Melting The Ice

The heat shimmered in the air between cars as James and Regulus passed them, rounding the corner as they entered the park. Their pinkies were interlocked, and James smiled happily down at them as he walked them through the gates and up to the pond with the little picnic tables. This was one of the rare times where he was listening, and Regulus was talking. His excitement was palpable in the air, his cheeks flushed and eyes twinkling with interest as he talked about the book he’d just finished. The raven-haired boy was gesturing slightly with the other hand James wasn’t holding, the silver rings catching the flashes of sunlight from the gaps between the trees they walked under.

James could watch him for hours like this.

Regulus paused to take a breath, meeting James’ eye as they stopped under a small willow tree. James grinned and leant against the trunk, pulling Regulus into his chest. He rolled his eyes and grumbled about it being too hot but wrapped his arms around James none the less. James hummed into his hair, basking in the warmth as he felt his lover’s shoulders rise and fall in breath. Regulus turned so his back was leaning against James’ chest and sighed contentedly as he draped his arms around him.

“Reg, love. I’ve got a question.” James murmured into the silence, watching as the ducks paddled across the surface of the water. Regulus made a muffled sound of acknowledgement into James’ arm, shuffling to get closer despite the heat. “My friends are going to Mary’s café for lunch. Sirius and Remus are gonna be there, probably a couple others too, but I was wondering if you might come out with us?”

Regulus let out a short snuff of air and turned his head back to face James.

“I mean…would you like me to?” His voice was slow and uncertain, his face a slight frown of worry. James pressed a soft kiss to his cheek and smiled.

“Of course I’d like you to come. It just depends on what youwant to do.”

Regulus thought for a bit, watching the people and drinking in the soft rhythm of James’ heartbeat against his back.

“Alright.”

“You’ll come?” James’ face lit up.

“Yes James.” He chuckled, heart fluttering strangely at the pleased look on his boyfriends’ face.

Later in the afternoon, James lead Regulus over to the café. He could tell that the boy was anxious, so he gently pulled him to the side in an alley.

“You don’t have to do this. We can go somewhere else, if you want.” James asked, eyes wide with worry and a comforting smile on his face as he kissed Regulus’ hands. Regulus rolled his eyes and smiled, sighing slightly.

“It’s fine, I’ve told you, ne t'inquiète pas. These are your friends, right? You want to see them.”

“Yeah, but-“ James protested.

“Then we’re going.” When James’ expression didn’t ease, Regulus smiled softly, assuring him with a small squeeze to the hands and a peck on the cheek. “James, look, I'm fine. Let’s just go, yeah?” He murmured, before withdrawing from the alley.

James always had this slight crease in his forehead when he was concerned, right between his eyebrows, his eyes slightly downcast as he thought. Regulus watched, slightly annoyed that this crease wasn’t going away. He was anxious- of course he was- he bloody hated these stupid social events, but he was doing it for James. James seemed to be more anxious than Regulus at the moment, though, which was slightly worrying if anything.

The café they were going to wasn’t actually called ‘ Mary’s  café ’ , but the girl who owned it was named that. She had owned the café since she was 16, having ran away here when she was 15 like Sirius. (Although they did so for very different reasons, the two had instantly clicked). The previous guy who owned the building took her in and taught her how to work it all.

 Mary had always dreamed of becoming a dancer but had never been offered the opportunities. At some point the owner had died, leaving the place and a bunch of money to her to pay for her tuition at Hogwarts, which is where James had met her. James didn’t know much about it all, but he did know that Mary had loved him like a dad.

The door dinged softly as the two entered the building, sighing as cool air blew over them in the cosy café. The girl behind the counter was talking to another girl, hands on her hips and frowning slightly. James called out to her and she sent him a quick smile with a roll of her eyes.

“I’ll be over in a minute.” She nodded at the two of them, turning back to the girl as her face dropped back into a grimace. Regulus watched as he was guided over to one of the big tables in the corner and sat down next to Remus, noticing the tenseness in Mary’s shoulders and the way a flicker of annoyance flashed on her stony face every time the girl spoke.

