Grand Jeté
Regulus wouldn't say that he’s avoiding James.
But if you asked anyone else,
He was definitely avoiding James.
It wasn’t like he was making it a goal to avoid him, it just sort of… happened.
The fact was, Regulus was a busy man, and no matter what anyone else thought, he had things to do.
Now those things include him hiding in the back corner of the library, a nose in a book and headphones over his ears.
And it was going pretty well, except in true James fashion, he somehow found him.
Regulus was in the middle of writing a very serious note in the margins of his book when he felt a tap on his shoulder, causing him to jump and let out a string of curses in Italian.
Several people were shooting glares in their direction, when Regulus removed his headphones he could understand why James' head was thrown back in loud laughter.
Regulus rolled his eyes, “Do you not know how to act in a library?” He asked, placing his bookmark between the pages of his book before closing it.
James took a deep breath, “I do actually. It might come as a surprise but I do know how to read.” Regulus sighed, “I never said that you don’t know how to read, I just said that you don’t know how to act in a library.”
“What are you reading anyway?” James asked, ignoring Regulus’ previous statements, and grabbing the book out of his hands. Regulus just stared at him, “I don’t know, you tell me.” He said, watching James try to figure out what the cover said.
“I can’t read Italian.” James said finally, handing the book back to Regulus. “It’s actually in French but nice try.” He said, taking his book back from James, who was still staring at him, as if he was waiting for Regulus to tell him what the book was.
Regulus sighed, “It’s called Sphinx.” He said. “Like the cat?” James asked, sitting on the table next to Regulus, who rolled his eyes at James’ comment. “I guess.” He said, moving to place the book back into his bag, his eyes finally catching onto James’ face.
He was wearing his glasses today.
Regulus hated when James wore his glasses.
Because he looked so good.
And Regulus hated that.
“So are you going to tell me what it’s about?” James asked, shaking Regulus from his thoughts. “If you think it’s about cats, you are going to be very disappointed.” He replied, shouldering his bag and standing up. James looked momentarily heartbroken, “You mean to tell me that a book named after a cat has nothing to do with them?” He asked.
Regulus sighed, as he started to walk towards the exit. “It’s so much better than a book about cats.” He said. James tripped over himself to follow Regulus out of the library, “How can a book that isn’t about cats be better than a book about cats?” James asked, pouting.
“Because it’s a story about love and loss.” Regulus explained, keeping his eyes on the floor, his cheeks heating up a bit as he tried to pull the words to explain his favorite novel out of his brain. “How much do you know about the French language?” He asked, Regulus could hear James stop to think.
“Honestly, not that much.” James responded. Regulus took a deep breath, “French is a very gendered language.” James nodded, “Like Spanish?” He asked. Regulus nodded, “Everything has a gender in both languages, right?” He asked, James nodded again, “Right.” He agreed.
“So using certain words to describe people is always gendered.” Regulus said, finally peeling his eyes off the floor to take a look at the expression that was crossing James’ face and he was surprised to see that James was hanging onto every word that left his mouth.
Usually when Regulus started talking about books, the people around him tuned him out.
“You were saying?” James asked. Regulus shook his head quickly. “Anyways, since everything is extremely gendered in the French language, this book-” He paused, searching his brain for the correct words to explain what he wanted to say.
“Neither of the main characters have a gender, it’s never revealed and never stated, so it’s up to the reader to come to their own conclusions.” Regulus explained, as they made their way down the winding halls of the academy.
“How is that even possible?” James asked, falling into Regulus’ quick pace. Regulus shrugged, “I am unsure how she did it, but it’s so beautiful, and tragic.”
“That actually does sound much better than a book about cats.” James said and Regulus felt the smile that always crept up when people were interested in what he had to say. “It’s my favorite book in the entire world.” Regulus said quietly.
James smiled, “I can see why, gender tends to get in the way when moving through life.” Regulus’ eyes snapped up to James.
That was the most profound thing he had ever heard James say.
It wasn’t that Regulus didn’t think that James could be profound, it was that everytime they were together, James seemed to say the dumbest things ever.
Regulus nodded, “You are very correct with saying that.” He hated how dumb that sentence sounded as soon as it left his mouth. Here James was saying something amazing about how gender got in the way of things, and Regulus’ response was downright awful.
