Pretty Boy {Jegulus}

19

James had been awoken by Sirius hanging over his bed, singing happy birthday at the top of his lungs, for what James knew to be just the first time that day. There would be many more singing breaks. He groaned and covered his head with his pillow.

"Get up loser, we have classes to attend" Sirius yelled at him. They were not wrong, it was, after all, just a regular Friday. The party would not be until the evening and even his birthday dinner was still hours away.

"What's first?" James asked. Sirius looked at the time table they had stuck up on the door.

"Advanced English Lit" they sighed. James let out another muffled groan before Sirius dragged him out of bed. There was no time to shower if he also wanted to catch some breakfast and he knew their friends were depending on him showing up to breakfast, so it was an easy choice. James couldn't let down his friends.

And he was right, everyone was awaiting him in the great hall, starting to sing the moment he and Sirius set foot inside. A few other students looked around, lost, to see what was happening. James wasn't even ashamed by this action anymore, they did it every year, some kind of birthday tradition. It happened for everyone's birthday. Mary and Lily had provided them with cake which they all ate with excitement, happy to be able to skip the same old college breakfast and replace it with something much more tasty. James did feel sort of disappointed Regulus was not with them, but he tried to shove the thought away and just enjoy his birthday as it was. He got to celebrate it with his best friends, what else could he wish for? He would see Regulus another time, soon enough, since he had decided he was done with the whole 'needing space' thing. James didn't need any more space, he needed Regulus. He unwrapped the presents his friends had gotten him and thanked them all gratefully. Peter and Sirius had gotten him a new helmet for ice hockey, Lily and Mary gave him new a new bag for his skates and sports clothing and Marlene and Dorcas gave him a gift card to spend at the local bookstore.

His classes were pretty boring, not much happened except for Sirius getting the class to join them in singing happy birthday every class they shared. James found some time between his last lesson and the birthday dinner to shower himself and get dressed for his party. He, Lily and Dorcas had decided to all wear various shades of red, to match one another, so James wore black pants that were maybe a size too big on him and a red shirt that was maybe a size too small on him, but he looked good, in his opinion. He felt good, so he looked good. When he got to Dorcas' and Marlene's place, the rest of their group was already there. James tried his best not to let on he was slightly disappointed Regulus really wasn't there, but he set the feeling aside and enjoyed the birthday meal. Dorcas had picked the entree, doro wat with injera, traditional Ethiopian dishes, to celebrate her roots. James himself had picked the main course, because it was his birthday, and had chosen Kebab served with pita bread. Last year they had found out Peter made the dish almost as well as James' mother herself and they had been pushing him to cook it for them ever since. Lily had picked the dessert, and had baked aberffraw biscuits. The dinner overal was very nice, they laughed and talked and drank and ate and James felt genuinely happy, for the first time in weeks. He felt like everything would be alright in the end, he just gad to stick it out a little longer. And he would. He had his friends, he had the ice back, he had his school. He would stick it out, he just had to figure out what to do about Regulus. After dinner, James helped Remus with the dishes, who was still very stressed about the 'tight' schedule (they had about forty five minutes left till the party would start) and Peter, who wanted to be in control of everything, so even the dishes.

"Peter, the food was amazing" James said. He was already a bit tipsy, they had gone through a fair share of wine bottles during dinner. Peter smiled at him.

"I'm glad you liked it, birthday boy" he grinned. James wrapped his arm around Peters shoulders.

"Pete, of course I did. You're like, the best cook I know. I love you, mate" James sighed. Peter pulled him into a hug with a content smile and James reminded himself to openly appreciate his friends more often. The dishes were done in no time, even though James and Peter got distracted halfway through and had a towel fight, much to Remus' annoyance. Now, they had twenty minutes to spare before people would start showing up (Marlene would not be opening the door before eight) and Peter had hurried off to god knows where. James nervously turned to Remus and asked the question that had been burning inside of him, waiting to be asked and answered.