus…” James tried, moving slightly closer but Regulus shook his head,
“It's fine, James. Obviously I was talking more to myself than to you, so it wasn't really a confession or anything.” Regulus said calmly but James ignored him,
“You're not a burden, Regulus. Not for me.” James said and Regulus couldn't help but laugh slightly,
“Why? I mean, We are not friends and I treat you like…shit, honestly.”
“You don't treat me like shit.”
“I called you an idiot two minutes ago.”
“Because I was probably doing the idiot.”
“James.” Regulus said in a tired tone and James shrugged at him,
“Because I think you're…a good person. A good brother. A good friend. And…I would like to…to be friends with you.” James said and Regulus looked at him quickly, before turning his head forward,
“I'm none of the three.”
"See? That's the difference. I don't think that's true. I know that is not true.”
“Why do you want to be my friend, James? Honestly. I—you don't even know me.”
“I know something about you.”
“Really? Because—”
“Your favorite color is green.”
“That's—” Regulus began but James stopped him,
“But not like that vomit green that he wears…” he said pointing to a man who passed in front of them, which made the boy stop and smile slightly,
“Okay, that's new. I didn't know that I could insult something or someone."
“Oi, I wasn't insulting. It is the truth. Look at it and tell me it's not that"
“Sure.”
“Thanks.” and continuing satisfied “like I was saying. Not that green but the green of the forest. You never put sugar in your tea while in coffee you only want three unfilled teaspoons of sugar.” James continued and Regulus turned to him now with a surprised look, but the boy continued, “And even though everyone thinks your favorite subject is Potions, it's actually Defense Against the Dark Arts. You love flying. And you're one of the best seeker I know.” James said and while Regulus stared at him in silence, because actually everything the boy had said was true.
James smiled sweetly at him, “and…well, And even though you don't like to admit it, you always unconsciously hum when you're having a good day.” He then added but before the boy could say anything, or do anything, James let out a nervous laugh as he ran a hand through his hair, realizing what he had actually said, which was…much, “anyway, I think you should accept the phone. I think Pandora will beat you if you don't anyway.”
“James...” Regulus said slowly, not taking his eyes off the boy who was now nervous. He had gone too far, hadn't he? It's just that he wanted to make it clear that he knew Regulus. That he wasn't a burden. Who knew what he liked and wanted to know everything about him. Okay, maybe that was way too much.
“Guess who just got you two matching covers?” asked Pandora suddenly appearing, and James looked at her with relief,
“I want the one on the right.” James said smiling at the girl, who shot a quick glance at Regulus that only lasted a few seconds though, still clearly feeling Regulus' gaze still on him, but God, he sure as hell wasn't going to turn away. “I guess it's time to go get something to eat, huh?” James said and Pandora nodded,
“I know a great restaurant near here. Let's go." She said going first and James made to follow her, but Regulus grabbed his arm before he did. Well, Regulus probably understood that James had feelings for him, and was probably going to say something horrible to him, maybe promising him that he would never speak to him again and—
“I was cruel to you and I'm sorry, James.” Regulus said in a tone that the boy had honestly never heard him use on him. An…unsure tone. Honest. A tone that he had only heard him use with Sirius during his first years at Hogwarts. A tone in which he had asked Sirius if he was angry with him for ending up in Slytherin. Once.
“It's okay.”
“You don't have to say that it's okay when it's not.”
“I know.” Said James softly looking at the hand of Regulus who was still holding his left arm and then looking up at the boy, who stared at him in silence for seconds, or minutes, or hours, honestly James wasn't sure how much time had passed anymore, before the contact broke and Regulus let go and took a barely perceptible step back,
“I seriously believe that if we don't reach her, Pandora's patience will end sooner than I thought.” He said nodding in the direction they were heading, finding the girl waiting for them with a decidedly unpatient expression.
“You're right.”
“I'm always right.”
“Of course.” James said laughing and Regulus gave him a small smile,
“Thank you.” He then said,
“I didn't do anything, Reg.”
“Don't call me that.”
“As you wish, Reggie.” He replied the boy receiving a friendly tap on his arm,
“Forget what I said.” Regulus said rolling his eyes and heading towards Pandora,
“Never.” James replied instead, before quickly following him.
“You saw Ro—and of course he was here.” Pandora said as she entered the living room, to find Regulus sitting on the sofa reading a book, the phone no longer used since they had exchanged numbers next to him, wearing a lightweight black turtleneck sweater and Romeo sleeping between his legs comfortably, the fire in the fireplace that was slowly dying out.
“Do you need something?” Regulus said, looking up from the book, observing his friend, who had changed and was wearing a mid-season black coat.
“I was looking for him for hours.” Pandora said nodding to Romeo, who as if he had heard her raised his head to look at her, before pushing further into Regulus's chest who smiled, "We figured out who his favorite is."
“What? Oh no, it's not me."
“Of course it is. Just look at him!”
“His favorite is James. It's always James who is everyone's favourite.”
“Reggie, he follows you all over the house. Look at him!” then said the girl while Romeo had now begun to play with the fingers of one hand of the boy, who now looked at him curiously. “By the way, where is James?”
“At the cafeteria. Where are you going instead?”
“I'm going to the hair salon for tomorrow night.”
“Hair salon? For tomorrow night?”
“There aren't any hair salons in 1977?”
“There are, just—what's happening tomorrow night?”
“Oh. James didn't tell you.”
