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James’ tossing and turning for the last 15 minutes warranted a pillow thrown at him by Sirius. Some would consider this reasonable. Some meaning Sirius.
“Stop moving, you’re stressing me out.”
“I’m trying,” James sounds exasperated.
James tries to stay still, not because he doesn’t want to bother Sirius, he very much wants to, but the quidditch match the following day needed a well-rested Sirius, so James took one for the team. He tried to stay still and tried finding a comfortable position. James isn't one to give up on anyone or anything. He follows through because he knows there are constantly people that are depending on him, and he can’t fathom letting anyone down. Who would he be if he wasn’t there for his friends? How would he be loved if he wasn’t needed? It was settled: he didn’t give up.
James gave up on sleeping. He chooses to forgo the Marauders' Map, and bring his invisibility cloak instead. At least this option wouldn’t crinkle and warrant another pillow to his face. Not that the pillow would've found his face per se, Sirius would blindingly throw it at his now-empty bed, but regardless that was too much logic for that point in the night.
As James leaves the common room, his cloak thrown over him, he decides to go down the steps and let them lead him. Five staircases later, he finds himself in a random hallway on the third floor. Walking around, he finds himself remembering all the pranks that he pulled off here, the people he's kissed by the abandoned bathrooms on the right, and the obnoxious plans his friends had for the place. The hallway was filled with portraits of the snarkiest and most bitter people to grace the walls of Hogwarts. He gets lost for a while in his head, reminiscing as he studied the paintings with his cloak around his shoulders. It was always interesting here. This visit, despite what James was expecting, was no different.
Meow.
James turns around, dreading that the sound he just heard came from a certain Mrs. Norris and hoping he was dead wrong. He finds a black cat that looks just as surprised. Of course, he wasn't fluent in the facial expressions of small furry animals, he mostly found himself facing big dogs, a dog, and even then his eyes weren’t like the eyes he was looking at now. Still, he was convinced the cat looked surprised. It was endearing.
“Hey, little guy.”
Meow.
James smiles, removes the rest of his cloak, and reaches down to pet his new friend. The cat seems careful, it took a few seconds for it to fully lean into the touch, but when he did he was met with a soft sound from James. A reward.
“You’re not McGonagall, are you? Meow once if I’m wrong.”
Meow.
“Yeah, I could’ve thought that one through,” he says after realizing his mistake. “Besides, McGonagall is more of a grayish-black.”
Meow.
James laughs, “You’re right that was stupid.”
The black cat seemed to purr in agreement.
“So, what’s your name?” James asks, wholeheartedly waiting for a response.
Meow.
“I’m going to call you Leo.”
Leo sways his tail in response, his eyes trained on James.
“Named after my favorite secret,” He continues.
Leo stays still for a while, before deciding to get closer.
James happily begins to scratch behind the kitty’s ear, hoping to get another endearing reaction, and he was met with a more enthusiastic purr. James could see himself as a cat person. He feels honored that he gained the little one’s affection but decides to push his luck by picking Leo up, keeping him close to his chest.
Looking into those eyes, he can’t help the little smile that threatens to take over his face. The eyes meeting his own look like pure fondness, and he revels in the attention he gets. James is a bit surprised to find the cat cuddling closer in his arms.
“C'mon, let's get you somewhere comfortable.”
Meow.
His Leo seems to already be drifting off in his arms.
James walks them back to the common room, hoping his slow steps won't wake the smaller of them. When he gets to the common room, he lowers his head down expecting to find Leo asleep, but instead finds half-lidded eyes that make him melt.
“You’re going to have to be quiet in the dorm, okay, love?”
It must be a coincidence, but James notices a little nod coming from the ball of fur in his hands. It earns Leo another soft scratch behind his ear.
As quietly as possible, James opens the door to his dorm and is relieved to hear sounds of snoring coming from Sirius’s bed. He tiptoes to the edge of his own bed and lies Leo down on his pillow. Leo gets comfortable immediately, waiting for James to follow. James slips under his covers and gives Leo a small kiss between his eyes. He gets a little kiss back, on his cheek before he pulls away.
“Goodnight,” James says softly, suppressing a grin.
He gets a purr in response and it’s the last thing he thinks about before he drifts off to sleep with dreams of Regulus.
-------
James wakes up to the loudest shout he’s ever heard come out of his best friend in the form of
“JAMES!”
He immediately wakes up to find two things.
First, he sees Remus and Peter on the left side of his bed, the one closest to him. He mistakenly thought the sound was coming from their side, but they looked like giggling was all they could muster at that point.
Then, he sees Sirius by the right side of his bed, mouth open and eyes wide, flickering between him and something to his right.
