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I Christmas Presents
In the middle of the summer holidays before his sixth year, Regulus ran away from home in a fashion so dramatic it made his older brother insanely proud (and a little bit jealous that he didn’t create such a moment, such heart-attack-inducing chaos)
Mr and Mrs Black had organised a sort of ball for Regulus who, at the tender age of sixteen, was to be engaged to a young girl from a respectable family.
“They wanted to sell me like a brood mare!” he later complained to his brother, “Or sell them to me, whatever way around! I am lucky they didn’t force me to marry one of them right then and there, consummate in front of the family portrait and celebrate my slashing a muggles throat to bathe the new heir of the House of Black in their blood!”
(Sirius laughed wholeheartedly at this. James was a little concerned. He could definitely picture this being an actual tradition in their family and he could for the life of him not decern whether they were joking)
So, instead of dancing with one of the young ladies, his parents deemed appropriate (he was closely related to two of them, distantly related to all but one), he made a big spectacle of jumping on a table, announcing that he would not marry any of them, thank you very much, unless one of them could spontaneously grow a dick he could suck. Then he got out of there as quickly as he could and found his way to the Potter House.
Euphemia and Fleamont Potter welcomed the young Black with open arms and promptly gave him Sirius’ room, who now shared with James (neither James nor Sirius minded at this point).
When they went back to Hogwarts, there was talk.
Most of Regulus’ housemates already knew that he was one, gay, and two, disowned like his brother. And anyone in the castle who did not know by the beginning of the year, knew by the end of the first month back.
Sirius and his friends were ready to jump to Regulus’ aid whenever someone wanted to give him a hard time – Regulus didn’t need that. He could hold his own well enough. He was very smart and very talented – and petty enough to land himself in detention every other week because he hexed someone who dared to do so much as breathe in his direction.
Regulus also had his own friends, Barty Crouch Jr, Evan Rosier and the Ravenclaw girl Pandora, who never left his side and would go absolutely ballistic if anyone said something bad about Regulus.
All in all, Regulus concluded, it was better than he had anticipated. When Sirius ran away, Regulus was sure if he ever tried to do the same, his life would end. He couldn’t survive without his parents’ support and the shame and humiliation would be too much.
But he had his friends, he had his brother, he had the Potters – whatever anyone thought or said, this new life he had beat marrying some cousin once removed.
Then there was James.
Regulus always found James attractive, as much as he denied this to anyone who would listen to him – which didn’t help his point to be honest – but living with him was something else entirely.
Especially in summer.
James walks around shirtless in summer.
A lot.
But now it was winter. James, Sirius and Regulus went back to the Potters for the Christmas Holidays.
James and Sirius were in their room, wrapping up Christmas presents (they tried at least).
“How is Regulus?” James asked casually, “How’s he feeling with this being his first Christmas away from home and all that?”
“I don’t know. Good, I guess? At least he didn’t complain.”
“Regulus never complains. If you measure his mood by the amount of complaining-“
“What are you talking about, he’s complaining about everything, all the time.”
“Not to me. He just rolls his eyes a lot when he’s annoyed.”
“Non-verbal complaining is complaining. Also, you’re not exactly close, are you? Of course, he complains to me more often than to you.”
“Guess you’re right… so, what did you get him for Christmas?”
“He complained that he had to leave most of his jewellery behind and Kreacher could only send him so much, so I bought him some new rings. Not as expensive and old as he’s used to, but they’ll do.”
James nodded, “I got him a book and a really cool bookmark. I hope he’ll like it.”
Sirius let out a short laugh and looked at James. James looked back confused.
“Oh, you’re serious.”
“Yes… isn’t a book good?”
“Well, it’s Regulus. He’s polite, so he’ll thank you, but he’s got very expensive taste and he’s used to very expensive presents. When he was thirteen, my parents gave him a piano carved from ivory, when he was fourteen, he got a 500-year-old dagger with no less than three real emeralds in the handle. Whatever any of us can give him, he won’t like it, you know? A book and a cool bookmark? It’s nick-nacks to him.”
“An entire piano carved from ivory?”
“Well, maybe not entirely made of ivory, but they went on and on for an hour about how ivory is super valuable and beautiful, and the thing is made from it. Only the best for the little golden child,” Sirius rolled his eyes.
James looked at the book in his hands, turning it uncertainly in his hands.
“Moony likes it when we give him books.”
