Pas de chat
The first month passed by Regulus quickly, in a swirl of classes, reading and dancing alongside Remus.
Regulus had to admit that he was finding himself enjoying what he did for the first time in years, all of his hard work finally paying off, he had a schedule that he followed everyday and allowed him to relish in the mundane.
He should have known that all of that was going to change; things had been going a little too well, in his opinion.
So when Minerva had gathered everyone ten minutes before class was up, Regulus only had positive feelings about it, he was trying to go into it without a negative thought in mind.
“As most of you know, a big part of this class is partner work.” She said, looking over her half moon glasses at the circle of students.
Regulus felt his heart skip a beat- he and Pandora had done so many of these back at the dance academy they both attended in France, they were amazing at any partner work they were given.
He looked to Pandora who stood at his side and nodded.
As long as both of them had agreed to partner up, this was going to be a piece of cake.
“Instead of letting you all choose your partners, I’m going to pair you up.” Minerva said, looking down at her clipboard and ignoring the groans that followed her announcement.
And Regulus felt his heart drop.
“Now, there are an odd number of students this semester, so two boys are going to be paired up to get through this assignment.” She continued, flipping a paper on the clipboard. Regulus felt Pandora grab his hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. He smiled at her, listening as MInerva started to read out the partners.
He waited until Pandora’s name, but unlike he expected, his name wasn’t listed after it, Evan’s was.
That was okay, maybe he would get paired up with Remus.
But when that didn’t happen, Regulus felt a pit start to grow in his stomach, he would be happy with anyone just please don’t make it-
“James Potter and Regulus Black, you two will be partners for the rest of the semester.” Minerva said.
Well, there goes that thought.
Regulus looked down at his hand, still intertwined with Pandora’s, “I am so sorry.” She mouthed, as Minerva clapped her hands and they were told to pair up with the partner previously mentioned.
Pandora gave one last squeeze before she moved away from him, and towards Evan.
He dragged his feet - Not literally, he would never allow himself to do that, especially not in a ballet studio - and stood next to James, trying to not slump his shoulders.
“Don’t look too excited to work with me.” James said, his grin taking over his entire face. Regulus couldn’t do anything but offer a pained smile, “I know you aren’t thrilled that we are working together, but let’s try to make the most of this.” James said.
Regulus was amazed at the optimism that James seemed to expel into the world.
That was the strongest difference between himself and James: Regulus wasn’t able to think positively about the future, and James could think positively not only about the future, but also about the present day.
Regulus plastered a smile onto his face, “Look, I don’t like you, like at all.” James opened his mouth to respond, but Regulus held up his finger, “But, we both love ballet so let’s just get through this so that we can never spend any time together ever again.” Regulus said.
James was still smiling, “I will get you to like me Baby Black.” Regulus rolled his eyes, “Regulus is fine, thank you.” He said, his eyes flicking back to where Pandora and Remus were laughing together; their partners, Evan and a redheaded girl were talking quietly.
“I will also get you to genuinely smile one of these days.” James said, bringing his attention back to the conversation.
Regulus rolled his eyes, “Highly unlikely, I don’t smile.” He said, James crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, “You don’t smile? I just saw you smile.” Regulus sighed, “Nope, never have, never will, plus that smile was fake.”
James, with his arms still crossed, looked him up and down, “I highly doubt that.” Regulus rubbed his temples, “You’ve literally never had a conversation that lasted more than three words.”
“False.” James said, causing Regulus to quirk his brow and watch James as he spoke, “Elaborate.” He said, still staring at James. “When I broke my glasses, we had more than a three word conversation.” Regulus sighed, “That’s only because you are…” He paused, trying to figure out how to say the word in english.
“Siri, Quale parola useresti per descrivere qualcuno più che fastidioso?” He called across the room, breaking Sirius out of the conversation he was trying to start with Remus. He watched his brother ponder for a moment.
“Ah! Insopportabile?” He called back, Regulus thought about that for a second trying to decide if that would be a good word. “Sì, Grazie!” He turned back to James, “Unbearable, you are unbearable.” James tilted his head, “You think I’m unbearable?” Regulus nodded, “Totally and uncontrollably.”
Which annoyingly, caused James to break out another smile, causing Regulus to bite down on his lip. “So, everyone will start rehearsing with your partner during this class period, and outside of this time as well. Get to know them for the first few sessions and then get into the dancing.” Minerva’s voice cut through the chatter of everyone speaking at once.
