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“I can’t tell which I want to do more right now.” Peter starts, “This, or go be at the party that everyone else is at.”
“This is going to be more entertaining in the long run.” Sirius shrugs. He leans around the corner–in a dramatic fashion that is absolutely not necessary. It’s not even past curfew and most of the students are at the party in the Great Hall, where most of the teachers are as well. He checks the map and starts moving, taking the group down the final staircase to the dungeon.
It’s not long until they get to the door to the Slytherin common room and James is stepping forward, whispering the password and making the door unlock and creak open. Remus goes in first under the cloak to see if there’s anyone in the common room while the other three wait pressed against the wall and watch the map.
A couple seconds later, Remus pulls the invisible cloak off himself and sighs, “Regulus is in the common room. He’s reading but I imagine he’s aware of his surroundings when he reads.”
“He is.” Sirius says, exasperated, “It was always incredible that he could go from entirely immersed in a book to at attention for our parents.”
“That doesn’t matter right now,” Remus sighs, “What are we going to do about him?”
“You don’t think he’d just let us pass and ignore us?” Peter asks, trying to peek in. Sirius grabs his hair and pulls him back.
“Doubt it,” Sirius pouts, “He’s a tattletale like no other.”
“And I imagine he’d be upset by his brother trying to prank his house.” Remus adds, rolling his eyes at his boyfriend’s antics.
“That too.”
James hums, “Don’t worry. I’ve got it.” Then, like the dumbass that he is, he waltzes straight into the common room without the cloak, making his friends whisper-shout at him. When he’s about halfway in the common room, he opens his arms and calls out, “Reggie!”
From where he’s reclined on one of the vintage couches, Regulus sighs and looks up, putting a thumb over his line, “I figured it’d be you waiting around the door, James. Why’re you here?”
“I just figured that, with everyone distracted by the party, I’d come in and hang out with you.” James gives his boyfriend his brightest smile, throwing himself onto the couch next to the younger. “I mean, it feels like forever since we’ve been able to spend time together, what with tests and our friends and all that.”
“I suppose.” Regulus sighs once again, bookmarking his page and closing his book. James knows he’s not actually upset, however, because there’s a smile on his face as he places the book on the table by the couch. Once he’s turned back to his boyfriend, James leans into him and throws his arm around the ravenette’s shoulder, sending a glance in the direction of the door and subtly encouraging his friends to go, even if he can’t see them under the cloak.
“How have you been, love?” James asks, basking in the feeling of openly being with his boyfriend.
“I’ve been alright. Stressed, but alright.” Regulus hums, “I do appreciate you staying out of my way while I was studying.”
“Well Remus was forcing me and Sirius to study.” James pouts, though he’s not all that upset. Despite James not normally enjoying studying, it wasn’t all that bad, “He also recommended this book he liked. I’m not that far into it but it’s good so far.”
“You, reading? The world must be ending.”
James scoffs and puts his free hand to his chest, “Hey! You know why I don’t read.”
Regulus’ expression softens and he presses a kiss to James’ lips–chaste and quick but lovely nonetheless–before he leans to rest his head on the taller’s shoulder, “I do, I'm glad you’re giving it a try.”
“Talking about reading, why are you reading in the common room and not your dorm?”
“It’s more comfortable here when people aren’t around. Warmer. And the lighting is better.” He gestures to the grand fire they’re sitting near, “I’ll leave when I think the party is ending so I’m not caught in the crossfire of people coming back in.”
“Then I’ll have to leave a bit before then.” James shrugs.
“That would be best.” Regulus smirks, and James gets the delight of watching the last of his boyfriend’s walls falling down now that he’s comfortable. It’s always nice to see the way his entire body relaxes and his eyes soften, turning from their usual stormy grey to a more gentle grey–it reminds James wholly of the clouds when the rain was nice enough that he’d go out and dance with his parents in their backyard.
The couple sits in relative silence for a while, just lost in their own thoughts and each other. Regulus’ breathing evens out as he’s leaning against James’ body and, when James looks down at him with a soft smile, his eyes have slipped closed and his lips are slightly parted. He looks adorable.
Merlin, James is head over heels for this boy. This boy who is his best friend’s little brother, where said best friend doesn’t know about the relationship–hell, he likely thinks that Regulus hates James from the way that they talk during quidditch matches.
Though, thinking about it, Sirius probably suspects something more between them after pulling the stunt earlier; what was he thinking? Walking straight into the common room and throwing himself at his boyfriend so freely when none of his friends know anything about his relationship…
“I can hear your over-thinking from here.” Regulus mutters, his voice gentle and quiet and making James’ heart palpitate, “What’s wrong? Is it something to do with the fact that my brother and your friends saw you come up to me.”
James is shocked for about two seconds before he smiles, “Of course you picked up on it.”
