Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

Challenges listed at the bottom

Word count - 870

Warning for Adultery.

Never Needed Words

Regulus wasn't expecting James to cross Diagon Alley with a panicked look on his handsome face. He wasn't expecting him to push him to the side, down a darker side trail off the alley.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Are you wearing… mustard?"

James stared at him for a moment before he shook his head. "You can't be here. There's going to be a raid in like… half an hour, and you can't be here."

"Why can't I be here?" Regulus asked defiantly.

A flick of his eyes to Regulus' left arm was all the answer Regulus needed. He should've known that James would know. He slumped back against the wall.

"Okay. Okay, I'll…"

"Go to the Leaky, get a room. I'll be there later," James hissed, before he turned away, back onto the main stretch of Diagon. As Regulus followed, returning the way he'd come, he saw a few of the older Aurors questioning James.

He felt an uncomfortable stab of guilt. He'd never want to get James in trouble. He wasn't worth that. He debated for a long moment if he should do as James told him too or if he should just go home, but he knew what he was going to do the moment the words left James' mouth.

He'd never been able to resist those brown eyes.

…

A quiet knock sounded hours later, and Regulus flicked his wand at the door. It creaked open, and James slipped inside, closing it behind him.

"Are you going to explain why you're wearing a mustard jumper now?" Regulus asked before James could say anything.

James snorted. "Undercover. And Sirius happened."

"Of course he did."

"Did you catch whoever you were after?"

"You know I can't tell you that," James said quietly, sitting down beside Regulus on the bed. "I missed you."

"Uh huh."

The pained look on James' face was enough for Regulus to swallow down an apology for his sarcasm. He looked away.

"I… I was glad I saw you. I have to tell you something."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I. Shit. This shouldn't be so hard."

Regulus looked up from his hands to meet James' eyes. "You've never had a problem talking to me before."

"No," James agreed. "I haven't. But… Well. Things change I guess."

Regulus stood up and moved to the window, opening it to allow the light breeze to cool his face. It was dark out, they were well into the night, but the moon give off enough light to illuminate the street.

"Lily's pregnant. She, uh… I've been holding off announcing it until I could tell you but… well. She's excited, you know?"

Regulus' heart clenched. Pregnant? Merlin wept. He wanted to be angry; he was angry, but not at James.

He was angry at the boring redhead that now held James' heart. Angry at the world for keeping him away from James despite the love between them. Angry at himself for being too weak to do the right thing.

Soft hands rested on his shoulders and he cursed himself for immediately leaning back against the warm chest behind him.

"I'm sorry," James murmured in his ear, nuzzling his face against Regulus' neck. "I'm so sorry. If things were different…"

"But they're not," Regulus replied. "And they won't ever be."

"It… it can be this," James offered, his hands moving down Regulus' arms to his hips, and across his stomach.

"Can it be? You don't need me anymore, James. You've got a wife, and a kid on the way and-"

"No one can replace you," James interrupted. "Everything should be perfect, right? I should be happy now, but I'm not. Because I don't have you."

Regulus looked down at the bronze skin of James' hands, tanned even deeper by the beautiful summer they'd been having. They slipped beneath his shirt onto his own paler skin. The touch was soothing, and yet, it lit a fire in Regulus that he hadn't felt in what seemed like forever.

He wanted more, wanted those hands all over him, everywhere. He wanted James to consume him whole.

James turned him in his arms, so they were face to face. James' eyes were bright with want, with lust and with love. There was a beauty to James' eyes that Regulus had always known, the expressiveness of them was the best thing Regulus had ever known.

"I love you," Regulus whispered, his voice so quiet it was barely audible to his own ears, and yet, James heard him perfectly clear.

"I'll never not love you," James replied, his lips so close to Regulus' cheek that they tickled them as James spoke. "And I wish I could give you everything. But I can't. So I'll offer you all that I can instead, and hope that it's enough."

Regulus shifted forwards so that his forehead was resting against James shoulder. He knew that this was wrong, knew that they shouldn't be doing it and yet… and yet.

"I'll take you anyway I can have you. I always will. I always want you."

They didn't talk much more that night.

At least… they didn't talk with words. But then, they'd never needed words to show each other how they felt.

Written for;

Disney - T4 - An Auror on a case.

Book Club - Marty - Boring / Announcing a pregnancy / Handsome

Showtime - 1. "Can it be?"

Ami's Audio - 13. Set at night

Lo's Lowdown - D1. "Everything should be perfect, right? I should be happy now, but I'm not."

Slash September - JamesRegulus

Auction - JamesRegulus

Leaf - Orange; Angry

Days of the Year - 4. A relationship between characters on either side of the war

Autumn - Bright

Colour - Mustard

Birthstone - Lapis Lazuli - "No one can replace you."

Flower - Witch Hazel - Soothe

Air - Breeze

Dessert - Cake 2 - Wanting more of something

Ravenclaw - Bronze

Star - Taurids Meteor Shower - Beauty