Smile When You Dive In

Chapter 25

"Your friends are nice." James told him the next day, when Regulus caught up with him in the broom cupboard by Gryffindor tower. It was the first time they had been in there together since James had almost kissed him for the first time, and the fact was not lost on Regulus. He wondered how differently things would have gone if James had kissed him then, before he'd had a chance to overthink it or to talk to Carmen.

"Somebody alert the media, Slytherins can be nice." Regulus joked, and James shook his head fondly. It wasn't the best time to be in a broom cupboard, because people were still streaming down to the Great Hall for dinner. From his pocket, James retrieved the map and watched carefully as each set of footsteps passed by them. Privately, Regulus couldn't help but feel slightly needy, annoyed that James was paying more attention to an old bit of parchment than he was to him, but he watched along with James anyway as the last few students vacated the Gryffindor common room. If he had wondered how well the map worked earlier, the sound of footsteps outside the broom cupboard would have confirmed it's power for him.

"Right, come on." James said, pulling Regulus by the hand. Since he knew that the coast was clear, he didn't bother putting the map away, holding it out in front of them as they walked. Knowing that the coast was clear didn't make it feel any less scandalous to be walking through the corridors hand in hand with James Potter, but if James was apprehensive about their intertwined fingers, he made no sign of it. He stared at the map while Regulus stared at the place where their skin touched. It didn't occur to Regulus that James was leading him towards the Gryffindor common room until he uttered the password to the portrait.

"What are you doing?" Regulus hissed, sure that the lady in the portrait would begin to shout, causing a ruckus that would surely attract the attention of Professor McGonagall, or some of the other students. He did his best to keep close to James' back as they passed through the portrait, hoping desperately that she wouldn't see his green tie and declare him an intruder for all the castle to hear.

"Relax, there's nobody up here." James told him, shaking the map in his hand for emphasis. While the common room itself was a lot to take in, so different from the Slytherin one, James didn't give him even a moment to take it all in before he was leading him over to a set of stairs concealed behind scarlet drapes. The great fireplaces and tartan blankets thrown over worn-in armchairs would have to wait.

"James, we can't go up there!" He tried to tug at James' hand, to keep him in the common room where they could make a quick escape if they saw somebody coming back on the map, but James didn't seem convinced.

"Of course we can, they'll be down at dinner for an hour, at least." Since they had agreed to meet while the other Hogwarts students ate, Regulus had stuffed his satchel full of chocolate bars and various snacks that usually resided in his trunk so that neither of them would go hungry. Still, it didn't seem right to be sneaking into the common room at all, let alone into the boys' dorm. If he found out that Selwyn or Shafiq had brought some Gryffindor into their dorm... Well, he supposed that he wouldn't really care, since he spent as little time there as possible, but Sirius had always spoken of their dorm as some sacred oasis where he and his friends were rulers, their domain where he couldn't be reached by his evil family. He knew that the intrusion would be just another strike of betrayal by his and James' names alike.

"Are you sure?" He asked one last time, stilling at the bottom step as James began to take them two at a time. James looked down at him over his shoulder and paused.

"We can go somewhere else if you want to, I just thought..." James trailed off with a grin, and Regulus reluctantly began to climb the steps behind him. Once again, he was left wondering exactly what went on in James' head, what exactly he just thought. In the end, it didn't matter much to Regulus, because he knew that he'd give in regardless. They climbed the stairs up to the boys' dorm and James stopped after he'd walked in and held out an arm with pride, as though he were presenting a priceless piece of art and not the bedroom of four teenage boys.