…
"Again? This is so unfair!"
Regulus watched absently as Sirius stood up from his seat at the table, dramatically flinging his chair back and slamming his palms down on the wood.
"Don't be so theatrical," Walburga muttered into her wine goblet. "The decision is final. Your father and I have important business over the weekend, so you need to stay home to look after your brother."
"He's sixteen years old!" Sirius snapped. "You left me home alone when I was younger than that. I have plans with my friends!"
"You'll just have to rearrange your plans," Walburga replied blithely. She placed her goblet back on the table carefully, then stood up. "Go to your room and calm yourself down, boy. You're staying home to look after your brother. That much is inevitable."
Sirius stomped away from the dining room angrily, and Regulus excused himself shortly after. Sirius's bedroom door was closed when he reached the corridor that housed their rooms, so Regulus didn't intrude. Instead he slunk into his own room and stretched out on the bed with a book, leaving his own door ajar.
It wasn't long before he heard Sirius banging around his bedroom and his door slamming. He burst into Regulus's room and shut the door behind him, leaning against it and folding his arms. "Why don't you say anything to them?" he demanded to know, irritation burning in his dark eyes.
Regulus didn't look up from his book. "What's the point?" he replied.
"Uh, I don't know," Sirius snapped. "Maybe if you told them you aren't a baby and you don't need your big brother to babysit you every other weekend, they'd stop making me stay home to look after you."
Regulus shrugged.
"Aren't you going to say anything?" Sirius continued.
"You really are so theatrical," Regulus muttered. "You know what Mother is like. She's made up her mind. What makes you think I want you to babysit me anyway?"
Sirius narrowed his eyes. "I don't know. I just think you'd probably say something to her if you really didn't want me to. I'm sure your mates would rather die than have to be babysat at sixteen."
…
The truth was, Regulus had absolutely no qualms with Sirius babysitting him. None at all. Regulus had grown to enjoy and look forward to those weekends where Sirius was forced to stay home and look after his little brother, and it had absolutely nothing to do with Sirius.
Sirius, rather than stay home alone with Regulus, would always invite his best friend, James Potter, over to Grimmauld Place once his parents were out of sight and mind. He made Regulus swear not to tell their parents about James coming to the house, as they were strictly against house guests most of the time. Regulus always agreed without complaint, because why would he want to spoil the fun?
Regulus knew James vaguely from boarding school as a handsome football player from the year above, Sirius's year. He was messy and playful and could be mean spirited, but it didn't lower his appeal to Regulus at all. Though Regulus didn't really feel any real interest until James started coming over to Grimmauld Place.
It had been practically nothing, the first few times.
While they watched grainy horror movies on the old tv set in the living room, Regulus noticed James's hand moving closer to his where they sat on the sofa, until their fingers were brushing and eventually clasping together. When they were sitting eating, James's feet would tangle with his and he'd smirk across the table. When Sirius fell asleep early, his head thrown back as he snored away cluelessly, James crawled across the living room with a predatory look in his eye and kissed Regulus hungrily.
Those nights became everything to Regulus. So really, he had no objections to Sirius babysitting him, so long as it meant James Potter would come along, too.
Though he wasn't going to let Sirius know about that.
…
Sirius was in the shower when the doorbell rang, about twenty minutes after Walburga and Orion had left Grimmauld Place.
"Will you get that!" Sirius yelled from within the house. Regulus smiled to himself as he climbed off his bed and went down the stairs. He opened the front door and looked up at James Potter, who stood on the other side of the threshold, dripping wet.
"Are you going to let me in, or are you just going to stand and stare at me all day?" James asked, grinning. "It's chucking it down, if you haven't noticed."
Regulus stared back at him. "It depends. What kind of shenanigans are you and my brother planning on getting up to while he's supposed to be babysitting me?"
James lowered his voice and stepped into the hallway, effectively pushing Regulus back into the house. "Nothing with your brother, but I might have a few ideas for us."
Regulus felt his face heat up and his breath hitch in his throat, and he closed the door behind James. "Idiot," he whispered. James smirked and brushed his thumb on Regulus's cheek.
"You're adorable when you're embarrassed."
"I'm not embarrassed," insisted Regulus. He brushed past James and shouted into the house. "Sirius! It's your stupid mate from school!" He turned to grin at James, who rolled his eyes and started removing his wet coat.
Sirius ran down the stairs, his hair still wet from the shower and his t-shirt sticking to him. "Alright, mate?"
