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James Potter never knew what to do with himself in the offseason of baseball. Sure, he worked out, caught bullpens, and ran a few miles a day, but nothing amounted to the rush he got when he was on the field.
So, when his agent called him and offered him a spot on Dancing with the Stars, he immediately accepted. It had always been a guilty pleasure show of his. Watching it when he was little was how he realized he was gay.
There was one catch, James had to dance with a guy. He didn't mind it at all actually, he had been out to the media since spring training of last season. He just wasn't prepared for all the teasing in the locker room once pitchers and catchers reported back to spring training when the new season started.
Sirius Black, the ace of the pitching staff, would be especially hard on James. His little brother, Regulus, was one of the Professional dancers on the show. James had met him a few times, so he asked Lily, his agent, to see if she could pull some strings to get them to be partners on the show.
The producers said nothing is a guarantee, but James took that as a sign that Lily worked her agent magic.
The hardest part before the cast announcement was that James wasn’t allowed to tell anyone. They made him sign an NDA and everything. He was itching to tell his mother, but Effie was quite the blabbermouth. He loved her, but she could keep a secret to save her life.
She was going to be so excited. She was the one who got James hooked on the show when he was ten. She would laugh as he tried to do ballet spins and copy the moves he saw on screen. Only, he had absolutely zero coordination, rhythm, or anything else he needed for dancing.
Baseball was where he shined, much to his father's delight. His dad coached every team he could while James was growing up, and was in the stands at every Sharks home game.
James was extremely nervous because he knew Regulus was going to have his work cut out for him. James had the rhythm of a white man. Meaning he had absolutely none, much to his mother's dismay.
“I see you got your fathers rhythm, all the white man, none of the Mexican” she would always say
Even his home run celebrations were turned into memes for how bad his dancing was. It made him wonder why he got the call, but he was excited nonetheless.
He headed up the stairs of his too-empty mansion, his hoard of six weiner dogs trotting behind him, tails wagging and bones in their mouths.
—------------------------
“I'm not dancing with James Potter,” Regulus told Mary Macdonald, the head producer of the show. He hadn't known who he was dancing with until the first day of practice, which was when the cast list had come out.
Mary giggled and shook her head. “I don't remember asking for your opinion on the matter, reg. He is famous and hot, you're famous and hot. You are also the only openly gay pro dancer, and he is also an openly gay man. It makes perfect sense, and you will be civil towards him.”
Regulus rolled his eyes at this. He already knew that, and he knew there was no getting out of it. He also knew that he was hopelessly in love with James. That’s what scared him. How was he supposed to dance with James without making it obvious?
“Fine. But you better hook me up with good costumes. I will not be put in bright orange like last year. Jewel tones and put James in red a few times. He looks good in red”
Mary raised her eyebrow at him, but simply just nodded.
When Regulus got back to his dressing room, he sat down in his chair and stared blankly at himself in the mirror.
“Im so fucked if he wears tight pants”
—-----------
James ran into the studio, five minutes late due to one of his dogs, Striker, stealing his keys and running around for a good twenty minutes before tiring out and dropping them in the food bowl.
Out of breath and sweaty, he barged into the practice room with his and Regulus's name on it to find the other man in the splits.
James was confused why that made his dick twitch, but he ignored it.
“So uh, what’s the uh plan?”
“We are doing an Argentine tango to I See Red by Everybody Loves an Outlaw. Here are better clothes” Regulus responded, shoving a pile of clothes into James' arms.
James was confused, “what’s wrong with jeans”
“I’m not even going to dignify that question with a response. Go change so I can stretch you out”
“Okay I’ll go- so you can do what?” James bewildered.
Regulus rolled his eyes. “You arms and legs James. Get your brain out of the gutter Jesus”
“Oh. Right. I'm just gonna uh. Go change now. Yeah.” he said as he sped out of the room.
When James reached the bathroom, he looked at himself in the mirror to find he was redder than he knew he could be.
“Uh oh,” he said to his reflection, “he’s hotter than I remember”
————
As James sped out, Regulus’s brain was going wild.
'James was sweaty. Why was it hot? I mean he’s sweaty in games on TV. note to self do not let him know I watch his games on TV.