“Regulus? Regulus. Reg.” James caught his attention gently from his other side, his hands shaking slightly as they rubbed soft circles on his palm under the table. He hadn’t even noticed there was other people at the table with him. Regulus’ heart lurched with embarrassment, but to his relief the only people there besides James were his brother and Remus.

“Sorry. I was zoned out.” Regulus coughed, hiding his reddening face behind his hair, which was getting a little longer, now he thought about it. It wasn’t as long as Sirius’, or as messy as James, but it was longer than he’d ever been allowed in Grimmald Place. It was weird to think he had been gone so long, that he had changed so much.

The door swung open and a few other people bustled in in a group, sitting down at their table. They were people he vaguely recognised but didn’t know. There was the boy who threw the party, Peter, the previous captain of the hockey team, Frank and his girlfriend Alice, a blonde girl who he knew was Marlene from the party. The last one to walk in was the girl with red hair he’d seen at the party, which made his shoulders tense as he looked away, a thunderous look on his face as he tried his best to throttle the writhing snake in the pit of his stomach. She was pushing her hair out of her face and scowling at Marlene as she thrusted something in her face.

“Marls, you dropped your keys. For fucks sake, you need to be more spatially aware or you’re going to get robbed one day, and then you’re going to come running to me to fix that problem too.” She huffed, cheeks as red as her hair as she slumped down in the chair next to Marlene.

“Awe, so you do care about me Lils?” Marlene grinned as she leant into her. Lily rolled her eyes but shifted so Marlene was more comfortable on her shoulder. Regulus watched as all five people and in the midst of his bewilderment, he locked eyes with Remus who looked just as taken aback as him.

“Did you get told that it was just a couple friends by any chance?” Remus murmured, eyeing the group who was furiously talking now. At least James was more relaxed.

“Yeah. This doesn’t look like just a couple.”

“These two idiots just can’t count then, can they?” Remus laughed.

Regulus shook his head slowly, shuffling slightly closer to him. James frowned and moved his chair closer, squeezing his hand. Regulus raised an eyebrow.

“James, I moved my chair barely an inch, you don’t need to look like a kicked puppy.”

“Yeah, but you moved an inch away from me.” James widened his eyes in exaggeration, then pointed at Remus, “And you moved towards him.”

“That’s because I was talking to Remus.”

“Well then talk to me !” James pointed at himself, staring at his boyfriend pleadingly.

“James.” Regulus sighed, barely concealing his smile.

“Lovesick fool.” Remus scoffed, just so Regulus could hear. Regulus whipped around, scowling.

“You need to shut up, Lupin. Don’t think I don’t know about your little thing for my brother.” Remus’ eyes widened. “Oh please, did you think I wouldn’t notice? You’re smarter than that.” Regulus winked and smirked. Remus shook his head in disbelief.

“You’re mental you are.”

“I know.” He shrugged, complacently.

“Don’t kill me for liking your brother. Please.”

“I won’t, as long as you didn’t kiss or something. And as long as you don’t bloody hurt him.”

“I promise we didn’t. And I won’t.”

The hurried promise hung in the air as Regulus stared at the boy calculatingly.

“Alright then, just know I will use it against you if I need to.”

“What are you guys talking about? Stop whispering!” James whined, tugging on Regulus’ arm.

“Oh, don’t you worry your pretty little head with that.” Regulus patted his shoulder condescendingly, but James’ cheeks flushed a deep red that could be seen despite his dark skin.

“Really?” Remus shook his head, scoffing.

“What?“ James looked confused.

“Remus knows.” Regulus sighed.

“How?” James eyed the boy warily.

“Doesn’t matter. He won’t blab to Sirius.”

“How do you know he won’t?”

“Blackmail, James. Blackmail.”

“Regulus! Why couldn’t you just ask him not to tell Sirius?” James hissed, leaning forward.

“Yeah, why couldn’t you?” Remus sighed wistfully.

“Be quiet. You would’ve done the same.”