Regulus glanced at James, who was still smiling, causing him to roll his eyes.
This really was going to be harder than he originally thought.
—----
Regulus was alone in a studio, which was arguably the best thing that could ever happen. He was finding it harder and harder to find time and empty space where he could dance only for himself, not fearing that anyone else was watching him, making sure that every technique that he used was perfect.
He raised and held his arms, breathing deeply, moving as though he was flowing water, every movement carefully calculated in his head, but at the same time, trying not to think too hard about what movement was going to come next.
“That was beautiful.” Regulus heard a voice after the last swells of music died down. He sighed and stepped down off pointe, “Do you always watch people when they aren’t aware of it?” Regulus asked, not needing to turn around to know that it was James who was standing in the doorway.
“Yeah, It’s kinda what I do.” James replied. Regulus scoffed, “So you admit that you’re a stalker?” He asked, grabbing his water bottle and finally turning around to face James, who looked like he was trying to piece together what Regulus was saying.
“I’m joking, you know,” Regulus said, turning to put down his water and stretch out his feet a bit, watching James in the mirror carefully. “Yeah, I knew that…” James said, placing his bag onto the floor. “You’ve been avoiding me all day.” He said. Regulus rolled his eyes, “I’m always avoiding you James.”
James blew out a breath and looked at Regulus, annoyance playing across his face, “I thought that you wouldn’t try so hard after finding out that we were partnered together.” He explained, sitting down to unlace his shoes.
“That was an assumption that you shouldn’t have made when clearly, I don’t like-” He was interrupted by James’ laugh, “Yeah yeah, I know that you don’t like me.”
Regulus huffed, coming down off pointe again, turning to face James who had made his way to stand at the barre next to him.
“So you come to seek me out? Did you put a tracker on me or something?” He asked, putting his hands on his hips and staring James down. “No, I just checked where you usually are, and good thing you were in the first place I checked.” Regulus furrowed his brows, he knew that James wouldn’t think to look in the farthest practice room from the dorms first.
Regulus narrowed his eyes, “You asked Pandora where I was didn’t you?” He asked, knowing that James didn’t put where he was together himself. James’ face fell, “That easy to tell?” He asked sheepishly, Regulus shook his head, “No. More like I know that my best friend loves to see me suffer.” He muttered, reminding himself to yell at Pandora as soon as he saw her.
James laughed, “Sounds a lot like my best friends.” He said, beginning to stretch while they spoke. “That doesn’t seem like something that Remus would do.” Regulus said, turning to watch himself in the mirror as he raised his arms above his head, tilting his ankle so that he slowly rolled up onto pointe.
And since he was looking in the mirror, he was able to see James watching him carefully.
“Doesn’t that shit hurt?” James asked, leaning onto the barre carefully, stretching forgotten. Regulus shook his head, “You get used to it after a while.” He explained, rolling back down. “I think that was the most words that you have said to me without looking absolutely disgusted.” James said.
Regulus crossed his arms and frowned, “It’s like I said earlier, we should at least try and pretend that we like each other to get through this.” James raised an eyebrow, “Who said that I didn’t like you?” He asked, Regulus felt his face grow hot, immediately looking at the floor, not daring to make eye contact with James.
“Stai zitto.” He said, James laughed loudly. “Just admit how much easier it would be if you weren’t at my throat the entire time we have to dance together.” He said. Regulus huffed and looked back up at James, who was raising an eyebrow in anticipation of Regulus’ response.
“Alright alright, it would be easier to get through this with someone I liked, but since I’m stuck with you, I think that I am able to at least try to get along with you.” Regulus said, sticking his hand out for James to shake for a truce.
James stared at Regulus for a moment, before awkwardly taking his hand and shaking it, “Now we are talking.” Regulus looked at James, confusion playing across his face, “We’ve been talking…” He said, picking a piece of lint off his sleeve. “It’s an expression.” James explained, Regulus felt his face grow hot again, “I knew that, I was just testing to see if you knew that.”
James laughed softly, “Alright, I’ll give you that.” He said, smiling at Regulus so that he knew that he was being genuine. There was an almost uncomfortable silence that fell over the room, before Regulus decided to break it.
“Okay James Potter, let’s see what you can do.” He said, stepping back and motioning for James to dance.
