#only fools fall for you? jegulus coded

[inkpot-winters]

regulus black is so blue neighbourhood by troye sivan coded

[pretentiouswreckingball]

✯my entry for the @croptopjames fest✯

jegulus | 1.3k | non-canon/magical au

summary:

It was revenge, they say, for a prank they played on the other houses. So if Lupin and Pettigrew got their trousers turn into shorts, and Black got his shirt turn into a crop top, then that means Potter—

“Did you hear what happened?”

“They say it was revenge for a prank on the other houses,”

“Seems like a weird way to take revenge,”

“Someone said it was a new statement for the dress code,”

“Of course those Gryffindors would come up with something like that,”

“Mila from my transfiguration class says someone charmed their clothes to transform into something else whenever they wear it. You know, trousers turn into shorts and—”

“Oh, so that’s why Lupin and Pettigrew were wearing shorts! But why was Black’s shirt cropped? Not that I mind the view but—”

“Maybe the spell worked in pairs? If Lupin and Pettigrew got shorts, and Black’s shirt was cropped, then maybe Potter got—”

But Regulus had heard enough.

He should’ve known something was off the moment he crossed Lupin and Pettigrew earlier that day wearing shorts of all things, but if he was completely honest with himself, his mind was somewhere else and didn’t even think twice about it. But now, after eavesdropping on a conversation of some sixth years, maybe he shouldn’t have been so dismissive.

Entering the Great Hall for lunch, Regulus makes a b-line for his seat at the end of the Slytherin table and starts filling his plate absentmindedly, trying to ignore the sight of his brother at the Gryffindor table, talking animatedly to Lupin and Pettigrew, still in those ridiculous clothes. His mind inevitably going to the person who’s conveniently, not among them.

The thing is, Regulus isn’t capable of thinking of a piece of clothing that would look bad on James Potter.

He has seen the guy practising on the Quidditch pitch for Salazar’s sake. He has had a front row of what James’ body looks like when he leans on his broom, quaffle in hand, gaining some speed over his fellow teammates. He has seen how his forearms look when he grips the handle hard and how his thighs squeeze the rear of the broom when he’s doing a particularly hard move so he doesn’t fall.

So no, he doesn't think there’s a piece of clothing that would look bad on him, he could pull any look, especially a crop top, and that is the problem, isn’t it?

Regulus could feel his cheeks warming at the thought. Oh no this is bad, what he’s going to do if he sees him wearing that? He’s going to make a fool of himself and he can’t afford that. No, Regulus needs to get the fuck out of there if he wants to make it with his dignity intact.

Practically stuffing his face, Regulus tries to be as quick as possible, cursing in his mind at the idiot who hexed James Potter to be stuck with that particular piece of clothing, or lack thereof, more like.

“Let it not be said that we don’t do anything nice for you, Regulus,” a voice comes from behind and Regulus freezes and then groans.

Looking up from his plate, he eyes the pair who has taken the seats in front of him, both looking smug as fuck, “You guys are unbelievable,”

Evan hums in agreement, “Aren’t we just?”

“Wasn’t a compliment,”

Barty tuts disapprovingly, stealing a piece of food from Regulus' plate and popping it in his mouth, “Why Regulus, we thought you would be thrilled by this, can’t believe you’re this ungrateful.”

“Crop tops, really?” He huffs, stabbing whatever is left of his chicken, “And don’t get me started on the shorts.”

“Those were my idea,” Evan mentions.

Regulus doesn’t get it, “Why though?”

“We couldn’t be so obvious and only hex Potter, we had to cover our traces,” Barty says, turning his head slightly to look at the Gryffindor table. “Besides, the others look ridiculous, minus your brother of course, the bastard is fit as fuck.”

“Why though?” Regulus repeats, this time even more aggravated at the notion of Barty ogling his brother.

Evan gives him a pointed look, “You know why,”

Regulus drop his gaze, sniffing lightly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,”

Barty smirks at him, “You will,”

There’s a sudden ruckus at the entrance. The voices grow loud and you could hear some whistles here and there but what actually catches Regulus’ eyes when he looks up, is the man at the doors.