James slumped back in his chair, blowing hair from his face.

“Whatever you want Reg.” He shot a grin his way which sent Regulus’ stomach swooping. Frank quickly pulled him into a conversation, however, allowing Regulus to just observe his boyfriend as he nodded along to whatever Remus was saying.

Regulus suddenly became aware of a pair of green eyes staring at him from the other side of the table. Lily had a thoughtful look on her face as she rested her chin on her hand. She sent him a small smile and tilted her head, eyes shooting to James before raising her eyebrows at him. Regulus quirked an eyebrow back, turning away to Remus to ignore her.

Fuck, they really were going to get caught if they weren’t careful.

“Baby Black! You’re here!”

Everyone paused their conversation as a familiar voice rang out. Regulus rolled his eyes and looked up at Barty.

“Do you stalk me or something, Crouch?”

“Nope! I’m just- uh- we’re just…” His face morphed into one of a badly concealed secret as he pulled Evan towards him and into view, also showing their interlocked hands. Regulus’ lips tilted up into a satisfied smile.

“I see you’ve worked it out, then?” He snickered, watching as Evan glared at him.

“Finally!” James gasped, slamming his hands down onto the table and pretending to weep with joy. Sirius and Marlene began to clap.

Evan’s cheeks grew pink as he frowned.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He spat through gritted teeth.

Those who knew looked at each other knowingly.

“Sure.” Regulus shrugged. “Whatever you tell yourself.”

“Do you seriously all know?” Barty sagged, eyebrows scrunching in a worried frown.

“Honey, I know, and I’ve never even met you before.” Lily laughed, giving them a pitiful look.

There was a general agreement as Barty whispered hurried apologies to Evan who just rolled his eyes.

“Would you care to join us, if it doesn’t ruin your date?” James snickered at his last words, gesturing to the table.

Evan opened his mouth to argue, but Regulus decided to cut in and hurry things up.

“For the love of god and your own dignity, do us all a favour and don’t deny you’re dating. Either carry on with your date or join us and get on with it.“

“Please.” Remus added, flashing a smile.

Barty looked to Evan who rolled his eyes.

“I’ll get us some chairs.” He groaned, pulling up two chairs from the table next to them.

It wasn’t long after they were seated that Mary came over, all out of breath from her ferrying around.

“Mary!” Sirius screeched once she was stood in front of them, getting up to high-five her.

“Hey.” She smiled, nodding at the people she knew. “Sorry about the wait, it’s been really busy today.” Her voice was low and smooth. It suited her perfectly, she had dark skin and dark eyes, plump red lips and a mass of black curls framing her face. A gold ring adorned her nose and she twirled the pen in her long fingers.

“Don’t worry about it, I'm just glad the café is doing well.” James shrugged.

“Alright, let me take your orders then I might as well take my break and come join you, if you don’t mind. You need to introduce me to the new customers.” She chuckled, slender hands reaching up to twist her hair into a ponytail before she pulled out the notebook from her apron.

Mary went around the table to take their orders, but when she got to Lily there was an awkward silence.

“Lils? What would you like?” Marlene nudged her.

“What?- Oh, I'm sorry.” She blinked, ripping her gaze away from Mary as she let out a high-pitched giggle. “I’ll have my usual.” Lily got out breathily, face red.

“Coming right up.” Mary winked, smiling softly and walking away as Lily ducked behind her hair to hide her blush.

“What was that about?” Marlene grinned, looking from Mary to Lily in glee.

“What was what about?” Lily asked, but her voice was higher than usual as she straightened her top and tucked her hair behind her ears. She still hadn’t taken her eyes off of Mary on the other side of the room as she talked. A small smile took hold of her lips as she made eye-contact with Mary.

“That!” Marlene shrieked, eyes wide as she pointed at Lily, turning to the rest of the group.

“Lily likes the waitress.” Sirius wiggled his eyebrows as Marlene gaped.

“How did you not know? Why do you think she comes to this café so much?” James chuckled.

