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When James arrived in the afterlife, Regulus Black greeted him with a soft grin and sparkle in his eyes. He seemed to be many years younger than the last time James saw him. Perhaps it was because he was no longer alive, or perhaps it was because there was no one to impress, no one to despise, and no one to run away from. Regulus seemed to be more free in the afterlife than he had ever been in life, and James yearned to feel his flesh under his hands once again.
So, he did. He strode toward the man who had once held his heart in his wounded hands and all but tackled him in an embrace, which led Regulus to laugh until he was out of breath, and just like that, James was back home. When James once again had his lover in his arms, the world around them seemed to evaporate save for the two of them.
“I’ve missed you Reg,” James said into Regulus’s soft curls, into his cheek, into his neck. “I’ve missed you so much.” Although the words were not enough to convey the entire degree of James's longing for Regulus, at the moment they were all that James had and all that James was able to offer. Therefore, he gave them, he gave them all to Regulus since everything James had, everything he had in both his life and in this afterlife belonged to Regulus.
Regulus's own arms were wrapped firmly over James's back, and there was not even an inch of space between the two of them. Even though he had his face buried in James' shoulder, he drew back just enough to offer James a teary grin and mutter, "And I you, my sun."
The two persisted in their hug, expressing a desire to make up for the years they had been apart. It's possible that to other people, two years doesn't seem like a long time, but for them, it seems like an eternity. Regulus continued to feel the same, look the same, and even smell the same, but James couldn't help but attempt to memorize every inch of him. Life had been cruel to them, had taken them away from each other all too soon but there they were, back in each other’s arms and James was so happy that he could weep.
And he did it. He grieved for the first time since learning of Regulus' death, burying his grief against Regulus' neck. As he grasped for the first time what it meant for him to be there, he shed happy and pained tears. He was no longer alive. He had passed away. He had been opening the door one minute and standing before Regulus the next. He was no longer alive. James had died. And he'd abandoned his kid to the mercy of a monster. He had abandoned Lily. He'd abandoned Sirius. He had abandoned Remus. He had abandoned all of his loved ones.
Regulus was there to grasp James and drop him to the ground when his knees gave out under him. He encircled James in his arms and drew him to his chest till James was almost completely immersed in Regulus, tears still tearing through his body.
"We'll wait for them," Regulus mumbled into his hair, his voice a gentle tune buried in James's sobbing yet heard by James. "We'll wait for them all, and one day we'll be united."
And he held James until there were no more tears for James to shed, until he was almost completely emptied, mumbling sweet words of consolation into James's skin. When James had finished, Regulus drew him to his feet and led him away, hand in hand, with a smile.