“Yes. But just because Moony and Reggie both like to act like other people don’t exist by reading, doesn’t mean they’re the same person. Moony is very humble and appreciates everything anyone does for him. Also, books are expensive, and he doesn’t come from money, so people giving them to him means a lot to him. Regulus has always gotten anything he wanted. He wanted a book, my parents got it for him immediately – if we didn’t have it at home already. The physical object of the book doesn’t hold the same meaning to them both, you know?”
James nodded and put the book away with a disappointed look on his face.
“Hey, it doesn’t matter. Reggie doesn’t have a present for you either, so you don’t have to give him anything.”
“How do you know?”
“When we went shopping to get the presents for your parents on Monday, I asked him whether he wants to get you something, he just looked at me and said: ‘Why would I do that?’ “ – he imitated Regulus’ slightly higher voice and his characteristic eye roll.
James chuckled and shrugged. He took the book up again and wrapped it up after all.
***
On Christmas Morning, Regulus seemed genuinely happy about the gifts he received – not just polite, as Sirius had predicted. He especially liked the new rings Sirius got for him.
“I know, they’re not exactly what you’re used to, but at least you have something shiny again,” Sirius had said when Regulus took a close look at his new jewellery.
“They’re very pretty, thank you, Sirius,” Regulus had said with a genuine smile – Sirius seemed surprised at this.
When all the other presents were exchanged, James finally handed over his present to Regulus. He nervously watched as Regulus unwrapped the gift – he did this very carefully, as if he intended to reuse the paper later.
His eyes went big when he read the title of the book.
“I remember you said you’d like to read this at some point but didn’t know where to get it so… I found it for you,” James explained sheepishly.
Regulus looked at him surprised. A radiant smile appeared on his face; he tapped the cover of the book.
“I mentioned that like once last summer.”
James nodded and shrugged, “I kept it in mind.”
“Thank you, James, this is great,” his eyes and his bright smile were still focused on James, while he clutched the book to his chest.
“Also, I, uhm, it’s silly, but I got you a bookmark. I think it’s pretty cool, here,” he pointed at the side of the book.
Two black claws were sticking out between the pages, as if a little demon creature was stuck in the book and tried to claw its way out. Regulus opened the book at the bookmark.
“It’s enchanted. If you leave the book for too long without reading, the claws open the book on their own to remind you to keep reading.”
Regulus chuckled and carefully rand his finger along the fake claws.
“I love this, thank you.”
The two were sitting next to each other and looking at each other with shy little smiles.
James could get lost in those beautiful, grey eyes of his. They reflected the Christmas lights and the incoming sunlight from the window and appeared blue and green at times. A little spectrum of cool, winter colours. Like the northern lights, James thought.
Sirius cleared his throat after a while. The two looked away from each other and at him.
“What kind of book is that, Reggie?”
“A muggle book. You know, we were never allowed to read them. Especially this one, mother talked about it with so much contempt all the time – I just have to read it now.”
“Uh-huh,” he warily looked from his brother to his best friend and back, “And you’ve got nothing for James, huh? How embarrassing.”
“Sirius, stop, it’s fine-“
“I do have something for you,” Regulus interrupted him, “Upstairs. Can I give it to you later?”
James looked down at him surprised, “Uhm yeah, sure.”
Sirius squinted at both of them. Something about this seemed utterly wrong to him.
***
II The Hug
Later, James was in his room, writing his Christmas letters to his friend, when a soft knock came from the open door. James looked up; Regulus stood in the doorway with his hands behind his back.
“Hey, come in.”
“I wanted to give you your Christmas present,” he said nervously, “I thought, it’s silly and maybe I shouldn’t give it to you, that’s why I didn’t bring it downstairs with the other presents. But you gave me something and I don’t have anything else, so…”
“Regulus, it’s fine. You don’t need to give me anything,” James stood up from his desk and met him halfway into the room.
Regulus shrugged and then held out the present.
“I’m really bad at wrapping gifts, so I just didn’t try with this.”
James regarded the object and then started grinning when he recognised what it was.
“A muggle camera?”
“Yes. One of those that prints the pictures. I still don’t understand the appeal – they don’t even move. But last summer we were at that beach together with your friends and you were utterly fascinated by the camera Evans borrowed from her sister.”
“Yes, I remember. I wanted one too. You said it’s silly and nonsensical.”
“And I stand by that. But… I don’t know, you were so entertained by it, I wanted you to have one.”
