Chapter 4
James climbs the stairs, all the way up to the hospital wing as he scratches his nails up and down his forearm.
His friends had persisted, a lot (like a lot a lot,) that he got his arm checked out after he had scratched it red and raw the night before. Once it had gotten to the point his arm burned so badly he wanted to cry.
“That stupid brat probably cursed you,” Sirius had grumbled, glaring at his wall, and James almost told him otherwise, told him Reg really wasn’t bad, but had stopped last minute, letting out a nervous laugh instead.
He had to convince them to go to breakfast instead of following him to the hospital wing, because he had already been enough of a bother before this, he really didn’t need to cause more problems.
So he had made his way up the stairs, alone, and hesitantly opened the door, giving Madam Promfrey his most flattering smile as she gave him an unamused look.
“Mr. Potter, lovely. Let me imagine, prank gone wrong? Sprained arm from quidditch training?” She muses as the boy walks over to her, giving her a wry smile.
“Actually, Ms. Pomfrey, I think somethings wrong with my arm,” he replies back, and her face immediately shifts to concern as she cleans up her area and grabs her gloves.
“Can you explain the problem?” She asks, walking over to him and gently grabbing the arm he held out. She turned it this way and that, running a soft finger over it as she hums, a confused and exasperated expression on her face.
“I don’t know, it just hurts, I guess. It burns, and itches. Peter thinks it's an allergic reaction to something, he said he got them sometimes and that's what it felt like. It’s all irritated, see?” He points out the red scratches up and down it, and she nods, tutting under her breath.
“The irritation seems to be from scratching, you seem to have done that a lot. This is strange- you know, I just had another boy here with the same exact problem. There’s nothing physically wrong with this, as far as I can tell, but I’ll do a checkup just in case.”
She sits him on the bed, holding his arm out as she does different tests. She holds her wand above his arm, and it emits a strange yellow glow. She gives him something to drink that's a strange green colour, and pricks him with a needle, collecting a little bit of blood. The entire time she’s mumbling and humming about something under her breath, writing things down on her clipboard.
Finally, she shakes her head, tutting. “As I said, nothing physically wrong. I hope this isn’t something going around, I can give you a pepper up potion and some ointment that will hopefully help with the itching. Use it when it starts to get too bothersome, alright?” She hands the stuff over to him, patting him on the shoulder lightly. “Come back to me if it gets worse, darling. I hope this is just some strange thing going around and nothing too big.” With that, she sends him off, and he trudges back down the stairs.
Since there's nothing to really do, his mind wanders, going back to the week before. Regulus and him had agreed that they couldn’t meet up everyday, because they were both busy, so now it was left to mondays, thursdays, and saturdays. In a way, maybe, just a little, he may be regretting that decision, he felt like he hadn’t seen Regulus in forever (since last thursday, in a very awkward tutor session.) He also thinks that Regulus might be avoiding him, but he couldn’t figure out why.
It’s not like he- oh who was he kidding, of course he cared. He didn’t like being ignored, it made him sad, plus he wanted to get to know Regulus. Be his friend.
Just friends, of course. Nothing more. Of course he didn’t want to be anything more, that was stupid, his best friends little brother, who he was supposed to hate, of course nothing would ever happen. Really, he didn’t even know why he was thinking about this, because he didn’t care. Well, he cared, but not about being anything more than friends. Why would anyone even think that?
He has to physically shake the thoughts from his head, groaning lightly. It’s not like it mattered. They had a tutor session and prefect duty together today, so it’s not like Regulus could avoid him any more. Not like Reg was avoiding him, because why would he be? But if he happened to be avoiding him, then they would have to get together today anyways. As friends.
Just friends, of course.
“Come on, Reg, you said last weekend we could do this, and you wanna know when last weekend was? It was last weekend! You owe us a night of drinking and smoking!” Barty whines, and Evan throws a pillow at him.
