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James had finished changing for his quidditch practice and was standing by his locker in the changing rooms waiting for the Ravenclaw team to finish their turn.
Sirius, Marlene and the rest of the team were outside watching their opponents for the next match. James decided to stay inside, he honestly wasn't interested in spying on the other teams, comparing himself to the others would only bring anxiety and sow unnecessary and ridiculous doubts (he had learned his lesson from the past). He preferred to focus on his team and their training.
However, the rest of his teammates seemed to be motivated by watching the competition, it encouraged them to push themselves harder and harder, and if that worked for them then he had no problem with them watching them.
Which led him to this moment when James was using his mobile phone to watch tik toks.
His fyp was mainly about sports and muggle cartoons. Social media was a good way to learn about and be updated on that whole world that James wasn't born into and most of the time wasn't a part of.
Of course, his parents had always taught him that he was no better than anyone else for having magic and that Muggles, despite not possessing it, managed to create ways and methods to make their lives easier that were even more efficient than magic.
As an only child growing up in a magical neighbourhood and with only two friends who also came from exclusively magical families, connecting with the Muggle world was not easy.
When he arrived at Hogwarts that changed, he had the opportunity to meet wonderful people who were very different from him in every way, including Muggle-born and half-bloods like Remus, Lily and Mary.
They made it their personal mission to answer the questions and satisfy the curiosity of their group of friends about the Muggle world. And they did it all with a patience that James admired.
Only perhaps except for that one time when Remus gave up after trying to explain to Sirius for an hour that TV wasn't some sort of cage in which mini Muggles were trapped and forced to put on a show like in a theatre.
Eventually, Sirius stopped looking suspiciously and squinting at the televisions whenever they visited one of his friends' houses.
James suspected it all stopped when he got too hooked on a show called RuPaul's Drag Race.
James wasn't the biggest fan of TVs but he was a big fan of mobile phones.
When he arrived at Hogwarts and saw that many of his classmates had these little metal boxes that could do many of the things his wand could do, like show him the time and set an alarm James was amazed and when he came home for winter break of his first year he begged his parents to buy him one.
He watched tik tok after tik tok until he came across one of a girl using a filter that made a new letter appear every time you touched the screen. The caption of the video said 'The first letter you get is the initial of the person you're going to marry'.
James decided he wanted to give it a try even though he knew it was silly.
He opened his locker and set up his mobile phone to record the video, using his bag as a stand.
He looked at the screen and tried to comb his hair which was in all directions but gave up too quickly, it was a hopeless case.
He started recording and tapped the screen once, the letter that came up was F, James frowned.
Wrong.
That wasn't the answer.
He tapped the screen again.
M
Again.
W
Again.
T
Again.
H
Again.
E
Again.
S
Close, James thought.
He tapped the screen one last time in defeat when it finally appeared.
R
James saw his smile on the screen and it was so big it reminded him of the pictures displayed in his house that his parents took of him at Christmas when he was a kid.
He felt ambitious and lucky so he touched the screen again.
A
Again.
B
James raised his fist in the air and began to do little hops on the spot with a sense of triumph and joy coursing through him.
It didn't matter that it was a random tik tok filter. James was sure that it was the universe telling him that Regulus was the right one.
As if to make sure of that statement James inserted one of the audios Pandora had sent him and told him that it was used to manifest.
It can't hurt, James thought.
He added a caption to the video. My dream come true. I always knew.
"James, get your ass over here, it's time" he heard Marlene yell at him.
James was startled, pulled out of the fantasies of his mind too suddenly like a bubble bursting on the floor.
Deciding to keep the video because it was a nice coincidence, he hurriedly saved it in private and left his phone in his locker before grabbing his broom and running off.
☼ ☼ ☼
Regulus was sitting on his bed reading one of the books Remus had lent him when Pandora came screaming into the room in complete euphoria followed by Dorcas who had a much bigger smile than usual plastered on her face.
Pandora climbed onto his bed and started hopping around like a hyperactive bunny.
"EVAN, BARTY COME HERE!"
The curtains on Evan's bed were pulled back and he and Barty peeked out, both disheveled and with swollen lips.
"What's wrong Pan?" said Barty as he climbed out of bed and straightened his uniform which was wrinkled and messy.
Regulus was curious as to why his best friend was so excited and had practically turned into a tornado that wouldn't let him go back to his reading until she got everything off her chest.
As Barty, Dorcas and Evan were sitting on Regulus' bed, Pandora stopped jumping and dropped to her knees in front of Regulus.
