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James Potter has an obsession with Regulus Black's mouth.
It started off innocent, really. Well, innocent enough, considering the circumstances. And barring his admiration — and devastating crush — on the boy since the latter hexed him after he pranked Regulus and his Slytherin friends, but that was neither here nor there.
It started during a Quidditch match, and Slytherin and Gryffindor were both at 100 points. The time was ticking and emotions were running high. Right when Regulus spotted the snitch and dove down to catch it, a miscalculatedly thrown quaffle caught him on the side of the face, causing him to lose balance and fall off his broom.
James, being the chaser who had been going after that quaffle, saw all this happen right in front of him. With the opposing seeker out and one last quaffle throw to score a win, James dove down to catch the falling Slytherin without a second thought.
"Angie!" He yelled behind him, signalling the other chaser to go after the stray quaffle instead, and she yelled an affirmative in response. Regulus, however, was still falling.
Pressing himself lower onto his broom, he dove down and spun, reaching out a hand and feeling his heart swoop in relief when Regulus reached out and caught it. Slowing down, he pulled Regulus in and caught him around the waist, right before they both landed heavily on their feet on solid ground. Regulus stumbled as he pressed a hand over his face, and James steadied him with his arm.
"Reg! Are you okay?" He asked. Blood was dripping down Regulus' neck and palm, staining the dark green of his uniform.
"Fine." Regulus gritted out, and tried to push him away. James let him go, but immediately held onto him once again when Regulus wobbled and almost fell to his knees.
"I said I'm fine, Potter, just tell Madam Pom-"
"REGGIE!"
They both whipped their heads around to see a very frazzled Sirius Black come flying through the crowd that had started to build up. James hadn't even noticed that the game had ended, and the students in the stands had started to come down to the pitch.
He could see Angie, the other Gryffindor chaser he had called out to earlier, and she gave him a curt nod. They won. The victory tasted sour in his mouth, though.
"Merlin, are you okay? Fuck, you're bleeding!" Sirius was saying when he came closer, immediately cradling his brother's face and turning it this way and that. Regulus stayed still, but the wince on his face remained as Sirius patted him down to check for any other wounds.
"Black. Infirmary, now." Madam Hooch, who had also come down the pitch, said.
"Potter, please." She gestured towards a stretcher, signalling at James to let him sit, but Regulus held out a hand.
"I can walk, it's alright." He said, but Sirius immediately piped up.
"Just get on the damn stretcher, Reggie."
"Don't tell me what to do, Sirius." He snapped back, almost automatically, and James could see the regret cross his face as soon as he said it. Sirius opened his mouth to retort, but Remus, who had somehow magically appeared beside his boyfriend, placed a hand on his shoulder, calming him down.
Leaning down, James angled his head beside Regulus' ear and muttered, "Get on the stretcher or I'm carrying you through the halls just like this."
He squeezed Regulus' waist for emphasis, before continuing, "bridal style."
And James Potter was totally not fucking hyperventilating inside because this was the longest Regulus had ever let James come close to him, much less the longest he had ever held him.
Yeah. He was fine. So fine.
At his dismay, Regulus jerked away from him and waved the stretcher over. James helped him settle down, and let Madam Hooch whisk him away into the infirmary.
He walked over to Sirius and Remus, and they hurried to the infirmary. Peter caught up to them at the end of the pitch, and they all walked in sullen silence.
Sirius and Regulus had decided to reunite after the latter had turned eighteen. Regulus was still staying at the Black Manor, and Sirius with the Potters, but they had set aside their differences and had reconciled after a very lengthy — and incredibly emotional — talk.
Regulus had promised to let Sirius check up on him from time to time, and as a compromise, Sirius had to let him be at the Black Manor.
"I know what I'm doing, Sirius. Just... trust me, okay? It's a little hard to believe right now, but I'm finding a way to get out. But also, get everything else that they own." Regulus had said.
Sirius had almost broken down on the spot had it not been for a well timed interruption from the rest of the Marauders. Who definitely weren't eavesdropping. Nope.
That had been almost a year ago. The Black brothers had been civil with one another then, but they had gradually grown closer once Remus had suggested they schedule some activities together, such as group studies, Saturday afternoons at Hogsmeade, and regular letters between one another during holidays.