“I just believe that gender was created to be fucked with.” James said to continue on with what he was saying previously, Regulus was grateful that James seemed to ignore his dumb comment.
“Gender is beyond complicated but yet too simple at the same time.” Regulus said, nodding along to what James was saying. “See! That’s why I think that it should be fucked with.” James said, smiling brightly at Regulus.
And oh did that Regulus’ heart soar.
At some point they had made it to the canteen, which Regulus wasn’t even aware that they were walking towards. “I think that was the first conversation that we’ve had where you weren’t telling me to fuck off.” James said, pausing before pulling the door open and holding it so that Regulus could walk through first.
“The night is still young.” Regulus responded, seeing Pandora waving her hand over her head to catch his attention. James laughed and began walking over to the table that now, instead of only Regulus’ friends, also held all of Sirius’ friends as well.
When they arrived, Pandora raised an eyebrow at him, “Ne dis pas un mot.” Regulus shot towards Pandora as he sat down. She raised her hands at him, and opened her mouth to say something, but one look from Regulus and she thought better of it and stayed silent.
Pandora carefully pushed a plate in front of him, “Merci..” He said, picking up his fork carefully. He stuck a bite of food into his mouth before glancing around the table, “Where’s Remus?” He asked, his eyes picking up that Remus was nowhere to be seen.
“It’s Friday, he’s off campus at synagogue.” Peter said, looking up from his plate to respond. He nodded, remembering Remus mentioning that he goes off campus every Friday so that he was able to spend the sabbath with his parents.
“Don’t worry Reggie, I’m sure that he will be back in no time.” Barty said, through a mouthful of food. Pandora made a face, smacking Barty on the back of his head. “God do you have any manners?” She asked. Barty opened his mouth to respond, “It was a rhetorical question.” Pandora said, before he could even think of responding.
Evan rolled his eyes, turning them back to make eye contact with Regulus, “So where did you go off to hide today?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. Regulus made sure to shovel food into his mouth so that he didn’t have to respond, but of course, James was there to answer the question for him.
“The back corner of the library. Took me forever to find him, but I have to thank Pandora for the guidance of where he would be.” James said, smiling at Pandora. Regulus swallowed his food, “Pourquoi ne pouvez-vous pas me laisser lire en paix?” He asked, shooting Pandora a glare.
She shrugged, “Je ne sais pas de quoi tu parles.” Regulus flipped her off. He loved Pandora more than he could ever put into words, but she also knew exactly how to get under his skin and irritate him.
He was still shooting a glare at Pandora when Sirius interrupted him, “Pete are you coming to the party tonight?” He asked, Peter put his glass down, a smile crossing his face, “I’ll see if I have time.” Regulus’ ears perked up at the conversation of a party.
“Do you have yet another date?” James asked, looking at Peter, who was grinning back, “What can I say? The ladies love me, isn’t that right Pandora?” He asked, shooting her a wink in her direction, causing Pandora's cheeks to turn a deep shade of red.
“You’re ridiculous.” Regulus muttered at Pandora, when she finally broke out of her trance, “What can I say, he is very charming.” She said with a shrug. Causing Regulus to shake his head, he caught James’ eyes from across the table. “He is a looker.” He admitted, tearing his eyes away from James and looking at Peter.
He knew that James’ eyes were still on Regulus, and so he decided that he needed to have a little bit of fun to gauge James’ level of jealousy. Peter was grinning at Regulus, “I do happen to go both ways.” Peter said, resting his elbows on the table to get a better look at Regulus.
“Peter and I were each others first kiss!” James blurted out, causing the entire table to go silent and turn their heads to look at him. Sirius snorted before bursting into a fit of laughter, “What a weird time to bring that up.” Peter was doubled over clutching his stomach from laughter.
“Je ne pense pas qu’il ait aimé que flirtes avec Peter.” Pandora said, making eye contact with Evan who nodded in agreement with Pandora. “I can do whatever I want.” Regulus retorted, pushing himself to his feet, “Sirius, if you come with me right now, I’ll let you pick my outfit.” He said, looking down at where his brother was sitting.