Something inside him is pleased to notice he was right about James looking good in any piece of clothing, especially something that would show his really fit body. James is looking a little dishevelled, but that only makes him look even prettier. Still enthralled by the sight of James Potter wearing something this sinful, Regulus notices a little too late a voice shouting really close to him, efficiently taking him out of his rivery.

“Looking good, Potter!”

“Barty!” Regulus hisses in embarrassment as James looks in his direction. And oh, the way he smiles at Regulus as soon as their eyes connect.

Regulus is incapable of doing much else under the intensity of that look, he wants to run like he had planned before. He wants to hide, not only from James but from the way he feels when he’s near. Pathetic as it is, the only thing Regulus is capable of doing is following James as he makes his way to the Slytherin table.

Regulus blinks hard at that. Wait, Slytherin table?

Before Regulus can process that, James is already standing right in front of him.

“Rosier, Crouch,” he greets them, still not taking his eyes off Regulus.

“Potter,” Barty nods in his direction. “Nice shirt, does it come in men’s?”

James grin turns sharp, “You don’t want me to answer that, Crouch,”

“Okay, time to go, have a great one!” Evan practically drags Barty aways as the latter cackles like a madman all the way out of the Great Hall.

When his laugh fades, James is still in front of Regulus and Regulus is purposefully looking at anything but his face, so his gaze inevitably fall at the only thing at his eye-level, James’ stomach.

There are beads of sweet running down over that beautiful golden skin and all Regulus wants, is to touch it to see if it’s as soft as it looks. Wondering how it would feel under his teeth.

James clears his throat to catch Regulus' attention. Unnecessary, since he hasn’t lost it the moment he entered the Great Hall.

“So, Regulus,” he starts.

“Yes?” He can see the trail of hair disappearing under the navy trousers. He’s having a hard time not to reach out and touch it.

He’s being so brave about this whole thing, someone should notified his mind-healer.

A beat of silence and then a hand, reaching for his chin and turning his face up, callous fingers against his soft skin. The sight of James’ playful smile makes something inside him melt.

“My eyes are up here, love.”

His cheeks get warmer out of the embarrassment of being caught. Not that he was subtle in the least but still, embarrassing.

James doesn’t seem to mind in the least.

“You’re blushing,” he notices.

Regulus' face is practically red at this point.

“Shut up,” he grumbles and James chuckles.

“No, no, I like it,” he says, voice soft. “Red looks good on you,” and then he proceed to fucking caressing his cheek.

It’s settled then, Regulus is living inside a romantic novel where making a fool out of yourself in front of someone you fancy is necessary and crop tops are a thing.

“What do you want?”

“Just wanting to say hello,” James says, eyes softening. “Hello,”

“Hi,” Regulus says, like an idiot.

“Fancy a Quidditch game with me?”

Regulus frowns. “Right now?”

“Why not?”

“You’re not wearing the proper gear,”

James smirks, “I think I will manage,”

This is a bad idea, a terrible one and Regulus knows it, everyone knows it and yet— “Lead the way then,”

James lets his hand drop from his face, and it takes all of Regulus not to chase the touch, but the feeling of loss is quickly replaced with excitement when he sees James holding his hand up for Regulus to take.

Regulus does, of course he does.

Hand in hand, they make it to the Quidditch pitch.

Together.

[wisedelusionalmarshmallow]

@jegulus-microfic, June 7th - Welcome, T, Word Count - 1048

CW: mentions of child abuse, Devour (pt.2), Fool (pt.3)

He told himself that he could take it. Take the constant abuse. Take all his pain and hide it behind a fake smile. He could take it until he was 20. He had a plan. Play the role of the perfect child until he graduated, then stick around a little longer so his parents wouldn't suspect him leaving and try to find him.

He told himself he didn't need his brother's help or the bloody Potter's.

That was before Regulus was told he only had to be 16 before his parents forced him to get the dark mark.

So he threw his pride away and packed up his bedroom slowly. Only the most important things came with him, clothing, old pictures, a stuffed animal Sirius had bought him one birthday, old writings he kept in a journal, and all he had in savings (a box underneath a loose floorboard).

