James hadn't minded the whole not talking thing at first. It was far easier that way and if Sirius found out, he could tell him they rarely interacted and it was the truth. But that was before he realized that the person you were rooming with was your partner for absolutely everything.

The exercise they were working on happened to be a rather boring one and that probably didn't help. They were tossing a quaffle back and forth on the ground and James could hear the chattering around them from everyone else. Suddenly, the silence between the two was deafening.

The chattering seemed to grow, like someone was walking around with a megaphone so James could hear the others talking. It only fueled his irritation in the moment. A certain flood of emotion that he had to bite his tongue to keep in. Why did Regulus have to be his partner? Why did Regulus have to be here at all?

Then Regulus opened his mouth. He opened his mouth, and said the one thing that would set James off. Okay, maybe not the one thing but it certainly wasn't the time to bring it up. In fact, he had no right to bring it up at all and maybe that's why James had reacted the way he did. Or maybe he had just wanted an excuse to do something he'd wanted to do for years.

"So, how is my brother?" Regulus inquired as he caught the quaffle. James was normally a much more put together guy. He may not have been raised a pureblood supremacist but he was still raised with the other values of being in such a high standing social wise. Until this exact moment.

James threw himself at the boy, sending them both tumbling to the ground. They rolled down the hill together, Regulus attempting to shove the boy off. "Have you lost your mind?" Regulus demanded as they finally came to a stop, he was poised over the boy. He shoved his shoulders toward the ground, he was panting slightly, the fall having knocked the wind out of him, "What's the matter with you?"

"You act as though you don't already know," James spat, pushing the boy off of him and towering over him. His anger was primal, all of the fury he had felt towards the Black's over the past few years rising to the surface. He could kill Regulus if he wanted to and he wouldn't have felt bad about it.

"I'm sure I have some sort of idea but I didn't do anything," Regulus replied, his eyes narrowed on the boy. He shoved his hands up but it didn't do much. James was significantly stronger than the boy and they both knew it. James wasn't even sure as to why he was still doing this, it wouldn't take much to hurt the boy, one punch and he'd be done for.

"That's the problem, isn't it?" James countered. The anger was clear as day on the boys face, Regulus was a bit taken aback. Normally he was more put together than this, he was typically found smiling or goofing off, "You didn't do anything. He's your brother and you did nothing."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Regulus said, his expression morphing into a scowl. If the two had wands, this conversation would have been going very differently. While they were certainly a match for each other, at least it would have leveled the playing field. "Shut your m-"

He wrapped his hands around Regulus's throat, not enough to cut off his breathing all together, but enough to get the message across. Regulus's expression flickered with something that confused James, he leaned closer, whispering in his ear, "You and your whole family, the whole lot of you, deserve the absolute worst of whatever you have coming to you."

Regulus shifted slightly beneath the boy and James stilled at the movement. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion when there was a shout from above them. James immediately got off the boy and stood up, dusting off his clothes.

Regulus turned over but stayed on the ground for a moment. James raised an eyebrow at this but didn't have time to question what his problem was when the adults leading this camp approached them. "Have the two of you gone out of your mind?" Frank demanded.

"Er-" James began as Regulus finally stood up off the ground. "No, not quite."

"Don't look at me," Regulus huffed, "He's the one that tackled me and sent us tumbling down the mountain."

"Hill," James said pointedly, "it's a hill." James rolled his eyes, leave it to Regulus to make things sound worse than it actually was. "Mountain is rather dramatic, don't you think?"

Regulus turned to the boy and though it felt childish to even respond, something about the way James was speaking to him had him throwing all of his lessons on how to compose himself out the window, "Doesn't change the fact that you threw us both down it."

They both felt a bit embarrassed by the interaction but did their best to mask it. James glared at the boy as Frank spoke again, "Go back to your cabin and get cleaned up. We'll have food sent for you but it's safe to say you're done for the rest of the night."

The two made their way to their cabin without another word. James wanted to yell at him, maybe hit him again and this time draw blood. That is until they entered and Regulus declared, "I get the first shower." It was like the last hit in the fight. Regulus wanted the last throw, so he took the easy shot.

"Whatever you want," James muttered sarcastically, gesturing toward the bathroom haphazardly. "Whatever the Prince wants, the Prince gets."

If he were being honest, he had no idea what had taken over him. While he was upset with Sirius's family for obvious reasons, he normally had a bit more self control. And Regulus had done nothing other than ask how his brother was.

Regulus rolled his eyes at the boys antics, as though James were the only one being ridiculous. The Gryffindor let out a long breath, running his hand through his hair when something caught his eye. He looked toward the bathroom where the door was cracked open slightly to reveal Regulus, who had taken his clothes off.

He sucked in a breath at the sight, his heart beating against his chest for reasons he couldn't and would probably never be able to explain. He couldn't see everything but he could see the dirt and sweat that coated his skin. And he could see the edges of his no doubt chiseled chest and abs. And the very prominent line that lead to-

James shook his head, snapping the thoughts from his head. He turned around quickly, scolding himself for the direction his mind had taken the small glimpse of Regulus. He wasn't even sure where it came from. He had never felt that way about a boy, let alone his best friend's brother.

Besides, it hardly meant anything anyway. He was merely filling in blanks. It was completely normal for anyone. He heard the water turn on and the door shut but he didn't turn to look. James did his best to occupy himself and more specifically, his thoughts. He eventually pulled out the mirror, "Sirius Black."

The answer was immediate, "Two days?" James rolled his eyes, "You haven't called in two days!"

"Always so dramatic, aren't you Padfoot?"

"Why do you look like you were hit by a bus?" Sirius asked, his face shoved into the mirror, his nose practically touching the surface.

"Er," he hesitated. There was no way to put this lightly. He could sit there and beat around the bush, but he wouldn't lie. It was never worth it. "I might have attacked your brother."

Sirius's eyes widened at this, he pulled away from the mirror slightly and Remus immediately popped his head into view, asking, "You did what?"

"He was being very...Regulus," James huffed, glancing up to make sure he was still in the shower. He suddenly felt warm, like he had been doing something he should have and Sirius had caught him in the act. But that wasn't the case so he did his best to brush away the feeling, hoping it wasn't obvious to his friends on the other side of the mirror. "It's quite annoying. I don't know how you put up with it for so long."

Sirius snorted, "I barely put up with it. What did he do?" James remained silent at this and the boy raised an eyebrow, "It couldn't have been that bad."

"It wasn't, that was kind of the problem," James replied, a blush creeping up his neck. "He asked how you were doing?"

Sirius stared at the boy and James waiting anxiously for some sort of response, "That's it?"

"Unfortunately."

"We really got to teach you how to pick and choose your battles, mate," Sirius said pointedly and James heard the shower turn off.

"Listen, I have to go," he said quickly, "But I'll talk to you guys another time, okay?"

"Tomorrow."

"I make no promises," he said before he hung up.