Regulus raises a brow and smirks–and James’ heart flutters because he looks gorgeous, “Sirius doesn’t know how to whisper and I’d recognize his voice from anywhere. Why’re you worried about it?”
“Because they don’t know anything about us and I’m dating my best friend’s little brother and-” James says, his shoulders tensing. A pale hand is pressed to his arm, stopping him mid-thought.
“It’s fine, Jamie.” Regulus’ smirk falls into something more genuine and he leans his head back against his shoulder, “We’ll figure it out. And I mean, it’s as good a time as any to finally tell him about us. I don’t intend to break up with you after you graduate and I intend to spend as much time at your house or apartment–wherever you end up–as possible.”
James feels his panic melt from his chest and he leans forward to bump his nose with Regulus’--which is awkward from the angle but Reg decides to pity him halfway through the motion and sits up properly. He leans his forehead against his boyfriend’s, “Thank you. Also,” Regulus can see his grin for about two seconds before he closes his own eyes, “I was planning to move in with Remus, Sirius, and Peter but I might be swayed to move into an apartment for myself.”
“Mm,” the younger hums, “Do you really want to move in with the horniest couple you’ll ever meet?”
“You’re right. Maybe Pete and I will move in across from wherever they move.”
“That might be better. Though, I might recommend that you find a way to… get rid of Pete sometimes. I do prefer alone time with you.”
James huffs a laugh and Regulus can feel the air brush over his face, “I’ll have to talk to the guys about that.”
“And you’d now have a valid reason since you also should talk to ‘the guys’ about what they saw down here.” His tone is cocky and James nearly opens his eyes to look at his boyfriend’s face but resists because he fears opening his eyes would break their little bubble, “I also have no doubt that they’ll come back down in the cloak so we won’t know when they’re down.”
“Probably,” James groans, “I’ll talk to them.”
“Would you like me to be there when you do? Y’know for emotional support.”
“Possibly.”
Regulus hums, “Then I’ll just go up with you when you all go to your dorm. I figure they’ll want to talk about it as soon as possible.” James nods but doesn’t say anything else so Regulus questions, “How much longer do you think they’ll be.”
The older shrugs, “Dunno, I imagine they’re getting done with the boy’s dorms here soon so they’ll need to hit the girl’s.”
“And can I ask what this prank of yours is?” A sleek eyebrow raises and James feels the younger’s thumb tracing across his arm.
“Telling you would ruin the fun.” James teases, “I would just recommend you sleep in the Room of Requirement for tonight. Maybe tell Dorcas to sleep with Marlene.”
“Mm, I appreciate the warning. Is this something that is going to get you suspended?”
James raises a brow, “As long as you don’t say anything, there’s no proof. A couple friends have drunk polyjuice to look like us and are at the party right now.”
“I do, unfortunately, like you enough to not say anything. Though there might be a bit of questioning on my end from people who knew I stayed behind. Do you think that would be convincing enough to give you up?”
“I think I have something more convincing. Something to keep you on our side, y’know.” James smiles. Regulus makes a questioning noise and James leans forward to pull him into a kiss. Regulus seems plenty happy at that and moves so his hands hold James’ face.
When they pull away, Regulus grins, “Alright, I guess that will convince me.”
“I knew I could sway you.” James winks, “Plus, you wouldn’t sell me out with the promise of more on your horizons.”
“Merlin, you’re so dramatic.” The younger rolls his eyes, making James break into a grin.
Their little moment is broken by someone clearing their throat. Immediately, the two of them jump away from each other and turn to see Remus standing in the entrance to the hallway leading to the boy’s dorms with his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. He tilts his head a bit as he speaks in that disappointed father tone that James hates so much, “Y’know, at first, we just assumed that your dumbass decided to walk up to Regulus because you thought you could ‘charm him into ignoring us, but I see that’s not what was happening.”
James huffs an uncomfortable laugh and rubs the back of his neck, “Yeah… you see, it’s definitely a bit more than me thinking I can charm him.”
“Technically,” Regulus hums, leaning into his boyfriend, “I charmed you.”
“Not helping right now, love.” James sighs, not breaking eye contact with Remus, “I know it’s bad that I haven’t told you guys but…”
“And just what, pray tell, is it that you haven’t told us?”
James sighs, “You know…”
“Oh, after that display, I’m fully aware. I just want you to admit it.”
Once again, he sighs, “Reg and I are dating. We’ve been dating since Summer holiday.”
“Technically,” Regulus interrupts again, “We got together just before then. That’s why I left home.”
“Once again, not helping my case.”
“No, it’s definitely not.” Remus hums, “Considering that just makes your relationship longer, and it takes away from the fact that Sirius thinks you went to the Potter’s for him.”
