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A basketball bounced off concrete as Regulus Black ran, dribbling a ball. James Potter waved at him from under the hoop with both arms above his head, calling, “Pass it, Reg, pass it!”
Regulus did and James caught the ball easily, throwing it from the spot and getting it in.
“And the crowd goes wild,” James drawled the last word, cheering for himself with fists in the air, grinning at Regulus.
"Do you usually imagine we're playing an actual game?" Regulus asked, raising an amused eyebrow.
"Yes, it's way more fun that way.” James jogged over to where their things were thrown on the ground – well, his were thrown, Reg’s had been neatly folded and placed next to James’s messy pile. He opened a bottle of water and drank about a half in big gulps as he watched Regulus shake his head at him. James had always liked how strange Regulus often found him and how easily he got exasperated.
As Regulus shook his head, a curly strand of his dark hair fell over his forehead, sticking to his face. His high cheekbones and sharp jaw were shiny from sweat now. Regulus pushed the strand back and wiped his brow with the back of a hand. He was a very attractive person, James observed. Objectively.
“All right, that was probably enough for today,” said Regulus and came to pick his stuff up. “I told Barty I’d meet him in...” he checked the time on his phone, “five minutes ago. You distracted me, Potter.”
James grinned. “Tell Barty I’m sorry I wanted you all for myself.”
Regulus glanced at him from the side but kept collecting his things. He made shrugging a rucksack on his back rather elegant somehow.
"Hey, Reg, have you ever been in a relationship?" James asked, curious. He couldn’t recall ever hearing about Regulus dating, but that couldn’t be true given his looks and how all round charming he was.
Regulus looked at him before bending down to take his jacket. "Not really. I tried, but it never worked out."
"Oh. What happened?"
"My relationship with my own emotions isn't the best thanks to my upbringing."
Well, that was something he shared with his brother, except that Sirius could never stay alone for more than three days. "When was the last time you tried? You've never mentioned anyone."
Regulus zipped up his jacket and turned to James, looking at him with those ice blue eyes of his. "If you must know, in December I went out a few times with this guy–"
"Wait, a guy?!" James stared at him, completely caught by surprise.
Regulus gave him a long look that made James slightly nervous. Had he reacted wrong?
"Yes. Why?" Regulus said.
"Oh, no reason, I just didn't know."
"That I'm gay? I don't really go around announcing it unless it's relevant."
"Gay, okay,” James nodded. “Nice. I mean, cool. Yeah. Okay."
Regulus arched an eyebrow at him. Why was it kind of scary?
"Okay?"
"Does Sirius know?" James asked, trying to compose himself. Something was wrong, he never got nervous like this.
Regulus nodded his head to get them going and they started walking towards the student houses together.
"Yes, I told him two years ago. I'm honestly impressed that he kept something secret from you."
"He never gives away other people's secrets," James said seriously.
Regulus gave a satisfied hum.
They walked in silence for a minute or two, which Reg sometimes liked to do and James didn’t mind. Actually, he found that with him he rather ejoyed it from time to time, even though with other people he usually preferred to never stop talking to fill in the gaps. However, a question crossed his mind that he wanted to ask.
He turned his head to look at Regulus without stopping walking. "How many blokes have you tried dating? Do I know any of them?"
Regulus didn’t seem to mind the question. In fact, he looked quite relaxed. "Just two." He paused, like he wasn't sure he wanted to add more but he still did, "I might have also done some stuff with Barty in our first year here when we both got way too pissed."
James stopped dead, shocked. "You've shagged Barty?!"
Regulus kept walking. "Once."
Blinking, James hurried to catch up. "Do you fancy him then?"
"No, we're mates. I told you, it was one time over a year and a half ago because we were pissed."
"Right, right." That didn't sit right with James for some reason. Not that he didn't like Barty, he was all right, he just didn't fit with Regulus in that way.
Regulus looked at him and his brows drew closer. “Why are you being weird about it?”
James told himself off inwardly. He needed to calm down. “Sorry, I was just surprised.”
Silence fell between them once more for almost a minute, when,
"You aren't gonna ask me how many people I've dated?" James said.
"I wasn't planning to, but I know you'll tell me anyway."
"Two. Girls, not guys. Not that there's anything wrong with dating guys, I just haven't."
"Right. But you've thought about it or...?"
"Not really,” James shrugged. “I mean, I've never been opposed, I've just never had feelings for a bloke before, so I haven't thought about it."
“Well, you never know what the future holds,” Regulus joked, the corners of his mouth twitching.
James laughed, and that was when they had to go in opposite directions to their houses. “All right, see you, Reg. I’ll text you,” He said, turning around to walk backwards for a few steps.
“Okay. See you, James.”
James raised his hand to say goodbye befkre turning around again to walk forward.
It was a beautiful early evening in the middle of May. Chilly air felt lovely on James’s face. He took a deep breath, looking around at all the houses and saying hello to a few people.
He unlocked the front door of the house he lived in that year, wondering if any of his roommates were there. Sirius and Remus had gone to the cinema, which was why Sirius hadn’t been able to join him and Regulus with playing basketball this time. Peter was busy with his chess club and Lily was probably still stuck in a library, working on that project, but maybe Marlene, Dorcas or Mary were home.
James kicked off his trainers by the door – a rule they had – and made a beeline for his bedroom to drop off his bag and jacket. His and Sirius’s rooms were the only bedrooms on the ground floor, along with a kitchen and an only bathroom in the house, which both of them rather liked. The rest of the bedrooms were upstairs and just as tiny as his and Sirius’s. They barely fit a single bed, a desk, wardrobe and a bookshelf. Unfortunately, Sirius was the one who got all the sunlight in the mornings, even though he always slept through it, and James was the one who liked to get up with the first rays of sun. His room was really bright during the day, though, so he couldn’t complain much.
From the lack of shoes by the front door and the complete silence of the house, he concluded that the girls were either asleep or not there, so he plopped on his bed and took out his phone to try and get through at least some of the endless amount of memes Peter had sent him.
One of James’s favourite things about the University of York was a lake on campus. It wasn’t unusual on good weather days for students to come out and go for a walk or sit on the grass with friends while enjoying the fresh air after hours of being stuck in classes or the library.
It was one of those warm May days that made everyone a bit sleepy. James was lying on the soft grass on his back, propped up on his elbows, soaking in the sun with his eyes closed. There was quite a lot of people around, reading, talking, strolling about or feeding geese and swans that lived by the lake. A few were playing valleyball nearby and James was sure he could smell both nicotine and a hint of weed.
"All these people casually lying about with these demons just waiting to attack," Sirius muttered, glaring at a couple of geese closest to them. He was sitting on his jacket, he would’ve never sat directly on the ground and risked ruining his jeans.
"Mate, they never touch anyone, you need to relax," Peter mumbled around a handful of crisps he’d shoved in his mouth.
