Work Text:
Jamie
Are you going to the party, love?
loml
The one Sirius is hosting?
Jamie
Yeah
loml
I’m going, yes.
Barty and Evan are forcing me to go.
Jamie
Am I not enough to convince you to go?
loml
Not as much as I could’ve convinced you to skip.
Jamie
I promised I’d go
Doesn’t matter anyway
What colour are you wearing?
loml
Red.
Why wouldn’t I?
Are you breaking up with me?
Jamie
Of course not!
I just wasn’t sure if you’d be comfortable wearing red
loml
I figure Sirius is inviting enough people and supplying enough alcohol that it’s easy enough to get out of.
Not to mention, I wouldn’t mind if we started telling people.
About us, I mean.
Jamie
Seriously!?
loml
Yes, seriously.
But I don’t want to actively tell people.
Just be less careful and if people ask about us then we can confirm.
I can’t be bothered with letting everyone know.
Jamie
Works with me either way!
So we’re wearing red?
loml
Of course.
And you better wear something more than just a t-shirt.
I don’t want you to embarrass me.
Jamie
I’ll try to find something
Do you want me to send you pictures of what I decide?
loml
If you want to.
Jamie
Alright, expect those soon
I need to help Sirius set up now
Love you <3
loml
Love you too.
“James!” Sirius calls from down the hall, “What the fuck are you doing? You said you’d help me and Moony set up!” Sirius then walks into his room and sees him on his phone. The ravenette leans against the doorframe and smirks, crossing his arms, “Oh, are you texting someone? Maybe coordinating the colours of your outfits for tonight.”
James blushes and stands up from his bed, throwing his phone onto it behind him, “Oh shove off it, Pads.” He then pushes Sirius away from his door frame and out of his room, “Lets’ go get set up.”
“Yeah, we’ve already started that, except you were busy flirting with someone!”
“James was flirting with someone?” Remus asks from where he’s setting up their sound system.
Sirius laughs and trots over to his boyfriend to press a kiss to his cheek, “It looked like it! He was sitting all smiley at his phone. When I pushed he blushed!”
Remus sends James a smirk, “Oh, you were texting someone.”
“Are they coming tonight?” Sirius pushes, joining his boyfriend in the teasing.
Peter hums as he walks into the room, “Lily is coming.”
“It’s not Lily.” James sighs.
“He didn’t deny it was someone he was flirting with!” Sirius calls as his best friend walks out of the room. James shouts a ‘fuck you’ behind him and it makes his other three friends laugh.
The four of them set up the party and head to their own rooms to start getting changed for the party before they bring out drinks. And James pulls out almost every red shirt he owns and throws all of the t-shirts into their own pile, which leaves about six shirts. He snaps a quick picture and sends it to Regulus.
Jamie
*picture*
Which shirt?
loml
Are these my only options to work with?
I need to take you shopping one day
Your entire closet is atrocious
Jamie
Rude
Just pick a shirt
loml
Red button up, three buttons undone.
Those sexy black pants I like.
And…
The gold necklaces I got you for your birthday a couple years ago.
Jamie
Thank you, love
You want a picture when I put it all on?
loml
Sure.
You’ll have to wait to see my outfit.
Barty’s already commented about how sexy I look.
Jamie
Tease
loml
You love it.
Jamie
Unfortunately
I bet you look amazing, though
loml
I’ll be showing up with Barty, Ev, and Pandora late.
I think we’re going to stop by the cafe by your house, would you want anything?
Jamie
My regular
Double chocolate frappe, extra whipped cream, chocolate AND caramel drizzle
loml
You’re going to give yourself diabetes.
Jamie
It’ll be worth it
I’ll send you the outfit when I put it on
loml
I look forward to it.
Jamie
No need for sarcasm Reg
loml
I don’t know what you mean.
Jamie
Whatever
James throws his phone back on his bed with a fond eye roll and a huff of soft laughter. He puts away all of the shirts he pulled out except for the one that Regulus told him to wear. It’s a nice shirt, James can admit, as he unbuttons it and slips it on, doing the buttons up once again; it’s a deep blood red silk material that looks like water when James moves in certain lighting just right. He unbuttons the top three buttons and quickly rushes to grab the pants he was told to wear.
