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James woke up just as early as every other day, but today he had thought that he would be woken up instead. He sat up in his bed and opened his curtains, taking his glasses from the bedside table. He blinked a few times and then looked around the room, finding all of the other’s curtains drawn and snoring coming from the beds.
That was weird. Why would they be sleeping in today? They had never done this before. On those specific days of the year, they would usually all stand up extra early.
So why was he the first one to be awake that morning?
He looked over at the clock on his bedside table.
5:30am.
That was the time he always woke up. You could almost time him waking up.
James pushed the duvet away and swung his legs out of bed, standing up and walking into the bathroom, getting ready.
When he got out of the room, his friends were still sleeping, so James opted for going to the Quidditch field, training for a bit. At least there would not be any classes, since it was Saturday. His friends were probably trying to prank him, making it seem like they forgot, so James would definitely try to look surprised when they would surprise him in a bit.
He had always liked training. It made him feel happier to get a good workout done, so he did that as often as he could.
While working out, he tried to imagine what his day would look like and what his friends had planned for him today. Maybe they were going to do a few pranks, then a party in the evening? James would obviously have to sneak off from the party to meet Regulus, his boyfriend, which only Regulus‘ friends knew about. They had started dating over a year ago and James was proud of himself for not blurting out that he had a boyfriend any time his friends started to talk to him about finding a girlfriend for him and trying to make him go on dates. He had not even told them that he liked guys as of now, because then they would ask a lot of questions as to how he found out he liked guys and if he had a crush and James did not know if he would have the strength to lie then.
Regulus‘ friends had been informed about their relationship almost immediately after they got together from Regulus, which James found adorable. James had been a little anxious to go to the Slytherin dorms for the first time, but had found that Barty, Evan, Dorcas and Pandora were actually really nice, if they wanted to, which was not always, but over time he had become somewhat friends with them as well.
After his training, James walked up to his dorm again and found that his friends had already left, so he showered quickly and then walked downstairs to eat breakfast.
When he entered the Great Hall, he saw his friends sitting at the Gryffindor table and made his way over to them. They were laughing and talking as if it was a normal day. He would have guessed that they would have stopped their little game of trying to make him believe that they had forgot what day it was now, but apparently they still wanted to make him believe they really forgot.
-
“But now we really have to go“, Sirius said after a while, looking at Remus.
“Why do you need to go, Sirius?“, James asked.
“Oh, well, Remus and I wanted to have a nice day outside of Hogwarts after the last few weeks, you know? So, we talked yesterday and today we are going to go on a trip to London! Cool, right?“, Sirius told him, looking truly happy.
James felt his brows furrow, so he quickly schooled his happy expression back onto his face. This was going a bit far for their prank.
In the last few weeks there had been a few things that had not let Remus and Sirius have time alone together. Remus had had a bad full moon and had to stay in the infirmary longer than normal and Sirius had had detention every evening because of a prank they had pulled.
“Yeah, sure.“
“And…what are you doing today, Peter?“, James asked his other friend, trying to see if he would tell him something better.
“I have so many things to do today! I want to meet up with a few other people from herbology class and help Madame Sprout with a few plants in the greenhouses!“, he said.
James just smiled slightly.
“Well, then have a good day“, he told Peter.
The owls brought him a letter from his parents which he silently read where they congratulated him and told him that his present was going to take a bit before arriving at Hogwarts, since he had wished for a new broom that was about to be released.
When they all stood up and went back to their dorm, James tried to keep himself from smiling. They will probably end their prank as soon as they will get to their dorm.
That meant he was very confused when Remus and Sirius started grabbing a bit of money and a bag and went over to the door again.
“Wait, are you really leaving now?“, James asked them.
When Sirius turned around to him again, he looked a little bit annoyed.
“What do you mean? We just told you that we had planned to do that. Do you not want us to have one day alone together to be happy?“, Sirius asked.
“No, of course I want you to be happy“, James said.
“Well, you don’t sound really happy for us that we want to take just one day for ourselves.”
“Well…”
Sirius’ expression turned angrier.
“Well what? Are you jealous? We do so much with you, James, so let us have one day alone! It is not my fault that you don’t have a girlfriend! If you would listen to any of us about going out with someone, then you could do these things as well, but since you don’t, I cannot help you.”
