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“Remus is coming over today.” Sirius says as soon as he enters the flat, throwing off his shoes and coat and making his way to where James and Regulus are cuddled up on the couch watching Young Royals and leaning against the back of it.
James pauses the show and looks up to their best friend, “Remus?”
“My friend from the bookstore that I introduced to Sirius.” Regulus fills in for his brother, “The one that Sirius has been gushing about for weeks.”
James takes a second to recall who they’re talking about before they nod, “Oh, okay. When is he coming?”
“After he gets off work, I’m going to pick him up and we’ll come back here for dinner.”
“Are we doing what we usually do?”
Sirius thinks for a moment, tilting his head back and forth before he nods, “I think it could be funny.”
“Are we sure that we should do that,” Regulus hums, “I mean, he already knows me. We’ve never known any of the people that you’ve done that with before. Don’t you think he might catch on.”
“Have you ever mentioned having a partner in front of him?”
“Maybe once or twice but it’s not something significant.” Regulus shrugs, “I doubt he’s noticed if I do have one.”
“Then we’ll do it.” Sirius winks, messing up Regulus' hair and cackling when Regulus slaps his wrist, “I think him knowing you will make it all the more fun.”
“Fine, but if I think it’s getting too far, I will tell him.”
“Deal.” And with that, Sirius winks at the two of them before walking out of the room and into his own. Regulus rolls his eyes but doesn’t otherwise say anything, just leaning back into James’ side and waiting for them to start playing the episode again.
A couple hours later, Sirius tells the two of them that he’s going to get Remus and they pause their episode so James can start making dinner for the four of them, the couple migrating fully into the kitchen. By the time that Sirius and Remus get back to the flat, Regulus is settled on the counter by the stove that James cooks at, the two of them engaged in a heated debate about something going on in the show. Sirius clears his throat to make their presences known and ventures further into the kitchen, his hand encircling Remus’ wrist and pulling the latter into the kitchen.
“Alright! Remus, you know Regulus and that I live with him.” Sirius starts, gesturing vaguely to his brother. Regulus nods in greeting before Sirius sweeps his hand towards James in a very dramatic gesture, “And this is our childhood friend James.” Said person turns around, handing the spoon to Regulus to continue stirring the sauce that they’re making.
They greet Remus with a big smile, “Nice to meet you, Remus! I’ve heard quite a bit about you from the brothers.”
“Good things, I hope.” Remus hums, looking them up and down before nodding -- which Sirius is not jealous of, and neither is Regulus. They are both aware of James’ attractiveness, one of them is dating them for god sake, but that didn’t feel good.
Either James doesn’t notice the look or they choose to ignore it, “Of course, although in very different ways.” They wink and turn back to the stove, “I’m making orange chicken if that’s alright with all of you.”
“We’ll you’ve already started it so we don’t have much choice, do we?” Regulus rolls his eyes. James bumps their hip against Regulus’ leg.
“Sounds good, James!” And with that, Sirius is pulling Remus out of the kitchen and to somewhere else in the flat. The two left behind laugh at his eagerness but otherwise brush it off.
About thirty minutes later, James is pressing a kiss to Regulus’ cheek, “Would you pull out the plates and cutlery while I get your brother and Remus?”
Regulus nods, “Yes, you can be the one that walks in on them making out.”
“That was the whole intention.” James smiles, “I still remember the horrifying night of my senior year.”
“Shut!”
But James doesn’t shut up, they never do. Instead, they grin and lean until their face is a breadth away from Regulus’, “I still remember the call. You sounded like you were on the verge of vomiting, pleading for me to come get you because Sirius was going to have sex with someone next door.”
“To be fair, Sirius did the same thing when he learned about us.”
“And I love my little dramatic Blacks.” They wink before walking out of the kitchen, laughing when Regulus whistles at them, and making their way to Sirius’ room, “You two better be decent! Dinner is ready and Regulus will kill you both if you’re late or look like you were just fucking.” Sirius swears at them through the door and James cackles before walking back into the kitchen and starting to plate themself up. Regulus follows in suit and Remus and Sirius are in the kitchen not long after.