Sirius scrambled to his feet, which caused Regulus to smile, he knew that his brother loved picking out clothing for Regulus to wear, that was what Sirius was most excited for when Regulus first came out to him.
He remembered how excited Sirius was to show him everything that it meant to be a boy, as well as take Regulus shopping right away and telling him to pick out clothes.
It was a memory that Regulus held dear.
Even if that trip had ended in a loud argument about what would look better on Regulus.
Sirius trotted after Regulus, “Are you really going to allow me to pick out anything?” Sirius asked as they pushed through the doors that led to the long hallway. “Sì, se non parli troppo.” Regulus said, hitting the button to call the lift, “I don’t talk that much.” Sirius said with a frown.
Regulus rolled his eyes, “More like you never stop.” He muttered, stepping carefully into the lift as soon as the doors opened. Sirius sighed loudly, “I just have a lot to say.” Regulus rolled his eyes again, shaking his head.
They rode in silence the rest of the way to the dorm floor, stepping off still cloaked in silence. Regulus was the one to finally break the silence between them, “Do you want to use your clothes or mine?” He asked, as they made their way down the hallway, “Reg, you know my clothes are better than yours.” Sirius responded, tugging Regulus towards his room.
Regulus decided that this was the perfect time to look up at the ceiling and beg whatever was up there to save him from the tragedy that was going to befall him as he put his fate into his brother's hands.
“Non farmi sembrare ridicolo per favore.” Regulus said, as Regulus pushed him into the dorm. “Gesù cristo, do you guys ever clean?” He asked, wrinkling his nose as he stepped over a pile of Sirius’ shoes.
“Don’t be stupid, of course we don’t.” Sirius said, almost faceplaning over the same pile of shoes Regulus had carefully avoided. “I don’t know how Remus puts up with you three.” Regulus said, watching as Sirius started kicking the pile of shoes away from the door.
“He loves us.” Was Sirius’ response. He stood up and put his hands on his hips, “Now, how am I going to fix all this.” He said, gesturing to what Regulus was currently wearing. Regulus made a face and flipped him off, “I don’t know why you have decided that everything I wear is tragic.”
Sirius ignored him, pulling open a chest of drawers and throwing shirts over his shoulder. Regulus made another face, “Sei un fottuto casino.” Sirius finally seemed to have found what he was looking for, whipping around and holding up a shirt for Regulus.
“Absolutely fucking not.” Regulus said, Sirius threw it at him, “You’re going to wear this and you are going to be happy about it.” Regulus reluctantly picked up the shirt, carefully holding it up; he knew that allowing Sirius to pick out his outfit would turn out this way.
The shirt that Sirius had thrown at Regulus’ face was a crop top that Sirius had made, and it was of a shirt that Regulus had been looking for since February of last year.
It was a faded black Bowie shirt that was cropped enough to lay over Regulus’ belly button.
“Was this mine?” He asked, still holding and examining the shirt. Sirius turned away from the suitcase that was spilling all over the floor, he smirked, “You never wore it, I needed shirts.” Regulus sighed, “So you decided to try your hand at stealing?” He asked.
Sirius was grinning ear to ear, “What is it you said? ‘Quello che è mio è tuo’?” He said, placing his hands at his hips and staring at his younger brother. “Within reason!” Regulus protested, “I asked you a million times if you’ve seen this exact shirt!”
Regulus had to admit that Sirius’ commitment to pretending that the shirt had been lost to the wind was impressive. He had never seen Sirius so adamant to something that he stole being lost.
Sirius just shrugged, “You have it back now, I don’t see what the issue is.” Regulus sighed loudly, this was a fight that he was just going to have to forget, it wasn’t worth it, and Sirius was right, at least now he had the shirt back.
Even if it was now cropped to hell.
“What pants am I wearing?” He asked, folding the shirt and placing it next to him on the bed. He watched as Sirius disappeared into the suitcase again, “Are you ever planning on unpacking?” He asked, his eyes going to another suitcase that was overturned and spilling things onto the floor.
“What’s the point? I know where everything is.” Was Sirius’ response, which Regulus knew was a lie, Sirius never knew where anything was at any given point. Sirius made a noise of accomplishment and pulled out a pair of ripped jeans, “Here, put that on and then come back out here.”
