Chapter 13
Regulus has never seen James play as well as he is playing at the moment, and he’s also never seen him so upset over something. He’s moving so smoothly, yet with a passion never seen before. James played every game like it’s his last, but in this one he’s somehow playing even better than that.
He looks too bloody good, and Regulus is hardly able to focus on finding the snitch, when James is flying around like that. With his stupid Quidditch uniform, and his stupid messy hair, his celebrations that he does when he score. There’s no question who will win this one, especially when the Gryffindor score is just about 350 points above the Slytherin score, most of the points coming from James himself.
Regulus is determined to find the Snitch, even if they won’t win, he just wants to end the game and keep his Snitch catching streak going. Ever since his fourth year, Regulus has always caught the snitch, it was easy, and only got easier with every game.
He sees it, right at the same time that the Gryfinndor seeker, Mary McDonald, sees it. It’s flying fast, and Regulus is just circling the top of the field, waiting for the right moment. Mary flies behind Regulus, opting to just follow and see where he goes.
He’s better than Mary, even if nobody was willing to admit it. He was just more agile, he moved smoother, he was quicker, he was just better. That’s not to say that Mary wasn’t good, because she most certainly was. She gave him the most trouble, but there hasn’t been a game in two years where Regulus hadn’t caught the snitch, and this wasn’t going to be the first one he lost.
He spots the flicker of gold, right there, flying by Mulciber near the bottom of the pitch. Mary isn’t flying straight for it, instead still tailing Regulus around the top of the pitch.
Regulus shoots her a sarcastic grin, before shooting straight down to the ground, insanely satisfied to see that she’s following right behind him. He’s gaining speed and both of them are approaching the ground fast. Regulus wishes that he had eyes on the back of his head, so that he could see Mary’s reaction when he swiftly pulled out of the dive, causing Mary to crash into the ground. Since Mary was sprawled out on the grass trying to get back onto her broom, Regulus could easily find and catch the Snitch without her right behind him.
Dorcas nearly makes him crash into the ground with the hug that she gave him after the game, “That was mental, Regulus! You were amazing!” Regulus can only grin, too delighted to even speak.
That night, Regulus is so pleased, he goes up to the astronomy tower. He knows that James will probably be too busy celebrating to even look at their map, as he should be. Truthfully, Regulus is extremely proud and happy for James. He played very well, even if it was unfortunately Regulus' team that James won against.
But, for the first time, Regulus is actually proud of himself. He had successfully performed the Wronski Feint, which is an extremely difficult move to master, especially it only being his sixth year.
Regulus is looking at the sky from the bench, smiling at his achievement as he keeps replaying it in his head, as well as admiring the stars.
The door suddenly flies open, and there he is. He looks magical, with a wide grin plastered on his face.
“You’re here.” James says, closing the door behind him and making his way to Regulus.
Regulus stands up, “Why are you here, shouldn’t you be celebrating?”
“I don’t care,” James stands in front of him, “You’re here. And you played so well! I mean, holy shit, Reg! The Wronski Feint? Are you kidding?!”
Regulus looks into his eyes, the two of them sharing the same excitement that could only be brought out by Quidditch.
Regulus caves, deciding to show his enthusiasm, “I know! It was so difficult to get down! So much practice! I hope people don’t see it as a waste, I mean, it kind of was since we were losing-”
James cuts him off, “It’s all anybody is talking about, it was amazing! It’s not a waste, it was a sure way to end the game, you knew she was going to follow you, right?”
“Yes! I figured she was going to keep on following me, and she’s a great player, so I definitely would’ve lost my streak if I hadn’t pulled it.”
James nods, “And it’s such a rare move to pull off, and even if people know that you can do it, it will barely cross their minds when they’re in the air.”
Regulus could kiss him out of agreement, because finally someone gets it. He knew James would, he just didn’t know how validating it would feel to hear it in person.
Regulus throws his hands up excitedly, “Thank you! Mulciber has been on my arse because he thinks I should have waited. But if anything that was just practice, now I know that I can do it in a real game.”
