Breakfast
James didn't really sleep well. He was scared for Regulus. He was now sure that this Tom Riddle was a bad man and he must have hurt Regulus in some way. James hated that he didn't know what but he was sure Regulus would tell him one day. As he promised he didn't tell any of his friends about last night's event. Well he didn't actually see his friends last night, they all were sleeping when he got back.
James got down to breakfast alone because his friends had already gone. He normally was the first to go but he didn't feel like it this morning. When he arrived in the Great Hall, his gaze went directly to the Slytherin table. He saw Regulus the moment he lifted his head from his plate and their eyes met. James waved his hand in his way and he saw a small smirk growing in Regulus' left mouth corner. It was so cute and so precious. When he finally got to his friends, he sat at his usual place next to Peter and Lily.
“Greetings everyone, I hope you all had a good last first sleep in the castle and that you are having a good morning now that I'm in it.”
“Hello James, what has put you in such a good mood.”
“Well last night, when we were on patrol, Regulus said I was a great student and that I was good with kids. Oh and he also called me James.”
“James you know that this is your name right” said Peter
“Wait can we come back to the fact that James has a crush on baby black and he didn't tell us.”
“Sorry Marls we didn't fill you and Mary up on this news. We haven't really known for long. Well apparently Lily knew but that's it.”
“You don't have a problem with this Sirius.”
“Oh of course I do Mary. I just can't say anything because James would make my brother happy and that would make me happy too.”
“Sorry to interrupt but do you realise that he called me James again. I am the happiest person on this earth. I could die a happy man. Well no actually I couldn't because I never kissed Regulus in my life. How is it Remus, kissing Regulus.”
“Oh he is a really good kisser but I prefer his older brother actually. But I'm sure you would really appreciate the way he kisses.”
“Okay don't tell me anything more Moony. I will discover everything when it happens because I'm convinced it will one day.”
“I am with you James. I'm sure it will happen one day.” said Lily. “If you had paid a little more attention to the Slytherin table across from us you would have noticed that Regulus can't help himself from looking in our way like every five minutes.” They all turned around and there were now seven pairs of eyes looking in Regulus’ way to see if he was going to look at them. They were disappointed when he didn't and just sat up and left the room.
“That was really disappointing Lils”
“Well I'm sorry love I didn't know he was going to leave. Plus me and Remus have to go too because we are meeting with Regulus so see you at lunch love.” Lily said, kissing Mary. Remus also stood up and kissed Sirius. James was reassured that Regulus would not be left alone in the corridors. James loved love and he also loved seeing his friends being in love. But he was also quite jealous that he didn't get to experience it for now.
Not long after, Marlene left the boys to go spend the rest of the day with Dorcas. The three boys also had to leave the Hall at a time. So they all got back to the dorm.
“We have to start planning our first prank of the year.”
“How about we play a prank on a teacher this time. How about the new DADA teacher? I kind of remember him from old family dinners and he was horrible. So I think he is a good target.”
“That's an awesome idea, Pads. I have a bad feeling about him. What could we do to him?”
“I don't really know for now. We could just sum up some ideas for this prank and others.”
“Sure” so that's what they did.
~
Regulus didn't sleep at all during the night. He now knew that he couldn't wander alone in the corridors. He could bump into Riddle at any time. He was so glad James had been here. James had helped Regulus go through his panic attack and didn't force him to admit what got him in this state. Regulus trusted James now. He would tell him the entire story about his torture one day.
But today wasn't this day. Regulus wasn't ready yet. So he just waited for his friends to wake up so they could join him to go to breakfast. When they got up, they all showered and then went down to the Great Hall. Regulus didn't want to but he couldn't help himself from looking at the Gryffindor table. He looked at where his brother and his friends were sitting but one was missing: James wasn't here.
Well maybe he was still sleeping which was something normal for everybody to sleep in on a Saturday. But Regulus knew that this wasn’t something James did. He was an early bird. Regulus knew it because he had lived with him for two weeks and it wouldn’t change at Hogwarts. Well he did get back late from patrol last night so maybe he needed a little more time to sleep. Or maybe he had gotten in trouble for the way he talked to their teacher. Or maybe he didn’t want to see Regulus anymore because of how he acted last night. He maybe thought Regulus was weak and didn’t deserve to be taken care of.
No that couldn’t be it, James would never think that about Regulus. Well Regulus doesn't think James could ever be capable of thinking that about him.
