It was late at night when James woke up to a very unimpressed-looking regulus black.
It had been two days since he last saw him, and after sporting a mild concussion from a very angry bludger that was blasted at him, full speed, by a silly third year Hufflepuff beater, James was getting desperate at the hospital wing, Because, really, Regulus was just so pretty. And James should be able to see him whenever he pleases.
He woke up a few hours before with a distraught Sirius black by his side, and after many, long affirmations that he was indeed okay, Sirius left, promising to return in the morning with all of James’ favourite things. James had half the mind not to remind him to bring his very lovely-looking brother because, really— nobody was ready for that conversation.
The quidditch game wasn’t brutal, and his team managed to win without him, which was good, great even. It meant that James was fulfilling his duties as Captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team well, and the Hufflepuff beater turned up a few minutes after Sirius left, apologising profusely. James couldn’t for the life of him understand why; it was a part of the game, and the yellow jumper the beater was sporting hurt his eyes, so he smiled politely and waved him off, affirming that it was okay and commending his sportsmanship. He resisted the urge to tell the beater to never speak to him again if he was sporting such a hideously coloured jumper because, seriously, who would choose to wear yellow? Sure, you can’t control what house you’re sorted into, but you could at least try to have a little bit of decency.
After the Hufflepuff left, Madam Pomfrey filled James up with potions and let him rest.
And that was that, until an immensely—as established, unimpressed-looking -- regulus black appeared by his bedside table, the wing was quiet, and everyone unfortunate enough to be there was asleep. James himself was asleep. Regulus, though, didn’t seem to care about his well-being as he shook him awake, paying no mind to his health and stability in life.
“James,” Regulus says in a very monotone manner that makes James swoon. Well, nearly everything regulus says makes James swoon, but the sound of his name on regulus’ tongue made him want to climb up the highest mountains and shout until his lungs gave out.
James smiled; he wouldn’t if it was anyone else because, really— as much as he loved his friends, he prided himself in having a total of eight hours of sleep every night. Sometimes, that was more important than any of the shenanigans Sirius thought were necessary to tell him before he woke up. But this was regulus, so James smiled because what else was he supposed to do?
“Reggie!” he exclaims, and Regulus rolls his eyes, taking his wand out of his pocket and muttering a muffliato charm. “You’re here!”
“You didn’t come to our reading session yesterday.”
James furrows his eyebrows, “Regulus? I was literally in a bludger-induced coma. How was I supposed to come to our reading session.”
Regulus shrugs. “Beats me. You were supposed to be there. I read a full five chapters of pride and prejudice without you.”
James grins; he doesn’t actually care about pride and prejudice and what happened to Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy’s terrible cliche romance. It was just an excuse to spend time with the love of his life, so Regulus would read whatever story James picked, voice soft and gentle, and James would listen, truly— it was about time he confessed this to Regulus, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to, not yet.
“What a shame,” he says softly and wraps his hand around Regulus’’, “You know, here I was thinking you were here to check on me.”
Regulus rolled his eyes, freeing his hands from James’, and despite the darkness, James could see his face flush, “I don’t care about you, potter.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yes.”
“You’re a hundred percent sure?”
“Positively sure.”
“So you wouldn’t mind if I didn’t come to our next reading session?”
Regulus frowns, “why wouldn’t you?”
“I’m going to Hogsmeade!”
“Hogsmeade?” Regulus scoffs, “With Lily?”
“Lily, Sirius, Marlene, Mary, Remus, Peter, Dorcas… surprisingly, seriously! I think she and Marlene are a thing now and err—“ he trails off, “Benjy Fenwick.”
“Benjy—” Regulus says, “Benjy, the guy who has a massively revolting crush on you?”
“Yup!” James says, “Thought I might give him a chance! Considering well— you’re not interested in me, as we’ve established, and perhaps you know... it’s time for me to move on, so…” James shrugs, “It’s worth a shot. He’s a seeker like you!”