He felt terrified when he ran away. He'd always been the favourite child in his parents eyes. But they didn't know Sirius took the majority of his punishments. He was worried they'd know he's running, somehow they'd find him and Sirius and force him back to the madhouse that is his childhood home.

He feels sick to his stomach standing in front of the Potter's home. All he brought was a backpack, one enchanted with an undetectable extension charm, because he couldn't risk his suitcases getting in the way of his escape. He leaves 4 knocks on the door, faintly remembering the code Sirius and him used to use when they were in trouble.

He nervously wipes his shoes on the welcome mat as he waits for someone to answer the door. He should have found somewhere else to stay for the night, who was he to come annoy the Potters at 2am?

"Coming!" Someone shouts from within the house, it's muffled but Regulus can tell it's a female voice, presumably Mrs. Potter.

He feels another wave of nausea as he hears footsteps approaching the door. He shouldn't be doing this, he should go back home and crawl back into bed, at least then he'll know he's keeping one of them safe.

The door opens in front of him, bathing him in warm light emanating from inside. In front of him stands an older woman with a warm smile and soft wrinkles.

He's made a mistake, he couldn't burden this woman with his troubles. He couldn't make her worry.

"Good morning Regulus," she greets. He's a little off put by her recognition of him and the irony of it being pitch-black outside when she says good morning.

Regulus forces out a smile, his usual fake one. "Mrs Potter." He nods his head.

Almost as if sensing his hesitation, she invites him in. "Just call me Effie darling, now come inside. It's cold out here, I'll get some cocoa started for you."

Before Regulus is even given the opportunity to refuse, she heads back inside leaving no room for arguing.

Regulus follows her in, closing the door behind him.

The Potter's home is unlike any house he's ever been to. There's the warm light coming from the stove that covers the home. Little scratches and knicks in countertops and chipped paint off the cupboards. Nearly every surface has something on it, family pictures, childhood drawings, grocery lists, little knick knacks. The house looks lived in. The clutter and warm woods a stark contrast from the spotless marble he grew up with.

Mrs Potter stands in front of the stove, boiling some milk for Regulus' cocoa. "Have a seat. This will be ready in no time."

Regulus slowly makes his way over to the dining table, taking a seat on a chair so worn it's actually comfortable on his back. He takes in the rest of the house, multi-coloured quilts covering couches and chairs in the living room, more photos and trophies lining the walls.

Mrs. Potter places a bright green mug in front of him, steam from the cocoa hitting his face, he breathes in the scent. His parents would rarely allow them any sweets let alone a sugar-filled drink.

"I have troubles falling asleep," Effie starts to explain to him, sitting across from him, her own bright purple mug in her hands. "But I've always found a warm drink is just the perfect thing to knock me out."

Regulus nods, taking a few sips of his drink.

"The boys barely have any issues though. They're sleeping right now if you were wondering. I'll show you your room in a moment."

Regulus raises his eyebrows. "My room?"

Effie lets out a soft laugh. "Yes dear, Sirius made sure that we had one prepared for when you would find us." Regulus swallows the lump in his throat. Of course Sirius thought he couldn't take it.

Regulus continues drinking his cocoa, the two of them sitting in silence before hearing someone making their way downstairs.

Regulus looks up from where he's sitting and spots James coming down the stairs, wearing nothing put a pair of pajama pants. Regulus can feel his throat go dry. He chalks it up to be from the embarrassment and slight fear, like he's been feeling since he’s arrived.

James spots Regulus and Regulus tenses up, he still felt like he was intruding. James walks over to where the two of them are sitting, and he leaves a kiss on the top of his mom's head. "Can't sleep," he mumbles into his mom's shoulder.

She passes over her mug, "Here, this'll help."

Regulus can't help but feel like he's watching something he shouldn't be. He looks to the side, burying his face in his mug to stay out of it. At least, he tries to stay out of it before James approaches him and leaves a kiss on his forehead in the same way that he just did to his mom.

Regulus is dumbstruck and resists punching him in the throat, wondering what he has to say for himself. "Night pads." Is all Regulus gets in context.

Great, he's been mistaken for his brother.

Effie only speaks up when James has gone back upstairs. "I guess he forgot his glasses," she smiles.

Regulus takes another sip of his cocoa to hide the blush that spread on his cheeks.

