“Can’t you do it?”
“Yeah, because my athletic experience will really help them with their literary studies.”
Regulus was about one gentle push away from quitting before he had even begun. It was his first day teaching at Hogwarts Secondary school, and he had never felt this anxious in his life.
“Teenagers play football…”
“Love.”
“I’m just saying!”
He had barely slept, his nerves were shot, and James had essentially been trying to talk him off a ledge since his alarm had gone off.
“Darling. You’re going to do great. You know what you’re doing, and you are wicked smart.”
“Not smart enough.” Regulus buried his face into his partner's chest and lifted the plush duvet higher over his shoulders.
“Have you forgotten you have a masters degree?”
“Doesn’t matter. They’re gonna think I’m stupid.”
James just laughed softly before lifting Regulus’s head, placing a gentle hand on each side of his jaw.
“Baby. I promise you everything is going to be okay. I have the day off training so you can text me whenever, and if you need anything Remus is right across the hall remember?”
Regulus’s brother in law, Remus, also taught at the school in the English department. His brother Sirius had been over the moon when Regulus had accepted the position. He had claimed it was the best thing that ever happened to him, and received a stern scolding from Remus and their son Teddy because of it.
“You should get ready or you're going to be late, and we both know that's not going to help you today.” James said, voice as kind as ever. Regulus gave James a performative pout, which was only met with the same unwavering smile. Damn him for always knowing exactly what he needs.
“Ugh fine.” Regulus groaned, pushing himself up off of James’s chest and towards the closet to begrudgingly get himself ready for the day.
After about twenty minutes of indecisive pondering, he settled on a pair of smart black slacks and a deep green cable knit— one that James had gifted him the previous Christmas. After carefully taming his dark curls and donning his watch and ring, he set off downstairs to collect the last of his things.
“Well don’t you look nice Mr. Black.” James was smirking as he stood over the stovetop kettle. He was now wearing his glasses and a large cozy Gryffindor team hoodie, one Regulus often enjoyed stealing.
“Watch it, Potter.” He said sternly as he moved through the kitchen to find his water bottle, still tightly strung with nerves.
“I’m just saying. If you were my teacher, I don’t know how much learning I’d be doing.”
“Well it’s a thing you're not 16 anymore. You were rather annoying.” Regulus responded, turning on the tap.
“Ouch.” James said, feigning offense.
Regulus twisted the metal bottle closed before tucking it into the brown messenger bag he had placed on the counter. Laptop, notebook, water– Tea. That's what he was forgetting. Tea. He began rapidly searching for his travel mug.
“Love, have you seen my–”
Before he could finish James was wordlessly pushing the mug into his hand. Full of warm tea prepared just the way he liked it.
Regulus wrapped his hands around it delicately and felt his cheeks flush. Five years later and he was still swooning from James’s sweet gestures.
He tilted his head up to pull James into a gentle kiss.
“I love you.” Regulus whispered.
“Love you too, now go. You’ll be great.” James said, giving him a final kiss before Regulus stepped away to put on his coat and shoes.
Part of why he was so nervous is that he was starting at Hogwarts in the middle of their first semester. His friend Pandora Lovegood had previously filled the role but had accepted a higher up position in the district. He was obviously very grateful that she had put in a good word for him, but this was his first long term teaching job and he was really hoping that the school would keep him on for the following year. The last thing he wanted was to undo the work Pandora had done with her class over the, and make a fool of himself on his first day.
He pulled on his pea coat as he made his way out the front door, and into the crisp October air. Remus was already waiting for him in the driveway. He had insisted on Regulus joining him and his son Teddy’s carpool even though Regulus did in fact have his own car, and only lived a ten minute walk away from the school anyways. After James got involved in the argument he was left with no choice.
Regulus dropped into the passenger seat with a huff, buckling his seatbelt before laying his head back on the seat. He would be lucky if the short drive didn’t make him throw up.
“How ya holding up?” Remus smiled. An all too knowing look in his eye. “James said you were having some first day jitters.” Regulus let out a loud sigh.
“Of course he did.”
“Relax Reg, you’ve got nothing to worry about. They’re good kids, really, and Pandora already told them a bit about you.” Remus reassured as he pulled into the school’s large parking lot.
“Well that's not concerning at all.”
“They are all kind of excited actually.” Teddy piped up from the back seat, head in his phone like a typical 16 year old. Regulus felt his stomach turn.
The three collected their things and made their way towards the school's front door.
“I mean it. You’ve got this.” Remus gave him a solid pat on the back. A comfortable silence fell over them as they made their way towards the English wing, Teddy turning down towards the music room.
“Where are you going?” Remus questioned his son. “Isn’t your first class with Reg?”