Regulus sighed and pushed himself off his brother’s bed and headed to the bathroom to change, he was secretly excited to see how the outfit was going to come together. He quickly ditched the clothes that he had been wearing all day, pulling on the clothes that Sirius had thrown at his head.
He looked at himself in the mirror carefully, taking in the way that everything hung off him. Trying to get used to the feeling of clothing that he definitely wouldn’t have chosen for himself, but coming to the conclusion that he didn’t hate it.
Regulus nodded at himself in the mirror before stepping back out to show his brother.
“I have outdone myself.” Was Sirius’ response when he laid eyes on what Regulus was wearing. “Yeah yeah, give yourself a pat on the back.” He muttered, “Are we done now?” Sirius shook his head, “Now we add makeup, but don’t worry, only a bit of eyeliner, and if you don’t like it, you can take it off.” Sirius promised.
Regulus took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Okay, not too much though?” He asked. “Not anything more than what you wear on stage.” Sirius uncapped his eyeliner, “You ready?” He asked, Regulus nodded.
He closed his eyes and allowed Sirius to start lining them carefully, “I’ve never heard you this quiet.” Regulus said, breaking the silence between them. “I’m focusing.” Was Sirius’ only response, “You should focus on more things, if it gets you to shut up.” Regulus said.
“You can open your eyes.” Sirius said. Regulus blinked his eyes a few times trying to get his vision back from his eyes being closed for so long. “Well? What do you think?” Sirius asked, Regulus stared at his brother for a few moments, “I would be able to tell you what I think if I had a mirror in front of me.”
Sirius cursed lightly in Italian, shuffling to try and find a mirror to hold up in front of Regulus’ face. “Here, try that.” Sirius said, pushing a small mirror into Regulus’ outstretched hand.
He held the mirror up, staring into his own eyes that were so lightly lined, that if Regulus didn’t know his own face, he would think that’s just the way that his eyes looked.
“Non male…” Regulus muttered, putting the mirror down and looking at his brother. “You actually did a really good job.” Sirius grinned, and Regulus could feel his face turning up into a smile.
It didn’t take much for his brother to smile, but Regulus was always happy when it was something that he said that turned Sirius’ face into a wide smile.
“I have had many years of practice.” Sirius responded. Regulus rolled his eyes, “You know you could have just taken the compliment and not said anything in response.” Sirius shrugged, “Sì, but what’s the fun in that?” He asked.
Regulus pushed to his feet, “Well thank you for styling me, now I’m going back to my room to try and finish the reading that was so rudely interrupted.” He said, brushing invisible dirt off his jeans.
He was halfway through shoving his clothing into his bag when Sirius spoke up again.
“You know James means well.”
Regulus stopped what he was doing instantly.
“No, he means to irritate the ever loving shit out of me.” Regulus responded, picking up his bag that had fallen to the floor, he made it his goal to not look at Sirius in the eyes. He was really hoping that escaping the canteen in a dramatic exit, would stop his brother from pushing the topic of James any further.
Sirius sighed loudly, “Why do you always do this?” He asked, Regulus threw his bag over his shoulder, “I don’t know what you are talking about.” He responded, finally making eye contact with him.
His brother rubbed his hands over his face, “Non puoi continuare a scappare dai tuoi problemi.” Regulus took a step back, his face shifting so that he was glaring down at Sirius, “Like you know so much about not running from your problems.”
Sirius sat up, “Regulus per favore, sono serio.” Regulus rolled his eyes, “Posso gestire me stesso Sirius.” He said, shoving his feet into his shoes, “I’ll see you later.”
He left the room before he could hear Sirius’ response.
Regulus sighed loudly as soon as he was in the hallway, he knew that he should scramble to his room before Sirius decided that he wanted to continue the conversation. He shoved his hand into his bag and pulled his keys out, making his way to his door and shoving it open.
Luckily the only person that had made their way back to the dorm was Pandora, who was trying to brush her hair. “Uh oh, I know what that face means, what did he say this time?” She asked, putting her brush down and patting the bed beside her.
He kicked off his shoes and tossed his bag onto a chair, “He just decided that he needed to lecture me about how James means well.” He said, throwing himself face first onto Pandora’s lavender scented duvet. His best friend patted his head carefully, “You know that Sirius has the best intentions, he’s just trying to save you from too much frustration.”