“I just thought she really liked coffee. Well, that, or she really liked you.” Marlene shrugged. James choked on nothing and the table erupted into laughter. James glanced at Regulus, reaching out for his hand under the table.

“I think Lily is a bit out of my league to like me like that.” James smiled.

“And you realise this now?” Peter grinned and shook his head.

“What does that mean?” Remus asked, frowning. He sent a subtle look towards Regulus who kept his face blank, free of interest.

“Well, Prongsie here has been pining for Lily since he was 11!” Sirius cackled.

“You say that like it’s in the present tense, Sirius.” Lily rolled her eyes. “It was more of an obsession by the fourth year anyway. We figured this all out when we dated and broke up, remember? He didn’t even have feelings for me by then, and needless to say I am a literal lesbian.” She laughed.

“Oh god, that is so real. The struggles of being a lesbian is dating the weirdest men ever before you realise, I swear.” Marlene groaned.

“Hey! You could’ve done worse to realise. You could’ve dated Snivellus!” James protested.

“I almost did.” Lily snorted. The table fell about in fits of giggles and outrage as people added onto the conversation until the drinks came and they had to stop talking because Peter had hiccups and Alice had tears streaming down her cheeks.

Mary set down the drinks and untied her apron, slumping down in a chair. Her eyes twinkled as she leant forward.

“So, introduce me to the newcomers.” She grinned.

“This is my brother, Regulus.” Sirius’ eyes softened as they landed on Regulus.

“I thought he- oh. Wait. He…y’know?” Mary’s eyes lit up, eyes flitting from Sirius to Regulus.

“Yeah. He’s not entirely as brainwashed as I thought.”

“Well, you’re not entirely as smart as I thought.” Regulus retorted, shrugging, “Being in England evidently made you lose some braincells, then, Sirius.” He ended his sentence with a small glare.

“I see what you mean now by the whole angry French boy thing, Sirius.” Mary laughed softly. Normally, Regulus would take offence to such things said by utter strangers. But he had a certain level of respect for this girl. “Nice to meet you in person though, I’ve heard a lot. I have a feeling we’ll get on.”

Mary looked him up and down, sending him a brief nod accompanied by a small smile. Then she turned to Remus, a mischievous look in her eye as her smile grew into a grin. Her eyes were fixated on him and he looked frozen, his ears red at the spotlight attention. Mary glanced at Sirius for a moment, before returning her gaze to the boy quickly. It was like she was eyeing him up hungrily, feeding off every reaction he had to her and Sirius.

“What’s up with this guy. He’s new too- is he the one you’re obsessing over Sirius?” She said finally, breaking the silence like a knife through butter. There was a collective kind of exhale to gasp as Sirius began spluttering and waving his hands about, face aflame.

“He’s from my Latin class. James and I forced him to become friends with us.” Regulus said, a sense of self-satisfaction lining his tone. James grinned.

“We may have been the one to introduce him, but Pads is the one that’s taking rather a significant liking to Remus here.” He raised his eyebrows. “I heard he’s even got a nickname now, hm?”

“Shut up Prongs. I’ll kill you.”

“What was it? Moonshine? Moonlight?” James pretended to think, dodging Sirius’ attempts to shut him up by lunging over the table at him.

“James! Don’t you dare say another word, I said that to you and Pete in confidence!”

“I’m interested to see what my nickname is as well. I didn’t even know you did that.” Remus chipped in, his voice wavering and his cheeks colouring.

“You don’t know?” Peter laughed, shaking his head at Sirius who had decided to try and hide from the embarrassment by hiding his face and pretending it wasn’t happening. A muffled reply of something along the lines of ‘shut your gob’ was the only response.

Regulus rolled his eyes. 

“It can’t be that bad. Stop whining and tell us the nickname already.”

Murmurs of agreement spread around the table and Sirius raised his head. The furious blush had travelled all the way from his cheeks to his neck and he grimaced.

“Fine.” Sirius grumbled, turning his face away from Remus. He mumbled something incoherent into his arm.

“What was that?” Teased James, leaning over the table slightly. “We didn’t quite hear you there, Paddy.”