When the four of them are sitting down and have started eating, Sirius looks up at James, “This is fucking delicious, where have you been hiding this recipe from me our entire lives?”
James laughs softly, “I found it the other day and have been wanting to try it. I figured that this was a good time.”
“I might marry you.” Regulus rolls his eyes and bites back the sharp warning that he would normally give his brother at the words -- so what if he’s a little possessive, James is fucking his -- and makes eye contact with Remus.
Remus who hums, “This is good, but I must ask. Is it normal for you to just show up at their place and cook them dinner?”
James smiles and nods at him, “Yup! These two can’t cook for shit, although Regulus is getting better, and I love cooking so… Also, I don’t live too far from here so I come over all the time, but I don’t like eating alone. It’s win-win. These two don’t burn the place down and they get good food, I get to cook and eat with people.” They shrug with one shoulder, “You’ll be seeing me a lot if you start actually hanging around Sirius and Regulus here.”
“Better get used to his face,” Regulus sneers, “It takes a lot.”
“Oh you love me.”
“Do I?”
James gasps and puts their hand to their chest, “That hurt, Reggie.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Be nice you two.” Sirius grins at the two of them, turning to Remus, “If there’s anything that you’ll have to get used to, it’s those two fighting all the time.”
“Shove it.” Regulus sneers.
Remus laughs, “Well I’d have to say that I’m already used to Regulus and his attitude.” He laughs once again when the younger flips him off, “And I’ve watched him with his friends.”
“Then you’re already set, perfect!” Sirius claps. The four continue to talk throughout dinner before they finish up and James goes into the kitchen to wash the dishes while the brothers and Remus head into the living room to sit around and talk.
After a while of talking, Sirius turns to Regulus, “So, what was the whole thing that was happening with Barty and Evan?”
Regulus hums, “They broke up again, got into a big fight and refused to talk to each other for several days. They were making Pandora, Dorcas, and I talk to them for each other. But we got fed up with that and forced them to figure their shit out.” He rolls his eyes, “Needless to say, they’re back together.”
“They’re ridiculous.” Sirius hums, “I can’t believe that Pandora is good with all of that.”
“What do you mean?”
The older shrugs, “I mean, I would be fucking pissed if my best friend got with my brother. And with how off and on they are, I would put my foot down if I were them.”
Regulus rolls his eyes, “You have issues with everyone that I date. Pandora knows both of them and, for some reason beyond me, trusts them. They have no reason to dislike it. Especially when those two freaks are made for each other.”
“Still,” Sirius huffs, wrapping his arm around Remus as casually as possible, raising their voice and tilting their head in the direction of the kitchen, “if my best friend and brother got together, it would be a bloodbath.”
“You’re ridiculous.” Regulus mutters under his breath.
“Not subtle, Sirius,” James calls back out into the room, “You’ve made this clear for, what, 10 years now?”
“Just have to remind you, Potter.” Sirius smiles with faux sweetness before changing the topic quickly.
By the end of the night, Sirius and Remus are saying goodbye at the door while Regulus is in his room changing and James is stuck sitting on the couch. It’s not like they can go back into their room with Regulus while Remus is able to see them, that would be an odd sight for him -- at this point, they have to wait a minute before they start really amping the flirting and possible relationship up -- so they’re stuck on the couch instead of in their room, getting comfortable. Especially since Sirius keeps prolonging the whole thing, not letting Remus leave.
Eventually, finally, Remus is walking fully out of the flat and Sirius is shutting the door behind him. James is quick to stand up, “I love you, Sirius. And I love doing this whole thing, but if you ever keep someone that we’re doing it with in the doorway for longer than two minutes this late a night, keeping me from going and cuddling my boyfriend, I’ll slit your throat in front of them.”