James laughed lightly, “Thank you, Reggie, I love this.”
Regulus smiled back, because of which his “Don’t call me Reggie,” had zero bite to it.
“There’s just one other thing I’ve actually really wanted from you for Christmas,” James confessed, “Can I hug you?”
“Hug me?”
James nodded, smiling, turning the camera in his hands.
Regulus sighed, “Okay…”
James wrapped his arms around Regulus and pulled him to him so quickly, Regulus was startled for a second. Then Regulus gave in and hugged him back. James buried his face in Regulus’ dark curls and breathed him in like a drowning man. Regulus smiled lightly and pushed his cheek against James’ shoulder.
James opened his mouth to say something, when Sirius suddenly appeared in the door and yelled through the hallway: “James! Come outside! It stopped snowing, let’s go outside!”
James and Regulus drove apart quickly and looked at Sirius – James with forced innocence, Regulus with obvious annoyance.
“What are you two doing?”
“Reggie just gave me my Christmas present,” James said and held up the camera.
“Don’t call me Reggie.”
Sirius ignored his brother, “A camera?”
“Like the one Lily had at the beach in summer.”
Sirius frowned at Regulus, “Where on earth did you get a muggle camera but couldn’t get a book for yourself?”
“I have my ways,” Regulus said seriously and then walked past Sirius out of the room.
“Oh, how ominous, so mysterious, you little creep – and he’s gone,” Sirius shook his head and turned to James, “So what, are you gonna come outside with me or not? Let’s throw snowballs at those stupid neighbour’s kids.”
“Yeah, sure,” James said and carefully placed the camera on his desk, “Do you think Reggie would like to come with us?”
“Reggie hates snow. And the cold, and heat, and the sun, and rain – I think he would be absolutely serene in a tiny box of a room with no windows, just bookcases and that stupid ivory piano.”
James nodded. He could picture Regulus like that. Like Rapunzel in her tower – just that he would not move one inch to get out of there. He would however kill that evil mother by throwing her out of the window so he could read in peace.
***
III Hair
Regulus was reading his new book in the living room on the couch in front of the fireplace. He had his little finger between the claws of the bookmark, they idly scratched on his skin. A curl of his hair was annoyingly out of place today and kept falling in front of his eyes.
A small flash of light and a “click” sound made him look up.
James stood in front of him with the camera. He took the picture that came out of the camera and grinned at him.
“Don’t do that,” Reggie said – James promptly took another picture of him, “I regret giving you that thing already.”
Regulus pushed the wayward curl out of his face and hid behind his book. James sat down next to him.
“You look cute on this one,” he said, regarding the pictures, “Not here though, look at that frown. Don’t frown, you’re ruining my pictures.”
“Fuck off,” Regulus kicked against James’ thigh.
James chuckled, “It’s fine, it’s still cute,” he took another picture, of himself and Reggie, whose hair was visible behind the book.
“Stop that,” Regulus said.
James put the camera and the pictures on the coffee table.
“Do you like the book?”
Regulus warily peaked up behind the book. When he was sure the threat of the camera was gone, he lowered it.
“Yes, it’s great. I can definitely see why my mother hated it.”
James smiled. The curl fell back into Regulus’ face, Regulus growled annoyed.
James reached over and tucked the curl behind Regulus’ ear.
“I will cut that one off, if it doesn’t behave,” he threatened lowly.
“Please don’t. Your hair is perfect,” James’ hand was still in his hair, brushing over the satiny black strands.
“It usually is, but it’s so unruly lately. It’s annoying.”
“My hair is always unruly,” James said while distractedly wrapping the wayward curl around his finger.
“Yes, but you pull off the messy ‘fucked by a hurricane’ look,” Regulus mumbled. James looked from his hair to his eyes and smiled. His eyes shone like bright silver today, it was marvellous to watch, like looking directly at the moon.
“Hey, James!” Sirius’ loud voice made them look away from each other again, Sirius was in the kitchen, “You want some tea?”
“Yes,” James called back and then looked at Regulus again, “Do you want some tea?”
“Yes please.”
James smiled, stood up and went over to the kitchen to help out Sirius.
The two came back with three cups of tea. James walked around the couch, until he stood behind Regulus. He brushed the unruly curl back out of Regulus’ face and fixed it with a small, pink hairclip.
“There,” James said with a smile and took the opportunity, to run his hand over his soft hair again.