She reached into the pocket of her lacy white dress for a moment and pulled out her phone.
She held it so close to his face that he couldn't even make out what was happening on the screen.
He took the phone from her hands and moved it a reasonable distance away from his face. He could feel all his friends looking at him curiously.
When he saw it he felt a slight blush spread up his neck.
His friends liked to make fun of him a bit for his crush on James.
He hadn't told them until one night in his fifth year when he got too drunk with too much firewhiskey and spent hours detailing with poetic accuracy every feature of James's face.
The next morning he woke up with a hangover from hell that only got worse when his friends told him how he had confessed his feelings for Potter, but he knew his friends didn't mean any harm and actually beyond feeling embarrassed about being a little obsessed with his older brother's best friend Regulus didn't mind being teased.
He did too when Dorcas claimed that she and Marlene were mortal enemies, or when the always very confident Pandora blushed in the corridors when she passed a certain Gryffindor. Or when Barty and Evan would give each other longing looks when the other didn't notice, too thick to realise that their feelings were reciprocated.
Now they were simply doing their duty as friends.
His innocent little teenage crush turned to love when he ran away from home with Sirius and they both started living with the Potters.
They began to spend a lot of time together with Sirius but also alone.
Regulus had always admired him from afar, the golden boy who shone as brightly as the sun. The one who walked so confidently through the corridors of Hogwarts, and put so much passion into the things he loved, like quidditch.
And then he really got to know him. The James who was sensitive, sweet and caring. The James who cared for the people he loved with overwhelming devotion. The James who always remembered the little things about everyone and made you feel special.
Regulus remembered that time during the holidays when the Marauders dragged him with them to the cinema and then they were choosing a restaurant for lunch and when Peter suggested seafood James shook his head saying that Regulus didn't like it even before he opened his own mouth.
Regulus had mentioned it once, casually.
He also remembered that the morning after he and Sirius had arrived at James' house Regulus had decided to stay in his room and not come down for breakfast because he felt a little uncomfortable about invading his home.
An hour later James knocked on his door and when Regulus opened it he found a tray with toasts with jam, eggs and tea, his favourite breakfast and the one he had every morning at Hogwarts.
As the days passed Regulus began to feel a sort of comforting warmth around James.
After two weeks of living together James began to join him in the evenings in the library, never interrupting him, simply sitting next to him on the couch and taking a book for himself. When Effie called them for dinner he would ask him about his reading, leaving Regulus to rant on the walk to the dining room, always listening attentively and seeming genuinely interested, asking questions from time to time.
James was intelligent, kind, caring and impossibly attractive.
James was like the sunshine Regulus enjoyed from afar but when he stood in his orbit and could really feel his warmth he couldn't help but melt completely for him.
Could anyone blame him?
But he was absolutely certain that James would never love him back. That didn't stop his feelings from continuing to grow like weeds.
When he returned to Hogwarts for his fifth year, it didn't take long for his friends to notice the change in his relationship with James and how his feelings had morphed into something bigger and more dangerous.
On one occasion his friends caught him mesmerised watching one of James' tik tok dancing video on loop. They wouldn't leave him alone for a week.
Now, however, Regulus thought he had his love for him under control.
That was until James fucking Potter had to post a video using a stupid filter and getting all excited like a puppy when his initials came up.
Fucking. James. Potter.
He looked up to find all his friends looking at him expectantly.
"What? maybe they're someone else's initi-" Regulus didn't finish his sentence when he received a light but firm smack on the back of his head. "Fuck Dorcas."
"You can't be such an idiot Regulus, it's obviously about you."
"Nonono, that's impossible, it's probably a mistake or a stupid prank by him and his friends..."
"Regulus, you know he would never play with someone's emotions like this. Besides we've all seen the way he looks at you, he's so in love with you that sometimes I feel sorry for him," Evan said scolding him.
Regulus knew he was right that James would never make a joke like that, but it was still hard for him to imagine that James really loved him.
Before he could find another excuse his friends dragged him out of bed and over to his trunk.
They started pulling out his clothes and discussing what he should wear to go 'get his man' as if Regulus wasn't right there.
Honestly? Rude.
☼ ☼ ☼
James had been out of the showers for ten minutes and was on his way to the castle alone (because Sirius refused to give less than twenty-five minutes of attention to his hair every time he showered and Marlene preferred to shower in her dorm).
When he entered the castle several people were looking at him weirdly and whispered and laughed as he passed them.
