Boys in Pieces

Words to live by

James sat on the stone flooring of the tower smiling softly at the boy in front of him.

"You're Regulus right?" Regulus smiled a bit, James Potter knew his name? He knew Sirius couldn't possibly talk about him, let alone show what he looked like so how could he know?

"Uh yeah? How do you know who I am?" James was a bit taken aback, his brows furrowing as his glasses slid down the bridge of his nose.

"Well, I see you around, a lot. And you look a lot like Sirius." He shrugged, pushing his glasses up yet again.

"Oh, yeah I guess. And you are 'The James Potter.'" James eyed Regulus up and down, wondering but knowing how he knew who he was.

"Mhm, how exactly do you know that? A little creepy." His arms crossed and his brows furrowed, and Regulus just stood there, rolling his eyes.

"Well, you don't exactly keep to yourself. You have quite the reputation here James." James nodded in agreement, smiling widely as he heard that people hear of him.

"If you don't mind me asking, why do your glasses always fall down?" Regulus was genuinely curious, he had seen James in the corridors and the great hall always pushing his glasses up with his knuckle. That couldn't possibly be normal with glasses, and if it was normal there needed to be serious upgrades.

"Oh um, that's an um weird question," James smiled awkwardly, his awkwardness around new people hiding the best of him away as he continued to give a showing smile for way too long. "But er- in my first three years here I would always do stupid shit with Sirius and Remus that would break my glasses. Now they're just at a point where they're too broken because of it and slide down my face all the time." James shrugged, pushing the glasses up once more as Regulus laughed softly.

"That was definitely not my first guess." James smiled and nodded, assuming there were far worse things he could've been thinking.

"I hide the tape. Wanna sit?" James patted the spot next to him, graciously offering the boy a seat.

"I don't know-"

"So Reg, wait- can I call you that?" James looked at Regulus, awaiting an answer before he continued to speak. Regulus felt a swarm of butterflies pool in his stomach, one: nobody has ever called him that, and two: James asked if it was okay, he considered Regulus had feelings. Something not many people take the time to do.

"How about you stick to Regulus, for now, Potter."

"Potter? Alright, I'll take it. It's better than some of the horrid nicknames Slytherins have made up for me." James grimaced at the mention of names he's been called by Snape and other Marauders haters. "Anyways, what're you doing up here this late at night?"

"I might just ask you the same thing, why are you up here?"

"Good one, I did ask you first but I guess I'll give you a break. I uh come up here when everything's just too loud. Because trust me, the Gryffindor common room is loud. And so is fucking Sirius, I mean I love him but good merlin is he loud." He widened his eyes, remembering that Sirius had run away, and how much of a soft spot that is for Regulus. "Sorry, I didn't mean to mention him." James looked down, avoiding eye contact with Regulus.

"Oh yeah, I've heard. It is truly harrowing, I don't know if I ever want to step foot in there." James chuckled breathlessly, staring at Regulus as he spoke.

"What about you? Why are you up here?" James was fascinated, he was intrigued by Regulus- in a good way. Regulus wasn't anything like what James as heard, from this short interaction James had gathered that he's almost the complete opposite.