“Just to say hi to Mrs. Meadows.”
Remus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, while Regulus tried a smile of amusement. Though he certainly had many of Remus’s traits, Teddy had undoubtedly adopted Sirius’s rambunctious love of music and cheeky sense of rebellion. It only made sense that he spent an egregious amount of time with his music teacher.
“Just don’t be late, yeah?”
At that, with a not so subtle roll of the eyes and a mumbled response, Teddy rushed his way towards Mrs. Meadow’s classroom.
“He’s your brother's kid I swear to god.”
Regulus always did like Remus. They often found themselves writing, reading, marking assignments together, and when they weren't they were likely discussing some novel and leaving their partners very confused in the process.
When they finally reached their respective classrooms Remus turned to Regulus for a final time as he unlocked the door.
“Relax.” He said again.
As he slipped through the now open door, Regulus was left standing alone in the long hallway. He fumbled with his own set of keys for a moment before making his way into what was now his classroom. He heard a steady chatter and the sound of locker doors beginning to grow as students began arriving.
When Regulus accepted the job Pandora had been insistent that he make the classroom his own. She had even taken it upon herself to take him shopping, and help him set up the space over a long weekend, reworking lesson plans and all. She was of course sad to go, and the students were sad to say goodbye as well, but she wanted to help make the transition as easy as possible for everyone involved.
In all honesty he was grateful for the help. He hadn’t know where to start. He had never been on a long enough contract to bother decorating, and he hated the thought of messing with another teacher's space.
Eventually Pandora asked what he wanted the space to feel like, figuring that would be the best place to start. The only word that came to mind: safe.
With that as their goal the pair got to work, and in a single afternoon they had the classroom redesigned in a way that left Regulus feeling actually quite proud. There were various lines from his favourite books taped to the walls, and various lamps were now tucked into corners. Pandora had of course let him keep almost everything that she had originally in the room, though it was nice to see parts of himself there too. He even added to her bookshelves, bringing in books from his own library at home he thought students may enjoy.
Though perhaps the most meaningful part of the room was the two small pride flags he had hung in the corner behind his desk. Everyone would feel safe in his classroom.
Regulus found his way to his desk and took a long drink of the tea James had prepared for him, and began to brace himself for the day ahead.
There had been just enough time to turn on all the lamps, and figure out how to connect his laptop to the projector before the bell sounded and students started to flood down the hallways and into their designated classrooms.
All together he would teach four classes. First period he would have a group of tenth graders for their basic grade level course, with the advanced version of the course directly after the lunch break in fourth period. He would end the day with the grade elevens who Regulus had been warned were a little quiet. However, given everything he had been told, the group he was most nervous for was his second period group of seniors. According to Pandora they were a wonderful, but easily excitable, inquisitive group of students. Thankfully he would have a free prep period afterwards in case anything went awry.
Regulus found his way to the front of the room as students began to shuffle in, conversations hushing as they laid eyes on their new teacher for the first time.
No turning back now, Regulus thought.
Thankfully, despite his nerves, first period went by without any trouble. Their teacher trade off was purposely planned in a way that Regulus wouldn’t have to take over teaching any topics and could instead begin new material with his classes.
After brief but friendly introductions were made as he took attendance, he introduced their next topic of study; creative writing and short stories.
Regulus wanted his first classes and assignments to be fun for the students, but also something he felt confident teaching. Creative writing was the perfect option. It was what he did his masters in after all.
He found himself grinning at the excited buzz that passed through the room at the announcement, and even more so when he caught his nephew, beaming brightly up at him with an excited glint in his eye. Maybe if he was lucky, he would finally succeed in his and Remus’s everlasting mission to get Teddy to enjoy books, as well as his brother's noisy hobbies.
After he read the class a short story and some excited discussion surrounding it, Regulus was feeling more confident as the class rolled to a close.
Eventually the next bell rang, and students began making their way to their next class. On his way out the door Teddy lingered by the podium that Regulus was now perched on a tall stool, behind.
“Good work Uncle Reg.” He said. The kind reassurance from the teenager left Regulus feeling oddly pleased.
“Thanks Ted.” He smiled gently at the boy before nodding towards the door. “Now go to class.”
Teddy adjusted the backpack that lazily hung over his shoulders and let out a loud groan as he made his exit.
“Maybe it won’t be such a good thing having you and dad here.”
Regulus chuckled as the next class filled the room and found their seats. He flipped the page on the stack rosters.
Ah yes. The seniors.
The second bell rang signifying the start of the period.