Which brought them to the present, where Regulus was nursing a broken nose, a split lip, and a heavily bruised left cheek, with an incredibly worried Sirius fussing over him.
"What do you mean, you can't heal it? Isn't that what the infirmary does? Don't we have healing spells for that?" Sirius asked as soon as Madam Pomfrey had explained the situation once they got inside the infirmary and saw Regulus holding an ice pack to his face.
"I can definitely heal his wounds, Mister Black, but that does not mean I should. Piecing his nose and jaw back together is easy, but the rest of the bruises and cuts can heal themselves just fine without any magic. Just a potion to speed up the process and some rest and he will be alright."
"Besides," Regulus said, his words muffled by the ice pack, "it's only for a few days. I'll be fine by Saturday."
"But-" Sirius started, but Madam Pomfrey lifted a finger and tutted at him.
"If I fix his cuts without letting the body heal itself naturally, it may end up crooked and mismatched. Do you want that to happen?"
Sirius snapped his mouth shut.
"That's what I thought. Now, boys, if you will excuse me." She disappeared in a ruffle of skirts and the faint scent of peppermint.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Sirius asked, and Regulus nodded. He put the ice pack down to let Sirius survey his face once more.
"It's just a cut, Sirius. I'll be fine. Madam Pomfrey healed the worst of it- ow!"
Sirius withdrew his finger, which he had used to poke at Regulus' cheek.
"Fine?"
"Merlin, you're unbearable." Regulus muttered.
And honestly, James was caught in the wrong moment at the wrong time. He had glanced at the brothers from time to time, but just as he turned to them to call Sirius and tell him to let his brother rest, Regulus' tongue darted out to lick at the cut on his bottom lip.
Honestly. Such a bad time.
His gaze flicked down to Regulus' mouth, and okay, he knew the boy was absolutely drop dead gorgeous. Sharp features, piercing storm gray eyes, and pink, pouty lips that were incredibly dangerous to James' self control.
But this? This one took the cake. His gaze lingered on Regulus' mouth for a moment too long, mesmerized by the plushness of his bottom lip, made even more apparent by the reddened cut blooming on the side of it.
Fuck. He was so screwed.
"Prongs?" Remus nudged him, and James snapped into motion, pulling his gaze away from Regulus' mouth. He placed a hand on Sirius' shoulder and gently steered him away.
"Pads, he said he's fine. Come on, let's leave him to rest, yeah?"
Sirius sighed, and reached out a hand to ruffle Regulus' hair, earning him a glower from the latter. And James resolutely did not look down at him lest he see that mouth pouting, as it often did when Regulus glowered at his brother.
"Yeah, alright. Just call for me anytime you feel-"
"Yes, Sirius, I know. Now stop fussing."
"Who's fussing?" A voice said from the doorway. Evan Rosier stepped in, and the rest of Regulus' Slytherin friends filed into the room in a flurry of green and black robes.
"Oh, it's you." Evan grinned at Sirius, who narrowed his eyes at them.
"And that's our cue to leave, Pads." James muttered to him, tugging him away as the Slytherins took their place.
"Potter."
James turned around, expecting an insult or some kind of harsh comment, only to see Regulus prodding at the cut on his lip once more with his tongue.
Honestly. That should be illegal.
Resolutely keeping his eyes on Regulus' eyes and not his mouth, he let out a forced, "yeah?"
Regulus hesitated.
"Thank you."
James' heart swooped and most definitely started doing acrobatics inside his chest. Perhaps even gymnastics. Trapezing, maybe.
But outwardly, he nodded and gave the boy his best smile. "Of course, anytime."
He turned around before he did something stupid like get down on his knees and confess his love for Regulus, and ushered the rest of the Marauders out of the room. And he was definitely not blushing.
— ☆ —
Friday was Remus and Regulus' scheduled study group. Granted, they had already started studying together a few times before the brothers reconciled, but the meetings were definitely more regular now. Usually, it was only Remus, Regulus, and Dorcas, Regulus' Slytherin friend, who studied together, but this time, James and Marlene tagged along.
James because he had a potions exam coming up, and Marlene because she wanted to try and get to know Dorcas better. Or, in her own words, 'sweep her off her feet and make her mine.'