He honestly doesn’t see what Regulus enjoys about them so much. Regulus says they make his ass look good, but other than that he doesn’t see anything particular about them. It’s not like they’re the leather pants that Sirius wears that makes Remus go crazy--Regulus the leather clothing type either way. They’re just a nice pair of jeans, tight on James’ thigh but that spread out into a small flare with stars painted up the side to his knee; the stars are thanks to him and Remus getting high and bored one night.
James tucks the shirt loosely into the pants while walking over to his small jewelry holder. He doesn’t have much jewelry, mostly things that Regulus or Pandora or even Sirius has given him over the years. He grabs two gold necklaces, a plain double chain one and a longer one with the leo constellation hanging from it. Alongside that, James grabs two rings to slide onto his fingers; his family’s signet ring and the promise ring that Regulus gave him. He usually wears it on a necklace under his shirt but today is special.
Because they’re wearing red tonight.
After making a couple adjustments to his outfit, he snaps a picture of himself in his mirror and sends it to Regulus, awaiting his response.
It doesn’t take long for him to get a response, but it’s in the form of a simple ‘Merlin, I’m in love with you’ from his boyfriend which makes him laugh.
“You really are texting someone.” Says a voice from his door and James whips around. Remus has apparently entered his room without him noticing, “Not only are you laughing at something on your phone, but you’re wearing red.
James feels his face warm and he rubs the back of his neck, “Yeah… they’re uh- we’ve been keeping our relationship quiet because of… reasons and they’re finally wanting to start opening up about it.”
“And what better way to do it than at a party.” Remus hums, phrased like a question but said like a statement.
“Apparently so.”
“Well, you look good.” Remus smiles at him, something genuine. He straightens from where he’s been leaning against James’ closed door, “How do I look.”
James smiles back, “Handsome as always.” He’s wearing a simple red knit sweater over a white button up and a pair of dark brown corduroy pants. “You might get a bit hot, though.”
Remus shrugs, “I’ve got two layers, I can always take my sweater off and wear it around my waist.”
James nods, “Is there any other reason you came in here?”
“Not really,” Remus admits, shrugging again, “Though I was curious about you texting someone and wanted to see for myself.” He winks and James goes red again, opening his door and pushes his friend out of it. Remus laughs as the door is shut and James can hear his laughter down the hall as he walks away.
A couple minutes later, there’s a knock on their door and Remus shouts that Marlene and Dorcas are here, which makes James tuck his phone into his back pocket and walk out of his room. He meets Sirius in the hall and they walk downstairs together.
The ravenette is wearing a fishnet crop top underneath a red and black varsity jacket that James jokingly bought for Remus while they were in school so he didn’t feel left out with Sirius and James having one--he bought Pete one too. He’s paired it with a semi-tight leather skirt that doesn’t quite reach his knees overtop a pair of thinly stretched and majorly ripped black tights. Adorning his body are layers upon layers of silver and red jewelry--three or four necklaces, a silver chain dangling on one hip, almost every finger having at least one ring, and all his piercings filled with silver, red, or black rings. While they’re walking, Sirius is pulling half his hair up into the style Remus likes.
“Looking good Pads.” James says as they reach the bottom of the stairs. It makes Sirius pause and look over his friend, a smirk growing on his lips.
“Thank you… You really are waiting for someone, huh?” The smirk grows wider and he leans forward, “You even put on your good cologne.”
James shrugs, though he’s started matching his best friend’s smile, “‘s not everyday I get to dress fancy enough to get their attention. Might as well go all the way. I imagine you feel the same way.” He then looks Sirius up and down once again, “Moony goes crazy over that skirt.” Sirius just winks and laughs. He turns once again and walks towards his boyfriend, wrapping his arm around his waist before the taller can turn around and see what he’s wearing.
Remus is currently talking with Dorcas and Marlene, who have both settled themselves on the couch with drinks that they clearly brought. Dorcas is wearing a red suit with a cropped jacket that’s undone, showing off some black lace lingerie with nice red accents. Meanwhile, Marlene is wearing a self-cropped gray Bon Jovi tee paired with a half plaid-half black short skirt over some slightly ripped fishnets. She’s wearing several layers of thick leather belts at varying angles and silver chains around her neck. Her hair is up in a messy half ponytail.
“Hey girls.” James greets, moving to sit down on the armchair they have in the corner of the room.
Marlene gives him a grin, “Hi James. Interesting colour you're wearing.”
James groans and throws his head back, “Oh my merlin, why are you all obsessed with the fact that I’m dating someone?”
“Maybe because you’ve never told us about you dating someone.” Peter says, walking into the room from where he was presumably grabbing a couple bottles of beer. He hands one to James and Sirius, “Which, by the way, feels very impossible.”