Maybe Regulus was overthinking the situation a bit. He realised then that he hadn’t lifted his head from his plate since he sat down and looked in Sirius’ way. He decided to look in the large door’s way and his gaze got locked into someone else’s. James was here and he was waving at Regulus. Regulus felt so relieved. James was here and he wasn’t mad at him. Regulus smirked a little and almost let out a laugh. Regulus' little fantasy ended when he was pushed in the shoulder and was suddenly brought back to reality. He had totally forgotten that his friends were right next to him.
“Oh what’s going on here, lover boy. What happened last night you didn’t tell us about.”
“Nothing really incredible happened, Barty. I didn’t confess my feelings if that was what you expected me to do. We just talked about our future and that’s pretty much it.”
“Sure that must be it. And what is the reason for him to wave at you when he arrived and for you to not stop looking at him since he got here? Tell us Reggie”
“Wait a second Regulus you have a crush on James. James Potter. And you didn't tell me!!!”
“Well it's not like it's been a long time since I told anyone. And it's not been a long time since I've known myself. It's only been like what, two weeks I think. and Barty and Evan guessed I didn’t even tell them. Sorry I forgot to tell you”
“Oh don’t worry. I already knew since the party. I just wanted you to tell me.”
“Okay so now Regulus you can tell us what we really want to know.”
“Well at the end of patrol i wasn’t really feeling well so Potter took me back to the dorm and maybe I called him James.”
“That means you like him, Reggie boy.” guessed Evan
“I know. I’m so fucked.”
“I think you should try to make a move on him. I think he likes you back.”
“You are wrong Barty. He just considers me as Sirius’ little brother. That’s why he is kind of looking after me. He is doing it for Sirius, not because he likes me.”
“Well I think I’m right because their entire group of friends is looking in our direction right now.”
“And now I’m leaving. Don’t worry about me, I'm meeting with Remus and Lily. See you later guys.”
“See you babe” Barty said before falling onto Evan’s lap and kissing him.
Regulus left the room. He was scared about what could happen to him. Thanks Merlin, Lily and Remus quit the room like two seconds after him. They must have seen him leave the room and followed him. They didn’t really talk on their way to the library. When they got there they directly went to their usual table in the back of the library which was next to one of the windows and wasn’t visible if you didn’t know it was here. This was one of Regulus’ favourite spots in the entire school. His favourite was and will always be the Astronomy tower. He could see the night sky in which every member of his family was together and not fighting. It was the only place in the world where he felt complete.
Regulus sat down and noticed that his two friends were staring at him.
“You didn't come here to talk about school and books, did you?” Remus and Lily looked at each other in sync then looked back and said.
“No we didn't”
“I have a quick question for you, Regulus. Why were you looking at James the entire breakfast. And why did you smirk when he waved at you.” that was Lily and she was raising her eyebrows at him. “And don't try to lie to me Regulus Arcturus Black, because I will see through your lies.”
“I have feelings for Potter and I hate it but like it at the same time. It's really strange. I've never felt like this. And I actually don't know what to do. Can you help me please.”
“Are you begging Regulus?”
“Please help me Lily. You have dated him so you know what I should do.”
“Okay I will help you Regulus. But I ask for one thing in exchange.”
“Anything Lils.”
“We use a codename for you and James’ little situation.”
“Okay. Can you give me tips now.”
“I say, first we find a name.”
“I agree with you, Remus”
“You are insufferable”
“Yeah but you love us”
“If you say so.”
“So I already thought about just mixing your two names which would give "Jegulus" but I don't think that sounds really good.”
“Well I thought about something a little more abstract like “Sunseeker” because James literally is the sun and you, Regulus, are a seeker on the Quidditch team.”
“Oh that’s so good Remus. How about we do it like the other way around like “starchaser” because Regulus is a star and James is a chaser.”
“I like yours better Lily.”
“Thanks so we will keep this. So for advice I think you should talk to him. Tell him what you have in mind and he will like it. He loves learning about people and helping them. He doesn't say it but he likes it when people also pay attention and listen to him. I would just tell you Regulus to be yourself because he will like you like you are.”
“Thanks Lily, that actually made me feel a lot better. Can we now talk about books?” So they did just that for the entire day. They didn't get out for lunch but Mary brought them food because she is an awesome girlfriend to Lily and one of the kindest souls Regulus has ever met (those including Pandora and James).