"You didn't tell me you were inviting a friend over, Sirius," Regulus interrupted, folding his arms across his chest. It was the same routine they played every time James Potter came over.
Sirius glared at his brother. "If you tell Mum, I swear I will wring your scrawny—"
"—yeah, yeah," Regulus replied. "So long as you take three shots of Father's Valerian Absynthe tonight, I won't tell Mum."
"That stuff is lethal," Sirius muttered. "I'm not drinking a drop of it."
Regulus shrugged. "Coward." He grinned back at his brother and James, and walked into the lounge, leaving them in the hallway.
…
Regulus sat with his legs curled up in an armchair, watching Sirius and James bickering at each other on the sofa across the room.
"I can't believe you didn't bring spare clothes when it's chucking it down and you walked halfway across London," Sirius said. "You smell like a wet dog."
"Lend me some of your clothes then, otherwise I'm just going to sit here festering all night." James made a point of leaning up against Sirius, who visibly cringed and shoved him back to the other end of the couch.
"You won't fit in my clothes, dickhead. I spend too much money on them for you to stretch them out with your gut."
"Gut!?" James pulled his damp shirt over his head, pretending to be offended. "This is pure muscle from three years of playing football, something you wouldn't know about when you're too busy poncing about—"
"Poncing about!?" Sirius lunged over the sofa and started to grapple with James, getting him in a headlock. "Urgh, you smell even worse up close. You wonder why you're still single?"
James laughed and pushed Sirius away. Regulus pretended to be focusing on the movie that was playing to itself on the television, but he could feel James's eyes on him when Sirius wasn't looking. If only Sirius knew.
"Fine, I'm going to use your shower," James said. He climbed off the sofa and threw a scatter pillow at Sirius, doing a mini fist-pump when it collided straight with his face. "If you haven't found some clothes for me by the time I get out, I'll be coming back down here naked."
…
Regulus would never admit it, not to Sirius or James, but the tight-fitting band top actually looked ridiculously good on James. It was nothing like the loose t-shirts he normally wore, and Regulus could tell he looked uncomfortable. He sat with his arms folded across his chest self-consciously, glaring at Sirius at every other chance.
"You really had nothing else I could wear?"
"That's the oldest thing I could find," Sirius muttered, throwing a handful of popcorn into his mouth. "Why didn't you wear the jeans?"
James's glare intensified. "You know full well I wouldn't be able to get them on even if I wanted to." He looked down at the maroon pyjama bottoms he was wearing instead. "At least your dad has good taste in loungewear."
"You had better make sure you don't go home with those. Father will definitely notice," Sirius commented.
They lapsed into silence for a short while after that, focusing on the tv, until Sirius had finished the bowl of popcorn. He pressed a button on the remote and switched the television off. "I'm bored."
"You're always bored," Regulus murmured. "I was enjoying that."
"It was crap," Sirius continued. "Let's do something else."
"Like what?" James asked.
Sirius shrugged. "I don't know. Let's play a game?"
James laughed out loud. "What, like spin the bottle?"
Sirius threw the empty plastic popcorn bowl at James. "Don't be revolting. There's three of us, which means there's a fifty percent chance I'd have to kiss you or my brother. I don't know which is worse." He shuddered dramatically, and Regulus rolled his eyes.
"You know what I've always thought would be brilliant in this creepy old house of yours?" James said. "Hide and Seek."
"Like a child," Sirius scoffed.
"Yeah, except we make it fun." James paused. "Where's that Valerian Absynthe, or whatever it was Regulus was talking about?"
Regulus sat up straighter, suddenly much more intrigued in the game, and watched as Sirius crossed the lounge to the drinks cabinet on the far wall. He pulled a fairly dusty decanter from the top shelf.
"Whoever gets caught first has to drink a shot of that stuff," James said. "And if you're finding, and you don't catch anyone in ten minutes, then you drink a shot."
Sirius nodded. "Okay. I'm game. But there's no way I'm drinking that stuff, so you had better believe I'm going to win." He placed the decanter down on the coffee table, then pointed at Regulus. "You're counting first."
"Why?" Regulus snapped.
Sirius shrugged. "Youngest goes first."
"That's not how I remember it," Regulus replied. "Oldest counts first. That's how we used to play it as kids with our cousins."
"Break it up, girls," James sniggered. "Flip a coin for it." He held his hand out to Sirius, who dug around in the pocket of his jeans until he found fifty pence, then handed it to James. "Reg?"