“Yeah, you idiots tell each other everything.” Dorcas snorts, giving James a knowing look--that’s how it goes when one of her best friends is James’ boyfriend, in all fairness.
James opens his beer and takes a long swig, “It’s not that hard to believe. Especially when you get to meet them.”
“So they are coming to the party,” Sirius pushes, standing on his toes to rest his chin on Remus’ shoulder in order to be able to see him properly, “I can’t wait to see what shade of red Lily decides to wear.”
“You think it’s Lily?” Marlene asks, scanning her childhood friend with squinted eyes, “He wouldn’t dress like that for her… this has to be a person that cares about appearances.”
“Lily cares about appearances.” Peter pushes, moving to sit next to the blonde girl. Peter himself isn’t wearing anything special, just a green t-shirt and a pair of light brown jeans.
“But she cares about her appearance, she doesn’t care about other people.”
“Unless it’s to gossip about them.” Dorcas adds.
Marlene nods, “Unless it’s to gossip about them. Either way, this has to be someone that would care what their partner dresses like.”
James groans again, “Can you guys stop analyzing my love life like I’m not in the same fucking room?”
“Nope!” Sirius says, popping the ‘p’. He finally peels himself from Remus’ back and moves towards James, throwing himself on his lap. James doesn’t miss the way that Remus’ eyes scan Sirius while he’s not looking and the red that floods the taller’s cheeks at his outfit. James offers his friend a wink, which causes Remus to look away. Sirius doesn’t seem to notice because he throws his arm around James’ shoulders, “When is your mystery partner going to be here?”
“I don’t know for sure. They said they’ll be late.”
“Do you know what they’re wearing?” Dorcas asks, tilting her head like she knows exactly what Regulus is wearing.
James glares at her, “No, I don’t. But you would know that wouldn’t you?”
Marlene gasps and whips around to her girlfriend, “Do you know who James is dating? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Dorcas’ teasing smile now switches to a glare in James’ direction, “Why would you say that?”
“If I have to suffer with the teasing, you have to suffer with me.” James throws back, offering her an innocent smile in return.
“So you do know who it is!” Marlene says, feigning betrayal, “Why do you know and not me? I’m his childhood friend!”
Dorcas snorts and presses a kiss to her girlfriend’s temple, “I know because I helped them get together.”
“You didn’t do that much.” James rolls his eyes, “You locked us in a room and told us to ‘get our shit together’.”
“It got you guys together didn’t it?”
“No. It didn’t.” James bites out, “You made us not talk to each other for two weeks. We got together because someone got them drunk.”
Dorcas snorts, “That was a good night. You were so red.”
“Wait, wait, wait!” Sirius shouts, bringing the attention back to him, “So Dorcas you know because you and James just hang out all the time?”
“Yeah,” Marlene starts, “Why are you two hanging out? I mean, not that I have an issue with that, but why didn’t I know.”
“Originally, it wasn’t by choice.” Dorcas grumbles, “James and his partner just go to Barty and Evan’s bar a lot so...” She shrugs, easily lying. James sends her a grateful smile, glad she’s not giving them too much information.
“Oh now I’m really curious.” Remus says, finally sitting down himself. He sits on the other couch, crossing one leg over the other.
“You’ll just have to wait until they get here.” James informs him with a tense smile, “And even then, I’m not outright telling you who it is. You guys have to figure out who it is on your own.”
“And good fucking luck.” Dorcas snorts. She turns to look at Marlene, who is very much so giving her puppy eyes, “I’m not telling you either.” As she finishes her statement, there’s another knock and the door and Remus stands up to let the person in. It’s one of Remus’ co-workers and his girlfriend that Remus introduces to the group before offering them a drink.
And like that, slowly more and more people begin to filter in and the party starts. Remus starts playing some music at a low enough volume that the small-ish group of people can easily talk over and drinks start really flowing. At one point, James and Pete head into the kitchen to put out all the food and snacks they got out on their island before heading back into the living room.
~
Eventually, Lily and Mary walk into the party and make their way over to where Remus, Sirius, and Frank Longbottom are talking together, conversing with the three for a while before heading back into the growing crowd.
“Lily’s wearing green.” Sirius says to his boyfriend, wide-eyed, “He wasn’t lying. He’s not dating Lily.” The red-head is wearing a dark-gray-almost-black short sleeve shirt under a green cardigan with a pair of pants similar to Remus’. There are several gold hair twists and trinkets in her hair. Mary is also wearing green, a white off-the-shoulder shirt underneath a pair of green corduroy overalls.