Sirius barks out a laugh, “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good,” James nods, starting to walk towards their room, “I love you, goodnight.”
“Night night.” He says, watching James leave, absolutely cackling.
Regulus hums and sleepily looks up at James when he hears them enter, “Fucking finally.”
“Sorry baby.” They smile, closing the door behind them and leaning over to kiss his temple before going to change and get ready for bed, “Sirius wasn’t letting Remus leave, and he would’ve been pissed if I just casually walked into your room for more than a minute since he knew that you were getting ready to go to bed.”
“He’s ridiculous.”
“You’re dramatic.” James retorts, leaving the room for a moment to brush their teeth and put on some of the face things that Sirius and Regulus started forcing them to use when they moved in together. They finish up quickly before heading back into the room and sliding into the bed next to their boyfriend, “Goodnight, Reg. I love you.”
“Mmh, love you too.”
…
After that, Remus starts coming over more often and James and Regulus start having fun with it. Remus walks into the kitchen while James is forcing Regulus to dance to something that they’re humming. James walks out of Regulus’ room to go to the bathroom while Remus is there but Regulus isn’t home, Regulus and James hold hands during movie nights and cuddle under the blanket that they share, Regulus wearing the hoodie that Remus has seen James wear before. They’re honestly having fun with it.
Today, Remus is over at the flat with Sirius but James was out when he got there -- they had to work, as much fun as they have fucking with Remus all the time, they do have a job -- and they stopped by the store on their way back to the flat. They unlock the door and head inside, throwing off their coat and shoes and heading further into the house. Remus is sitting on the couch with Sirius nowhere to be seen, “Remus.”
Remus turns at the sound of their voice, furrowing his brows, “James. What are you doing here?”
“I could ask the same of you,” James hums, “As far as I know, you and Sirius haven’t made things official. Which, you should do that. I’m sick of hearing him whining about it. Anyway,” they move on, starting to raise their voice just a bit as they walk into the kitchen, “Anyway, Regulus texted me that he and Sirius were out of cheese and bagels.”
“An odd thing to be out of.”
“Not with these two.” James hums, “Regulus wanted food, so I’m bringing him his bagels.” They put the bag that they were carrying on the counter before making their way to Regulus and their room,” Where’s Sirius?”
“The bathroom.”
They hum in acknowledgement before knocking on the door to the room, “Reg? I brought you your bagels.”
Almost immediately, the door is swinging open and Regulus is rushing into the kitchen, “I fucking love you, James Potter.”
“I thought you hated me.” They tease, following him into the kitchen, crossing their arms and watching as he puts the cheese into the fridge and pulls out cream cheese, putting one of the new bagels into the toaster.
“My love is conditional.”
“And that condition is bagels.”
Regulus nods, turning to him, “How long have you known me? This has been the only condition to my love for years.”
“I see how it is.” James gives him a wolfish grin.
“I hate you.”
“I just bought you bagels,” James points out, taking a couple steps closer to their boyfriend and hoping that Remus is watching them alongside listening to their conversation, “Surely that love is going to last for a bit longer.”
The younger hums, “It will last until I’m no longer craving bagels. Which will be shortly after I finish my bagel. Then I will no longer love you.”
“It won’t last until the bag of bagels is gone?”
“Nope.” Regulus cheers, turning when the toaster ejects the bagel and he starts smearing cream cheese on it, “Only until I am finished with my fucking bagel.” He picks up the bagel after he’s finished with the cream cheese and takes a big bite into it before going to clean up after himself. He takes a second to look James up and down, “What are you still doing here?”
“I’m here,” James shrugs, grinning down at him, “I might as well stay for a while.”
“Fuck off.”
“I’m good,” And with that, they walk back into the living room and throw themself onto the couch with Remus.
Said man turns to them, “You know, I thought that your relationship with Sirius was odd, but I think your relationship with Regulus is weirder.”
