#clumsy james

@jegulus-microfic April 13, Word count 996

James could not Ski. He’d tried for years. His parents took him every year, but he just didn’t have the balance for it. Even now, at 25, he stayed on the easiest slopes. He watched 8-year-olds surpass him. But even though he was hopeless, he absolutely loved it. The mountains were so beautiful, the air crisp and cold, and the evening wood fires with fresh hot chocolate were to die for. 

One morning, he took the chair lift to the top with his parents, fully intending to take it back down again once he’d taken in the view. But of course. James accident-prone Potter, did not go back down the way he meant to. 

James began to slide backwards without noticing. It was only when, with a puzzled look on his face, he wondered why the trees he was looking at were getting shorter. Did he begin to panic. 

His eyes went wide with horror as he hurtled backwards down the slope. Somehow, he doesn’t quite know how he managed to turn around, so he was at least facing the right way. He started yelling. He’d definitely been happier facing the other way. 

He tried to bring up every lesson he’d ever learnt about Skiing. He managed to slow himself enough to control his descent. That was until the skier clad in a skin-tight black and white snowsuit caught his attention. 

It was as though his skis were attracted to the skier. They turned towards him, and James lost all control. 

“LOOK OUT!!!!” He screamed. The man turned in time to watch James smack into him. They crashed to the ground in a tangle of skis, poles and limbs. 

“What the hell are you playing at?” The other man shouted at him, his cheeks red with anger. James looked at him sheepishly. 

“I’m sorry. I lost control of my skis and couldn’t stop.”

“If you can’t control yourself, you shouldn’t be on this slope. You should be down with the children.” The man sneered at him. James nodded profusely. 

“Yes. Yes, that’s where I normally am, but I accidentally came down this one.” 

“How on earth did you manage that?” The man asked interestedly.

“I came up with my parents and meant to take the lift back down. But, while I was looking at the view. I kind of started sliding backwards, and by the time I realised it was too late.” He flushed with embarrassment. 

“How did you not realise you were moving?” 

“The view was pretty.” He shrugged. The man laughed at him. He tried to stand and hissed when he put weight on his ankle. 

“Damn it.” He tried again and quickly stopped. “Ouch.” He whined. James stood up and was thankfully unharmed. He looked around. They were nearly at the bottom. He could see the bar from here. 

He set his skis in front of him and bent to gather the man’s skis and both sets of poles. 

“Here, hold these.” He told the man as he slipped his hand under him and scooped him into his arms. 

“Ahhhh! What are you doing?” The man panicked. 

“I’m going to get you back down so you can see a doctor.” He didn’t wait for the man to argue. He stood into his skis and set off. Maybe it was the determination to get this man off the slopes, or maybe something had finally clicked, but James skied down the rest of the mountain like a pro. 

He stopped at the bottom, released his feet from his skis and carried the man into the hotel. 

“Hey, can someone get a doctor here? He’s hurt his ankle.” James deposited him on the lobby sofa as gently as possible. “I really am sorry.” He apologised again. “Can I get you anything?” The man shook his head. James hovered awkwardly next to the sofa. 

“Oh, for crying out loud, just sit down.” The man snapped. James flung himself on the sofa in panic. “Ouch! Watch the ankle!” 

“Sorry! Sorry!” James’s hands fluttered uselessly over his ankle. 

“I’m Regulus since you asked,” Regulus told him. 

“Oh-er. James, James Potter.” James held out his hand. 

“It was a pleasure to be almost crushed by you, James.” He smirked, a wicked glint in his eyes. 

“I really am sorry.” James dropped his head, staring at his boots. 

“Did someone ask for a doctor?” A tall, lanky man asked them.

“Yes, Regulus here had an accident while we were skiing,” James told the doctor. 

 My name’s Dr Lupin. I’m going to examine you. Is there anywhere that hurts?”

“Excuse me, I was hit by a clumsy yeti.” Regulus snickered back, ignoring Dr Lupin. 

“Did you hit your head?” The doctor asked worriedly, his hands gently probing across Regulus’s head. Regulus swatted him away. 

“No, the yeti was him,” He pointed at James. Dr Lupin looked between them, confused. 

“Regulus, can you tell me where you’re hurt?” He asked again patiently.

“My ankle,” He pointed at his left foot. Dr Lupin carefully prodded and rotated the joint. 

“Hmm, I don’t think it’s broken. Badly sprained. Keep off it for at least a week and wear this…” Dr Lupin dug out a tubular bandage and handed it to James. 

“Make sure you’re boyfriend takes it easy. Hot chocolate works wonders.” He smiled kindly. 

“Oh-no-he’s not my-we’re not!” James spluttered.

“Hear that, dear? Waited on hand and foot.” Regulus said as he held back his laughter. Dr Lupin looked between them again, realising he was missing something. 