Frank hums, “Did you really think that James and Lily were dating?”
“I mean he’s wearing red,” Remus shrugs, “And he refused to tell us who he was dating and he’s pined after Lily for years.”
“He mentioned something about a partner to Alice a couple months back while they were having lunch,” Frank tells them, eyes scanning for his wife in the crowd--she’s talking to Dorcas and another girl with short blue hair wearing a pastel yellow sweater, “I think they’re a skater or something, James’ partner. Apparently he mentioned that they’ll rent out the rink for an hour so they can relax sometimes.”
“Interesting.” Remus hums, “They go to Hogwarts?”
“I don’t know.” Frank shrugs, “I would assume so but who knows. He didn’t tell Alice that much about his partner.”
“I didn’t know they had lunch?” Remus says after a moment of silence between the three.
“Oh yeah. She often misses the lunch that he, Pete, and Marlene have so James offers to have lunch with her when she’s free so they can still catch up. They did grow up on the same street, remember?”
“Makes sense.” Remus goes back to watching the crowd, taking a drink of his cup of spiked lemonade. His eyes scan the crowd for James. When he finds the man, he’s talking animatedly to a couple kids that Remus doesn’t recognize. Two of them are wearing red and one is holding the others’ waist and the other person is wearing a pretty green two piece with a couple strings connecting the two over their bare stomach.
“If not Lily,” Sirius starts, leaning towards his boyfriend, “Who do you think Prongs is dating?”
Remus hums and turns to his boyfriend, noting that Frank walked off--probably to talk to Alice, “I don’t know. I can’t imagine James with anyone else, honestly. I always thought they’d get together.”
Sirius laughs, “Get married and have 3.2 children and a nice house.”
“How can you have 3.2 children?”
“I don’t know. James would find a way.” Sirius jokes and Remus bumps his hip against the ravenette’s rolling his eyes. Someone calls their names and they get pulled into a conversation that Remus isn’t sure the topic of.
Eventually, Sirius spots Regulus walking into the party with Pandora and pulls Remus over to talk to him.
Regulus almost looks shocked to see his brother there all of a sudden, blinking owlishly at him for a second, “Hello Sirius.”
“Hi, Reggie. Whatcha got there?” Sirius asks, flicking his eyes down to the two drinks in his hands.
“Nothing of importance to you.” Regulus shoots back. His eyes flicker across the room as though he’s looking for someone, before he turns his attention back to Sirius and Remus, “Would you two mind letting me further into your house? I hate to be blocking the door.” Sirius rolls his eyes but pulls his boyfriend out of the way, telling Regulus that he’ll be finding him later. Regulus nods, albeit a bit hesitant, and he and Pandora link arms and walk towards the kitchen.
“Reggie was wearing red, Remus.” Sirius stage whispers to his boyfriend, though his eyes are glued to his little brother’s retreating form, “Reggie’s dating someone…”
“I saw, love.”
“Do you think he’s dating Barty? Pandora’s wearing green so it can’t be her.”
“I thought Barty and Evan were dating?”
“Who knows.” Sirius sighs, “I don’t know how he didn’t mention it to me…”
~
“I have your pure sugar.” Regulus says to James the second that he and Pandora are in the kitchen. Immediately, James is whipping around and a large smile is stretching over his face when he sees his boyfriend.
He takes the drink the shorter offers him, “Thank you so much, love.” James presses a kiss to his temple then pulls back, taking in what Regulus is wearing.
Which is a loose red velvet crop top over a black mesh shirt with white moons and suns. Alongside that, he’s wearing a pair of tight-fitting jeans where one leg is pure black and the other is red plaid; they’re sitting low enough on his waist that James can see the outline of his hip-bone and the ‘JFP’ tattoo he has just past the edge of his left hip. Alongside that, he’s got a silver chain around his small waist and a couple silver necklaces and rings.
“Fuck you look good.” James breathes, looking his boyfriend up and down once again.
Regulus smirks and James want to kiss him breathless, “I told you. But, keep it in your pants at least for an hour. I promised Barty and Evan that I would stay here for that long.”
“An hour, got it.” James nods dumbly, pulling in Reggie by his eyes and pressing his thumb into the tattoo of his initials that’s driven him crazy since his boyfriend got it. Then he takes a moment to look around, “Speaking of Barty and Evan, where are they?”