James hums, “Sirius and I have a weird codependence. Regulus and I have a love-hate relationship that stems from our childhood.”
“Yeah?”
“He hated me, and I’m not the type of person to back down from that, so we absolutely scorned each other for the longest time. It got better but we have fun bantering, and we’re both petty and stubborn enough that we get in arguments over the most random shit. We love each other, but… do we?”
“Interesting.” Remus nods, “And yet you are his go to for bagel runs?”
“He forces me to go out and run all sorts of errands for him.”
“And you do it.”
They shrug, “I like doing things for people so I don’t have an issue with it. I do it for Sirius too.”
“I see.” Remus nods, looking between them and where Regulus is walking into their room for a couple seconds before he nods again, slower, but doesn’t say anything. Sirius comes out of the bathroom shortly after and throws himself between James and Remus, throwing his arm over Remus’ shoulder.
…
“Regulus, what’s happening between you and James?” Remus asks one day while they’re working together. They’re sprawled out in the back, sorting through the boxes of books that they just got in.
Regulus hums, setting a finished pile of new books to the side and moving onto another pile of books from the same author, “What do you mean? We’re childhood friends.”
“But are you just that?” Remus pushes, flipping through the pages of one of the used books that was donated to them to check that it’s in a good enough state, “I mean, you two are very… flirty.”
“Are we?”
“And I’m sure Sirius has noticed.” Remus frowns, “I figure that’s why he makes the comments about you and James not dating all the time. If you are actually dating, and going behind your brother’s back, I don’t- don’t make me see that. He’ll be pissed if he learns about you and James and then learns that I knew about it and didn’t tell him.”
“Do you really think that we’re dating? I mean Sirius has made it clear since dating was even a thing we started thinking about that he forbids James and I from dating.” Regulus shrugs.
“And when have you actually listened to your brother or cared about what he thinks?”
“If that was the case, I wouldn’t hide my relationship with James.” He shrugs and goes back to working, ignoring any other questioning from Remus on the topic. When he puts all of the books that he’s sorted onto his cart and brought it back out into the main part of the store, nodding to Pandora and Lily behind the counter, he pulls out his phone and texts the group chat between him, James, and Sirius to let them know about the conversation that he’s just had -- where Sirius gives him and James the go ahead to full on makeout in front of him, which James seemed thrilled about.
Later, when they finished work, the two of them make their way to Regulus’ flat after they get off work. They’re the only ones in the flat for a while, with James visiting their parents and staying with them for the weekend and Sirius working.
They’re not at the flat for long before there’s someone knocking on the door and Regulus answers it with some reluctance, “Marlene? What’s up?”
“Is James here?”
He shakes his head, “They’re with their parents this weekend, I figured they told you.”
“No,” she shakes her head, “I’m going to kill them, though. How dare they not invite me to be able to see Effie.”
“Your obsession with her is ridiculous.” Regulus rolls his eyes, “Did you want to come in or is that all that you’re here for?”
Marlene shrugs and heads into the flat, “I mean, you’re not half bad company and I told Dorcas that I was gonna hang out with them for a while. Is Sirius here?”
“I appreciate the fact that you have asked for everyone but me.” Regulus hums, “No, he’ll be getting off work here soon.”
The girl nods, walking further into the flat before stopping short at the sight of Remus sitting on the couch, “Who’s in your home?”
“Remus,” Regulus answers before his friend can, “He’s my coworker and Sirius boyfriend. Remus, this is Marlene, she’s one of James’ other childhood friends and close with them and Sirius. She’s also dating my friend Drocas.”
Remus nods at her and Marlene gives him a small wave before turning back to Regulus, “Are you guys doing…” She trails off but Regulus is able to catch onto what she’s talking about.
“Mhm,” He nods, guiding her into the kitchen and grabbing himself a glass, “We’re getting close to the actual reveal, been dropping hints for a while now.”