James couldn't say he wanted to do the same to a certain dark haired Slytherin, but the potions exam had him stressing out too much to think about romancing the younger Black right now.
That was, until Regulus started tutoring him on potions and James just could not keep his eyes off of his mouth. It was concerning, really.
"-and Bergamot shouldn't be added after, it has to be before the unicorn hair or else the pot will overflow from the combined- James. James?"
James looked up into a pair of stormy grey eyes watching him. Oops.
"Are you listening?"
"Uh, yeah, yeah, totally." He nodded.
Regulus squinted at him. "Did you hear what I just said?"
No, because I was too busy staring at your lips that I really, really want to just kiss right now, his brain supplied helpfully, but thankfully, his mouth answered differently.
"Unicorn hair before bergamot, yep."
The surprise in Regulus' face was enough to snap him back to reality.
"Hey, I'm a top student, too, you know. Just not at potions." He winked at Regulus and picked up his quill to write down what he just heard.
"Oi, you two, are you done? Dorcas and I are gonna take a walk, and it looks like loverboy here wants to get back to his boyfriend ASAP."
They both turned at the sound of Marlene's voice. Regulus scowled at the mention of his brother's relationship but shooed them away regardless, but not before shooting a knowing look at Dorcas, who blushed.
Once they were out of earshot, James leaned in conspiratorily and murmured, "was it a mistake letting those two meet one another?"
Surprisingly, Regulus leaned in as well. "Considering the amount of heart eyes we're about to be getting soon? I think so."
James laughed and picked his quill back up.
"You were saying?"
— ☆ —
Saturday came the time for their regular Hogsmeade meet up. Usually, both friend groups were present, but now it had just been Remus, Sirius, James and Regulus who went. Peter and the girls had to catch up on Herbology, and the Slytherins were apparently too 'busy,' according to Regulus.
James had a feeling they just didn't want to show up once they knew it was just going to be them, but regardless, he was pretty stoked because he was getting to spend time with Regulus. Their past few meetings never went necessarily well, but after the reconciliation and the accident at the pitch, they started talking more regularly, and James was finding out how much of a joy Regulus was to be around. Around his brother, his coldness and sharp exterior seemed to melt a little, and James was incredibly grateful that they made up because he would have never been able to bring out this side of Regulus just by himself.
"So Quidditch is Dorcas' thing, Barty's and Evan's is insulting one another, and Pandora's is foresight and prophecies. What's yours?"
Regulus took a sip of his butterbeer then shrugged.
"Putting up with all of them?"
Sirius snorted into his cup. Overall, it was turning out to be a wonderful evening. That is, until Regulus started prodding at his lip once more with his tongue and honestly, could anyone blame James for the way he reacted?
Because he definitely meant to knock over his beer cup and get it all over himself. Yep. Definitely on purpose.
Regulus may have started to get a bad habit of licking his bottom lip, even after the cut had already fully healed, and it was doing nothing for James' steadily growing attraction for him.
He excused himself from the table and spent about 10 minutes with his face in his hands in the bathroom, willing for his growing erection to calm down and not expose his thinly veiled desire for his best friend's younger brother. Cool. So cool.
"Merlin, what a mess." he groaned, before waving a hand and cleaning up the beer that had spilled onto his clothes.
This was turning out to be a very, very, dangerous obsession. And Regulus didn't even seem to know what he was doing to him.
— ☆ —
A few weeks passed and James didn't see much of Regulus, as he was busy with his Potions exam. He was, however, notified that Regulus had been promoted to Slytherin prefect, so they didn't see him much either during their regularly scheduled meet ups.
When James saw Regulus again, it was at the Gryffindor year-end house party. He was told by Sirius that there were no promises that Regulus could attend, but when James saw the familiar lean figure lounging on one of the common room couches, his heart practically leapt with joy.
"Hey, Reg! I thought you couldn't come?" He greeted, plopping down onto the couch next to him.
Regulus hummed in greeting. He was wearing his regular house robes, with the new prefect badge glinting under the dim lights. James couldn't help reaching out and touching it.
"Jealous, Potter?"
James laughed and ran his thumb over the badge.
