To Make Up For Time, begged and borrowed
"You did well today Marls" James clapped a hand on Marlene's shoulder, they just finished a round of quidditch practice, it's been a week since he has to relive his life and he spends it thinking about everything he missed like Quidditch
"Yeah thanks James" Marlene shrugs, there's a tightness in her smile
"Are you alright? Was it your mum again?" He asks, she looks at him with red rimmed eyes
"I got accepted for the curse breaking internship"
"Marls that's great! that's good right?" He asked unsure, seeing the defeat in Marlene's face
"My mum wanted me to do the healer training in Ireland, like my brother, I'm not like my brother James, I'm not… I'm not"
James pulls her into a hug, "You're not, of course, you're Marlene and I'm sorry your mum can't put her head around that, but you know, I know you'll be the best curse breaker out there"
James knows that she is, indeed the best curse breaker, he's proud of her then, when she would be the youngest and the best of all of them, and he's so proud of her now, He wasn't able to say it before and now
"I'm proud of you Marls" he's still hugging her dropping a light kiss on her hair
"Thanks Jamie… oh god we're turning into big saps!" She sniffs and pulled away with a wet genuine smile
"I've always been a sap!" he counters, relieved that she's now feeling better
"Ughhh, you're rubbing my off on me"
"Yeah yeah, Marlene McKinnon, cool girl no one can know she's a soft marshmallow"
"That Iam! Now shhh, I need to be cool again"
"Of course, speaking of cool, your girlfriend's walking towards us" He winks at her and she excitedly turns around to see Dorcas
"Hey lovely" Dorcas greets her with a peck and Marlene melts in like a big retriever puppy
"Hi James" Dorcas turns to him
"Hey Cas"
"Well? Aren't you gonna skedaddle out there?" She gave him a grin and James immediately knows what she meant, his cheeks burned and she laughs as he did ran out of the pitch back to the locker rooms
His smile widens, he's there, fixing his gear, he's still so beautiful, they just saw each other last night and yet James still misses him, wants to just stay close to him, as if making up for a time lost…
"Regulus" he says his name
"James"
"You're beautiful" he is and James will tell himm everyday
"You're being nonsensical again Potter" Regulus rolled his eyes but the pink tint on his cheeks are unmistakable
"Tomorrow at Hogsmeade, will you come with me?"
"I can't "
"Why?"
"I wasn't allowed this year"
"Who says you need to be allowed?"
"What? Do you plan on sneaking me out?"
"I do"
"Don't make me la– You're serious?"
"That's your brother, I'm James"
"Shut up, that's a horrible joke who thought of that?" Regulus cringes and James just laughs
"Well, yes Regulus, I plan to sneak you out, do you want to sneak out? I promise to get you fizzing whizzbees"
"You're bribing me now"
"What do you say?
"Fine, and if we get caught that's on you"
"We won't get caught, trust me"
"I do"
James smiles and Regulus shakes his head at him feigning exasperation
—-------
"Prongs!" Sirius scrambles up to him getting out of Remus' bed where they're currently cuddling
James adored Remus and Sirius' relationship, Soulmates, he would call them, that type that James wished to have as well, even when the war is at it's peak and Sirius and Remus are in jeopardy, James never lose hope that those two would eventually go back to each other
What they have… It transcends time….
"Oi! Prongs, you alright?" Sirius nudges him brows furrowed with worry, he's still worried from what happened last few days
"Yeah Pads I'm alright "
"You sure? Lost quite a bit there mate"
"I'm fine really, I'm just admiring you and Moony, ahhhh young love…"
A pillow came flying at him from Remus and he wasn't able to dodge it as Sirius came tackling him as well
"Aray! Hoi! I'm being supportive" he tries wrestles Sirius off of him but only end up rolling on the floor
"Yeah yeah, And do tell why are you suddenly sentimental over Moony and I's relationship?"
"Nothing!" He laughed
"Prongs, is it because you already have someone?"
Someone… Regulus…
"You do!" Sirius points at him with a gasp
"Oh?" Remus smugly smiles at him from the bed still looking at him through his book
"No!I didn't say I have someone!" He defended
"Prongs, your ears are red, who is it? Do we know them?"
"Well…"
Sirius looks at him wide eyed
"Moony are you hearing this, Prongs got someone and he won't tell,look at him
"I know Pads, I know" There's a meaning to Remus' voice
"You know….you mean you know who?"
"No, but It's obvious that James has someone"
"And you didn't tell me?"
"Padfoot…" Remus sighs
"But …"
"Padfoot, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, It's just we want to keep it to us for now? " James looked at him sheepishly and a little pleading, to please drop the subject, Sirius thankfully sighs and drapes himself on James, that turns into a hug that James didn't expect, yet he melts into it
"Alright, but you tell me when you're ready yeah? You don't keep it to yourself?"