"Sure," Regulus said.
"Okay," James poised the coin on the back of his thumb. "Heads, Regulus has to count first. Tails, Sirius has to count first."
The two brothers leaned forward as James flipped the coin into the air. He caught it and slapped it onto the back of his other hand, then revealed what was displayed. Tails.
"Fine," Sirius said. "But I know all the hidey-holes in this house. You don't stand a chance."
"Ten minutes to find us after you've counted to fifty," James ordered, and he and Regulus left Sirius alone in the lounge.
…
Regulus was sure he knew why James had decided on Hide and Seek as a game to play, and he was even more sure that it had nothing to do with him just wanting to play an innocent, childish game in the 'creepy old house'. He'd seen the mischievous glimmer in his eyes when it had been decided that Sirius would be the one to count.
Regulus wasn't wrong. James had instantly followed him up the stairs and across the hallway to the far wing where Walburga and Orion's bedrooms were. There was an old storage cupboard in between their two respective bedrooms, and Regulus slipped inside it, with James right behind him.
When he shut the door behind them, James raised an eyebrow. "This seems pretty amateur, Reg," he said with a grin. "He's going to just look in all the cupboards."
Regulus didn't reply, only moved further to the back of the cupboard, and felt around the wooden wall. He found what he was looking for—a loose board—and pushed the panel inwards. It exposed another narrow room behind the storage cupboard.
"This is some kind of haunted house shit, "James muttered as Regulus climbed through the false panel. He climbed in after him and Regulus replaced the panel behind him.
It was a tiny room, practically a wardrobe, made even tinier by James's presence inside it with him. "He doesn't know every hidey-hole in this place," Regulus said. "He never knew about this one. I always hid here when we played Hide and Seek as kids."
"Ready or not!" came Sirius's shout from within the house. "I'm going to get you!"
Regulus leaned back against the wall, trying to make James's face out in the dark. "We have ten minutes."
"Ten minutes," James murmured. He moved closer to Regulus, until Regulus could feel his breath on his face, and all of a sudden they were kissing. James pushed his weight against Regulus, and Regulus looped his arms around James's neck. James pressed kisses to his cheek, his jaw, his neck, sucking gently on the sensitive skin there until Regulus moaned softly and pawed at James's back.
"Shh," James whispered, and Regulus could feel him grinning against his neck. "Try to keep quiet. We don't want to get caught."
"It's your fault." Regulus slid a hand into James's hair and pulled his head back, so he could kiss his mouth again.
"I've been waiting to do this all night," James murmured in between kisses. "You've been sitting in that chair...pretending like you couldn't care less that I'm here…It's only made me want you more..."
"Stop talking…" Regulus's ears were pricking for any sound outside the cupboard, though he was slightly distracted.
James only sniggered and moved his kisses back down to Regulus's neck. "So bossy. You're supposed to be the polite brother."
Regulus heard floorboards creaking out on the hall, right as James pressed his palm against the front of Regulus's jeans. Regulus couldn't help but release a shocked, strangled moan, and James clapped his free hand over his mouth.
"What was that?" Sirius's voice could be heard through the wall. "Regulus, is that you? I know you're around here somewhere."
James rubbed Regulus through his jeans, keeping his hand firmly over Regulus's mouth, and Regulus clung onto the back of James's shirt—Sirius's shirt—hanging on for dear life.
"Mum and Dad's linen cupboard," Sirius scoffed. "You're so basic, Regulus."
Regulus closed his eyes, hoping that any noise he was making was muffled by James's hand, as Sirius opened the cupboard door. James continued kissing his neck, rougher this time.
"Huh," Sirius said. "I was sure I heard something." The door closed again a moment later, and Regulus relaxed enough to push James back.
"You dick," Regulus hissed, hoping James couldn't see how flushed he was. "You know he'll murder you if he finds out about us."
James sniggered. "He has to find out about us first."
…
They played a few more rounds of Hide and Seek before Sirius announced that he was bored of that too, though Regulus was quite sure it was mostly because he was fed up of losing and having to drink the Valerian Absynthe. He was slurring his words by the end of the game, and the decanter was almost empty.
"He's going to throw up so much tomorrow." Regulus tried to keep the glee out of his voice as he spoke.
"I can still hear you," Sirius groaned. "I'm going to bed." He stood up from the couch and staggered to the door, almost falling over as he did so.
