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James was a romantic at heart, he always had been, even before he'd understood what the notion of being romantic really meant. He went through life with rose-tinted glasses. Having grown up as a single child to two parents who adored him, James had almost a naïve view of life. He never had to think about his blood, money, or even other people's opinions. If he wanted something, he got it, and he expected that others would have the same.
Learning that Sirius had experienced a very different sort of childhood had been a lot for the young wizard to process. James had struggled to understand the pain that Sirius went through, his trauma, and at times he came off as insensitive and brutish as a result, but seeing Sirius' blood supremacist family only strengthened James' faith in his ideals and his moral compass. Muggles and muggle-borns deserved just as much as purebloods, and you couldn't just beat that fact out of someone.
He was proud to be a blood traitor. It was a badge of honour, a sign of his heroism.
Pureblood nasties and other Slytherins were the villains, and Gryffindors were the heroes. He supposed that made Hufflepuffs the damsels in distress... and Ravenclaws the wise ones that guided the heroes on their way.
Yes. James really was a romantic, but as he grew older, his childish ideals of the world began to evolve and develop. By Seventh Year, and Head Boy to boot, he'd started to realise it wasn't all that simple. People were more complex than the arbitrary traits assigned to them as children by a hat. Although, James had to admit he still had a hatred of all things Slytherin. Nothing good ever seemed to come out of that house, but he was trying to be better. The tension between the houses was bad enough without the Head Boy adding fuel to the fire.
So by the age of eighteen, James' world had faded from rose pink to a whole array of colours - beyond the four houses, a true spectrum.
But he was finding that he was beginning to prefer the more monochrome shades. Black, grey, ivory - all the colours that reminded him of Sirius.
His best friend, and long-term crush, was getting more and more handsome as the years went on, and he haunted James' waking thoughts, lingering long into the night-bidden dreams. Silver eyes like mercury swirled around him, the heavy scent of smoke, the soft touch of Sirius' hair between his fingers. It was nearly unbearable, and James had to admit that his crush had developed into a deep love; one that he could no longer ignore.
Which was why he was going to court Sirius Black. It was the only logical thing to do.
James had a plan, one of his more wildly romantic ideas that had never quite faded as his heart hardened with the world around him. Courting was an ancient Wizarding tradition, but one that had fallen out of favour in recent years, even with families like Sirius'. Nowadays they preferred arranged marriages as a way to keep the bloodlines pure, and blood traitor families, like the Potters, tended to stick with love matches but didn't court and seduce, not like they had in the past.
James' mother and father had met at school and had been childhood sweethearts. There had been no need for grand romantic gestures beyond a few dates and roses. But James was different. He'd been reading fairy tales and romantic books since he was a child. He'd studied the old courting textbooks for fun, and after a rough start in life, Sirius deserved nothing but the best.
He was going to start small - flowers. He didn't want to scare Sirius off, although, with their shared history, he knew that would be hard to do. There were no secrets between them. Sirius had seen the very worst of James and vice versa. In fact, the only secret James could think of was his crush, and he hadn't been actively hiding it, more just... not telling the whole truth. Sirius could have figured it out if he'd really wanted to. But that was all beside the point.
Flowers. For Sirius.
His first thought had been lilies because they are pretty and expensive, but after dating Lily at the start of the year, James figured it would probably be a bit rude. So he went for tulips instead, remembering that yellow tulips were Sirius' favourite. It was probably more thoughtful than just throwing money at the expensive ones... the money-throwing could wait for later.
"Tulips?" Sirius asked as he took them from James, his fingers were long and elegant as they wrapped around the stems. The faint blush on Sirius' cheeks was probably the most flustered James had seen his friend in years, a crack in the ever-present mask that he wore. "What's the occasion?"
James shrugged as nonchalantly as he could. "I love you, no other reason needed."
Sirius scoffed and threw his free arm around James' shoulder. "Sap."
It was true, there was no denying it, so James just grinned and leaned into Sirius' side as they made their way up towards Gryffindor Tower. The way they walked was no different to usual, and neither were the glances they shot at each other, all soft smiles and hearts in their eyes, but for the first time, there was something more meaningful behind them, something- something more. Romance bloomed in their hearts, small and tender, like a baby augurey learning to fly for the very first time, unsure, a little uncertain… but knowing that the leap of faith will be worth the fall.
