Chapter Text
That night, Regulus was lying in his bed and refusing to let himself fall asleep. He was planning to stay up all night, eyes fixed on a clock until he inevitably teleported into James’ bed. Screw Quidditch practice, it wasn’t like his captain could bench him for the game on Saturday, their team couldn’t win without Regulus as their seeker.
It was exactly midnight when he blinked and appeared in James’ bed, laying on his side as he had been in his own bed. He immediately sat up and reached for the wand that he had stuffed in his sock so he had access to it when he teleported here. James had begun to stir and Regulus didn’t need to be confronted by James in the middle of the night so he pointed his wand and uttered a sleeping charm, sending the Gryffindor back to unconsciousness.
He then scrambled out of the bed and through the curtains, praying that none of James’ dorm mates were still awake or out of their beds. Once he was sure it was clear, he walked briskly towards the door and ran down the stairs once the door was clicked shut behind him.
He avoided all Gryffindors on Tuesday during the day, flanked on either side by Pandora and Evan. Barty talked ahead with a scowl on his mouth and his wand in his head, making sure the coast was clear with the assurance that he would cast hexes first and ask questions later. Dorcas trailed behind them when her classes were in the same place, making sure no one snuck up on them from behind. Regulus had an immense fear that James had told his friends and the whole Gryffindor house, and had thus prepared himself to be hexed left and right and spat at for his actions.
Dorcas had admitted that James had attempted to approach her after one of their classes together, chasing her down the hallway but she had shut him down quickly with a wave of her wand, uttering a jelly-legs jinx that made him collapse.
It was late in the afternoon on Tuesday and he had hidden himself in an alcove with a book, tucked into the corner out of sight to anyone passing by when he heard two familiar voices in the corridor. He held his breath as Pete and Remus conversed with each other, waiting to hear whether two other voices joined them. However, it seemed that it was only the two of them. They seemed to have stopped just outside the alcove where Regulus was hidden and he could now make out their conversation.
“I agree, James has been acting quite strange,” Regulus picked up on Peter telling Remus.
“Did you see him try talking to the Slytherin girl that Marlene likes?” Remus asked.
“That was strange. What do you think that was about?”
“Hmm, not quite sure. I think James had a question to ask her.”
“What about?” Peter asked.
“I think he was looking for someone.”
“A Slytherin?”
“Possibly, that is her house after all.”
“Whatever for?”
“I think something happened on Monday, he’s been out of sorts since then,” Remus told his friend.
“He get hexed by a Slytherin or something?”
“James seemed guilty. I think he wanted to talk about something. Don’t think it was something about a spell.”
“Well I hope he gets it sorted out, I want James back to his normal self.”
“What, pining and sappy about the person he likes?” Remus asked.
Regulus recoiled at that. James liked someone? No wonder he got so upset and disgusted that Regulus kissed him. James was already chasing someone else. Was it that Lily girl he had liked a couple of years ago? Regulus wanted to cry all over again.
Peter groaned, “He needs to make a move before I lose my mind. It’s always ‘they have such pretty hair’ and ‘have you seen their eyes?’ Makes my stomach churn.”
Remus joined in, “‘They looked at me today’ and ‘do you think they will like my haircut?’ Merlin that boy is a lost puppy.”
Their voices disappeared further down the hallway and Regulus was left with a new sense of dread.
He stayed up again on Tuesday night, sneaking out again once his head hit James’ pillow.
______________________
It did not go as Regulus planned on Wednesday. He had stayed up as he had Monday and Tuesday night, planning to dart out before James woke up, using a charm or hex if necessary. However as the clock struck midnight, signalling it was now considered early Thursday morning, he popped into James’ bed.
What he was not expecting was that James would be waiting for him to appear as well. The second Regulus appeared in James’ bed, the Gryffindor boy had flipped them so that Regulus was caged in with James looming above him. James’ hips were pressed against Regulus’ waist pinning him to the mattress with both of his hands on Regulus’ shoulders.
James leaned his face close to his, a deep bite to his voice when he told Regulus, “We need to talk.”
Regulus bucked his hips up in an attempt to push the boy off. “I don’t want to talk to you,” he hissed at the boy. “Let me go!”
“Regulus. Regulus,” James said with a desperate plea, digging his hips further into Regulus’ waist in an attempt to keep him still. “I need to talk to you.”
Regulus still writhed and squirmed under James as he told him, “Potter, I’m tired and I need to go back to my bed.”