“What, right now?” He asked, looking at Regulus, an almost scared look playing across his face. Regulus nodded slowly, “No better time than the present!” He said clapping and moving to turn on music, swells of classical piano came from the speakers around the room.
James hesitated, watching Regulus with big brown eyes. It was just then that Regulus realized that James was wearing his contacts and not his glasses (Which made sense in the context of dancing, you couldn’t have your glasses flying off at every delicate spin.)
And James not wearing his glasses, was proving incredibly distracting.
“What did you even do to get into the academy? It seems like you have no idea how to dance.” Regulus called over the music, trying to ignore the thoughts of James’ eyes playing across his mind.
James stood there, clearly deep in thought, “I’m trying to think of what to do!” He [rotested, still standing by the barre. Regulus shook his head, sighing loudly, if James wasn’t going to take this time to show him what he could do, he was going to take the time to dance again.
Before a second though, Regulus pushed up and out, beginning to dance.
The only language that he spoke better than Italian was dance.
He moved through the room, the walls and mirror falling away into hallways, and then some, until it was just Regulus moving through space.
Just him and the music.
The music wrapped around Regulus, embracing him and holding him close to its chest. Allowing him to work off all the thoughts and anxieties that plagued him that day. Pushing everything completely out of his mind, the notes taking up every space and crevice in his body.
When the music faded, Regulus stood, his chest rising and falling as he took in deep breaths. Placing his hands on his hips, he tried to even out his breathing, before remembering that James was also standing in the room watching him.
He spun carefully to survey James’ reaction, finding James standing there, his jaw dropped, eyes locked on Regulus’ figure.
Regulus sighed loudly, “Since you decided that you suddenly decided you forgot how to dance, I thought that I would use the chance to work through some shit.” He said, shrugging and walking towards his water bottle.
James finally seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in, and closed his mouth, “Where the fuck did you learn to dance like that?” He asked, pushing a hand through his hair. “France?” Regulus said, swallowing down his water, “You move like nothing else matters in this world but dance.” James said.
“I will kill you if this leaves the room, but for a while, dance was the only thing in the world that mattered to me.” Regulus said, playing with the lid of his water bottle. “When I’m dancing, nothing else matters, that’s why I do what I do.” He explained, feeling extremely vulnerable as he started to explain himself.
James reached out, almost as if to put his hand comfortingly on Regulus’ arm, but thought better of it and dropped his hand to his side. “Thank you for sharing that with me Regulus.” He said, before pushing off the barre, “Since you shared that with me, I will show you what I did to get into the academy.” James said, causing Regulus to roll his eyes.
“You were going to show me anyway, but whatever helps you sleep at night.” He said, moving back to start a different song. James stood in the center of the room, his feet carefully positioned, tossing Regulus a nod telling him to play the music.
Regulus sighed and shook his head and pressed play, music swelling through the room again.
He carefully sat on the floor, to watch James. The way that the other boy danced was different from every other dancer that he saw.
Sirius moved as though he was gliding on ice, Pandora moved as she did through life, chaotically but beautiful, and Remus danced as though he was proving life something.
But the way that James moved, it was wild and precise, in a way that Regulus didn’t understand. He moved through the room, cool and calculated, technical. Hitting every movement as if he was born to do so, moving as though he was simultaneously not thinking about it, and thinking too much about it.
Then there was the wild side, which Regulus had no idea how to describe. There was something in the way that James’ eyes looked, like he was going to burn down the world with his dancing. His feet, although precise, stepped wildly, quickly moving through the steps.
When the music stopped, James stood in the middle of the room, where he had started, “Wow, you move in a way I don’t think I’ve ever seen.” Regulus said, his eyes following James to the barre. “You think so?” He asked, his eyes lighting up.
Regulus rolled his eyes at that reaction, “I wouldn’t say anything if I didn’t think it.”
James picked up his water bottle, taking a few swallows before speaking again, “What’s the hardest thing you know how to do?” He asked, trying to lean against the barre, but not realizing how far from the barre he actually was, and toppled over.
Regulus bit his lip, trying not to laugh, but inevitably failing, laughter tumbling out in waves, “It really wasn’t that funny.” James grumbled, pushing himself to a sitting position.
“With you? Everything is beyond funny.” Regulus responded, when he was able to suck a breath in and stop his laughter. “Maybe you shouldn’t stand there looking so pretty when I’m trying to be cool,” James shot back.