They were going to soar.
The friendship that existed between them was the strongest bond that James had in his life, and the love he had on top of that was more than the infatuation that he’d had with Lily. Unlike Lily, he knew Sirius. He knew the worst parts of him. He knew the best. And James loved them all - loved the way it made him feel like the best version of himself.
He knew he would have to plan something bigger than tulips for the next gift, now that his flowers had been accepted. Sirius might not have acknowledged James’ love confession for what it was, but it didn’t matter. James knew him well enough that words weren’t needed.
Words had always been James’ love language.
Sirius was different.
With Sirius it was physical touch and affection - gifts were appreciated and reciprocated with ease. He showed his love through actions - joining the Gryffindor quidditch team when he had no interest other than making James happy, letting James have the last Cauldron Cake from the trolley, turning to James over all of their friends when he felt like he had nowhere else to go.
All of these things painted a picture, so despite the lack of response beyond “Sap”, James wasn’t worried.
He knew Sirius loved him… he just hoped it was in the way he loved Sirius.
The yellow tulip in Sirius’ fingers was a symbol of that hope.
It took a few weeks for James to figure out his next gift. In that time he must have gone through a whole shop’s worth of parchment as he tried to write out lists and suggestions, poems and love letters that were quickly burned with a quick incendio, but nothing seemed to stick. James could only figure out the sort of gifts he would want, not Sirius, and failing that all his ideas just seemed far too extravagant for the second courting gift - far too big a leap from a simple tulip. He’d very nearly bought his friend a motorbike after they’d gone to a museum in London filled with old racing bikes, but he’d known that it was something he would struggle to top, failing a visit from Freddie Mercury or something.
In the end, that had been his inspiration. James had managed to secure two tickets to a Queen concert, with the hopes that Sirius would take him too. After all, James had never been to a muggle concert before, and the live band at the Yule Ball hardly counted as a wizard one either. Music was Sirius’ thing. Now Quidditch matches? James had been to hundreds, in fact, he had a season ticket to Puddlemere United, and his family was rich enough that James could boast about going to no less than four Quidditch World Cup finals, not to mention several matches throughout the tournament.
But a concert?
That was new! And he was visibly vibrating with excitement as he clutched the envelope in his hands. He’d thought about using Kimball, his owl, to deliver the tickets at breakfast, but he wanted something more personal so he’d arranged to meet Sirius by the lake after dinner. At this time of year, the stars would be out already. Sirius loved the stars, and it would be ever so romantic, because James was, at heart, a romantic, even when the world tried so hard to darken his soul.
When James reached the lake he was shivering, his cheeks flushed from the cold winter air. Sirius was waiting for him, his face rosy to match the scarlet scarf that was wrapped around his neck. He had his hood up, covering a pair of earmuffs that made his sleek black hair look tousled for once, more like James’ hair. He looked beautiful. James couldn’t help the bright smile that stretched over his face as he took in the sight of his friend as Sirius waved at him across the grass.
“Oi! Prongs! I’m freezing my arse off over here! This better be important,” Sirius called, his signature smirk on his face.
“I solemnly swear it is!” James called back as he broke into a light jog for the last few metres.
The pair of them embraced tightly as if they hadn’t seen each other for weeks rather than maybe an hour at most, and James felt himself melting against the warmth of Sirius’ body, the scent of muggle smokes washing over him. He hadn’t been sure of the smell when Sirius had first started the habit, but now he couldn’t imagine Sirius without it. The scent was home.
“Missed you,” he murmured, barely resisting the urge to brush his lips over Sirius’ cheek.
“Hmm… It’s been so long.”
“It has.”
Sirius was teasing. James was deadly serious.
“So what is so important that Moony and Wormtail can’t see?” Sirius asked, curiosity lighting up his silver eyes.
James pressed the envelope into Sirius’ hands, not breaking eye contact for a moment. “Open it!”
“Another present? My birthday isn’t for another week, love?”
“Just open it.”