[remywrites5]

can you do some jegulus?

           James was sitting on his bed playing FIFA when his roommate, Regulus, came in and slammed the door shut. Reg was clearly upset so James quickly paused the game and watched as Reg went over to his bed and flopped down onto it. He put his face into his pillow and let out a scream.

           James walked over and poked Reg in the back. “Problem?”

           Reg turned his face to the side and looked up at him. “I just saw Barty at the campus coffeeshop flirting with one of the baristas.”

           “Ah,” James said, nodding in understanding. Reg and Barty had been talking for the last few months after hooking up at a campus party. James didn’t really see the appeal but he had kept his mouth shut because he wanted Regulus to be happy. Barty always seemed to come off as a prick and James was pretty sure Reg wasn’t the only person he was talking to.

           In truth, James had a complicated relationship with Reg himself. Reg’s twin brother, Sirius, was James’ best friend and they had roomed together for the first year of University. But then Sirius met Remus and fell in love, blah blah blah, and now they were rooming together. Having been out a roommate, James had agreed to room with Reg. The only problem was James had been crushing on Reg for over a year now, so rooming wasn’t exactly the best idea, but James Potter liked to be accommodating. Also he didn’t have a good enough reason to tell Reg no.

           Since then it had been a bit torturous watching Regulus talk to a bunch of guys who were, in James’ honest opinion, a bunch of wankers. They might have been perfectly nice guys, but James had no choice except to loathe them entirely.

           That’s why James said the thing – the completely idiotic thing  - that he would immediately regret. “You want to make him jealous?”

           Regulus sat up and looked at James in confusion. “How?”

           “He follows you on Snapchat, right?” James said with a grin. “We could take a couple of pictures and post them to your story. When he sees them I bet he’ll be hella jealous and come crawling back.”

           “You’d do that for me?” Regulus asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow at James.

           “I mean nothing too risqué,” James clarified quickly. He didn’t think his heart would be able to handle that. “Just, you know, pictures that could be interpreted as us getting pretty cozy with each other.”

           “That would be amazing!” Regulus exclaimed excitedly. He hopped out of bed and went over to James’ closet.

           “What are you doing?” James asked, sitting down on his bed and watching as Regulus rifled through his stuff. Reg held a few pieces of clothing up to himself in the mirror and decided on James’ team hoodie from his football days. It was in his old high school colours, red and gold, and had Potter written on the back. Reg stripped off his own shirt and tugged the hoodie on.

           James had a good ten centimeters on Reg and was a lot more muscular and broad shouldered than his roommate. What this meant that Reg was swimming in his hoodie a little bit with it falling to his mid-thigh. James swallowed thickly as his heart relocated to his throat. Suddenly James realized just how incredibly dumb he was for thinking that he could pull this off without Reg finding out how gone James was on him.

           Reg bit his lip and played with his hair for a moment in the mirror before turning to face James. “How do I look?”

           James cleared his throat. “Really good,” he said as evenly as he could manage.

           Regulus smiled and walked over to the bed. He grabbed James and moved his limbs into the position he wanted. James let out a yelp of surprise as Reg crawled into his lap and buried his face in James’ neck. “Do you mind taking it?”

           James took Reg’s phone and opened it easily. They both knew each other’s codes for their phone for emergency purposes. James held the phone out to get a good angle, making sure his name was visible on Reg’s back, for entirely selfish reasons. “Glasses or no glasses?” he asked before he took the picture.

           “Glasses,” Reg said softly. “I think you look sexy in them.”

           “Yeah they help me see,” James responded dumbly because his mind had apparently decided to go offline without his permission.

           Regulus laughed and slid his arms around James’ waist. “Just take a couple and we’ll adjust as needed.”

           “Okay,” James said, resting his chin on the top of Reg’s head. He’d never really though he’d had a thing for a height difference but he found himself really enjoying it. Reg felt so small and soft in his arms and James felt this overwhelming want to protect him. Although he knew if Reg could hear what he was thinking then he would hit him for it.

           James snapped a couple of pictures and then handed the phone off to Reg to see. Reg sat up straight and looked through them, taking his time to examine each one. “I think I like this one best, what do you think?” Reg held up his phone and displayed the picture to James.