“James didn't tell me, what.” Regulus said lowering the book in a flat tone while the girl smiled,
“Do you remember that you come from another universe where it is already December?”
“Pandora.”
“Doing the math, tomorrow night is Christmas Eve night for you, so we thought, okay, I thought, we could celebrate Christmas earlier since we don't know if you'll actually be here until our Christmas.”
“What?”
“Yeah. In the afternoon we will go and get a tree to decorate and we will decorate everything well. Lily is also super happy about this and she already got the presents you know? But obviously two little things like this, to keep the spirit of Christmas alive and I discovered that James loves Christmas, obviously, and I'm talking nonsense because you are silent, why are you silent, Reggie?” The girl said, stopping to take a breath, while Regulus looked at her in silence,
“…it’s almost Mid-November.” He just said and Pandora smiled at him,
“I know. But it's basically Christmas after November 1st then, and everyone loves Christmas, right?”
“Not everyone.” Regulus said with a half laugh and Pandora looked at him sadly,
“You don't like Christmas?”
“Mother. She didn't like Christmas. In fact, she hated it. So, until Cissy, I didn't really celebrate Christmas you know? But anyway, I guess James' happiness was…epic.”
“I don't know exactly what he said because he spoke in Spanish, but yes, he seemed quite happy.” Pandora said and Regulus nodded with a half smile, “So. Would you like to come with me?”
“Wasn't it afternoon that you had to go get the tree?” asked Regulus confusedly and Pandora rolled her eyes,
“I meant the hairdresser, Reggie.”
“Oh. I don't know? I mean—”
“If you say something about money, I'll beat you. I swear.”
“—long trip.” Regulus then concluded and Pandora sighed,
“It will be my Christmas present to you. Your hair almost reaches your shoulders!”
“I don't know.” Regulus said now touching his hair while Romeo looked at him curiously,
“I'm not saying cut them a lot if you like them, of course.” Pandora said as she walked over to him and sat next to him on the couch, reaching out to quickly pet Romeo,
“It's not that, don't worry. It's just—since I was little it was always Mother who cut my hair because she didn't like long hair. On me, at least. Never on the ears. Always a little less. And then, when I went to Paris with Cissy I never cut my hair.”
“That's why you have long hair.” Said the girl putting a hand in his curls delicately, while the boy smiled,
“It's not that long.”
“What if we cut it together? And maybe, let's do something combined! It will be funny. And I think James will love it.”
“All right.” Regulus said and Pandora smiled widely.
“I think I'm going to get bangs, you know?”
“Oh really?”
“Lily always says it would suit me very well.” Pandora said with a small pout as she took Regulus' phone and called one of the two numbers she had registered,
“Who are you calling?”
“James, of course. I have to keep it updated.”
“Updated for—”
“Reg? Hi! Can you hear me?”
“Hi, James. This is Pandora, you're on speaker.”
“…so Reg can hear me too, right?”
“Yes, James, I can hear you.” Regulus said rolling his eyes while James laughed on the other end of the line,
“Hi, Reg. Good Almost-Christmas Eve!”
“You could have told me that—” Regulus began but Pandora interrupted him,
“Anyway! Reggie and I are going shopping for Christmas presents, I think. I'll see you later at the address I'll send you to get the tree together, okay? Lily should come too,”
“At your command, Pan. We will see each other later! Yeah yeah, one second, no, wait—Remus and Peter say hello Reg.”
“Are you still with them?” Pandora asked and James replied,
“Where do you think I got the money for the presents from?”
“Are you working there? How long have you known about this Christmas Eve thing?” Regulus asked then,
"A week? Maybe less.”
“You're incredible.” Regulus said rolling his eyes and James laughed nervously,
“Thank you. But I couldn't spend Pandora's money on gifts, it didn't seem right.”
“At least that.”
“Okay, stop it, both of you. We go. See you there, James.”
“See you later!”
“A week.” Regulus said flatly as Pandora handed him her phone.
“Details.”
“How can they be details?”
“Reggie, stop complaining and go get dressed. We are going to the hairdresser." Pandora said instead, taking Romeo from her lap and making room for him to pass,
“I didn't take any present.”
“I know. That's what we're going to do today.”
“I feel really bad, right now.” Regulus said in a low voice as he stood up while Pandora made a sign of disappointment,
“Well, I don't. James doesn't. Lily doesn't. And Romeo doesn't either, right? See?" Pandora said holding the kitten up to her face, while him looked at Regulus happily,
“I didn't buy anything for you. Or for James. And I’ll buy things with your money.”
“You don't have to buy anything for me, Reggie. Seriously. It's enough for me that you're here. That you two are here. Again. To celebrate Christmas with me. That's the gift I need.” Pandora said softly before adding, “For James and Lily however, we must look for something different.” She said and Regulus smiled at her,
“Of course.”
“But, of course, this is gonna be our secret. I don't want to ruin your bad boy cover.”
“Oh, shut up.”
“As you wish.”
“I hate you. Really.”
“Of course. I hate you too. Like you hate James.” The girl said and Regulus rolled his eyes,
“It's—”
Pandora sighed heavily. “I know.”
“You didn't drink your coffee, right?”
“Blah, blah.”
“What do you think?” asked Pandora, getting up from the hairdresser's chair and turning towards Regulus, who had just finished having his curls washed and was sitting down, accompanied by the hairdresser who was holding his hair with a towel,
“Merlin, you do look beautiful with bangs.” Regulus said looking at her in surprise as the girl laughed at him, turning to her mirror and fixing the freshly cut and dried bangs of her blonde hair,
“You think?” asked the girl as her eyes lit up and she turned to the mirror, while Regulus smiled at her through it,
“You're beautiful, Dora.”
