Chapter 17: Spectacular
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Regulus adjusted his dark green beanie as he walked through the courtyard. He put his hands in the pockets of his jacket, shivering slightly. He closed his eyes and internally grimaced as images of him punching Connor while Evan and Barty held him down flashed through Regulus's mind. It didn't matter that he was in Ravenclaw; it didn't matter that he had ignored both his mother and father's wishes.
None of it mattered.
It was his choice that he had beaten up Connor; no one had forced him to do that. It was his choice. And now, now he wasn't sure what path he was going down, but he knew that it was one he didn't like.
He fiddled with a small tin that was sitting in the safe confines of his pocket and sighed heavily. Regulus's eyes focused on the floor as he pinched the brim of his nose in frustration. It was all going wrong.
He cursed inwardly as he bumped into someone, and his eyes widened when he saw Connor's black eye and bruised cheek. He blinked a couple of times to hide his surprise while Connor just rolled his eyes.
"Oh, great, just the person I wanted to bump into." Connor's voice was dripping with sarcasm.
Regulus made up his mind there and then. He took out the small tin from his pocket and grabbed hold of Connor's wrist, placing the tin in his hand, just hoping that no one was watching.
"What are you doing?" Connor asked, frowning in confusion. Regulus rolled his eyes in response.
"Ointment for your bruises," he said, his voice just above a whisper. It might have been his choice that he hurt Connor, but no one said that he couldn't help him afterwards.
"Why? Why are you helping me after what you just did? This seems completely out of character after the things I've heard about you," Connor said, his voice also just above a whisper.
Regulus chuckled in disbelief, shaking his head. "Gryffindors. Always asking so many questions," he murmured, ignoring the offended expression on Connor's face as he continued, "I'm helping you because of what I just did." He walked away from Connor, feeling a lot lighter than how he had felt before.
Regulus walked across the school grounds towards the lake. He glanced at the bench where he had shared many moments with James, a small smile appearing on his face. Heavy footsteps sounded behind him, and he reacted too slowly. His ears suddenly felt colder and not as cosy as they had been a few moments before. He frowned deeply when he started to turn around and his eyes widened slightly at James's cheeky grin along with his tinted pink nose.
"Jamie -" Regulus started but didn't get to finish. James started to walk away from him before beginning to jog.
"Reggie, have I told you how much I love you in a beanie?" James interrupted, and Regulus froze, his lips parted slightly from surprise at James's choice of words. James's eyes also widened before he ran away, his hand still clutching Regulus's beanie. Regulus recovered and chased after James.
How much I love you in a beanie, Regulus thought, how much I love you. He couldn't get James's voice out of his head. He sprinted after James, catching up when James ran towards their bench.
"Jamie, give me back my beanie." Regulus panted as James stood on the other side of the bench and put the beanie on his own head. Regulus stared; the beanie along with James's glasses and scruffy hair suited James. Regulus couldn't hide his blush, unable to take his eyes off James.
"No, it's mine now," James replied, still joking, and Regulus didn't mind in the slightest.
"Okay," Regulus breathed out, sitting down on the bench, finally tearing his gaze away from James. He was reminded of what he had just been through with Connor, Evan and Barty. He had to tell James what he had done.
"Reggie, what's wrong?" James asked, his voice full of concern.
Regulus bit his bottom lip and sighed, running a hand through his hair as he made eye contact with James again. "I did something I'm not proud of," he started, his voice just above a whisper.
James was silent for a few minutes, and Regulus grew nervous until James took his hand and began running his thumb over Regulus's bruised knuckles.
"I know, I heard," James replied softly, Regulus frowned in confusion, wanting to interrupt, but was unable to as James continued, "I did something pretty bad too, with Sirius."
"What did you do?" Regulus asked, concern tinted in his voice as James looked down, kissing Regulus's bruised knuckles.
"Played a prank that went wrong on our own house, and then the Slytherins got the blame for it. A few people got hurt," James admitted, regret filling his eyes.
Regulus didn't know what to think, never mind what to say. He couldn't believe that James was capable of doing something so wrong, and that his brother was involved with it too. This was what Barty had been trying to tell him. Regulus rested his head on James's shoulder. He knew this wasn't like James, that he wouldn't do it again. But did James know that?