           “Looks great,” James said encouragingly. He let his fingers play with the hem of his hoodie that Reg was wearing, his fingers just barely brushing over Reg’s warm skin.

           “Can I kiss you?”

           James felt his entire body tense up at the question. ‘What?”

           “It would really sell it, don’t you think?” Reg asked, chewing his bottom lip as he posted the picture to his story. “Or would it sell it too much? I kind of want him to come crawling back like you said.”

           “Oh, um, I think that might be taking it too far,” James said, sliding Reg off his lap and standing up. The last thing he needed was to be snogging Reg just so he could get that prick back. Why did he want his attention in the first place?

           “It would just be one kiss,” Reg promised, looking up at James pleadingly. “Just one little kiss and nothing more.”

           “I said no, Reg!” James yelled, tugging his fingers through his hair. “I don’t want to, okay? I don’t want to do that.”

           “Then that’s all you had to say,” Regulus said icily, narrowing his eyes at James. “This was all your stupid idea to begin with.”

           “Well you got your picture,” James shot back, grabbing his wallet and keys and shoving his feet into his trainers. Suddenly their dorm room felt so small and if he stayed he was going to say something he would regret. He couldn’t handle any of this, especially not with Reg still wearing his hoodie. Why did he have to go around trying to help people all the time? “So leave it, Reg.”

           “Fine, I’m leaving it.” Reg lowered his eyes to the floor. He stood and went over to his own bed, pulling the covers up to his chin with his back to James.

           James slipped out of their dorm, locking it behind him, and starting to walk with no real destination in mind. Why the fuck did he have to be so bloody awkward around Regulus? Why couldn’t he have just kissed him like it was no big deal? It would have been easy to pretend it was just a game like spin the bottle. Now Regulus had to know that it meant something to James and it would make everything uncomfortable.

           James sat down on the front steps of their student housing and buried his face in his hands, pushing his glasses up to his forehead. After giving himself a few moments to wallow, he opened his phone and pulled up Snapchat. He immediately went to Reg’s story and saw the picture of the two of them. He kept reopening it so that he could look at it over and over. It looked so real that it made James’ heart ache in a way it hadn’t since high school when Lily Evans had rejected him over and over. Since then, he liked to think he’d been a bit smarter with his heart, but apparently not that smart.

           “You fucking dumbass,” James groaned to himself.

                                                           ***

           James figured their picture had worked based on that fact that Reg started hanging out with that prat, Barty, again. James would come home to find Reg and Barty cuddled up together watching Netflix on Reg’s bed. James had no problem ruining their evening, turning on his game or doing his homework at his desk, so they couldn’t fool around.

           Things hadn’t really improved between Reg and James since the night they’d taken that picture. James had found his hoodie hanging back in his closet and it had clearly been washed. James had no idea why the idea of that made him so extremely angry. Maybe it was the fact that Reg had been too much of a coward to give it back to James directly. Instead he had just hidden it back in James’ closet and erased any trace that he had worn it in the first place.

           James tried to move on so that things could get back to normal. He got Tinder again and went on a few dates with a very nice girl named Mary McDonald. It felt disingenuous to continue to see her though so he ended things as gently as he could. As terrible as it was to admit, being with Mary wasn’t making James feel any better about being in love with his roommate. It was unfair to her to pursue anything while he still had feelings for Reg.

           He couldn’t help thinking about that night and would have happened if he had taken Reg up on his offer to kiss. Would things have been even more awkward once Reg realized just how into it James was? Or maybe it would have been the start of something – something so precious that it made James hurt just to think about it.

                                                           ***

           “Will you please – for the love of God – stop being such a pathetic mess?” Sirius begged, tousling James’ hair playfully. “We’re on our way to a party not a funeral!”

           James did his best to smile and nudged his best friend. “I guess I’m just still distraught that you’re not in love with me.”

           Sirius snorted. “Tough luck, Prongs. I don’t go for speccy gits with no fashion sense.”

           “Remus wears reading glasses.”

           “It just hits different,” Sirius assured him, throwing his arm around James’ shoulders. “Besides, I have a feeling your type is me only worse and with less personality.”