“It’s Moony, okay?” He huffed, glaring around the table. Regulus snorted and almost everyone began laughing apart from Remus.

“Why? That’s so random…” He choked. “It’s not really embarrassing.”

“Erm you have a…scar. It looks like a moon, on your neck. I saw it, and it kind of just- stuck.”

“Oh.” Remus breathed, looking far too pleased and flustered in Regulus’ opinion. It wasn’t that romantic or anything. How was he swooning over a damn nickname?

“And how did you see it Pads?” Peter asked knowingly.

Regulus’ stomach dropped. Sirius groaned and put his face in his hands.

“How did Sirius see it, ‘Moony’?” Regulus turned to him.

“Regulus stop, you know how.” Remus pleaded. The table was quiet.

“I want you to say it.” He stated, glaring at him.

“I was…kissing him.” Sirius interjected. “On the neck. Happy?” He crossed his arms and glared.

Regulus stared at Remus.

“He was kissing you?”

“Reg-“

“You promised. Not even twenty minutes ago.” His voice was growing steadily louder as he pointed his finger into Remus’ chest. “You said you didn’t- You…You…” The youngest Black brother trailed off, breathing heavily as he stared down at him from his now standing position. Regulus didn’t remember standing up. The silence was stiff.

“Reg, it’s okay.” James muttered, grabbing his other hand. Regulus’ whole body jerked but he took a deep shuddering breath, his gaze flitting between Remus and his brother. He didn’t take his eyes off them for a moment.

“I need some air.” Regulus finally whispered as his hand dropped, his shoulders slumped, and his gaze lowered to his feet. He hurried from the café, the silence lingering as everyone looked at each other.

James went to stand, but Remus stopped him.

“I’ll go.”

He opened his mouth to protest but noticed the weird looks he was getting already. Plus, Sirius was sulking in the corner, so he was priority he supposed. Remus had already left in the direction Regulus had gone anyway.

“I think me and Ev will go back to the dorms, so we can be there when he gets back.” Barty nodded at them all, giving them a brief smile before letting Evan lead him out of the building.

People slowly began to leave, Mary got back to work, and James sat down in the seat next to his best friend.

“You alright?” James asked gently.

“I’m fine.” Sirius snapped, every single body signal clearly showing that he was not, in fact ‘fine’.

“Pads, I'm sorry if we pressured you to say the nickname. It didn’t mean to come across that way, it was just banter.”

No response.

James sighed. This Sirius was harder to reason with. James loved his best friend to the ends of the world, but when he shut down like this and refused to communicate with someone, it made everything a hundred times harder to solve. He purposely avoids and ignores him until he thinks that James feels sufficiently hurt. Then he will act as if nothing happened.

Sirius knows James hates it, he knows that ignoring him makes him feel like shit, he knows he does it and he still does it. Just to spite him.

That’s how he knows he’s mad.

A lot of people think that Sirius’ worst anger is when it’s explosive and it blows up in your face, but it’s not. Sirius gets angry at everything, that’s just who he is, but James knows better than to assume that this was his worst.

Sirius had told him one night, that the Black family had a specific type of anger. It was silent, lethal and bloody. It twisted people, he said. It cuts through you until you’re bleeding out.

He had described it mostly coming from his mother, the way it leaves you empty and feeling worthless and cold like a dirty wet rag. James had told him that his anger was nothing like that, and therefore he had nothing to worry about. Sirius had just laughed.

“You haven’t seen me properly angry, Prongs.” He’d said. “And I hope you never will.”

James had unfortunately seen, only a few months later.

It was the first time he brought up Regulus in a conversation. It was the first fight they ever had, and it turned physical. The after fight was worse, sitting on the floor of the kitchen, staring at each other with blood in his mouth and sweat in his eyes. Sirius had lost all the light in his eyes, clutching at his stomach which James had punched mere seconds prior. He had looked up at James with a cruel smile, his fingers twisting in his t-shirt.