James rolls his eyes, “Mulciber is the biggest idiot, he’s only captain because he’s aggressive, not even because he’s good at the game. He has no idea what he’s talking about.”
Regulus thought it over for a few moments, “Unfortunately, he’s not necessarily a bad player, he’s actually a strong asset to the team.”
Regulus loves having talks about Quidditch, yet he doesn’t really have anybody who’s as passionate about it as he is. Dorcas loves the sport, but she absolutely hates talking about it outside of the pitch. Barty, Evan, and Pandora will listen to Regulus rant about it, but they hardly contribute. With James, Regulus can have a solid conversation about all things that Regulus wishes to talk about.
James winces at the implication of Mulciber being a good player, “Debatable. He has no strategy, except to hurt people.”
“We still manage to win on multiple occasions. We're a great team.” Regulus points out, he loves winning and he hates when people try to make it seem like it’s not deserved. He does understand that it’s not fair when Mulciber and Avery– and Slytherins in general–like to hurt people in order to win, but people tend to overlook the players who don’t do that. Dorcas and Regulus, for example, are outstanding players who don’t play as dirty as others, yet they’re overlooked because of stereotypes.
”Doesn't matter when it's not fair.”
Regulus rolls his eyes, “Fairness hardly matters when it comes to these sports.”
“You don’t genuinely think that it's fair when Mulciber and Avery are knocking other players down every game, or sending them to the infirmary.”
Regulus wishes that he could just stop arguing, especially when he’s arguing for people who hate him. But he crosses his arms over his chest, still defensive over his team, “We still win. Unlike Gryffindors, we don’t care about other people, that gives us an advantage.”
James stares at him incredulously, “How in the world is that an advantage?”
“Because not caring for other people is what makes us ruthless, aggressive, and therefore a difficult team to beat. We’re not like you, we don’t spend lots of our playing time worrying if the other team is going to be okay.”
“So,” James begins, looking genuinely lost, “We just have morals?”
Regulus sighs, “Morality is subjective.”
“Where do your morals lie, Regulus?” James asks, looking like he genuinely wants a fair answer.
Regulus huffs, very frustrated with James now, “That doesn’t seem to be any of your business.”
James grins, “You don’t think it’s fair either, you just don’t want to admit it. Admit that it's cruel.”
“You know what, lots of things in my life are cruel, and you’re now one of them. I just have to move on, pretend that it never happened.” Regulus is irritated at how James suddenly shows up, no apology for what happened last time they were up here together. Out of everything, that’s not fair, not some stupid Quidditch strategy. Regulus should tell James that. He should probably talk to him, but he can’t find a point in doing so.
“Yeah,” James scoffs, “Yeah I know all about that.”
Regulus realizes how close they’re standing, maybe he has half a mind to push James away, to make him leave and never come back. Regulus could leave now, he could walk away, and talk to other guys who'd never make him upset.
But Regulus could never do that. Not to James.
Regulus laughs bitterly, “You can’t possibly be mad at me.”
“I’m not mad,” James’ gaze softens slightly, and in response Regulus’ eyes get sharper. “It was just frustrating to get no acknowledgement from you.”
“Oh you don’t know frustration until the guy you’ve liked leans in for a kiss, just to have a fucking girlfriend at home. That’s frustrating, not getting ignored every once in a while.”
“I’m sorry.”
The air is tense, so many words not being said, when all of a sudden something shifts.
Regulus can feel it.
They suddenly lunge at each other, and James’ captures Regulus’ lips hungrily, James moves his hands to Regulus’ hips, at the same time Regulus moves his hand to James’ hair.
Regulus knows that he shouldn’t, but things so dangerous should not feel or taste so good.
James’ tongue swipes Regulus’ bottom lip, just begging to be let in. Obviously, Regulus obliges, which is a very good decision, Regulus quickly realizes.