           “Shut up,” James grumbled, feeing his face grow hot.

           “So you do have a thing for Reg!” Sirius crowed with laughter, hitting James on the chest. “I had a feeling. That picture the two of you took was a little too convincing. You looked so fucking smitten in it, I swear to God.”

           “Doesn’t matter,” James muttered, kicking a pebble by his feet. “It was just a means to an end. He’s with Barty now. What a dumb name. Barty. It sounds like a stupid children’s show character.”

           “You’re thinking of Barney,” Sirius corrected him with an amused huff. “Besides, the bloke got stuck with a name like Bartemius. I don’t think there’s many ways to salvage that.”

           “I kind of hate him,” James confessed, feeling himself relax a little bit. It was nice to be able to talk with Sirius about this finally.

           “He does seem like a dickhead,” Sirius agreed with a heavy sigh. “Reg always did know how to pick them.”

           “So you’re saying I have no shot with him?”

           Sirius shot James a look. “I don’t know, you have your arsehole qualities.”

           “Oi!”

           “It all comes from a place of love, Jamie!” Sirius insisted, giving James a big wet kiss on the cheek. They got to the street corner where they were meeting up with Remus, who was coming off a shift at work. Remus was already there waiting for them, wrapped up in a scarf against the cold, his cheeks tinged pink. “Now why would I want you when I can have that?”

           Sirius bounded over to his boyfriend and put his arms around his shoulders. Remus gave him an exasperated but fond look and indulged him in a kiss. James shook his head and walked over to join them, third wheeling it as usual. “Alright, Moony?”

           “Hey James,” Remus said, smiling kindly at him. “Excited for the party?”

           “Well alcohol couldn’t hurt, right?” James joked, shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

           Remus’ brow furrowed in concern. “He’s in love with Reg,” Sirius explained, sliding his hand down Remus’ arm and then grasping his hand. He tugged on it and began walking towards the party.

           Remus glanced over his shoulder and shot James a sympathetic look. “If you ever need to come over to ours just let us know, okay?”

           “Thanks Remus,” James said, falling in step behind them. “I’ll be fine.”

           Remus nodded encouragingly even if his face said he didn’t fully believe James. “Of course you will.”

           They were only a few blocks away from the party and James could already hear the music blasting some early 2000’s hip hop. It was the Prewett twins birthday party bash. The twins were a year older than James, Remus and Sirius, and their birthday party was always legendary. They lived in a shared house off campus with about six other guys and were always doing crazy shite. Last year they had rigged up a slide from their second story window. The party usually got broken up because of noise complaints but until then it was a blast.

           They got to the front door and were each handed a beer. It was policy for a Prewett party that you had to shotgun a beer in order to ender. James and Sirius grinned at each other and both pierced their beers before starting to chug them. They were both fairly competitive with each other and tried to beat the other. Of course Remus smoked them both easily and Sirius could only wink suggestively. “My man knows what he’s doing.”

           Remus rolled his eyes and led the way into the party, already unwrapping his scarf from the heat from all the bodies piled inside. “Oh my god they have a trampoline,” Sirius said, smacking James in the arm. Out the back porch door they could see a huge trampoline set up on the lawn and people were jumping off the balcony onto it and then back up. “We have to!”

           “Absolutely not!” Remus said, shaking his head emphatically. “I don’t fancy going to hospital tonight.”

           Sirius pouted for a moment and then turned to James. “You in, Prongs?”

           “Yeah!” James said, needing something to get his mind off of things. A huge adrenaline rush seemed like it would do the trick.

           James and Sirius raced up the stairs to the second story balcony. “Alright there, lads?” Gideon greeted them as they went through the window. “Feeling brave tonight?”

           “Definitely!” James said, bouncing on the balls of his feet excitedly.

           “Just have to go one at a time,” Gideon informed them. “Don’t want anyone getting hurt.”

           Sirius turned towards James and they did a quick rock-paper-scissors to see who would go first. James won and stepped up to the edge of the balcony. He took a deep breath and jumped, his stomach dropping as he fell through the air. Then it was like he was falling in slow motion as his eyes locked on none other than Barty Crouch Jr. snogging someone that was definitely not Reg. He hit the trampoline and went back up, his body flopping around like a ragdoll for a moment before dropping back down again.