Finally, Sirius did as he was told. He frowned as he pulled the tickets from the paper, eyes flickering quickly as he read them.
“I-” He cut himself off, brows furrowing, and read over them again. “Queen?”
“Yup!”
“Like… Freddie Mercury? Actual Queen?!”
It was the most flustered James had ever seen Sirius. His friend seemed to be completely stumped for words! Success.
“Well, I think the actual Queen is in Buckingham Palace or something, but-”
“Jamie!”
“Siri!”
They stared at each other for a few moments, both glaring, the tickets held out between them until James took pity on Sirius and grinned, running his hand through his hair. “Yes. Actual Queen with Freddie Mercury… and the rest. I don’t know their names.”
Sirius recited them off without thinking and then froze again, staring in awe at the tickets in his hand. “Are you sure it’s not my birthday?”
“It wasn’t last I checked?” James shrugged. “Plus. There’s two tickets. You can take one of the others if you’d like but I thought-”
The rest of the sentence never saw the light of day as Sirius flung his arms around James’ neck so tightly that the air was forced from his lungs. Instead, he let out a choked noise, blinking as he tried to remember which way was up, and eventually, he wrapped his arms around Sirius’ waist, pressing his nose into Sirius’ neck.
“Thank you.”
James hummed. “Just wanted you to know that I love you.”
“I know, and you must think I’m mad if you think I’m taking anyone else but you, love.”
They stayed by the lake until long after curfew, holding hands as they watched the stars, Sirius pointing out his favourite constellations, and James smiling, doe-eyed, at his friend.
Who knew courting could be so easy?
Traditionally courting was made up of four gifts. After the Queen concert, which has been very loud and very boozy, James went for something a little more lowkey. His third gift was a wand-holster made with top-quality leather and engraved with both dogs and stags, the words ‘Prongs and Padfoot’ etched underneath. Sirius had loved it, although not quite as much as the tickets, he still wore it every day, even on days when wearing a holster under his robes or muggle jumpers seemed excessive.
If it were summer then James was sure that his friend would have a weird tan line on his forearm from where the holster laced over his pale skin.
The fourth gift was going to be a motorbike, but even after extensive research in muggle libraries, James just could not figure out where on earth to start. He knew that Sirius liked old bikes, but did that mean he wanted one? They seemed like a lot of hard work, and most had to be completely restored, let alone all the additional magic projects Sirius had in mind.
In the end, James figured it was probably easier to let Sirius choose his own bike. It felt too personal for James to start getting involved - not to mention too muggle.
Merlin, even with Lily’s help, James was clueless when it came to muggles.
But the books had given him a new idea! They kept talking about horsepower, and, well, James didn’t know a whole lot about horses, but he knew Potter Manor had an old stable and Sirius had always wanted a pet.
After becoming animagi, they’d all sort of forgotten about that, what with being a dog and all. But growing up in Grimmauld Place had been stifling, not the sort of household for a child, let alone a pet, and Sirius had never been allowed one beyond an owl. No wizard child counted an owl as a pet. They were okay, but they served a purpose more than anything.
Normally, James would have gotten Sirius something a little smaller, like a dog, but that felt redundant, and getting a cat didn’t feel like a good idea. Padfoot would probably scare the poor bastard.
So James bought him a horse.
Well… sort of.
It might have actually been a pony. She was quite small, more like a large dog.
Merlin. It was a terrible idea. Why in Godric’s name did James think he knew horses better than motorbikes? But it was too late now, the horse - or pony - was tucked safely away at the stables in his parents’ house, and James and Sirius were flying over England to get there.
Maybe the adventure and sneaking out just the two of them would make up for the disappointment of his last gift.
Shit!
“Remind me again why we couldn’t have just apparated?” Sirius yelled from his broom. The wind rushing through his hair made him look even more beautiful, and it wasn’t helped by the fact he was wearing one of James’ quidditch jumpers.
The bastard had his own, but no. The word ‘Potter’ was proudly emblazoned on the back in gold writing.
If only…
“I like flying?” Was James’ only reply.
