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Everyone was buzzing about the Triwizard Tournament, and James is excited for it too, but for a different reason then any of his classmates. The tournament will be fun, he's sure, and he's planning to put his name in to see if he's chosen (just like everyone else of age), but any excitement he has for the tournament itself is dampened by knowing that it's at the expense of the Quidditch season.
What he's excited for are the visiting schools. Specifically one student. Sirius Black was his best friend, almost instantaneously, in his first year at Hogwarts. Tragedy struck in the form of the Black parents removing Sirius from Hogwarts and instead enrolling him in Durmstrang. Mr. and Mrs. Black didn't like that Sirius was in Gryffindor or that James was his best mate, so they pulled him from Hogwarts to separate them. At the time, thinking of it that way felt like a conspiracy, but it was the truth-- proven correct when, two years later, Sirius's little brother Regulus arrived at Hogwarts like nothing happened, and no official excuse was given. Sirius's brother was Sorted into Slytherin, and he's been in Hogwarts ever since.
They've kept in touch with letters, but nothing is the same as that first year, when James and Sirius ran around the school together, planned pranks, shared looks in class, partnered up every chance they had, and did their homework together. Being penpals is better than nothing, but it would be a lie to say he's unhappy about the Triwizard Tournament happening this year. It's seventh year, they'll be able to reconnect before graduating and maybe, just maybe, James can see if Sirius would like to stay in Britain... with him. Bulgaria is so far away, and when they're adults, they'll have jobs to attend to, leaving little time to visit friends abroad. The Tournament will run for long enough that James can try to convince him that Britain is where he should live, and he's determined to make the most of the time afforded to him.
Professor McGonagall is nervous about the impression Hogwarts is going to make on Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, snapping at all of them to straighten up and fix their clothing. James can barely hear her with how intently he's watching the doors. He'll recognise Sirius as soon as he sees him; Sirius has said (more than once) that he and Regulus look very similar. Will Sirius recognise him? It's been years, and unlike Sirius, he doesn't have a sibling he can point to for reference. Sirius will know it's him after he starts waving and grinning like an idiot though, because there's only one person at this school that will be that excited to see him.
Beauxbatons arrives first, and James tries to hide his disappointment. Given the way Peter elbows him when McGonagall nears, he didn't do a good job of it. But Durmstrang is next, it'll only be a minute until they're walking in, the wait is nearly over-
He feels like he's vibrating in place. In their last letters, talking about the Tournament and discussing the fact that Sirius was going to attend, Sirius sounded excited to see him. James hopes Sirius is looking forward to this as much as he is, because he wants to blow off all the official tournament shite so they can spend as much time together as physically possible.
Durmstrang starts to walk in, James's heart is pounding, and then he spots Sirius and his heart goes double-time. Sirius sees him, grins, and winks, and James is pretty sure his heart has a life of its own now, racing so quickly it's like it wants to escape from his body entirely-- and perhaps throw itself at Sirius's feet and beg to be held by him.
He looks...
He looks so good that James's brain stops working.
To say that he looks like his brother is a misrepresentation of his features. There's enough of a shared likeness that it's obvious they're related, but it's a bit like saying a house cat looks like a lion. He's gotten handsome in the time that they haven't seen each other. He shouldn't be surprised, should he? The last time they saw each other, they were kids. Sirius was twelve, that's nothing. But now they're both adults, and he can't help but feel that Sirius has grown into it exceedingly well. Features that used to make him cute at twelve have refined so he looks like nothing less than a living work of art.
Durmstrang colours look good on him. Deep red and warm brown line all of their uniforms. Gryffindor red made Sirius look bright and happy, and the Durmstrang red makes him look... advanced. Dangerous. Dangerous in a way that suits him and means that James's heart is in danger of unnatural palpitations for the entirety of his visit.
He can't stop staring (even though the entourage has continued down the hallway so all he's doing is staring at the back of his head) and he knows that someone is bound to notice that he's staring, but he physically can't pull his eyes away. It would be embarrassing if he was looking at anyone other than Sirius, he thinks.