Regulus touched the pink plastic with a frown.
“Stop frowning,” James said and jumped over the back of the couch to sit next to him again.
“Since when do you let someone else touch your hair?” Sirius asked bewildered.
“It’s none of your business what I do with my hair or whom I let touch it. It’s a bit unruly right now, because I left my stuff at Hogwarts.”
Sirius nodded and chuckled, “Right, those silly little rollers that make you look like a 50s housewife on her day off.”
James chuckled as well. Regulus promptly kicked his thigh again.
“Shut up. They give me volume,” he said and hid his red face behind his book.
“I’m sure you look lovely with rollers,” James said.
Regulus only growled something and read his book.
***
IV Glasses
The day before New Year’s Eve, James decided he wanted to do his parents a favour and cook dinner.
Regulus pointed out, that he wasn’t sure it really was a favour to set an entire kitchen on fire, make a mess and let them all go hungry for the day. So, James promptly recruited him as his sues chef. And since Regulus and James were part of it, Sirius had to insert himself as well.
James wasn’t ambitious with this. It was very unlikely they actually burned down the kitchen.
It took however only about five minutes for the first person to cry – it was James, and it was because he was cutting onions.
“Weakling,” Regulus teased with a playful smile while cutting green herbs. James was washing out his eyes by the sink. He had placed his glasses next to the sink.
James flipped Regulus off and then blindly felt for his glasses on the counter, while rubbing his eyes.
He accidentally pushed the glasses down from the counter.
“Fuck.”
Regulus chuckled again, picked them up, and walked up to stand in front of him.
“I think you need to take your hands away from your eyes, now.”
James took his hands away and blinked furiously with his red eyes. Regulus smiled and put the glasses back on his nose, then pushed them up until they sat where they belonged.
When James could see him properly, he realised how close Regulus was really standing in front of him. He could count the tiny, pale freckles on his nose and cheeks. His eyes were a blueish grey in the kitchen lights.
“Well, hello there,” James smirked.
“You’re really blind without these, hm?”
“Hey, I was attacked by evil onion fumes,” James defended himself, “But also, yes, very blind.”
Regulus chuckled, a tiny dimple appeared on his cheek. James smiled down at him.
“Do you want to see how blind I am?”
Regulus looked at him confused. James took off his glasses and sat them down on Regulus' nose.
Regulus blinked behind the rectangular glasses and looked around the kitchen.
He looked adorable.
“You’re cute,” James mumbled, “They look good on you, you should get a pair of reading glasses.”
Regulus smiled and took off the glasses again, “A blind man isn’t exactly the most reliable source for what looks good on me, I think. You should take them back, they’re making me seasick.”
James chuckled and let Regulus put the glasses on his face yet again. His hand lingered a little against his hair and his cheek.
“Ah, now I can see you clearly again. You’re right this is better.”
“Hey!” Sirius said next to them suddenly and pushed them apart to walk between them to the other end of the kitchen, “You’re standing in the way. Don’t you have onions to cut?”
James went back to the counter and his abandoned onions, “Regulus, could you cut the garlic when you’re done with the herbs?”
“Sure.”
“No garlic,” Sirius said with a smirk, “Don’t forget, I want to kiss you tomorrow, Prongs.”
“So? Let me have my garlic. You’ll survive it.”
Regulus, who stood at the counter with the raised knife like a solid marble statue, looked from his brother to James, “Kiss?”
“It’s a tradition,” Sirius said with a grin and wrapped an arm around James’s waist, “A muggle thing, actually, at New Year’s Eve at exactly midnight, you’re supposed to kiss someone. We always kiss each other since Moony told us about this in our first year.”
“You didn’t spend New Year’s Eve together until two years ago,” he pointed out.
“Yes, we kissed when we were back at school, but it was because of New Year’s.”
“Uh-huh,” Regulus still hadn’t moved, “You have a boyfriend.”
“Yes, but that has nothing to do with each other. It’s tradition. Sure, if Moony were here, I would kiss him instead. But he’s not and he’s okay with me kissing James at midnight.”
Regulus looked thoughtfully from Sirius to James. At the mention of his boyfriend, Sirius started lamenting about how much he missed Remus. James was laughing and cutting the onions.
Regulus eventually pushed the garlic cloves away and decided not to put them into the dinner.