“I did,” Regulus shrugs, “But James was another contributing factor. When you're in as deep shit as I was when I started dating him, it does make you want to leave the house. And, I mean, you should know that when your boyfriend kisses you and begs with his cute little puppy eyes, that you can’t say no.”
Remus sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, “We’re not doing the cute, couple shit, Regulus. You two have been dating and neither of you have cared to tell any of us, let alone Sirius?”
“No, for several reasons.” Regulus snarks, “First of all, Sirius is unrighteously protective of me, which means that the whole relationship would probably end with my boyfriend’s balls dangling from the Astronomy Tower and I’d rather he keep those. Second, I’m a Slytherin dating a Gryffindor. Even with me no longer living at home, if that gets out, my life is going to be a living hell and your little posse doesn't know how to keep your mouths shut for more than five seconds. Third, it’s quite frankly none of my brother’s business who I date.”
“Also,” James adds on, meek and tentative, “I haven’t really… come out… to anyone. At all. I think Lily might suspect but… I know that you guys wouldn’t really care but the flirting at school would just get worse and I don’t… I don’t think that my relationships have to be hugely public.”
“Yeah, but you could’ve come out to just us. Our group knowing that you’re into blokes doesn’t mean the entire school knows.”
“Like Reg said, we’re not… great at keeping secrets.”
“You guys aren’t, I am,” Remus stresses, gesturing to himself, “but, I will be telling Sirius if you don’t tell him yourself.” He levels them with a glare before walking over and throwing himself on the couch next to them, “When were you going to tell us? Or Sirius?”
“I’ve been…” James sighs, “I’ve been, I don’t know, making comments about it. Mentioning Reg a lot more to him, calling him pretty… small things. And he knows that I’ve been hanging out with him more, I’m just hoping that it will soften the blow.”
“Soften the blow that you’re dating your best friend’s brother behind his back.” Remus fills in for him, and James nods. He’s leaning into Regulus’ body as though the younger can protect him–from Remus’ current or Sirius’ future wrath, Remus isn’t sure–and Regulus has his hand running up and down the older’s back.
They’re sweet together, Remus decides. He’s never seen the younger Black this relaxed and James clearly finds comfort in him. Not to mention the way that Regulus is so casual about the affection and contact that James is offering him–he gets cagey when Sirius so much as tries to hug him–which James seems to delight in.
Also, Regulus tolerated James breaking into his common room under the guise of them ‘just hanging out’ while everyone was out. If it were anyone else, Regulus would’ve up and left.
Cute or not, it doesn’t excuse the fact that they’ve been hiding this relationship from one of the most important people in both of their lives. Remus sighs, “Sirius sent me down to make sure that Regulus didn’t kill you or run away to tell on us. With how I see it, there are two options for you two.” He levels the two of them with a look and James shrinks back just a bit–the whole keeping this a secret thing must’ve taken at least a bit of a toll on him if he’s this scared of his friends–so he makes sure to keep his eyes on Regulus as he speaks, “One, you two could go to the dorm and be ready to tell him with me maybe, just maybe, helping make a cushion for you guys, or you can stay down here and tell him on our way back to the Gryffindor tower.”
“Either way,” James sighs, “Sirius isn’t going to be happy.”
“Either way,” Remus corrects him, raising a brow, “You’re in deep shit and you both are the only ones to blame.”
Regulus rolls his eyes, “You’re acting like this was a decision we made specifically to spite my brother or because we thought it would be fun.” He sighs, directly meeting Remus’ gaze with his own steely one–if Remus didn’t know Regulus as much as he does, he would almost be unnerved, “We started dating before I left Grimmauld Place, had it gotten out by then I would’ve faced a lot worse consequences than Sirius did when they found out about you and Sirius. Not only that, but Sirius and I didn’t start working out our issues until summer so either of us telling him about our relationship would’ve ended up a lot worse. And, like I said, I don’t trust your group to keep your mouth shut and I’d rather not be shunned by my entire house for the two years I still have left here.”
Clearly encouraged by his boyfriend’s words, James nods, “Yeah, we weren’t trying to be mean or hide it. This isn’t for fun or anything, at first it was for protection then it just became how it was. We’ve gotten so used to sneaking around that we didn’t really think of doing anything else.”
“To your inevitable detriment.” Remus sighs. He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and reopens them to look at his friend and friend’s boyfriend, “Listen, I’m happy for you guys or whatever, you seem happy, but there’s nothing I can do to help you with Sirius other than try to keep him from not killing you, which is going to be a difficult feat. I do mean it that you have to tell him today, and if you somehow manage to get out of it, I’ll be the one telling him and he’s really not going to be happy if he learns about your relationship from me.”
“Yeah, we’ll… We’ll tell him.” James nods, standing up from the couch, pulling Regulus with him. He jerks his chin towards the door, “Let’s go up to my dorm, love. That way we can talk about how we want to tell Sirius and hopefully convince him that it’s not that bad.”