“In the car.” Regulus groans.
Pandora smiles, “They got into an ‘argument’ on the way here. Need to work off tension.” She does finger quotes on ‘argument’ and rolls her eyes at the statement. James chuckles and takes a second to take in her appearance.
She’s wearing a sage green lace bralette and a knee-length flowy black skirt. There’s a scarf wrapped around her neck and fanning out to rest over her shoulders. The front pieces of her hair are pulled back to meet in the back and she’s got a flower crown on her head and gold hair twists in her hair. There’s a green-blue glitter smeared on her eyelids and a funky coloured highlighter high on her cheeks. She’s wearing a couple gold bands on either wrist.
“Horny friends aside, you look good Dora.”
“Thank you James.” She smiles, then turns to peer out of the kitchen, “Do you know if Lily’s here?”
James nods, “Yeah, I don’t know where exactly but last I saw she was talking to Pete by the backdoor.” Pandora thanks him and nods, rushing off.
“She spent an hour trying to get her outfit just right for Lily.” Regulus rolls his eyes, watching his best friend scamper towards the red-head, “Been freaking out since she learned that Lily was coming.”
“I don’t suppose she’s been told that Mary’s here too.” James says, amused.
“Not as far as I know.” Regulus informs him, “Though I’m sure it’ll be a pleasant surprise.” He glances around the kitchen to make sure no one’s around, then he hooks a finger on the necklace with the Leo constellation around James’ neck and pulls him into a kiss. “Speaking of Lily, what did Remus and Sirius think of her wearing green?”
“I don’t know for sure. I wasn’t with them when they saw her, but I looked their way and they seemed confused. Did Pads say anything about…” he doesn’t finish his statement, just tugs lightly on the hem of Regulus’ top.
“He didn’t say anything to me.” Regulus smirks, “But I’m sure he said something to Remus.”
“Oh this is gonna be fun.” Jame smiles back, mischief in his eyes, “D’ya think he assumed you were dating Barty?”
“It’s the obvious choice.” Regulus shrugs.
“Glad you’re not one for the obvious.”
Regulus chuckles, “Oh it would be miserable for you if I were.”
“Truly unfortunate.” James says and presses his lips to his boyfriend’s again. He pulls away and hums, “Fuck I love you. Does it count as part of the hour if they’re not here.”
The ravenette hums, “Mm. I told them as much when they kicked Pandora and I out of the car.”
“Good. I need to get you alone.”
“Didn’t realize my outfit would do this much to you.”
“You’re showing off your tattoo,” James starts, “You’re wearing tight pants and you’re glowing. You knew exactly what you were doing when you put this on.”
“Did I?”
“Mhm. ‘Specially since it’s not your normal style.”
“Caught me red-handed.” Regulus smiles and presses his tongue to his top teeth. James just wants to kiss the look off the shorter’s face, but someone waltzes into the kitchen so the two separate and James picks up his drink from where he set it on the counter.
The person that comes in is Alice and she smiles when she sees the two of them, “Hello boys!” She looks over both of them, taking in their flushed faces and their red clothing and smirks, “I see you two have been hiding something.” She herself is wearing a knee-length cherry red dress. Her wedding ring is standing out beautifully against her skin.
James smiles at her and presses a kiss to her cheek, “You know how I am.”
“How could I not?” She grabs herself a cookie from a platter and a bottle of water and heads out of the kitchen. James offers her a small wave, not that she’s looking, before turning back to his boyfriend who’s taking a sip of his own drink.
“Wanna bet on which of my friends asks us about this first?” James asks, raising a brow and gesturing between the two of them.
Regulus smirks, “More than anything, lover boy.” They both make their bets--Regulus is on Remus and James is on Lily--and walk out of the kitchen together. Upon walking out, they see that a makeshift dance floor has been made in the middle of the room and Sirius is dancing on a table, keeping eye contact with Remus the entire time. James hears Regulus scoff and he chuckles.
After the song finishes, Sirius jumps off the table and catches eyes with James. He grabs Remus’ arm and pulls his boyfriend towards the two, “Hey you two! See anything you like James?”
James chuckles, “Not personally, but I’m sure Remus did.” He sends a wink Remus’ way, which makes his friend roll his eyes. Regulus presses minutely against his side and James feels as his boyfriend slips his hand into his pocket, arm hidden by their bodies; Regulus, evidently, doesn’t enjoy Sirius flirting with James.