           “What the fuck was that?” Sirius shouted from the balcony. But James was already rolling off the trampoline and heading for Barty.

           “What are you doing?” James shouted, his hands curling into fists. Barty and the bloke he was snogging pulled away from each other. Barty barely had a moment to realize what was about to happen before James’ fist connected with his smug face.

           “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Barty yelled, holding his nose.

           “How could you do this to him?” James said, ready to hit Barty again. He could hear people rushing over and then Sirius was there behind him, looking like he was unsure if he should hit Barty as well or restrain James.

           “Who?”

           “Reg!” James growled, his fist tightening. He swore he was going to hit him again. “Regulus Black, remember him?”

           Barty looked at James as if he were crazy. “Regulus and I broke up a week ago. He said he had feeling for someone else.”

           “Oh,” James said, blinking a few times. “Shit, I’m sorry mate. I didn’t know – “

           “Yeah, whatever,” Barty said, walking towards the house with his face tilted up to stop the blood dripping down his face. “Fucking mental case.”

           “What the fuck is going on?” Sirius asked but James was already pulling his phone out and dialing Reg’s number. All the air left his lungs the moment the call connected and he heard Reg’s voice on the other end.

           “James?”

           “Where are you?”

           “I’m at our dorm,” Regulus answered in confusion. “No need for me to guess where you are.”

           “Stay right there.”

           “James – what – “

           James rang off the phone before Regulus could ask him any more questions. He smacked a big kiss onto Sirius’ cheek and then took off running. He hopped the fence instead of trying to go back through the party, as it would only slow him down. He sprinted through the streets, his breath stinging from the cold, his mind singularly focused on getting to Reg as soon as possible.

           When he burst through the door of their dorm room, Reg was in bed scrolling through his phone. He sat up when James entered, his eyes wide in surprise. “James, did you run the whole way here?”

           “That’s not important,” James said, waving him off.

           “What happened to your hand?”

           “I punched Barty,” James said impatiently. “It’s not important!”

           “It’s not,” Regulus said slowly, looking extremely concerned. James knew he must look slightly manic, his hair a mess from the wind, breathing heavily and his hand bruised. “Then what is important, James?”

           “Do you have feelings for me?” James asked, his chest still heaving as he tried to get his breath back.

           “I – I don’t think that’s a very fair question,” Regulus said, ducking his head down.

           “Why not?”

           “Because you didn’t want to kiss me,” Regulus said, pulling his knees up to his chest, looking small and vulnerable. James wanted nothing more than to gather Reg into his arms. “And that would have been fine but then you ignored me for weeks. Now you rush in here demanding to know if I have feelings for you and it doesn’t feel very fair.”

           James soaked in Reg’s words for a moment. “Fuck, I’ve made a right old meal of this, haven’t I?” he said, scratching the back of his neck nervously. “Let me ask that again. Reg, I’m in love with you and I’d be very interested to know how you feel about me because I really want to kiss you.”

           Regulus’ gaze snapped up to meet James’, looking for any sign that this was a joke. When he found none his mouth dropped. “Oh,” he said softly, a small smile playing on his lips. “Yes. I love you and please kiss me.”

           James walked over with every bit of self-control he had left and sat down next to Reg. He cupped Reg’s face in his hands and watched Reg’s steel grey eyes flutter closed. James felt his own eyelids drift shut at the first press of his lips against Reg’s. It was soft and sweet and already addicting. He forced himself to pull back after a moment and something caught his eye. “You’re wearing my hoodie.”

           Regulus blushed a deep red. It was utterly adorable. “Yeah, um I wear it when you’re not here. I’m sorry, I’ll wash it and put it back. “

           “Keep it,” James said, grinning. He pressed a few more soft kisses to Reg’s lips just because he could. “It’s yours now.”

           Regulus laughed. “Are we talking about the hoodie or you?”

           “Both,” James said, tugging at Regulus until he was sitting across James’ lap, tucked in against him. Suddenly his only plans for the weekend were to kiss and cuddle Regulus as much as possible. And maybe ice his hand because it bloody hurt. “Both is good.”