“I hate you just as much as I hate him, James.” Sirius had choked out wetly, blood staining his teeth as he grinned manically. “I wish you were both fucking dead.”

That wasn’t Sirius. Not James’ Sirius.

At least he knew what Sirius had meant by then.

All he could think now was that he was thankful this wasn’t that anger. But there was a line, and Sirius was swaying on it dangerously.

“Pads, please talk to me.” James begged, rubbing Sirius back.

“Leave me alone.” Came a sob.

“I can’t do that.” He said sadly, looking at his best friends crumpled up body, all shoulder blades and closed off corners. Sirius’ back shook with sobs and James pulled him into a hug, murmuring soft assurances. It was a while before the next response came.

“I’m so scared, Prongs.” Came a whisper. James paused.

“What are you scared of?” He responded slowly; voice quiet.

Sirius’ body rose in a deep breath, shaking on the way down. He raised his tear-stained face, his lip trembling.

“I like him so much it hurts James. I’m scared.”

“Oh, Pads.” James sighed softly, heart aching for his friend as he tugged him into his chest. Sirius slumped onto him, mouth open as if hesitating what he was about to say.

“And the worst thing is…I can still hear her. Right here.” He tapped his head slightly.

“I think we’ve learnt by now, that if old ‘Burga tells you not to do something, it’s probably a good idea to do it.” James chuckled weakly.

Sirius managed a weak smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“I guess so.” He whispered. There was a comfortable silence where Sirius just took in deep breaths and tried to stop crying. No matter how bad he was, James was always there. His rock. “Thanks James.” He got out croakily.

“For what?” James laughed, shifting so that he could see his best friends face more clearly.

“For everything.” Sirius shrugged, giving him a grin.

“Don’t be silly. We’re okay, right?”

“Yeah. Of course we’re okay, Prongs. Always.”

Always. That one word that made the sentence untrue. But it was okay. James’ shoulders slowly relaxed from their tense position. They were okay.

They were okay.

                                                                                                              ±………±

Remus, on the other hand, was having a little less luck. He had followed the younger Black through the café but lost him rather quickly. He had to ask several people, but eventually he arrived at a small square of stone, a balcony of some sort, the door pushed open reading “smoking area”. He paused before he stepped through the threshold though, wandering if he was really the person Regulus wanted to see right now.

But everyone needed someone, and right now Remus was the only available option.

The hot air hit him as he walked onto the balcony, feeling the warmth of the stone under his fingertips as he walked into the square. Regulus was sat on the wall at the edge, head leaning against the building in the shade and legs dangling. He was holding a cigarette in his hand, glossy red eyes staring out into nothing. It looked like he had been crying but somehow, he still looked pretty. That family Black gene certainly carried.

“Are you going to stand there gawping at me or join me, Remus?”

Regulus hadn’t even looked around. He didn’t need to; he had heard the boy following him.

Remus silently swung his long legs over the scratchy wall and shuffled to be more comfortable. The view made his stomach flip a bit, but it was peaceful. Regulus offered him the cig with a lofty wave of his wrist in his direction and Remus blew out a tense breath, taking it. Smoking had always been a source of comfort to him, but he tried not to make it a habit. It didn’t work, but at least he knew he tried.

Remus felt himself relax a little, content in the familiar feeling of the smoke filling his lungs and pushing it back out. He handed it back, and only then did he notice the freshly burnt butts on the floor. Regulus had been chain-smoking. He hadn’t even been gone that long.

“I didn’t know you smoked.” He got out carefully, eyes locked on the cigarette as Regulus took a drag.

“I don’t,” He deadpanned, “I stole this pack off someone.”

“Who?” Remus asked sharply.

“Don’t worry, it was some jerk back in France.” Regulus rolled his eyes. “What are you doing here anyway?”

Remus shrugged.

“Everyone needs someone. And I fucked up.” He let the silence fill the air for a moment before swallowing his pride slowly. “Sorry.” He croaked.

The black-haired boy hummed thoughtfully, before letting out a small sigh and shaking the hair out his face, almost as if he was dismissing his own thoughts.