James smirked. "Yes, listen to Tent Boy over here."
"They attacked me!” Sirius reminded them. “Twice! Moony saw it once, he can confirm."
Remus stole a few crisps from Peter. "It's true, it pecked him on the arse. He screamed like someone had died."
Sirius narrowed his eyes at him. Remus winked. Sirius desperately tried to fight off a smile, but it won rather quickly and he hung his head to hide it. Remus turned to watch the lake and munched on the crisps with a satisfied smirk of his own.
"Do you still have to call me Tent Boy?” Peter complained. “Even Wormtail was better."
"Mate, you got annoyed at us for being too loud and pitched a tent to sleep in in the garden and you expect it not to stick?" James shook his head. “Sorry, but that’s possibly even funnier than sitting in a bucket full of worms and passing out.” James frankly found both of those stories hilarious, although the worm one did make him feel a bit bad sometimes. Regardless, they’d teased him relentlessly for both.
Peter only muttered something lowly that none of them could hear and moved a bag away when Remus tried to get more of his snack.
James looked around, enjoying a bit of people watching. He could see the girls all playing cards further away, Marlene lying down with her head on Dorcas’s lap, Mary in her flowy top, dressed better than James ever had been in his life even just to sit in a park. Sunlight caught Lily’s red hair, making it look like flames. She really was beautiful, it wasn’t surprising he'd started liking her so easily in their first year. It had been a while since he'd thought about her in that way, though. Ever since they'd started living in the same house back at the start of that year, in September, he’d found that he really enjoyed being her friend.
Further to the left from the girls, Regulus was reading a thick book while Barty Crouch and Evan Rosier played a hand slapping game. Regulus's lips moved slightly to form words as he read. James watched, intrigued. They looked very soft. In that exact moment, Regulus licked his lips, making them even more pink and shiny and a rather strange thought crossed James's mind – it would have to feel amazing to kiss him.
He didn’t have time to consider how weird that thought was or what it implied for Sirius suddenly jumped on his feet and assumed a position as if he was about to run.
“Watch out, Sirius, they’re gonna get you,” Peter teased.
“Shut up, Tent,” Sirius said, staring at a goose that was walking towards them. It took a few more steps before stopping to peck at something on the ground, minding its own business. Sirius sat back down. “It knows what’s best for it,” he said. “I was about to kick it right at Snape’s face there and no one wants to touch that.”
Remus snorted, chocked on the crisps and started coughing.
James cackled.
Over the next week, James found his mind slipping back to the image of Regulus reading by the lake way more often than he would like to admit. It was mostly his lips that his brain would focus on, what they looked like and how they moved, and how it would feel to touch them, especially with his own.
He bumped into Regulus a couple of days later while walking out of one of the university buildings. James grinned the moment he realised who it was. “All right, Reg?”
“I will be once I finally get to my bed,” Regulus said, slowing down but not stopping. “I haven’t slept in two days. Yourself?”
“Yeah, all right. Make sure to sleep then,” James said as he watched him walk away. “I sent you something, don’t forget to watch it!”
“I will!” Regulus promised before rounding a corner and disappearing.
James continued on his way until a bloke from one of his classes said, “What’re you grinning for, Potter?” and he realised he hadn’t taken the smile off of his face yet.
The next day, James was having lunch with the boys when Regulus and his mates sat at a table next to theirs. James couldn’t resist the urge and he chucked a chip at the back of Reg’s head.
Regulus turned around just to give him a pointed look and stick the middle finger up at him before returning to his food. James grinned.
Remus shook his head. “You’re like a child.”
“Oh, Jesus Christ,” Sirius sounded both annoyed and alarmed. “Darcy’s coming. She hasn’t left me alone in two weeks. Moony, quick, kiss me.”
James didn’t pay much attention as Darcy approached their table because Regulus ran his hand through his hair to make sure there wasn’t any potato left in it and James found it rather hypnotising.
Another few days later, Regulus called him to come over for a bit. James had been in his room many times already at that point, both with any of their mates or alone, and he dropped on the bed comfortably without being offered to sit as soon as he got there. He liked Regulus’s room. It was as small as anyone else’s. He kept it minimalistic with the decour and always spotlessly tidy, unlike James, whose bedroom sometimes got quite messy.
Regulus sat on his desk chair and they chatted for some time before James pulled out his phone to show him a funny video, so Regulus slid from the chair to the bed next to him and leaned closer. Their shoulders touched and it was like an electic shock had hit him right at that spot so strongly James quickly moved an inch or two away. Regulus didn’t seem to notice, his eyes still fixed on the screen. James, however, couldn’t concentrate on the video anymore. He’d never been so aware of that particular spot on his skin and he could think about nothing else but how close they were. How easy it would be to just lean in and kiss him.
It might have taken him a little longer to figure out what this probably meant if he didn’t currenly live in the same house with two queer couples. He may be childish in some other ways, but James had always been very aware of his own feelings. He realised what it meant for him and didn’t really mind it at all, he couldn’t even say that he was that surprised. The only problem was who it was that had caught his attention. Or rather, whose brother.
Sirius was going to kill him. James wasn’t sure at which point yet, whether it would be as soon as he told him, when he asked Reg out, or the first time he saw them kiss if it came to that, but he was definitely, absolutely, without a doubt going to murder him. And James couldn’t even be angry.
Of course, he couldn’t know if it would ever get to the kissing part, but he knew he was going to tell Sirius and then ask Regulus out because that was just what James did when he fancied someone, even when it wasn’t his best mate’s little brother. God, that sounds horrible, he cringed.
He decided to do it the morning. Both he and Sirius had classes that started at ten, so he reckoned if he just dropped the bomb and then ran away to class, Sirius would have a couple of hours to digest it, come back and give him his blessing to ask his brother on a date.
Light rain was spitting on their kitchen window as Sirius made himself a big cup of coffee to wake up while humming a song and James poured his smoothie, more nervous than he would like to admit. He went to wash a cup from the blender and sat down at the table.
A casual chat. That was all it was. "How did you know you liked men?"
Sirius paused what he was doing for a moment, then resumed, saying, "I got drunk and snogged Moony and it was the best bloody kiss of my life, so it was pretty hard to deny at that point." He came over with a big mug and sat down in a chair facing him.
"Right,” James spun his cup a little on the table. “But how would you know if you haven't kissed a guy yet?"
Sirius frowned slightly, considering. "I mean, I didn't know. You should ask Remus about that. Wait,” he gave him a suspicious look, “why are you so interested all of a sudden?"
James shrugged. "I was just wondering. You know, thinking about things." He was doing so well. So nonchalant.
"In general? Or about yourself?"
Or maybe not. "Erm, both? I mean, I would also fall under the general category, so..."
