Chapter 2
From where James stood on the rainy cobbles, he could see right into The Leaky Cauldron. The yellow light shone through the small stained glass window and through a haze of condensation he spotted Rosier stood with two pints in hand, laughing at someone obscured by other patrons.
“Potter” His name was cheered as he walked through the door. His glasses steamed up as a wave of warmth smothered him upon entering. He pulled the wire frames off his face as he made his way over to where his friends sat around a wooden booth, a clearing spell falling over the lenses at the fog wiped away.
“For you” Rosier handed the second pint into James hand and the cold bite of butterbeer was a welcome refreshment as he was shoved into a seat.
“We were just talking about Zimmer’s apparating tackle he did on that smuggler” Evan laughed as a freckled blonde man squished between two Care for Magical Creatures wizards waved away the compliment.
“It wasn't as half as cool as Black’s little stunt” The man pushed back. In among all the faces of aurors he was familiar with and the dragon keepers he was starting to recognise, James had been completely oblivious to the man squished into the corner. Regulus was covering his smile with a metal tankard when Harmony, one of his aurors, beside him nudged his shoulder as the rest of the group stirred and laughed.
“I was just doing my job” James was a little unsure of him. The boy he remembered from school never smiled, never showed any semblance of emotion other than that of a scowl and most certainly did not laugh like the way he was now. James took a big gulp of his beer.
“Whatever Black. That was the coolest thing I’d ever seen” The woman next to him smiled and another man carried on, banging his hand on the table-
“You were literally riding a dragon. I don’t know about you guys”- the man nodded at the keepers “-but that’s not exactly a regular occurrence for us at The Ministry”
One of the keepers chimed in, a pale woman with a long scar running down her neck “No we don’t do that either. While some of us may be stupid enough to try to put a bridle on a dragon or attempt to stroke it while it’s awake, Regulus is the only one brave enough to try to sit on one”
“Sit on one?” Rosier stood up, his drink sloshing down the edge as he half sat on the table reenacting Regulus riding the beast. “The man practically tamed the damn thing”
Regulus seemed to shy away at the rumble of compliments and recollections of the event, each person adding their perspective to the daring act while he buried his face in his hands. His fingers pulled against his cheeks as he groaned at everyones dramatisations and James almost choked on his drink when Regulus looked his way, the green eyed man's smile faltering just a little into a shy smirk as he blushed.
“And James-”
James’ eyes snapped away from Regulus as if he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t. Thomas, one of the aurors held his drink in his direction.
“He took a hex to the face and barely flinched before taking down what? Three of them?”
James felt his hand go across the cut he had yet to clean up, smiling.
“I was being stupid”
“Distracted more like” Evan muttered from beside him. James angled his elbow into his ribs at the comment, covering Rosiers groan with a laugh.
“I’m just lucky it wasn’t anything worse than a slicing spell”
One of is aurors chimed in
“Oh yeh what would we do without that pretty face of yours?”
Everyone laughed.
“I’m sure office morale would plummet without my beauty to give you respite from all the shit we see”
James smiled brightly as he was shoved around, people groaning as they teased him and his looks. He couldn’t help but let his eyes wander over to Regulus to see if maybe he had any reaction to James' face. He felt silly even thinking about it but his stomach dropped when he saw Regulus wasn’t even looking in his direction - rather across the room at nothing. He wasn’t sure if that was more embarrassing than the jokes his team quipped.
The night continued for a little longer and somewhere along the way James rubbed at the dried blood on his cheek when he caught his reflection in a fresh beer tankard. The red splodge running down his skin didn’t seem to budge and the thought of having to roll across half his team to get out of the booth and to the bathroom felt too much of a task after such a long day. He looked back and forth between the people blocking his way and almost attempted to stand when he felt a kick at his foot.
Raising his head, he looked across from him and paused. Regulus was now opposite James and scowling. Maybe it wasn’t Regulus who knocked him and the speed at which James had looked up had simply just caught the attention of the Slytherin. But Regulus didn’t look away. In fact he briefly cheeked around him before staring straight at James who remained still. What did he want? Should he kick back? Was it an accident? James' thoughts ran short though when Regulus brought his drink to his face to cover the spell he muttered, the familiar touch of magic licking at James’ cheek as the wound healed itself over and cleared of any dried blood.
His fingers ran over the line and he attempted to find Regulus’ eyes again when, by the time he realised what Regulus had done, the man opposite him had turned away and had joined in conversation with two others. James fumbled over his thoughts, over the way Regulus had managed to piece together James’ idea to clean himself up as if he was yelling it over the table. He went to thank him when he realised his words would become lost in the boisterous laughter of his friends. Instead he decided the best next step would be to nudge Regulus back in a strange covey of thanks, hoping to grab his attention. Except when James attempted to do so, he didn’t consider just how long Regulus’ legs were and how close they sat until Regulus glared back following James’ too hard of a kick. He swallowed and went to attempt an apology when a sharp pain wracked through his shin, a smiling Regulus appearing above the table to act in innocence.
He hadn’t meant to kick him so hard the first time, rather nudge him in polite recognition of his actions but Regulus’ tactical hit was an unnecessary response. He allowed Regulus to enjoy his conversation with Harmony and Rosier, who had shuffled his way onto that side of the table an hour ago, before Regulus jolted, his hand slamming down while he tried to smother a hiss. James smiled. The satisfaction was fleeting however when Regulus responded again and before James could kick back a third time, Regulus leant forward and trapped James’ knee between his own.
“Do that again and I’ll pull you on top of this table” Regulus’ voice was irritated and angry but his face remained impassive as he leant over their drinks so only James could hear.
A spark shot through James, the feeling throwing him off as his hand knocked into the pint before him. The amber liquid pooled onto the table as it spilt off the edge and into his lap. He stood up the best he could in the tight seating arrangement while his friends cheered and hollered, a collective ‘wayyyy’ sounding across the bar as he held up his hands in innocence. The embarrassment was worth it however when he found Regulus smirking up at him.
James could only gulp and look away before he joined in with the others.
"All right all right. I think I'll call it a night here" Everyone booed before people began to get the same idea and start heading out. James got hands patted on the back and laughed a few last times with his colleagues as they made their way through the tiny front door, each of them promising to meet again with the other respective groups. And with one fleeting look back, James found Regulus talking with Rosier just by the coat rack. He left soon after.
Apparating home was a bit wobbly and ended with him stumbling into a bookcase at one in the morning. With a smile still on his face, James found Sirius wrapped in his dressing gown fiddling with a puzzle Lily had left on their table and greeted his friend with a wave. He often found his best friend like this during nights where James got home late, especially after an important job. The two had moved into a flat Sirius’ late uncle had left him shortly after the war and without the presence of Euphemia, Sirius had taken to the role of house mother like a moth to flame, often staying up to ensure James returned home safely. He never said so, but James knew the permanence of a normal homelife was still something Sirius feared to lose.
James dropped his cloak on the table and stole a sip from Sirius cup of tea by his side as he walked over.
"Piss yourself Potter?" Sirius barely even lifted his head as he asked. James grumbled a 'no' before snatching a biscuit off Sirius' stacked pile and made his way to his room with a ‘good night’, landing in a heap on his bed after pulling off his clothes and wriggling in the fluffy set of pyjamas Remus had bestowed him for Christmas last month, ending up face down into a pillow before mumbling a quiet-
"Just your brother fucking with me actually"