His right?
What could possibly…
Regulus was in his bed.
James has never scrambled out of bed that quickly, detaching his limbs from where they were tangled with Regulus. And before any other thought could plague his mind, James instantly noticed how cold Regulus’ absence felt.
He was so confused, how did Regulus even get in here? It took him a while to piece it together, mostly because he couldn’t fathom what it meant for it all to be true. Regulus could see where this was going and briskly snapped,
“Don’t. Or I’ll tell them about Leo.”
“Wouldn’t I already technically be telling them about Leo?”
“Trying to be smart? You're the one with something to lose.”
“So are you .”
“James,” he says as a warning.
He's never heard Regulus call him by his first name before. James looked dazed, with a slight smile dancing across his lips. Of course, Sirius decides to pop his bubble with another scoff.
“WHAT THE HELL YOU TWO,” he continues, “AND WHO THE FUCK IS LEO?” Sirius delivers the final blow, “Since when have you guys been fucking behind my back?”
“Woah,” James says at the same time as Regulus mumbles, “I mean…”
James snaps his eyes onto Regulus.
“Really, Reg?”
James decides to answer Sirius first, “Leo is nobody, and I’m not shagging your brother.”
“Are you sure you don't wish you were beca-” Regulus tries to say but fails miserably as James shuts him up with a “Regulus Arcturus Black, you are not helping.”
Regulus laughs but ultimately decides to stop messing with him, directing all his mischievousness toward his brother.
“It’s none of your business who I choose to spend my time with. This is not some kind of betrayal so get over yourself, sharing is caring, Sirius.”
Sirius scoffs again, “In three seconds, I’m going to kill you.”
“Try me.”
Sirius does wait three seconds before he lunges, latching onto his little brother and rolling them swiftly off the bed with a thud. Immediately, the other three break them apart. Regulus doesn’t get a chance to catch his breath before James pulls him aside to the bathroom, hearing a distant ‘HEY’ coming out of Sirius. James peeks his head out to tell his sane friends to calm Sirius down, and he reassures Sirius that he isn’t going to ‘deflower’ his brother in their bathroom, slamming the door behind them.
“You!” He mutters at Regulus with a tone that suggests Regulus committed an act of high treason.
“What?” Regulus feigned innocence.
“Don’t ‘what?’ me. You’re a fucking animagus, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Regulus, ” he warns.
“I thought my name was Leo.”
“Don’t-”
“Named after your… what was it? ‘Favorite secret.’”
“Oh. Fuck you.”
“Whatever could you mean, James?”
“Don’t start,” James replies as he rolls his eyes, burying his face in his hands.
“It couldn’t possibly be feelings for me, huh James?”
James' heart was beating out of his chest.
“I mean it's not a coincidence that the Regulus star is a part of the Leo constellation.”
“Regulus, need I remind you you knowingly got into bed with me.”
Regulus stills for a second, an emotion other than satisfaction or sarcasm threads itself through his eyes, and James isn't done.
“Or that you clung to me?”
“Or kissed me?”
Regulus only realized he was slowly stepping back when his lower back hit the sink.
“You did that first,” he replies with his chin pointing higher. He won't let himself be led by James. “By that logic, You kissed me first.”
“I kissed a kitten I saw. YOU kissed me knowing who I was.”
James was almost pressed up against him.
“I kissed your cheek, stop making it sound like an actual kiss. “
A non-committal ‘mm’ left James' lips as his eyes look for Regulus’.
“You looked pathetically smitten.”
“Of course I was smitten,” James murmurs, “you make a cute fucking cat, Regulus Black.”
Regulus groans, “Don't call me cute.”
“Fine. Gorgeous. Stunning. Mindboggling-ly handsome. I can’t get enough of you, and you just proved that these thoughts don’t go unreturned,” he says, eyes trained on the other boy’s lips like he found them and isn’t ready to let them go just yet.
“And how exactly did I prove that?”
“Were you not listening?”
“Those don't count.”
“And why not?”
“Because I was just doing all those things for the hell of it. Maybe I wanted a bit of fun as a cat.”
“Sure, let me entertain the idea that I believe you, even then, I have evidence.”
“And that is?”
“Your eyes keep flickering to my lips, Reg.”
Oh.
Regulus can’t argue with that one.
James smiles at the sight in front of him, Regulus defeated. He tucks his fingers under Regulus’ chin to pull his face closer to his. Leaning closer, he finally gives them what they both want. James kisses him and it’s perfect .
Regulus snakes his hands around James, and leaves them in his hair, trying to hold onto something, while James' hands occupy themselves on Regulus’ waist. If Regulus wasn’t supported by the sink, his legs would’ve definitely given out, leaving him completely moldable under James' hands.
