Tags: wolfstar, jegulus, marylily, bets, Christmas at the Potter's,

It was probably the last Christmas they were going to spend together like this, so James was more than happy that they could manage to gather everyone.

Sirus and Regulus already lived with them anyway and Remus and Peter visiting was also mandatory. Of course, they had invited the girls. Mary and Lily - a happy couple since August - appeared on their door right before Dinner on the 24th, quickly followed by Marlene.

Euphemia loved having guests over. Especially James' friends. Although times were dark and a war could be declared any minute, James had set his mind to making these days happy days.

"Stop staring at me."

He blinked a few times, eyes focusing back in on Regulus. "Sorry, what were you saying?" "I was saying that you should stop staring at me." "But you're so pretty in this sweater." "It's ugly and if you say another thing about it I will strangle you with it."

James tried not to imagine it too hard. "But it's festive. And everyone else is wearing ugly Christmas sweaters as well, so you won't be the only one." Regulus stepped closer and fixed the gigantic tie on James' present-sweater. 

"Wouldn't you rather be unwrapping me?", he grinned with a wink. Regulus' pale cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink. "You know how that turned out the last time..."

It had been over a month since the... incident. At Sirius' birthday party, they both had ended up in the Marauder's dorm room, due to alcohol and years of built-up tension - at least on James' side. It was the birthday boy himself that had interrupted them, bursting through the door right as James' trousers dropped to the floor. Sirius hadn't looked at either of them for a week after that and neither of the two had mentioned it towards each other. Until now...

"I  honestly didn't think it was that bad. Or bad at all. At least not until Sirius came into the picture..." Regulus bit his lip. Merlin, he wanted to kiss him so badly. How could anyone think clearly with this beautiful boy before them?!

Before Regulus could answer Sirius poked his head through the door. He obviously still hadn't learned his lesson. "You two coming down? Effie said dinner is ready."

James sighed quietly and nodded. Before he could follow him, Regulus grabbed his wrist. "I didn't think it was bad either. The part with you. It was nice." James was sure his heart was going to leap out of his chest any second. He wanted to jump and scream and do something incredibly stupid. Instead, he just grinned widely and took Regulus' hand into his own. The long fingers wrapped perfectly around his own.

"Come on. Don't wanna miss dinner", he smiled, softly pulling Regulus downstairs.

Eight pairs of eyes, all beautifully underlined by flashy Christmas sweaters, met them, then their hands. "Hand over those Galleons", Lily grinned. Everyone sighed, pulling coins out of their pockets.

"Whoa. We're not together", James interjected.

"But you're holding hands..." Mary pointed at their hands. James quickly let go. "So? You and Lily have been holding hands since first grade, but none of you fessed up until last summer. Moony and Sirius were sharing a bed in second and third year." 

"Am I the only one who finds it irritating that you guys are placing bets on us?" "No, I'm with you on this." Peter raised his hand. "One sane person in this room."

"Liar. You were one of the first ones in." "And the first one out. Pete had way too much faith in you two." Insulted, Peter poked his tongue out. "This is still insanity. I didn't think this would go on that long. Remus thinks you guys won't make it until you're 25." Remus shrugged. "I'm just being realistic."

Regulus threw one of the bread rolls at him. Remus dodged it and immediately got ready to counterstrike. "Monty and Effie bet too!", he yelled, pointing at James' parents.

Everyone at the table gasped - except for Sirius, who seemed to simply enjoy the chaos.

"My own parents?!" "James, listen...", Monty started. "They pressured us!", Effie yelped, cheeks turning red, as always when someone caught her lying. "We did no such thing!" Mary clutched imaginary pearls around her neck.

"Yes, you did!", Monty defended his wife. "They kept on asking what we thought about it and eventually just cracked." "What was your guess?", James demanded. They shared a look before Effie took Monty's hand. "Two weeks around either one of you moving out."

James took a deep breath. It could have been worse. At least they didn't have an age limit to it. He shook his head and left the table, quickly followed by Regulus. He stopped on the front porch, where his breath turned to heavy smoke in the cold evening air.

 "I wanna fuck with their bet!" Regulus crossed his arms. James raised an eyebrow and looked down at him. "And how would we do that?"

For a minute he considered before his eyes lit up with mischief. "Okay, hear me out. We let each of them walk in on us at a different point and then tell them that we've been secretly dating for however long we want to make it. That way each of them thinks someone else won." James nodded in understanding, turning the plan n his head. 

"And most of them won't tell the others because then they'd have to admit that they lost. And the others we can just ask to keep quiet 'until we're ready' or something like that", he added, "It's brilliant!" They grinned at each other.

Carefully James moved closer. "And when would we actually get together?", he asked, voice low. "I think today is as good a day as any", Regulus murmured, eyes fixed on James' lips. A shiver went through him and before he could stop himself he was kissing Regulus.

Within the second he forgot all about the cold around them. Regulus was warm and soft and kissing him made everything in the world seem alright. He pulled him closer, arms wrapped around the smaller boy's waist.

When he felt Regulus' hands in his hair he was done for.

Behind them, someone cleared their throat.

Regulus wanted to jump back, but James held him close.

"Moony. What-" he cleared his throat, "whatcha doing here?" "Well, I thought that if I stayed here longer without saying something it would be weird." James nodded, agreeing.

"And how long have you been standing there?" "I know your plan." Well, there went that. But Regulus didn't give up that easily. "If you tell anyone I will gut you in your sleep." "Nah. You like me too much. Plus, Sirius would be pretty pissed at you." Regulus sighed, obviously regretting, having shown his emotions.

"I'll tell you one of Sirius' dirty secrets for every month that you don't tell anyone", James offered. Remus seemed to consider it. "One secret, plus a chocolate bar" "Done."

And without another word, Remus disappeared back inside.

In the end, the evening was all James could have wished for. They all were together and no one was even thinking of the war. Not even mentioning the gorgeous boy in his arms.