all these people think love's for show (but i would die for you in secret)

Hogsmeade trips were James’ favorite. He and his best friends were able to leave Hogwarts grounds and mess around in places they couldn’t get in trouble, or refill their Honeydukes stash, or even grab a quick butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks. But today, they wouldn’t be doing those things. James and Regulus were going on a double date with Sirius and Remus, while Peter was going to spend his time with the girls.

So instead of the normal routine of a Hogsmeade morning, James found himself walking to the dungeons to meet Regulus. Aside from the occasional prank and his Potions classes, James avoided the dungeons at all costs. They were his least favorite part of the castle, and if he didn’t have to step foot down there, he wouldn’t.

But James was a gentleman, so of course he would pick his boyfriend up for their date.

James waited outside of the entrance of the Slytherin common room for a moment, watching as a few passing Slytherins sent sideways glances towards him. None of the Slytherin students trusted a Gryffindor hanging around their common room so closely, especially when that Gryffindor was James Potter.

He leaned against the wall as he waited for Regulus to come out to meet him, fidgeting with his hands. James could never sit still properly. When Regulus exited the Slytherin common room, James stood up straight and smiled at him.

“Morning,” James greeted him, and Regulus gave him a small smile in return. “Ready to go?”

“Yes. Let’s go.”

“Hold my hand,” James told Regulus as they began to walk beside each other.

“No one’s around! I don’t wanna hold your hand,” Regulus replied, giving him a funny look.

“Come on, you have to. We’re meeting up with Sirius any second now,” James whined. “Don’t you want to convince him?”

 “I hate you,” Regulus said, though he didn’t really mean it.

“Shut up and just hold it already,” James said and extended his hand towards Regulus, who reluctantly laced their fingers together.

“How does this come so… naturally to you?” Regulus asked. Thoughts were running through his mind, all of these anxious thoughts as a result of simple hand holding.

“I mean, don’t you want to convince Sirius that this is real?” James asked, a grin on his face.

“I mean, of course. It’s not like I’m doing—“ he said, gesturing towards their linked hands, “this for nothing.”

“You know, he actually took it pretty well,” James pointed out as they walked.

“Better than I thought. He seemed really okay with the idea after I talked to him about it earlier this week,” Regulus said, and he started to wonder why they were continuing to do this. They had gotten the reaction from Sirius, and he no longer cared, so what was the point of all this?

Some part of Regulus wanted to ask why. Why were they still pretending? Why weren't they giving up? Why would they keep this charade going if there was no benefit for them anymore?

The larger part of Regulus, though, wanted to stay silent. For some unknown reason, he didn’t want to speak his thoughts into the universe.

Maybe it was because this was the first time since he was ten years old that he really got to speak with Sirius. Maybe it was because he was seeing a new side of James Potter. Maybe it was because he envied the friendships that James held so close to him. Maybe he wanted to be a part of something, a part of them.

So Regulus stayed silent, holding James’ hand by his side.

“It’s the two love birds!” Remus announced when James and Regulus had finally reached them. “How cute, holding hands and all.”

James made a face at him. “I despise you,” he said, and the group of four boys began their walk to Hogsmeade.

“Moony, why do you have to bring that up?” Sirius whined.

“What? All I’m saying is that it’s cute!” Remus said, a mischievous smile on his face. “I’m just happy for them.”

“Well be happy in silence!” Sirius exclaimed. “I take that back. Please don’t give me the silent treatment again.”

“Only if you admit that they’re cute.”

“Fine,” he said and glanced at James and Regulus, who were walking just behind them, hands still interlocked. “You two are very cute.” When he looked back at Remus, he stuck his tongue out. “Happy?”

“Very. Thank you,” Remus said in a teasing tone.

“I think we might give you two a run for your money,” James said, an annoying grin on his face. “We’ll be the new it-couple. Move aside, you two.”

“Disgusting,” Sirius said, rolling his eyes. With a look from Remus, Sirius held his hands up in defense, “I’m only joking.”

The group made their way into the village, talking amongst themselves on the way there. “Do you want to go to the Three Broomsticks?” Remus suggested, directing the question more at Regulus, who had never been involved in their previous Hogsmeade adventures.

“Sure,” Regulus replied, shrugging, and the group were off to the Three Broomsticks.

When they arrived, they found an empty table in the corner and took their seats. “I’ll get us butterbeer,” Sirius told the other three and walked off to go get four butterbeers from Madam Rosmerta.

As Sirius walked off, James took a moment to glance around the Three Broomsticks, and he noticed the girls and Peter at a table on the other side of the bar. His eyes locked onto Lily’s face almost immediately. She was impossible to miss with her big grin and fiery red hair.

“Prongs,” Remus whisper-yelled at the boy. “What is wrong with you?”