“Don’t be, it’s my own fault. I overreacted- trusted too soon and then blew up when it backfired. I don’t expect you to be entirely perfect or tell me anything. It’s stupid.”

Remus straightened up, eyes narrowing in protest. “It’s not like I don’t trust you, you know. I knew how you would feel about it, but I made it worse, didn’t even tell you I fancied your brother. I haven’t talked to you in days, Regulus. It’s not your fault.”

“It’s not your obligation to do any of that.” He murmured back, fiddling with the tube in his hand.

“I kissed your brother!”

Regulus scoffed.

“Please, I haven’t talked to him in years. You probably speak to him more than I do.”

“That’s my point. I made things worse between you because I was being selfish.”

“I don’t think you could have made things worse, Remus. Our relationship was already in tatters.” Regulus paused, as if debating his next words. “Trust is a big thing for me and Sirius. Even if it was small- it means a lot. And this is not me pulling out the sob card. It’s just a fact. I’m guessing that’s why I had such a big reaction to you breaking a promise. I’ve only known you for a few weeks.”

He looked at him, smirking slightly.

“Doesn’t help that you seem very trustable. I will blame you for that bit.”

“How?” Remus spluttered, gesturing at his face. “I don’t think many people would describe this as trustable Regulus. I think that’s the one thing I won’t take accountability for.”

Regulus rolled his eyes.

“Shush, it’s not just your face. It’s your aura, as Pandora would say. Your vibe. You ruined it anyway, so it doesn’t matter.” He nudged Remus’ shoulder jokingly. Remus laughed lightly, stealing the butt and taking a drag. Regulus swung his legs back over, stretching as he stood.

“Keep the box. I don’t smoke, and I don’t plan to start. Cigarettes are disgusting things, not sure why you smoke them.” He wrinkled his nose and placed the small box in Remus’ hands as he stood too, pocketing the box. Remus wanted to know how Regulus new he smoked. Regulus began to walk away, but Remus had one more thing to say.

“Regulus?” The boy stopped, tilting his head for him to go on. “I won’t lie to you again, or break promises or whatever. At all, not again.”

Regulus nodded, a small flicker of amusement flashing in his eye. “Promise?”

“Promise.” Remus laughed breathily.

“Good.” Regulus smiled and turned to leave again but paused. “Oh, and just to clear things up, you can kiss my brother or whatever. Date him if you want, he clearly likes you. I'm not entirely sure why you would want to, but never mind. Good luck with that.”

Remus grinned.

“Oh, and again, if you hurt him, I’ll kill you in such a way no one will recognise your corpse!” Regulus called, lips turning into a rictus smile back as he disappeared through the door and down the stairs.

Remus shook his head in amusement and made his way down the stairs after him. He would never understand the Black brothers.

Regulus slowed down as he made his way back to the table. His hands were still shaking, and his mouth still tasted of cigarette smoke. Sirius seemed fine now, anyway, and James was obviously the reason. It stung a little that Sirius was still the priority, since Remus had to come after him, but he decided to ignore it for now. Sirius looked up at him once he was stood fully in front of the table, but neither of them said anything.

James shifted uncomfortably in his seat, eyes darting from one person to another.

“You okay?” Regulus asked stiffly.

“Yep.” Sirius said, popping the ‘p’.

“Good.”

Silence.

“Are you?” Pause, “Okay, I mean.” Sirius repeated back to him.

“Of course.”

“Great.”

Silence.

James coughed and the two looked at him, breaking their eye contact. James cringed, looking guilty.

“I’m sorry.” He blurted out. Sirius snorted. “I needed to cough!” He protested through Sirius’ chuckles, desperately trying to defend himself.

“James.” Regulus laughed, interrupting his rambling by putting a hand on his shoulder gently.

James’ mouth snapped shut and he looked up at his boyfriend.

“Let’s go.” The youngest Black looked around at everyone, seeing Remus had returned too, and gestured to the door.