“Ooh,” She singsongs, “Fun, so I need to be careful with what I say?”
“Preferably. I think my brother would kill you if you let it slip. Want something to drink?”
“I’ll just steal one of the energy drinks.” She hops over to the refrigerator and grabs one of James’ energy drinks, knowing that they won’t be that upset about her taking it.
“Why isn’t Dorcas with you, were you just coming to hang out with Sirius and James?”
Marlene shrugs, “She’s doing work and I was annoying her so she sent me out. But I didn’t know where to go so I came here, but apparently my bestie decided that they wanted to fucking not tell me that I could go be seeing a Goddess and Monty.”
Regulus rolls his eyes, “You’re ridiculous.”
“How many times in a day do you say that?”
“You’d be surprised.” He checks his phone when it vibrates and says, loud enough that Remus can hear it, “Sirius just got off, he’s on his way.” Remus makes a noise of acknowledgement and Marlene nods.
“I can entertain myself, I need to yell at James, if you want to go back into your room when Sirius gets here.” Regulus nods in acknowledgment but doesn’t otherwise say anything, the two of them walking into the living room to sit down together with Remus. Marlene pulls Remus into a conversation and Regulus adds in once or twice but the conversation doesn’t go far before Sirius is coming home and very loudly announcing his presence. He sweeps into the living room shortly after he gets home and leans over the couch to press a kiss to Remus’ lips before looking up and finally seeing Marlene.
“What’re you doing here, Marls?”
“I came to visit James, learned that they betrayed me, and stayed for a while.” She shrugs, “Cas kicked me out so I have to find something to do.”
“Why is it that twice now, I have yet to be acknowledged in my own home.” Regulus contemplates, standing up, “I’m going to my room now, you guys have fun.” And with that, he sweeps into his room and disappears, awaiting a call from James to tell him about their parents and their trip.
…
It’s only when James gets back do the childhood friends finally reveal the relationships, and even then they don’t do it right away. It’s Remus’ first night staying the night with Sirius at the flat and, in the morning, he comes out into the kitchen to find James and Regulus. He hadn’t figured anyone to be awake and in the kitchen, considering it's 8 in the morning and both Black brothers sleep in as long as possible.
There’s some pancakes cooking on the stove and bacon in another pan, a kettle sitting on one of the back burners. Regulus is sitting on the counter next to the sink and James is standing between his legs, their hands on his waist. They’re leaning into Regulus’ face but not quite kissing him and they’ve got a smirk on their lips. Regulus’ arms are wrapped around their shoulders and he’s got a small, cocky grin on his face.
“And how can you be so sure about that?” Regulus hums, amused.
“I share a bed with you.” James grins wolfishly, “We’ve been together for… how long again? Remind me.”
“You don’t know?”
“Do you?” They tilt their head, giving him a bit more of a mocking look, “I love when you say how long we’ve been dating.”
“You’re ridiculous,” he takes a second to look at the clock on the microwave, “We’ve been together, James, for six years, four months, eighteen days, and 5 hours.”
“Oh how I love you.” They smile, leaning back a bit and grinning before leaning back in, “I think that I have grounds as to how I know that.”
“I fucking hate you.” Regulus grins properly, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to James’ lips. One that they’re more than happy to return.
“I’m sure that you do.” James grins back when they pull away, but Regulus pulls them back to his lips and they don’t seem to mind.
It’s only after a couple minutes that Remus finally speaks up, “What were you saying about the two of you not dating?”
Regulus pulls away from his maybe partner and hums, “Yeah no, I was lying straight through my teeth when I said that.”
“And you guys have just been sneaking around Sirius for this entire time?”
“They’re not sneaking around me,” Sirius says, coming from out of nowhere, “I was the reason they got together in the first place, James lives with us. We were just fucking with you. It’s what we do with everyone that I meet that first starts coming over. The only difference is that you knew Regulus before hand.”
“You’re cruel.”
“I know.”