James snapped out of his trance to look back at Remus. “What? What did I do?”

Regulus rolled his eyes. “Maybe this would be a little more believable if you’d stop staring at other people, especially Lily.”

“Why? Are you jealous?” James questioned with a smirk.

“Never in a million years,” Regulus replied, making eye contact with James, and they kept their gazes locked for several more moments than intended.

Remus cleared his throat. “Will you stop being an idiot for just two seconds? Sirius is coming back. Keep it together!” he said to James.

Regulus broke his gaze with James just in time, as Sirius approached their table carrying four butterbeers. He wasn’t sure why he had been so entranced in James’ eyes. It was so unlike him. But, he was going to push it to the back of his mind and pretend that it didn’t happen because God forbid he dealt with his feelings for once.

“Thank you,” Regulus said.

James took one of the butterbeers and passed it to Regulus before grabbing the other one for himself.

“Moony, did you figure out the—“ Sirius said, glancing at Regulus, who raised an eyebrow, “the stuff?”

“No, I need to go by Zonkos to get…. you know, the stuff for, um, the day,” Remus said.

“I’m so confused,” James said.

“We’re talking about the thing, Prongs. The thing we discussed last night,” Sirius tried to explain without being straightforward.

“What did we talk about last night?” he asked, clearly lost.

Regulus rolled his eyes. “They’re talking about a prank, James,” he said, voice flat.

Sirius looked to his brother. “How did you figure that out?” he asked.

“It wasn’t very difficult. It’s kind of what you lot are known for at Hogwarts,” Regulus explained, taking a sip of his butterbeer.

“Do you, maybe, want to pull the prank with us?” James asked and grinned.

“I don’t know if that’s really my thing…” Regulus started.

“Loosen up, Reggie! It’ll be fun,” Sirius chimed in, which caused Regulus to roll his eyes.

“You won’t give up until I say yes, will you?”

“Nope,” Remus replied. “Now we can go to Zonko’s after this.”

“Will someone at least fill me in on what the plan is?” Regulus asked.

James grinned, throwing an arm around Regulus’ shoulder. “We have to take a trip to Zonkos. We’ll explain everything once we get there,” he said.

As the date went on, Regulus found himself genuinely enjoying the time he spent with James, Sirius, and Remus.

“So when’s the wedding?” Remus teased. Regulus and James had been engaged in a side conversation, laughing and joking around. It was new for them to have this kind of relationship when they had never so much as looked at each other in the hallways, but it was nice. They both felt safe.

Regulus, who had been taking a sip of his butterbeer, started to cough, and James put a hand on his back. “Wedding?! We just started dating!” Regulus exclaimed.

Remus was laughing though, and Sirius had to hide his mouth behind his hand to stop himself. “I’m just kidding. Relax, Reg.”

Regulus scowled, and they continued on with their conversation. With their butterbeers finished and paid for, the four left the Three Broomsticks to make their way towards Zonko’s. Regulus didn’t often frequent the joke shop, but everytime he did go in, he couldn’t help but admire the products.

James, still holding onto Regulus’ hand, guided him towards the section of the store they needed to get their supplies from.

“It’s candy,” James explained.

Regulus knew it wasn’t as innocent as James made it seem. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for James to continue.

“Okay, okay. So basically, when you chew the candy, you take on the sound of a different animal. We were going to get the house elves to help us. We’re going to crush them up and have them put them in the food on Halloween,” James explained.

“That sounds like absolute chaos,” Regulus said.

“Exactly,” James said, a grin on his face.

Regulus couldn’t help the smile that appeared on his own face when he met James’ eyes.

“I’m supposed to meet Lily at the bookstore soon,” Remus said, glancing at the enchanted clock in the corner of Zonkos. You had to be a frequent customer to be able to tell what time it really was, because much like the enchanted clocks in many wizarding homes, the time was not at the forefront.

“Reg, do you want to come with me?” Remus asked. He knew that Regulus could often be found in the library, so he figured inviting him along was a safe bet.

“Actually, yeah, that would be great,” Regulus replied. He glanced towards James, who was still holding his hand, and was now looking at him with sad eyes. “If it’s okay with you that I cut our —date— early?” Regulus said, a questioning tone in his voice.

James snapped out of whatever thoughts were on his mind. “Yeah, of course. I’ve got Pads, his boyfriend is abandoning him too,” he said, a joking tone in his voice.

Regulus laughed a bit. “See you later then?” he asked, and James nodded, leaning down to give Regulus a kiss. On the lips this time. It almost took Regulus off guard, but he had to remind himself that this was all for the prank.

Despite the flinch backwards, it didn’t seem like Sirius had noticed anything off. Regulus could tell by the look on Remus’ face, though, that he had noticed.

