“Barty told me you were talking to a girl today,” Regulus said to James lightly as he joined the older boy at the Gryffindor table. “The one who obviously wants to snog you?”

James, who had been busy making heart-eyes at his piece of cake, looked up as his boyfriend, the adoration only growing more pronounced. “Reg! Hi, love! What’re you talking about?”

“Belby,” he said with disgust, as if saying the girl’s name pained him. “You were laughing with her today?”

The Gryffindor looked so clueless it was almost embarrassing. Sirius, who was watching the whole exchange, sighed with disappointment. Normally, he would have allowed his best friend to crash and burn–it wasn’t like he adored the fact that his best friend and brother were dating and he admittedly lived for a bit of drama–but he’d had a long day and frankly, the two of them were slightly more tolerable when they were all lovey and gooey together than when they were arguing.

“Prongs,” he said with a sigh, interrupting what was surely about to be a rant from Regulus. “What was Belby wearing today?”

The girl in question had been wearing a jumper that even Sirius, who had recently labelled himself as Moony-sexual, could admit was tantalizingly tight. However, James just stared blankly back and forth between Sirius and Regulus in a way that was so confused it had to be genuine. “Erm…robes?” he answered.

“Right…” Sirius said with a grin. “And what was Reg wearing, say…two Fridays ago?”

The tallest boy’s eyes went unfocused for a moment before he lit up, his grin stretching across his whole face. “Oh! That black button-down with the gray buttons that brings out his eyes! I remember because you hit me with a jinx for talking too much about it while we were doing homework!” he recalled, beaming proudly.

Regulus just stared, clearly amazed.

Sirius, however, crossed his arms triumphantly. “So. Have we solved the problem? Can I go back to my dinner in peace, then?”

But then Regulus yanked on James’s tie, pulling him down for a kiss that was very close to being inappropriate for such a public location. James, of course, seemed thrilled by this chain of events, but Sirius just groaned, grabbing a piece of pie and standing up.

“M’going to go throw up now, bye!” he called with fake cheer.

“Where the fuck’re you bringing me?” Sirius demanded, though he grinned as James pulled him through the thick London crowd. “I thought you said we were doing something romantic?”

“This is romantic, you berk, now would you let me do my thing?” James retorted haughtily.

“Your thing?” Sirius shot back, chuckling as he worked to keep up with James’s pace. “Mate, you already picked me up a long time ago, you don’t have to–”

But at that point he figured out where they were going.

“Prongs, are we near King’s Cross?” he demanded, trying to decide how he felt about this.

James paused, turning to shoot him a look. “Listen, you royal arsehole. I am being bloody sweet. Do not ruin this for me, hm?”

Unable to decide what was sweet about going to a Muggle train station, especially on this day, Sirius tilted his head to the side. But still, he figured James’s plans were never boring, so he might as well come along for the ride. “Fine,” he agreed, making sure his sigh was extra dramatic.

They wove through the throngs of people into the station and, unsurprisingly, up to the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Without a word of explanation, James pulled Sirius through until they were safely on platform 9 ¾, surrounded by Hogwarts students about to board the steaming scarlet train. 

“You really had to do this today, eh?” Sirius called over the kids and parents, shaking his head good-naturedly. “What’s this about, Prongs?”

“All in good time!” James yelled back, still pulling him along, head on a swivel as he do-doubt looked to make sure nobody noticed them. 

It was when they got to the door of the train that Sirius stopped him again. “You know you can Floo to Hogsmeade, right?” he asked with a laugh, gesturing to the car. “We don’t have to stow away with a bunch of kids. Not that I’m not up for adventure, but–”

“We aren’t going to be on long!” James reassured him, rolling his eyes. “Just a few minutes. C’mon, we haven’t got much time!”

So Sirius followed him. Because really, he would follow him anywhere.

They barrelled down the thin hall of the compartments, Sirius reflecting about how small everything felt now. It’d been so long since they’d been here, since the end of their seventh year. So much had changed. They’d grown, matured, come together and drifted apart. But really, it had all started here, in this same train, in compartment–

“Compartment two,” James announced, throwing open the door to the very first place the two of them had met, a beaming smile on his face. “You remember?”

Of course he did. He’d been eleven and terrified, wanting to get away from his awful family but with no idea how. And James Fleamont Potter had sidled up to him with a grin and a promise to change his life forever.

Somewhere in this compartment, their names were carved in the wood. JFP+SOB. How many students had seen them and not known how much it meant? How many students had sat here and not known how life changing this place had been for them? After looking around for a moment, Sirius turned back to James.

Only to find him down on one knee.

“Oh, bloody fucking hell,” he said loudly. A few students out in the corridor peeked their heads in, looking thoroughly confused.

“Pads,” James said with a shaky smile as he held out a box with a ring, “I–”

“Fuck yes. Fuck yes!” he yelled, unable to let James speak, too excited to do anything but jump on top of him and kiss him.

“I had a whole speech prepared!” James protested against his lips, but he was laughing as he spoke so Sirius knew he wasn’t in trouble.

And fuck, it was perfect. Of course James would make sure they were in the place they’d met when he proposed, of course he would sneak them onto the damn Hogwarts Express. What else would he do? How else would he–?

The train whistle blew, startling them both from their…activities.

“Shit!”

So of course they celebrated their engagement by jumping out of a moving train hand-in-hand, giggling like madmen as they sprinted through the crowd.

Please R&R!!!!!!!