"It's okay, Jamie. People make mistakes, it's what makes you human. Learn from it," Regulus replied, hoping he wasn't crossing a line.
"Since when did you get to be so wise?" James responded, and Regulus chuckled lightly, hiding his grin against James's shoulder.
"Try spending time with Pandora and it'll happen to anyone," Regulus said with amusement.
"Sirius tried to see you before your mother came into the Hospital Wing, but he was too late," James informed him and Regulus blinked a couple of times. "He seemed to know that she would take you home. But why? Surely the best person to care for you is Madam Pomfrey?"
Regulus didn't know exactly what to say or how to explain how his mother was or what her reasons were. What he did know, though, was that if he didn't talk about what had happened, he didn't know how he was going to ever recover from it.
"The Blacks don't need anyone, they need us ," Regulus recited like he had heard the saying a hundred times.
"What does that mean?" James asked, curiosity in his voice.
"It means unless we're bleeding out in pain, losing precious pure blood, we're fine. We can recover. Nothing was broken, so, in her eyes, I was fine and I shouldn't waste my time in the Hospital Wing when I could be learning more about how to be a perfect Black," Regulus ranted, squeezing James's hand as he took a breath.
"Precious pure blood? That's ridiculous. What does that even mean? You had fractured bones!" James exclaimed, and Regulus shook his head, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.
"Toujours Pur," Regulus muttered in French, glancing at James who stared at him with surprise written all over his face.
"You can speak French?" James asked and Regulus nodded, his cheeks tinting pink at the amazed look in James' eyes.
"Has Sirius never spoken in French to you before? I would have thought that would have been the first thing he'd boast about," Regulus answered and looked at James, who frowned in thought.
"No, he hasn't. But I've just thought of another prank idea, and I need you to be my partner in crime again," James replied with a smirk on his face, eyes gleaming with mischief. Regulus matched his smirk and nodded, not even needing to think about his reply.
Instead of using his words, Regulus glanced at James's lips. He wanted to thank James for not leaving like he had promised. He closed the gap between them and his lips touched James's, whose eyes widened in surprise, before he kissed Regulus back passionately, yet gently. Regulus smiled as James twirled his curls around his finger, their foreheads touching. As soon as it had started, Regulus broke the kiss after a few moments, a stupid grin on his face that he saved only for James.
"Wow," James whispered, staring into Regulus's eyes. Regulus blushed deeply, the insides of his stomach were doing back flips as their eyes locked.
"That was…" Regulus couldn't even find the right words. James laughed lightly and kissed him softly once more, but it only lasted a second or so. Regulus's heart was thumping heavily and he couldn't breathe as he broke eye contact, taking deep breaths to try and calm himself.
"Are you alright, Reggie?" James asked and Regulus nodded, biting his bottom lip as he took a deep breath.
"Spectacular," Regulus replied with a grin.
"Good, now come on. We've got a prank on Sirius to plan."
OoO
"Why can Sirius only speak in French?" Professor McGonagall asked the group of Marauders. James feigned ignorance while Peter snickered next to him, and Remus was strangely silent. Sirius glared and pointed at his friends, mainly James.
"We have no idea, Professor, we're completely shocked that he even knows French," James responded; he was much better at lying now. Regulus actually came through and was the one to cast the spell on his brother, so James didn't have to and wouldn't get caught either. James couldn't get that kiss he had shared with Regulus out of his head, and to be honest, he didn't want to.
"Well, Mr Black, there's not a lot I can do. You'll just have to wait until the spell wears off," Professor McGonagall said. Sirius looked so outraged that James was trying his absolute best not to laugh there and then.
As Professor McGonagall walked away, James glanced over at the Ravenclaw Table, nodding to his partner in crime, who nodded back before continuing his conversation with Pandora.
"Je te deteste!" Sirius raged at James, and Sirius continued to have a go at James in French. While James found it all very amusing, he noticed that Remus had a look on his face that he could only describe as love. James smirked inwardly; something told him that he had to get his best friends together. He would help them stop pining over each other because that was the only piece of evidence missing in regards to their attraction to one another. Remus was very closed off while Sirius was more obvious. But it was there and James was going to do something about it.
OoO
Regulus stood outside the Potter Manor, more nervous than he had been the year before. Christmas was slowly becoming his favourite holiday because he could spend it being himself.