A silence came over Remus and Regulus as they walked towards the bookstore. Once they were out of earshot of James and Sirius, though, Remus broke the silence.

“If you’re going to convince Sirius of anything, you’ll have to work on that,” he said, an amused look on his face.

“I’m not used to kissing people I’m not in a relationship with,” Regulus shot back.

“I’ve never seen you in a relationship with anybody,” Remus mused. The point wasn’t made in a rude way, but rather as an observation.

“Okay? So I haven’t really kissed —anybody,” Regulus said, shrugging.

They walked in silence for a moment before Remus replied.

“Practicing might help,” he said. “I mean, you and James will have to kiss again if we want it to be realistic. So maybe it would be better if you spent some time practicing,” he said, an amused smile.

Regulus didn’t reply as they walked into the bookstore, but Remus’ words stuck in his head, and he started to believe that maybe he was right. Again. Regulus had never kissed anybody before, that much was true, and he wasn’t sure if he was very good at it. To make it believable, he’d have to practice, and it seemed like James was his only option. His closest friends were out of the question. Dorcas was in a relationship already, and besides, she didn’t kiss boys. And under absolutely no circumstances would he ask Severus Snape or Barty Crouch Jr. to practice kissing with him. So, this was something he would have to bring up to James in the near future.

Lily had already been in the store for quite some time, as they noticed her in the corner, indulged in some book she had pulled off of the shelf.

Lily looked up when she heard the door open and she smiled when she saw Regulus and Remus walk in. “How did the double date go?” Lily asked.

“It went well, right Reg?” Remus said, giving him an amused smile. “Can’t keep James and Regulus away from each other, though, I had to drag Reg here,” Remus said, teasingly.

“Oh leave them alone,” Lily said, hitting Remus’ arm playfully, but she was giggling. “New relationships are always like that. Remember when you started dating Sirius?”

Remus rolled his eyes. “Don’t bring that up,” he groaned.

“It was impossible to get you alone! I thought you two were never going to be able to be apart,” Lily continued to tease.

“Alright, alright, I get it. We’re disgusting. Moving on,” Remus replied.

“No, no, I don’t think we need to move on quite yet,” Regulus said, a grin on his face. “Go on, Lily,” he said.

Before Lily could get another word in, Remus was speaking over her. “Anyways, Lily, did you get the books you were looking for?” he asked.

“Oh fine, we can move on,” she said, a smile on her face. “But yeah, I actually did find a few,” she said.

“I just wanted to grab a few things really quickly before we check out—“ Remus said, already walking off towards one of the sections. “I’ll be right back!” he called.

“So,” Lily began, a kind smile on her face, “you and Potter seem to be happy together. He seems almost— bearable— when he’s around you,” she said, a giggle accompanying her words.

“Trust me, I’m surprised too,” Regulus said, honestly, with a laugh. “But he is, really. Things are going good. We are,” Regulus said. “Happy, I mean.”

“I’m really happy for you, Regulus,” Lily said, and she meant it. She rested a hand on his arm and gave it a soft squeeze. “Really.”

“Thank you, Lily. That means a lot,” he said. Like his conversation with Sirius at the start of this, Regulus felt incredibly guilty lying to Lily like this. But at the end of the day, he didn’t think she would be hurt by a harmless prank, so that seemed to somewhat put his mind at ease.

Remus came back moments later with an armful of books and a grin on his face. “I’ve got what I need. We can check out now.”

And they went to check out. Regulus didn’t buy anything, but still, he was glad he tagged along. Remus and Lily were people that he could see himself becoming close friends with, whether he wanted to admit it or not. The three of them were similar in ways that Regulus hadn’t realized, and he really did enjoy their company.

Following their trip to the bookstore, Lily, Regulus, and Remus decided to head back towards The Three Broomsticks. It was the established meeting spot for their group of friends, as they always walked back to the castle together from Hogsmeade. They were the last to arrive, so Remus automatically made his way towards Sirius. Remus sent Regulus a look, as if reminding him that he should be walking with James.

“It’s about time,” Mary spoke up as Regulus made his way towards James. “Marlene, Dorcas, Pete, and I have been waiting here for nearly half an hour. Even Potter and Black made it back before you lot did,” she said.

James, who was now holding onto Regulus’ hand, looked at his boyfriend. “I think you might be the problem, Reg, these two are never late,” he teased.

“Did you just call me a problem?” Regulus asked, squinting his eyes a bit at James, though the tone in his voice was still playful.

“But you’re my problem?” James replied, his tone more questioning than anything, as if he wasn’t sure what the right thing to say was.

“Real smooth, Potter,” Marlene butted in as she started to walk back towards the castle, her arm slung around Dorcas’ shoulders.