“Thank you.” replied the girl blushing slightly, before joining the palms of her hands with a sharp sound and starting to rub them, turning towards the hairdresser who was staring at the two of them with an amused expression, “Now it's your turn. I would say start from here.” She said, raising a hand to take a lock of the boy's wet curly hair, then holding it up and showing the hairdresser how far he had to cut,
“Don't you think it's too much?”
“Nah. You'll be handsome.” The girl said, however lowering her hair to cover his ears, remembering what Regulus had told her about his mother, earning a barely perceptible smile. “So? What do you think?” Pandora then asked, turning towards the hairdresser who was looking at them smiling,
“Me?”
“Of course,”
“What do you want to do?” He asked, passing a hand delicately over Regulus's curls, while him looked up at Pandora who smiled and nodded,
“Something particular. Of different. White as a new page on which something needs to be written.” She said and Regulus turned to the mirror, an idea now coming his way,
“White?” He asked the boy changing facial expression as he thought carefully and Pandora tilted her head now curious,
“What are you thinking, Reggie?” She asked narrowing her eyes, a smile on her face,
“I'm thinking about Cissy.” He replied with a slight smile, “For at least a year she has always asked me to do something like this with her.”
“But, killjoy that you are, you told her no,” Pandora concluded and Regulus gave her a flat look,
“I can't believe I'm doing this, honestly. It's stupid.” Regulus said running a hand through his black hair, before being hit by Pandora on her arm,
“Who cares, Reggie! I'm sure that James will love it.” Earning an eye roll,
“I don't care.” Regulus said even though it was a lie. More than a lie, it was half the truth. On the one hand he didn't care what James Potter said about his looks or his hair. On the other hand...no. He just didn't care.
“Of course. C'mon. We have things to do then!” Pandora said, however, turning to the hairdresser, who nodded and listened to the description of Narcissa's hair that Regulus gave him later, and then took matters into his own hands.
After at least half an hour or more, they had both finished. Pandora ran her hand through Regulus' hair again, as she had done since they were finished drying,
“Now that we both have a new style,”
“Can you stop ruffling my hair?” Regulus interrupted her, repeating the same sentence for the third time, but Pandora ignored him,
“Time to go gift shopping for James and Lily!”
“I will accompany you.”
“No, Reggie. You're gonna buy them some gifts too.”
“With what money?”
“For fuck's sake, I hate you when you do this. I swear. You're unbearable and—”
“Like I said many other times—”
“Stupid. You're an idiot and—you know what? I got tired. Now we will go to the bank and take the money from your bank account.”
“Dora.”
“So you'll stop saying you don't want to spend my money, even though I already told you I don't—”
“Pandora.”
“—there are no problems with that,”
“I don't exist here. I don't have a bank account.” Regulus said flatly and Pandora shrugged her shoulders in the air,
“Trying never killed anyone, right? What if there was? If I had your money the problems, which don't exist, they would be over, right?”
“I guess.” replied Regulus with a sigh,
“Then we are going to the bank. It's not far from here.” The girl said and before Regulus could actually say anything, she grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the shop, while he rolled his eyes.
Once they reached the bank, the two of them waited for at least 10 minutes, apparently there were many elderly people who had to go get their pension that day, before their time finally came, so Pandora took the floor, while next to her Regulus remained with a flat expression,
“Good morning.”
“Good morning! What can I do for ya?” asked the woman with a huge smile throwing a more studied look towards Regulus, who however did not reciprocate, not even realizing it,
“Hi, we're here to take a share from Regulus Black's account.”
“And I assume you are Regulus, correct?” The lady asked and Regulus nodded, “okay, one sec…” she said nodding entering the boy's name into her computer, “We have a Regulus Arcturus Black-Potter here.”
“Really?” Regulus asked in surprise as he raised his head to her, his eyes slightly widening from his surprise, while Pandora next to him laughed, hitting him on his arm,
“Yes. Is that you?” asked the woman now suspiciously at the surprised expression of Regulus who nodded again,
“Yeah, sorry, that's me.”
“Can you tell me the other person who can access this account, if you don't mind?” asked the woman and for a moment Regulus stared at her in silence, not knowing what to say. The next second he mentally hit himself on the forehead because obviously the other person was him,
“James Black-Potter, yeah, my…husband.”
“Husband, huh? And the middle name? Just for…you know, just to be sure.” continued the woman with a smile on her face,
“Middle-name? Um…” Regulus said, letting his gaze fall for a second on Pandora who sent him a sharp look, before nodding, “Yes, of course. Sorry, I haven't had my usual coffee yet. James Fleamont Black-Potter.” He said and the lady nodded again,
“Perfect. The withdrawal procedures will be quick, if you could kindly leave me your or his number and we'll see about defining the total sum, if that's okay with you.”
“Of course. Thank you.” Pandora said and then remained speechless when the woman told them the amount that was inside the bill.
“Look, would you like it if we gave you a credit card? We just made some new ones with customers' names on them and I'm sure—” the woman began but Pandora interrupted her,
“Could you do two? You know, James was at work and didn't have time to come with us, but I'm sure we can call him for anything,”
“Oh, no. There won't be any need. All I need is the signature of one of the owners since they are married. I'll go get the forms.” She said before smiling and going to her colleagues to ask for the forms.