James only snaps out of it when Sirius disappears from his sight altogether. He glances at Peter out of the corner of his eye to see if he has any thoughts about this-- that he wants to share and is unwilling to wait to tease him over-- and finds that his friend is pointedly not looking at him with a not-completely-hidden curl of amusement to his mouth. James hopes Peter knows that, silly as he may be acting already, he has no regrets. Also, he's sure that he'll make more a fool of himself while Sirius is here; this is the tip of the iceberg, or perhaps the first nudge of a boulder before it's pushed off a cliff.
The Welcoming Feast for the visiting students is grand, marked by the ridiculous decorations and the fact that Professor Dumbledore is going to give a speech. It's short, as most speeches by Dumbledore are, and then they're all free to talk and eat as they usually would-- but with some new friends to make conversation with.
Sirius walks right over to James sat at the Gryffindor table, taking the open spot next to him-- left intentionally, James wanted this to happen-- with a grin. "Long time, no see, mate," he says, and it's almost like he never left with how easy it is to talk to him. James worried that it would be awkward for a bit while they readjusted to each other, but it's not like that. There are no awkward pauses or stumbling over each other while talking. He slots back in like he's always been here.
The feast is good, and James doesn't want it to end. Sirius will still be here tomorrow, but when they all have to go to bed, Sirius will be off with the other Durmstrang students instead of in Gryffindor Tower with James.
Merlin, how is he going to survive this? Seeing Sirius every day will be a marked improvement on their relationship so far, but that doesn't mean he wants to say goodbye every night. Saying hello every morning will give him a certain rush, he knows, but he'd rather go without the highs and lows and just have Sirius with him the whole time.
"You're being ridiculous," Peter says, once they're in the dormitory and James has finished waxing about his woes.
"Excuse you."
Peter is unsympathetic. "You finally get to see him and spend the year with him. What's it matter if he sleeps somewhere else?"
James can't answer that. Rather, he can, but he doesn't like the way Remus and Peter have been looking at him since Sirius left for the night, and he doesn't want to make it worse by admitting the totality of what he's feeling. "He used to be in here with us, you know."
"Right, I remember," Peter responds, "but that was years ago. You're taking all the same classes; you'll be spending plenty of time with him even if he's not here. And this way, you won't stay up late every night talking to him instead of sleeping."
James wants to sacrifice sleep in exchange for talking to Sirius.
Then it hits him, and it's so obvious that he almost hits himself for not thinking of it sooner. He can sneak onto Durmstrang's boat to talk to Sirius if it's past curfew. Or he can sneak Sirius in here. It's not difficult to get someone in Gryffindor Tower, and he doubts the protections on Durmstrang's ship are too strenuous, considering it was for the voyage to Hogwarts. He'll talk to him about it tomorrow since he doesn't know what the rooming situation is for Durmstrang's students, and besides, it was a long journey and he might like a little extra sleep tonight.
Less than an hour later, something taps on the window. He's the only one awake, so he gets up to check on it.
James has a sneaking suspicion he knows what it is, but if he's wrong, then he'll be disappointed-
He grins, and Sirius returns it, hanging outside the window like he hasn't a care in the world. James opens the window for him, steps back so he can climb in, and shoots silencing spells at everyone's curtains. Without thinking too much about it, he throws himself at Sirius, wrapping his arms around him in a hug.
"Not too much, then?" Sirius asks, returning the hug.
It doesn't sound like Sirius needs a response. His tone was lighthearted, teasing, but James is going to reply honestly because he wants Sirius to know exactly how he feels about it. "Never," he promises.
Having Sirius back is wonderful in a way James can't put words to. It's like the whole world is that much brighter for him being in it; he doesn't understand why no one else is similarly invigorated by the visiting students, but maybe that's because they aren't hanging out with Sirius specifically. With how much James is monopolizing his time, it's not a surprise that he doesn't have the opportunity for anyone else.
And Sirius is gorgeous, of course he is. James knew that from the instant he saw him walk in in his Durmstrang uniform. It's just that it is perhaps affecting him more than he anticipated.