“Oh come on, McKinnon, you have to admit I worked as best as I could with what I was given!” James whined. He still had a hold of Regulus’ hand as they walked towards the castle.

“Whatever you say, Potter!” Marlene called back.

“Reg,” James asked, his voice a little bit quieter. “Will you come back to the dorm with us?” he asked, a whiny tone still in his voice.

“Why?” Regulus asked.

“To do —the thing!” James exclaimed, his voice a little louder.

“The thing? Are you two going to fuck or something?!” Mary shrieked, her face scrunched up in disgust.

“Please, God, no. I already have to deal with it enough from those two,” Peter groaned, gesturing towards Sirius and Remus.

“You are disgusting,” James said to Mary and then looked at Peter. “Don’t worry, Wormy, that’s not what it’s about. It’s the thing!”

“Oh!” Peter finally caught on and grinned. “Should I go down to the kitchen to talk to the elves—“ he asked, and Sirius elbowed him in the side, warning him to shut his mouth.

“The kitchens?” Lily questioned and raised an eyebrow. “I’m a prefect, you know. Whatever you lot are planning, you better stop.”

“Well Remus is a prefect too. So is Regulus! They’re the ones with the Zonko’s bags,” Peter pointed out, only to receive an elbow in the side from Sirius again. “Ouch!”

“Pete, shut up,” Sirius muttered. “You’ll blow our cover.”

“I can’t believe you’re dragging Regulus into your messes,” Dorcas said and sighed. “If you start losing Slytherin points, I’ll have to kick your ass, Reggie.”

Regulus glanced at James, and when he saw the smile on his face, a genuine smile appeared on his own. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Dorcas,” he said, glancing back at her.

When they arrived back at the castle, nobody could get a word in before James dragged Regulus off to the Gryffindor common room. Upon entering the portrait hole, James led Regulus straight up to the dorm room, Sirius, Remus, and Peter following behind.

Peter flopped down on his bed, Sirius on Remus’ bed with him, and Regulus stood awkwardly in the doorway for a moment. “Come here,” James whispered and pulled Regulus’ hand to lead him to his own bed, and they sat down on it.

The five boys spent over an hour planning this prank, and they even got the house elves to agree to it. On Halloween the elves were going to take the candy they had bought at Zonko’s and distribute it into the meals for the feast.

The Marauders had a good relationship with the house elves at Hogwarts, a fact that impressed Regulus. —He had seen how Sirius had treated Kreacher growing up, so hearing that Sirius and the others treated the house elves at the castle with respect was a fact that made Regulus happy.

When the five had finished planning their Halloween prank, Regulus was preparing to leave the Gryffindor tower. It was after hours, and making it down to the dungeons without being noticed would be a difficult task.

“Wait, Reg, here,” James said, pulling a cloak out from under his bed. “I don’t want you to get caught.”

“Woah, this really is serious,” Sirius said, a look of shock on his face.

“Thanks?” Regulus said, not quite sure how some old cloak would help him.

James could tell he was skeptical, so he laughed. “It’s an invisibility cloak,” he told Regulus.

Regulus wrapped it around part of his body so that it looked as if his head was floating in midair. “Wow, this is amazing, James. Thank you,” he said and smiled genuinely.

“It’s no problem, really. Just return it tomorrow,” James said, shrugging.

“Of course,” Regulus nodded. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow, then? This was… fun.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow,” James said, standing up to give Regulus a quick kiss before he left. Admittedly, Regulus did flinch again, but not nearly as obvious as he had earlier in the day.

The second that Regulus had exited the Gryffindor common room, he leaned against the wall, a huge smile gracing his features.

It was a good day.

Regulus quickly made his way towards the dungeons, and upon entering, he noticed that nobody was left in the common room. He quickly took the cloak off, folding it carefully, the huge smile still on his face.

“What the hell’s got you smiling like that?” Dorcas asked, raising an eyebrow. Everyone else had gone to sleep, but she was sitting on the couch. She had wanted to make sure that Regulus returned safely.

Regulus jumped, unaware that she had been sitting there. “Fuck, don’t scare me like that,” he said, his hand over his chest, where his heart was thumping.

“Sorry,” Dorcas chuckled. “Seriously, are you all giddy ‘cause of Potter? That’s embarrassing for you,” she joked.

“Shut up,” he muttered, sitting down beside her on the couch. “It was a good day, okay? I don’t think I’ve had that much fun since… well, ever.”

“I’m happy for you, Reg,” Dorcas said, a smile on her face. “Really, I think Potter is good for you.”

Regulus knew that it was all fake. It was just a prank. He knew that as soon as James got bored of pulling this prank on Sirius, it would all end.

But at this moment, Regulus was happier than he had ever been before.

And at this moment, Regulus felt like he had something to lose for the very first time in his life.