Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I don’t understand why I have to meet those stupid friends of yours,” Regulus complained in the dead of night, the Black Brothers lying beside each other in Sirius’ bed being as quiet as possible. They’d been doing this since the second week of the summer when, reluctantly, Sirius and Regulus had become closer. With nobody except each other, they didn’t really have much choice. But they’re glad they did.

“C’mon, Reg. It’ll be nice for you to have some friends,” Sirius said, playing with the hem of Regulus’ pajama top.

“I have friends!”

“No, you have Barty Crouch Jr and Evan Rosier.”

“They are my friends!”

“Be quiet, I think mother’s coming. Get under the bed, quick,” Sirius rushed Regulus under his bed, quickly going under his covers and pretending to sleep. Walburga Black threw open the door, glaring at Sirius’ “Sleeping” body.

“What are you doing, Sirius?” she said with her usual angry tone that she uses with Sirius daily. Sirius stayed still, his heart rate increasing by the second. “I said, what are you doing, Sirius!” she pulled away the covers.

Sirius sat up; “What? I was sleeping,” he lied with a fake yawn. Slap.

“Don’t lie to me! Go to sleep, immediately!” Walburga screamed. There was the sound of a held back sob from the bottom of Sirius’ throat as Walburga left the room and slammed the door.

Regulus crawled out from under his bed; “I have to go, Sirius.” Sirius nodded and Regulus left, going back to bed. Though, he didn’t sleep, and was sure Sirius didn’t either.

The next morning was as September 1st usually was. Sirius and Regulus would be woken up by Kreacher, make sure everything was packed perfectly, eat their eggs. Then Kreacher would escort them to Platform 9 and 3 quarters 30 minutes early and their parents would say farewell to Regulus, promptly ignoring Sirius.

But, this year, when the Black Brothers got on the train they went and found a compartment together, instead of ignoring each other and going their separate ways. About 20 minutes later Remus showed up, sitting next to Sirius and greeting him with a peck on the cheek before he realised who was sitting just across from him.

“Regulus! Surprise to see you here! Weather’s nice, isn’t it,” Remus blabbered, clearly trying to cover up the kiss on the cheek he’d given Sirius just moments before. Sirus laughed. Of course, Sirius and Regulus had been close over the summer, and Regulus was the first person to know about Sirius and Remus's relationship. Not even the other two “Marauders” knew yet. Though, Regulus suspected that they had a small idea that something was going on between the two, given what Sirius had told him about them.

“It’s fine, Rem. He already knows,” Sirius smiled at his boyfriend, who’s face visibly relaxed.

“Oh, okay. Sorry, I just panicked for a second there. Anyways, I’m Remus. Which you already know. Oh, Godric, I’m messing this up already.”

The corner of Regulus’s mouth twitched, hinting a smile. But he resisted.

“It’s all right. We can start over. I’m Regulus Black, I’m just about 13 months younger than Sirius because my birthday is the day after Christmas. But I’m only about 10 months younger than you, if I’m right. Which I usually am.”

Remus smirked; “You best be careful I don’t leave you for your brother, Pads.” Sirius looked quite distressed at this, but sighed, about to make some dirty comment about this, before the door opened and Peter Pettigrew stepped in. He looked around the compartment with an unreadable expression, and then fixated his eyes on Regulus.

“Peter Pettigrew, nice to meet you,” he said, sitting down next to Regulus.

“Regulus Black, pleasure.”

The boys fell into simple conversation until about 10:59am, when James burst through the compartment doors. His hair was the usual untidy mess, and his glasses were wonky on his face. He was wearing black ripped jeans and red converse with an oversized maroon sweater draping down the length of his body. The sunlight coming through the now-moving train made his tanned skin shine and his hazel eyes gleam like the eyes of a deer.

“Hi, sorry I was almost late, my- friend from home wanted to say a proper goodbye and I left the house too late,” James blabbered as he sat on the other side of Sirius. Sirius looked at him sceptically.

“A friend? Is she pretty? Did you kiss? Or go on a date?” Sirius was instantly bombarding James with questions.

“Shut up, Padfoot. It’s just a friend I made over the summer. And for the record, yes. We went on a date and kissed and he’s very pretty, so shut up,” James realised his mistake just seconds after the rest of them. “She. She’s very pretty. She. I meant she.” He began to panic frantically.

“Woah, does that mean your gay!?” Peter exclaimed.