That hurt. Of course he was not jealous. He was happy that they now had time for themselves, but on this day of all days? James also wanted to just tell Sirius that he did not have to go to any dates, since he already got a boyfriend, but he was too scared of the reaction, so he willed the hurt expression away and looked at his friends without expressing his real feelings.
“I’m sorry. Have a good day“, he told them.
Sirius scoffed and then turned back to the door, taking Remus‘ hand and walking out of the room. Peter smiled at him a bit before also leaving.
The room felt empty as soon as the footsteps were no longer to hear. James just stood there in the middle of the dorm, staring into nothingness. After a while, he shook himself out of his shock.
“Did they really forget my birthday?“, he said to himself, tears welling up in his eyes.
He quickly tried to blink them away and then left the dorm with the map, not wanting to stay there all alone. He walked through the common room, seeing the girls sit there who smiled up at him when they saw him, but even when he smiled back at them and stopped shortly to say hi to them, no one said anything else to him than hi. They hadn’t remembered either.
James kept a smile on his face until he left the common room. His face fell immediately and the tears crept back into his eyes, blurring his vision slightly, but he just blinked faster to keep them from escaping his eyes.
He wanted to go somewhere no one would be able to see him cry, but his head felt too weird for knowing where the best spot to cry alone would be, so he just started walking and wandered through the castle.
When he had already walked through half the castle, his tears finally not threatening to spill over anymore, he was suddenly pulled into an empty classroom by his arm. James was surprised by it, but as soon as he saw who had pulled him into the classroom, he was relieved.
Regulus was now standing in front of him and looked at him with a bright smile, something that was almost exclusively reserved for him. Regulus had one arm behind his back and when he revealed it, he was holding a little box.
“Happy birthday, baby“, he told James and handed him the present.
James stared down at it, eyes wide and mouth hanging slightly open, then he looked up at Regulus again, whose smile faltered slightly and concern made it’s way onto his boyfriend’s face.
“Hey, James, what is it?“, he asked James and lifted his hand up to James‘ face, caressing his cheek with his thumb softly.
James felt his eyes water again and sniffled slightly, trying to blink the tears away again, but in Regulus‘ presence he had never been able to hide it if he was feeling down. Regulus always knew when he was feeling bad, even if he tried to make everyone else believe that he was okay, so it was no surprise to him when he could not hold his tears back and started to cry. Regulus immediately pulled him close, hugging him and pulling James‘ face into the crook of his neck because he knew James loved to hide there if he felt sad or anxious. James wrapped his arms around Regulus as well and cried into his boyfriends‘ neck.
“Shhhh, it’s okay, baby“, Regulus whispered to him and held him.
James felt all of his emotions that he had stored away before get to the surface and he let them. It was no use to try to hold back anymore.
Regulus had remembered. He had remembered his birthday. His boyfriend of over a year had remembered, but his friends of seven years had not. He felt so confused. How could they have forgotten his birthday?
James cried for a long time, but Regulus held him close and whispered sweet nothings to him.
When his crying had stopped and he was only sniffling, Regulus pulled back and brushed the last remaining tears away from James‘ face before cupping his cheek.
“What happened, sweetheart?“, he asked James, looking at him with concern.
“I-I…“, James started.
“It’s okay. Take your time. You can tell me.“
“All of my friends forgot that it is my birthday today. You are the only one who remembered.“
Regulus‘ expression turned angry immediately.
“What?!“, he asked.
“At first I thought it was a prank, but now Remus and Sirius are gone and are spending the whole day in London together and Peter is in the greenhouses for at least a few hours. The girls also didn’t say anything to me, so I think they all forgot.“
“And they really didn‘t say anything to you about your birthday?“
James shook his head.
“No. When I asked them if they were really leaving after I realized that it was not just a prank, Sirius also got a little annoyed or angry at me, I think. He told me that I sounded jealous and that I was not happy for them and then they left.“
Regulus looked at James and the anger was prominent in his features.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to make you angry and ruin your present“, James said quickly, feeling guilty, but that made Regulus drop his angry expression immediately.
