crush

Regulus Black is not a morning person.

So, when a hand shakes his shoulder and the body pressed against his front tries to move, he gives the only appropriate response.

“Piss off.”

“Reg, I need to go,” James says softly into his ear. Mornings might be shit, but waking up next to James bloody Potter certainly makes them better. Except when he’s trying to leave. “The lads’ll already be up by now; they’ll know I’m gone.”

Right, yeah. Fine then, he supposes. James has to go. Regulus doesn’t have to like it though.

He grumbles as he lifts off his arm from where he’d been holding James against his front, reluctant to let go of his warmth. The Slytherin dorms were always so much colder than the Gryffindors’. Regulus ought to bring that up in the next prefect meeting.

James can be heard scampering about – probably picking up his clothes from the floor – and he presses a sweet kiss to Regulus’ forehead that makes him smile embarrassingly wide. The door opens and closes, and suddenly the little domestic moment is shattered.

“Was that James fucking Potter?”

Of course Barty is a morning person. As if he isn’t insane enough already.

“I’m pretty sure the ‘F’ stands for ‘Fleamont’, actually,” Regulus retorts, dragging himself out of bed.

“Oh my fucking god, it was. What was James Potter doing in your bed?”

So, Regulus hasn’t actually told Barty yet. The others, yes, but not Barty. The thing is, Barty can be quite dramatic, and quite the gossip. And considering Regulus didn’t want Sirius finding out yet, Barty also couldn’t know.

Guess he knows now, Regulus muses. No going back now.

“We shagged, Barty. Obviously.”

“Ah, so the cat’s out the bag then,” Evan joins in from the other side of Barty. “Wondered how long it was gonna take before you told him you’re with Potter.”

Barty swivels around to face Evan incredulously while Regulus gathers his clothes from where they’d been tossed off the bed last night. “You knew?!”

“Literally all of our friends know. All of Potter’s too, ‘cept Sirius of course.”

Regulus’ face drops. “Not for long,” he says as he leans down to pick up the leftover tie. A Gryffindor tie.

“Is that Potter’s?”

He nods, face pale.

“He’s red-green colourblind. Must’ve grabbed mine by mistake,” Regulus explains, swallowing. Sirius is gonna freak. He’s not ready to know. Regulus isn’t finished preparing him.

“Are you… alright?” Evan asks, climbing off his bed.

“Just… thinking about my brother. He’ll throw a fit.”

Barty grins, and already that’s enough to make Regulus concerned for whatever is about to come out of his mouth. “If he’s gonna have a tantrum, you could always give him something to rage over.”

Regulus raises an eyebrow. “And just what might you mean by that?”

And that’s how Regulus finds himself entering the Great Hall and pretending everyone isn’t watching him as he makes his way to the Gryffindor table instead of Slytherin’s. He forces himself to forget the hundreds of eyes that stare as he walks right up to James and leans over him a little. James blushes, which definitely helps Regulus’ confidence.

He doesn’t look at Sirius, though. No; he needs to keep the confidence, not lose it.

“James,” he purrs. The hall goes silent, but James’ reaction is enough to make it all worth it.

Damn, maybe I should’ve told Barty sooner.

“Regulus,” James replies, throat clearly rather tight around his words. This is far too much fun.

Regulus grabs his tie from around James’ neck and pulls the older boy up a little, tilting his head up to expose his neck perfectly. James seems to choke a little, but flushes. That’s something to explore later on, Regulus decides.

He reaches to the bottom of his throat to make his voice rough and low as he speaks. “I’m going to need this back.”

James is clearly malfunctioning, as his mouth just opens and shuts without a single sound emerging. Taking it as a win, Regulus begins slowly unwinding his tie from under James’ collar, letting his fingers ghost over the skin of James’ neck. James almost sighs at the attention, and Regulus can’t help but smirk. James is just too easy. It’s too much fun, and Regulus finds he can’t stop now.

Once he’s retrieved his tie from James, Regulus leaves it untied around his own neck, then dresses James in the correct tie. He takes his time, enjoying the way James’ wide eyes never stop looking up at him in awe, and perhaps a little lust. Once he’s done, Regulus uses the tie to pull James up again and he leans in so that his breath dances in James’ ear.

“There we go,” he whispers, smiling softly.

“Thank you,” James exhales, and Regulus can’t help it. He pulls James in for a kiss, uncaring that the whole of Hogwarts is watching, uncaring that Sirius is watching. None of it matters, because Regulus gets to have his love, and that’s all he really needs.

James looks so devastated when Regulus has to pull away that he finds himself taking one of the Gryffindor’s hands in his own and raising it to his lips, gently kissing his knuckles in the way a knight might’ve with a lady many years ago. He chances a glance at Sirius who looks… fuming, actually. Or maybe sad? Regulus isn’t sure; it’s been too long since he’s seen much of anything other than happiness and joy on his brother’s face, and he almost regrets that he’s the cause of this change.

“Good luck with my brother,” he tells James, and actually means it. Regulus has done all he can, and now only Sirius can decide how things end up. All Regulus can do is hope.