“I told you, I’m busy, it’s not my fault I have a life,” he replies back easily, not sparing him a glance away from his book.
Barty gives a dramatic scoff, placing a hand on his chest as he glares at Regulus. “Are you saying tutoring sessions and Prefect duties, and James, are more important than us? Your best, dearest friends? Look at this adorable face, can you really ditch him for a Gryffindor?” He grabs Evans face, making him groan.
Regulus rolls his eyes, finally closing his book. “Can you believe it? That I could possibly not want to hang out with someone like you?” Barty pouts, as Regulus continues, “Plus, the quidditch match of Slytherin vs Gryffindor is coming up soon. I have to concentrate.”
“Yeah, we get it, Reg, but you really need a break. At this point, we don’t even have to drink, okay? We’re genuinely worried about you, Reg,” It was Evan who spoke up this time, and Regulus feels a sharp tug in his stomach.
‘We’re genuinely worried,’ How hard was he trying just for them to still say this? He didn’t come to school with bruises or cuts anymore, he was getting tutored, he made sure to eat something in front of them, and they were still worried? Merlin, all he wanted to do was make sure they weren’t worried, he hated making them feel bad.
After a moment, he sighs, rolling his eyes again as he groans.
“Fine, we can go to the greenhouse and get drunk. But just so you know, this isn’t going to be an all the time thing,” He huffs, and Barty cheers, pumping his fist. Evan was still giving him that look. The one where it felt like he was looking into Regulus and seeing his insecurities. So, he opened his book and covered his face, as if that would stop him from doing that.
He didn’t know what he would tell James, but it’s not like he was talking to him lately anyways.
No, he wasn’t avoiding him. He was just… giving himself space.
It’s not like he got a strange feeling anytime he was around James, ones that made him feel like his stomach was doing flips in on itself, but somehow in a good way? But at the same time, not in a good way, because why did he feel like that? He’s never felt like that, not really. Only once before did he get a feeling slightly close to it, and that was when he had a crush on Barty in third year.
But that was crazy, because that was a crush, and he did not have a crush on James, not anymore. And the last time he liked James, it was small and unimportant. Not even really a crush, just admiration, and he was way past that, because it was just a stupid crush. Nothing more.
He rubs at his eyes with his forearms, and then groans when he feels the cold cream of the ointment cover his eyes. He could here Barty begin to cackle as he wipes it off, still grumbling under his breath.
Pandora had all but forced him to go to the infirmary wing the night before. He hadn’t even complained about his arm, just been scratching at it. She had got all mother hen on him, as she often did, and dragged him there.
All Madam Pomfrey had done was give him a pepper up and ointment to help with the irritation before she sent him on his way. He couldn’t lie, the ointment did help, but he would’ve been happier with an actual diagnosis.
“I’m going to go get Pandora and Cas in on the plan! I’ll tell Dora to bring the firewhiskey, I’ll get the weed of course, Evan you can get the food, and Reg, you can just sit there and look pretty,” He jumps up, stretching and patting Regulus on the head before heading off.
Evan stays on the other side of the bed, giving Regulus a look, and Regulus raises his eyebrows at him. Evan shrugs, giving him a lopsided smile. “You know Reg, if somethings wrong you can tell us, right?”
He blinks, then clears his throat, nodding. “Of course, Evan, nothings wrong.”
“I have the feeling something’s wrong, but not the usual problem. In a way, I feel like you're almost… more happy than usual? It’s just, at the same time, you seem troubled.”
Regulus flushes, wondering if he really seemed that much happier than usual, and then shakes his head, “Thanks, Ev, but nothings wrong, I promise.” He repeats, shaking his head.
Evan gives him a smile, shrugging. “Alright, if you say so. I’m going to head down to the kitchen, don’t wanna disappoint.” He gives Regulus a wink, walking out the door and shutting it quietly behind him.
