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James had no shame whatsoever in the way he loved Regulus. He kept it quiet and lowkey because Reg is a quiet person and doesn’t like it when he is the center of attention.
Nevertheless, James loves Regulus as loudly as he likes when they are alone together whether in the slytherin dorm or the astronomy tower.
They also decide to not tell anyone but they won’t deny if they are asked about their relationship specifically.
Regulus never received shameless love before James. He had Sirius’ behind doors in Grimmauld Place where their parents couldn’t reprimand them for it. But with James, he had learned the warmth and the comfort of being loved loudly.
While they had their little bubble of love and comfort, people around were starting to suspect some things. And by people it’s mostly Barty and Evan because Regulus would have a small smile sometime (when James winks at him), something that never really happened before with the Slytherin ice prince. Also Sirius and Remus only had eyes for each other and Lily was busy pining after a certain blond Ravenclaw to care about it.
“Reggie, Reggie, Reggie .. you know you can't hide things from us, right ?” Regulus raised a single eyebrow looking at Barty and Evan with clear mischief in their eyes.
“What makes you think that first I would tell you everything about my life ?” Barty gasped dramatically.
“You hurt me ! We tell you everything !”
“No. You overshare with me every detail of your life that I didn’t ask for. I have no obligation to do the same.”
“And here I thought we were friends !” Barty was now in Evan’s arms as if he passed out.
“We’re roommates at most.”
“Whao .. Evan, did you hear that ? He acknowledged our existence and bond as roommates ! He really likes us !”
“Shut up, Crouch”
“No, no ! We’re not finished ! You really are not gonna tell us who melted your heart of ice ?”
“What are you talking about ?” Regulus did his best confused look (which looked perfect thanks to many years of hiding his real emotion behind a mask).
“So you’re telling me that the little smile you have sometimes and when your features soften it’s because you’re thinking about your books ?”
“Yes.”
“Oh come on ! You’re not even lying correctly ! Look at his heart eyes ! You’re thinking about her, aren’t you ?”
“Her ?” Now the confused look on Regulus’ face was real before he realized what he said and he paled a bit, not knowing how Barty and Evan were going to react.
“Oh ! Well look at that ! Reggie is playing in the same crowd as us ! Good to know we won’t have to hide anymore”
“Really ? You two together ? And here I thought you told me everything” Regulus smirked at them.
“Really ? You use that against me ? You didn’t gave us any sign that you were okay with that, us”
“You wanted a sign from me to tell me that you two were dating ?”
“You can’t really hold this against us, have you seen your parents ?”
Regulus wanted to defend them by reflex but stopped immediately realizing that it wouldn’t matter since everyone knew that Orion and Walburga Black were the most conservative people in England.
“Yeah, I know.” Regulus finally said.
“So who’s the lucky boy ?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know ?” Regulus was going to have some fun.
“Come on ! We just told you about us, you can now tell us about him.” Barty was not known to be patient.
“You know what. Guess.” Even if now they knew that Regulus didn't believe the same things as his parents, they would go as far as suspect a Gryffindor knowing his relationship with his brother was still rocky.
Regulus knew that he could have told them about James but he wanted to be selfish and have James all to himself without his roommates interfering and being .. Well Barty and Evan.
They took the challenge very seriously and observed Regulus really intensely. They made a list and board of investigation in their room. And as fun as it was for Reg, he knew that they were getting closer and closer everyday.
They figured it out at dinner time. Regulus and James had finished a silent conversation while looking in each other's eyes oblivious of the rest of the world.
Barty gasped, looked at Regulus and stood up and marched to the Gryffindor table with everybody looking at him curious. He stopped behind James and Regulus accepted being discovered and just nodded both at James to reassure him that everything was fine and he knew and to Barty to confirm his deduction.
“Potter, Potter, Potter. Keeping secrets are we ?”
“We’re not friends, Crouch. What makes you think I would tell you things ?”
