The last straw
‘Remus, i think something’s genuinely wrong with james.’ Sirius said. They had snuck off after dinner together to chat.
‘Sirius, you can’t just now start worrying about him again now you’ve figured out he’s queer.’
’No, it’s not even that… okay, so it might be a little bit that, but still, i genuinely think something’s wrong. I mean, you saw him this morning, he looked like he was mauled by a bear, what kind of respectable partner does that to someone?’
’First of all Sirius, for all intents and purposes, James might just like it a little rough—‘
’ew, ew, ew, fucking ew. Please do not talk about james liking anything, it actually makes me want to throw up.’
’Shut up, can i finish?’ Sirius nodded, almost imperceptibly.
’Second of all, have you tried talking to him about this? You keep speculating but realistically Cariad we know nothing about this guy.’
’Except that he’s a Slytherin, and with teeth like a fucking shark.’
’Except that, yes.’ Remus chuckled.
’How did we miss this re? I mean we live with him, i stay with him and his parents, have done for years, surely i would have noticed if he was gay?’
’He might not be gay Cariad, he could be bi or pan or anything. Really that’s for him to tell us, not for us to speculate about.’
’Fair. I wish he trusted us though. I miss when he’d tell me things.’
’I know Darling. It just takes time.’
’I’m gonna try talking to him. Maybe see if i can get him to open up.’
’Okay melys. Try not to do anything stupid.’
’We’ll see.’
Remus laughed.
**** (meanwhile)
James managed to catch Regulus alone after dinner.
‘Hey, do you want to come to my dorm in a bit? You havent stayed in ages.’
’M’amour are you sure thats a good idea? We literally had another scandal this morning. Maybe we should wait a little bit?’
’It should be fine, peter’s staying with his girlfriend in Hufflepuff, and remus and sirius are giving me space right now, to let me “process” whatever that means. We should be fine.’
’emphasis on should be.’
James smiled, ‘you don’t have to if you don’t want to, i just miss you, and we’ve spent too much time in your dorm. Barty thinks you’re secretly smuggling pandora in.’
’Thats actually disgusting. I feel ill.’
’I know right?’
’If you give me your cloak i can? And, heavy emphasis on and, if you sneak me a tea from the kitchens.’
’Can do. 9PM sound alright?’
’sounds good.’
****
So far, James’ plan had gone off without a hitch.
Regulus managed to get into his dorm undetected, and now both boys were firmly situated in James’ bed.
Regulus, over the course of the evening had snuggled up to James, head nestled in the crook of his neck, and arms wrapped around his middle.
It was almost well past 11PM
If Regulus wanted to safely get back out of the dorm he had to leave by 5AM, about an hour an a half before remus (the earliest riser apart from james) woke up.
It was gruelling frankly, but it was the only course of action if either of them wanted to both stay the night and keep their relationship a secret.
James looked at Regulus. The light was dim, but somehow regulus maintained a sort of glow around him. He looked practically angelic. Every time James looked at the boy, he genuinely feared he would lose his lustre. But no, each and every time James looked at his boyfriend, it was as if he was looking at him for the first time. He was beautiful. In a way that is too difficult to put into words.
Its not as if it was to do with how his hair framed his face, or the colour of his eyes, or the shape of his jaw. Regulus was just beautiful. In a non-quantifiable way. And james could not get enough of him.
’As much as i love you looking at me, we need to sleep, i need to be gone at that ungodly fucking hour and you have Quidditch practice so…’
’i know, i know. You’re just stunning, and i wish i could look at you more,’
’Oh you sap, come on, let’s sleep now’
James shifted so he was actually laying on his pillows rather than resting his back on the headboard, and left reg to re position himself on james’ chest.
Eventually the soft rise and fall of Regulus’ breathing lulled him to sleep.
****
it was about 1AM when James heard Sirius outside his bed.
The gentle, yet strong voice of his best friend startled him awake.
’James? You awake? Come on mate, i know your sleeping patterns you can’t possibly be asleep yet.’
’I just want to talk. Like we used to. I feel like we’re on different wavelengths and its killing me.’
’Shit, shit, shit, fuck reg, wake up!’ James whispered, trying to shake the sleeping boy next to him awake. To no avail.
shit
Clearly the silencing charms he and reg had put on his bed had worn off while they were asleep, because next Sirius said, ‘James? I can hear you talking. Have you got someone in there? Shit you do don’t you!’
Double shit
And clearly the locking charms he and reg had put on his curtains had worn off too because the next second Sirius’ hand was pulling apart his curtains.
triple fucking shit
By now, james’ hands were cradling his face, hiding his very red cheeks from his best friend, who had just finished pulling apart his drapes.
’James, what the fuck is regulus fucking black doing in your bed?’
James just looked at him. As if to say ‘fucking guess sirius’
’James?’
’Go back to sleep, Sirius, we can talk about this in the morning.’
With that, james firmly shut his curtains, and laid back down next to his boyfriend
Quadruple shit
****