"I don't know why you're always so nervous coming here," Sirius said, breaking the silence and Regulus rolled his eyes, adjusting his burgundy beanie on his head. He never did get his green one back from James.
"One of these days, someone will tell our parents that we're not actually at Hogwarts and then you'll see why I'm always nervous," Regulus replied, and Sirius was about to say something else when the door opened to reveal James with his Potter grin, along with Mrs Potter who was standing behind him with the same smile on her face.
"Boys! Come in, come in," Mrs Potter said, ushering them inside.
Regulus smiled when Mrs Potter hugged him in greeting. "Nice to see you again, Regulus. Sirius, you've grown!" she exclaimed.
Regulus automatically went to hug James, who hugged him tightly and for a little longer than he should have. Both boys were just enjoying the embrace. Regulus was the one to break the hug and James stared at him for a little longer than normal before turning to Sirius and giving him a hug.
"Now, you all know the routine by now. I expect you to behave yourselves," Mrs Potter said, and Regulus nodded while James and Sirius mock-saluted her in way of a reply.
"I have an idea," James started and Regulus raised an eyebrow as the trio walked into the living room. Regulus collapsed into the armchair while Sirius and James sat on the sofa
"Oh, no, he has an idea, whatever are we to do?" Sirius said sarcastically before he yawned tiredly.
Regulus chuckled. It reminded him of when James had the idea of naming their group, 'The Marauders '; he couldn't help but smile as he waited for James to tell them what his next idea was. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait too long.
"I'm going to choose to ignore that comment, Sirius," James replied, giving Sirius a mock glare, and Regulus smirked, shaking his head in disbelief as James continued, "Roasted marshmallows."
Regulus blinked a few times. "Roasted marshmallows?" he repeated.
James nodded, grinning. "Campfire and roasted marshmallows."
Regulus liked the idea of a campfire, but he had never had marshmallows before, so he didn't know whether to tell James that or pretend like he knew exactly what he was on about.
"Yes! Great idea, I remember when Mary introduced me to them, let's do it!" Sirius said, jumping up and down on the sofa, clearly excited about this idea. "How do we get hold of some?"
"Mum should have some, I'm sure," James replied, sharing a quick glance with Sirius. Without saying another word, the pair leapt up from the sofa and ran out of the room.
Regulus sighed heavily, fiddling with his beanie as he debated on what to do. It sounded fun and he couldn't help but let James's and Sirius's excitement get to him too, but exactly what were marshmallows and why did they know about it and he didn't? This was the curse of being brought up in Grimmauld Place; he missed out on anything involving fun.
He stood up from his armchair and looked at the bookshelf he hadn't really studied properly before. He noticed the series of The Chronicles of Narnia, and he picked the third book, which was called The Horse and His Boy. He sat down once more, covered himself with a blanket and started to read.
He didn't know how long he had been reading; he was about a third of the way through the story when he heard a gentle ting of something being placed on the table next to him. Regulus tore his gaze away from the sentence he was on and looked over his shoulder to see steam coming from a mug that was covered in cream and small white round things that he didn't recognise. He glanced at James, who smiled softly at him.
"I tried to be quiet; I didn't want to disturb you," James whispered, and Regulus's heart skipped a beat as he smiled.
"You could never disturb me, Jamie," Regulus said in reply, without really thinking about it, as he looked at the mug once more, frowning.
"It's hot chocolate. Sirius and I found the marshmallows, so tonight we're having a family campfire," James said with excitement written all over his face.
"I need to tell you something," Regulus said, making sure he had a finger on the page he was reading. James frowned and Regulus blurted out, "I haven't had marshmallows before."
James blinked and Regulus bit his bottom lip nervously.
"I really hate your parents, Reggie," James responded and Regulus looked James in the eyes, seeing the anger that filled them.
"Join the club," Regulus muttered before taking a sip of the hot chocolate. He ate one of the small round things and smiled. "So, these are marshmallows?" he asked, taking another sip.
James's eyes softened, and he nodded. "Yes, Reggie. Do you like them? If you don't… you don't have to have them later…" James trailed off and Regulus chuckled lightly, kissing the top of James's forehead softly.
"I love them, Jamie."
OoO
Regulus rolled his sweater sleeves up as he got warm, watching the red flames dance around the crackling fire, not feeling the cold breeze at all. He was sitting on a log next to James, with Sirius on James's other side and Mr and Mrs Potter sitting opposite them.