“Did you see what I saw, right?” Regulus asked still confused as Pandora hit him on his arm, again,
“You're kidding me? You and James have at least double the money I have! I told you we had to go here.”
“But it doesn't make sense. I don’t understand. We don't exist here. We also saw it with the car... it was in your name, not ours.”
“I don't know Reggie, but now you won't complain about money anymore. We made it!” Pandora said and Regulus gave her a flat look while the woman was now returning with the forms and a pen in hand.
“Lily!” Pandora said out loud quickly reaching her girlfriend, as soon as she saw Lily get out of the car in the parking lot, while she and Regulus were waiting for James and Lily to join them to get the tree which, after making the decision before, would be paid from Regulus and James and their inexplicable money.
“Oh darling, you look amazing.” Lily said taking her into her arms and holding her as if they hadn't seen each other for months (they had seen each other the night before) “You're stunning. Like always.” She said then moving away from her embrace to give her a kiss and look into her face, a smiling Pandora in her arms. “Hi, Regulus.” She then said turning to Regulus, who was leaning calmly against Pandora's car,
“Evans.” He said with a friendly nod and Lily looked at him with wide eyes as the two girls had now joined him, hand in hand,
“Oh god. You look…woah.”
“That's what I said! Isn't he beautiful?”
“He is. The white suits you, Regulus.” Lily said in a gentle tone and Regulus ran a hand through his now shorter curls by instinct,
“Thank you, Evans.”
“You can call me Lily, you know that, right? I'm literally your best friend's girlfriend.” Lily laughed as she put her arm around Pandora's shoulders,
“Sorry. Habit, Lily.” Regulus replied,
“Where is James?”
“He'll be here in less than a minute.”
“How do you know?” Pandora asked curiously and Regulus shrugged his shoulders,
“He wrote it to me by sending me the photo of the street two seconds ago” he said as a car was heard entering the parking lot, and all three turned to actually see James's car parking next to Lily's, after a few seconds James also came out of it.
“Sorry for the delay but there was light traffic.” James said smiling widely as he arrived next to them, then stopped to look at Pandora, who smiled widely at him, “Wow. You do look with bangs.”
“Thank you, James.” Pandora said laughing and giving him a quick kiss on his cheek, before Lily did the same, while James smiled at them both, until his gaze fell on Regulus. And oh. Regulus was decidedly different. His hair had been shortened and now covered half of his ears and not all of them like before. His curls were bouncy and soft but what surprised James were obviously the two locks in front which were white, a contrast to the dark black of the other curls, which slightly covered his eyes. Regulus looked up at him and gave him a small smile and James was left speechless. Literally. He knew that Regulus was anything but that? With a lot of smile? James was gone. Pandora stared at him for a few seconds, then she pushed him imperceptibly and James shook his head, “We are going to see if they have any nice trees, see you there!”
“Even if it's November...” Lily added in a low voice, giving Regulus a half smile and followed Pandora, whispering something to her and leaving the two boys there.
“Hi.” James said first and Regulus looked at him with slightly furrowed eyebrows,
“Hi, James.”
“You look…” he began but stopped the next moment and Regulus laughed nervously, lowering his head, now his face no longer visible,
“Ridiculous, I know.”
“What? No, of course not. You look beautiful Reg.” He said and Regulus looked up at him, “You are beautiful.” He added with a smile that was returned by the boy in front of him,
“Thank you.”
“It's the truth.” He replied with a shrug, adding, “Sirius will probably say that you did your hair white anticipating the time.”
“Yeah, he would probably say that.” Regulus said laughing slightly,
“Can I tell you a secret though?”
“I think I'm pretty good with secrets.” Regulus said and James smiled,
“I love it.” He said adjusting his glasses on his nose and Regulus smiled again. and if you keep smiling at me like that because of what I say, I'm gonna fall in love with you. James thought, but of course he didn't say it. How could he, after all?
“Here. Apparently we have a lot of money, Mister Black-Potter.” Regulus said involuntarily and imperceptibly wrinkling his nose instead handing him the white and gold credit card with his name printed on it, which James took confusedly,
“Wait, what?” He said, turning in his hands,
“I know, right?”
“But the car…”
“I know, but…now we have money. A car. And apparently, a tree?” Regulus said as the two now walked towards the two girls, who were talking.
“Apparently someone decided that he had grown tired of your—” James began but stopped at the sharp look Regulus gave him, “—jokes.” He concluded and then smiled innocently. “You know, I never said I would buy a Christmas tree in November with Regulus Black.” James said, nudging Regulus with his shoulder who nodded next to him,
“Trust me, me neither.”
“We're not the only ones buying the tree now. What did I tell you?” Pandora said as they arrived, nodding to the few couples who were looking around,
“You didn't say anything like that.” Regulus said and she Pandora sent him a flat look before ignoring him,
“Anyway. I propose we split up. We find two and then choose between those!” Pandora said before taking Lily's hand and pulling her to the right. James and Regulus looked at each other before heading the other way.
“What do you think about this?” James asked for the third time, pointing to a huge tree next to him, which however made Regulus shake his head unconvincedly, crossing his arms over his chest from the cold. “Oh, c'mon. It's cool!”
“It's not, James. See? It leans to the right.” Regulus said tilting his head while James approached him and did the same, noticing that Regulus was actually right,
“Oh. You're right. It leans to the right.” James said nodding and Regulus next to him raised his arm in the air nonchalantly,
“I'm always right.” He said before quickly crossing his arm back over his chest and James noticed that Regulus was shivering with cold, but that he was obviously pretending that wasn't true,
“And you're cold.” James said and Regulus opened his mouth to say something, but he closed it the next moment and then sighed,
“It's fucking cold, okay?”