“Stay,” James asked him, almost sounding like he was begging. “Stay. Please. I just want to talk.”
Merlin James could be so cruel. Regulus really didn’t want to stick around to hear James tell him that he wasn’t queer and he was disgusted that Regulus kissed him.
“I don’t want to, James. Why can’t you understand that?”
“I just want to tell you that—”
Regulus did not want to hear James finish his sentence, suddenly remembering that he had moved his wand to someone more accessible than his sock. It wasn’t comfortable but he would rather be safe when something like this happened. He pulled his wand from where he shoved it up his sleeve, pointing it at James and uttering a stinging hex. It startled James and gave Regulus enough adrenaline to gather the strength and flip them so that James was now the one pinned to the mattress. Returning his wand to James’ chest, he cast a body-bind. Knowing that it would hold long enough for Regulus to escape, he darted through the curtains, the silencing charm James’ had cast on his bed blocking out any sounds or words that James might have directed at him.
His heart was racing as he ran back to his dorm, continuously casting glances over his shoulder worried he would see James’ figure chasing him. He narrowly avoided Mrs Norris, who was patrolling the hallways for students who were out of bounds—like him.
______________________
On Thursday night he got in position on his bed before he teleported, preparing himself to drop directly on James’ lap, straddling him as they had done the night before. His wand was in his hand, pointing to where James’ neck would be when he appeared above him.
Midnight came and as expected, he landed on James. However, he had miscalculated where he would land. Instead of landing on his stomach, across those Greek God-like muscles James had, he landed directly on James’ lap. James was awake again, his eyes staring down Regulus with an intense determination.
Regulus, skittish at the contact between his and James’ lower halves, wiggled up onto the Gryffindor's stomach shuddering at the sensation he felt as he brushed James' substantial bulge in his pyjama pants. James let out a low groan at the contact and Regulus paused at the noise, frozen in shock. James too froze like a deer in the headlights, his cheeks flushing in embarrassment.
Regulus used a body-bind spell again, not seeing the need to knock James out with a sleeping spell. If the Gryffindor opened his mouth, he would just bind it shut with another spell. Maybe James would finally get the hint and leave Regulus alone. He already had plans to resume his research on his own in the library under the careful watch of his friends. He didn’t need the help of the Gryffindor anyway, if anything Regulus was guaranteed to work faster and more efficiently without the mumbling Gryffindor and the sneaking around the library to not get caught together.
Really, it was all for the best.
Even if deep down inside Regulus wanted an excuse to see James stare intently at his face as he explained his findings in the book he was reading.
______________________
On Friday night Regulus landed in James’ bed to find the boy was fast asleep, seemingly having given up on trying to stay awake to talk to Regulus, or perhaps James wanted his sleep before the Quidditch game. Regulus still cast a body bind, anxious that James could stir and continue attempting to press him for answers. As much as he wished to never see James’ face again due to his own fear and embarrassment, it was impossibly hard to avoid someone when a magic curse-charm-thing dropped him in the person’s bed at midnight every night.
Before he snuck out, he took the time to study James’ face as he was sleeping. He noticed the remnants of dark circles under James’ eyes. Good, Regulus thought, at least I’m not the only one suffering from tiredness. But even with the circles under his eyes James had an angelic glow to him. It wasn’t fair really. Between the crying and the lack of sleep Regulus knew he looked terrible.
Regulus shook his head and tore his eyes away from the sleeping figure, climbing out the curtain to his feet and promptly freezing as he met the eyes of someone exiting the bathroom. How could he have been so careless? Remus froze—his face not revealing his reaction to the situation—and placed a finger to his lips before pointing at the dorm door. Understanding what he meant, Regulus walked towards it and started down the stairs towards the Gryffindor common room, Remus following closely behind him.
Remus cleared his throat as Regulus continued walking towards the door in the common room that would take him out of Gryffindor territory. Regulus paused and reluctantly turned towards Remus, not daring to meet the eyes of his brother’s boyfriend. Was this where he was finally cornered by a Gryffindor and made accountable for his actions on Monday? But hey, at least it was Remus and not Regulus’ brother.
Remus raised an eyebrow. “You want to explain to me why I just found you sneaking out of James’ bed just past midnight?”
“It’s nothing like that,” Regulus said quickly.
“Sure it is,” Remus said amused.
What did that mean? Did Remus not know? Regulus frowned, “I’m being serious.”