***
V New Year’s Eve
“Your hair sits perfectly today,” James said. It was 11:45 pm. Regulus was in the kitchen drinking hot chocolate. He looked up when James said this.
“Thank you. Yours is a mess, as always.”
James smiled, “Did you make it without the rollers though?”
Regulus rolled his eyes, “It’s one roller and it’s only for those hairs in the front, stop it. Without them, I have to put in more effort when I wash and style them, but it obviously works just fine like this as well.”
James nodded and came over to him, “It’s worth it. I’d still like to see you with your hair in cute pink, plastic rollers. I think it would look cute as hell.”
Regulus shook his head and sipped his chocolate. His left hand rested on the kitchen counter. He was wearing the rings Sirius had given him for Christmas.
James stretched out his hand and touched one of them carefully.
“These look good on you, too.”
“What’s up with the compliments? Am I dying? Are you dying?”
James chuckled, “Hopefully not. I just feel like complimenting you,” he shrugged, and ran his hand along one curl that fell into Regulus’ face in just the right way, “You look beautiful tonight.”
Regulus tried to stop his blush from creeping up his face by biting his lip and thinking of something mean to say, something to throw James off.
“If me looking good stands out so much tonight, I must be really ugly usually.”
“What?” - it did throw him off, “No, of course not.”
“Then you must be really blind if you didn’t see it before today.”
“I – I did see it. I just…”
“Yes?” Regulus asked slowly, he was a menace if he wanted to be.
“I feel like I did something wrong,” he sounded genuinely puzzled, so Regulus took mercy on him.
“You didn’t,” Regulus said with a smiled and put his hand reassuringly on James’ wrist.
“So, you’re just being mean for laughs?”
“Yes. I’m surprised it took you this long to realise that. Well, I guess Gryffindors are generally a little slow sometimes, right?”
James shook his head, “And when you’re nice, what’s that for?”
Regulus leaned in slightly with a smirk, “Personal Reasons.”
His hand was still on James’ wrist, who, despite his gloves, was very aware of it. He looked down into Regulus’ grey eyes, then shifted to that one freckle on the tip of his nose that he had secretly declared his favourite, and finally to his lips.
He was sure, they must be so warm, his lips, from the hot chocolate he was drinking. They looked perfectly kissable at that moment. The way Regulus looked up, with his head slightly to the side, too, was perfectly kissable.
James lifted the hand Regulus’ wasn’t holding up to Regulus’ cheek and his hair, using a tiny wayward strand of hair as an excuse to touch his face.
A steady stream of “Kiss him, kiss him, kiss him” was rushing through his head and for a blissful moment James was sure, Regulus would let him do it.
Then Sirius suddenly stood in the kitchen.
“James, Reggie, come outside! It’s almost midnight, come on, come on, come on!” He was rushing to them and pulling them away from each other and pushing them to the back door into the garden.
“I hate you,” Regulus mumbled while trying to free himself out of Sirius’ grip.
“You don’t,” Sirius laughed.
“Yes, yes, I do. You are the bane of my existence.”
“Children, stop,” James said and laughed when both brothers glared at him.
Euphemia and Fleamont were sitting cuddled up in a blanket on a small bench outside on the terrace.
“There you are, boys,” Euphemia smiled, “You almost missed midnight and the fireworks.”
Sirius was running around through the snow like a hyperactive dog.
Regulus shivered slightly and pulled his jacket closer around himself.
“Are you cold?” James asked.
“What kind of stupid question is that?” Regulus whispered, “Look at all that snow, people and snow can’t exist at the same temperature, you know?”
“Well, not for long, maybe. But you’ll survive the few minutes until midnight. The magic fireworks dad makes are worth it.”
Regulus pulled his sleeves over his hands.
“I should have given you gloves for Christmas,” James said thoughtfully.
“No, the book is way better,” he said and looked up at James, “But I will need someone to turn the pages for me after my hands fell off.”
James clicked his tongue, “We can’t let that happen now, can we?”, he took off his gloves and took Regulus' hands to put the gloves on them, “What would Slytherin do without their Star Seeker?”
He pushed the gloves over Regulus’ delicate fingers and heavy rings. Regulus stared at him like in trance.
“Your cheeks are all red from the cold already,” James said when he looked up at his face again. He put one hand against Regulus’ cold cheek.
“Hey, guys, just one more minute!” Sirius shouted. He came over to them, pushing himself between James and Regulus.