“Hey, no, baby. You didn’t ruin anything, okay? I am not angry at you, I am angry at your friends for forgetting your birthday, but never at you“, he told James and looked at him with so much love that James believed him.
“Okay.“
“Do you want to come with me to my dorm? My friends are probably there, but we could spend some time there together if you want?“, Regulus tried and James nodded gratefully.
“Yes, I would like that. Thank you.“
Regulus took James‘ face in both of his hands and then kissed him sweetly. James felt himself relax and kissed him back immediately. Then they walked back to the Slytherin dorms.
James knew the way there like the back of his hand. He had been in the Slytherin dorms so many times already and had started to like it there as well. At first, when he had been walking through the common room with his invisibility cloak on, he had not liked the common room. It was much darker that the Gryffindor one, but after a few more time of being there, he had started to like the darkness of the room. Regulus‘ dorm was a different story. He had liked it there immediately. It was very homely with many books and posters and soft blankets. Regulus‘ friends had welcomed him there and they had spent many nice days there.
When they entered Regulus‘ dorm after successfully avoiding letting James be seen by anyone in the common room through the help of a disillusionment charm, he saw Barty, Evan, Dorcas and Pandora looking back at him and Regulus. They all broke out into smiles and Pandora jumped up from her spot on her brother’s bed, hugging James immediately.
“Happy birthday, James!“, she said when she pulled back and James stared at her as well.
“You remembered?“, he asked her and she looked a little confused at him before pulling out a present.
“Of course I did. We all did!“, she told him.
James looked around at the others who also pulled out presents.
“Happy birthday!“, they all said at the same time.
James felt his eyes water again and Regulus quickly took his hand, intertwining them.
“James? What happened?“, Pandora asked him.
James looked over at Regulus in hope that he would tell them and Regulus nodded, understanding him even without words.
“All of his other friends forgot his birthday and are occupied for the whole day“, he told them, his voice a little harsher than normal.
“What?!“, was Pandora’s reaction, just like it had been for Regulus.
James shrugged and moved closer to Regulus.
“Well, then let us do something together, okay?“, Evan mused and James looked over to him in a mixture of surprise and thankfulness.
“If you guys wouldn’t mind, I would like that very much“, James told them, to which the others reassured him that they would be happy to spend his birthday with him.
The next few hours were filled with games and stories and James enjoyed his birthday with them. Barty had also volunteered to get him and Regulus lunch and dinner from the kitchens, since James was not quite fond of the idea to have to go into the Great Hall at the moment and Regulus would definitely not leave him alone right now.
James had opened all of the others presents and had been so happy to see that they all knew so much about him that it were things he really liked.
Barty and Evan had bought him his favorite broom polish that was rather expensive, since they had heard him say that his old one was nearly used up two weeks ago,
Dorcas had bought him two things, Sleakeezys for one as a joke because she always commented on his unruly hair and that his father literally invented Sleekeazys, but then she also got him small hair ties. James had seen her use them when she had once braided James‘ hair, which Regulus might have been a little jealous of, when his hair had fallen into his face all the time whilst studying. James had immediately wanted to learn how to braid hair as well and Dorcas had shown him a few different techniques. Regulus had also let James braid his hair a few times before, which was a big deal, since he was almost as picky with who was allowed to touch his hair as Sirius was, but he had always had to ask Dorcas for a few small hair ties, but now he had his own.
Pandora gifted him a few crystal necklaces. He had started getting into the whole crystal thing after talking to Pandora for long enough and was now pretty invested in it all, though he had never bought crystals for himself up until now, so the present made him really happy.
Regulus‘ present was the last one he opened and at first he thought that it was just a normal notebook, but when he looked at it a few seconds longer, he recognized it.
“Really? You’re letting me read it?“, James asked him, a smile prominent on his face.
Regulus looked a little shy, but nodded, looking him in the eye.
James immediately threw his arms around him, hugging him tightly.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!“, he said and probably said it a thousand times more in the next few hours.
Many people would probably say that this present was weird, but for James it meant everything and it also meant that Regulus trusted him.