“I would hope not. That’s your brother.”
He scoffed, “Very funny. I thought you would be above those stupid jokes.”
Remus folded his arms across his chest. “Keep talking.”
Regulus bit his bottom lip, debating coming clean. He then landed on the realisation that telling Remus the truth would be better than leaving him to make his own assumptions. “There is some magical curse on my bed that teleports me in Potter’s bed at midnight every night.”
“And how long has this been happening?”
“Exactly a week. I woke up for the first time in James’ bed last Saturday.”
“And you’ve snuck out like this every morning?”
“Well… no.” Regulus hesitated, “Only the past few.”
“Why’s that?” Remus asked, sounding genuinely curious.
“Something happened. Something that I will not talk about.” He said firmly.
The boys stood in silence, a calculated look on Remus’ face. The sick feeling in Regulus’ stomach had begun back in the Gryffindor room when Remus emerged from the bathroom
Eventually Remus said, “Can I ask you something?”
“Depends what it is.”
“If you really don’t enjoy waking up in James’ bed why don’t you just not?”
“‘Not?’” Regulus asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
“You could sleep in another bed or get a new bed that isn’t cursed?” Remus offered.
“I suppose. But I like my bed,” Regulus said. “Or I used to like my bed. Haven’t exactly got to use it the past week.” Did Regulus want to admit that he was selfish and wanted an excuse to see James’ face? No. So he settled on a reason that wasn’t entirely false.
Remus looked at him with suspicion, “Did something bad happen between you two? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“Salazar, no!” He exclaimed before adding, “More… awkward?”
“What? You guys kiss or something?” Remus laughed before watching Regulus’ face grow uncomfortable. “Oh. Oh.”
“Please, don’t tell Sirius.” Regulus asked him, even though it was likely Sirius already knew and was plotting his downfall at any second.
“I won’t,” Remus promised. “So what, he kissed you and you didn’t want it?”
Regulus buried his face in his hands, mumbling.
“What was that?” Remus asked.
Regulus sighed and removed his hands from his face, “I kissed him. And Merlin,” Regulus whimpered, “his face! I just wanted to crawl into a hole and die”
“So he told you he didn’t like it?” Remus said. Was that confusion in his voice?
“Well… no. But his face was just so confused I ran away.”
“You ran away?” Remus barked out a laugh, before muttering something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like, “poor James.”
“What else was I supposed to do? He probably thinks I’m some obsessed freak who is the reason behind this crazy situation. He was so confused when he woke up last Saturday and found me in his bed.”
“Was he?” Remus cocked an eyebrow.
Regulus frowned, “What do you mean?”
“James and I ran into each other early on Saturday morning”
“After I left?”
“Early Saturday morning.” Remus emphasised, “Everyone else was sleeping. In fact, it was very similar to how you and I just ran into each other.”
“I don’t understand.” Regulus shook his head slowly, unable to believe what Remus was telling him. “Wouldn’t that mean…?” he trailed off.
“He came out from behind his curtains looking quite bewildered but he was smiling, I thought he had a spell on him or something. I asked him if he was okay and he told me that the ‘fates had answered his prayers.’”
Regulus gave Remus a confused look to which Remus sighed in frustration. “Regulus. He came out and instead of going to sleep in mine, Sirius’ or even Pete’s bed, he went back to the bed with you in it.”
“Maybe he thought I was Sirius?” Regulus protested.
Remus had an exasperated expression on his face as if he wanted to reach out and slap him. “Believe me, he knew it was you.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Remus smiled knowingly, “I think the fact his glasses were on his face gave it away.”
______________________
Regulus wanted to hex Remus for planting these thoughts in his head. He didn’t know what to believe anymore. Before he finally succumbed to sleep back in his own bed, he had come to the conclusion that right now it was best to focus on the Quidditch game tomorrow. Especially since there was a voice in Regulus’ head that told him that there was the possibility that his conversation with Remus was part of a ploy to throw him off his Quidditch game. Remus didn’t seem like the type who cared enough about Quidditch to do that but he always could have been put up to it by Sirius or James.
His Quidditch game was scheduled for 10am, meaning that he was expected to meet his team at the pitch for warm up at 9am. Regulus slept right up until the last possible minute, desperately needing the energy that sleep could give him. As he left the dungeons with Barty—one of the beaters for their team—his friend passed him an apple and a buttered croissant which Regulus took with muttered appreciation. He had pushed any thoughts of James and Remus aside, becoming a weapon for the Slytherin team fueled by his determination and will to bring down the Gryffindors.