Sirius raised a eyebrow, the end of his mouth twitching into a smirk. "Prongs, you've never been able to hide your feelings from me. Which bloke are we talking about? Who caught your attention?"
"Why do you think there is a specific bloke?" James tried.
A grin spread over Sirius’s entire face. "Oh my god. I can't believe this. James Potter having the hots for a boy! Every girl at this bloody uni will be devastated. Wait, but what's with Lily?"
James’s stomach twisted from nerves from who it was, how new it all was, from talking about it when he hadn’t yet even fully figured out what it was. "Nothing, we're friends. I like us being friends."
"Oh, this is brilliant.” Sirius leaned back in his chair. “ I support this one thousand per cent. Go on, who's the lad? We need to get you with him. No one can resist James Potter's charm."
James scratched the back of his head.
"Go on, the name, please," Sirius encouraged excitedly.
Well, here goes nothing. James murmured it into his chin so quietly Sirius hadn't been able to make out the word.
"Huh?"
James sighed. "Regulus," he repeated slightly louder.
Sirius sat up straight at the speed of light. "WHAT?!"
James grimaced. “Yeah.”
“You’re taking the piss.”
“I’m not.”
“You are, you’re winding me up.”
“I promise I’m not.”
Sirius’s jaw was dropped. “So, what, you think my little brother’s fit?”
“Erm, I mean, yeah.” James cringed. It sounded so bad.
“EW! How?!”
“Because... he is?” He felt like he was running with how fast his heart was beating in his chest.
“But we look so similar!” Sirius exclaimed.
James fixed his glasses. “He is better looking, though.”
Sirius clutched his chest, scandalised. “Excuse me?” He gaped at him.
“Sorry,” James said sencerely. “I know it’s weird for you. I just thought I should probably tell you.”
Sirius was shaking his head slowly in disbelief. “Just... drink your smoothie, Potter,” he said, grabbed his coffe and took several big gulps.
They finished their beverages in silence, both stuck in thought. This had gone as well as James had assumed it would, but he knew Sirius only needed some time to process.
James’s phone buzzed in his pocket, so he checked it under the table. His heart skipped a beat when he saw a text from Regulus. Instead of immediately replying like he usually would, he decided it was better to leave it for later, when he was alone.
When their cups were empty and left in the sink, they both got up, took their bags and jackets, put their shoes on and left the house together in silence.
“So, when are you going to ask him out?” Sirius asked as they headed towards university buildings.
James looked at him hopefully. “You think I should?”
“I know you will,” Sirius amended. “And I suppose I don’t know anyone better for him,” he added begrudgingly.
James grinned and quickly pulled him in a one-armed hug. “Cheers, Padfoot.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Sirius grumbled, slapping his back a few times. “So when are you going to do it?” He asked, pulling back.
“I’m not sure yet. Soon. Once I’ve processed the whole thing a bit.”
Sirius only hummed in response, but James felt significantly lighter. Whatever happened, whatever this all meant, it would be a lot easier now.
Once they parted and headed their separate ways for classes, James finally pulled his phone out to read that text from Regulus. It was a funny dog video that made James grin way more than it should have and they texted all throughout class.
James had been planning to use his free time in the afternoon to study. He had. But then Regulus asked him to play basketball together and there really wasn’t much James could do to refuse. After all, he was a strong man, but definitely not that strong.
It had been five days since his conversation with Sirius and James had spent the time trying to come up with the most perfect, romantic way to ask out someone as reserved and mysterious as Regulus that would simply sweep him off his feet, but also trying to figure out what the bloody hell these sudden new feelings meant for him and his sexuality. In both cases, he hadn’t made much progress. He found that he didn’t really care that Regulus was a man, it truly didn’t make much difference. He simply liked him for who he was – he was smart, very funny with that dry sense of humour, but also kind and sensitive, even though most people wouldn’t assume as much upon meeting him at first. And he was a bloody good-looking bloke, no wonder James fancied him. That didn’t confuse him at all. It simply made sense. Actually, what didn’t make sense was how come the rest of the uni wasn’t head over heels for him.
The ball hit him right in the face and his glasses fell off.
“Oh, shit.” Regulus ran up to him. “Sorry. Where’ve you gone? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you not catch a ball.” He bent down and picked up the glasses for him. “Not broken,” he inspected them. “Here.”
“Cheers.” James took the glasses, brushing their fingers briefly. They both pulled their hands away quickly and looked at each other. Even with his poor eyesight, James could make out the endless icy blue of Regulus’s eyes before he looked away.
James put the glasses back on and the lines of the world sharpened once again. Before him, Regulus was looking around to find where the ball had gone.
“Hey, Reg?”
“Yeah?” Regulus turned towards him again.
James opened his mouth, about to ask him if he was free that weekend, when there came a shout from nearby and they both turned around just in time to see a guy fall and curl up, clutching his leg.
“Shite,” James swore and he and Regulus hurried over. “Are you all right, mate?”
“I think I sprang my ankle,” the guy hissed, tears of pain gathering in the corners of his eyes.
“You should probably go to the ambulance,” James said. He looked at Regulus, who nodded. “Come on, we’ll help you,” he said and the two of them took an arm each and helped the poor bloke get up before taking him to the ambulance to get his ankle checked out.
That Saturday, instead of going out, the eight of them from the house decided to have a roommate night and make French toast and play a bunch of games together. James loved evenings like that because there was always something ridiculously funny that came out of them, such as Peter pitching a tent end ended up being Tent Boy, or Marlene laughing, spitting water and spraying it all over the floor, then promptly slipping on it and falling sprawled on the floor like a cartoon character.
The sun had just set and the window was wide open to let the chilly late spring air inside a kitchen that was probably too small to hold all eight of them, but they were all packed in it anyway. As usual, James and Lily were the ones doing the actual cooking, the only ones good enough not to burn the whole house down. The others got other, simpler tasks.
“Okay, in that bowl over there,” Lily pointed, “put two thirds of a cup of milk and crack two eggs.”
Peter looked over the ingrediants suspiciously. “Dorcas, can you crack the egg? I’ll do the milk.”
“How hard can it be to crack an egg?” Marlene took one and knocked it on the side of the bowl. Several bits of shell fell in. “Shit.”
“See?” Peter raised his eyebrows. “It’s hard!”
“Shhhh.” Marlene fished out the pieces of the shell. “Okay, Dor, you do the other one.”
Shaking her head, Dorcas took the other egg from her girlfriend and cracked it successfully.
Lily waited patiently for her assistants to be done putting milk and eggs into a bowl. “All right, half a teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Actually, I’ll do the salt.”
“And a teaspoon of vanilla,” James reminded her.
“I don’t usually do vanilla,” Lily said.
“My mum always puts vanilla,” said James.
“Were you two those kids that always hung out with their mums in the kitchen then?” Marlene asked, smirking.