Sirius isn’t the one with ‘JFP’ on his body.
Sirius doesn’t seem to notice his little brother’s movement and he finally broaches the topic of their outfits, “So Reggie! Wearing red I see.”
Regulus hums and takes a long drink from his cup, “Figured it was a fitting colour for tonight.”
“And why is that?” Remus asks, though he’s smirking at where their bodies make contact.
“Oh you know.” Regulus just smirks and tilts his head back a bit, “That is how this party theme works. Wear red when you’re dating or not open to a relationship.”
“So is it that you’re not open to a relationship?” Remus pushes, moving his eyes to meet with Regulus’. They flit towards James’ then back to the ravenette’s once again and James knows he’s going to owe Regulus some money tomorrow.
“Oh quite the opposite.”
Sirius, who hasn’t seemed to pick up on the full implications of the conversation, “So you are dating someone!” He gets a smirk on his face, crossing his arms and popping a hip, “Who is it? Is it Barty? Or even Evan?”
Regulus shrugs, “Possibly.” He then allows his gaze to find the door where Barty and Evan are walking into the house. They’re arguing over something, but they’re holding hands.
And both are wearing yellow.
Barty is wearing a mustard yellow varsity jacket over a plain white shirt and some jeans, similarly Evan is wearing a simple yellow sweater.
“Of course those two are wearing yellow.” James chuckles.
Regulus snorts and nods, “I don’t actually know what their relationship status is. They’ve been friends with benefits, friends, frenemies, and boyfriends. All in the past three years. For now, ‘it’s complicated’ and they refer to each other as their ‘thing’.”
“Wild.” James rolls his eyes. Though he doesn’t miss the way that Pete--who James can just see in his periphery--turns his head to gaze over the two newcomers. Barty and Evan catch Regulus’ eye and head towards the group of them.
Once they get there, Barty throws his arm over Regulus’ shoulder and presses a wet kiss to the shorter’s cheek, “Hey hotstuff.” Evan rolls his eyes.
Regulus grimaces and wipes his cheek, “Gross. Keep your mouth to yourself.”
“Or to Evan.” James throws off handedly, now jerking his chin to tell Pete to come over to the group after they make eye contact. Pete flushes and heads towards the group, green shirt on display. “Hey Pete.” James smiles, getting the attention of the two yellow-wearing people in their group. Peter gives them all an awkward smile and nods in greeting.
Sirius quickly pulls Regulus, Barty, and Evan into a conversation about their relationship and Peter takes the opportunity to whisper to James, “Fuck you.”
James smiles and tilts his head, “Why the sudden aggression?”
“You know why.” Peter hisses, smacking his friend’s arm.
“For bringing you into the conversation?” He asks innocently.
Peter huffs, “I swear to Merlin himself, James.”
“Why are you swearing at James?” Sirius asks, pulling them into the conversation.
“No reason.” Pete bites out, throwing a glare in the direction of his best friend. Regulus huffs a small laugh close to James’ ear and bumps his hip into James’, hand still in the taller’s back pocket. He’s just as aware of Peter’s infatuation with Regulus’ friends as James is.
“Yeah, no reason.” James backs up, biting his lip to hold back a smile.
Sirius seems to take that as answer enough and moves on, “Prongs! Do you know who Reggie is dating?”
James hums and nods, “I do.”
Sirius gasps, “Why do you know who he’s dating!? I’m his brother and he hasn’t even told me!”
“Yeah,” Remus says with a snort, “Why do you know who Regulus is dating, James?” There’s a smirk on his face and a small tilt to his head that truly solidifies that he’s aware of their relationship.
“Oh you know, being around Dorcas a lot means that I’m around Reggie a lot. We just learn things about each other.” James lies easily, flapping his hand.
“Does that mean Reggie knows who you’re dating?” Sirius pushes, leaning forward to get in James’ face. James can smell the beer on his breath at this distance.
Regulus hums, “I do. And I’ll let you know that it’s not Evans.”
“We’ve figured that much.” Sirius grunts. He crosses his arms and twists around to find Lily, who is standing by the glass door to the backyard talking to an animated Pandora and Mary--all three girls are blushing. “Didn’t think she’d go for someone like Pandora.” He stares at them for a couple minutes before shrugging with a hum. The ravenette turns back to the conversation and their topic flows easily, though Sirius keeps eyeing Regulus, Barty, and Evan suspiciously or looking around as if looking for someone that would give away who either James or Regulus was dating.