He was standing off to the side, watching his team try their different flying formations. Regulus obviously wasn’t needed for this part and usually he had the Slytherin keeper beside him, but today Francis was darting between the three hoops, warming up his agility.
He didn’t hear the footsteps of someone approaching him until the hairs of the back of his neck stood up. He turned around and there James Potter stood two metres away, hair windswept from flying and cheeks flushed from the bite of the cold weather. His broom was abandoned behind him, lying on the ground as if he had rushed to land and dropped it immediately to walk over to Regulus.
“Reggie,” James said softly, almost breathlessly, and Regulus cursed himself for not keeping his wand on him during and before Quidditch matches.
Regulus took a step back and raised his hands in front of his body in defence.
James didn’t say anything else and so the two boys just stood there facing each other. The Gryffindor looked at him with a kind of intense desperation that Regulus couldn’t figure out. His brain was muddled and he could no longer tell what was real and what was a farce.
James finally opened his mouth before noticing something over Regulus’ shoulder that caused his beautiful face to morph into—what appeared to be—a scowl.
“Potter,” Barty came up behind Regulus and looped an arm around his neck. “Are you trying to fuck with our seeker?”
“What? No!” James said. “I just wanted to talk…”
The hand resting on Regulus’ shoulder started brushing the hair at the base of his neck. Regulus leaned further into Barty, appreciating the gesture. “Shouldn’t you be talking to your team?” He pointed at where the Gryffindors were huddled, “they are over there in case you forgot.”
James' eyes were now furiously locked on the arm around Regulus’ neck, fixated on Barty’s hand in his hair. Regulus forced himself to look at the ground when James’ eyes—dark and angry—moved to his face.
“One more thing Potter,” Barty hissed, bringing James’ attention back to his friend, “don’t look at Regulus, don’t talk to Reg, and don’t touch Reggie. Capiche?” He emphasised this by pointing the bat in his hand at the Gryffindor’s chest.
“Oi Crouch!” Regulus’ blood ran cold at the sound of the menace in his older brother’s voice. Glancing up, he found his brother storming towards them with his own bat in his hand. “Get the fuck away from my brother.”
Regulus’ heart sunk. Of course. Sirius’ newly claimed brother, James Potter. He hardened his features, suddenly reminded of why he spent months hating James Potter after Sirius left. He clamped his hand down on Barty’s arm, still outstretched and holding his bat towards James’ chest, pulling him so they spun away with their backs to the Gryffindors. Regulus then released Barty’s arm and started walking towards their team, who had landed on the ground and were in their own huddle. Barty dropped his arm from Regulus’ neck and the two of them walked side by side to join their team.
The game had a whole new intensity to it unlike anything Regulus had experienced at Hogwarts with his time as a player. Barty and Sirius were fixated on slamming bludgers at each other, attempting to catch the other off-guard which had both the Slytherin captain and James frustrated with the behaviour of both players. Hooch was constantly shouting at the two beaters to keep it a ‘clean game’, which was ignored by the boys as they kept swinging each bat with more force than the last.
Even with two of the four players on the pitch behaving like neanderthals, Gryffindor was still leading the game with a massive gap of 310-160. Without the concentration of Barty on hitting bludgers at the chasers, the Slytherin team was struggling to stop the flight paths and tight flight formations of the Gryffindor team.
Watching one of his best friends and his brother hit bludgers at each other was becoming both nauseating and distracting for Regulus, who had spent more time watching them then searching for the snitch. He heard the voice of the commentator over the loudspeaker, snapping him out of his haze.
“Seems like Gryffindor seeker Aubrey Stone has spotted something! Could it be the snitch?”
Regulus snapped his eyes over to where he last saw Stone and sure enough she was flying after the small gold object. He looked over to the rest of his team and saw that the quaffle was in possession of his captain, meaning that if he caught the snitch after they scored, his team would win the match. It might very well then be enough points for them to secure the cup.
He flew towards the snitch, flying and dodging his way through the air. He was the fastest Quidditch player at Hogwarts and it didn’t take long for him to catch up to the Gryffindor seeker and overtake her. The snitch suddenly darted left and Regulus forced his broom in that direction, hearing the cursing of Stone as she missed the turn, losing valuable time to catch up with Regulus.