“Whao.. you deserve each other, answering the same way and all”
“Oh really, and who is the other person ?” James could also play.
“You tell me ! We were having a nice conversation between friends-” You could hear Evan yelling “roommates” from the Slytherin table. “-and we learn that our dear Reggie has a secret lover.”
“He has ? He could have warned me !” James faked being shocked.
“Your sense of humor is atrocious, I don't know how he stands it.”
Sirius was watching the exchange utterly confused. First, why Barty, a Slythetin, was talking to James and second, why was he having fun while talking to him.
“Hold on. What’s this ? What are you doing here, snake ?” Sirius frowned.
“It doesn’t concern you Black, stay out of it” Barty bites back.
James put his hand on Sirius’ arm to stop him and let him handle it.
“Anyway ! Potter, what is your relationship with my dear roommate Regulus Black ?”
“You want to know what my relationship is between me and the love of my life and boyfriend Regulus Black ?” James was half smirking and half having the biggest smile on his face.
“Aha ! How scandalous ! The Slytherin ice prince with the Gryffindor sunshine ! I love it !” Barty was ecstatic to have cracked Regulus' challenge. Sirius on the other hand was not.
“What the hell, Prongs ? You’re dating my little brother ?” Sirius was yelling. And before James could respond he continued his ranting.
“My little brother ? How could you betray me ? A slytherin ? And he's probably using you, you don’t know him like I do. Tell me it’s a joke ! You can’t !”
Everyone heard him, Regulus too and it hurts hearing Sirius say those things. James on the other hand was livid, his face hard and cold glaring at Sirius who didn’t realize the change, only Barty did since he was close to them. It was going to be interesting.
“Listen Sirius, my relationship with Regulus doesn’t concern you. It’s my and Regulus’ business alone. I have no shame in how I love Regulus. I don’t care what you or other people think, I love him and will continue on loving the way he deserves to be. He might be your brother but he’s the love of my life. I intend to spend the rest of my days with him and grow old together no matter what anyone says. Even if you hate me for it, I don’t care. Especially if you hate me for loving Regulus, then I’m okay with it. I won’t apologize for loving him.”
With that James stood up and went to sit next to Regulus kissing his temple, glad that now he won’t need to love him quietly in public.
Regulus has been worried about Sirius' reaction and he has been right but what he didn’t expect is James’. Even if he was confident in the love they have for each other, he knew how strong the bond between James and Sirius was. He felt his heart melt even more for James when he was proclaiming his love for him and defending him against Sirius’ prejudice. And just like that, he took the opportunity to kiss James on the lips in front of everyone and prove a point. He loved James too and was ready to show it to whoever would doubt it.
James and Sirius took some time apart, mostly James. He spent most of his time with Regulus and by extension with Barty and Evan. They are chaotic but quite nice once you know them.
Sirius has tried to talk to James for weeks with no success. He had asked advice to Moony and Lily but they didn’t help him at all, telling him to figure it out on his own and maybe see it from another perspective. Even this little hint of advice didn’t help him understand anything. So he changed tactics and decided to talk to Regulus. It was definitely not easier since they were both avoiding him like the pest. So he tried the last place he would go: the library.
Discreetly he looked around and saw not only Regulus and James but also Remus and Lily talking to them having like a little study session. Sirius felt his heart break seeing what he had missed… and it was entirely his fault. James and Regulus' relationship could have helped him get closer to his brother and heal their relationship so they could be as close as they were as children. But mostly, he finally saw something that completely broke his heart. How long has it been since he saw Regulus smile so sincerely, be so carefree and happy. It’s all happening and he isn’t there with them. Hell ! He even rejected their confession and said those nasty things about Reg.
“Regulus ..” Sirius called him quietly but loud enough for the entire table to hear him and turn their head in his direction. Remus and Lily were surprised to see him, James was clearly angry and waiting what Sirius would do. Regulus looked a bit hopeful and scared at the same time, trying to understand what he was doing here and why he called for him.