“Pete! You can’t say that!” Remus said.

“Why not? It’s what we’re all thinking!” Peter was clearly getting on everyone’s nerves, and Regulus decided to do something about it.

“Peter, would you mind go to have a look how far away the trolley lady is? I’m starving and could do with something sweet sometime soon,” Regulus quickly made up. Peter murmured something incoherent and stood up, walking out of the compartment. Sirius gave Regulus a look that said “Thank you” before turning back to a now-crying James.

“I’m not gay. I swear I’m not. I just, I like blokes as well. I don’t think a person's gender really matters, I just like who they are, I guess,” James muttered. It was barely coherent, but the other three boys managed to make out what he was saying.

“If it makes you feel any better, blokes are hot,” Regulus spoke without thinking. The boys’ heads turned to look at him.

“What?” James said.

“Blokes, men, boys, whatever you want to call them,” he shrugged as if he hadn’t just come out to his brother, his brother’s boyfriend, and his brother’s best friend.

“You mean...?” Sirius said, honestly looking surprised.

“I’m gay, yes. I swear on Merlin’s soggy socks that I told you sometime over the summer,” Regulus knew he hadn’t told Sirius anything. But Sirius didn’t need to know that.

“Wait, this is your brother, right, Sirius?” James looked quite confused.

“OH RIGHT! I MUST DO AN INTRODUCTION!” Sirius seemed glad to be changing the subject to something less awkward. “Meet Regulus Arcturus Black, my baby brother!"

Regulus rolled his eyes with a sigh; "I told you to stop introducing me like that."

"Freckles," James said, and Regulus realised that James was now staring at him.

"What!?" Regulus gave him a sharp, bewildered look.

"Freckles, you have a lot of them. Like the stars."

"Whatever, so tell me about this summer lover, then?"

Chapter Text

Regulus’s life had been significantly better since he’d reconnected with his brother. But also, significantly worse.

James Potter had been flirting with him. And the worst thing is that James didn’t even realise he was doing it until Sirius began acting weird.

Like, James would say something about Regulus’s face looking even better than the day before, and Sirius would grimace and hit James lightly, telling him to stop. James, poor James, didn’t understand what he was doing and literally just told Sirius that he was just telling the truth.

The only thing James could think of doing was talking to Remus. So, he did.

“Hey, Rem?” he caught Remus’s wrist on the way out of potions, “Can I talk to you?”

Remus looked confused but nodded and pulled him aside.

“So, do you have any idea why Sirius has been acting weird recently?” James said, obliviously.

Remus chuckled lightly; “Maybe it’s because you’re continuously flirting with his brother?”

James looked at him astonished, as if it wasn’t the most obvious thing in the world. He shook his head.

“I haven’t been flirting with his brother!” He exclaimed, looking quite aghast at this.

“You have. ‘Oh Regulus, your hair looks so fluffy like a cloud! Oh Regulus, your freckles are like the stars! Oh Regulus, your face looks so pretty today, wait it looks pretty every day!’ You’re like some lovesick puppy, Prongs,” Remus mocked his with a small smirk.

“What? I don’t like-like Regulus!” James was still quite astounded.

“Whatever, I have divination now, I have to go,” and with that Remus was gone.

James was quite confused, to say the least. So, he confronted Sirius.

“Sirius?” he said that night while they were studying in their dorm.

“Yeah?” Sirius said, not looking at him.

“Have I been flirting with Reg?”

“What!? Yeah, as a matter of fact you have! You’re not doing it on purpose?” Sirius said, bewildered.

“No, I promise I’m not. Merlin, has everybody been thinking that I’m flirting with him? I just like complimenting him! He’s adorable, like a black cat,” James said with a dreamy smile.

“And you’re trying to tell me you don’t have a crush on him?” Sirius frowned.

“I don’t!” James blushed.

“Yeah, okay. I believe you,” Sirius said in a sarcastic manner.

“Shut up!” James was blushing furiously now. “I don’t have a crush on your brother!”

Honestly, James was trying to convince himself more than Sirius at this point. They dropped the subject and just continued studying.

The next morning it was a Saturday, so the Marauders and the girls were sitting in the common room, when Regulus entered the portrait hole. It had become a regular thing now. Regulus would come and hang out with them almost every day. Of course, James smiled the moment he walked in.