Regulus groans, pressing his face into his book as he shakes his head. James would be fine for one night. It’s not like he would notice Regulus was avoiding him. It was just one night he would do Prefect duties by himself. It wouldn’t matter.
He nods to himself, repeating in his head the mantra of how James would be fine without him. Really, he’d probably be glad Regulus decided not to show up. He was probably tired of him, be glad to get a break.
Regulus had not shown up.
Was it something James was doing? Sure, he knew Reg didn’t exactly love James, but he thought they were at least becoming friends. Maybe acquaintances at least?
What had James done that would make Regulus skip? Was it something he had said last time? Why was he really avoiding him?
James winces, pressing his head to the table. He scratches his forearm, groaning under his breath.
It was thirty minutes past the meeting time, was Regulus really this late? Should he wait longer? Should he leave? Would he be at the prefect rounds?
He raises his head, slowly standing up and packing his stuff up. He heads out the door, dragging his feet along the way. He could wait a little longer, or maybe he should just head to the waiting spot for their Prefect spot? Yeah, he would do that. Regulus couldn’t avoid him forever, he was sure he would show up to that.
He wondered what Regulus was doing now.
“No no no, you’ve got it wrong.” Pandora giggles, waving her hands in front of Dorcas’ face. “She is the prettiest girl on this earth, maybe even in the universe! No offence, Cas,” She grins, leaning onto her shoulder, and Dorcas laughs.
“None taken.”
“Ignore her, offence has very much been taken, am I not the most beautiful-ist girl on this planet?” Barty sniffs, and Pandora screeches with laughter, clutching her stomach.
“Other than you, of course, Barty,” She snorts.
They continue talking, before Pandora turns to Regulus suddenly, clapping her hands over her face. When he begins to pull away, she shushes him.
“So, my love, anyone special in your life lately?” Regulus snorts, and then flushes dark red, his thoughts suddenly taking a halt as a certain someone pops into his head.
James.
Stupid James Potter.
Did James count as someone special, he wonders? Sure, he thinks about him a lot, and felt strange around him. Sometimes he thought about snogging him, and he had literally had dreams of them shagging. Did that make him special, though? Was James a special person?
After a moment, still burning red, he shakes his head, clearing his throat. “No, nobody likes to listen to me rant about my interests,” he finally replies, and Barty snorts as Pandora giggles.
“It’s not your fault you’re autistic,” She grins, and Regulus nods along, before pausing, looking surprised.
“I’m autistic?” He gets a look from everyone in the room, before Barty bursts out laughing. Even Dorcas giggles under her breath as pandora pats Regulus’ cheek in sympathy.
“Yes darling? Didn’t you know? Trust me, from one autistic to another, you are definitely autistic,” she stops her patting to reach over him and grab the bag of chips from Evan, who suddenly startles awake from where he had been passed out on the ground. What could he say, the greenhouse floor was really comfortable.
“Oh,” Regulus says after a pause, nodding his head, “Interesting. You probably shouldn’t tell my mom, though,” He slurs out, and they all nod in agreement.
“Moms’ suck,” Pandora sighs, sinking to the floor, and Regulus nods his head with a pout.
“Dads’ suck,” Barty charms in, and Regulus nods again, sinking to the floor along with Pandora.
“That’s so true. So true,” He hums, and then suddenly he gets an amazing idea.
“Okay guys, I have to go, I have to go, you guys stay here, I’ll be back!” He staggers to his feet, and Dorcas throws her hand into the air to smack his leg lightly.
He ignores their goodbyes, stumbling through the yard and to the door and into the hall.
He had prefect duties tonight, and he was going to find James.
Regulus had not shown up to Prefect duties either. He had skipped tutoring and prefect duties.
So he really was avoiding James.’
This time, though, James comes prepared, and he pulls out the marauders map from his pocket, opening it up.
When he sees Regulus wandering around down on the bottom floor hallway, he grins to himself, stuffing the map back into his and rushing to the stairs.