“You know, there are these things called coats, which you can put on to warm up.” James said with a smile as Regulus rolled his eyes,
“Shut up. I didn't know it was that cold. It wasn't this cold before.”
“I told you yesterday that it was colder than other days.”
“Oh, yeah, thanks. I was half asleep when you told me, James. It was 7 in the morning.” Regulus said while James laughed taking off the gray sweatshirt he was wearing and handing it to the boy,
“Here.”
“No, I—”
“You're gonna get cold, and honestly I don't want you to.” James said and Regulus looked at him confusedly, “And…I'm scared of how you will be if you're sick.” He added with a smile
“Okay, fuck you.” Regulus said and James laughed,
“C’mon, here.” Said the boy again,
“Then you're gonna get cold.” Regulus said ruffling his eyebrows,
“I won't. I'm good with my shirt. It's also long sleeved.” James said holding up the gray sweatshirt towards Regulus who studied it for a few more minutes, before reaching out and taking it, then putting it on, the sleeves longer than his arms now covering his hands making James laugh, who walked over to him and slowly removed the hood from his hair, “See? It's better now.”
Regulus looked up at him and James held his breath for a moment, the boy's curls barely caressing his face due to how close they were, “Your arms are too long.” Regulus complained and James smiled at him,
“I'm sorry if my arms are too long.” Said the boy, adjusting his hood,
“You are forgiven.” Regulus said stupidly
“Oh really?” James said laughing as Regulus looked at him silently. James took a step back, “C’mon. Let's go find the perfect tree that doesn't lean to the right.” He then added walking alongside him, his sleeves too long which Regulus pulled up slightly, just so his fingers could be seen.
“Okay, this one seems the one.” James said, stopping suddenly and turning Regulus who stared at the tree which was slightly taller than James and was a deep, dark green. “Verdict?”
“It looks straight.” Regulus said looking at him carefully now and James stroked his branches,
“And it's thick.”
“It's thick.” Regulus repeated with a half laugh and nodding. “Yeah, I think he is the one.”
“And I found it.” James said satisfied and Regulus nodded.
“Good job, James. Proud of you.” Regulus said with an amused tone and James smiled even wider.
“Aw, Reg, I—”
“I think I found the one, Pan.” Lily said appearing behind the same tree that James and Regulus had chosen a few seconds later, to smile at her when she saw them. “Really, guys?” She then asked laughing as Pandora joined them,
“James found it first.” Regulus said shrugging his shoulders as Pandora arrived next to Lily, who was about to say something about her but her phone suddenly started ringing and she stopped her,
“Oh, sorry.” said the girl taking the phone and smiling as she saw her name calling her, “Marls? Hey, how are you?” asked the girl and James felt his heart skip a beat. “Yeah, Pan is fine, she is here with me and two other friends. Yeah. We are buying the Christmas tree. Mhm. Tomorrow night, with gifts and everything! Yeah, I know, I'm sorry. Oh? I don't know, actually.” Lily said now looking at Regulus and James with a question in her eyes that neither of them could understand, “Give me a second and I'll call you back, okay? Yeah yeah, two minutes I swear. Bye-bye.” The girl said closing the call.
“What?”
“That was Marlene, who wanted to invite me and Pandora to dinner tomorrow and I told her of our plans and she asked if she could join too, with just as many gifts. What do you think?" Lily asked the two boys.
“Marlene McKinnon?” asked James and Lily nodded.
“Do you know her? In the other world?” Pandora asked delicately and James laughed nervously,
“Yeah. I—I know her.” He said as he heard Regulus approach him silently.
“If you don't want it or don't feel like it, you can easily say so.” Lily said
“What James wants is fine with me.” Regulus said and James looked at him with a studied look, to which the boy responded with a nod,
“It's fine. You can invite her. Of course you can. It's Marlene.”
“Are you sure?”
“Mhm. Yeah. It's Marlene.” James repeated again, as a new feeling of wrong dawned on him.
“If it's okay with you, I'll call her back, okay?” asked Lily glancing quickly at Pandora who nodded quickly,
“We're going to pay for the tree and load it onto the car.” Said the girl going to call a clerk,
“James?” Regulus asked softly the moment both girls were gone,
“Mhm?”
“Are you really fine with it?”
“With what?”
“You know what. With the fact that Marlene won't recognize you, maybe?” Regulus asked attentively and James's shoulders stiffened,
“She won't recognize me, Reg. Like Barty and Evan didn't recognize you. And it's fine, really.”
“I know it's different, James. Trust me, I know. I was lucky that Pandora knew me but if it had been different I can't even imagine what I would have felt. It's okay if you don't want to meet her. I can make up some excuse, I just need your word.” Regulus said and James turned to him with a light smile,
“Thank you but I'm fine with it. I swear.” James lied and Regulus shook his head,
“One word, James. One word and I can undo the whole thing. I’m a great actor.”
“Yeah. Okay.”
“Promise me you'll take this into consideration if anything changes?” Regulus said lifting his head to watch Lily return to them,
“I promise.” James said,
“Okay.” He said nodding,
“I talked to her and she is so happy to come tomorrow. If she won't—you know, recognize you, I'm sorry.” Said Lily
“It's fine. C'mon. Let's go and help Pandora with the tree.” James said smiling and Lily followed him, while Regulus stared at him in silence.