The group eventually breaks off and an alarm goes off in Regulus’ pocket while James is throwing his cup in the fridge. The ravenette smiles and pulls out his phone, turning off the alarm, “That’s my hour.”
“My room?” James asks, offering his boyfriend a smile.
Regulus snatches a cookie off the tray that somehow still has snacks on it in one hand and his boyfriend’s wrist in the other, “Let’s go.” James laughs and lets himself be pulled into his bedroom. James doesn’t miss the way that Pandora waves at them, catching Lily and Mary’s attention. The red-head squints her eyes at the two of them for a while before they widen. Regulus doesn’t seem to care, just pulling his boyfriend towards the staircase.
Once they’re in the room, Regulus slams the door shut and pulls James into a fierce kiss. When they pull away after they’re light-headed, James smiles and breathes, “Hi.”
Regulus rolls his eyes, “Hello.”
“You were eager to get away.”
“Don’t act like you weren’t just as eager earlier.” Regulus teases, tilting his head a bit. He then leans forward to rest his forehead in the junction between James’ shoulder and neck and mutters, “‘m just tired and overwhelmed. I know you wanted to earlier, but… I don’t want to do anything tonight. Just cuddle?”
James nods and wraps his arms around his boyfriend, resting his cheek on Regulus’ hair, “Of course, love. Do you wanna change out of your clothes?”
“Mhm.” Regulus hums, “They’re tight.”
“Alright, you want to sit down while I grab you some clothes?” Regulus nods and reluctantly peels himself from James to sit down on the bed. James walks over to his closet and grabs a t-shirt and a pair of sweats to toss to Regulus, grabbing some sleep clothes for himself. He sets both sets of clothes on the bed before kneeling down and taking off the ravenette’s shoes while Regulus sets to work on taking off all his jewelry and setting it beside him. Once he’s done, Regulus grabs the clothes from the taller and accepts James’ help in pulling off his clothes.
James is gentle and delicate in pulling off his clothes. He presses a kiss to Regulus’ cheek before pulling off his crop top, then one to his collar bone after the mesh shirt is off too. He brushes his thumb over the tattoo on the shorter’s hip then moves to unbutton his pants, sliding them off with Regulus’ help. He presses a kiss to his shoulder before slipping the large t-shirt over Regulus’ head and caresses up his thighs as he pulls his sweats on.
Regulus relishes in the attention, pressing a kiss to James’ lips. He slips away from his boyfriend, heading towards the bed and slipping under the cover. Meanwhile, James takes the time to change, grab Regulus’ jewelry from the bed and set it next to his jewelry holder, and fold Regulus’ clothes and set the pile on his desk chair. He turns off his light and slips into bed next to the ravenette.
Regulus immediately turns and wraps himself around James, humming, “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“This.” His voice is quiet, slurred with exhaustion that seems to have finally hit Regulus now that his walls are down, “Letting me just cuddle you. I know I got your hopes up.”
“I don’t care about that.” James smiles, pressing a kiss to his forehead, “Any way that I get to hold you is perfect. As long as you’re comfortable.” He then kisses Regulus’ nose. Then his cheek, then finally his lips.
The kiss they share is gentle and sleepy. Long and loving. Eventually Regulus pulls away, tucks his head under James’ chin, and lets himself fall asleep in his boyfriend’s arms. Before James himself falls asleep, he grabs Regulus’ phone and sends a text Evan’s way.
Reg
I’m sure you know this
But I’ve got Reg tonight
Don’t worry about taking him home
Ev
Gotcha
With that, he locks his phone once again, puts that and his own phone on chargers, and lets himself drift off for the night again.
~
The next morning, James wakes up to someone banging on his door. Soon after, Sirius is shouting, “James! Why is your door locked!? Is your partner in there with you?”
James groans and finally opens his eyes. Regulus seems only half conscious himself but he’s refusing to open his eyes and is instead pushing his head further into James’ chest. Sirius bangs on the door a couple more times before James hears Remus saying something to his boyfriend and their footsteps begin retreating.
“Thank fuck for Remus.” Regulus groans, almost inaudible and muffled in James’ shirt. James laughs and runs his hands through black hair, beginning to brush through knots developed overnight.
The two of them lay in bed for another half hour before James’ phone buzzes. By this point, he and Regulus are awake enough that he’s able to roll over and grab his phone, opening to the text that Peter sent him. It’s slightly blurry and dimly lit but Peter is very obviously not in his room and there are two figures in bed behind him. Pete’s got a droopy smile on his face.