Fine, if Regulus was going to ignore James, he would just have to do this the hard way. He would go find Regulus himself, and they would talk this out.
When he gets to the bottom floor, slightly out of breath, he pulls the map out again, following it all the way to an empty hallway in the back of the school.
He sees him sitting on the floor against a wall, seemingly admiring his nails, and suddenly nerves fill his stomach as he steps closer, quickly folding the map back up and stuffing it into his robes once again. Regulus doesn’t glance up as he gets closer, and he clears his throat. When he still doesn’t glance up, the nerves tighten in his stomach.
“Reg?” He asks, voice anxious, and Regulus’ head snaps up finally. He looks at him wide eyed, before smiling and staggering to his feet.
“James! I was looking for you, glad I found you,” he hics, and James stares at him in amazement, before grinning and stepping closer, leaning in to examine his face. His eyes were rimmed with a light red, and his face was flushed with color.
“Reggie, are you drunk?” He asks in astonishment, and Regulus hiccups again, leaning into James more. James snaps back up, flushing lightly, but Regulus only follows his movement, sagging against him.
“No. yeah. Maybe, only a little,” he sighs, and he begins to slip down, making James hand shoot out around him to hold him up.
“A little?” James asks, grinning, and Regulus glances up at him through his eyelashes, making his smile fall slightly as he blushes once more and clears his throat.
His hand reaches up, and he runs a thumb along James’ bottom lip, making James’ breath catch as he stares in wonder.
“Maybe a little more than a little. James, do you like me?” The question is so studden it makes him breath again, letting out a little laugh.
“Uh, yes? Why do you ask, Reggie?”
“I don’t know, I just wanna make sure you do, I guess,” he hums, and his thumb runs from his lip to his cheek, gliding over his skin. He had a slight stubble, and James was suddenly insecure of how long it had been since he’d shaved. A week, maybe a week and a half?
Regulus didn’t seem to notice, though. In a way, he seemed enraptured, his thumb moving all around his face.
“You have a nice jawline,” Once again, the statement takes James by surprise, and he laughs, this time more loudly.
“You think so?” If he could flex his jawline, he embarrassingly would. In a silly way, he was extremely happy with all the attention he was getting from Regulus, but he also felt like he was taking advantage of him. He was drunk, and probably should be taking Reg back to his room instead of bathing in his light voice and cute dimples.
Merlin, his dimples were cute.
“Mhm, yeah. You have a nice everything, to be honest. Oh, I didn’t mean to say that out loud, shh, can you just pretend you didn’t hear that?” he grins, and James feels a slight flutter in his chest.
He could feel Regulus’ hand sliding up his arm, clutching around his forearm, and he sucks in a quiet breath, ducking his head down slightly.
When his head was bent down like this, Regulus snuggled into his chest, he could smell the faint hint of Lavender. He felt like that was a very fitting smell for him in a way, and could almost get lost in the scent of it on him. Was that weird?
“You smell like Cedar wood,” Regulus huffs out, breath hot on James’ chest, and James was almost amused how they had both been thinking about the same thing; the scent of the other.
Regs hand slips from his forearm, leaving a slight tingling feeling along it, and instead moves it to James waist, slipping it under the rim of James’ shirt.
James’ breath catches completely, and he pulls back slightly, looking down into the face of Regulus. His face was still flushed, and his eyes were hooded.
“Regulus…” He mutters, and he glances up at him through his eyelashes, smiling.
“Yes?” He asks sweetly, and his hand moves higher up under his shirt. James gapes slightly, before clearing his throat and pulling back completely, shaking his head.
“What are you doing?” His voice is more hoarse than he means it to be, and he has to clear his voice once again as Regulus pouts.
“I thought you said you liked me,” he accuses, and James runs a hand through his hair nervously.
