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It all began on the day that James Potter decided that he had a green thumb.
Regulus Black, freshly seventeen and a recent run away, had been living in James and Sirius’s flat for only a week when James decided that he was going to buy an array of different house plants to “liven up the place.” Regulus had a sneaking suspicion that the abrupt arrival of the plants was in direct correlation with his own arrival at the flat.
Sirius won’t admit it, and asking James any sort of confrontational question was a lost cause. So, Regulus was stuck staring at the annoying little Chinese Evergreen that sat out in the living room by their big bay window.
The plant thing really wouldn’t bother Regulus so much if James bothered to properly care for them. His issue was that he cared too much; he grossly over-watered every single plant in the flat to the point where Regulus was genuinely worried that they would start drowning.
He said it in an off hand comment one day while James was watering the Evergreen for the third time.
“You know that they can drown, right?” Regulus mumbled, his eyes still trained on the book that was held between his hands.
James’s head shot up immediately, his warm eyes bright with surprise, his mouth curved in a perfect ‘O’. Regulus was irritated by how attractive the stupid expression looked on him. “What was that?”
“The plants,” Regulus clarified, his eyes flitting up for a split-second before darting back down to the page he’d been stuck on from the moment that James entered the room. “They can drown if you water them too much.”
Regulus was aware that those were the first words he’d spoken to James since he’d moved into the flat the week prior. There wasn’t any real reason behind his taciturn demeanor, besides the fact that Regulus just found James too… perfect. He was too nice, too funny, too attractive, too everything and it made Regulus deeply uncomfortable.
James stood there with his mouth open for what must have been a full minute before he shook himself out of his stupor. “Oh. Um, I didn’t know that.”
Regulus shrugged. “I’m not surprised.” he said before turning his full attention back to the book in his hands.
James didn’t seem to get the memo that Regulus was done talking, because he continued chattering away while he walked back over to the sink and dumped the remaining contents of the watering can down the drain. “So, you like plants, then? Sirius had mentioned it a couple weeks ago; that’s why I bought them. I admittedly don’t know a ton about plants myself, but I’m enjoying them so far. They really add something to the flat, don’t they?”
Hands clenched on the book he was trying desperately to read, Regulus dragged his eyes up from the page to James’s annoyingly attractive face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I know nothing about plants.”
Warm brown eyes widened in shock and confusion, and James opened his mouth a couple of times before it inevitably fell back closed. Regulus delighted in the uncomfortable silence, his lips twitching upward of their own accord. James’s own lips moved in the same direction, his eyes shining. “Right.” James said, one dimple poking out of his left cheek.
James swept out of the room, his steps faltering a bit as he crossed the threshold to the kitchen, and Regulus could feel James’s gaze switch back around and latch onto the back of his head for a few seconds. He didn’t move; only waited for James to say something. He didn’t, only turned back around and quietly left Regulus to his book.
***
Taking care of the damned plants was not planned for Regulus. His mindset was that if James wanted to remain clueless and allow his plants to wither and die, then that was his prerogative. But the faces that he made when he realized that his precious plants weren’t doing well… those expressions created a pit in Regulus’s stomach that he couldn’t get rid of until he took it upon himself to fix James’s mistakes.
And they were honestly just rookie mistakes. Didn’t James read up about the plants he desired before buying them? Clearly not, because he wasn’t fertilizing them correctly, and the ones that needed shade were in the sun, and the ones that needed partial sunlight were crammed into dark corners of the flat.
It was an appalling display that Regulus could not allow to continue on. He had to do something.
So, after his shifts at the floral shop (honestly, you would think that James would have asked Regulus’s opinions about the plants that he wanted before buying them, seeing as he is quite knowledgeable in that respect), he nabbed a few packets of fertilizer that he got with his employee discount and went home just as he knew that James would be leaving for his own bartending shift at the nearby pub.
And once he was home, he got to work. He pruned and deadheaded and fertilized every last plant in their flat. He moved them to the correctly shaded areas that they needed and watered them as they needed. After going through that cycle a couple of times, the plants all bloomed into their natural state.