He reached a hand out, tracking the fluttering movement of the snitch with his eyes. He just wanted the game to be over, he wanted to stop Barty and Sirius from almost maiming each other and he wanted to return to the safety of his dorm away from the eyes of anyone but his friends.
As soon as the commentator shouted “GOAL!” Regulus’ hand crossed that final distance to clasp the small golden object, tucking it into his hand.
“REGULUS BLACK CATCHES THE SNITCH!” The speaker crackled out. “GRYFFINDOR WINS THE FINAL MATCH! SCORE OF 320 TO 310! WHAT A CLOSE AND THRILLING GAME!”
Regulus looked over to see that the Gryffindor team had landed and were piled around James, cheering, hugging and patting the boy on the back. James was smiling widely and then looked up towards Regulus, his smile faltering slightly.
Regulus then realised that it was James that had scored that last goal. It was James that had secured the victory of his own team. Gryffindor had won the match by only 10 points. Regulus hoped that Slytherin still had enough points to win the Inter-House cup, that those points didn’t cause the difference between a win and a loss.
Regulus was furious. Furious with James. Furious with Sirius. Furious with Barty. Furious with himself.
He looked around at the defeated postures of his fellow team, some still in the air and others having landed on the ground. This game had meant everything to all of them, a way to prove themselves against the favoured House in the school.
Barty flew up beside him, “Nice catch.”
“Doesn’t feel like a nice catch,” Regulus replied, disheartened.
“You didn’t know James had intercepted the quaffle. No one blames you for that and if they do they can answer to me. It was either you caught the snitch or Stone did, and the team would rather lose by ten points then another 150.”
As they landed Regulus received a variety of differing looks from his team mates. Some scowled at him while others offered small, defeated smiles. Barty quickly sorted out the former reactions.
“I’ll go put our brooms away,” Barty told him, taking his broom from him. “I’ll meet you in the change rooms.”
Regulus nodded as Barty ran off to follow the rest of their team to the broom shed. He turned around and was yet again faced with James Potter, soaked with sweat and still panting from the exercise.
Regulus threw his hands up, still filled with pent up rage from the match, “Again? Really?”
“Can we just have one conversation? Please?” James asked. “I’ll leave you alone after that.”
It was abundantly clear that James was not the type of person to give up. Even when told explicitly no multiple times did the boy just keep coming back.
“Fine,” Regulus sighed. “One conversation.” The only reason he agreed to this was so that he could get it over with and finally be left alone by James. He would then be free to work on his cursed bed alone and could sneak out of James’ bed peacefully until this curse was broken.
“Okay,” James nodded, “So—”
Regulus cut him off by raising his hand, “Not now. Barty will be back any minute.”
“Then when?”
“I’ll find you,” he told him and then added upon seeing the disapproval on James’ face, “I’m not just saying that. I will find you when I am ready.”
“I’ll be waiting,” James told him, before turning around to walk into the change room.
______________________
The night following the Quidditch game Regulus climbed into bed with Barty that night, deciding that he was that tired he wanted a full night of sleep. It was between Barty’s bed, Evan’s bed and the couch in the common room. Since he was still angry with Barty for his foolish behaviour on the Quidditch pitch, he settled on Barty’s bed. Unfortunately, Barty seemed more than happy with the situation, finally getting his wish to have a ‘fit bloke’ in his bed.
They were currently lying side by side on their backs, both lean enough to fit in the bed. The curtains were closed around the bed and they had spent the last few hours with him breaking down his findings and theories of the curse to Barty, who was more than eager to replace James as Regulus’ help.
“So you ruled portkeys out?” Barty asked. “And came to the conclusion that it’s likely a complex curse.”
“Correct.”
“But shouldn’t we have picked up on at least a hint of magic when we cast those revealing charms, even if it was complex?” Barty asked.
“I suppose,” Regulus surmised. “But then we are left with no explanations on what has happened.”
A few seconds of silence before Barty gasped dramatically.
“What? What is it?” Regulus asked desperately.
“We have been fixed on your bed but what if it isn’t your bed that is cursed?”
Regulus sat up quickly in the bed. “What? Potter’s bed? But there would need to be some magical link to my bed. I’m the one that teleports into his bed.”
