Chapter Text
Late March evenings weren’t the best time to be out on the quidditch pitch, but right then, Regulus couldn’t complain.
He wasn’t flying himself, instead he was sat on the stands on the brink of shivering. The warming charm he had cast was keeping him from being too cold, but under normal circumstances he would be under his duvet in the Slytherin dorms by that point. In fact, the only thing keeping Regulus where he was sat was the sight of James on his broom.
Barty was shivering beside Regulus, evidently not having thought of a warming charm. Dorcas, on the other side of Regulus, was just as fixated on the Gryffindor quidditch practice as he was.
“They could at least do something entertaining,” Barty grumbled.
“They are!” Dorcas told him immediately, not looking away from Marlene. Regulus hummed in agreement.
“Pandora was right about this being boring,” Barty muttered.
Regulus laughed, “She just wanted to do some more work on divination.”
“It’s a bit useless, isn’t it?” Barty asked. “All you end up doing is staring at a bunch of soggy tea leaves. Even this is more entertaining than that.”
Regulus snorted.
“Ten sickles that she’s doing it to try and win more bets,” Dorcas offered.
“I’ll take that,” Barty answered.
Regulus let out a little gasp as James did an extremely skilled tackle.
“God, it’s freezing,” Barty muttered.
“There’s only ten minutes left!” Dorcas told him encouragingly.
“Unfortunately,” Regulus muttered, dragging his eyes away from James. “Do you want a warming charm?”
Barty stared at him, blinking very slowly.
“You’ve had a warming charm this whole time?” he asked quietly. Regulus stifled a grin and nodded. Barty stared at him for a moment longer before muttering, “Merlin…”
Regulus raised his hands in mock surrender and said, “This is what happens when you throw water on me.”
“That was ages ago!” Barty told him stroppily. “Like… a few weeks? And you deserved it!”
“Do you want the charm?” Regulus asked him with a singsong voice.
“Yes!” Barty pouted. Dorcas took pity on him and cast the charm, and the trio turned back to watch the last few minutes of Gryffindor practice.
When the Gryffindor team started descending towards the ground, Regulus ran down from the stands. James was waiting for him, and Regulus hurried over happily. James leaned towards him for a kiss, but Regulus dodged it.
“You’re all sweaty, love,” Regulus laughed. James rolled his eyes fondly.
“You’re my boyfriend, aren’t you supposed to be nice to me?” James teased back.
“I'm your best friend as well as your boyfriend, though,” Regulus reminded him, “so I'm allowed to tell you that you stink.” He booped James’s nose with his finger. “You can have kisses after you have a shower.”
“As you wish, my lover and best mate,” James told him with a courtly bow. Regulus stifled his giggles into his hand and waved James off.
“Just go!” He told him with a grin.
Regulus was stood alone for a few seconds, before Marlene came over to join him. He glanced around, trying to spot Dorcas, only to see she was stood with Barty.
“You’re good for him, you know,” Marlene told him after a little pause.
“What?” Regulus asked, wondering if Marlene was talking to someone else.
“James,” Marlene explained. “You make him happy,” she added after a moment, gaze fixed on Regulus.
“I should hope I make him happy,” Regulus said, raising his eyebrows. “I'm his boyfriend.”
“Please keep him happy,” Marlene said with a low voice. “He deserves it.”
“I was already planning on it.” Regulus answered with a soft smile. “We’re best friends as well as boyfriends, remember.”
“Make sure it stays that way!” Marlene ordered jokingly, pointing a finger at Regulus’s face. He laughed and pushed her hand away.
“Oh, I will,” he assured her. “By the way, when is you and Dorcas’s anniversary?”
“In just a few days!” Marlene exclaimed. Her excitement was clear to Regulus, and he smiled, grateful that one of his closest friends had such a loving girlfriend.
“Dorcas has been tight-lipped about it,” Regulus laughed. “She doesn’t want to seem like a hypocrite after calling me, Barty and Evan sappy the other day.”
“Oh, she’s the biggest sap, I promise you,” Marlene told him.
Dorcas wandered over, Barty in tow, and had apparently caught what Marlene had said.
“Me, a sap?” she asked Marlene with a teasing lilt to her voice. Marlene leant forwards to quickly kiss Dorcas.
“Definitely,” Marlene muttered once she drew away.
The pair started whispering to each other, and Regulus turned to Barty.
“I still can't believe you didn’t tell me about the warming charm,” Barty huffed at him.
“I could always cast a cooling charm, if you’d like?” Regulus offered. He really did share his brother’s affinity for mischief.
“Don’t you start!” Barty told him, drawing his wand playfully. “I can cast a perfectly good auguamenti, if you care that much about one cup of water.”
Regulus laughed and raised his hands in surrender.
Barty, Regulus and Dorcas chatted together as they waited for Marlene and James to leave the changing room.
James was the first out, so Regulus ran over to him and finally gave him a kiss. James laughed into his lips and then squeezed some of the water from his damp hair onto Regulus. He squealed and jumped away, laughing.
“You’re lucky I love you, James Potter,” Regulus told him, already feeling the cold. Well, he thought, there was an easy solution to that. He wrapped his arms around James, unsurprised by how warm he felt. James pulled Regulus into a hug, and he went into it willingly.
“I am very lucky you love me,” James agreed, smiling softly.
Regulus gave him another kiss- just a small one- and relished the feeling. Then, as stealthily as he could, he drew his wand from his pocket. Thanking Barty for the idea, he cast a weak auguamenti charm. The cold water hit James’s hand and he squeaked, swatting the wand away. Regulus just laughed. He already knew James would have his revenge later.
A prank war was never done.