“Well. Here’s my card in case the pain gets any worse.” He handed over the little card and excused himself. James watched the doctor pause when the man who looked eerily like Regulus caught his eye when he was about to walk out the door. 

“So hot chocolate then, love?” He snickered at Regulus, winking and taking great pleasure at the pink colour his cheeks turned. James was going to enjoy this week. He just knew it. 

@jegulus-microfic April 16, Word count 854

Previous part First part

James actually ran as soon as he got out of Regulus and Sirius’s suite. He was so stupid throwing himself at a stranger without even asking if they were single. He thought Regulus would have told him, but clearly not. Then again, he thought, he did tell me to go away repeatedly, and I wouldn’t go. Barty was right to be angry at me. 

His feet had led him back to his own room. Clumsily, he scanned the door card and let himself in. Maybe he’d go out onto the slopes and have a ski. He hadn’t done that for a few days. Not since he ran into Regulus. He could hardly embarrass himself more than he’d already done today.

He had just hauled himself off the bed and started to look for his skiing clothes when the room phone rang. He picked it up in case it was his parents, but they had his mobile number, so it would be odd if it were them. 

“Hello?” He said into the receiver. 

“James? James, is that you? Please don’t hang up. Can you come back, and I’ll explain.” Regulus’s panicked voice buzzed down the phone line. James sunk onto his bed. 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Reg. My intentions aren’t exactly platonic, and you have a boyfriend—”

“I DO NOT HAVE A BOYFRIEND!!!” Regulus shouted, clearly aggravated. “Sorry. Barty is not my boyfriend. I broke up with him, and he refuses to accept it. But I swear, James, I would have told you if he were. Please come back.” James ran his hand through his hair as he debated. “Please, James.”

“Ugh,” He grunted. “Okay, fine. Is Sirius there to let me back in?” He’d already stood up and walked towards the door but was suddenly yanked backwards by the corded phone. “Ouch!” He cried as he landed heavily on his arse. 

“You just tried to walk away with the hotel’s phone, didn’t you?” Regulus said, trying to hold back a snicker. 

“Shut up, or I’m not coming.” He hung the phone up and, rubbing his rump, left his room. 

It wasn’t until he was approaching Regulus’s room that he realised he’d never gotten an answer if Sirius was there to let him in. He really didn’t want Regulus to have to hop all the way through to open the door.

As luck would have it, Dr Lupin had just raised his hand to knock on the door. “Dr Lupin,” James called out, waving at the man and jogging the last few steps to get to him. “You here to check on Regulus’s ankle?” He asked with a big smile breaking across his face. 

“Oh, er—I mean—Yes, yes. That’s right. Regulus’s ankle—Yep—Exactly.” The young doctor seemed flustered, with a pink flush creeping over his face. He was saved from further explanation when the door suddenly opened. 

“Remus!” Sirius beamed at him. His face dropped when he saw James standing next to him. 

“Hello, Mr Black. I’m here to check on Regulus’s ankle.” Remus stared straight at Sirius. 

“Huh? Oh—Yeah, brilliant. Thank you, Dr Lupin.” Sirius moved aside and let him in. James flicked his head between the two men but couldn’t figure out what he was missing. He shrugged his shoulders and followed them in. 

They crowded into Regulus’s room, much to Regulus’s surprise. 

“Hello, Regulus. How are you today? I’ve come to check your ankle.” Remus got Regulus to stand and move a few steps as he observed and nodded at his progress. “Excellent. It’s healing well. You can probably do some light exercise with it now. Walk around the suite at least today and try a bit further tomorrow. You should be almost back to normal by the time you go home, though I’m afraid I can’t recommend any more skiing while you’re here.” Remus told him in his doctor’s voice. 

“Thank you, Dr Lupin,” Regulus said as he lowered himself back onto the bed. 

“You’re welcome,” Remus said, straightening his jumper. “I’ve taken enough of your time. If you want a final check before you leave, let me know.” He turned towards the door.

“I’ll see you out,” Sirius told him, following him through the door.

“Hi,” Regulus murmured once they were alone. 

“Hi,” James sighed and sunk onto the end of the bed. 

“I’m sorry if he said anything to upset you. I’ve blocked his number now. Hopefully, he’ll get the message.” They sat there in awkward silence. 

Regulus shuffled himself up the bed so he was propped up by his pillows. “Can we just forget that moron spoke to you and just go back to how we were this morning?” He asked hopefully. “I found a film I think you might like. It’s all romantic, and there’s sword fighting and pirates and Rodents of unusual size.” He smiled shyly at James as he flicked the TV on. 

With very little encouragement, James flopped backwards next to Regulus. 

Regulus immediately snuggled into his side and nudged James’s arm until he wrapped it around him. Regulus sighed contentedly as he put the film on.