"I know Pads, I promise"
Remus looks at him, a question of how he's doing in his eyes and James returns with assurance, he knows they've been worried sick, James was so out of himself this week, out of mind and out of … his, well, time
It's still like that though, his nights would be consumed by the memories of war and death, he would startle awake expecting an attack, he had been casting silencing spells around his bed, he wouldn't settle until morning, not until he would walk inside the great hall, the smiling faces of people he knows, alive and breathing, it makes it real, it grounds him, it makes his weird case of time traveling worth it
—-----------
James waits under the invisibility cloak, he stands by the dungeons waiting for Regulus, they agree to meet in the lavatories but James of course has other plans, a couple of Slytherins walked past him,some first years going to their classes ,some seventh years going to Hogsmeade, James waits until he saw Regulus, he slowly walked towards him opening the invisibility cloak for a bit before pulling him in
"let me g– JAMES?"
"Hello Love"
"What the Fuck!? What the hell are you doing here? What if anyone sees you? We talked about the roo– What in the bloody hell are you laughing at?" Regulus is adorable with the tantrum, like a hissing little kitten, not that James would loudly say it lest he wants to be hexed into oblivion
"I'm not laughing mahal, and trust me no one saw me, and no one can see you with me right now"
"What?"
"That's what happens when you're under an invisibility cloak, mahal"
Regulus looks at him with both brow raised, he looked around, seeing how the passersby are oblivious to them
"An Invisibility Cloak…Of course you have an invisibility cloak, is this how you get away with your schemes?"
"Well…"
"Of course you do, now are we going to stand here all day or are you going to take me to Hogsmeade?" Regulus huffs, he has a frown and his eyes narrowed at James but his lips are pursed trying to hide that he finds all this amusing , James leans in to kiss his cheek that got him to actually quirk his lips
"All right mahal ko, this way" he gestures
"Way to where?"
"To the secret passage of course"
—----
They made their way into Honeydukes, Regulus trying not to show the awe in his face as James leads him, their hands clasped together
"Well?Do you want to get something?"
"If I remember correctly, I was promised fizzing whizbees"
"As you wish"
"And maybe some sugar quills"
"Anything for you"
They did purchase quite a lot, both walking out of the shop with bags filled with sweets, one thing that somehow both of them are fond of, though Regulus insists he doesn't like them that much but there's always that mirth in his eyes that James loves whenever they would have sweets and pastries
They continued walking covered in the invisibility cloak however, as the possibility of someone seeing them is high, they're not wrong, it wasn't even minutes later when they saw Remus and Sirius come out of the bookshop, Sirius with a wide grin and Remus with a fond look and blush on his cheeks, a parcel wrapped in his hand
"Must have been a new book" Regulus whispers as he and James watch them walk away
"Sirius loves spoiling Remus, though Remus would try in his might to win against it" James replies
"Huh, he really does love him, does he?I rarely saw him smile like that, good for him"
James pulls him closer, an arm around him planting a kiss on his temple, Regulus sighs but let's out a little huff putting a finger on James' forehead pushing him a bit
"If you're going to kiss me Potter, do it properly later" He smirks running a finger on the bridge of James' nose
"Of course!"
They continued to walk, they saw Dorcas and Marlene getting out of Zonkos, even Mary and Lily who walked inside of Madam Puddifoot's, They even ran into Emmeline and Pandora with Evan and Barty and even Peter with Benjy Fenwick
They're at Three Broomsticks drinking Madam Rosmerta's new butterbeer topped with ice cream, they chose a seat that's a little obscured from view
"You're doing it again" Regulus tells him
"Doing what?"
"Staring, I'm literally telling you about the book you just asked me about, were you even listening to anything I just told you?
"Well, you're beautifully distracting…"
"You're hopeless"
"Only for you"
"James,what is it?" A hand went on James' cheek, Regulus frowns
"What is what?"
"You want to say something, you've been staring at me as if I'm…"
James' eyes widen, he's that obvious? He tried not to show it, how when he looks at Regulus, he would look at him as if it's a dream,that no matter what, James can't get it over in his head, that Regulus is here, That he can blink and he would still be here
That he's here
That James can hold him again, Touch him again
"I miss you every day, I miss you, I just miss you" He tells him , because he does, He missed him, Misses him, will miss him, even looking away is a pain
That he would make up for all of the time, begged or borrowed
"I'm here…" Regulus tells him
"I…"
He gasps as something loud echoes inside the restaurant, the place suddenly filled with screams and the sound of apparition can be heard from both outside and inside
"Death Eaters!" …