Chapter Text
After hours of playing, Slytherin had lost against Gryffindor, since Sirius had thrown a Bludger just as his brother was about to catch the snitch, which gave Alice enough time to reduce the disadvantage she had against the youngest Black and catch the golden sphere.
Victory was celebrated in the Gryffindor locker room, they were screaming and laughing, and they had a red tide of clothes scattered on the floor. Euphoria ran through each of the players, especially their captain, James Potter.
Regulus Black entered the rival team's locker room, ready to hit his brother for almost knocking him off his broom at the exact moment he was going to catch the snitch. He looked for his long dark hair among the bodies that were moving from one side to the other and it didn't take him long to recognize him, he was next to Potter and McKinnon, so he approached them.
At that moment James took off his Quidditch robe, and then the sweater he was wearing underneath, to put on his uniform shirt again. And Regulus stopped his pace, the oxygen had stopped entering his lungs and he thought he was going to die, his eyes were anchored to the chaser’s chest, his skin seemed soft and smooth, slightly pearly from the sweat of having played the game minutes ago, his muscles were marked, although not too much, as a result of the sport he himself practiced.
He watched James moving, fastening the first buttons of his shirt, and Regulus's legs trembled and he lost his balance, his body was not responding to his commands, and suddenly his head felt heavy, as the Gryffindor locker room began to spin around. He would have hit the ground when he lost consciousness if it hadn’t been for Frank Longbottom’s quick reflexes, who caught him before he fell.
It was then that the captain and his friends realized the intruder who had sneaked into the locker room. Recognizing his brother, Sirius ran towards him, slapping Frank away, and placing the Slytherin's body firmly on the ground, resting Regulus head on his legs.
— What the hell happened? – Sirius asked, looking at his friends, but none of them could tell him, they didn't have an answer.
James and Marlene approached, and Alice left the locker room to go find a teacher. Sirius took off his brother's tie, and gave it for someone to hold it. He didn't know who did it, but he was grateful, and then he was able to look for the boy's pulse.
Professor McGonagall entered the locker room followed by Alice and Madame Pomfrey, but they were not needed for long, as young Black regained consciousness, stating that he was fine. It was difficult for him to convince his brother that there would be no fatal consequences, but once they had assured him that everything was in order, the Gryffindor calmed down, and Regulus was able to return to his common room, forgetting the issue that had brought him to that place, just wanting to disappear.
—————
—Did you really faint ‘cause you saw Potter's abs? – Evan tried to hold back his laughter as much as he could.
Pandora looked at her brother reproachfully as she caressed her best friend's arms.
— I'm not gonna leave this room ever again. – Regulus's voice was muffled by the pillow over his head, and Barty's laughter was heard throughout the room, causing Evan to no longer be able to hold his own.
— You two are so immature. – Dorcas got up from the rug she was sitting on and removed the pillow from Regulus's face. — Reg, it's no big deal, Potter is hot, so what? As long as no one knows why you fainted your reputation is safe.
With no choice but to continue living with his misfortune, Regulus sat on his bed, and then he realized that something was missing.
He looked around in confusion, and his friends looked at him.
— What are you looking for? – Evan leaned on Barty's legs, while looking at his friend.
—Where is my tie?
Now it was the girls' turn to laugh at Black's question. Pandora hugged him and rested her head on his shoulder. — I hope you never change, Reggie.
—————
At the other side of the castle, in the Gryffindor tower, Sirius was considering jumping from the top of the Astronomy Tower while he was listening to his best friend talk about his little brother.
— Moony, my love, if you really love me, kill me. – He looked at the werewolf. - I can not stand it anymore.
Remus laughed as he looked at him between mockery and tenderness, since the moment Sirius accepted that James had a small (huge) crush on Regulus there was no way to shut him up.
— I should go give him his tie back, so I could check if he's okay. – He looked at his friends for approval.
— Sure, Prongs. – Peter was holding back his laughter.
No one was going to keep James, if he wanted to make a fool of himself, so who were his friends to stop him?
Potter left the room with a false confidence, and headed towards the dungeons.
When he arrived at the place the looks he got went from friendly to strange, no one knew why James Potter was approaching the entrance to their common room.
— Excuse me, could you tell Regulus Black to come out? I need to talk to him. – He intercepted a student, apparently first year, or second year at most, who was leaving the common room.
— Regulus Black? – the boy seemed confused. —Okay, yes, I’ll tell him. – And he came back in.
James's nerves were as great as Regulus's confusion when the student passed him the message. Between mocking and mischievous looks of his friends, he got up from the couch he was sitting in and left his common room, seeing the boy with glasses a few meters away.
—Potter. – James looked at him and Regulus could swear that the boy had lit up as bright as the sun when he smiled at him.
—Regulus, hello, I came to bring you this. – A green and silver tie was rolled up in the Gryffindor's hand, his tie. —And to ask how are you doing.
Sirius probably asked him to do it, Regulus thought, although a small part of him jumped with excitement at the thought that James had come to worry about him.
— I'm fine thanks. I didn't had much breakfast. – The Slytherin instantly regretted that response, seeing the worried expression that the boy in front of him had. —Thank you for bringing me my tie.
— You had a good breakfast, I saw you in the Great Hall. – James's look reflected skepticism, not knowing that he said too much. —And you fainted in the Gryffindor locker room.
Regulus's face reflected surprise and confusion, but James couldn't read it. —Did you watch me eat?
James's cheeks were slightly red.
— Well, that sounds pretty stalking , I didn't watch you eat, I just looked around sometimes, but not because I was looking at you. – James's nerves were noticeable, he had indeed been looking at him. — I just wanted to say that I did see you eating, but not because I was meaning to watch you while you were eating.
Holding in his laughter, Regulus only listened to James' ramblings, thinking he was falling a little more in love with Gryffindor’s captain.
—Don't worry, I understood what you meant.
Potter sighed in relief and smiled again, handing him the tie, which Regulus did take this time.
— I just wanted to make sure you were okay.
— I am. Thanks, Potter. – Regulus turned to re-enter his common room. — You can tell Sirius that I'm fine, so he doesn’t worry.
James looked at him, confused. —Sirius didn't send me to ask you.
Now the confused one was Regulus, who turned again to look at the boy. - He didn’t?
— I was worried and I wanted to come ask you. – Regulus's heart skipped a beat while James's heart beat faster.
— Why?
A thousand reasons passed through James' mind to answer that question, a thousand, but he couldn't tell them, he didn't know how, when he tried to talk about his feelings he got nervous and could never say anything that made sense. He felt ridiculous, and James hated feeling ridiculous.
—I'm gonna kiss you, Regulus. – He approached the boy and caressed his cheek with one hand, while the other rested on his waist.
He could feel Black's body trembling. Regulus's eyes widened so much that they could have fallen out, he didn't think he had heard correctly, he couldn't have heard correctly. — What?
— I'm going to kiss you, ‘cause I want to kiss you. —There was only conviction in James' eyes. —If it's not what you want, push me away.
The distance between them was minimal, Regulus could feel James's warm breath on his lips, as he held his face and caressed his cheek with his thumb, keeping his waist firmly held.
And then it happened.
James Potter was kissing him, and he felt like he could touch the stars with his bare hands.
He didn’t hesitate for a second to kiss him back and put his hands on the chaser's shoulders, closing the already non-existent distance between them. It was the best kiss James had ever received in his life and the feeling of Regulus' lips on his was incomparable to anything he had ever felt before. He was born to kiss Regulus’ lips.
They broke apart for air, but their foreheads stayed together, just for a moment, as Regulus literally ran back to his common room, leaving a very, very confused James Potter in the hallway.