“But what if the link wasn’t to your bed but to—”
Regulus didn’t get to hear the rest of what Barty was saying as he got the familiar tingling in his body as he disappeared from Barty’s bed with a pop. He froze as he reappeared in a crowded room on one of the couches, his eyes darting nervously around the room. The Gryffindor common room was filled with a variety of older Gryffindor students who were obviously celebrating their Quidditch win with a party. Music was playing from a record player, ironically Regulus recognised the song as We Are the Champions by a Muggle band called Queen. Many students were stumbling around with cups in their hand, firewhiskey bottles with varying levels of emptiness lying on tables.
A voice shrieked across from him, “What the fuck!”
Regulus met the horrified face of his brother who was sprawled across his boyfriend’s lap, his mouth open and a cup in his hand. Remus, however, had a sly smile on his face as he winked in Regulus’ direction. Regulus leant back further into the couch only to press his back against something too hard to be the soft pillows of the couch.
He started to scramble forward when a hand looped around his waist, pulling him until he was pressed against the person’s front.
He felt soft lips brush against his ear, “Shouldn’t you have appeared in my bed?”
Regulus gasped at the sensation and the low seductiveness of James’ voice. “Seems like the curse isn’t on the beds.”
Regulus swore he felt James brush an open mouthed kiss behind his ear, which made a shudder rock his body. “I noticed,” the Gryffindor whispered against his neck.
“What the fuck is this?” Sirius shouted. “Moony, let me go!”
“James, I can’t hold him for long,” Remus warned his friend.
James reached under the pillow on the couch next to him and pulled out the invisibility cloak, draping it over the both of them with one swift movement. The Gryffindor then stood up, almost sending him to the floor if it wasn’t for the arm supporting him around the waist. James kept the arm around him as he led Regulus over to one of the edges of the room.
Sirius was no longer held back by his boyfriend and had leapt at the couch James and Regulus had occupied a few seconds ago. “He just disappeared with my little brother! Prongs you give him back right now or I swear to Merlin I will hex your bollocks off.”
Regulus’ eyes widened at the fact Sirius referred to him as his ‘little brother’ and was yelling at James and not him.
“Moony,” Sirius turned to Remus, “help me please! Where are they?”
Remus who hadn’t moved from his spot on the couch shrugged. “Sorry Pads but I have no clue where they went.”
“Ugh,” Sirius groaned, feeling around the couches for where he and James had disappeared to.
Regulus was in a state of shock and didn’t protest as James pulled him towards the exit of the common room, opening the door and leading them through.
“The door!” Peter called out. “Sirius, the door!”
Once they exited through the portrait, James continued to lead him down the corridor until they reached an alcove, pulling Regulus into a hidden corner. He heard the faint voice of Sirius calling out more threats and demands but didn’t focus on exactly what Sirius said, too caught up in James.
James had pinned him against a wall in the alcove, one hand on his hip and another cradling his face.
“What are you doing?” Regulus asked him breathlessly, eyes wide as he took in the lust in James’ face.
James leaned closer until his lips were brushing Regulus’. The Gryffindor murmured against his mouth, “Kissing you back while you can’t run away.”
“Oh–” Regulus broke off as James’ lips crashed against his own, devouring his mouth with an eager ferocity that had him gasping against the boy's mouth.
Regulus lifted his hands from his sides to loop around James’ neck, pulling him closer as they consumed each other. The hand on Regulus’ face joined the other on his waist, picking him up. Regulus wrapped his legs around James, one of his hands moving up to delve into James’ curls. He pulled softly at the roots and was met with a groan of pleasure from James.
Their mouths moved in synchronisation, a clashing mix of tongue and teeth as the two boys entangled themselves in one another, caught up in the moment without a care for the outside world. James pulled his mouth from Regulus’, attaching it to his jaw and kissing his way down his neck. Regulus’ head fell back against the wall, biting his lip to suppress a moan. James’ mouth sucked on the side of Regulus’ neck before biting down lightly. Regulus couldn’t help the mewl that escaped his mouth and buried both of his hands into James’ hair, pulling at the soft curls there until James’ mouth detached from his neck.
“James,” he muttered as the boy tried to lean in again for another kiss.
James finally met Regulus’ gaze, looking thoroughly snogged with swollen lips and flushed cheeks. “What is it, love?”
Regulus melted at the use of the term, stammering as he tried to ask, “Wh-What? Y-You kissed me? You kissed me?”
James smiled at him, pure affection in his eyes. “Why do you think I’ve been so desperate to talk to you?”
“To yell at me? To tell me how disgusted you are?” Regulus told him.
“Oh, Reggie,” James replied. “You don’t disgust me.”