“Alright. Well. Hello everyone. I’m Mr. Black.” He began, voice shakier than he would have liked. “As you all know I’ll be taking over for Mrs. Lovegood, so it's very nice to meet you all.” The group stared up at him wide eyed and curious. “Let’s start with attendance shall we.”
He went through the twenty three names quickly. It seemed everyone had turned up to meet their new teacher. No pressure at all. These students were definitely older than the last, but there had been no outbursts yet.
“Well, now that that's done. As I’ve said I’m Mr. Black. Me and Mrs. Lovegood are actually good friends so I’m happy to be here. Um I guess we'll just jump right into–”
A girl with blonde hair raised her hand in the front row, a precarious look on her face. He remembered her name from attendance as being Annie.
“Uh, yeah. Annie?”
“Are you friends with Mr. Lupin as well? He said he knew you.”
Regulus let out a breath, shoulders stiffening slightly.
“Um. Yeah, something like that.” He responded. Another hand went into the air immediately. With a small sigh Regulus called on the student.
“Have you taught English before?” The student, Max, asked.
“Yes. And I went to school for it. Though I’ve never been at one school for this long yet as I was finishing my degrees and doing some writing projects, so.” All fine questions he thought. Nothing too crazy so far.
A few more questions of the same variety were asked. Where Regulus went to school, what kind of things he writes, etc. He knew some teachers typically made presentations with this kind of information on it, and was starting to think he should have.
Another hand was raised by a girl named Elizabeth who had short shaggy brown hair.
“Do you have any kids?” She asked with a curious smirk. Regulus found himself chuckling at this lightly, but also felt a small pang in his chest.
“No, I don’t have kids.” He replied simply. Slowly he looked down at his watch, hoping they would still have enough time to at least introduce their next unit.
Another hand raised from a student with short bright purple hair.
“Yes, August?” Regulus called on them.
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
There it is. That inquisitive nature Pandora had warned him about.
Regulus could feel the anticipatory energy bubbling through the class as they all awaited his answer. Leave it to teenagers to be the nosiest people on the planet.
Regulus stared back at August who was waiting expectantly.
“No. I do not have a girlfriend.” He tried his hardest not to let his lips twist upwards in amusement.
Annie, who now in fact seemed very energetic, turned around in her chair to look at her classmate.
“That’s a stupid question, he's wearing a ring.” She said, as if it was the most obvious fact on the planet.
Regulus looked down at the ring on his left hand which was steadily gripping the side of the podium. Jesus, they really noticed everything.
Annie turned back to him quickly.
“Do you have a wife. ”
Regulus was starting to feel very much like a goldfish.
It wasn’t as if Regulus was hiding anything. He really didn’t care if his students knew he was gay, or married. He wanted all students to feel comfortable in his class no matter who they were so him hiding it only felt hypocritical. Also, in all honesty he was finding the students' boldness kind of entertaining.
Regulus surveyed the group in front of him considering how he was going to answer. He could deflect the question and force his way into the discussion he had planned. However, at this point there was only twenty minutes left of class and it seemed very unlikely anything would be retained anyways. He supposed it couldn’t hurt to answer a few more. Why not lean in? Besides, it was always in his power to stop it if things got too personal.
“No, I do not have a wife.” Regulus smirked. All twenty three pairs of eyes widened at the response. He watched August grip the arm of a friend beside them, and the front row of girls turn to each other with a great sense of glee. A part of him was starting to find the guessing game quite fun.
“What if he’s engaged?” Another boy named Josh called. “Don’t guys get engagement rings sometimes?”
Regulus may as well have not been in the room anymore. All he could bring himself to do was watch on, amused.
“I suppose that could be why he didn’t say girlfriend or wife.” Max had now returned to the conversation.
Annie’s hand rose again, more timidly this time.
“Annie.” Regulus called on her, curious as to what he would be asked next.
“But are you married sir?” She spoke very carefully.
Almost as if the universe was in on the whole ordeal, there was a soft knock at the door before he could answer.
Regulus turned his head to find a sheepish, wide-eyed James Potter standing in his classroom doorway holding a brown paper bag and a paper coffee cup from his favourite café. He tried his best to suppress any kind of blush as he took a few steps closer to James, well aware that his students' eyes were intently watching him and the stranger that had just entered their class room.
“I’m so sorry.” James breathed in a hushed tone full of panic. “I was just on my way to mum and dad’s and thought I’d bring you lunch cause I knew it was a rough morning. But I take it this is not your free period.” He said it almost all at once, clearly feeling guilty for interrupting.
The gentle smile Regulus gave him as he accepted the bag and the coffee seemed to relax some tension in his shoulders.
“Thank you, love.” He said, wondering who would pick up on the nickname and answer their own questions. “And it's okay I promise. Me and the class were just getting to know each other.”