Fleamont now stood up and positioned in the middle of the garden, getting ready for his fireworks.
“Sirius, why don’t you go over to Fleamont, see the fireworks close up,” Regulus said through clenched teeth.
“No, I need to get my midnight kiss from Prongsie,” Sirius insisted.
Regulus looked around the garden. James and Sirius have built a snowman a few days ago. Regulus reached for one of the twigs that made the snowman’s arms.
“Hey, Sirius, look, a stick,” he wiggled the stick in front of Sirius’ face, then threw it away, “Go fetch.”
James snorted, “Yeah, go fetch, be a good boy, Padfoot.”
“I hate both of you,” Sirius declared, “I will not get your stupid stick, Reggie. I’m not a dog.”
“Oh, come on, go fetch the stick. Be a good brother. Go fetch it, go.”
Sirius glared down at his brother, but his face twitched slightly, he kept looking in the direction Regulus had thrown the stick. James was cackling beside him.
“I will go get the stick but not because of you – for completely unrelated reasons!” Sirius chased after the stick.
James laughed wholeheartedly at his friend.
Reggie took Sirius’ place next to James.
“Children, it’s time,” Euphemia announced, “Ten, nine,”
The rest of them chimed in, “Eight, Seven, Six, Five,”
Sirius came back to them, holding the stick out to Regulus proudly.
“Four, Three, Two.”
Sirius put his hands on James’s shoulders.
“One – Happy New Year!”
Regulus quickly pushed his brother away from James, while the Potters were still shouting.
“Reggie, what the fuck?”
Reggie glared at Sirius for half a second, then he put his gloved hand at the back of James’ neck and pulled him down to him. He kissed him.
James was a bit startled, then he melted into the kiss. He wrapped his arms around Regulus' waist and pulled him closer to him, until their bodies were pressed together.
Red and Green and Blue sparks were going off above their heads, they paid no mind to the colours or the noise.
Out of nowhere, something hard and cold hit James’ cheek and made them jump apart. Sirius had thrown a snowball at them.
“What the fuck, Sirius?”
“You are asking me that? The fuck are you doing with my brother?”
“I’m not-“
“For Fuck’s Sake,” Regulus yelled, “Sirius, stop ruining shit for me. Go over there and be quiet for once in your life – I’m trying to have a moment here!”
Sirius looked quite taken aback by his brother’s sudden outburst – Regulus, in general, didn’t yell.
James looked at the younger Black with raised eyebrows, then he looked at Sirius, then he started laughing again. He pulled Regulus back to him and kissed him again.
“What is happening?” Sirius exclaimed, then ran over to the Potters, “Effy, Monty, do something – James and Reggie are making out!”
Euphemia and Fleamont, who have watched the entire scene with large grins on their faces, simply shook their heads.
“Let them be, Sirius. You’ll live even James doesn’t give you his full attention for a few minutes.”
“That’s not the point – they’re making out. They can’t do that. I’m pretty sure there’s a rule somewhere that says you can’t snog your friends’ baby brothers.”
“Oh, Sirius,” Euphemia laughed, shook her head and hugged Sirius, “I’m afraid you’ll have to get used to it.”
“Ah, Effie, don’t forget, you owe me a Galleon, now,” Monty said while still sending colourful sparks into the night sky.
“I’m not owing you anything, my dear. They kissed after midnight, which means I was right, and they wouldn’t get to it until the new year.”
“You bet on it?!” Sirius exclaimed, “You’re all traitors. I’ll deal with it myself.”
He freed himself from Euphemia and went back to Regulus and James.
“Alright, that’s enough. Knock it off, now.”
James slowly pulled back from Regulus, gazing down into his eyes.
“Right, are you done, now? What’s all this then?”
Regulus, without looking away from James said, “Sirius, if you don’t shut up and leave me alone, I will come into your room tonight and cut off your hair.”
James grinned, “We should probably get you inside, before you freeze to death out here.”
James led Regulus back inside – Sirius promptly followed them. James quickly closed the terrace door in Sirius’ face.
“You stay outside. Look at the fireworks,” he said through the glass. Then he went to the living room with Regulus and sat down in front of the fireplace. As soon as he sat down, Regulus kissed him again.
***
The next morning at breakfast, James sat down next to Regulus instead of Sirius. He could barely take his eyes off the boy. He possessed a different kind of beauty in the mornings.
Sirius kicked him under the table.