Regulus had often wondered what it was like to be a part of a proper family, but now he didn't really have to wonder at all.
"James, darling, what campfire song should we sing first?" Mrs Potter asked. Regulus blinked back his surprise; he didn't know they'd be singing. No one had mentioned singing. He stared in wonder when James picked up a guitar. Since when could James play the guitar? He had never said anything about it before, had he?
"I was thinking 'Take me home, country roads'," James said with a grin on his face. He coughed to clear his throat and took a deep breath.
Regulus sat, his chin resting in the palm of his hand as he focused his attention solely on James, who played the first note.
"Almost heaven, West Virginia,
Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River,
Life is old there, older than the trees,
Younger than the mountains, growin' like a breeze."
There was no other word for it: Regulus was mesmerized . He got lost in the sound of James's voice. He could sing, and he could play the guitar, so why hadn't Regulus known of this before? But as he studied James, he could tell James was a little nervous. He could hear it in James's voice, the shaky tone towards the end. Perhaps, that was why.
And that was also why Regulus took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"Country roads, take me home,
To the place, I belong,
West Virginia, Mountain mama,
Take me home, country roads."
Regulus ignored everyone looking at him as he opened his eyes and stared straight at James, who had a look of shock and awe on his face. Regulus smiled a small smile, nodding at him for reassurance. It was the first time he had sung in front of anyone. But he was glad it was in front of James, his brother, and Mr and Mrs Potter. He wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
When he sang the next verse, James sang with him and it was like there was no one else there, only them. Like it was just them against the world.
"Take me home, country roads," Regulus finished and finally looked at Sirius, who had a proud smile on his face. Sirius cheered and clapped, and Mr and Mrs Potter joined in.
Regulus hid a blush as James wrapped an arm around his shoulders, bringing him into a hug.
"You can sing," James stated.
Regulus smirked, shrugging sheepishly. He countered, "You can play the guitar."
"Why didn't you tell me you can really sing?" James asked a little louder, mock-offense in his voice.
Regulus simply raised his eyebrows. Two can play at this game, he thought.
"Why didn't you tell me you can play the guitar?" he asked, but before James could answer, Mrs Potter interrupted their conversation.
"Boys!" she exclaimed and Regulus glanced at her with a sheepish expression on his face.
"Yes?" they answered at the same time, and Mrs Potter shook her head with a fond expression on her face.
"You both sounded perfect together. Now stop arguing and start roasting some marshmallows," she said.
Regulus blushed lightly. He placed his marshmallow on the stick he was holding, not able to stop the smile that appeared on his face when James held his hand from underneath the blanket they were sharing.
OoO
"Do you like it?" Sirius asked Regulus, who nodded as he felt the softness of the sweater that Sirius had given him. It was of Queen, the Muggle band, with an album record playing.
"I love it, thank you, Sirius," he replied.
Sirius grinned. "I knew you would!" he exclaimed happily, clearly satisfied as he sat back on the sofa.
Regulus added the present to his pile. So far, he had received chocolates from Evan, a book on the Dark Arts from his grandfather, a book on Transfiguration from Cissy, and broomstick polish along with a Quidditch magazine from Barty.
His breath hitched when James picked up his present. James opened it with a grin on his face. Regulus bit his lip waiting nervously to see his reaction. He wasn't sure if he was crossing a line or not with this present, so he was more nervous than usual.
James picked up the leather gloves carefully, a look of amazement and care appearing in James's eyes as he spotted the initials inside the Chaser gloves that were specially designed for him. As Regulus fidgeted with his hands, he tried to calm his breathing when James made eye contact with him.
James got up, putting on the gloves, testing them to see if they fit. He took three long strides and cupped Regulus's cheeks. "Thank you," he said softly.
Regulus loved the feeling of the gloves on his cheeks and he blushed lightly when he realised he loved the feeling a little too much. He adjusted himself subtly as James looked down to his lips; he could tell that James wanted to kiss him but, instead, he brought Regulus into a tight hug.
Having James in his arms, without having to worry about anything else… this was just where he wanted to be.
And he hoped that this was where he was always going to be.
Notes:
"Je te deteste!" - "I hate you!"
"Toujours Pur" - Black family motto, "Always Pure"