James had seen Regulus start writing in that notebook almost a year ago and had proceeded to see it with him over the next few months, but was never allowed to read what he had written down. The only thing he knew was that Regulus had been writing a story inside it and was too scared to show anyone. Of course, James had begged him to see what he had written, but Regulus had told him that, when he felt comfortable enough with the story, he would be the first person to read it. Regulus had told James that he had always had ideas for stories in his head, but had never written any of them down until then. James could not believe his luck.
-
After the sun had set, James got really tired.
“Are you tired, love?“, Regulus asked him after he had seen James yawning and James nodded.
“Okay, then you’re going to stay here tonight“, Regulus said, but then made James brush his teeth and change into pyjamas.
James fell asleep in his lover’s arms, hearing his heartbeat and feeling his chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm. He drifted off to sleep in only a few minutes.
His birthday had turned out to be really good, even if it had not been with his best friends.
-
The next morning he woke up a little later than normal, but that had happened to him multiple times since sleeping next to Regulus before. His presence was soothing and made him feel much more relaxed. That meant, since Regulus also was an early riser, Regulus was already awake when he woke up, carding a hand through his hair slowly.
“Good morning“, Regulus whispered to him, since Barty and Evan were still fast asleep.
“Morning“, James said back, smiling softly at his boyfriend.
“It’s 7 am, but I didn’t want to wake you up“, Regulus told him, which made James grumble.
“Do I really have to go already?“, he asked, pouting a little.
“Well, if you want to eat breakfast, then yes“, Regulus said.
“But you’re so warm. I don’t want to be cold again“, James tried again, but Regulus just kissed him on the tip of his nose before standing up himself and going into the bathroom.
James stayed in bed a little longer, savoring the warmth under the blankets. He went into the bathroom after Regulus, who then went to the Great Hall, so as to not make them look too suspicious, but kissing him goodbye beforehand.
James then made his own way to the Great Hall.
When he had almost reached the Great Hall, he was suddenly grabbed by the arm and turned around harshly. He was met with a fuming Sirius, Remus and Peter standing in the back, not looking like they would intervene.
“Where were you?!“, Sirius shouted, “We waited half of last night for you to come back after Peter told us that you haven’t been at lunch or dinner! We were really worried! Where the hell were you?! Did you want us to feel bad because we took one day to ourselves or what?!“
James felt tears well up in his eyes again. He hated it when people shouted, most of all when it was directed at him, but he held his tears back.
“No, of course not.“
“Why didn’t you tell anyone where you were going?! That was really selfish of you, you know?“
James felt his own lip began to tremble, a telltale sign that he was about to cry.
“I was selfish?“, he asked Sirius.
“What is that supposed to mean? Of course! Or do you still mean that Remus and I were selfish for taking one day, one, for ourselves?!“
Jame could no longer stand to see his best friend’s faces, Sirius‘ angry face and Remus and Peter’s unreadable expressions. James quickly turned away from them and ran through the doors of the Great Hall, feeling the tears spill over.
Without thinking, he immediately went over to the Slytherin table where Pandora, Dorcas and Regulus were already sitting. He saw Sirius, Peter and Remus standing in the door to the Great Hall, looking at him, from the corner of his eye, but he did not care about them rigth now.
He stooped right in front of Regulus, who looked up at him and, as soon as he saw that James was crying, his expression turned concerned. He tilted his head, asking him wordlessly if he wanted to step out of the hall with him, but James shook his head. Regulus then opened his arms slightly in invitation and James quickly sat down on his lap, burying his face into Regulus‘ shoulder, crying silently. Regulus closed his arms around him and held him close.
“It’s okay“, Regulus whispered to him.
The whole hall seemed to be silent, as if they were all looking at James. James hated that thought, so he buried his head further into Regulus‘ shoulder.
Then he felt a hand tap onto his own shoulder and he flinched at the touch. Regulus turned his head slightly, probably to look up at the person who had touched him.
“What do you want?“, Regulus asked the person, sounding rather angry.
“I just want to talk to James“, Sirius‘ voice asked.
Regulus sighed before slowly lifting James‘ head up and looking him in the eye.
“Do you want to talk to him?“, Regulus asked him softly.
“Could you come with me?“, James asked him, sniffling.