They pull apart but don’t pull away. Their foreheads touch, and James looks into Regulus’ eyes like he wishes they never had to move.
“What are we telling Sirius?” Regulus decides to evidently self-sabotage, but he knew they didn’t have much time.
James sighs, “I don't know, you don’t want him to know you’re an animagus?”
“It's not that I don’t trust him,” he says, picking his words carefully, “ it’s that he’ll never let me live this down. ‘Little Reggie turned to a life of crime by being an unregistered animagus.’ Sirius would have a field day with that one. Either that or he’ll threaten to tell everyone I'm a cat to get me to do his bidding for a while, you know him.”
James laughs.
“What?”
“‘Little Reggie?’”
“Oh shut up, you call me that and we’re done.”
“Oh we’re something, are we?”
“No, shut up, you’re confusing me.”
“We’ll circle back to that, but about Sirius, I have a feeling he’s going to accept you as a cat.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you trust me?”
Regulus looks into James's eyes, silence stretching around them until Regulus slowly nods.
“Follow me then,” James says, reaching for Regulus’ hand. They leave the bathroom that way and find Sirius, Remus, and Peter on James' bed. Sirius looks calmer, and he stands.
“You both should know I’m happy for you, I don’t know what I did to deserve such bad luck, but I support you. Also, I’m not really sure who I should give the talk to.”
“None of us,” Regulus suggests.
“Thanks for that, I’m glad you’re happy for us,” James smiles fondly at his friend before adding, “and for being so supportive, I have a way you can get your frustrations out on Regulus, Pads.”
“What is happening?” Regulus asks James, looking very confused, and rightfully so.
“Trust me?”
Regulus nods hesitantly. Sirius considerably perks up, “I’m listening.”
“HA! I knew that supportive bullshit was a ruse,” Regulus turns to Sirius.
“You’re right I was trying to lower your defenses so I could plot my revenge peacefully. It’s going to take me a while, but I’ll get there.”
They smile at each other.
“So, do you actually have a new way to bother Regulus?” Sirius turns his attention back to James.
James squeezes Regulus’ hand and whispers for him to transform.
“Are you sure?” He whispers back.
James nods, so Regulus suddenly shrinks down to his animagus form. Sirius is stunned, to say the least.
“Oh, bless you this was fucking perfect,” Sirius says before barreling into his best friend, arms outstretched as he buries James into a hug. Sirius wastes no time transforming into a dog. He decides to give Regulus a head start, waiting for him to get over his shock, and then swiftly decides to chase him around the room.
James, Remus, and Peter double over laughing. Remus turns to the person who he knows would make this scenario ten times more hilarious.
“How about we make this chase fair and add you into the mix, Wormtail?”
“In your fucking dreams, Moony.”
James can’t stop himself from wheezing at the thought.
As soon as Regulus gets enough space between him and Padfoot, he transforms back into his regular self.
“Fuck you, James” he huffs with a laugh, hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.
“You have to admit that it was fun.”
“Never,” he says with a smile, still catching his breath.
James decides to try one thing. He turns to Peter with his biggest puppy dog eyes.
“Peter, pretty please.”
“No.”
“I’ll do anything.”
“My transfiguration homework for two weeks.”
“Done.”
“Damn, I should've asked for three.” Peter scowls. “Fine.”
Peter, to the shock of only Regulus, promptly turns into a rat. Regulus’ smile is so wide it practically leaps off his face. But before it can, Peter quickly shifts back, sticking a finger out to Regulus in warning
“You will not chase me around, this isn’t a cat-and-mouse game.”
“Oh, but I think it is.”
“I'm not even a mouse so drop it.”
“Sure…”
He starts to turn to James to whisper a retort, only to find a large stag in the space where James once was.
Regulus' eyes bulge out of his head.
“YOU TOO?” He asks, mouth hanging open.
James, or Prongs, walks closer, lowering his head toward Regulus. Regulus takes that as a sign to pet Prongs, enjoying the surprise immensely. He reluctantly turns away to look at Remus, his curiosity getting the better of him.
“Lupin, you too?”
“Nope, just a werewolf,” he replies nonchalantly.
Regulus' eyes widen but only for a second before saying, “That's boring. Choose something better next time.”
“I’ll try,” Remus replies with a smile.
Regulus starts to feel an arm wrap around his waist. It was an arm that belongs to his James.
“You know, you’re pretty wicked,” Regulus says, mesmerized.
“And you’re pretty.”
Regulus chuckles, his eyes not leaving James for a while.