“What else was I supposed to do as the only child?” James shrugged.
“And my sister hated me, so I was always bored,” Lily said.
“Careful with that vanilla, Marlene!” James warned.
“There’s no such thing as too much vanilla,” she argued.
“There definitely is.”
“Okay, now, Sirius, whisk it all together,” Lily instructed.
Sirius, as a good assistant that he was, already had a whisk ready. Unfortunately, he got a bit excited a few seconds into the process and the mixture started flying everywhere.
“Jesus Christ, control yourself,” Remus wiped a couple of drops off his arm.
Peter looked at him. “And what is your job?”
“Washing the dishes, unfortunately,” Remus replied. “Meanwhile, you just poured a cup of milk into a bowl.”
“It’s an imporant task! Would have we had the French toast without it?”
“Shut up, Tent Boy.”
Peter frowned. Remus smirked.
Meanwhile, James cut a bread loaf into thick slices. Lily heated up a pan and melted butter on it. Dorcas brought the bowl from the table to the counter next to the stove. James and Lily dunked a couple of slices of bread into the mixture, soaking it on both sides, and put them in the pan.
James turned around and raised an amused eyebrow. “The kitchen should not look like this from making a bloody French toast.” It was an absolute mess. Egg whites on the table, drops of milk and the mixture everywhere, broken egg shells, an open bottle of vanilla with the cap on the floor, there was even flour in one corner, even though they hadn’t used it.
It was just him and Lily now doing the work, soaking the bread and frying it until it was just right, nice and golden, then transfering it onto a plate.
James’s phone buzzed in his pocket and, hoping it was Regulus, he scrambled to grab it and look, almost knocking the pan off the hob.
“Woah, Potter, careful.” Lily grabbed it at the last moment.
“Sorry, Evans,” he said, looking at his phone. It was him. James read the text, grinning at the screen.
If it’s still edible after Sirius participating, save a slice of that French toast for me. I’ll even thank you in French.
James knew Regulus could speak French. He’d heard Sirius do it quite a few times. But a thought of hearing Regulus do it was a different thing entirely. He got rather excited just thinking about it.
“Who is it so important, James?” Mary teased.
He didn’t react, too busy responding. He was absolutely going to take a slice of that bread to Regulus later. Or even better, he should make it fresh for him in the morning.
“Oh my god, look at him,” Marlene stared, incredulous. “Who is he talking to?”
“Regulus,” James responded absentmindedly, still busy with texting.
"What!” Remus, who had been washing the whisk, whirled around.
“Regulus?!" Peter’s head snapped towards him too.
Sirius shook his head and, sounding like he was in pain, said, "My little brother, unfortunately."
“Wait, wait, wait. What?” Markene stared at James. “Potter?”
James sent the last text and looked up. “Yeah?”
“Are we all being delusional and you were joking or what?” Marlene asked.
Remus was watching him with his mouth open, water dripping from his hands onto the floor.
“Oh.” James only then realised what he’d done and his heart started beating just a little bit faster. “Yes. I kind of fancy Regulus now.” It felt like a huge deal to say it. He’d never thought it was a big deal before, but his heart was pounding, his mouth was suddenly dry and his hands were even shaking. He smiled nervously at all the surprased faces looking at him.
Remus’s mouth split into a grin and even Sirius wasn’t trying to stop his lips from curling up proudly.
"This is wonderful!” Dorcas exclaimed with a bright smile. “It's just the three of you left to have your gay awakening," she looked at Lily, Mary and Peter.
“I’m happy for you, Prongs,” Remus said, not too excited, just a regular speaking voice. It helped James calm down. There was nothing he needed to be nervous about, not with his mates.
“Thanks, Moony.”
Remus nodded, smiling, then turned to Sirius. “I bet you hate this.”
“I have since accepted it,” Sirius pursed his lips, “but at first, yes, I hated it.”
“Aw, you got his blessing,” Marlene smirked at Sirius’s expression.
“Have you asked him out?” Mary wanted to know.
“No, not yet,” James answered.
“Do you think there are chances he likes you back?” Dorcas wondered.
“I suppose we’ll see,” he said, wiping his hands on his joggers.
“What do you think?” Marlene asked Sirius.
“I really don’t know,” Sirius said honestly.
“He does hang out with you a lot and he doesn’t usually like to spend a lot of time with people,” Remus pointed out.
"Just ask him, what's the worst that could happen?" Mary shrugged.
"I don't know, I'm nervous," James admitted.
Lily gaped at him. "You are nervous? You never missed an opportunity to tell me how much you liked me and to ask me out for the first two years of knowing me, even though I kept saying no, but now you're nervous?!"
“Yes, okay?” James suddenly got rather nervous again. “I mean, no offence, but this is a big deal! I’ve never asked out someone who isn’t a girl before.”
“It is a big deal,” Remus agreed. “Take as much time as you need.”
Peter sniffed the air a couple of times before saying, alarmed, “It’s burning!”
“Oh, no!”
Lily grabbed the pan and moved it quickly, the bottom side of a slice of bread in it black like coal.
The rest of the night was very fun. They ate the toast and played several weird games they’d made up together, and the topic of Regulus didn’t come up again, but James was glad he had got the coming out over with.
He did end up talking about it with Remus afterwards, like Sirius had suggested, and they talked for a while. They understood everything what the other was saying and agreed on most thing. At the end, James was fairly confident he was bisexual, or somethings along those lines. He didn’t really know what else was out there, although Remus did tell him a few other terms to look up and see if he liked them more.
Sunday dawned bright and warm. James woke up at the reasonable time of six in the morning, like he always did, fresh, energised and ready to conquer the day. He changed into a tracksuit and went for a run, came back, had a shower and put fresh clothes on. Around eight thirty, he went back into the kitchen to make a few fresh slices of French toast, this time alone and without a mess. A few minutes later, a text from Regulus arrived. James smiled, pleased. He’d timed it correctly.
Tell me when you wake up to bring you that French toast I’ve promised , he’d sent that morning.
Hurry up, I’m starving , Regulus replied now.
He packed all of the slices into one of those plastic containers, carefully put it in his rucksack, and headed outside, along the lake. The geese were swimming around or pecking on the grass, minding their business, as usual. James wondered how whe hell Sirius had such a problem with them. He grabbed his phone, zoomed in a bit, took a photo and sent it to him as a nice good morning.
Once outside Reg’s house, he sent him another text to let him know he was there and went inside. The house was almost exactly the same as the one James lived in, only for six people instead of eight. Saying hi to a couple of roommates in the kitchen, he went upstairs, where Regulus’s door already waited open.
He knocked on the door frame. “Your breakfast is here, kind sir.”
“I’m surprised you had any of it left,” said Regulus from his bed. He still had his dark green pyjama bottoms on and a black t-shirt. His hair wasn’t as neat as it normally was and his bed was unmade for the first time since James had met him. He looked very comfortable. And cuddly. James wished he could cuddle him.
