At first it was just a thought, a silly innocent thought like thinking of smacking a crying baby on a train because they're being too loud, you think about it but you'd never act on it.
But he couldn't help himself, no he's not talking about drugs it's something far more innocent and maybe way more life threatening.
The first time he thought about becoming an animagus, he came across it in a book in the library at Hogwarts, he only considered it once before learning of the risks, he pushed the thought away instantly and continued on with his studies.
The second time he thought of it...his cat-or rather the one he was caring for in secret had died, she had very poor health but in a way she reminded him of his brother with her liveliness and cheeky attitude,
that night at dinner he cried silently while his mother screamed in his ear, all he could think about was Queen's soft black fur and the sound of her little meow when he played a David Bowie record in his dorm,
At the time he thought about how he'd have to tell Evan to stop sending cat food and he secretly wished he could turn into something small, not fragile but small enough that you wouldn't notice it in a room.
The third time he thought about it he did it, well him and his friends, he really couldn't stay in that house anymore, so when the opportunity presented itself and his mother was in the mood to ignore him he had Kreature send two letters, one to Pandora and another to Sirius.
The plan was that he'd become an animagus and if he was a small enough animal he'd sneak to the Potter's while his parents were away on a trip, he had asked Pandora if he could send some of his stuff over to her during that month,
she said yes and apparently she figured out what he was doing and told the rest of his friends, Evan found out first being Pandora's brother, then he told Barty he told Dorcas, and despite knowing the risks they decided to go through with it too.
_______________________________
And now here he is, sixth year. It's been exactly two years since he became an animagus and two years since he left to stay with his brother and the Potter's.
He became a black cat much to nobody's surprise and he was practically living the dream example: want to get out of a conversation, turn into a cat, want to avoid dealing with your two best friends crushing on each other, you guessed it, turn into a cat.
He does this so much that even Sirius knows his an animagus (and one of the ups to this is that when one of them gets a nightmare and they don't want to talk about it, they just turn into a cat/dog and cuddle the other until they feel better)
But there is one down side sometimes he just feels like walking around the castle as a cat, the problem is nobody except the obvious like his friends know he can do this, so they try to pet him and make him their familiar, like come on at least feed him first before you try and put him in a dress....yes he likes tuna, but only as a cat!
Anyway he thought that today he might have some peace but of course the universe hates him.
*.*.*.*
He stretched comfortably on the grass and nuzzled further into his own stomach, his ear twitched slightly as something moved not too far from where he was curled up in the forest.
Thinking the person might have some decency to not wake a sleeping cat he continued with his nap, that thought was thrown in the drain when the person lightly petted his ear, it twitched again in slight annoyance.
He opened his eye and squinted suddenly at the late afternoon sun, apparently that seemed to amuse the person and they let out a low chuckle, once he adjusted his sight he immediately regretted it, James smiled down at him with an expression that could be mistaken for fondness, he really shouldn't be surprised of course James 'Patience is my virtue and Kindness is my way of life' Potter would be fond of a random cat he found in the Forbidden forest.
Wait a minute what was he even doing in the Forbidden forest, Sirius said they go there from time to time to hang out, but James was holding a stick, and Regulus doubted the marauders go to hang out in the forest to collect sticks ... unless they do--
"Aren't you just the cutest thing" James coos as he pets his head, he's ashamed to admit he leaned into it a little, and only a little (a lot).
James retracts his hand so that he can stretch and sit up, he tilted his head and looked at the other in what he hoped was annoyance.
Instead he dropped the stick and picked him up from under his arms letting his back legs dangle in the air, he was about to protest when the older pulled him to his chest, he was now holding him like one would hold a baby, and he might have been embarrassed if he wasn't so warm....you can't blame him after all it is winter (he means James).
He seemed to fall asleep because when he supposedly woke up he was surrounded by...red there was a little gold here and there but overall it was just red.