"As jealous as the Head Boy of Gryffindor would be, I suppose?" He answered, and smiled when Regulus glowered at him.
"Where's the rest of you, anyway?" Regulus muttered, and popped a lolly into his mouth. James, naturally, looked down at his lips.
Where the fuck did that come from? Had he always been holding that?
"I- uh... What?" He stammered, gaze too transfixed on the way Regulus rolled the candy in his mouth before taking it out to speak. The red candy left a shiny glaze on his lips and damn it all if James didn't want to grab him and kiss him senseless right then and there.
"The rest of you? Your 'Marauders'?" Regulus held his fingers up in air quotes as he said the word, and James forced his eyes away from his mouth.
"Pads and Moony are probably in the room-" James laughed when Regulus' full body shivered next to him, "and Wormtail's off with Rhea, I think. They're pretty cute, he met her in the chess club."
Regulus hummed, rolling the lolly once more in his mouth. "And here you are."
James spread his arms and bowed with his head. "And here I am."
He hadn't realized it, but Regulus had moved closer to him somehow. Did he move while James was talking? Were they always this close? He swore he could count the freckles dusting Regulus' cheekbones and nose from this distance.
"And you? What are your plans?" Regulus asked, voice low. The lolly was still in his mouth, and he made a point of sucking at it before pulling it out with a wet pop.
Fuck. Okay. He was definitely doing this on purpose.
James swallowed, trying and failing to pull his eyes away from Regulus' mouth.
"Nothing in particular." He answered, proud of the way his voice came out only slightly breathless and definitely not incredibly fucking turned on.
Regulus hummed again, and licked at the lolly before popping it back in his mouth.
"You seem to have your sights set on something in particular, though?" he said, mouth working around the lolly's stick as he spoke.
Yep. He knows. He definitely knows.
James opened his mouth to say something, but his brain unhelpfully didn't supply him with anything. Regulus' eyes crinkled in humor, and he pulled the lolly out of his mouth. Leaning closer, he placed a thumb on James' chin and pulled it down, opening his mouth wide enough for him to push the lolly in. James watched all this unfold like he was having an out of body experience, mesmerized by the graceful way Regulus maneuvered his body around him.
Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuck this is fucking insane
Regulus pushed James' chin back up and licked his lips before pulling away. James remained motionless, eyes wide and tongue still on the lolly as it melted slowly in his mouth.
"Well, this has been a great party, Potter, but I have prefect duties to attend to. Enjoy the rest of your night." He tilted his head in a small bow, a light smirk gracing his lips, before turning and leaving.
James swallowed. Then he swallowed again. Fuck, the lolly tasted like strawberries. He let his head fall back on the couch and tried his damn hardest not to scream. Or cry. Maybe both.
"I'm so fucked." He whispered to no one in particular. He pulled the lolly out and inspected it. The candy was almost two thirds gone, and the shiny red made him think of Regulus' candy stained lips.
Merlin, he was a goner.
"Now that was the most sexual tension I've ever seen you have with anybody, Potter." A voice said behind him, and James let his head fall back further to see Marlene and Dorcas staring at him.
"And trust me, I've seen you have tension with a broom." Marlene continued with a laugh.
James groaned and crunched the rest of the candy off of the stick. He tossed the stick away, hoping that not seeing it would cleanse him of the insistent image of Regulus Black's mouth from his mind, but alas.
"Marls," he said, tugging almost pitifully at the bottom of Marlene's tank top. "Help me out here."
"I'm surprised you didn't run after him immediately after all... that." Marlene gestured with her hands, and James groaned again.
"He said he had prefect duties." James muttered forlornly.
Dorcas' eyebrow rose. "And you believed him?"
James stared at the ceiling for a moment, then straightened up and twisted around to look at them. "What do you mean?"
Dorcas shrugged. "Reg said he already passed off his rounds today to Alyssa. He's free for the rest of the night. You know, just in case you wanted to know."
Marlene grinned at him, and punched him in the shoulder.
"Go get that boy, Potter."
The speed at which James leapt off of the couch and ran to the doors should've been alarming to his joints, but he didn't care. Merlin, how could he be so stupid? That was a clear invitation from Regulus himself, but he was so much of an idiot that he actually believed him.