And he hated apparating but he wasn’t going to admit it. The twisting in his stomach and the accompanying nausea was something he still hadn’t gotten over, despite all the practice. Sirius, on the other hand, loved apparating. Whenever they escaped school grounds he would be popping back and forth all over the place, making James dizzy with the constant coming and going.
“You’re lucky I love you!”
The world spun and James’ broom lurched at the unexpected words. He barely clung onto the handle as he tried to steady himself, but not before Sirius started cackling like a madman.
“Alright, love?”
“Just peachy,” grumbled James.
Thankfully Potter Manor came into view before Sirius could tease him anymore, and they both shot forward, eager to get back to the ground. Even James was starting to feel restless and he loved flying, but it had been a long journey. His butt was sore as a result.
“Ah sweet, sweet ground,” Sirius sang, bowing down and kissing the grass.
The sun was rising from behind the trees, lighting up the sky in a soft orange glow. There were a few stars left but most were now hidden, leaving only the crescent moon lingering to greet the day. They should get straight to bed, James knew that. There would be plenty of time to show off his last gift after some food and a nap - school didn’t start up again until after the weekend.
But he was uncharacteristically nervous, more so than any of his other gifts.
If Sirius didn’t like it there was a bloody live animal that James would have to look after. Fuck. He’d really messed up this time.
Sleep would have to wait. He needed to know now whether Sirius would accept his last gift, and if he did… well… James might finally be able to call him his boyfriend! So he took Sirius’ hand, yanking him to his feet and dragging him off to the stables. Sirius protested, digging his feet in and staring longingly back at the house. On any other occasion, James would have given in to that pout and done whatever Sirius asked him, but not today.
“Just trust me alright!”
“You’re so mean.”
Urgh. Like that helped his nerves.
“Yeah well… guess I’m lucky you love me?” he repeated Sirius’ words back to him with a wink, faking confidence when he had none.
“I regret saying that already.”
“No, you don’t! You love me.”
“Shut it, Potter. Come on then, what’s this great surprise?”
When they reached the stables, James led Sirius to the pony’s stall and opened his arms widely. “Tada?”
There was a beat of agonising silence whilst Sirius processed what was in front of him then-
“A PONY!”
James winced. The shriek was so loud that he couldn’t quite figure out if it was a good one or not.
“Merlin, I bloody love you!” Sirius spun around and before James couldn’t realise what was happening, he crashed their lips together in a bruising kiss.
“Hmmph!”
If the love confessions had made James’ head spin, it was nothing to how he felt now. The world was upside down, topsy-turvy, wrong way round… he clung onto Sirius like he was the only thing keeping him from floating away. It wasn’t even a long kiss, over before it had even begun, but it was a kiss.
It was a kiss… from Sirius.
Bloody hell.
“You like it then?” James asked, his fingers carding through his own hair, tugging at the roots.
“Nah. I just felt like kissing you,” Sirius replied with a shrug, so sincere that James was taken aback for a second before he saw the slight up curve of Sirius’ lips, the twinkle in his eyes.
“Oh, you fucking bastard!” he snapped without any heat. “You do like her!”
“She?” James nodded. “She’s beautiful! A perfect courting gift.” Sirius’ cheeks glowed as he spoke, his gaze dropping to the floor. “That was what this was about? Wasn’t it?”
This time it was James that initiated the kiss. He stepped into Sirius’ space, slow enough to give him a chance to pull away, and cupped Sirius’ cheeks in his hands. When their lips met it was like everything was falling into place again, their love settling into James’ heart and soul. Every second was heaven-blessed - warm and tender, a melting of two hearts, entwining and entangling so that neither knew where one began and the other ended. Sirius’ fingers gripped into James’ jumper, and he whined softly into the kiss, the sound so precious that James felt like he could have cried with joy.
When they broke apart to breathe, their lips barely left one another, and James let his eyes flutter open. Moulten silver eyes stared back at him, filled with adoration as if Sirius too couldn’t quite believe they were actually there.
“I love you,” James whispered. “I think I always have.”
Sirius chuckled and moved his head to bump his nose against James. “You didn’t need to court me, love. I’ve always been yours.”
James grinned. “Perhaps… but I’m a romantic at heart.”
“Sap,” Sirius agreed, and then after a pause. “I love you too, Jamie.”