Astronomy

Seventeen: James

    James had waited for Reggie to change and the dragged him down the corridor to the front of the school to start the walk to Hogsmeade.
    "What did you do all summer?" James asked. Reggie's hair had grown out a bit and he looked a bit older, in a way.
    "Absolutely nothing," he sighed. "How about you?"
    "Same here. After Sirius left it was just my parents and I."
    "Me too, when Sirius was gone."
    James glances over to Reggie, because he had gotten quiet with the mention of his parents. Before he could say anything, he felt a drop of rain on his nose.
    He looked up, and the rain started coming down harder. James watched as Reggie laughed and pulled his jacket over his head, and he smiled and did the same.
    "I love the rain," Reggie said. He reached out and grinned. "It's so much fun."
    "I don't like it much," James complained. "Makes me cold."
    They had finally reached Hogsmeade, and James was going to suggest that they walk around some more when he saw Remus and Sirius walking around. He stiffened up and pulled Regulus behind the nearest store.
"What the hell, James?" Regulus started. "What are you doing?"
"Your brother is right there," James whispered. "He'd be mad if he found out we're friends."
    Reggie peered ahead. Remus and Sirius were still walking around, with no indication they were planning on leaving anytime soon.
    "Let's go inside," Reggie suggested. "It's cold out here."
    They quickly ran inside the building they were hiding behind. It was a restaurant, more like a cafe, and they sat at a table in the back, laughing loudly.
    "Why are we so scared of Sirius, though?" James asked. "Maybe he wouldn't mind that much."
    Reggie grinned, a rare smile, something James loved to see but rarely got to. "I think he'd be a little pissed off."
    "You're probably right."
Reggie was about to respond when James noticed his face freeze suddenly. He shrinked down in his seat slightly.
James turned around and noticed Reggie's two friends Even and Leo walk in. They were laughing and hadn't noticed the two of them in the back of the restaurant.
Reggie's face was turning an unnatural shade of white.
"You good, Reggie?" Regulus' eyes were locked on Leo and Eve. "Let's go," James whispered. "We can go somewhere else."
Reggie nodded and the two of them ran out the back door of the cafe.
"Leo would never, ever let me hear the end of this, if he had seen us," Reggie said under his breath. He was starting to look normal again. "What do you wanna do?"
James looked around and kicked the snow on the ground gently. "You know what we should do? We should make a snowman." He didn't wait for an answer, but sat on the back steps of the building and started rolling snow.
Reggie chuckled and started to help him out, and there it was again, a smile. Reggie never really smiled, or even seemed remotely happy, so James was glad to see him having a good time.
His hair was hanging a bit in his face, and he tucked it behind his ear without looking up. James watched and suddenly had a sinking feeling in his stomach, but at first he wasn't sure why.
Then it hit him. Reggie was not a normal friend.
He didn't feel this way about Sirius, or Remus, or Peter. He loved them all, that was true, but he never felt this queasy nervousness he felt when he was with Reggie, and that scared him.
He sat back and smiled, acting as if he hadn't just had a major realization that shook him to his core. He had only felt as though he could like someone about one other person in his whole life, and that was Lily Evans. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he would chose Reggie over Lily, any day. It wasn't even a question, really.
He hadn't thought he liked anyone, not like that, but then again, now he had figured out he liked Reggie. How long had this been going on without him knowing? Had he just started liking Reggie? Had he always liked Reggie? Too many questions were swirling around in James' mind, but the main question stood out above the rest.
Why did he like a boy?
His heart was beating faster than usual and his hands felt numb from the nervousness of the whole situation.
He looked up at Reggie and the thought was just reinforced in his mind.
    He liked Regulus Black.
    Reggie who was always there for him, Reggie who was quiet and liked to draw, Reggie who looked really cute when he frowned and told James that whatever he had just said was stupid. He liked Reggie.