James was ecstatic.
Every time he came home and saw his wonderfully flourishing plants, he would coo and pet, and make generally nauseatingly (and confusingly) sweet noises at the plants that he had dubbed as his “babies,” “loves,” or the occasional “darlings.”
Regulus didn’t have the heart to tell James that he had been virtually murdering his babies before Regulus had to step in.
And now he’s here, in the flat he shares with his brother and his brother’s idiot best friend, watering the Pothos that James had lovingly named “Poppy” for whatever reason. Regulus wasn’t sure if James realized that a poppy was a different type of flower. Honestly, he could never say anything when it came to James Potter.
He was humming to himself, his small watering can dangled between his fingers as he gently pruned the plant, enjoying the silence that surrounded him. The flat was so rarely quiet; he grasped onto the brief moments of peace that he could find at every chance he had.
His peace was interrupted by the front door flying open.
“Fucking bollocks, where the hell is it?” James muttered, apparently looking right over Regulus and the watering can still clutched in his hands.
Regulus’s cheeks heated at the truly filthy words that spewed from James’s unusually delightful mouth. James rarely swore, and if he did, it was a passing “shit” or “damn.” This was an interesting turn of events, to put it plainly.
“Need help with something?” Regulus said, while setting the can on the ground.
James’s head snapped over in Regulus’s direction, his mouth falling open in shock. Regulus snorted, his own mouth curling upward of its own accord. Truly, James looked like a deer caught in headlights; it was fascinating and kind of adorable.
“Oh. I didn’t see you there, Reg.” James mumbled, his face flushing slightly.
Regulus ached to reach out and feel the flush underneath his own fingers, wanted to know if James’s skin was as warm as he’d always imagined. He curled his hands into fists instead.
“Clearly. Have you lost something?” Regulus asked, his grin slowly transforming into a smirk the longer that James gaped at him.
“Er, well, yeah. I’ve somehow lost my phone and have no idea where it’s gone. I sort of need it.” James admitted, a sheepish smile stretching across his full lips.
Regulus nodded. “Does seem a bit important.”
He didn’t say that he saw it perched precariously on the top of the fridge about twenty minutes ago. Logically, he should just tell James about it and let him be on his merry way but… he sort of didn’t want James to go yet.
“I could help you look, if you’d like?” Regulus offered.
James’s body sagged in relief, his lips curling up on the edges. “That would be great, actually. Thanks, Reg.”
Regulus ignored the pleased flutter that wracked his insides at James’s words and smile that he sent in his direction. Instead, he slyly kicked the watering can behind the plant and walked a few steps closer to the older boy. “Where did you last see it?”
James continued grinning at Regulus for a long moment and Regulus tried not to squirm. There was something so tender and sincere about James’s gaze. When he chose to grace you with his attention, it was like being basked in sunlight. Regulus usually burned in the sun, but with James, he felt warm inside and out.
“Er, I remember texting Sirius back in my room right before I left…” James trailed off, apparently done with staring at Regulus for the time being.
“Well, we should check there first then,” Regulus said, gesturing for James to lead the way to his room.
His hands were shaking with nerves and anticipation, which was just ridiculous. So what if he was entering his crush of many years’ bedroom? It didn’t mean anything to either of them. He was just helping said crush find his phone that he already knew the location of. It was completely normal.
When James’s hands pushed the door open, Regulus had to stop himself from taking too deep of an inhale. The room smelled like James at his core. There was still sandalwood incense gently burning away in the corner of the room, and there were even more plants that were clearly wilting away in the corner. Regulus silently cursed James for not telling him about those ones earlier.
The thing that stood out to Regulus the most, though, was the array of sentimental objects that littered every inch of the room. Picture frames and movie tickets and birthday cards lay in various spots around the room, all clearly loved and well-worn with age and attention. Regulus briefly envied that they’d been touched and held more by James than Regulus himself had been.
“Sorry about the mess. I’m, ah, not exactly the tidiest person around.” James scratched the back of his neck sheepishly as he began to root around the room for his phone.