Wormy
Guess who got laid cause you snuck off with your bf
James chuckles and lets Regulus know the development, showing him the picture.
Prongs
How did Reg and I sneaking off get you with Barty and Evan?
Assuming that’s who you’re with
Wormy
I was with them when you texted Evan
I asked about you guys
One thing led to another
We were making out in our bathroom
They took me home
Prongs
Right, the most linear of paths
Want me to keep it a secret to Pads and Moony?
Wormy
Nah
The hickeys are enough proof
You need to focus on Sirius learning you’re fucking Regulus
Prongs
Don’t remind me
“So Peter finally got with Barty and Evan?” Regulus says, voice gruff and whispered. Merlin does James love his boyfriend’s morning voice.
James hums, “Apparently. I asked him how and he wasn’t very specific.” He scrolls to the chain of texts that he got as an explanation and shows it to his boyfriend. Regulus squints at the screen for a moment before he’s able to focus on the words and read it.
Regulus huffs, “You and your friends are very vague.”
“It’s a charm.”
“Charm is the last word I’d use for it.” Regulus groans. Before he reaches over his boyfriend and grabs his own phone. He snorts, “But I suppose Pete’s not the only one that got lucky.”
“What do you mean?”
Regulus turns his phone towards James, showing him the screen with a picture similar to the one Pete sent him. It was taken in a mirror in Lily’s room, James knows that for sure, and Pandora has the camera in front of her face with Lily and Mary standing in the frame of the picture in various stages of being ready.
“Glad both of our pining friends had something work out for them.” James huffs a laugh. Regulus nods, though he’s texting Pandora so he doesn’t verbally respond. Eventually he puts his phone down and pulls himself closer to James’ body, tucking back into him. James laughs and presses a kiss to his hair.
“Not ready to face the day yet?”
“Not ready to face my brother.”
“Mm.” James hums, “Understandable.”
“What if we just stay in bed all day.”
“Less understandable, I want food.”
Regulus laughs, “Of course you do. Just give me like ten more minutes and I’ll be good.”
“I’m good with that.” James smiles and allows himself to relax once again. His eyes slip close and he spends the next ten minutes just taking in the calm energy of a nice lazy morning.
Eventually, Regulus groans and pushes himself out of the bed. James sits up, putting on his glasses and watching his boyfriend stretch, the shirt slipping from his shoulder just a bit. He looks ethereal.
When Regulus sends him a look, James stands up and they both head out of his room, walking down the stairs. Remus and Sirius are both sitting at the kitchen table, respective coffees and plates of food in front of them. There’s some waffles on a plate and bacon on a paper towel. The kettles on as well. The couple start to wordlessly serve themselves up and only when they sit down do either of them acknowledge the look on Sirius and Remus’ faces--the former being complete shock and a bit of anger and the latter being smug.
“I’m sorry, Reggie, where did you stay last night?” Sirius asks, tilting his head a bit. The words are nearly spat out.
Regulus shrugs, takes a long sip of his tea, and gives his brother an innocent smile, “In my boyfriend’s room.”
“And just who, pray tell, is your boyfriend?”
“Can’t you tell by the shirt I’m wearing?” Regulus asks, mimicking his brother’s tone, “One would think you’d recognize his best friend’s favourite shirt, brother dearest.”
“Reggie.” James hisses, smacking the younger on the arm. He turns to gaze at his best friend who is glaring at them, though it looks more lighthearted than angry--and James breathes out a small sigh.
Sirius leans forward, resting his chin on his interlocked fingers, elbows on the table on either side of his plate, “James, why is my little brother wearing your favourite shirt?”
And James finally sees the spark of amusement in his best friend’s eye and decides to play along, “I forget that your memory is bad. Didn’t Reggie just tell you he was wearing his boyfriend’s shirt.”
“Mhm, and how long have you been his boyfriend?”
“Long enough that Reggie has a tattoo of James’ initials on his hip.” Remus pipes up, sending the two of them a pointed look. “Didn’t you see that last night, Siri?”
At that, Sirius looks genuinely confused, “No. I didn’t.” He whirls towards his little brother, “You have James’ initials tattooed on your body? I thought you swore off tattoos, especially ones with partner’s names.”
Regulus shrugs with one shoulder and waits until he’s finished his bite of waffle, “I had a change of heart.”