“We didn’t,” he admitted. “I made us new ones.” He dropped his rucksack on the bed and pulled the container out. “Here.” He held it out.
“Wow, thanks, Potter.” Regulus took it, eyebrows raised in pleasant surprise. “It’s warm still.”
“Yeah.” James couldn’t help smiling. “Go on, open it.”
Regulus did, releasing the delicious smell of cinnamon and vanilla. He offered it to James first, who took one slice, then took another for himself. James waited for him to taste it, watching as he took a bite and licked his lips. James almost stopped breathing.
Regulus noticed his staring and covered his mouth. “What?”
“Nothing. Do you like it?”
Regulus chewed. “It’s really good.”
James grinned broadly. “I told you I was a good cook. I’ll make you something else sometime.”
Regulus cocked his head and gave him an appraising look. “Okay. You can cook for me.”
James thought how he would do anything Regulus asked him to. God, he really was smitten.
They ate all of the French toast while James babbled about making food and tried to figure out what Regulus’s favourite thing to eat was. When the container was empty and James still wasn’t sure he had the answer, Regulus suggested for them to watch a few episodes of some anime he liked that James had never even heard of, then sucked the grease off his finger.
James gulped, staring at the way his lips closed around his thumb.
Regulus took the finger out of his mouth. “Do you want to?” He asked again.
James blinked, concentrating again. “Oh, sure, go on.”
This was his chance, he realised. He could ask him out now, then make him dinner, make it a date. With his heartbeat picking up just a little bit, he said, “Hey, Reg?”
“Hmm?”
The door opened with a bang and both of them jumped.
“I fucking hate him!” Barty raged, racing around the tiny free space of the floor in the room. “Oh, hi, Potter, you’re here.”
“Erm, hi.”
“What?” Regulus asked.
“Father called me,” Barty spat, still pacing. “He hasn’t called once since Christmas – not that I wanted him to – and didn’t even ask how I was doing.”
Regulus’s eyebrows lowered. James had never seen such intense dislike on his face, not even when they’d been in school and he and Sirius hadn’t exactly been on good terms.
Barty continued his rant, “He just wanted to tell me to watch what I’m doing and try not to do something stupid to ruin his reputation so close to the election.”
Regulus rolled his eyes, clearly very annoyed by Barty’s father. James had a feeling this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.
“How those idiots in the Parlament can’t see what a collosal arsehole he is is beyond me.” Barty suddenly stopped and turned towards his best mate. “Oi, you’ll help me get arrested, yeah?”
Regulus closed his eyes, sounding rather exasperated. “Barty.”
“No, you won’t even get in trouble,” Barty was getting excited now. “I’ve got a plan. I’ll just damage public property and you’ll call the bobbies on me.”
“And then what?” Regulus asked.
“Nothing, they’ll let me out in a day or two and dad’ll be furious.” Barty sat on Regulus’s desk chair. “Here’s what we’ll do.”
And as he listened to this mad scheme of Barty’s, James though how this probably wasn’t the right moment to ask Reg on a date, after all, but also how things he and Sirius had done in their time suddenly didn’t feel as bad.
The next time James managed to find Regulus alone was between classes a couple of days later. Regulus was eating a sandwich outside with his headphones in, which he took off the moment he spotted him, and James was about to start the conversation when Sirius sprung out of nowhere and started blabbing about one of his professors that he couldn’t stand.
James wasn't an agressive person, but in that moment, he wanted to kill him and if he didn't know better, he would've thought Regulus shared the sentiment, judging by the annoyed look on his face.
Another week went by and James wasn’t any closer to asking Reg out. Every time he tried, somebody interrupted them or something weird happened right where they were. It was like the whole uni had teamed up against him. And James wasn’t used to not having things go his way. Apart from winning Lily over, he had never had so much trouble accomplishing something he put his heart into. It was quite frankly rather inimical to his ego.
It wasn’t helping that his roommates kept asking him if he’d done it yet. “Just send him a text,” Peter told him after listening to James complain about a professor coming to talk to Regulus just after James had asked him if he was free that afternoon.
“I can’t do it over text!” James refused.
“James is a gentleman,” Remus smirked. “He would never do it over text.”
“And he shouldn’t,” Sirius said. “Especially not when it’s my brother.”
“How many times are you going to point that out?” Remus asked, rolling his eyes in pretend annoyance.
“As many as I feel the need to.”
“He’ll never stop,” Peter concluded.
“I just want to find the right moment,” James complained. “Charm him, sweep his off his feet. Not send him a bloody text.”
“Well, you know where he is,” Sirius said. “Just go and do it.”
“You’re right.” James stood up at once, realising there was really nothing he needed to wait for. He was just going to go and do it. Why would he wait? He had never been the one to wait.
“Good luck!” Remus and Peter shouted as he ran out of the house.
He jogged all the way to the library he knew Regulus was studying in. As he walked inside, running his hand through his hair a couple of times, a small pang of nerves made him hesitate only for a moment before he pushed them away. No need to get into a fret. What was the worst that could happen? A lot of things, an unwanted little voice in his head answered, but James pushed that away, too. He was doing it.
He searched the library with his eyes until he spotted Regulus sat alone at one of the tables, right by a tall bookshelf, reading. His posture was immaculate as always and a couple of curls of his black hair had falled over his face, but he didn’t seem to mind. He looked like a prince among commoners or an angel surrounded by humans, too pretty to be just another boy.
James swallowed as his heartbeat picked up and he crossed the room to Regulus’s table.
“Hey, Reg.” James leaned his hip on the edge of the table. Regulus placed a finger on the page as not to lose his spot and looked up with those eyes light as ice that could freeze you in place. So pretty.
James couldn’t help staring. “I know you don’t like people talking to you while you read...”
“Yet here you are, pestering me,” said Regulus.
James grinned slowly. He loved when Reg got a bit mean. He pulled a chair out of himself and sat in it sideways, facing him, and his expression became more serious again. “I want to tell you something. Or ask you a question. It’s fine if you say no, of course. We can go right back to how it used to be before. I really won’t get offended at all. I just can’t keep it in anymore or it would explode out of me–“
“James,” Regulus cut him off. “Just say it, so that I can go back to reading this.”
“Right, okay.” James took a breath. “It’s pretty simple, really.”
Regulus watched him, right in the eyes, waiting. James’s breath caught.
“I really like you,” he said lowly, unable to look away from the endless blue. “And I was wondering if you would want to go out with me. On a date.”
It was clear from the way Regulus’s lips formed a small ‘o’ that he had not expected that.
Then, before either of them could say anything else, Barty jumped out from behind a bookshelf, looking ecstatic. "Oh, thank fuck! You do have a spine, after all! I thought you'd never ask at this point!"