Regulus grinned. The room was messy, but in an organized sort of messy. James clearly knew where everything in the room was, and Regulus liked how lived-in it looked. Compared to Regulus’s meticulously tidy and organized room, this was a disaster, but in the best way possible. He wanted to crawl into the sheets that surely smelled like James’s woody cologne and burrow in there for the rest of his life.
“This looks exactly as I would think,” Regulus murmured, greedy in his attempt to take in every detail of the room.
James’s head popped up, an unsure expression on his face. “Does it?”
“Yes,” Regulus confirmed with a tiny smile. “It’s very you. I like it.”
“Oh, good. Mum thinks it’s a wreck, which I suppose it is, but that’s how I like it.” James admitted, his cheeks tinged pink again.
Regulus bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from beaming. Every new detail he learned about James made him like him even more, which shouldn’t have been possible.
“I’m not sure why those ones aren’t doing well when all the others are,” James said, his eyes resting on the wilting plants in the sunny corner of the room.
Regulus had to force himself not to admit that the others were thriving because he was the one who cared for them. He just couldn’t break James’s heart like that. He praised his “babies” every single day, who was he to ruin James’s fun?
“That’s strange. Maybe you could try moving them to a more shaded area? Some plants don’t like direct sunlight.” Regulus suggested innocently, knowing that was exactly the issue here.
James tilted his head in contemplation before he took Regulus’s advice and moved them to a different spot. “Huh. That may have been it.” James said, his smile demanding to spread across his face once more as if it couldn’t stand being gone for that long.
“You’re so smart, Reggie.”
Regulus blushed hard. “‘M not.”
James gave him a look. “You are. You’re, like, genius-level smart. Always have been. Don’t act all humble about it. If I got the marks that you did, I’d print and frame them all over the place. You’d never hear the end of it.”
Regulus waved off James’s praise, though it sent his stomach in violent somersaults as he tried to calm his warm cheeks. “Stop.”
James sighed fondly. They’d somehow gotten much closer throughout the conversation, and his warm finger gently traced a path across Regulus’s cheekbone. “Look at you. All shy again.”
His heart was beating so quickly that he was sure that James could hear it. James’s eyes crinkled with his smile, and Regulus swore that a patch of sunlight was haloed around James’s head like some kind of God. He needed to abort this conversation. Now.
Regulus made a small noise of protest and stepped away. “Your phone is on the top of the fridge.”
Blinking hard, James tilted his head. “Is it? How do you know?”
“I just remembered that I saw it a few minutes ago. You should get going before you’re late.” Regulus mumbled, his eyes on the ground.
“Ah. Well, alright. Thanks, Reg.” James dropped his hand and stepped away, though he lingered for a few more seconds. “See you later.”
Regulus nodded while he turned to walk away. His hands were still shaking. “See you later.”
***
Weeks passed with Regulus secretly caring for the plants in the flat, now including the ones in James’s room.
He and James hadn’t spoken much in those weeks. Whenever Regulus was at work, James was at home, and vice versa. He was loathe to admit it, but Regulus missed James. A lot.
It all came to a head one day when James was supposed to be at work and Regulus was caring for the plants again. A small noise sounded behind Regulus and he turned, nearly dropping the fertilizer in his hands.
James stood there, his head tilted in pure confusion. “Are you… caring for the plants?”
Regulus’s eyes were wide and his mouth opened and closed multiple times before he could find any words to say. “I… well, um. Yes. I am.”
“But why? I’ve been caring for them.” James said, his eyebrows furrowed slightly.
Not knowing what to do, Regulus slowly lowered the fertilizer to the ground and wiped his clammy hands on his jeans. “Well, um, you haven’t been caring for them correctly. They were dying because you were doing it wrong.”
James stood there for a long moment, his mouth hanging open, and Regulus was horrified to think that he may have broken James. He honestly looked as if he may start crying any second now.
But then he opened his mouth and began to laugh. Heartily.