He’s covered in dog hair. Does he have dogs? I want to pet the dogs. Why the fuck do I want to pet his dogs? I fucking hate dogs? What the fuck?
I’m so fucked. '
James got back in leggings and a too-small t-shirt that made Regulus’s legs go numb.
“Okay. Let’s see how flexible you are so I can figure out choreography. Can you touch your toes?”
“I’m very flexible,” James said with a wink as he touched the ground with flat palms. Flexibility was something he worked hard on, it helped him as a catcher.
Regulus’s eyes went wide, “oh this season is going to be fun then. Okay, let’s see if you can lift me, and how high.”
James shrugged his shoulders and lifted Reg by his hips without warning.
“What the fuck? You did that with like no issue?”
“Regulus I’m a professional baseball player and you weigh like nothing,” James said with a laugh
“Right. Um. Okay. Let’s stretch out and listen to the song a few times without dancing, then I’ll teach you some of the choreography I have so far”
James simply replied with a two-finger salute and began stretching.
——-
James tried not to think of how hot it would be to fuck someone to the song playing. He also tried not to think about Regulus being the one he would fuck.
When they were both done stretching and had listened to the song a few times, Regulus started to teach him how to dance.
After several tries, James still couldn’t get his feet right.
“I lied. This season is going to be hard. How do you have zero coordination?”
“Dude I’ve been asking myself that since I tried to copy a dance that Tom Riddle did in season one and somehow ended up with my head between the couch cushions”
Regulus let out a hearty laugh at this, then paused “How do you know who Tom is? He left in season five. James, do you WATCH the show?”
James knew there was no sense in lying, “it’s a guilty pleasure of mine to be honest. You should have won last year and the year before. Your choreography is always better but they keep pairing you with girls who are too short for you. You need a taller partner.”
Regulus raised his eyebrows and nodded.
“Okay. So. I’m gonna have you be the lead in this dance because there’s gonna be some lifts, and I know damn well I’m not lifting you and all those big ass muscles of yours. I’m friends with Mary, the producer, so if I ask for certain props we will get them. I’m thinking of a bed that we can use. I have it all planned out, there’s a few leg kicks and I’ll have to teach you how to use your feet like a normal person but I think I can do It. Since you know the show, you know the vibe we are gonna go for and-“
“Regulus” James snapped his fingers in the other man’s face, “you’re ranting bro. I’m good with anything, and I’ll do whatever you need me to. Teach me how to dance teach”
He slapped Regulus’ ass in the most baseball-player way possible, which made him stop in his tracks, turn red, and then burst out laughing.
Regulus, who was somehow redder than James, turned to him and said “Do that again and I will rip off your dick. Now grab my waist with your left hand and my hand with your right hand. I’m going to teach you how to box step first. Like at prom”
James followed directions, but said, “I uh, never had a date to prom. We are quite literally starting from scratch here.”
Regulus sighed, “Well then, from scratch it is.”
By the end of the day, James had learned how to box step and about a quarter of the choreography.
They did their interviews at the end, and filmed a few dancing clips, then went into the main studio for food and to meet their fellow contestants.
James filled his plate with a mountain of food and went and saved a spot for Regulus at one of the tables.
Regulus also filled his plate, then went and sat next to James.
“Fuck. I forgot Evan Rosier was also here. Remind me to stay CLEAR of that asshole okay Reg? I don’t want to talk, speak or look at him.”
“Am I allowed to ask why?”
“We fucked. He was my first guy. I thought we were gonna last. We went on a few dates. Then, he completely ghosted me.”
Regulus was seeing red. Who would give up on James? Why would anyone want to not be with James?
As if he heard them talking, Evan walked over.
“Hey, Jamie. Can we talk” he said
“No,” Regulus responded for him. “Go away”
“I wasn’t really asking you, dude. Jamie, love, come on”
James looked up, grabbed his plate, and walked away. Regulus did the same and rushed to catch up with James.
“We can go into my dressing room,” Regulus said.
James let Regulus take the lead, his mind going a million miles a minute
————
“Do you want to talk about it, or do you want to change the subject”
James thought for a second before talking.
“When we do salsa can it be to salsaton by el Rubio loco?”
Regulus said yes faster than he should’ve. Anything to make James happy, he would do.
“Sure. Do you want to do it sooner in case of elimination?”