Regulus pushed down the blush that was trying to creep its way into coloring his cheeks, instead flipping James off, “Maybe if you’re lucky, next time I’ll show you the esmeralda variation that I know.” He said, beginning to pull off his pointe shoes.
“You can show me as long as I can try after you are done.” James said, his eyes never leaving Regulus, who turned to face him, “I would pay good money to watch you try.” He said, an eyebrow raised. “You say that almost like it’s impossible to do.” James said, pushing himself to be closer to Regulus.
“Well it certainly can’t be done if you haven’t trained, and practiced it as much as possible.” Regulus said, turning back to focus solely on taking his shoes off. He was willing himself not to meet James’ eyes again- bad things would happen to his ego if he did that.
James scoffed beside him as Regulus finished pulling off his shoes and began to stretch.
“I had a lot of fun.” James said, breaking the silence after a few minutes. Regulus looked over to James who was fiddling with the top of his water bottle, “I had.. A time.” He said, shoving his things into his bag.
Regulus focused on the task of making sure everything was in his bag, before shouldering his bag and standing up. Finally turning to look at James, who was smiling softly watching Regulus as though he was the last work of art hanging in the Louvre.
He shuffled his feet awkwardly, “Starai lì a fissarmi per il resto della notte?” Regulus asked, looking at James with his eyebrow raised.
“Pardon?” James asked, finally shouldering his own bag, “Do I need to call Sirius to translate again?” He asked, pulling his phone out. Regulus shook his head, “Sorry, It doesn’t matter.. I was just thinking aloud.” James nodded, “You ready to head back?” He looked down at the time on his phone.
“If we hurry, there will be time to shower before dinner.” He said, nodding his head towards the exit. Regulus didn’t wait for James and started to leave the studio, bending down to pull his shoes on at the door and heading down the long hallway.
He was halfway to the lifts before he could hear James painting as he jagged to try and catch up with him. “Jesus you move fast.” He said when he finally caught up. “I assumed that we would be walking back to the dorms separately.” Regulus said, pressing the lift button, not daring to look at James.
“Regulus.. We live on the same floor, literally five rooms apart.” James said, causing Regulus to stutter, “I- don’t have a response to that.” He admitted finally, looking down at his feet. James let out a laugh, “That is surprising, since you seem to always have a comeback ready when it comes to me.”
The lift doors opened and Regulus stepped in, “You know I could let these doors close and not feel an ounce of regret right?” He asked, watching James scramble to get into the lift before the doors closed. Regulus let out a laugh and pressed the button for their floor.
“I want to know why you act the way that you do.” James said, breaking the silence. Regulus felt his stomach drop, he was trying to be really careful to not let his real personality slip, he didn’t like letting people see the real him, and he thought he was doing a good job at it.
Was he not?
“That’s who I am.” Regulus decided that short answers were the way to go, and that they wouldn’t give too much away. James frowned, looking as though he wanted to say something else, but the ding of the lift cut him off.
As soon as the doors slid open Regulus ran, his feet slapping the ground as he tried to get to his room quickly as possible.
He dug into the pocket that he always put his key in, but his hand came up empty. Remembering that he lent his key to Barty who had lost yet another key, and Pandora was somewhere with Lily, he pulled his phone out to call Evan, but it went to voicemail.
“Merda!” he said, leaning his head against the cool wood of the door. James must have seen him struggling and materialized next to him. “Everything okay?” He asked, shifting his weight to lean against the wall. Regulus rolled his eyes, “Does it look like everything is okay James?” He asked, anger dripping off his words.
“I was just asking, you don’t need to bite my head off.” He said, holding his hands up in defense. Regulus was going to answer, but remembered that James and Sirius were in the same dorm.
“We are going to your room.” Regulus said, pushing himself off the door. “Wow, this is moving much quicker than I thought it would.” James teased, pushing himself up to follow.
Regulus swung around to face James, “Let’s get this out of the way now shall we? I am not interested in you like that, so get your mind out of the goddamn gutter!” He said, turning around so fast that his bag slapped him on the back, and stomped to James and Sirius’ door.
He raised his hand to knock, banging on the door, before waiting a few seconds and hearing the muffled voice of his brother before the door opened. “Regulus! To what do we owe the pleasure?” His brother asked.