“Could you stop eye-fucking my brother in front of me? Is that possible?”
Euphemia chuckled and winked at her husband.
“Have you still not calmed down, Sirius?” James rolled his eyes.
“When should I have calmed down? I was thinking about nothing evil in the world – and suddenly my best friend is snogging my little brother. Do you care to explain yourself at all?”
James looked at Regulus again and smiled, “Well, I didn’t have a choice really, look at him. What was I supposed to do? Reject him like a madman?”
Regulus smirked and gleefully drank his tea.
“You could have at least asked me first.”
Regulus frowned at him, “What? Is he supposed to ask you for my hand in marriage or what?”
“Do I really need your permission for this?”
Sirius looked from Regulus to James, “Yes. And yes, definitely. You should have said something like ‘Hey Sirius, can I snog your little brother?’ and then I would have asked ‘What are your intentions with him’ and you would have said some mushy shit about true love and beauty, and I would have said ‘absolutely not you pervert, that is a child’ – and then I would have never had to see what I’ve seen.”
Regulus looked at him for a long moment, “You know, when people mention ‘The Black Plague’ I always think of you. And this is why.”
James snorted, which earned him a glare from Sirius.
“Reggie, just a few months ago, you complained that you didn’t want to date people.”
“Women, Sirius. Do I really need to explain to you the difference between some girl-cousin of ours and James?”
“Also,” James added, “That was last year, Sirius, that’s so long ago.”
Regulus looked at him disapprovingly, but Sirius chuckled quietly.
“James, don’t ruin it like this. Don’t make me question my taste in men.”
James grinned, leaned over, and kissed his cheek.
“Stop doing that in front of me, that’s weird,” Sirius insisted and threw a piece of bread at James’ head.
“Children, stop,” Euphemia said smiling.
James grinned at his best friend, “Do you remember what you said to Peter and me when you and Remus started dating? Let me remind you: ‘You better get used to it because I’m not gonna stop anytime soon’ – I recommend you take your own advice here.”
“That’s different. Moony and I are dating. You’re not a couple. Are you a couple? You can’t date my little brother, James. – But you have to be a couple, you’re not just gonna sit here and make out for fun. Are you just using my baby brother for sex, James? Is that it? That’s disgusting – I demand you marry him for defiling him like this!”
Regulus shook his head, “Black Plague,” he said intently and drank his tea.
James, who was slightly uncomfortable with the mention of sex in front of his parents, just nodded in agreement with Reggie.
***
+1 - The Locking Spell
In the afternoon, Reggie was reading in his room, and James knocked on the door.
“Yes?” Reggie said half-annoyed, not even looking up from his book.
“Hey, it’s me,” James said, came in and closed the door behind him, “Do you have a moment?”
“Not really, he’s about to show the painter the picture,” Regulus mumbled and turned the page.
James crawled into the bed next to him and kissed his cheek.
“I admire how you always listen to me so attentively,” Regulus said, James kissed his temple, his cheekbone and his jawline, “James…”
He kissed his neck, Regulus turned his head to the side, presenting his neck to make it easier for James. With childish delight, James went on to leave bruising kisses on his white skin.
With a defeated sigh, he turned his head and caught James’ lips with his.
Regulus sat up, pulled back from James for a moment to lean over him and place his book on the nightstand. Since he was already half across James’ lap, he decided this was the best spot for him. He straddled him, took James’ glasses off, and kissed him deeply.
James ran his hands along Regulus’ spine.
“This is actually not what I’ve came here for,” James whispered between kisses.
“That sucks, now you gotta finish what you started.”
James chuckled and pulled him closer for a moment, pushing his hand into Regulus’ hair and moving his lips against his.
After a few minutes, he finally pushed Regulus away – only enough to be able to look into his eyes. Regulus frowned at him disapprovingly.
“Don’t frown,” James whispered and kissed his forehead.
“You can see that?” Regulus teased and placed the glasses on the book on the nightstand.
James rolled his eyes, leaned back against the headboard of the bed and rand his hands down Regulus’ arms. Regulus had no intention to move down from James.
“I wanted to talk about Hogwarts. We’re going back the day after tomorrow.”
“I’m aware.”