“Oh my, I can’t believe this. I am such a bellend.” James laughed, bent over as he laughed and laughed. “ You are the reason the plants look so nice! I should have known. I’ve always been shit with plants, I just thought I got lucky this time.”
Regulus fidgeted. He didn’t know what to do. “I’m sorry, I should have told you, but you just seemed so happy that the plants were doing so well and I didn’t want to ruin that.” He admitted.
That sobered James’s laughing fit slightly. “You did it for me? To spare my feelings?”
“Well… yes,” Regulus said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
“Reg. You are a sweetheart.” James said, his mouth curling around the words like honey.
“I just… well, it made you so happy and I like it when you’re happy. It makes me happy when you’re happy. You’re like a fucking ray of sunshine even though you can be such an idiot sometimes, and all I ever want is to make you happy. Wow, I think that is the most times I have ever said the word ‘happy’ in one sitting.” Regulus rambled on and on and Jesus, someone needs to shut him up.
James was smiling, the shape of it sitting just right on his mouth. “You want to make me happy?”
Cheeks burnt to a crisp, Regulus floundered for what to say. He was not being subtle about this crush thing. Not at all. “More than anything.”
James’s teeth bit into his bottom lip and chewed it for a moment. Regulus watched the action reverently, tracing the movement with his eyes with so much focus that he doubted he blinked at all.
“I want to make you happy, too. It’s the entire reason I bought the plants in the first place. Fuck, I wanted to impress you and I really thought I had been when they were doing so well. But of course, it was you. You’re so fucking clever, Reg.” James said, his feet taking small steps to reduce the space between them.
“You wanted to impress me?” Regulus asked, his breath caught in his throat as James raised a hand to gently card his fingers through the curls at the base of Regulus’s head.
“I’ve been trying to impress you for all the years I’ve known you. It’s been my life’s purpose since the first day that I met Sirius and he introduced me to you.” James said, his eyes soft and so fucking pretty in the waning afternoon sunlight.
Regulus’s mouth felt glued shut. He couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, because this just couldn’t be real. There was no way that James had been trying to impress him for the decade that they knew each other. Absolutely no chance.
“I thought plants because you work with them, but I guess I should have known that you would see right through my bullshit and fix it yourself.” James laughed and their noses nearly brushed each other.
“I would have continued letting you think that you were the one keeping them alive,” Regulus admitted, a small smile playing on his mouth.
James chuckled again, his other hand lifting to gently grip Regulus’s chin between his fingers. “You are a wonder, Reg. So fucking sweet but you’ll never admit it to anyone. But I see you.”
“I’m not sweet.” Regulus denied, his eyes darting back to the floor to escape the intensity of James’s gaze.
The fingers on his chin pushed until their eyes met once more. “No? You’re not?”
Regulus silently shook his head, admittedly distracted by how close their faces were now. His legs nearly gave out when James leaned in close and gently brushed his lips against Regulus’s. A tiny sigh left Regulus as he eagerly began to kiss back, his hands coming up to fist in the front of James’s shirt.
They kissed for so long that Regulus lost track of time and quietly whined when James pulled away. The older boy laughed, the sound low and entirely too attractive before he said, “Just as I thought. You taste even sweeter than I could have imagined.”
“You… I… That…” Regulus stammered, not even sure where he was going with this.
“Take your time, love,” James said adoringly, his lips quirked upward.
“You kissed me.” Regulus finally said.
“I did. And I would like to do it again.” James said while he pulled Regulus even closer. “If that’s alright with you?”
Regulus didn’t need to say anything else, he just closed the gap between them and kissed his crush until all time lost meaning to him.
***
The next day, Sirius came home to find Regulus and James watering the plants together, their gentle teasing filling the flat. He grinned as he watched his brother chastise James for over-watering the plant once again.
“Let me do it,” Regulus said.
“Alright, alright. I’ll allow it.” James said, dropping a kiss on his brother’s cheek.
“If it were up to you, they’d have died weeks ago.” Regulus snarked.
“And that’s why I have you.”
Sirius shook his head.
About time,
he silently thought before he went to his room.