“Sono chiuso fuori dal mio dormitorio e James è un dolore nel culo.” Regulus said, crossing his arms over his chest. He could feel James standing sheepishly behind him. Sirius just shook his head, “Non mi aspettato che perdessi una chiave.”
Regulus rolled his eyes, “Barty has it, so can I please come in?” He asked. Sirius sucked in a breath, looking between Regulus and James, before pushing the door fully open, “Sure, come in.” Regulus said nothing and pushed into the room.
His brother’s dorm was set up slightly differently than his own, there were still four beds but they were all in a different position than they were in his own.
The door to the bathroom was closed, and sitting cross legged on one bed was someone that Regulus could only assume was Peter. He looked up to see what the commotion was and moved the headphones off his ears, “You must be Regulus! My name is Peter! It’s nice to formally meet you!” He said.
Regulus felt his face soften. Peter seemed sweet, and didn’t deserve to meet Regulus after James had pissed him off. “It’s nice to meet you, you’re a pianist right?” He asked, stepping closer and sticking his hand out for Peter to shake.
Peter turned a deep shade of red, pushing hair out of his face, “Yes! I also choreograph a little bit.” He explained after shaking Regulus’ hand. “Oh! Did you dance?” Regulus asked, shifting his bag higher up on his shoulder. “I did, but unfortunately I was in a horrible accident which ended my career.” Peter explained, Regulus felt his heart drop, he didn’t know what he would do without dance, but Peter seemed to be doing really well.
“I’m so sorry to hear that.” Regulus said, because he was, dance was his everything, and it sucked that it was ripped away from Peter. “No worries! It really sucked when it happened, but I love the piano so it all worked out!” Peter said, smiling at Regulus.
“He’s really good at it! Unlike me, do you remember the racket I caused when they tried to put me in piano lessons?” Sirius piped up, moving to stand next to his brother.
Regulus laughed, “A piece of advice, don’t let my brother near a piano unless you want to lose your hearing.” Peter nodded, “Noted.” He said with a laugh.
“Do you mind if I put my headphones back on? I have to finish this composition by tomorrow and I have a lot to do.” He said before pausing, “I don’t want to be rude.” Regulus shook his head, “Go ahead!” Peter nodded a thanks and went back to the papers in front of him.
Regulus turned to face Sirius, “Remus è qui?” He asked, his brother nodded, opening his mouth to respond, just as the bathroom door clicked open.
“There had better be a fucking fire with the commotion that I have been hearing.” Remus said as he stepped out of the bathroom, towel drying his hair. “Remus! Thank god!” Regulus said. As soon as Remus saw him, his face broke out into a grin, “Regulus, I didn’t expect to see you, did we have plans?” He asked, suddenly looking worried that he might have forgotten something.
Regulus shook his head, “I let Barty borrow my keys, and I can’t get ahold of Evan or Pandora.” He explained, dropping his bag to the floor. Remus nodded, “Ah yes, the key issue.” He looked over Regulus’ shoulder and saw James, before looking back at Regulus with an eyebrow raised.
“Don’t ask.” He muttered, “Why does Remus get a nice hello and all I get is anger?” James asked, Regulus could tell by his voice that he was pouting. Regulus rolled his eyes, “That’s because Remus doesn’t make me want to pull all my hair out by the roots.” He said, turning around to look at James.
“Wow Regulus I didn’t know I could make you feel such an emotion so strongly.” James said and Regulus wanted to choke him. He turned to Sirius, “Vedi cosa intendo?” He asked, Sirius shrugged, “Lo so, vivo con lui.”
Regulus sighed, suddenly remembering that he wanted to shower, “Can I use your shower? And borrow clothes? Please?” He asked. He knew that Sirius would be a tiny bit annoyed that he was asking to borrow his clothes, but he was desperate.
Sirius bit his lip, “Va bene, ma mi devi.” He said, pointing at Regulus. “Grazi!” He said, watching as Sirius pulled clothing out of his still unpacked suitcase and threw it at Regulus. “Be quick, I don’t want to be late to dinner.” Sirius said. Regulus nodded and stepped into the bathroom, intending to take the quickest shower that he could.
He did however take his time trying to get his curls to fall correctly. Once they had finally fallen in the correct position, he stepped back out of the bathroom, to a room empty except for Remus who was flipping through Regulus’ book.
