i really loved him

chapter 52

James POV

Sunday, 12th June, 16:00 - "Reggie, when was the last time you saw sunlight?"

"We're not talking about this again," Regulus sighed, not looking up from his book. "I know what sunlight is, James."

"Didn't ask if you knew what it was," James grinned. "I asked when you'd last seen it."

He rested his chin on the other boy's shoulder and glanced down at his work. Herbology. Probably the only subject Regulus ever had the mildest difficulty with, and only because he didn't like it. When he didn't respond, James pointed at the page with his quill.

"See, Puffapods get plenty," he said.

"Puffapods are also bright pink and release dizziness-inducing spores," Regulus replied, still not looking at him.

James smirked, leaning to whisper in his ear,

"I reckon you can be pretty dizziness-inducing, too."

His heart flipped when Regulus finally turned to face him. That had been the goal, after all. A red flush was spreading delicately over his cheekbones; something he couldn't hide behind the irritated spark in his eyes, however much he was clearly trying to. Smiling, James tucked a few curly strands of hair behind his ear. Regulus closed his eyes.

"Don't."

"Don't what?" he asked innocently.

"You're distracting me."

"Good," James huffed, leaning on his shoulder and sliding his arms around his waist. "You need distracting. You've been at this for hours."

"So have you."

Even before the words left his mouth, they both knew it was bollocks.

"Reggie, you're well aware that I've been pissing around since two."

"And you're well aware that you don't have to be here if you don't want to," Regulus said, breath catching as James pressed his lips to his neck.

"I do want to," James told him, in between peppering soft kisses all over his skin. "'Cause you're here. But you need to take a break."

"No, I don't."

"An hour," he wheedled; he nudged his nose against Regulus' cheek, earning a small chuckle even as the younger boy shook his head. "C'mon. Give me an hour, Reggie. We'll go outside, and you can show me your reading tree, and we can relax for a bit. Then we'll come straight back and I'll work until dinner. No complaints. Promise."

"Until dinner?"

He nodded earnestly. Regulus hesitated. It looked as though he was actually analysing through the pros and cons of the compromise in his mind, which wouldn't have surprised James in the slightest. When he frowned, glancing back down at his parchment with obvious reluctance on his face, James reached out and turned it over. It ached to see Reggie like this, so tense and serious and adamant to ignore his own exhaustion. Granted, he was always like that. But the upcoming exams were making it all worse, and James was determined to make it better again.

"Fine," Regulus said at last. "An hour. That... sounds nice."

James was already smiling, but when Regulus put down his quill just to pull him in for a quick kiss, he ended up beaming like an absolute dunderwhelp.

"That's my little Puffapod," he said happily.

And didn't quite duck away fast enough from the roll of parchment that promptly batted him over the head.

* * *

After weeks of relentless, drizzling rain, the appropriate June weather was finally deciding to show itself. Sunlight doused the grounds in gold, making the trees look greener and the lake look clearer, a deep, glistening navy blue. Tempting, actually, but James had an idea of how well that would go down with Regulus. Fields of daises were strewn over the grass - they took to stepping nimbly through the bare patches so as not to trample them - and it was warm, James thought, but not too warm. Not so hot that it prickled at his skin and made him drowsy just by being awake, but mild enough to whip off his cloak and roll up the sleeves of his shirt.