“So… what are we gonna do?” James asked self-consciously, then in a rush muttered: “Are we going to hide this, or am I allowed to kiss you in the hallways? Do we pretend like nothing happened? What are we now, anyways? Am I your boyfriend? Are you my boyfriend? Can I call you boyfriend? Can I tell people? Do you want to tell people? Sirius will be so mad, all the time. Are you going to sit with us in the Great Hall? Can I hold your hand? I want to hold your hand – like, always. Especially in summer, though, because your hands are pretty cold most of the time. Like ice cubes.”
Regulus blinked down at him. James stared up expectantly.
“If you ask all that a little quicker maybe I will be able to answer then,” Regulus said eventually.
James smiled and took Regulus’ hands in his, “Do you want to be my boyfriend?”
Regulus smiled and tightened his grip around James’ hand, “Yes.”
James exhaled relieved.
“Well, you can’t exactly be surprised by this. I almost hexed my brother just to get you to kiss me.”
James grinned, “Isn’t it possible that you were just interested in my perfect body?”
Regulus took his hands back, and pushed James’ shirt up to run his fingers over his brown skin, tightly pulled over fine abs.
“Possible, but unlikely.”
James smirked, grabbed Regulus’ by the waist and turned them around, so Regulus was lying on the mattress, pinned underneath him.
“Do you want to hide it at school?” James whispered and kissed his cheek.
“I don’t want anyone’s nose in my business,” Regulus mumbled, “But I also want to hide in a broom closet every time I want to kiss you.”
James chuckled and kissed down Regulus’ neck. Regulus sighed contently, closed his eyes and pushed his hands into James’ unruly hair. James’ hands wandered down Regulus’ body and slipped under his shirt.
A loud knock from the door disturbed them.
“James! Are you in there,” Sirius yelled, he tried the door, but it wouldn’t open, “James, come out! What are you doing in there – you better not be shagging my brother!”
“You locked the door,” Regulus said with a smirk.
“I thought it could come in handy.”
“James Fleamont Potter and Regulus Arcturus Black! Open this door right now and Merlin help me if you aren’t properly dressed!”
Regulus reached for his wand and cast a charm towards the door – the noise was silenced in an instant. He put his wand away and looked up at James, “Well, go on with what you were doing.”
James grinned, pushed Regulus’ shirt up to expose his milky white skin and pulled it off his body. He kissed along Regulus’ prominent collar bone, down his chest and stomach, sending little tingling sensations like fireworks through his body.
***
+2 The Train and Poor Peter
As soon as Sirius lay eyes on Remus at King’s Cross, he was glued to his side. He complained loudly and in great detail about James and Regulus. Remus merely looked from James to Regulus and said, “You’ve finally got your shit together then, yeah? Took you long enough.”
“What?” Sirius exclaimed.
“Says the right one, Mr Pining-over-Sirius-for-three years,” James said, rolling his eyes and leading them to a free compartment on the train.
“Did you know about this, Moony?” Sirius asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Are you joking? A blind man could see they were horny for each other in summer already, when we were at the beach together. You just didn’t want to see it.”
In their compartment, Regulus leaned against the window and put his legs over James’ legs, then he ignored the three boys in favour of his book. Sirius automatically assumed a similar position on Remus's lap – much to Remus’ amusement.
When Peter finally arrived, he just looked from one couple to the other and exhaled a long and exhausted sigh.
“So, should I just move out of the dorm now? Before you start fighting who gets to fuck when? One year of their sex noises was bad enough, I can’t take six more months of the Black Brothers taking turns to cum while I’m trying to sleep.”
“Don’t worry, I will do everything in my power to prevent them from shagging,” Sirius said and looked over to how James was touching Regulus’ leg.
Regulus lowered his book and looked at his brother, “Don’t make me your enemy, Sirius. You will regret it.”
“Oh yeah? What are you gonna do? Hex me? Cut my hair? I’m not afraid of you.”
Regulus smirked, then turned to James, “Do you want to make out with me?”
James perked up immediately, wrapped his arms around Regulus and kissed him.
“Stop that,” Sirius demanded and reached for Remus’ book to throw it at them. Remus kept the book out of his reach and held Sirius in place, chuckling while kissing Sirius’ cheek.
“That’s disgusting. You can’t do that in front of me – Peter, hit them!”
Peter raised both his hands, “That’s how I’ve been feeling with the two of you for the past year. I’m not gonna do shit. I go look for the girls so we can gossip about your dramatic asses.”
Peter turned around and left, “By Pete. Sorry, Pete,” Remus called after him.
Regulus and James had forgotten about anyone else in the world already.