“You know how much it pains me that you write in your books?” Remus asked, tossing the book back onto his bed. Regulus rolled his eyes, “You’re just mad that my notes are written in Italian and you can’t understand it.” He said, leaning down to pull his shoes back onto his feet.
Remus laughed, “Reg, I can’t even understand half of your books because they are in French or Italian.” Regulus stood up to stare at Remus, his hands on his hips, “I have books in English too!” He protested.
Remus laughed before pushing himself to his feet, and pulling on his own shoes.
“Come on, we have to leave now, I stayed back so that you didn’t have to spend any more time with James.” Remus explained. Regulus nodded gratefully, “I really appreciate that.” He mumbled picking up his dance bag to shove his dirty clothing into. “If I had to spend any more time with him and his stupid questions, I think I would have actually torn out all my hair.”
Remus laughed as they made their way down the hallway, “What even irritates you about James?” He asked as they stood in front of the lift. “Everything, he’s arrogant, full of himself and he acts like he’s god’s gift to dancing, not to mention the fact that he asks way too many questions.”
Remus nodded, “You make some good points, but you should try to give him a break, he’s like an overexcited puppy sometimes.” He said. Regulus sighed. He knew that he should probably be nicer to James but there was something that was holding him back- and besides he really didn’t like James’ questions.
But when they were alone in the dance studio earlier that night, he saw a whole different side to James that he hated to admit that he liked. James was still pretty arrogant when he was around other people, but when Regulus was alone with him, it seemed like his entire personality flipped. He was actually pretty observant, and Regulus hated that he paid attention to the way other people danced.
James was also a brilliant dancer, and something gnawed at Regulus’ stomach when he admitted that to himself. The fact that someone so loud was able to move through space the way that james did was downright impressive.
“Earth to Reg?” Remus’ voice cut like a knife through Regulus’ thoughts; he hadn’t realized that the door to the lift had opened and Remus had already stepped in, and Regulus was standing there like an idiot. Regulus stepped out silently, “Jesus I need to get my head on right.” He muttered.
Remus looked like he wanted to pry, but decided better and just shrugged. The walk to the canteen was silent. Regulus was hoping that James hadn’t decided to sit with them at their usual table, plus he needed to have string words with Barty about keeping track of keys so this wouldn’t happen again.
As they entered, Regulus’ eyes scanned the room, catching the dark curls of Barty, sitting right next to Evan. He exchanged a look with Remus before stomping over to where they were sitting, ignoring everyone except for the target of his anger.
“Barty! Where the fuck are my keys?” He demanded.
Barty looked up at Regulus with a grin that slowly grew smaller, “Listen, I was going to text you to see where you were so that I was able to return them, except I forgot.” He explained. Regulus folded his arms over his chest, “I was locked out.” He said, his anger softening.
He realized that he wasn’t able to stay angry at Barty, since he reminded him so much of Sirius.
“There is one other thing that you aren’t going to like very much.” Barty said after a few seconds of silence.
“I swear to fuck Barty if you lost my key-” He started, he looked at Barty who was gazing up sheepishly at Regulus with a lopsided smile.
“Uh, oops?” He said.
Regulus sighed loudly, scrubbing his face with his hands.
“Just, please for the love of everything that is holy, tell me you got more?” He asked, sitting down next to Pandora.
Barty nodded, “I got two new sets, and Evan is making me buy something that you can put on your key so that I can keep track of them.”
Regulus turned to look at Evan, who nodded before looking at Barty, “And you’re never going to use Regulus’ keys again right?” Evan asked.
Barty waved his hand, “Yeah, yeah, never using his keys again, even if it’s a life or death situation.”
Evan rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, “You are the most dramatic person I have ever met in my life.” Barty grinned, “But you love me all the same.” He said.
Regulus sighed, watching the two of them flirt was painful, it was so obvious that they were in love, they should really have a conversation, put everyone around them out of their misery.
When Regulus finally tuned back into the conversation, Evan was laughing, “I left my phone in the dorm, I didn’t mean for it to seem like I was ignoring you.” He said, turning to look at Regulus.
“I’m not angry at you for that.” Regulus explained, “You're not the one who constantly loses his keys.” He threw Barty a pointed glare, “But Pandora-” Barty started, but Regulus held up his hand to cut him off, “Pandora can do no wrong, so don’t even try to bring her into it.” Pandora made a heart with her fingers at Regulus
Barty crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. There was a snort from across the table =, and Regulus was suddenly aware that James was watching the entire conversation.