Sirius stood up and they all gathered their things in a comfortable silence, James and Sirius waving goodbye to Mary who grinned at them all and sent Regulus a wink as he made eye contact with her.

The walk back to campus was slow and quiet, with James and Sirius’ loud chatter filling the silence as the other two walked behind them. Remus lived in the dorms too, but he was a lot further up. He was rooming with some of his other Basketball teammates.

“I don’t even like them. It’s clear they don’t like me either, or at least don’t trust me.” Remus sighed.

“Well, you can always stay at my place. It’s just Barty and Evan there, the sofa’s free and they’ll probably share one bed anyway, so there’ll be a spare.” Regulus shrugged as they all stopped at his door.

“Thanks, I’ll take you up on that offer if it gets too bad, but I'm alright for now.” He smiled.

Regulus smiled back before glancing at James who was hovering awkwardly, obviously wanting to be alone with him.

Remus smirked as he looked at James and cleared his throat. “Hey, Sirius, could you walk me up to my dorm?”

Sirius agreed readily, cheeks glowing as he followed Remus obediently up the stairs. James watched them go before stepping closer, hands running up and down Regulus’ sides. Regulus’ stomach pooled with warmth; he could feel James’ breath fanning over his face he was so close.

“Can I kiss you goodbye?” He asked softly, nose already touching Regulus’. Regulus nodded quickly, a secretive smile pulling at the corner of his lips.

James moved forward and pressed his mouth to it, devouring his face in small kisses before leaning in to capture Regulus’ lips properly.

James’ kisses always left Regulus breathless in all the right ways, his stomach squirming and his fingertips buzzing with elation. It left him dizzy and glowing with happiness, but also crazy and hungry for more. He wanted to push his fingers so deep into James’ flesh that they became one, and all that lovely fiery warmth surrounded him. Regulus could kiss him until he lost all oxygen and died, happy with just drinking in the sweet taste of him instead of living.

James was worth so much that it made him feel a little light-headed just standing next to something so bright, something so untouched and saintly. But that wasn’t to say James wasn’t real, no, he was made of toned muscle and crimson blood, wide lively eyes and a quirk of a smile resting on his red, red lips.  

As they pulled away, Regulus gasped for air, suddenly finding his hands twisted in James’ t-shirt and his chest gasping for air.

“Gods, Jamie.” He murmured, crushing his words into James’ lips as he pressed in for more. He was craving the very taste of him, the very essence of life that filled him up.

But their time was limited, and as much as he wanted to carry on, he knew that Sirius could come back at any minute. Regulus detached himself and rested his forehead on James’ chest, breathing heavily. His hands curled into loose fists as James put his chin on top of his head.

“Reg?” James’ voice sent vibrations through him as Regulus looked up and hummed in response. “You just- you called me something.”

Regulus blinked at James’ flushed face, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

“What?”

“Erm- just after we kissed, you called me something.”

“What do you mean?”

“You called me Jamie.”

“Oh.” Regulus breathed, backing away a bit. “Sorry.” His cheeks were tinted red.

“Don’t be. Please, don’t be. Say it again.”

“James-“

“Say it!” James grinned, reaching forward to drag him back into his arms. Regulus sighed, eyes shooting to the stairs and then back at James’ face.

“Fine. ‘Jamie’. Are you happy?” Regulus scowled.

“Very. Please, please call me that. Whenever you want.” James beamed. Regulus rolled his eyes.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“You like it.”

“I do.” Regulus sighed.

After a few moments, he slowly removed himself from James’ embrace and stepped towards his dorm. Unlocking the door, he left James with his brother who was coming down the stairs, slipping inside his dorm with a small smile.

That night, Regulus found his two roommates in the same bed, just as he had predicted. As he slipped under his own duvet, he heard someone whisper his name. He turned to face Evan. He had his arm draped over Barty, who was presumably asleep.

“Reg.”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.” Evan whispered, sending him a sleepy smile. Regulus nodded.

“Goodnight Evan.” He whispered back as Evan’s face disappeared behind Barty’s shoulder.

“Night.” Came the muffled response.