And then there was Evan, grabbing the back of the neck of his t-shirt, dragging him away, saying, "Shut the fuck up, idiot!" But just before they disappeared around the shelf again, he gave Regulus a thumbs-up.
James watched them go with amusement before turning back. Regulus’s face had grown quite red. James stared at it, incredulous. “Do I take that as a yes?”
Regulus, who had been avoiding eye contact since his mates had appeared, looked right at him, almost defiantly. “Are you being serious or taking the piss?” he asked.
James’s eyesbrows drew slightly closer. “You really think I’d joke about that?”
“Yes, actually,” Regulus said. Then, before James could get a word in, “But either way, yes.”
And to James’s absolute delight, Reg blushed even more. A grin of pure joy and relief spread over James's face. He felt on top of the world in that moment, like he could get up and do a backflip.
Instead, he looked at Regulus, at the pretty pink of his cheeks and the way he ducked his head ever so slightly, appearing almost shy for the first time since James had met him. Regulus had always been quiet and reserved, but never shy. Those were entirely different things. And this was different. James couldn’t believe it.
“Are you free this evening?” he asked.
“I am.” Regulus lifted his head up again.
“Okay, great.” James smiled. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“All right.” Regulus smiled, too, with the corners of his lips.
“All right. Brilliant.” James stood up. “I’ll let you read now. I’ll see you later.”
“See you later,” Regulus echoed, watching him leave. James glanced back over his shoulder from the door to find him still looking quite shocked by the sudden turn of events, gave him a wide smile and left.
He returned home and walked back into the house with a massive, most self-satisfied, happiest grin York had ever seen in its two thousand years of existance. He was going on a date with Regulus Black. Regulus, who people were often too intimidated by to even speak to him, he was going on a date with. Life really was good.
He barged into Sirius’s room, throwing himself on the bed, right over his and Remus’s laps.
“What is wrong with you?!” They both started shoving him off.
“Did you do it, Prongs?” Peter asked eagerly, safe on a desk chair.
“Well.” James sat up on Sirius’s lap, tossing an arm around his neck, still grinning. “It went well.”
“Did he say yes?” Remus looked at him with eyes wide in anticipation.
“I’m picking him up at seven,” James announced, so bloody full of joy he couldn’t contain it.
Remus smiled. “That’s amazing. Proud of you, mate.”
“Cheers.” James turned to Sirius. “What’re you saying, Padfoot?”
“It is amazing,” Sirius murmured. “The part that you’re into blokes, at least. Oi, Wormtail, now it’s just you left to have your queer awakening.”
“Yeah, I don’t think that’ll happen,” Peter laughed.
Sirius pushed James off of his lap to the bed and stood up. “Now excuse me, I need to talk to my brother.” He headed out of the room. “I am calling that little wanker right now. Going out with my best mate and he didn’t even asked me if it was okay...”
“Leave him alone,” Remus called after him, but Sirius disappeared upstairs, probably into Marlene’s empty room.
James looked around at others. “We don’t think he actually minds, no?”
“No,” Remus said confidently. “He just needs to be a dramatic pain in the arse for a bit to let it all out.”
“At least I’m Wormtail again.” Peter leaned back into the chair, releaved.
Luckily, Remus was right, and when the time came for James to leave, Sirius was right there to give him a once-over and assure him he looked ‘so fit he might just had to snog him himself’.
“I can’t believe I’m letting you do this,” Sirius shook his head as James ran his hand through his hair in front of a mirror and pushed his glasses up his nose.
“Well, I appreciate it,” James wiped his hands on his jeans and went into the hall to put his shoes on.
“Good luck,” Sirius said. “But not too much. And when you come back, I want details, but not those details. That don't even mention to me. I'll pretend you don't do that."
Ready to go, James stood up to give him a pointed look. "There won't be any of that, it's our first date."
Remus smirked. "What a gentleman."
“Well, lads, I’m off,” James announed, unsure what to do with his hands that didn’t want to stay still.
“Prongs?” Sirius called.
“Yeah?”
“I’m happy for you,” he said and James could tell it was sencere. “Really.”
“Thank you. That means a lot. Truly.”
They stood just looking at each other for a few moments. It meant everything, frankly, that Sirius was okay with it all because James didn’t think he would have done it, or anything else, if it hurt Sirius.
Remus and Peter exchanged a look.
“Are you sure you don’t want to snog each other instead?” Peter teased.
Sirius grabbed a pillow and chucked it at his face.
James snorted and opened the front door. “All right. See you later.”
“Good luck,” the boys shouted as he closed the door.
It was another surprisingly lovely, warm day, even if a bit cloudy, and James was so excited he had to stop himself from skipping over to Reg’s house, although he would’ve been lying if he said he wasn’t all jittery, too. His heart was pumping like he’d been excercising for the last fefteen minutes.
The other house wasn’t too far away, and before he knew it, he was standing outside and sending a text to let Regulus know he was there. James swallowed dryly. It was a rare occurence that he got nervous, but this was a big deal.
Faint voices started coming out from the other side of the door. James recongised Barty, although he couldn’t quite make out the words, but Regulus’s response was clearer, closer, “No, you can’t. I’m not opening this door until you’ve left.”
James’s lips twitched as he waited, imagining Reg’s famous exasperated face for a few long seconds before the doornob moved, his back snapped straighter, hand flying to his hair out of nervousness but he dropped it quickly, and then the door was open and Regulus stepped out.
James’s breath caught again. Regulus looked stunningly handsome with those eyes that had always reminded James of a glacier, and jaw and cheekbones like carved in marbe in contrast with black, fluffy loose curls that framed his face perfectly.
“Hey,” he said, rather breathless.
“Hi.” Regulus closed the door. He’d put on blue jeans for once, although the t-shirt was still black. James felt honoured
They just looked at one another for a moment. It was strange. They’d hung out many times before, but this was very different. It felt different. James wanted to kiss him. But he wasn’t going to, it was too early.
“Where are you taking me?” Regulus asked, diverting his gaze.
James blinked. “We can go for a walk,” he suggested.
“Okay,” Regulus agreed and they were off.
James quickly noticed that he was weirdly hyperaware of everything – every part of his body and how it moved, the way he walked and his arms swung, his hand that he could easily reach and brush against Regulus’s, only inches away. He could feel him next to him, like a big source of energy pulling him closer and making his heart beat faster.
“Well, Regulus.”
“James,” he matched his tone.
“I’m really glad this is happening,” James said honestly, turning his head to look at him.
“Me too,” Regulus’s eyes were still on the pavement. “Although I really didn’t expect it.”
“Really?”
Regulus turned his face towards him now, eyebrows slightly drawn together. “No. Especially after how weird you were when you found out I was gay.”
“Oh god, sorry about that,” James cringed. “I think I was having a gay panic of my own, I just didn’t know it yet.”