James checked his reflection in one of the windows thinking that maybe Sirius had played a prank on him by putting some kind of dye in his shampoo (it wouldn't be the first time) and when he realised that wasn't the case he started to feel a little uncomfortable.
Why were people acting so weird?
When he came to the Great Hall he saw that Remus and Peter were already there eating breakfast. He sat down next to Remus and across from Peter when he heard giggles coming from some younger Gryffindor girls.
He looked at his friends "You know why everyone is acting like that?" he said pointing at the girls.
Peter looked at him with a raised eyebrow "Maybe because of your tik tok from earlier?"
"What tik tok?"
Remus slapped one of his hands against his forehead "James please tell me you didn't accidentally post that?"
James started to shake his head "I don't understand what you're talking about."
James actually did figure out what they were talking about but he preferred to keep shaking his head as if it would somehow magically prevent it from being what he was thinking.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket and entered the app begging Merlin and Morgana and any deity who would listen to him to please not.
At the same time Peter said in a hesitant voice "That tik tok on it you use the letter filter?" James saw on his profile the video he thought he had posted privately. And it had a thousand plays.
James slammed his forehead against the table.
This was the end of him.
Sirius would hate him.
Regulus would hate him.
He had spent two years carefully hiding his crush on his best friend's little brother only to reveal it publicly in an oversight to the whole world.
Now Regulus, who had such a hard time trusting people, would find out that James was in love with him and he would feel disgusted and betrayed and would never speak to him again.
And James would be lost because he always knew that Regulus could never return his feelings and he had resigned himself to the idea. He was happy to accept whatever Regulus was willing to give him. Even if it was just friendship.
Now Regulus would cut him out of his life and James's heart would turn to ashes.
He got up suddenly from his seat and started walking towards his common room, ignoring the calls of his friends.
He had to make a plan.
1.Take his invisibility cloak and the map and hide.
2.Figure out a way that Sirius wouldn't kill him and Regulus wouldn't hate him.
Okay, maybe it needed a couple of fixes but he could work on his plan once he had more time.
He was so wrapped up in his own mind that he didn't notice someone waiting by the Fat Lady's portrait.
As soon as he noticed the black curls and those pale hands full of rings James turned around but to his misfortune he had already been spotted.
"Potter," Regulus called out loudly in his commanding voice that made James' knees tremble and a desire to want to follow whatever order came out of that pretty mouth came to the surface.
James stood completely still in place, perhaps he could pretend to be a statue.
"Come here."
James turned and closed the gap between them leaving a bit of space.
"Reg, I'd really love to talk to you but I'm really busy at the mome-"
James, who had been trying to walk around him and get to the entrance of his common room, was interrupted by Regulus who began to move closer towards him at the same time as James backed away in intimidation until his back hit the wall.
Regulus placed one of his hands against the wall next to James's head, trapping him in that place.
James had no choice but to finally meet his gaze.
Those stormy grey eyes that he would willingly sink into were looking at him too intensely, as if they were trying to see into James's soul.
His scent wafted over him. The expensive cologne, the mint and that slight salty note as if he had been standing near the sea recently made James feel high and he had to physically restrain himself from moving closer and taking a deep breath, wanting to fill all his senses with Regulus.
"Was it real?" he asked him in a whisper, as if he was a snake trying to hypnotise him into falling into its trap.
And James was a weak man.
He looked him bravely in the eye and nodded.
"When?"
James knew what he was referring to.
'Since when are you in love with me?
"My fifth year."
Regulus was silent for a few seconds and then a surprised expression took over his features but he quickly dropped that mask of neutrality again. Then he nodded and moved a little closer until their faces were only inches apart.
"Good to know, but that wasn't my question" he brought his mouth close to his ear and said in a tone barely louder than a whisper "I mean when is the wedding?" his tone was seductive and silky smooth causing his whole body to shudder.
James pulled away to see his face and all he saw was a soft, sweet smile on his face.
"You-you too-but-when-?" James began to stutter in confusion until Regulus rolled his eyes affectionately and took his chin pulling them closer until their lips met in a soft kiss that soon turned into an intense, starved one.
As if they were desperate for air and could only find it in each other's mouths.
When they separated Regulus was clinging to his shoulders and James was cradling his face, holding them close.
"So would you like to go out with me next weekend? Hogsmeade?" said James playfully and shamelessly.
Regulus let out a chuckle and pulled them closer until their foreheads were touching, and yes. James could already feel himself becoming addicted to this kind of closeness with Regulus and honestly he was completely fine with that.
"Yeah Jamie, I'd love to go out with you."