roof - @jeggyverses-jegulus-microfic - word count: 385
Nobody knows about this particular hiding spot.
This is the place Regulus goes to think, to breathe, to be alone.
He sits on the roof of Greenhouse Three and looks at the mountains and wonders what it would be like to be someone different–someone with different parents, different expectations, a whole different fucking life.
And lately, he hates the fact that he wants someone there with him. Someone he can never have.
It makes the whole thing more complicated, because Regulus is nothing if not hyperindependent. His decisions, his thoughts, his feelings–they all belong solely to him. Giving them to someone else is a vulnerability so complex that his heart clenches at the thought.
So he decides to continue on this path, because what other options does he have, really?
But fucking James Potter doesn’t get the message.
He appears next to him one evening, just as the sun flashes orange and pink on the horizon, sitting down next to Regulus like he’s been fucking invited there.
All Regulus can think to say is, “Stalking is illegal, you know.” Because Potter keeps showing up. Keeps insisting that somehow, they can make this work.
He’s an idiot, obviously.
Potter just laughs. “Gonna push me off, then?”
Regulus considers it for a moment, but decides being expelled isn’t worth it.
Neither is the heartache.
“You know, stealing is illegal, too,” the Gryffindor adds conversationally, as if talking is something they do. As if they’ve done more than snog in broom cupboards and exchange heated glances across the Great Hall. As if Regulus hasn’t rejected him fifty times, citing excuses that have become more and more feeble.
“Ten points to Gryffindor,” Regulus drawls, rolling his eyes. “And you’re telling me this because?”
“You stole my heart. So we’re even.”
He shouldn’t be so caught off-guard by the stupid, cheesy line. He should scoff and leave, tell James to find someone else to bother. But for some reason, in his fragile state, he just turns to the older boy and stares, and–oh.
He looks so fucking serious. Like he truly means what he’s saying. Eyes wide, teeth indenting his lower lip, mouth curved in a small, genuine smile, James is being honest.
Regulus kisses him without thinking.
It’s the first time they’ve kissed in the sunlight.