Crimson Rivers

Chapter 37

"-and then he said that's when he knew, and we had sex, which was so good, really good, because he's actually a fucking marvel with his mouth; no, you don't understand the things he can do, James, I mean it," Sirius is rambling in a breathless rush, propped up on the bed with a pillow in his lap, hugged to his chest, eyes so bright that the star he's named after must dripping with jealousy at the moment.

James struggles not to laugh. He's happy for Sirius, truly, but he can't help that he finds it incredibly amusing how giddy Sirius is right now. James honestly doesn't think he's ever seen Sirius get giggly and starry-eyed over...literally anyone. He's so in love that it would be painful if Remus didn't feel the same-though, thankfully, that's not the case.

"What can he do?" James asks, very much engaged in this conversation, mostly because Sirius is so happy and excited about the whole thing. Sirius immediately launches into a detailed description of all the things Remus can do with palpable delight. James can't blame him. It's just so lovely being in love, isn't it?

Most of the time.

James firmly shoves down the rising thought of Regulus that is never too far from the back of his mind. Now is not the time. This is not about him, and it's not about James. No, it's about Sirius and Remus, who are happy and in love and deserve every bit of joy that they get to share between them.

Not that James would know anything about what that's like.

Oh, for fuck's sake, James thinks in exasperation, doing the mental equivalent of swatting himself on his head. He absolutely refuses to be bitter right now. No. Just no.

It's nice, honestly, getting to see Sirius so happy, especially about this. When James got back from the interview-which went well enough-it didn't take very long for Remus and Sirius to resurface from their room; Sirius checked on them and asked how the interview went, and Remus actually fully let them all reunite with him this time. Not that James can blame him for failing to before, because he was sweeping Sirius off to be alone with him. They both look so happy together, just glowing, quite frankly. It sears James open with joy.

In any case, it took less than twenty minutes for Regulus to murmur quietly with Remus, who ended up slipping off with him, much to Sirius' dismay. He did bounce back the moment he realized he could get alone with James, giggling and gossiping with him like they're still stupid boys who haven't been exposed to the worst of the world yet.

Really, Remus being here seemed to just...make a lot of things better, for basically everyone. James himself is happy to see his friend again and know he's okay, and he's especially happy because Sirius is happy. Regulus seems to be essentially feeling the same way, from what James can tell, and it appears to have lifted his spirits quite a bit.

That made for a really good interview. James and Regulus went into it with good moods, so they actually did extremely well, if James does say so himself. James was especially bubbly, and Regulus was just very quietly pleased in that secretive way of his that James loves dearly. They put on quite the show, sitting so close together that Regulus was practically in his lap, being delightfully soppy. And Regulus kissed him.

This whole time, they've kept up appearances as a couple, but it's not as if couples walk around kissing all the time, so they were in the clear for that. Regulus wanted to keep it to a minimum, and James has respected that this entire time, keeping his mouth very firmly away from Regulus' face in literally any capacity. The one time he did anything was today, during that interview, because if there was ever a place...

Still, he only intended to kiss Regulus' cheek, that's it, but Regulus seemed to turn into it instinctively, so James caught the corner of his mouth instead, and for a moment, the entire room disappeared. Rita wasn't there. The crowd vanished. The cameras didn't exist. It was just Regulus, how close he was, the way James rested his forehead against Regulus' temple and let his eyes drift shut, just for a moment, feeling him, him, him...