As soon as James got out of the common room, he grabbed the Marauders Map hidden in an inner pocket of his robe. After muttering the words, the Map unfurled and James immediately checked the three likely places Regulus could be at this hour. Not that he memorized them, of course. Obviously not.
When he finally spotted him, James smiled at the location, and he quickly pocketed the Map as he walked, careful to avoid any roaming prefects and Mr. Filch's cat at this hour of the night. The invisibility cloak was in his bag back at the dorms, but he didn't want to disturb Remus and Sirius.
The library was dark by the time James arrived, but a dim light in one of the corner tables guided him to where he needed to go. But Regulus was nowhere to be seen. James' heart sank in disappointment, but he heard a soft shuffling by one of the shelves, and he turned in its direction.
"Regulus?" he called out softly.
Regulus appeared from behind the shelves, holding a small stack of books. He flashed him a small smile.
"And here I thought you'd never get the hint-"
His sentence was cut off when James surged forward, grabbed Regulus by the face and kissed him. The books dropped to the ground, and Regulus stumbled backwards, his hands coming up to grab James by the arms to steady himself.
James walked them backwards until Regulus' back hit a shelf, before pulling away slightly. Regulus took a deep breath, grey eyes wide open and starkly clear in the dim light of the library.
"Merlin, Reg, do you have any idea what you've just done to me?" James whispered harshly, his breaths coming out in quick, staggered beats.
Regulus blinked rapidly up at him, mouth slightly open in surprise. He licked his lips and smiled when James' gaze dropped down to them.
"No?" He answered, his grin widening when James tightened his grip on his chin. "Why don't you show me?" He continued, and well, James didn't want to argue with that.
He leaned in and captured Regulus' lips in a searing kiss, his other hand moving down to his waist and pulling Regulus flush against his body.
Regulus gasped at the contact, and James took the moment to lick into Regulus' mouth and suck lightly at his bottom lip, earning him a breathy moan.
James' hand moved from Regulus' chin to his hair, burying his fingers in those soft curls and tugging. Regulus practically melted in his arms, another moan pulled from his throat as James pressed in closer.
"James," Regulus gasped when James pulled away, moving his lips from Regulus' mouth and down to his jaw.
"Fuck, wait-"
His words dissolved into a breathy groan when James sucked in his earlobe and grazed his teeth along the soft skin.
"Merlin, you're impatient." Regulus murmured as James pulled away to look at him. His lips, already red from the candy, were now slick with spit and kissed raw. A pink flush dusted his cheekbones and throat, his carefully styled curls a mess.
"After what you just did to me in the common room? I'd say there's hardly any difference."
Regulus grinned and pulled him in for another kiss, this one a little more chaste.
"Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for you to do this?" He murmured against his lips.
"Fuck, do you have any idea how long I've been wanting to do this?" He answered, before pulling Regulus in for another kiss.
James' hands roamed Regulus' lean frame, running his hands down his torso and squeezing his waist, earning him a light gasp from the latter. He pressed in close and tugged one of Regulus' thighs upwards, letting him lean against the shelf for balance. He slotted a thigh in between Regulus' legs and relished in the moan that spilled from his mouth.
"James. James, wait, not- not here." He gasped, but his hips moved anyway, seeking friction.
James moved his mouth down to Regulus' throat, enjoying the small sounds that spilled from his mouth.
"I'd hate to let you go to bed in this state, love." He muttered against the pale skin of Regulus' throat. "I'm a gentleman like that."
When he glanced upwards, Regulus' head was thrown back against the shelf, his bottom lip caught in between his teeth. And by Merlin, James had never seen anything more beautiful and arousing than the sight of Regulus Black in the throes of pleasure. His body felt hot— way too hot, like it had gathered all the heat from the fucking sun and poured them all out in this one, singular moment. The feeling of their heated, clothed skin against one another was addictive, and James pressed in closer to him, a hand sliding up his shirt and swiping a thumb harshly at one of his pert nipples.
"Fuck, you're insane." Regulus groaned, his hips moving erratically now. James' hands went down to Regulus' hips, steadying them and guiding his thrusts better.