Regulus’ gaze hardens “he’s a Hufflepuff.”
“What’s wrong with Hufflepuff?”
“You hate the colour yellow. Benjy loves the colour yellow. I’d give it a week before you break up with him.”
“Seriously? I don’t think it would be a problem.”
“You wouldn’t date him.”
“Why?”
“Because you still like me?” he says unsurely
James smiles, “Yes, Regulus, I still like you, but you know, we aren’t a thing, so it’s not like it matters to you.”
Regulus scoffs, “It doesn’t.”
“So it’s not a problem?”
“No.”
“No, it’s not a problem, or No, it’s a problem?”
Regulus looked positively furious, and really, James should probably stop pushing his buttons like this, but seeing regulus angry did all sorts of things to James’s body, so he trudged on.
“It’s a problem.” regulus says, and he flushes red again, and all James wants to do is grab him by the scruff of his neck and kiss him until their bodies decay.
“Reg,” James says, “I’m allowed to date whomever I want, you know that, right?”
“Not Fenwick,” he says with so much malicious James has to try his absolute hardest not to moan.
“So, who else is acceptable for you? Amelia bones?”
“Amelia—“ Regulus scoffed, “No, no. she’s not acceptable either.”
“You?”
“We’ve gone through this Potter. We aren’t a thing, and we will never be a thing.”
“And yet you’re here, and not in your dorm,” James says, his eyebrow raised.
Regulus bites his lip, “That— it was about the reading sessions, nothing else.”
James smiles and grabs regulus’ hand again, “are you sure?”
Regulus inhales sharply, “yes.”
“So if I went and kissed Benjy Fenwick, you wouldn’t mind?”
“I would— in a manner of speaking, yes, but that doesn’t prove that—
“Reggie”, James says restlessly, “Just say it, say you like me back. I’ll have you as you are, I’ll have you as long as I possibly can, I promise.”
Regulus bites his lip nervously, and he squeezes James’ hand. “what would we even do? You’re graduating this year, James, i still have a year of school, and you’re going to be busy with your newts in a few weeks, and you’ll forget all about me.”
“Forget—“James scoffs, “Regulus, all I can think about is you. I literally have to resist the urge to look for you in every room I walk in and every door I walk past. You’re literally on my mind every second of every day, you’re there when I wake up, and you’re there when I sleep, and whenever I’m unhappy, all I have to do is think about our next reading session and it's like an automatic switch in my mood. Every time something bad happens, it’s you who brings me comfort, even if you don’t realise it. Even when we sit in the astronomy tower doing nothing but look at the stars, not speaking, your mere presence makes my heart quicken and my breath catches. It’s like I’m reborn every time our eyes meet. Regulus, how could you ever think that I would forget about you?”
Regulus looked lost, and he squeezes James’ hand again and brings his face impossibly close to James’ “you— you mean it?”
“Yes,” he says it so simply, and something in Regulus breaks, and a flurry of emotions hurls past his face. Perhaps Regulus was feeling reckless, or maybe he was also sporting a concussion that James was simply unaware of. Because one second, Regulus was looking at him, eyes wide, and mouth parted, and the next, his lips were on his.
The kiss was short, but the mix of sheer yearning and want made up for it. Regulus kissed with all the might in the world. He kissed as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders, and it all slipped away with a mere touch of their lips. He kissed as if the sun and the stars all burst out of existence, and James was the only thing in the world that mattered. He kissed as if James was special. And James loved it. Every second that went by, James wanted to carve it onto the back of his eyelids. He wished he could physically do that without damaging his eyes forever because it was in all things, considered perfect.
“James,” Regulus groans against his lips as he pulls away and presses his forehead against James’
“Reggie,” James says softly, and he couldn’t think properly; no, seriously, his mind turned into mush. There was absolutely nothing but Regulus’ name and lips in his head.
“You— you’re not going to date Fenwick, are you?”
James smiles, “For someone so smart, you really are silly sometimes.”