“Perché cazzo è qui?” Regulus asked, looking pointedly at his brother, who was making it his goal to not meet his brother’s eyes. “Devi essere sempre coglione?” Sirius mumbled, his mouth full of half chewed food.
Regulus rolled his eyes, but decided to not bite back at him. Pandora pushed a plate of him, “Is that the shirt I gave Sirius for his birthday?” SHe asked, as Regulus was about to thank her. “Is it?” He asked, finally looking down at the clothing that Sirius had thrown at him before he showered.
It was one of the band shirts that Pandora had given Sirius a couple of years ago for his birthday. It was a band that Sirius had tried to get Regulus into but it never caught on, much to Sirius’ disappointment.
“Well, I highly doubt you would listen to Pearl Jam, so it seems quite unlikely that you would have a shirt for them.” Pandora said, Regulus made a face, “You can’t ever understand what they are saying, no offense Siri.” He said. Sirius made a face and dropped his fork in offense, “I cannot believe that you said you can’t ever understand what Pearl Jam is saying. I am shocked and appalled.”
Regulus rolled his eyes again, “I like two of their songs, everything else? Can’t stand it.” He said, finally taking a bite of his food, “Oh, and the sad boy music that you listen to is so much better.” Sirius retorted.
Pandora giggled, “He listens to other things!” She protested.
Sirius was right in a way- Regulus did enjoy sad music, but he also liked most of the bands that Sirius had shown him, and honestly half of that took up his Spotify.
But there were a couple of bands that Sirius loved that Regulus absolutely despised.
The conversation came to a lull after Pandora had spoken, only to be broken by Remus sitting down next to Sirius, who looked like Remus was the one who hung the moon.
“Alright Remus?” He asked and the other boy nodded softly. “What were we talking about?” He asked, taking a sip of his water.
“Regulus’ horrible taste in music.” James supplied, earning a nasty look from Regulus. “I don’t think that Regulus has terrible taste.” Remus said and Regulus felt his heart soar at the thought that Remus agreed with him.
“It’s just, questionable.” Remus finished, and now Regulus would like to kill him.
“All of you are just jealous that I know how to choose music that has lyrics that mean something!” Regulus said, throwing his napkin on his plate the second he was done eating. Sirius tossed his own napkin at Regulus, “Pearl Jam songs have meaning!”
Regulus sighed loudly.
James looked as though he was thoroughly enjoying the conversation unfolding in front of him, and Regulus decided that instead of engaging with the conversation, he wanted to watch James to see his reactions and how he engaged with the rest of the world.
He didn’t care if that came across as creepy; Regulus enjoyed people watching. You could always tell the way that someone saw the world through watching people’s reactions to it, and that was something that always intrigued Regulus.
There were a few things that Regulus noticed about James from watching him. The first thing was that James listened, really really, well. Everytime someone spoke, James’ eyes were drawn to them, not exactly making eye contact, but certainly watching and listening.
The second thing was that Regulus really did prefer James wearing his glasses.
He didn’t know why, but staring at James without glasses made him feel a bit uneasy.
And oh did Regulus hate that.
James didn’t notice that Regulus was staring at him so intensely.
But Pandora certainly did.
He didn’t know who suggested that they should leave the canteen, but as soon as it was, they were exiting and walking towards the elevator. Pandora swooped into Regulus, taking his arm in her own, “So, you were staring at James very intensely during dinner tonight.” She hummed.
Regulus scoffed, “I was trying to set him on fire with my mind.” Pandora threw her head back in laughter, “I don’t think so, but you can keep lying to yourself if you really need to.” Regulus sighed loudly, he really didn’t want to have this conversation when he had so many other things on his mind.
“You don’t have to talk about it now, but you will have to eventually.” Pandora said, Regulus sighed again, “No, I don’t think I will, because there is nothing to talk about.” He said. Pandora breathed out, “If you said so.” She said, clearly deciding to drop the subject.
There wasn’t anything to talk about, Regulus’ feelings about James hadn’t changed, and it was very unlikely that they would.
Regulus and Pandora were left behind as there was no more room in the lift for them.
“So, how was your date with Lily?” He asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Pandora turned a deep shade of red, “It wasn’t a date!” She said, her voice getting a little bit higher as it did whenever she lied.
“Whatever you want to tell yourself, Panda, whatever you want to tell yourself.”