"Oh- oh Merlin, fuck, I-" He gasped, and James grazed his teeth along the skin of his throat.
"Come on, love. You can come just from this, yeah?" James placed a chaste kiss on his jaw before moving down to the exposed skin between his neck and his shoulder.
He bit down harshly on the soft skin, and Regulus shuddered, a soft cry pulled from his throat as he came. James murmured soft encouragements against his skin, soothing the bite with his tongue and another kiss before pulling away and observing Regulus.
His blush had grown darker, and a light sheen of sweat now covered his skin. He breathed heavily for a few moments, eyes locked on James' as he came down from his euphoric high.
When he straightened up, James let his thigh down and cast a quick Scourgify to clean the mess they'd just made. Regulus cleared his throat and straightened his tie, which James had loosened and tugged on earlier in their haste to be as close to one another as possible. James leaned over Regulus, using an arm braced against the shelf behind him for support.
"So? Was that what you were expecting?" He started. They looked at one another for a moment, before dissolving in a fit of laughter.
"Merlin," Regulus gasped, a hand coming up to cover his mouth. "That was definitely more than what I was expecting."
"I don't do things half-heartedly, love." James said, throwing him a wink. "Besides, as I said, I've been wanting to do that for the longest time now."
Regulus glanced up at him, shy all of a sudden. "Since- uhm, since when?"
James shrugged — well, as much as he could, considering his arm was still braced on the shelf behind Regulus — and said, "since the day you hexed me after the prank we did on you at the gardens."
Regulus' nose crinkled in disbelief. Fuck, and isn't that adorable?
"Seriously? That was way back in your fifth year. Ever since then?"
James tilted his head in acknowledgement. Regulus leaned back against the shelf and considered him for a moment.
"I've liked you since I was in 2nd." He said casually.
James frowned.
"What? I was a proper jerk to you back then!"
And it was true. He'd seen first hand what the Blacks had done to his best friend, and young as he was, the younger Black who had chosen to stay behind was definitely not free from the Marauders' hate and spite. But that was then.
"You were also the one to take my brother in when he had nowhere else to go. I might've hated you for it back then since I thought you were taking my brother away from me, but..." Regulus shrugged. "It was a noble thing to do."
"Love, you know I would've taken you in-" Regulus shushed him by taking his face in between his hands and placing a chaste kiss on his lips.
"That's all well and done. I'm mature enough now to deal with my parents, and I have a pretty solid plan of getting what I want out of them before sending them away."
James nodded, and pressed his forehead to Regulus'.
"Alright," he said. "I trust you."
"By the way," Regulus started, pulling away from him. "You've been staring at my mouth an awful lot recently. I understand you wanted to kiss me but it definitely got more obvious the past few weeks."
At Regulus' raised eyebrow, James laughed and kissed him. "What, a man can't yearn for the most kissable lips in the castle?"
Regulus' nose crinkled again. "Ugh, that was awful. You should reconsider your options after graduation. You sound like you'd do well at a comedy club."
James laughed again, his chest definitely feeling lighter now. He got to kiss the Regulus Black after all — the boy he'd been wanting for two years, and had just discovered had liked him for even longer. Merlin forbid he felt a little giddy.
"After you got that split lip, you've gotten into the habit of licking at your wound. It was... rather distracting, to say the least." James explained, and Regulus nodded in understanding. Then his tongue flicked out to lick at his lips.
"Merlin, save me." James groaned, letting his head fall down onto Regulus' shoulders, which shook slightly as he laughed at him. "You're gonna use that to your advantage now, aren't you?"
"Why? Are you thinking of kissing me again?"
James' head snapped up, and he held Regulus' gaze as he spoke. "I'd kiss you any chance I'd get if I could."
Regulus pretended to consider this, a finger coming up to press against his lip as he thought about it.
"Daily?"
"Sweetheart, I would kiss you every goddamn minute if you'd let me."
"Deal."
James pulled him in for another kiss, his hand trailing down Regulus' arm and down to his hand to intertwine their fingers. Regulus wrapped a hand around his tie and tugged him in closer, his mouth opening in a silent invitation for more.
And when it came to Regulus Black, James Potter was a weak, weak man. Who was he to deny what he wanted?
— ☆ end ☆ —