“I do- I mean, look, you don’t like me like that, you’re just drunk, okay?” He could barely keep his thoughts together with how fast his mind was running. Even after he had pulled back, Regulus’ hand stayed planted on his lower stomach, and he was trying to steady his breathing while also trying to peel Regulus’ hand away.
“How do you know what I feel?” Before James could reply, Regulus is continuing, still pouting, “You know, Pandora asks if I had anyone special. Is that you? I can’t figure it out, how do you tell? How do I know for sure? How do you know what I feel but I hardly do myself?”
James doesn’t know what to say, can’t believe what he was hearing. Was Regulus Black admitting to liking him?
No, no way. He was drunk, it didn’t count. If anything, he probably thought James was someone else. Someone more his type. It didn’t matter if he liked the feel of his hand on stomach, or the way he smelled, this wasn’t right. When Regulus sobered up, he would be pissed James let him do this.
“Let’s- let’s get you back to your dorm, yeah? Come on, Reg,” He mutters, and Regulus face shifts completely, shuttering shut. James goes to pull him along, but Regulus tugs back, gritting his teeth as he looks down at the ground.
“Reggie? Do you want to go back to your dorm? To your bed?” James asks, raising his voice slightly to make sure Regulus was listening. He couldn’t tell, since his face was angled towards the ground.
When he lifts his head again, James feels his heart stop for a moment. Was he crying?
No, he wasn’t, not technically. The tears were unshed, and he blinks them back, rubbing at his eyes as he sniffles. James takes hesitant steps forward, reaching for him as his eyes widen.
“Reg? What- why are you crying?” He asks, voice cracking nervously, and Regulus’ lip puckers as he turns away.
“Go away, Potter. Stupid Potter, with his stupid face,” he snaps, and James’ eyebrows furrow as he drops his hand.
“What’s wrong?” He tries again, but Regulus only glares at him over his shoulder, going to walk away.
On instinct, James’ hand shoots out, grabbing at Regulus. His hand wraps around his forearm, and he pulls him back lightly, making him still.
“What do you want, you already got through your message. I get it, you don’t like me.”
“What? Regulus, that’s crazy- you’re being crazy right now. Of course I like you, how could I not? It’s you who doesn’t like me! You’ve been avoiding me all week, and today you didn’t even come to the tutoring session, and during the prefect rounds I find you drunk in the hallway!”
Regulus blinks, turning towards him fully now as he sniffs again. “You like me?”
James sighs lightly, rubbing a hand down his face. His other hand was still wrapped around Regulus' forearm, but he decided not to let go in fear Regulus would run off.
Would it matter what he said? If Regulus even remembered anything in the morning, he could clear up what he meant. “Yes, Reggie, I like you,” He replies back quietly, and Regulus’ eyes go wide as saucers. He didn’t know why he felt weird saying this, because he did like Regulus, but just as a friend, right?
Right?
Regulus nods after a moment, sniffling one last time.
James tries not to take notice of the way he smelled anymore, or how he lent into him. He tried not to think of his dreams lately, or the heat emitting from Regulus’ body.
Instead, he keeps his grip on his forearm, leading him gently down to the dungeons. Regulus keeps close to him, mumbling under his breath every once in a while. He seemed in a much better mood once again, and let James lead him easily. Once they had made it all the way down, James stopped a few away from the Slytherin dorms.
“You can make it to your dorm?” He asks quietly, and Regulus smiles, leaning in as he nods.
He stands on his tippy toes, and for a slight moment, his lips brush over James’ cheek. James can’t breath as Regulus steps back and turns around, not sparing him a glance back as he stumbles to the portrait and states the password. When he steps inside and swings the portrait shut, James lets himself grin, turning around to walk back up the stairs. He’s flushed and happy and can hardly believe this has happened.
It takes a little longer for it to settle in fully. Regulus had kissed him. On the cheek, sure, but still kissed nonetheless.