“Can we talk ? .. Please ?” For once his voice wasn’t confident at all and that confused the four persons in front of him.
“Hum.. Yeah..” Regulus made a move to stand up and take Sirius out to talk, James tried to follow them but Reg stopped him and mouthed him ‘Not now’.
James watches anxiously as Regulus and Sirius leave the library. Remus reassures him that Sirius wanted to apologize for a while so it’s gonna be alright but still, James was worried about Reg being way more sensitive when it comes to Sirius.
Remus managed to convince James to continue studying while the brothers were out but it has been more than half an hour since they left and he couldn’t concentrate on anything else than checking on Reg. So he packed his stuff and took out the map to see where he was.
Surprisingly, Regulus and Sirius were still together and in the Gryffindors dorm. He didn’t waste more time and left for the dorm not before informing Remus and Lily where he went.
As James came closer to his dorm’s door, he became more careful of his step and tried to listen if he could hear anything. At first he couldn’t but as he got closer, he heard two calm voices talking. He was at least reassured that everything was fine since they weren’t screaming at each other.
“You know, I didn’t think you would have the balls to kiss James on the lips in the Great Hall, in front of everyone ! What a Gryffindor move !” James recognised Sirius’ voice.
“It’s all his fault ! Always being all Gryffindor and fucking perfect ! And the speech ! Please you would die if Remus did the same to you” Regulus sounded amused.
“First, it’s just James being James. Meet his parents and you’ll understand. Effie and Monty are heavenly parents. Second, I’m happy for you that he did that speech but I’m so fucking sorry for what I said and being the reason he had to say it in the first time..” Sirius sounded wounded.
“I swear you have apologized at least thirty times already, it’s fine ! You’re forgiven. Well maybe James will need a bit of convincing, he really was angry and sad about your reaction but don’t worry, I’ll help you. He can’t resist me.” Regulus giggled and James smiled from behind the door.
“For the record, if Moony makes a speech like that for me I’ll marry him on the spot.”
“Well, we’re not brothers for nothing if we have the same reaction with grand love confession.”
“What ?! Regulus Arcturus Black ! Did you just confess to me your intention on making James an honest man out of him ? Wait .. It’s gonna be impossible ! I need to be both of your best men !” Sirius sounded panicked and Regulus just burst out laughing. James was so concentrated in listening to the brothers’ discussion that he didn’t see Remus coming and yelped when he finally saw him with an eyebrow raised and a smirk. James frowned in response, knowing that both Regulus and Sirius had heard him.
“James, were you listening to us ?” Regulus had opened the door and was looking at James like a parent would look at a child caught red handed.
“Maybe ?” James answered with no conviction. Regulus just had to raise his eyebrow.
“Okay, I didn’t hear everything because Moony force me to study when you left but then it has been half an hour and you weren’t back so I used the map to see where you were because I was worried and you were here with Sirius so I thought that I would check on you to calm my nerve and I just wanted to see if everything was alright and listen an bit what you were talking about and..”
“James, breathe ! It’s okay, we’re okay. Thank you for worrying.” Regulus made James take deep breaths and laughed softly.
“So how much have you heard ?” James smiled brightly at the question and hugged him tightly.
“You want to marry me !” Regulus snorted at the response.
“Good thing that I love you.”
“I love you too. And I want to marry you too.”
“Good” Regulus and James both had soft smiles on their faces. Happy that the situation was resolved.
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It was now common for some Slytherin to eat at the Gryffindor table or the opposite. Today, James and Sirius needed to leave lunch early for Quidditch training. As they made their way out, James yelled “Love you Reggie !”, and Regulus responds “Love you too Jamie”. It was extremely sweet and Regulus was definitely redder than James while saying it. Although, when Remus saw Sirius mischievous smile and preparing to say something, he was quite to yell “Don’t !” while pointing at Sirius with a very serious (pun half intended) look. Sirius left pouting.