“But your face, you looked so disgusted.”
“That wasn’t disgust, that was me purely confused at how the boy I’ve spent the last year pining over was kissing me.”
“You were pining over me?” Regulus said with disbelief.
“Quite pathetically, honestly. I was driving Pete and Remus crazy.”
Regulus gasped. That day in the corridor when he overheard Remus and Pete talking about the person James fancied, they were really talking about him?
“Really?” Regulus asked, still in disbelief.
“Really.” James replied, pressing a gentle kiss against Regulus’ lips.
Regulus failed to hide his small smile and leaned forward to press his own gentle kiss against James’ lips.
James pulled back with a grin of his own. “Do that again,” he asked.
“Do what?” Regulus asked.
“Smile at me.”
And so Regulus did.
They then spent more time wrapped in each other’s arms, hands exploring and their lips, tongues and teeth laying claim to each other.
It didn’t take much for James to convince Regulus to return to the Gryffindor dorm to sleep with James in his bed. They entered the dorm to find Remus waiting for them, leaning against the door to the bathroom with an eyebrow raised.
Regulus’ eyes darted around for his brother, scared that an angry Sirius would suddenly fly towards them.
“He passed out in my bed,” Remus told them. “But I’d lock the curtains in case he goes on a murderous rage when he wakes up.”
Remus then walked towards his bed—given away by the knitted sweaters folded on top of the trunk at the end—and pulled open the curtains enough to slip inside.
James led Regulus towards his bed, and once inside, Regulus curled up on James’ chest. James raked a hand through Regulus’ hair, lulling him into sleep.
______________________
Regulus woke up to find James awake before him for once. He looked down at Regulus with pure love and adoration in his eyes, running a hand through Regulus’ hair. He smiled up at the Gryffindor boy, who leant down to press a kiss to the end of his nose.
Regulus smiled, “We really need to find a way to fix this teleporting thing.”
James pouted, “Do we have to? I quite enjoy you appearing in my arms.”
“I have another year of school.” He reminded the boy, “I can’t exactly be popping into your arms outside of Hogwarts. Unless, you have an interest in repeating your seventh year or making Hogwarts your permanent home for the next year.”
James sighed contently, moving a hand up Regulus’ spine, “We have months until you return to school. Let’s enjoy this.”
“I could always just fall asleep in your bed,” Regulus proposed.
“It’s more fun when you appear,” James told him.
“I’d be here longer.”
“Deal,” James agreed, pressing a kiss to Regulus’ mouth.
“JAMES FLEAMONT POTTER!” Sirius’ voice echoed from outside the bed, where he failed to pull open the curtains due to the locking charm James had cast. “YOU BETTER NOT HAVE MY LITTLE BROTHER IN YOUR BED RIGHT NOW!”
James sighed, “I better go deal with him.”
“I’m coming with you,” Regulus told him with determination.
James climbed out first with Regulus following close behind.
“What happened to wanting to protect me?” James asked, holding his hands up as Sirius pointed his wand at him.
“That’s until you had your hands all over my little brother!” Sirius hissed at him. Sirius then turned to Regulus, “You get behind me.”
“Sirius,” Regulus said hesitantly, not moving away from James. “I can make my own decisions.”
“James knew you were off limits!”
“I kissed him first.” Regulus retorted, “And it wasn’t our fault we got cursed!”
“You WHAT?” Sirius shrieked. “You got cursed?”
“Doesn’t matter,” James dismissed him, “me and Reggie are allowed to have a relationship.”
“Padfoot,” Remus said, looping an arm around his boyfriend’s waist. “James will treat Regulus like he deserves. Wouldn’t you rather it be James than anyone else?”
Sirius glared at James, “I don’t like this but I suppose Moony is right.”
Remus chuckled, “I’m always right, sweetheart.” He pressed a kiss to his boyfriend’s cheek, whose face melted a little at the gesture.
Sirius pointed a finger between the two of them, “I still don’t like this but I have a hangover and I’m hungry so I will return to this later.”
Regulus turned his head towards James, giving him a small smile.
Sirius let out a loud gasp, causing Regulus to whip his head back towards his brother, whose eyes were fixed on his neck. “YOU MARKED HIM?”
Regulus raised a hand to his neck and turned to look at a guilty James.
Remus was once again holding back a furious Sirius, “It’s time for you to eat. Come on, sweetheart.”