After they paid for the tree and loaded it into the car, anyway, they made the decision to decorate the tree that evening, then took Pandora's car, in which the tree was located, home, while she and Lily then were going to the Conservatory for evening lessons, while James said he had to go to Remus and Peter, but before he could go alone, Regulus joined him, because he promised and honestly he didn’t want to leave James alone after everything. Call it sixth sense, but something wasn't right with him.
And so it was that the two found themselves in the car heading towards the coffee shop, with gentle music playing in the background until they arrived in front of it. The two boys walked calmly to the cafeteria, then went inside and were immediately greeted by Remus.
“James! What brings you—oh, that's why you're here. Good evening, Regulus. I like the new hair by the way,” Remus said with a quick nod to James, who smiled quickly,
“Thank you, Remus. Do you still remember me after all of this days?” Regulus asked and Remus smiled,
“How could I forget about you if your boyfriend does nothing but talk about how amazing and wonderful you are?”
“What?” Regulus asked, turning to James, who was now blushing slightly,
“Oi! That's not true.” James said glaring at Remus who chuckled and then turning to Regulus, “I swear I don't. I don't talk about you as amazing and wonderful.” James justified himself and Regulus glanced quickly at Remus before saying,
“So you think I'm ugly and not awesome?”
“What? No, of course not! You're amazing and—”
“But you said you don't talk about me like that, and Remus can confirm it.” Regulus said pouting and speaking in a sad tone, while Remus smiled next to James, the boy now focused only on Regulus.
“Reg, you're amazing. Everyone knows that, and— oh. You're fucking with me." James said stopping and looking towards Remus who was now giggling.
“Maybe. It's funny to see you in difficulty.” Regulus said winking at Remus, while James looked at them offended.
“You are terrible. Literally, terrible. Peter!” He said turning towards the counter and Peter immediately waved to Regulus,
“Good evening, Regulus! Shit, you’re amazing with James’ hoodie and with the new hair.”
“Thanks, I guess?”
“Okay, why am I ignored by everyone? I am visible, after all.” James said offended and Regulus tilted his head,
“Have you seen James? Wasn't he here a moment ago?”
“Oh. That's right! Maybe he came out?” Remus asked and Peter butted in,
“I haven't seen him yet today!”
“You are super evil.”
“Oh, don't pout, Jamie.” Regulus said tilting his head and James looked up sharply at him, “You're not cute when you pout, you know that, Jamie.”
“That's right, Jamie, no pouting.” Remus added but James heard him muffled, he was just staring at Regulus now. Jamie. Jamie. Jamie.
“I—”
“Tea, Regulus?” Peter asked and Regulus looked away from James, but he continued to look at him.
“Why not? Thank you, Peter.”
“For you, everything!” He answered him and Regulus approached the counter.
“Are you okay, James?” Remus asked laughing and James shrugged,
“No. I'm being bullied by my friends and my boyfriend.” He said while the nickname Jamie kept spinning in his head and Remus shook his head laughing.
“Let's go then, Mr Bullied.” Remus said patting him on the shoulder and James gave him a hurt look.
“That's really cool. Rem, can we do that?” Peter asked turning towards Remus, the four boys who were now sitting at the same table, after the cafeteria had slowly stopped welcoming customers, as in fact there were no more, except for a few, like a girl who was studying in a corner with headphones and a big cup of hot coffee with some brownies in front of her,
“No.”
“Why?” James asked curiously in a sad tone while Regulus next to him took a sip of still hot tea,
“Yeah, why Rem?” Regulus asked sarcastically and Peter nodded along with them,
“Yeah, exactly. Why not, Remus?” He asked Peter and Remus gave a flat look at Regulus who shrugged smiling,
“Because it's not even Mid-November.”
“So? They celebrate it! I suggest doing at least something Christmassy tomorrow! Let's go!”
“No. I've already helped James enough with their Christmas.” Remus said and Regulus turned to James,
“Didn't you give him the money back?”
“Yes, I gave them back to him.” James defended himself and Remus intervened,
“I did not mean it. I meant the matter—” he began but James' eyes widened indicating that Regulus was next to him and Remus changed away, “—the matter of music.” He concluded with a sigh,
“Music?” Regulus asked confusedly while Peter looked at him equally confused.
“I helped him with the music. You know, a playlist?”
“You made a Christmas playlist.” Peter said unconvinced and James nodded,
“Yes. A Christmas playlist. For tomorrow.”
“A Christmas playlist, James? Really?” Regulus asked and James smiled at him nodding,
“Of course I made a Christmas playlist, Reg. Who did you take me for.” lied James and Regulus looked at him carefully, unconvinced.
“You're—” the latter began but Remus sent a quick glance to Peter, who understood instantly and interrupted him,
“Remus, as much as I love you, you're slightly bad at making Christmas playlists.”
“I assure you that is not true. James can confirm this. I put Last Christmas as the first song!” Remus defended himself and Peter looked at him with mock boredom,
“All we needed was for you to play the best Christmas song, Remus. It's the least.” Peter said as Remus rolled his eyes smiling,
Regulus leaned slightly closer to James, “I'm not an expert, but there isn't a Christmas song called Last Christmas in our world, is there?” He whispered and James was grateful that the conversation had changed,
“Yes. I mean, no, it doesn't exist.”