"Hang on mate," James laughed. "I'll help you." James looped Sirius's arm over his shoulders, and Regulus helped from the other side. Together they walked up the stairs with Sirius and guided him to his bedroom. As soon as they reached Sirius's room, Regulus pushed him onto his bed and backed out of the room.
A few minutes later James retreated and shut the door behind him. "He took his jeans and pants off instantly. I saw everything."
"Why do you think I left so quickly," Regulus replied. "Better hope he's covered himself up, seeing as you're sleeping on the camp bed."
"What?" James raised an eyebrow. "He's not going to wake up tonight. He won't notice if I don't sleep in there." He sidled closer to Regulus as he spoke, but Regulus only smirked and took a step across the corridor towards his own room.
"See you later." Regulus slipped into his bedroom and closed the door behind him, locking it for good measure, and grinned to himself. He knew James was standing outside in the hallway, waiting to see if this was some kind of joke, and if Regulus was planning on letting him in. But Regulus stood his ground.
"Bloody tease," he heard James grumble after a few moments. There was the sound of Sirius's door opening and closing, and the creaky camp bed being pulled out.
…
Regulus laid awake on his bed, watching the moon grow brighter in the night sky outside. He waited until way after midnight before he slid out of his bed and quietly left his bedroom to sneak across the hallway, turning the handle of Sirius's door.
This was never how James and Regulus did things during James's visits. They operated with sneaky touches when Sirius left a room, or James would venture across to Regulus's bedroom once Sirius was asleep, but he never stayed long, in case Sirius woke up and wondered where James was.
Regulus carefully closed Sirius's door behind him and padded over to the camp-bed. He could just about make out James's shape under the thin blankets. Regulus crawled onto the bed and slid under the covers, pressing his body up against James's bare back.
"Hmmm?" James murmured as he came out of the throes of sleep. He turned onto his back, and Regulus took the opportunity to roll on top of James to straddle his waist. "Reg?" his voice had lowered to a hiss as he realised what was going on. "What are you playing at?"
Regulus leaned down and kissed James chastely. "What?" he whispered innocently. "I thought you liked the risk of almost getting caught."
"Not like this." James put his hands on Regulus's hips, but Regulus noticed that he didn't try to push him off. "Sirius is right there...ah…" his voice tailed off as Regulus pushed his groin downwards into James's. "You little shit."
Regulus grinned and bit James's bottom lip. "You're only not happy because you're not in charge."
James hissed at the friction between their bodies, his fingers digging almost painfully into the flesh of Regulus's hips.
"I can stop if you want," Regulus whispered, pressing kisses along James's collarbone. "I'm happy to go back to my room."
"You wouldn't dare," James muttered, his voice almost a growl.
"You wouldn't dare keep going," Regulus replied, reaching down between their bodies to push a hand down James's pants. "Would you?"
James's head rolled back on the pillow. "Regulus," he groaned softly. "He'll murder me."
Regulus moved further down James's body, kissing his chest and abdomen along the way. "He has to find out about us first."
Written For:
- Autumn Funfair/Halloween Bingo: 11. (dialogue) "You wouldn't dare."
- Autumn Funfair/Costume Party: 16b. (plot point) Shagging, alt, fade to black, 16c. (dialogue) "Hmmm?"
- Autumn Funfair/Trick or Treat: Potter House - (word) Shenanigans, Trick prompt - (dialogue) "Try to keep quiet. We don't want to get caught."
- Autumn Funfair/Hogwarts Cafe: 12. (era) marauder
- Autumn Funfair/Apple Bobbing: 5. (word) inevitable
- Autumn Funfair/Pumpkin Carving - Step 3: (word) Burning
- Autumn Funfair/Spooky Playlist: 3. (dialogue) "I'm going to get you."
- Autumn Funfair/The Spooky Express: 3b. (trait) Dramatic
- Writing Club/Gotta Catch Em All: 3. (time) night time
- Writing Club/Written in the Stars: 4. (trait) polite
- Writing Club/Film Festival: 12. (emotion) Bored
- Writing Club/Elizabeth's Empire: 28. (word) whisper
- Writing Club/Sophie's Smut Bucket: 8. (action) Trying to stay quiet
- Writing Club/TV Spree: 12. (object) Pillow
- Autumn Seasonal/Sarcastic Month: 2. (dialogue) "You wonder why you're still single?"
- Autumn Seasonal/Colours: 4. Maroon
- Moony's Neon Cafe - Genres: 17. Fluff
- Fortnightly/Spooky Month Prompts: 1. (setting) Night time
Word Count: 3,243