“Of course“, Regulus said and then they both stood up, following Sirius out of the Great Hall. Remus and Peter followed them.
Sirius walked into an empty classroom and Remus and Peter walked over to him, standing opposite from Regulus and James.
“What do you have to say for yourself, James? What is this? Why were you sitting on my little brother‘s lap?! Is this some kind of twisted way to get back at me for being away for one day?!“, Sirius yelled.
James felt the tears run down his face, but Sirius did not seem to be finished with his yelling.
“Why are you so selfish, James? You have to understand that not everything is about you!“, he shouted, but that was the moment Regulus had apparently heard enough.
“Shut up!“, Regulus shouted, shoulders tense and an expression on his face like he was ready to kill someone.
“Are you fucking kidding me, Sirius? Why are you so disgusting to him?! Don’t you see that he is crying? And to say he is selfish…“
“Of course he is! He didn’t even let Remus and I have a day to ourselves yesterday!“
“Yes, he did! He spent the whole day yesterday with me and my friends!“
“Well, yes, because we were gone!“
“Yes, but you are so disgusting for telling him that not everything is about him when you speak about yesterday!“
“Why? I was just telling the truth!“
“He never makes anything about himself! He always puts everyone else over his own needs, never telling anyone when he feels bad, making sure that everyone else is happy! He just wanted to be with you guys yesterday!“
“Well, why exactly yesterday? We spend every day together!“
“Because yesterday was his fucking birthday!“, Regulus shouted, which shut Sirius up immediately.
The anger from Sirius‘ face changed into confusion, then into realization and then into regret.
“Yes, it was his birthday and none of you remembered! He made sure that you all had the best birthdays possible and you just forgot his! His other friends forgot as well, so tell me where he has been selfish in all of this? He thought you were pranking him up until you wanted to really leave! My friends did not forget his birthday and we all spent the whole day with him, making sure that he ate something and that he had a good birthday, regardless of you all just leaving him alone!“
James‘ gaze wandered over to Remus and Peter, who both looked shocked.
“Oh Merlin…I am so sorry, James“, Sirius tried, but Regulus stopped him.
“No, you don’t get to just apologise to him and everything will be okay again! Not this time! I will not let him bury his feelings just so that you are feeling like you did nothing wrong, like he always does!“, Regulus shouted.
“Why are you telling me or him what to do?“
“Because I have seen him when he does just that, burying all of his emotion so deep down that it is almost impossible for anyone to reach them again and covering it all up with a smile. I have helped him before when someone hurt him. You almost never know when he has been hurt, I also didn’t know at the beginning, but now I do and no, it was mostly from other people, not from you or your friends, but this really hurt him, okay?“
“So that was why he was sitting on your lap?“
“No, that was because he is my boyfriend“, James chimed in, drawing all eyes to him.
Regulus immediately took his hand and intertwined them, now finally able to comfort James better, while Sirius looked at the two of them in utter confusion.
“You’re gay?“, he asked.
“I’m pan“, James told him.
“But…you never said anything. Is this your way of getting back at me for forgetting your birthday? You made Regulus your fake boyfriend, so that I would feel like I know nothing about my best friend?“
“No, definitely not. We have been together for over a year now and I love him, Sirius. I never told you because I was scared of your reaction.“
Sirius looked like he finally believed them.
“You hid that for over a year from me?“, he asked.
“Sirius, you are not going to be upset about this. You and Remus were together for just as long before telling James about you two. If you can’t be nice to him at the moment, please leave. I don’t want this to end even worse“, Regulus told him.
Sirius nodded slightly, put stayed put.
“Sorry.”
Then, Remus and Peter stepped forward.
“James, I am so sorry that we forgot your birthday. We were so busy with our own problems and I know that this is no excuse. We will make it up to you, okay?”, Remus tried.
“I am sorry too, James”, Peter said.
“And I am really sorry. As long as you make each other happy, I’m happy for you two”, Sirius told them.
James smiled at him slightly, wiping away his tears.
“Thank you, Sirius.”
The brothers nodded at each other silently.
After that, it was easier for James. Regulus and he could be open about them and James could spend so much more time with him. The other Marauders surprised him with a little party with just them and Regulus there a few days later and James was happy again.