Regulus turned over, so that he was looking at the wood beams that were criss crossing the ceiling. “I know he means well Dora, but he makes me want to pull out all my hair sometimes.” Pandora nodded knowingly, she was the only other person besides himself that had known Sirius for a long time.
She hummed softly, twirling curls of Regulus’ hair, “I am so glad that I’m an only child.” Regulus laughed, “Count your lucky stars.” He mumbled. Pandora smiled, “But in all seriousness, you need to understand that he wants what’s best for you.” She held her hand up so that Regulus didn’t interrupt her.
“But I do agree with you, the way that he goes about it is extremely frustrating.” She finished, Regulus nodded, “That’s just Sirius though, he’s like that and I am sure that you of all people understand that.” Pandora said, patting Regulus’ head carefully.
“I kinda was an asshole to him.” Regulus said, brushing a curl that had fallen into his eyes. “You? An asshole?” Pandora asked, feigning shock.
“Please, as if you don’t have your moments.” Regulus said, rolling his eyes. “I never said that.” Pandora said, winking.
Regulus felt the corners of his lips curl up into a smile, he could always count on Pandora to talk him off a cliff.
He didn’t know what he would do without her.
“Now come on, help me tame my hair so we can meet Evan and Barty on the roof.” She said, nudging Regulus’ shoulder with her knee. Regulus scrunched up his face, “The roof?” He asked, pushing himself up on his elbows to look at Pandora. “That’s where all the parties are during the summer and early autumn.” She said, as if Regulus had somehow conjured up that knowledge in his head.
“And I should have known that how?” He asked, grabbing the brush that Pandora was holding out to him. “I thought that Barty would have mentioned it a million times by now.” She said, turning her back so that Regulus was able to start brushing her hair.
“Barty talks too quickly for me to follow him about ninety percent of the time.” He admitted.
Pandora laughed lightly, “I’m sure you will start picking up bits and pieces of what he is saying soon enough.” She said Regulus wasn’t so sure about that.
Barty seemed to be running through his own world, and everyone else around him was supposed to sprint to keep up.
—--
By the time Regulus had managed to comb through Pandora’s wild curls, it was almost time to meet Barty and Evan for the party. Sirius seemed to have forgotten all about their little fight and had texted Regulus to tell him to wear the doc martens instead of his normal shoes to finish up the outfit.
Regulus could feel the anxiety curling in the pits of his stomach as he followed Pandora up to the roof. He had never been one for parties, but he had never been to a place like this before.
The whole rooftop was shrouded in fairy lights, casting twinkling shadows onto the ground, there were several people that Regulus recognized from different classes but couldn’t put names to.
Pandora tugged at his arm, “Allez! Nous ne pouvons pas rester ici toute la nuit!” She said, pulling Regulus to the group that Sirius and Evan were standing with.
“Sirius, you owe me twenty bucks.” Evan said as he saw them heading towards them.
“You made a bet on me?” Regulus asked, watching Sirius grumble and reach into his pocket and pull a crumbled twenty out and slap it into Evan’s hand.
“What can I say? I thought you weren’t going to show.” Sirius said, shrugging. Regulus rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his chest, “I even wore the boots you asked me to.”
Sirius smiled, “You actually listened for once!” Regulus flipped him off, causing a loud laugh from Evan. Pandora smiled, her eyes flicking to the door, “Oh, James Potter incoming.” She said, turning on her heel and walking towards the drink table.
Regulus sighed loudly, so much for her sticking by him.
“Is that Regulus Black?” James’ voice came from behind him, Regulus took a deep breath before turning around to face him. “James, we literally saw each other less than two hours ago.” He said. His eyes met James’ face and he saw that he had stopped in his tracks and his jaw dropped open.
“James honey, close your mouth, you’re going to catch flies.” Remus said, materializing out of nowhere, placing a finger at the bottom of James’ jaw and pushing it closed. “But- how- he-” James started and finished.
Remus just nodded, handing Regulus one of the plastic cups that he was holding. “I got this for you, and you better like it, I almost had to fight Barty for it.” He said, Regulus took the cup gratefully, “Is he ever going to speak in complete sentences again?”