James laughed “Regulus if you think I’m not taking you to the championship you are sorely mistaken. Oh, can be whenever. Let’s plan out some other dances so we can agree.”
“Well then. Disney night we are doing Evermore by Josh Groban. As a foxtrot. And for the finale, I want to do a rumba to Skyfall by Adele. Other than that we can figure it out together later in the season.” Regulus replied
“Okay. Then I want to pick one more. A jive to Runaway Baby by Bruno mars. Let’s start making a playlist so we have our songs together.”
Regulus nodded his head and reached for his phone. He opened the contacts and handed the phone to James
“Put your number in so you can send me the playlist”
James did. And pretended like his heart wasn’t racing.
They finished eating, throwing out other song ideas.
James eventually spilled his water all over his shirt, and, as a result, was now shirtless in the dressing room.
Regulus could feel the sexual tension in the air, surrounding him.
“How are your abs so perfect” he blurted out
James winked, “Again Regulus, I am a professional baseball player.”
Then, James leaned over to whisper into Regulus's ear.
“Just wait until you see how strong my thighs are”
And then walked out of the dressing room.
Twenty minutes later Regulus was still staring at the wall, shock written all over his face. God how he wished he could find out what those thighs could do to him.
—
James got home and went straight to the kitchen to stress cook.
An hour into cooking, he had enough of silence.
“SEE HOW STRONG MY THIGHS ARE? WHO AM I? WHY WOULD I SAY THAT?” James shouted to the dogs who just cocked their heads before playing again
“And now I’m talking to my dogs. Cool.”
He was panicking. James didn’t understand why his heart felt fluttery and his stomach and butterflies around Regulus. He was his best friend’s little brother.
As if in the queue, James heard Sirius yell up to him
“JAMES WHAT THE FUCK”
James made a mental note to take away the key copy Sirius had.
“GET YOUR ASS OUT OF THE KITCHEN AND COME DOWN HERE”
"YOU GET YOUR ASS IN THE KITCHEN I AM MAKING FOOD" James yelled back
“Jesus Christ prongs. Put a damn shirt on. You look like sex on a stick it’s disgusting”
James had gray sweatpants on with no shirt and a small white towel draped over his shoulders.
“Aw Paddy Cakes is missing his boyfriend isn’t he”
“Shut up. Remus and I talk every night, thank you "Sirius was betrayed by the longing look on his face. Remus, his boyfriend, was doing field research in Antarctica.
Their nicknames for each other made absolutely zero sense. They made them up one day. Pad foot and prongs. Both refuse to explain it to anybody else
“Prongsie poo, why exactly did you not tell me you were going to be dancing with Reggie,” Sirius asked
“first of all, why is regulus here, secondly, NDA. And I didn’t know I would be with Reg” James replied
Sirius laughed. “BULLSHIT Lily told me you REQUESTED HIM,” he said with a smile on his face.
“I- uh… it’s because so knew him and it made it easier and I knew I would be dancing with a guy and straight guys suck and-“
“Shut up James. Sirius fuck off. Why am I here again?” Regulus chimed in
Sirius turned to his brother, “Because I need to tell you both three rules to live by in this competition.”
James sighed, “Oh here we fucking go”
“NUMBER ONE” Sirius started in the most old-english-king's squire-voice he could muster.
“No ass grabbing”
Regulus laughed at this, shaking his head. “We would get points taken you dome-headed dimwit”
“NUMBER TWO, no dick rubbing. I will not become an uncle”
“We both have dicks but okay pads” James chimed in”
Sirius continued to ignore the other two “AND NUMBER THREE, the most important rule, the golden rule, DO NOT fall in love with each other”
'too late' Regulus thought, contradicting the denials and promises they said aloud. It was easier to love from a distance than jump over the hurdle of confession. It was easier than loving from afar than loving too hard for nothing in return. It was easier loving from afar than admitting he felt love at all. Regulus needed to love from afar because his heart could not handle loving alone.
The looks from far away, sneakily timed to just the right moment, when James was looking away. Slow breaths to slow down heartbeats. The need to touch anywhere, everywhere with feeble excuses. Dreams, lovely dreams that left him waking up longing for a reality where happiness and love don't only happen through closed eyes and sleepy fantasies.