“Well, hello, Regulus. Don’t you look-" he cut himself off as he felt everyone’s eyes on him. “Never mind.” He went back to the book he was supposed to be studying, but he’d been on the same page for almost an hour, clearly deep in thought.

“James, you alright?” Lily asked him after a while.

He snapped back to reality and flipped the page; “Yeah, I’m great.”

Everyone was clearly concerned, except Regulus, who was too busy admiring him to notice what was going on.

It was safe to say that Friday and Saturday were weird days. James was still trying to come to terms with his “crush” that he was convinced he didn’t have, and Regulus was dying internally, as James hadn’t made a single flirty comment today. Saying that Regulus missed it was an understatement. He loved when James would flirt with him obliviously, though he would never admit it aloud.

A few hours later Regulus retreated to his dorm, to find something he really didn’t expect. Barty Crouch Jr and Evan Rosier making out on Regulus’s bed. With a quiet sigh, he left and decided to go for a walk around the black lake.

The rest of his day was relaxed. He walked around the lake, went to the library and studied for a few hours before he deemed it safe to go back to his dorm.

Chapter Text

This shouldn’t be allowed.

James walked across the Quidditch pitch, ready for the first game of the year. Looking as fit as ever.

This shouldn’t be allowed.

It should be illegal for a man that looks like him to walk around looking like that.

This shouldn’t be allowed.

Regulus should NOT be swooning right now. He was about to do his first match of the year. Slytherin VS Gryffindor. And James was currently being much to distracting. It wasn’t fair.

“Hey, Reg! Have a good game, alright?” James came up to him with his usual cheerful smile. This was a shock to Regulus only because James had clearly been avoiding him recently.

“Uh- Yeah, you too?” Regulus said but it sounded more like a question. James flashed a last quick smile at him a ran off to the starting area. Oh, right. Regulus should do that too. Everyone mounted their brooms and the game began.

It was an average match so far. Gryffindor was in the lead for the first 15 minutes, before Slytherin scored quite a few good goals. Remus was the commentator of the match and so far, he’d only sworn twice. Which was a record for him 30 minutes into the match. Everything was going smoothly. Slytherin and Gryffindor were at a tie.

After just over an hour, Regulus was getting sick of the petty cat and mouse game tactic. So, he decided to do his own thing. Well not exactly his own thing. The Wronski Feint. He’d only practiced a few times, but he believed he could do it.

He couldn’t.

He went flying off his broom, tumbling to the ground at an alarming speed.

This was it, he was going to die. He knew a lot was going on around him, but he was too distracted by the fact he was about to break his neck to listen to anything. But then it all stopped. Screams of joy and fear came from the stands and Regulus realised he’d been caught.

But, who?

Regulus looked up just to see James holding him as tight as possible, tears streaming down his face in relief as he fussed over Regulus.

“You’re alright, you’re alright, you’re alright,” James held him close as several professors, Sirius and Remus walked up to them. James was forced to let him go as Sirius held on just as tight as James did, not letting go until Regulus was whooshed away to the Hospital Wing.

Luckily for Regulus, James caught him at the perfect timing, and his head hadn’t hit the floor. But during James’s landing, Regulus sprained his ankle + he was a bit woozy from the falling, so he did have to stay at the Hospital Wing over night. He wasn’t allowed visitors either. Which made it a bit worse. He would give anything for his brother and James to be there with his now, as he read a book Remus had given Madame Pomfrey to give him.

Regulus went to sleep at around 10pm, after Madame Pomfrey insisted he “Put that bloody book down and get some actual rest!”

At around 1am Regulus was awoken to a consistent tap on his shoulder. He batted the hand away as he sat up and tried to compose himself.

“Wha-“ it was James. James stood beside his bed, holding the invisibility cloak in one hand and his lit up wand in the other.

“Hi,” he smiled awkwardly, sitting in the chair beside the bed.

“What- what are you doing here? It’s almost 1am for Merlin’s sake!” Regulus was confused but also kind of glad that he wasn’t alone for much longer.

“Well, I thought you’d want some company. Can I get in?” he said, gesturing to the bed.

“Yeah- but, I’m not sure if we’ll both fit,” Regulus reasoned, but James, persistent as always, tried his best and managed.

Somehow, James ended up spooning Regulus as they talked about everything and nothing all together. Regulus wasn’t sure what time it was that they fell asleep, but they eventually did.

The next morning, Regulus woke up alone, beginning to think it was just a silly hallucination.

“Hey, Madame Pomfrey?” he asked as she gave him a small checkup.