“That depends on how long it’s going to take him to calibrate his mind back to not thinking a million thoughts at once.” Remus explained, taking a careful sip from his own cup, his eyes flicking up and down Regulus’ frame. “Nice outfit.” He said.
Regulus looked at his boots, “You can thank Sirius for picking it out.” Remus laughed, “I could tell that this wouldn’t be something that you would have picked out for yourself.” Regulus rolled his eyes, “I could have if I really wanted to.” He muttered.
“Sure you could have, you keep telling yourself that.” Remus said, smiling over the rim of his cup. “Sono circondato da stronzi…” Regulus said, shooting a glare in Remus’ direction. “Reggie, if you want to insult me, you're going to have to do it in English so I can understand it.” Remus said, shooting a wink in Regulus’ direction.
“Remus! When did you get back?” James finally seemed as though he had shaken himself out of the trance that he had been in when Remus had first shown up to the party. “James, I’ve been standing right in front of you for a solid eight minutes.” Remus said, shaking his head and looking at Regulus, who giggled lightly at the look on Remus’ face.
“Oh, of course I knew that, I was making sure that you know how long you’ve bee-” Remus held up his hand and interrupted him. “James, you’re making a fool of yourself.”
Regulus could tell that James was flustered, and he knew that it was all because of the outfit that Sirius had picked out for him.
Thankfully, before Regulus could think about what he wanted to say, Sirius bounded over to join them. “James! Remus! Just the people that I wanted to see!” He said, looping his arms over Remus and James’ shoulders.
Regulus scoffed, “What about your brother, who also happens to be standing right here?” He asked.
Sirius rolled his eyes, “Reggies, Sempre un piacere.” Regulus shook his head, “Vorrei porter dire lo stesso.” He said, tilting his cup back so that the last of the shitty beer Remus had brought him was gone and done.
“Do you always have to be a bitch?” Sirius asked, Regulus flipped him off, “I learned from the best.” He shot back, holding Sirius in a glare.
The two brothers held each other’s gazes, both daring the other to look away first.
“Okay who started this? If you guys don’t break this apart right now they will be doing this all night.” Pandora said, suddenly appearing at Regulus’ side. “All night? Are you sure?” James asked, Regulus could see him turn his head from side to side from the corner of his eye.
Pandora tugged at Regulus’ shoulder gently, “Reggie I swear to god I will start speaking Italian if you don’t stop.”
That broke Regulus out of his trance quickly, “Please spare yourself that embarrassment.” he said, turning his head to plead with Pandora, who was smiling. “That would mean that I have the capability to feel embarrassed, which I don’t, so that seems like a terrible argument against it.” She said, smiling brightly.
Regulus rolled his eyes, “How I got stuck with you as a best friend is beyond me.” He muttered, Pandora pressed a kiss to his cheek, “You love me and you can’t deny that.” She said, reaching up to ruffle Regulus’ hair.
“Do you really want to push your luck at this moment?” He asked, right before Pandora’s hand could make contact with his carefully placed curls. She dropped her hand to her side and pouted, “You’re no fun! Sirius, tell Regulus that he’s no fun.” Sirius tossed his head back in laughter, “You said it Pandora, not me.”
Regulus sighed, “You are both going to be the end of me.” He said, Pandora looped her arm into his, “Come on Reggie, you know you’ve stolen my heart away, I’ve just been waiting around for you to give it back.” She said, leaning her head onto Regulus’ shoulder.
James was staring at them intensely, as if he was trying to figure out if there was something more going on between the two.
“Oh come off it James, Pandora is Regulus’ best friend, nothing more, nothing less.” Sirius said, “Now if you could stop squeezing the shit out of that cup, we can get on with the rest of our nights.”
Regulus’ eyes broke away from James’ to take a look at the mangled cup that was spilling beer all over the floor, he smirked a little, he didn’t understand what about himself made James react in these seemingly uncharacteristic ways, but he would be lying to himself if he didn’t admit that it made him smirk.
—---
The party was well underway, the entire rooftop was filled with several dancers from all parts of the world, and Regulus was genuinely enjoying himself, he had found himself in a long conversation with Barty and Evan, and all three of them were laughing at the way that Lily Evans had come and dragged Pandora away not too long ago.