Regulus laughs lightly, “That would be preferable, you’ve already claimed that I don’t have a dorm tonight and I’d like to be able to sleep in yours.”
“Either that or the Room of Requirement.” James smiles, leading them out of the common room. The door shuts behind them and Remus sighs, closing his eyes. He’s happy for them, he really is, but he doesn’t really feel like having to break up a fight between his boyfriend, his friend, and his boyfriend’s brother. He’s sure that Sirius will come around to their relationship eventually but he’s no doubt going to be upset that it was hidden from him.
And speak of the devil. Only a minute or two later, Sirius and Peter come down under the cloak. Sirius throws it off of them after they see that there’s no one around and he walks over to Remus, pulling him up from the couch, “Where did Prongs and Reggie go?”
Remus allows his boyfriend to pull him to a stand easily, “They went up to our dorm. They need to… talk to you.”
“About their relationship?” Sirius asks, tilting his head a bit, “They are dating, right?”
“What?” Remus’ brows furrow, “You know about that? I mean, yeah. They are dating but… I thought you’d be a lot more upset about it.”
Sirius hums, beginning to walk out of the common room, making sure to watch for oncoming people and having the cloak at the ready, “I’d honestly be more upset if they weren’t dating with the way that they act around each other. You should’ve seen them during Summer break. All loving looks and sneaking away.” He shrugs, “I’ve just been waiting for them to actually tell me.”
“You knew the whole time?”
“I mean, sorta. I knew that there’s been something between them for a long time but I don’t know how long and didn’t really know what it was until today. I was honestly hoping that they weren’t just messing around with each other.”
“And if they were?”
“I would be pissed.” Sirius says, nonchalantly like he’s talking about the weather, “I mean, they’re both clearly head over heels for each other and deserve to have someone good for them. Regulus could use all the love that James has to give him.” He hands the cloak to Pete since they’re far enough away from the dungeons to be caught and so he can sneak off and grab the people polyjuiced to look like them.
Remus hums, slipping his hand into his boyfriend’s, “So you’re not going to kill one of them?”
“Oh no, of course I am.” Sirius laughs, a glint in his eyes, “I’m going to try and scare the shit out of them, it’s my right as their brother and best friend.”
“Just don’t be too hard on them, I think I scared James quite a bit.” Remus hums, picking at the sleeve of his sweater, feeling a bit guilty.
Sirius rolls his eyes, “Fine, I’ll be nice.”
“Thank you.” Their walk to the tower is silent after that, Remus both worrying about his friend–even if he now knows that Sirius isn’t angry, he’s still worried about the act his boyfriend is going to put on–and wondering how Regulus will react. He has seemed unphased by Remus’ scrutiny and kept a calm, level head throughout the entire conversation, which was good since he could be a good anchor for James’ panic.
When they get into the dorms, Regulus is reclined on James’ bed while James himself is pacing around the room, picking at the hem of his sleeve. They both look up when the door opens–well, James more snaps his head up at a speed that makes his neck crack–and James’ eyes widen.
“James, come here.” Regulus says, keeping his gaze on his brother despite both gesturing for and addressing James. The older boy nods and walks over to his bed and goes to lean against the arm that his boyfriend has extended out.
Sirius crosses his arms and walks towards his bed, Remus following in tow. The older Black brother furrows his brows and tilts his head a bit, “So… what’s all this then? Normally I’d think you were a suicidal idiot, James” Said boy flinches at that, Sirius doesn’t use his real name unless he’s upset or it’s serious, “for just going in and talking to my brother earlier. But your body language and… position” Sirius drags his gaze over the two of them for a second, “tells me different.”
Regulus snorts, “Your boyfriend said almost the exact same thing. Perhaps you should stop spending time together.” He meets Sirius’ gaze head on, cold and emotionless, “But I doubt you're actually mad about it. Us, I mean.”
“And how would you know that?”
“Because you haven’t…” he pulls up his hand and counts each point on his finger as he says them, “threatened us, jumped James, hexed either of us, accused me of playing with James’ emotions…” he stops and offers a sly smile, “Need I go on? I do know how you react to unpleasant news and things you don’t actually like.”
“Fine, whatever.” Sirius huffs, “Ruin my fun. I wanted to scare you guys.”
“You’re the least scary person I know, Sirius.” Regulus hums, “Especially not to me or James.” Just as he finishes, Peter walks into the dorm room and tells them that everything is finished and that he’s going to bed. Regulus hums and declares that he would also like to go to bed early, proceeding to stand up and change into James’ clothes and lay down in James’ bed.
James, the whipped boy that he is, changes quickly as well and tucks himself into Regulus and they quickly fall asleep, ignoring Sirius’ indignant shout.