______________________
Regulus was sitting next to James at the Gryffindor table across from Sirius, who kept shooting death glares at James. Remus was opposite James with Peter on his other side.
James had interlaced their fingers underneath the table out of sight from Sirius’ eyes. A few students had looked curiously in their direction, wondering why a Slytherin was at the Gryffindor table, but none of the looks appeared to be filled with disgust or hatred.
Someone cleared their throat behind Regulus and he turned his head to see Barty, his eyes narrowed and arms crossed over his chest. Regulus was then hit with the reminder that he had disappeared from Barty’s bed in the middle of their conversation.
Barty pointed a finger in James’ face, “I warned you, Potter.”
James turned back around to look at Sirius, “What, you're not going to defend me?”
“I’m still mad at you,” Sirius said stubbornly. “And you know I wasn’t defending you from Barty on the pitch yesterday. I was defending Reg.”
Regulus’ eyes widened at that, realising that Sirius had called him his brother yesterday and not James. He turned to his friend. “Barty, it’s okay,” Regulus told his friend, trying to get him to move his finger away from James’ face. “It was a misunderstanding and we figured things out.”
“So what? You were snogging your new boyfriend while I was being yelled at by Filch?” Barty scoffed.
“You were yelled at by Filch?” Regulus asked.
“I was caught trying to make my way to the Gryffindor Tower by Mrs Norris.”
“Oh Barty,” Regulus said, trying not to laugh. “Thank you for trying.”
Barty huffed before walking off in the direction of the Slytherin table, where the rest of their friends were looking over Regulus with curious smiles.
Regulus turned back around and his eyes drifted to Remus, who suddenly had a stack of galleons in front of him. Peter sat next to him looking positively miserable.
“What’s this about?” James asked his friends.
“Pete lost a bet,” Remus said smugly.
“Remus cheated,” Pete said.
“Why haven’t I heard about a bet?” James asked, his face pulling into a frown.
“I haven’t heard about a bet either,” Sirius said.
Remus looked towards Regulus, his eyes sparkling with mischief.
James gasped and pointed an accusatory finger at Remus, “You bet on my love life?”
Sirius gagged, “Don’t use the ‘L-word’ around me when you are referencing my brother.”
“Remus bet that Regulus and James would get together before the end of the school year. I logically disagreed after seeing how long you two were pining for each other,” Peter informed them.
James turned towards Regulus, “You were pining for me?”
Regulus could hear his cheeks heat with embarrassment and tried to shrink into his chair.
“It was pretty fucking obvious!” Peter told them. “I just didn’t think we were allowed to interfere.”
“What do you mean by ‘interfere’?” Sirius asked.
“Firstly, Remus tricked me into talking about who James fancied in a corridor where he knew Regulus was hiding.”
“That was intentional?” Regulus asked in disbelief before looking at Remus. “Didn’t work by the way, just confused me honestly.”
“Secondly,” Peter ignored the look of warning that Remus gave him, “Who do you think put the curse on you two?”
“Remus?” Regulus and James turned to the boy as Sirius cried out “Moony?”
Remus sighed, “Yes, it was me.”
“But, how?” Regulus asked.
“Well I had to find something that Regulus never takes off,” Remus began.
Regulus frowned, glancing down at himself before gasping, “My necklace? You cursed my necklace?” He clutched at the small star necklace that usually sat underneath the collar of his shirt.
“Well, no. I managed to get Pandora to duplicate the necklace and give it to me before the charm. It isn’t a complex spell, I just linked the duplicate to James’ necklace—which I duplicated as well—and added a time spell to teleport Regulus to James at the same time every night.” Remus reached into his pocket and withdrew a silver and gold chain. “Here are the original, uncursed necklaces.”
Regulus and James both reached towards the cursed necklaces around their necks and unclasped them, placing them on the table in front of them. James then reached for his gold necklace with a small sun charm and instead of clasping it around his own neck, moved to put it around Regulus’ neck. Regulus smiled and reached out to touch the charm. He then took his own silver necklace and put it around James’ neck, appreciating having something of his around James like a personal claim to the Gryffindor.
“I can’t believe you did this,” James told his friend.
“It worked didn’t it? You should be thanking me.”
James slid a hand around Regulus’ neck and used it to pull him towards his chest, capturing his mouth in a tender kiss, ignoring the gags of Sirius across the table.
James pulled back with a smile, telling Remus without breaking eye contact with Regulus “I am extremely thankful,” before leaning forward for another kiss.