Oh, Merlin, had James taken advantage of him? What would Regulus think in the morning? His mind is running so quickly, thoughts stumbling over one another he can barely keep up with them, he doesn’t even notice when he’s made it to the dorm. He’s in almost a trance, just standing in front of the portrait without going in. The Fat Lady stares at him judgmentally, but doesn’t say anything as he stands still.
“James?” He’s finally pulled out of his thoughts, and he glances over at Lily, who was raising her eyebrows at him. He’s still flustered, and she seems to realize this immediately, giving him a teasing smile.
“Meeting a special someone, were we? Secret girlfriend, boyfriend maybe?” He blushes crimson and she laughs, stating the password. He follows her in, still a bright red, and he immediately makes eye contact with Sirius.
What happened comes crashing back into him, and he diverts his eye contact, guilt washing over him.
His best friend's little brother had kissed him, and he had liked it.
Merlin, he was this worked up over a cheek kiss, which made it even worse! How was he supposed to face Sirius?
Lily walks past Sirius, tossing him a hi as she goes straight for the stairs, heading up. Sirius passes a look between them, and then grins as if he had just discovered a secret.
“Prongs, you dog, I thought you said you were moving on?” Sirius waggles his eyebrows, and James looks back at him again, confused. It takes him a moment to realize what he meant.
He rolls with it- Sirius imagining him falling for Lily again would be better than him thinking he was mingling with his little brother.
“Uh, yeah, my bad,” he laughs nervously, and he goes to dart up the stairs, Sirius close behind.
“I mean, i was surprised you had randomly stated you moved on, but it makes sense now. You tried to move on, didn’t you? Sure, Lily has a soulmark, but maybe your soulmark will form and it’ll match hers? Eh, eh? Glad to have my Prongs back,” Sirius is grinning now, throwing an arm around James’ shoulders, and James gives him his best grin back, nervously scratching his arm.
“Yeah, yeah,” He replies back. When they get into the dorm, Sirius immediately bursts into the story of James ‘seducing’ Lily, continuously winking over his shoulder. James lays back on his bed, closing his eyes and tuning out his best friend (something he had never even thought of doing before.)
He goes to sleep the same way he did most nights lately, thinking of a familiar pair of silver eyes.
When James wakes up, he’s encased in the smell of Lavender. It’s almost overwhelming, but in another way, it’s nice. He sits up slowly, rubbing at his eyes, and he glances towards his friends, who were still sleeping.
He wonders what time it is. He was used to waking up early, so it wasn’t really a surprise. He stands up quietly, moving around the room and collecting his clothes. He grabs his robes, eyes catching a flurry of color out of the corner of his eyes. He glances back towards it, realizing it’s coming from him.
His forearm.
He’s frozen in his spot, almost scared to look back down. His chest is soaring, and his stomach is tight in knots.
If it's what he thinks it might be, he’s too scared to look back at his arm in fear of it being fake. Instead, he squeezes his eyes shut, breath caught in his throat.
It’s not like he could avoid looking down all his life. He had to check. Really, it wasn’t a big deal at all. He had dealt with not having a soulmark all his life. Not having one today wouldn’t be a big deal. He hadn’t had one for seventeen years.
He lets out the breath, slowly and then peels his eyes open, glancing down at his arm.
“Holy shit! Holy shit!” Sirius groans, trying his best to throw a pillow in James’ direction as James jumps up, and then gasps again, clamping a hand on his forearm.
“Prongs, shut up,” Peter whines, but James is grinning now, spinning around to face his friends.
“Holy shit, holy shit,” he was still repeating, and finally Remus sits up, opening his mouth to most likely say a snarky comment. His mouth stays hanging open, though, and he sits there and stares as James waves his arm.
“What, what?” Sirius whines, sitting up as well, and then his eyes are widening as well, and he’s joining in on James’ chanting. “Holy shit! Holy Merlins balls! You got a soulmark! Prongs got a soulmark!” Peter sits up as well, hair mussled from sleep.