“I had you panicking?”
“Well, yes. You’re very attractive, you see.”
Regulus looked away quickly, his pale cheeks turning bright pink. It only made him look prettier. “Shut up.”
James looked in front of himself, too, biting the inside of his mouth, but a grin spread over his face anyway. “How is that assignment going?”
“Well. I finished it.”
“Already?”
“Some of us take education seriously, James, not just as an opportunity to muck about for a few more years,” said Regulus.
James had to stop himself from grinning even more. “Oh, I take it very seriously. Extremely. I’m a resident swot here.”
“You’re a resident knob.”
James guffawed, greatly amused.
They went to the Hull Road Park in York, a lovely place not far away from uni. It was especially nice in this time of year, when everything was green and teeming with life. James loved the lively atmosphere, children running around and people hanging out, enjoying the warmth of late spring. There was a small river flowing through the park, Osbaldwick Beck, with reed and lots of ducks swimming in it or catching bread people were tossing into the water for them.
However, this time, James wasn’t looking around at the trees and colourful flower beds, too engrossed in the boy next to him. “Do you want to go on the swings?” he offered.
“Sure,” Regulus shrugged. Some people may find this nonchalant demeanour indifferent or even dismissing and rude, but James knew it wasn’t like that. Regulus simply didn’t show emotions easily and that was okay. It was a part of his charm, along with the sarcasm and being a bit mean sometimes.
They barely took a few steps before Regulus looked up. “Is that rain? I felt something.”
“I hope not.”
But only seconds later, he felt it too. Once, twice, again. Drop after drop, they were coming faster and faster, until suddenly it was a downpour.
“This way.” Regulus grabbed James’s wrist and pulled him back the way they’d arrived, out of the park and towards the street. They were drenched in seconds, clothes sticking to James’s body uncomfortably and hair sticking to his forehead. Water was pouring down his glasses, making it impossible to see.
They ran to the nearest caffee shop, only a minute away. They stood at the doop, water dripping from them, absolutely soaked. It took one second of their eyes meeting before they burst out laughing until their stomachs hurt and tears came to their eyes.
“That was mad,” James wheezed, trying to catch his breath once they’d calmed down a bit. He took his now useless glasses off.
“I swear I thought I was going to drown at one point there.” Regulus pushed his fringe away from his face.
“I’m blind now,” James held up the glasses, “you’ll have to lead the way.” He put his other hand out.
Regulus rolled his eyes, but took his hand, lacing their fingers together and sending a bolt of electricity through James’s whole body. It really was hard to see now, everything was a blur, although he probably could’ve found his way to a table by himself, but this was a much better solution.
Alas, it didn’t last very long for there was only so many steps they could take before finding a free table. He did pull out Regulus’s chair, though, and even with his poor eyesight he could swear he blushed again, at least a little bit.
They ordered, Regulus a coffee and James a Coke, and spent enjoyable twenty minutes or so in the burble of noise, low chatter and laughter of people around, soft clanking of cups hitting saucers, murmur of coffee machenes and the rain beating on the windows, talking about classes in the last couple of weeks.
“Do you have any plans for summer?” James asked as Regulus emptied a glass of water.
“Not really.”
“You’re coming to ours again, though, obviously.”
“I suppose we’ll see,” said Regulus, putting the glass down.
“What? Why?”
“Well, we’ll see how this goes.” Regulus waved his hand between the two of them.
Oh. James hadn’t even considered this not workig, but he suddenly felt terrible for not thinking of the possibility of him being a reason that Regulus would want to spend the entire summer living at uni instead of going back with his brother. It only made James more determined.
“Let’s play a game,” he suggested, “to get to know each other a bit more.”
“You and your games.” A corner of Reg’s lips lifted. “What did you come up with now?”
James grinned. “We put this glass in the middle of the table here.” He reached for Regulus’s empty cup to move it into position. “We take turns asking questions, whatever questions we want, and throw these little packets of sugar into it. If I make it, you have to answer the question, if I don’t you don’t, or vice versa.”
“Okay,” Regulus agreed. “We’ll be answering a lot of questions then.”
“You can start.”
“Hmm.” Regulus took one of the sugar packets. “Why did you ask me out?” He tossed it right into the cup.
“Because I like you,” James said easily, looking right at him, “and I want to be with you. Well, see how it goes first, obviously.”
Regulus nodded, licking his lips, making them all pink and shiny. James really wanted to kiss them.
“Why now?” Reg asked.
“That’s another question, but I’ll answer it.”
“How kind of you.”
James’s mouth tugged into a smile again. “I’ve wanted to for a few weeks, it’s just that the moment never felt quite right.”
“Of course you would want the moment to be perfect,” Regulus hid his hands under the table, “you’re such a romantic.”
“You’re saying that like it’s a bad thing.”
“I’m not. It’s just an interesting thing about you.”
“So I’m interesting?” James grinned.
“It’s your turn to ask a question,” Regulus said instead of answering.
“Since when do you like me?” James threw a packet of sugar into the glass smoothly. “Yesss.” Then, in a moment of insecurity, he added, “You like me, right?”
“I do.” Regulus held the eye contact; his eyes light as ice weren’t cold at all. “God, this is embarrassing. I’ve fancied you for a while.”
James’s eyebrows inched up in surprise.
“I’m not sure since when. Summer maybe? Or shortly after that.” Reg was working his hands under the table, clearly nervous.
The last summer had easily been one of James’s favourites. It had been the first one that Regulus had spent at the Potters’. It took a bit of time for him to get used to living with a different family, he was very quiet for the first half of it, but Sirius was overjoyed to have him and so were James and his parents, and they patiently let him settle in on his own time. They went out together a lot, spending almost every evening outside, eating kebabs in parks or drinking lagers in pubs, watching films in the cinema room in the basement of their home, living every day to the fullest. They got really close by the end of it, James, Sirius and Regulus, and James was sure he’d never seen either of the brothers happier.
It was also around the time his feelings for Lily became strictly platonic, James now realised.
“You never let it show,” he said.
“What can I say, I got really good at masking emotions growing up.”
“I skill I severely lack at.”
“No, you don’t need it,” Regulus disagreed. “I like that about you. I always found it a lot braver.”
James’s lips spread into a grin. “Well, thank you.”
Regulus took another sugar. “What do you think about me?”
“I think a lot of things about you.” For example, right now James was wondering what it would feel like to run his fingers through those damp curls.
“Well, you’ll have to pick one.”
“If you make it.”
Regulus tossed the sugar into the glass. “Go on.”
“I think you secretly wish being emo was still cool, so that you could look like one.”
“What?” Regulus frowned, offended. “No, I don’t!”
“Uh-huh. So you don’t almost exclusively wear black?” James was having a wonderful time.
“It’s classy!”