Regulus bites down softly on James’ bottom lip, eliciting a groan out of him. The sound causes Regulus to feel like jelly, and he just wants more. Regulus moves his head to the side so that he can actually breathe, and James moves his kisses from his lips, to down his neck. Sucking and biting at many little spots there, and soft sounds spill out of Regulus’ mouth, sounds that Regulus hardly even recognizes. Regulus distantly notes that there will be marks, but he doesn’t even care, it feels too good, so instead Regulus looks farther, giving James more room to kiss and bite the skin there.
“You’re an idiot for not kissing me sooner.” Regulus whispers, a thought he didn’t really mean to say, yet still true.
“Fuck, I know.” James says on Regulus’ neck, right before he harshly brings his lips back to Regulus’ own. James runs his hands up and down Regulus’ back, under his sweatshirt, causing Regulus to softly moan into his mouth at the sudden warmth. James grips Regulus’ hips harder at the sound, and all of a sudden Regulus is a bit all too aware of what’s actually happening. He can’t get out of his brain, and he just keeps thinking about everyone they’re affecting.
Dorcas, Sirius, Lily.
Lily.
He hates that she is the one that makes him heavily rethink his current situation, but he can’t help it. He does oddly feel bad that he’s making out with her boyfriend.
Oh god, Regulus thinks, oh god, oh god. What the fuck am I doing?
He feels like James has the ability to not worry about other people, or think about how things will play out, but Regulus can’t do that. His whole life revolves on how other people think of him, his parents, his whole family, people at school.He can’t just turn it off, it’s not that easy.
Regulus tries to force his mind to shut off, he tries to bring himself back into the moment. He tries so hard to only think about James standing in front of him; James who’s finally kissing him, and everything finally right.
But fucking Lily.
She’s standing in his mind, her face when she finds out about what James is doing.
He can’t bear it.
James seems to notice his mental absence and pulls off of Regulus, searching for eye contact. “Everything okay?”
He looks so beautiful. His lips are red and swollen, his face flushed, his pupils are wide, yet his eyes hold so much concern.
“Do you want to stop?” James asks.
Regulus can’t even speak, he just shakes his head adamantly, and pulls James in for another kiss, all guilty thoughts momentarily exiting his brain.
James’ tongue is exploring his mouth, when the thoughts inevitably come flooding back.
“Fuck,” Regulus mutters against his lips. James dips down to his neck, once again.
“James.” Regulus groans. “Girlfriend. You have one.” Regulus mumbles, trying his hardest to speak coherently, which is a rather difficult task at the present moment.
“Broke up.” James responds, his voice scratchy, and he continues to kiss Regulus’ collar bone, or pretty much kisses every visible piece of Regulus’ skin. Regulus groans as James captures Regulus’ lips once again.
Then Dorcas appears in his mind out of thin air.
Regulus tries his hardest to ignore it, but he knows she will give him shit for this, and he knows that she will be very disappointed if she found out about this.
The disappointment that Dorcas would feel is what makes Regulus slightly push James’ chest. James practically jumps off of Regulus, not wanting to overstep, and the two are just panting when they split.
“Sorry.” James says automatically, “Too much?”
Regulus shakes his head, trying to collect his thoughts, “No. Just have to, um. Help Pandora with… something,” Regulus lies.
James reluctantly nods, “Okay. A kiss goodbye?”
The both of them grin, and they do end up sharing another very heated kiss, one that lasts around 15 minutes.
“Okay,” Regulus says, James pulling off, giving one more peck before finally leaving, “I’m off.”
“Until next time, angel face,” James calls after him. Regulus doesn’t have to turn around to know that there’s a huge grin plastered on James’ face.
“Wouldn’t count on it, Potter.” Regulus says as the door closes, but both of them know that he’s lying straight through his teeth.
Regulus feels like he’s floating, like he’s on top of the world. When Regulus makes it to his room, he’s relieved to see that everyone is sleeping.That night Regulus sleeps better than he has in ages, his dream filled with thoughts about when he can next see James. His mind finally relaxes, for the first time in ages.
Stupid, stupid James Potter.