“I think it’s finally happening with them.” Barty slurred, throwing his arm over Evan’s shoulder. “Please, Pandora is still allowing herself to be wooed, and I should know, I have known her for the longest.” Regulus said, lifting the plastic cup that he was holding to his lips. “If it was finally happening, I would be the first to know.”
Evan rolled his eyes, “Barty, why are you so interested in Pandora’s love life, don’t you have one of your own that you could be focusing on?” Barty looked as though he thought about that for exactly three seconds before responding, “There may be something, I’m waiting to see how it shakes out.”
Regulus watched as Evan turned a deep shade of red, and stared deeply into Barty’s eyes, their faces a few inches apart. He decided that was his queue to leave, he turned on his heel and found himself walking back over to the table that held all of the drinks.
He had only known Barty and Evan a short while, but it was even blaringly clear to him that both boys were infatuated with each other. Regulus agreed with Pandora in the sentiment that even if it was spelled out in giant neon green lights, neither of them would even be able to see that they were written in the stars.
Regulus shook his head, tossing his now empty cup into a trash can, before picking up another one, and pouring himself another drink. He was coming down from being tipsy and wanted to keep that going, vowing that this was his last drink.
He knew that if he tried to push it further tonight, he would end up doing shit he was going to regret once he was sober.
He took a careful swallow, turning to face the rest of the party goers.
Pandora seemed to be in a deep conversation with Lily and a few of her friends that Regulus recognized from various places in the academy. Barty and Evan were still inches away from each other’s faces, but now they were talking quietly.
Remus looked like he was actually enjoying the conversation that he was having with Sirius, which made Regulus smile happily to himself.
Peter showed up an hour ago, his arm looped around a girl that Regulus didn’t recognize but they both looked happy enough.
Regulus let his eyes drift a bit further, and that’s when he spotted James.
He was standing alone, at the edge of the rooftop and staring out into the trees that were surrounding the academy.
Regulus didn’t know why, but maybe it was due to the fact that he was a little bit past tipsy now, his feet started walking towards where James was standing alone.
“What are you doing all the way over here, you do know that the party is behind us right?” He asked, slotting himself next to James. Regulus sighed, leaning against the railing of the roof, James finally broke the silence, “Sometimes I need space away from the commotion to think.”
“I understand that. The only reason I’m even still at this party is to keep my eye on Sirius.” Regulus said, glancing over his shoulder to make sure that Sirius hadn’t taken off. “He has a tendency to run off when he’s drunk.” Regulus said, he realized that he was rambling, and bit at his bottom lip to keep himself from saying anything else.
James smiled, “He seems like the type.” Regulus felt a wave of relief that James was going back to normal. “I’m over here because sometimes all these people get to be too much.” Regulus nodded, “Everyone here likes a version of me that I carefully created because ballet is a tough fucking industry.”
Regulus knew exactly what James was talking about, if you weren’t white, and cis, the industry was a terrible one to be in. Just being trans was difficult enough, he couldn’t imagine what it was like for James.
“The parts that I used to get cast for in the smaller ballet schools were always because I wasn’t white, and even then, I was always in the ensemble.” James said, turning back to look at the vast span of trees. “The first solo I ever got was a duet, do you want to guess what it was?” He asked, turning to face Regulus.
“Was it arabian in The Nutcracker?” He asked. James laughed sadly. “You would be correct, I’m mexican! Not arabian!” Regulus thought for a moment, “Why do you keep dancing?” He asked, he probably knew the answer, it was the same answer that every dancer gave when you asked them why they stayed in an industry where eating disorders and racism ran through every ballet school in the world.
“Because when I dance, the world shuts off, I can express things that the human language doesn’t have words for.” James sighed.
Regulus understood that more than anything he had ever heard in his life.
“I feel the same way.” Regulus knew it wasn’t the best answer in the whole world, but the beer was muddling his senses and he was starting to see James for a person instead of someone that irritated the hell out of him.
James sighed and leaned further forward, “Do you really hate me?” He asked. Regulus took a deep breath, staring at the liquid that was sloshing around in the plastic cup that he was holding.