“Yes, dear?” she said with a smile.

“I think I was hallucinating last night?” he asked with a frown.

“Oh no, you weren’t. James Potter stumbled out the doors this morning at about 5am. I would have given a detention but it doesn’t matter,” she said, sighing.

“Oh.”

“I won’t tell anyone he came to visit you, dear,” she smiled reassuringly.

After his little checkup, Regulus was sent off to breakfast.

It’s safe to say that the rest of the day was average.

Chapter Text

After the little incident a few days prior, Regulus had been avoiding James completely.

He didn’t mean to; he didn’t even know he was doing it. Not until his brother came up to him at dinner.

“Hey, Reg?” Sirius began as Regulus sat down, standing over him like a dog who wants something. “Would you come sit with us?”

Regulus looked up at him, putting some roast potatoes on his plate. Before he even got the chance to say no, Barty butted in.

“Nope, he’s ours tonight, Black. It’s Evan’s birthday tomorrow and we have lots of planning to do!” Barty said, putting his arm around Regulus’s neck and grinning.

Sirius frowned a bit and looked around the table a bit. “Where is Rosier, anyways?” he asked, noticing that Evan wasn’t there.

“At the library, studying with Pandora, methinks,” Barty said, taking a potato from Regulus’s plate which now consisted of more foods and popped it into his mouth, letting go of Regulus and knocking some peas off the scooper Regulus was currently using. Regulus sighed, putting down the pea scooper and elbowing Barty harshly in the ribs. “Ow!”

“Alright, I’ll leave you to it then. And do feel free to hang out in the Gryffindor common room with us more often. You were before, but now I barely see you except from Potions class.” Regulus had been moved up to the next year’s Potions class because his grades were better than almost everyone in the year above. This meant he was in Potions with the Marauders.

Regulus sighed, “Look, I’ll come hang out with you soon, I promise. Just not today or tomorrow because, as Barty said, it’s Evan’s birthday tomorrow and we should be planning right now.”

“Okay, bye.”

“Bye, Sirius.”

-----------------------

For Evan’s birthday they decided not to be over-the-top. Well, Regulus decided not to be over-the-top. Barty however, insisted on the most absurd things. Like swimming in the Black Lake or making the whole of Hogwarts sing happy birthday in French every time they saw Evan by using a custom jinx that Regulus had created for Sirius’s birthday and then completely forgot to use.

In the end, they decided on a small party in their dorm with just the three boys, Pandora, and Dorcas. Regulus and Barty quickly wrapped the presents they got Evan and hid them under Barty’s bed just in time for Evan to come in, carrying a stack of books covered in ink and a scowl.

“Stupid first year wasn’t watching where he was going and knocked my ink all over the books and my clothes!” he said, putting his stuff on the desk and showing the other two boys his shirt and robes that were covered in ink.

He went to shower, and Regulus and Barty fell into simple conversation about Quidditch.

“At least tomorrow will be a better day,” Evan said when he was cleaned up and in comfier clothes.

This was the moment the other two boys had been waiting for.

“Why, what’s tomorrow?” Barty said, pretending to be oblivious. Hurt flashed across Evan’s face as he looked to Regulus who was also acting oblivious.

For a moment he looked as if he was going to cry, but he masked it away. “Nothing,” he said with a sad smile, “Just a new day, fresh start, y’know.” He climbed into bed and shut his curtains.

Regulus honestly felt bad for lying to him, but knew it was for a good reason. It was to ‘add to the surprise' in Barty’s words.

The next morning Regulus and Barty awoke earlier than usual and decorated the dorm, setting out the presents from themselves and Evan’s parents in the middle of the room.

As they presumed, Evan woke up at his usual time, opening the curtains and yawning. It took him about 10 seconds after he opened his eyes to realise that the room was covered in colourful decorations and to see the presents on the floor.

He gaped at the two boys who were sitting on the floor beside the presents and beaming.

“You guys didn’t forget!” he yelled, rushing to the floor to hug the other two boys tightly.

It was a Friday, but Regulus and Barty deemed it okay to take the day off for Evan, as well as Dorcas and Pandora. The five friends spent the day eating chocolate and playing games, all the way until late at night.

Overall, it was a great day, and Regulus had never been more grateful for his friends. Even if it wasn’t his birthday, just being this close with his friends was the best possible thing he could ever ask for.

He put all his worries aside and had fun.