And then they’re all up from bed, jumping up to surround him as he yells.
“This calls for a celebration!” Sirius whoops, leading him out of the dorm, “We eat like kings, gentlemen!”
Two floors below him, Regulus is having a much worse time. First off, he wakes up with a hangover, and two bodies are piled on top of him, which he recognizes as Pandora and Barty.
Secondly, he is overcome by the smell of Cedar wood, which he assumes is part of the hangover. He groans, pushing Barty off from on top of him, who groans along with him as he thuds onto the floor.
“Knew this was a bad idea,” he mutters, rolling off the bed to stand up. He clutches his head, groaning as he stumbles towards the closet. He pulls out his robes, heading over to stand in front of the mirror to change, not caring if Pandora or Dorcas saw. He was used to them by now, they were like sisters.
Plus he was too hungover to care.
He stumbles back, and everything he was holding drops to the floor as he stares into the mirror, horrified.
“Reg what’s- holy shit,” Barty gapes, and then grins, repeating, “Holy shit! Reg! Regulus! You got a soulmark!” Everyone sits up, other than Dorcas, who was passed out hanging halfway off the bed.
“Oh! Reg, you do!” Pandora gushes, sitting up and bouncing over to him. Dora never got hungover (lucky bitch,) so she was quick to run over and hold up his arm.
A nauseous feeling had overcome Regulus, and he stares into the mirror, still frozen. He didn’t understand, where had it come from? How had he gotten It?
He was so dead. When his mother saw this mark he was so dead. Shit.
He presses a hand to his chest, wheezing out a breath, and Pandora turns from excited to worried in a second, frowning as she hugs an arm around his shoulder as he struggles to get a breath in.
“Reg? Reg what’s wrong?” Barty asks, concern coating his voice, and he sinks to the floor, Pandora still behind him.
“Oh, Merlin, she’s gonna kill me, I wasn’t supposed to get a soulmark, what am I going to do, what am i going to do?” He cries, and nobody has to ask who he’s talking about as he cradles his head.
“Hey, hey calm down, we can… hide it, maybe?” Regulus glances down at the bright colors on his forearm. It seemed to be flowers.
When he studies it closer, he realizes it was deer antlers, flowers twisting up and intertwining up them.
“Yeah, hide it,” he deadpans, and Barty gnaws on his bottom lip nervously.
“Merlin, i’m so fucked,” He chokes out a laugh, staring down at his forearm, and Dorcas had finally woken up, stumbling over to them with Evan.
“How did your soulmark randomly just form?” She asks, and Pandora leans over his shoulder.
“Maybe it was by touch? I read somewhere that late bloomers' soulmarks could be formed by the touch of their soulmark. When you disappeared last night and ended up here, who were you with?”
“Shit, I don’t remember. I don’t even think-” he stops, blood running cold.
James.
Of course it was James.
It was always James, wasn’t it?
Each thought comes rushing back to him, and he groans, grabbing his head.
Shit shit shit.
He had groped James, harassed him, and then kissed him. Sure it was only on the cheek, but it was still a kiss.
Oh Merlins balls, he was fucked.
“It- it’s not always caused by touch, is it?” He asks desperately, and Barty raises his eyebrows.
“Who were you touching, Reg?” He asks, and Regulus flushes, shaking his head and groaning.
“Pandora, please, it’s not always caused by touch, is it?” He asks again, and she shrugs.
“I suppose its possible it wasn’t, the only real way to tell is to see if they have a soulmark too. Who were you touching, Reg?” She leans in as well, wiggling her eyebrows, and the conflict of before is forgotten as a new one arises. He covers his face, shaking his head as he sighs.
He mumbles into his hand, and they all lean in, not being able to hear. “What?” Dorcas asks, and Regulus groans, tipping his head back.
“James! James Potter!”
Regulus had kissed James Potter, and now he had a soulmark.