“Mhm.” Regulus nodded, pulling back and starting to follow the conversation again, which was now ranking all the most beautiful and magical Christmas songs.
James was currently on the bed, his glasses abandoned on the nightstand, looking at the ceiling. He did it often, taking off his glasses and seeing the reality in his blurriness, when he wanted to stop… thinking, when he wanted to take a break from everything.
James was fine, okay? He was in another world with the boy he liked, he was about to decorate the Christmas tree in November and all he needed to do was go and collect all the presents tomorrow and then put them under the tree, to celebrate his first Christmas away from Home. He felt a little sorry for himself. Indeed, he was a little more sorry not to be able to celebrate this pre-Christmas with his best friend, with his friends and with his parents...
James shook his head, quickly dismissing that thought. It would have been fun. It was supposed to be fun. Besides, who didn't love Christmas, right? And then, he would see Marlene again, but he hadn't yet managed to get a gift for her. All he had to do was get it tomorrow, when he would go to collect Regulus's from the guy he had spoken to on the phone, a friend of Remus and certainly—
There was a knock on the door and James' thoughts stopped instantly. The boy closed his eyes slightly,
“Yeah?” He asked in a slightly low tone due to not being used,
“Can I come in?” He asked a voice that James would recognize anywhere,
“Of course.” He responded immediately, sitting up in bed as he watched the blurry figure of Regulus enter the room slowly.
“Hey. Sorry to bother you but Pandora and Lily should be here in a few minutes and I wanted to give you your sweatshirt back.” Regulus said as James quickly put on his glasses to see him better, noticing that Romeo had obviously followed him and that he was now clinging to Regulus' leg, who had his sweatshirt in his hand,
“You never disturb, Reg.” James said as he took the sweatshirt and went to put it in the closet.
“Really? Because it seemed to me that you were sleeping, given the glasses on the bedside table.” Regulus said as if it were a matter of fact.
“I wasn't sleeping. I was just—resting.” James said as he knelt down to pet Romeo, who obviously started to jump into his arms, which the boy allowed.
“You're clearly his favorite. I told Pandora today but she keeps saying his favorite is me, as if I could ever beat you.” Regulus said with a half nod as James looked at Romeo fondly.
“He loves us both.” James said simply as he placed it on the floor, and he stood between the two boys, watching the door and waiting for them to come out so he could go down the stairs with them.
“Mhm.” Regulus said before adding with a sigh as he clearly heard the front door open and Pandora and Lily's voices fill the house, “It's time.”
“Oh, c'mon Reg, a little happiness! Enthusiasm! It's almost Christmas!”
“It's—”
“Night before Christmas Eve! The best day of the year! A little enthusiasm?”
“Yay.” Regulus said emotionlessly and James sighed but didn't break down,
“We have so much to do. But you're gonna have fun. Trust me on this one.” The boy said offering him his hand, which Regulus observed for a few seconds, but took it when Romeo meowed happily and James shook it, dragging him out of the room with enthusiasm to quickly go down the stairs, obviously followed by Romeo, to find himself in front of Pandora and Lily, who had some biscuits placed on a baking tray in her hand and a Christmas hat on her head, as Pandora also had.
“Where did you buy some Christmas cookies?” Regulus asked curiously as he took a toy that had chocolate cream on it, then tasted it and was for a moment disconcerted by how good it was.
“It's from Marlene. She said she would bring some more tomorrow and that these were just a taster.” explained Lily also offering some to James who took them looking at them, before nodding,
“Even in our world Lee always brings cookies at Christmas. Mum loves them.” James said, taking one and tasting it, to recognize the now familiar sweet taste that invaded his mouth. “Anyway, I'd say it's time to get to work.”
“I agree. We need a plan. Pandora, you put on the playlist, I'll go get the decorations that are in the attic and James and Regulus fix the tree. Come on, everyone get to work!” Lily said and everyone did as she said, while she went upstairs to the attic.
“Put it higher!” Pandora said laughing while Regulus had been moving the same decoration on the tree for at least ten minutes, that is, one of the six golden butterflies that had little pegs under them to be able to catch them on some branches.
“It's higher!” Regulus replied, raising the butterfly higher anyway, while Lily and James looked at them smiling, trying to unravel the tangle of lights that would then be placed around the hall.
“Slightly to the right, I think.” Lily added in a suddenly mock-serious tone and Pandora smiled at her,
“Now?”
“Slightly to the right that is the left.” Lily said laughing and Regulus wanted to glare at her, but he resisted,
“We have the same right, Evans.” He said instead and Lily made a disapproving noise.
“James, go help him please.” Lily said giving him a wink that James didn't exactly understand but he listened to her anyway, standing up and joining him,
“And put it higher!” Pandora said reaching Lily and the two girls looked at each other with complicity,
“Okay, I'm done. I give up, I don’t care. And these butterflies lose glitter.” Regulus complained, lowering his arm and looking at his palm, which was indeed full of golden glitter,
“Can I?” James asked as he approached him and held out a hand and Regulus handed him the butterfly, which he took and raising his arm placed it where Regulus had previously managed to place it on his toes with ease, but neither Lily nor Pandora commented,
“Really? He put it exactly where I put it!” Regulus complained and James smiled looking at him,
“You have a glitter on your nose.” James said laughing then raising a hand and delicately placing his thumb on the cold tip of Regulus's nose, who raised his eyes to meet his gaze. The two boys stayed like that for at least what seemed like a minute, their faces almost touching and Regulus noticed that James' eyes had a golden shade very similar to the color of the round glasses that mixed with the warm brown that prevailed in the iris and—
Something fell behind them, and Regulus quickly shifted his gaze from James's and took a step back, while James just as quickly lowered his hand.