“Right.” James grabbed a sugar. “Do you secretly listen to Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance while no one’s there?” He threw it carelessly and missed for the first time since the start of the game.
Regulus arched his perfect eyebrow. “I guess you’ll never know. God, you’re insufferable sometimes.”
“I try,” Jamese grinned, thoroughly enjoying himself.
“What do you really think of me?” Regulus asked again.
“I think you’re one of the funniest people I know,” James answered more sencerely this time.
“Me?”
“Yeah! The best part is that you aren’t even trying, you’re just naturally funny. I also like how much you care. You feel things deeply. You’re very passionate. And dramatic. So bloody dramatic.”
Regulus pursed his lips, looking somewhere to the side, flustered. “Maybe I’m not as good at hiding my feelings as I thought.”
“Nah, I just pay a lot of attention to you.”
“God, Potter.” Regulus rubbed his face with both hands, hiding it.
James almost giggled from joy, his feet taking turns doing in little jumps under the table, he felt so giddy. “It’s your turn, come on.”
“Okay.” Regulus put his hands down, revealing a still red face. Had he always blushed this easily? “You have to tell me how you got the nickname Prongs.”
“No.” James said gravely, his face falling.
“Yes.” Regulus threw that sugar right into the cup, the bugger.
“Oh, you...” James narrowed his eyes at him. “This is actually embarrassing. You have to promise you won’t laugh.”
“We’ll see.”
“I was fifteen.” James snorted, remembering. “Sirius came up with it.”
“Obviously, who else?”
“Exactly. It was his sixteenth birthday. We had a cake in our dorm. We took forks from the kitchens and ate it on our beds. Of course, we left the plates on the beds,” James felt his face heat up from embarrassment. “Well, later, I jumped on my bed and landed arse first. On a fork.”
Regulus covered his mouth, his shoulders shaking with stiffled laughter.
“It broke the skin. I had to go to Madam Pomfrey.” James’s face was very hot now.
Regulus couldn’t hold it back anymore. A laugh exploded out of him. He bent over, clutching his side, wheezing. “You– you stabbed your arse with a fork!”
“Yes, I know, very funny,” James muttered. What an attractive story to tell on a first date.
“That’s the most hilarious thing,” Regulus hiccupped. “Yeah, sorry, that nickname it perfect.”
“You said you wouldn’t laugh,” James reminded him.
“No, I didn’t.”
James shook his head, smiling.
The rain stopped soon and Regulus suggested for them to go outside again. James payed (“I asked you out,” he had to point out when Regulus pulled out his wallet) and they returned to the park.
It was a lot emptier now, although the ducks were still loving life, and a choir of frogs now serenaded them as they strolled down a wet trail. Their clothes had dried enough not to stick to their skin as much, but the trainers and socks were still wet, making walking a rather interesting experience. Regulus stepped over a big puddle on the way, but James, feeling cheeky, jumped right in, splashing water everywhere.
“You’re such a child,” Regulus scrunched his nose.
“My shoes were already wet and I haven’t done this since I was a kid,” James shrugged. “Come on, it’s fun.”
“No, thank you.”
“I know you want to,” James lured him.
“I really don’t.”
“I can see it in your face that you do.”
Regulus did a big, exaggerated eyeroll. “Okay, fine, I do.” And he jumped into the puddle right next to James. “You’re right, it is fun,” he laughed.
They both turned towards each other at the same time, finding that they were standing a lot closer than what two people usually would. Their eyes met and it was like everything stopped for a moment. The energy changed. It was just the two of them and nothing else in the world. James stared at those blue eyes, endlessly deep and hypnotisingly beautiful. Regulus’s hair was even curlier now from the rain and his lips slightly parted. James swallowed involuntarely. He was breathtaking.
It took everything in him not to kiss him, but it was their very first date, and so James forced himself to break the eye contact, clearing his throat. “Come on.” He jumped out of the puddle and looked back. Regulus blinked at him, looking a bit stunned, and swallowed. James hesitated. Had he messed up? They’d definitely had a moment.
Regulus started walking and James followed suit.
Not wanting it to seem like he was leading him on, James reached and took his hand. Regulus’s head snapped towards him, their eyes meeting with a smile, and he entwined their fingers again. This time, neither of them let go.
“Sirius and I loved jumping into puddles when we were little,” Regulus said as they walked. “Of course, our parents never let us and the one time we did it, we got punished for it.”
James scowled.
“But we had a governess that we loved and she would take us outside after rain sometimes and secretly bring our wellies and we’d run and jump into puddles as much as we wanted.”
James smiled now. “That’s nice. Was it Megan or Florence?”
“Of course you already know both of their names.” Regulus shook his head. “It was Florence.”
James knew this story from Sirius already, if he was being honest, along with most other details about their childhood, but it was always nice to hear them from Regulus, as well. It felt special, he so rarely shared them.
The night had long fallen and the air got chilly, especially with their wet clothes, so they decided to head back. More and more people were around as they neared the campus, most of them students, and James realised they were seeing him hold a boy’s hand for the first time. While he couldn’t exactly say that he didn’t care, he found that he didn’t mind.
His house was closer, but James ignored it and continued walking with Regulus along the lake to his place.
Loud laughter echoed from somewhere in the distance as they reached the front door of the student house Regulus lived in that year.
“I’ve had a really good time,” James said, standing outside.
“Me too,” Regulus said, his head tilted up, looking right at him. His eyes darkened and James’s heart started beating faster. There were only two options, to stay and to leave, and he knew which one he should pick, but he couldn’t bring himself to just yet.
“James?” Regulus sounded rather breathless.
Yeah?” James almost whispered.
Regulus swallowed. “I really need you to not be a gentleman for once.”
James blinked. “What do you mean?”
“This.” Regulus’s fist closed around the fabric of the front of James’s t-shirt, pulling him closer, and they were kissing.
James’s brain shut off. He couldn’t think, could hardly comprehend what was happening. There was nothing but Regulus’s lips on his, soft, warm and perfect, moving against his own smoothly. James’s fingers slid into that gorgeous, fluffy hair, stroking gently, while Regulus’s rested on his shoulders, making James’s skin under them burn.
He pulled back, desperately catching his breath. Regulus opened his eyes, his lips staying apart, chest rising and falling as he breathed heavily.
“How much do you want me to not be a gentleman?” James asked, his voice low with need, unable to look away from him.
“Not at all,” Regulus rasped.
James’s hands cradled his face and he connected their mouths again, his tongue sliding inside. He stepped closer, pushing Regulus carefully against the door and connecting their bodies as Regulus’s hand moved down his back, setting it on fire.
Reg’s other hand found the doorknob blindly and they stumbled inside. James kicked the door closed, Regulus pulled him towards his room, and as they rushed up the stairs, it briefly crossed James’s mind that he wouldn't be telling Sirius all details of the date, after all.