“No.” He said, his voice coming out as a whisper. Almost as if he was telling his deepest secret. “I thought that I did, but I’m starting to see that you aren’t half bad.” He said, taking a sip.
James looked as though Regulus hung the stars with that sentence.
“I knew that you would come around.” James said, Regulus rolled his eyes, “I can always go back on that sentence, that is still a very real possibility.” He said downing the rest of his drink. “I won’t let you, in fact, I’m locking that information away so that I can tell Remus about it later.” James said grinning.
Regulus huffed out a laugh, “I’m sure that Remus will probably think that I was replaced by a doppelganger, so please refrain from doing that or you will drag Peter into it as well and I cannot deal with that right now.” Regulus’ words started to get away from him, he glanced back over his shoulder at the party.
Pandora had disappeared somewhere.
And Barty and Evan were making out.
Regulus blinked, he was worried that the alcohol was making his eyesight blur.
He rubbed his eyes, as soon as they were clear he could still see it plain as day.
Evan and Barty were making out.
Regulus’ eyes widened, “James… Look.” He said, patting James on the arm, trying to get him to look over to see what he was seeing. James hummed, turning his head to see what Regulus was pointing at, his eyes also widening.
“Well I’ll be damned, I never thought that they would have the balls to do it.” He said, whistling. “I can’t wait to tell Pandora!” Regulus said, pushing curls out of his face. HE realized at that moment what Barty and Evan finally kissing meant, “Oh, cazzo.”
Regulus hadn’t realized that now that this had finally happened, he would probably be subjected to all sorts of noises that he really didn’t want to hear.
“I have to find Remus, I cannot be stuck in that dorm tonight.” He sighed pushing himself off the railing. “Can… Can I join you?” James asked, Regulus shrugged, “If you’re able to deal with the pining looks that Sirius will be giving Remus when I pull him away.” James laughed loudly, “You do know that I live with them right?” He asked.
Regulus made a face, “I am so sorry, I will pay for your therapy bills.” He said, nodding and making his way through the groups of people littered around the roof. James was keeping a pretty good pace, “So… that means that you would be staying in my room tonight possibly?” He asked.
“James, please, don’t make this weird.” Regulus said, finding Remus lounged on a couch, talking quietly to Peter, who had his arms wrapped around two people Regulus had never seen before.
“Remus! It happened!” He said, flopping down next to Remus.
“What did?” He asked, looking between Regulus and James, “No not that idiota.” He said quickly, feeling his cheeks heat up, “Barty and Evan, look!” He said, pointing at the two boys wrapped around each other.
Remus laughed, “Took them fucking long enough.” he said turning back towards Regulus, “I’m assuming you need a place to crash tonight?” He asked, Regulus nodded, “I cannot deal with hearing them.” He said shivering, “I love the guys but, I have to draw a line somewhere.”
“I’m sure that we can make something work.” Remus said. Regulus shot him a grateful look, “Grazie… I really appreciate it.” He said, giving Remus a hug. “You will have to deal with sleeping in the same room as James, are you prepared for that?” Remus whispered.
“I’ll have to deal with the lesser of two evils.” Regulus said, Remus raised an eyebrow, “James is now the lesser of two evils?” Regulus glanced to where James had started a lively conversation with Peter. “We have more of an understanding now.” Regulus said.
Remus raised an eyebrow, “An understanding? WHat did you kiss and make up or something?” He asked. Regulus felt his cheeks go red, “Relax, I’m joking.” Remus said, Regulus rolled his eyes, “Molto divertente..”
“I don’t speak Italian.” Remus said, downing the rest of his drink. Regulus sighed loudly, “At this rate, I’m going to find a nice, comfortable broom closet to sleep in.” Remus laughed, “Good luck.” Regulus flipped him off, James’ eyes were darting between the two, his conversation with Peter long over.
“Should we head down now?” Remus asked, pulling out his phone and checking the time. Regulus nodded and rose to his feet gracefully, James’ eyes following him the entire time, which was causing Regulus to have a bunch of feelings that he really didn’t want to deal with at this moment in time.
The twinkling lights were catching in the reflection of James' glasses, giving him the look that he had stars for eyes.
Regulus let himself look for a few seconds before pushing to his feet.
“Let’s go!”