He turned back to his students and was met with a variety of expressions. Some confused, some shocked, some working hard to piece it all together. Even the boys in the corner looked gobsmacked.
“Ah! Good. Well, sorry to interrupt everyone.” James said, offering the class a small apologetic wave.
To Regulus’s surprise it was one of the boys at the back of the room that raised their hand to speak first.
“Sorry sir, But are you James Potter?” Max asked timidly.
James looked at Regulus quickly before turning his head back to Max. Regulus just took a sip of his coffee forcing James to answer, and silently pulling him into the game too.
“Uh– Yeah. That's me.” James said with a bashful grin.
“No way!” Max and his friend had eyes the size of dinner plates, and some of the others in the room seemed to perk up at the name.
Football. While it had never become a hindrance in their lives James often got recognized for playing football. He had been with the ever popular Gryffindor team for the last three years and was certainly not unpopular among fans. Over the years they had gotten so good at comfortably living around busy game and training schedules that Regulus often didn’t think of their life on that grand a scale.
Needless to say, it still made him laugh to see people go wild over the same goofy man he had known since he was eleven. If only they knew how great he really was.
“Did you just call him love? ” Annie piped up again, not bothering to raise her hand this time.
James looked thoroughly confused at Annie’s remark, and Regulus just smiled behind his coffee cup.
“Did I?” He volleyed the question back, an eyebrow raised. James, still none the wiser about the events of the last forty five minutes.
“Oh my god.” August’s hands were over their mouths and his friends looked like they had won the lottery. Annie and her crew were also grinning ear to ear, as thrilled gasps began to fill the room.
Ah, so they’ve pieced things together.
Josh, as well as James, was one of the only few who still seemed to have no clue what was going on.
“What did I do?” James asked cautiously. Regulus wasn’t sure if he had ever seen his husband act this awkward and shy before. It was so funny, Regulus now sure it was now his favourite part of this whole ordeal.
“Nothing darling, you just showed up at the perfect time. The class asked if I was married.” Regulus looked fondly towards his husband. He watched as James finally understood what was going on, and his usual charming, confident demeanor returned.
“Oh!” James said through a wide, proud grin, looking back towards the eager class. “Well of course, I’m a very lucky man.”
The class erupted with chatter and Regulus just shook his head in laughter at James who seemed quite pleased with himself.
“Okay! Okay.” Regulus calmed the class again, making his way back to the front of the room. “This is my husband James.” He said simply, gesturing towards James.
“I can’t believe it!” Josh’s mouth was hung open slightly.
“Mr. Black, he’s like the best player Gryffindor’s seen in years!” Max was equally as shocked. Or maybe impressed?
“Well I don’t know if I’d say that.” James laughed humbly.
“Yeah, he’s honestly a bit of a git.” Regulus returned, shutting off his laptop.
“Stop! You guys are so cute!” Annie said, practically with stars in their eyes.
“Okay, enough of that.” Regulus said. James was beaming.
He checked his watch for the final time. Five minutes left. He should have assumed they would get absolutely nothing done today. At least it was only Monday.
“Alright. well I can surely say you all know me better. Tomorrow we’ll actually start learning things that are not about my personal life.” And with that, the bell rang dismissing everyone.
The students made their way to third period, with various kind remarks and nice to meet you’s sent towards James on their way by. After a couple minutes, the room was empty except for James who was standing a few feet away from the door.
“See I told you you were smart, you knew all you had to do was talk about me.”
“Get out of my classroom.”
***
Regulus tossed his bag to the floor and dropped onto the couch beside James, exhausted. He closed his eyes and flopped his head down onto his husband's lap.
“Long day?” He asked as he began to play with Regulus’s hair.
“Mmm.” Regulus hummed in agreement.
“Well I’m sorry for causing a scene.” James laughed.
“Oh please, as soon as word got around I was married to a ‘football star’ I was the most popular teacher in the school. And here I thought my lesson plans would earn me that accolade.” This sent James into hysterics.
“Well I’m glad I could help.”
Regulus turned around to stare up at him.
“The most helpful thing you could do right now is cook dinner. I don't think I can stand anymore.” He yawned.
“I’ll do you one better, mum sent me back with food. Wanted to do something nice for your first day.”
“Oh thank god. ”
“She sent me back with a gift bag of some new stationary stuff or something for you too. I swear you're her favourite.”
Regulus found himself warmed by his mother-in-law's gestures, and endlessly grateful for his family and their never ending outpour of love and support.
James nudged him to sit up and began lifting his own body off of the large couch.
“Come on, Mr. Black let's go eat.” He said jokingly.
And all Regulus could do was smile.