“Sorry.” Pandora said, sighing heavily as the two boys continued decorating the tree, ignoring what happened previously, obviously.
“For fuck's sake, darling.” Lily said softly and Pandora nodded sadly,
“I'm sorry.”
“They were close!”
“I know! But we can always recreate other situations, right?” Pandora asked and Lily smiled sweetly at her, running a hand through her blonde hair,
“Of course. We can do it. And they are both too in love with each other to notice, anyway.”
“Regulus still says that he hates him.”
“Of course he does.”
“You don't look at something like that though if you hate it.” Pandora said wisely and Lily agreed with her, glancing quickly at the two boys, who had now moved away from each other slightly and were both focused on getting those blessed butterflies right. “I have a plan.” She then said as the idea of her suddenly came to her.
“Tell me this second.”
“You’ll see. Just—follow me.”
“Forever.” Lily said in a serious tone and Pandora gave her a quick kiss.
“Okay, we are done. What do you think?” James asked a few minutes later, holding only the star that would later be placed on top.
“You missed the star.” Lily said and James smiled widely,
“No I didn't. A star should be put on top by another star.” James said handing the star to Regulus, who got a light blush on his cheeks and…oh. Regulus was blushing. James had managed to make him blush. He had never seen him blush because of something he had said. In fact, he had never seen him blush. He was really blushing?
Regulus lowered his head slightly so that his curls covered his face and stood on tiptoe to calmly place the star on top before returning to normal and sighing proudly. “And it's done. Never again.” The boy said and Pandora nudged him affectionately,
“You had fun, stop.” The girl said and Regulus simply shrugged nonchalantly, a light and imperceptible smile on his face.
“It's beautiful.” Lily said, getting up from the ground and joining the boys, who were staring at the decorated tree.
“I'd say it's time to celebrate.” Pandora said quickly picking up her phone and selecting Last Christmas, then holding out her hand to Lily with a wink, “Are you offering me this dance?”
“You don't have to ask.” She replied, taking her hand and reaching for her,
“Ask him too, James.” whispered Pandora to him, before taking a position in the center of the room and starting to dance with Lily to the music.
James looked at them with a laugh before walking over to Regulus, who was doing the same, “Hey.” Hey. Seriously?
“Hey, James.” Regulus said confusedly as the chorus of the song began.
“Would you give me a dance? As a reward, for our hard work.”
“Do you know how to dance?” It was the first thing Regulus asked and James was surprised that it wasn't a denial,
“Of course I can dance.”
“You can but you don't know how. Interesting.” Regulus said playfully and James made a disapproving noise,
“If you agree to dance with me, I can show you what I know.”
“Oh, no. I don't dance.”
“I know you do. And I know that you took lessons too.”
“I took ballroom lessons.”
“Please.”
“No.”
“If you do dance with me, tomorrow I will make churros.”
“Churros.”
“Yes! Who doesn’t love them.”
“Someone who has never eaten them.”
“Haven't you ever had churros?”
“…no.”
“Oh, shit, really? Tomorrow you will, i promise. But now, dance with me, Reg.”
“I don’t dance, really.”
“One dance.”
“I—it's a Christmas' song. I can't dance on a Christmas’ song.” Regulus said, but Pandora and Lily, who were obviously listening, stopped dancing,
“I have the perfect song then. It's one of our favorites.” Lily said as she picked up her phone and played "Shut Up and Dance" by WALK THE MOON. “Here. Find another excuse.” She then added as the music started and she took Pandora's hand and started dancing again, this time with more happiness.
“No Christmas song. C'mon.” James said holding out his hand for Regulus to take
“I don't—”
“Shut up and dance with him.” sang Pandora and Lily repeated the same words the next moment, accompanying the singers.
“…and dance with me, Reg.” James hummed hopefully and Regulus simply looked at him with an expression as if he were beating himself up.
“We won't tell anyone you know how to dance Regulus.” Lily said and Pandora added,
“Or that you can't dance.”
“If I have to get down on one knee and beg you for a dance, I will.” James said and Regulus looked at him for a while longer, the music now entering his ears and finally he grabbed the boy's hand.
“I can't believe I'm doing this. Why am I doing this.” Regulus moaned softly as James pulled him towards him, starting to dance happier than ever,
“Because it's the magic of Christmas! And because it's impossible to say no to me.”
“No. I think I'm going crazy. This is the only answer.”
“Just dance Reggie!” Pandora said laughing as Lily spun her around,
“Yeah, Reg. Shut up and dance with me.” James said, raising his arm for Regulus to do a turn, and when the boy actually did it he was pleasantly surprised, so taken by enthusiasm he pulled him towards him, and Regulus followed him, practically ending up on his chest.
“Like I said. You can dance but you don't know how to dance.” Regulus said slightly breathless and James laughed,
“Then teach me.”
“Just follow me, James.” Regulus said, moving away from him and placing himself in a precise position, hand in hand with James, who instead said,
“Always.” Earning a roll of his eyes from the boy, but it was accompanied by a smile.
And so it was that our four of them followed the music, dancing under the Christmas tree in almost Mid-November, exchanging handshakes, smiles, bows, heartbeats and hidden glances with a thousand meanings and feelings behind them with questions and unspoken words, which however will not be told, as they are hidden except from the legitimate owners.