It is conceivable that he has a massive crush on Sirius.
It's also conceivable that he's attracted to his brain as well as his body, which puts him in a difficult position, because that's less of a passing fancy and more of a way to get his heart broken. He can already feel it happening. Sirius hasn't come anywhere close to rejecting him (because they haven't broached the topic of dating in any way, not in current interests or past partners), but it's like his body is preparing him for it preemptively. It's horrible. He hates feeling like this. He can't stand it for long, which means that he's going to have to talk to Sirius just to get it out of the way, and he's not looking forward to it. He knows that he's going to be rejected, but maybe it's the same as physical pain: waiting for it is often worse than dealing with it once it happens.
He means to talk to Sirius about it the next time he sees him, but the expression on Sirius's face takes precedence over asking him on a date. His brow is furrowed, a tight curve to his mouth that twists more like a grimace than the smile it's clearly trying to be.
"What's wrong?" James asks as soon as he's sat beside him.
"Nothing," he lies, but he doesn't put much effort in making it believable. He sighs a moment later. "Got a letter from my parents."
"I didn't know they wrote you." It feels like the sort of thing Sirius would've mentioned in passing, not wanting to draw attention to it, but wanting James in his life too much to not ever bring it up.
"They don't," Sirius confirms.
"What's the occasion?" he asks, knowing that he'll hate the answer.
"You. Apparently, word has reached their ears that we're spending time together, and my mum decided to be a prick about it."
James makes a face. 'Be a prick about it' could refer to any number of things, from being generally unpleasant in tone to removing Sirius from Durmstrang so that he would no longer have reason to be at Hogwarts for the Tournament. Knowing what he does of the Black matriarch, anything in that range is possible. "What're they going to do about it?"
"Nothing, yet." He makes a vague gesture to the discarded parchment. "Only warnings, for now."
"To stay away from me, or stop being so friendly?"
"Something to the effect of never laying my eyes on you," he smirks, looking directly at James as he says it.
James grins. "So you're telling them to fuck off?"
"No, I'm just going to ignore them. No need to hasten the fire. With any luck, they'll be stuck on threats by the time I graduate, and then they won't be able to do anything."
He wants to be happy about that-- and a part of him is-- but the phrasing at the end, well, it sounds like Sirius plans on getting out of his parent's reach, which would put him away from Britain. "Are you leaving?" he can't help but ask.
Sirius blinks, taken aback. "I- well, I haven't thought of all the details. I've got a few more months before the end of term."
"But you're not staying here."
"Probably not," he admits reluctantly.
It's only seeing that reluctance that has James pressing forward. Sirius has some sort of hesitation to leaving, and maybe the reason is him. "I want you to stay. The past few months have been the best I've had at Hogwarts since first year. I missed you. We- we click, you know?"
One corner of Sirius's mouth curves up. "Yeah, we do. I admit I don't want to leave at the end of this year and never see you again."
"I don't want that either. So let's... not do that."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that," James confirms. He sounds more confident than he is, but acting unsure won't help either of them. "We can do what we want."
Sirius snorts, amused, but he nods all the same.
"Speaking of things we want, I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date."
"I mean, yeah. I've never been on a date, but I do plan on going on one someday. Someday soon, hopefully, but I guess that depends on-"
"No, I meant with me. Do you want to go on a date with me?"
"Oh." Sirius blinks, then grins. "And here I thought you'd never ask."
"You could've asked me," James points out, but there's no heat to it; he's too happy that they're going on a date to be upset about anything. He was wrong about getting his heart broken; he's never been so pleased to be wrong before.
He shrugs. "I was going to give it another month before I tried."
"You had this timed out for yourself?" he asks incredulously.
"Eh."
"'Eh'? What does that mean?"
Sirius grins at him, then leans forward and presses a kiss to his cheek, lighting him up from the inside out. "Does it matter? We still got here."
James feels like he's flying but without the broomstick. It's the same exhilaration, and he loves it. "Yeah, we did."