A door opened and Remus Lupin walked in followed closely by his brother, Sirius stared at him in confusion just as James walked out of the bathroom, he had a towel around his shoulders, his hair was wet and he wasn't wearing a shirt...Cats can't blush right?
"James, what are you doing with a cat?" Remus asked staring slightly amused at him,
Regulus fixed him with his best cat glare, he noted to tell Evan to stop making chocolate brownies for book club.
"I found him sleeping in the forest, figured he was lost or something so I brought him back"
"So what do you just bring back random animals now?" Sirius scoffed. "Merlin is the dorm gonna become a zoo" James smiled playfully.
"I did see a cute white bunny on my way over here" that was probably Pandora heading to Lily's dorm.
"What were you even doing in the forest?" Remus sat back on Sirius' bed and opened a book.
"Looking for sticks"
"Why?"
"Well I heard someone say that some sticks look like wands and I thought 'hey if I could find one that looks like Mr. Greasy' then that would be a cool prank so I went to the forest cause of course you'll find sticks like that in the forbidden forest, and I found one and I think If I shape it just a little more that maybe it would be--"
Regulus was sure he stopped breathing but nobody stopped him as he continued his rant, honestly just seeing him talk so animatedly about something was....kinda cute....
"---Anyways then I brought him back from the forest and he is so cute can I please keep him" Sirius and Remus exchanged a glance, then Remus went back to staring at his book.
"I don't know, do you think you can handle that responsibility James?" He flipped a page and Sirius hummed in agreement as he sat next to his boyfriend.
"And cat's are very adventurous so he probably won't be around a lot and when he is he might not even acknowledge you"
" He'd use you for head pats and chin scratches or whatever"
"Merlin when you try to get school work done he might crawl on your lap"
"He also might bite and scratch--"
"Why do you guys sound like my parents right now?"
"Thank you" they both spoke unanimously.
James rolled his eyes and finally put on a shirt.
"Okay I promise I'm fine with all of that just please let me keep him" doesn't he get a say in this?
Sirius shrugs. "Sure, can't hurt" he smiles slightly, he obviously knows that the cat in question is his own little brother.
Remus hums and puts his head on Sirius' shoulder.
James beams at him in joy.
And this was the start of Regulus' hell..
___________________________
Regulus had a routine, get up in the morning and go about his day,
Then after classes were over change into a cat and be around James. On the weekends he'd spend the night in the Gryffindor dorms but for the school days he'd wait till James fell asleep then he'd head back to his own dorm.
Though his little routine was cut short with exams just around the corner, he hadn't been Leo (James named him that) in more than a week and James was looking a little gloomy lately, it was hard not to notice and that put him in a bit of a mood too.
He sighed as he read over the material for his charms class, he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to fight his ever growing headache, he heard someone take a seat next to him and he looked up.
James was pouting as he laid his head on the table.
The words left before he could stop himself.
"You alright?" James nodded a small smile on his face. "Just having a bad week, I'm worried about my cat, what about you?"
"What about me?"
James lifted his head and instead placed it in his hand.
"How's your week going?" It was strange that he would ask this, sure they live in the same house and even before that James was a little nosy,
But this is different than calling each other down for dinner or having a quiet card game or telling him to sod off because he's bothering you while you're reading, no this is an actual conversation... And one that he's not prepared for.
"Fine, just swamped with work, I bloody hate charms" James laughed a little.
"Yeah, Padfoot told me you have a little trouble with it" he scoffs.
"For your information I have no 'trouble' with this class at all, I just---find it hard to focus sometimes you could say I'm a little out of my element here" he nods.
"I get it, I'm alright with charms but I prefer Transfiguration, and if I had to guess I'd say you prefer Potions?"
He rolled his eyes.
"Oh wow how ever did you guess that?" His smile only brightened at his sarcasm.
"Well it may be my amazing intellect-" He cut him off with a short laugh.
"I'm surprised you even know what 'intellect' means" James puts a hand on his chest in mock offence.
"How rude, I seem to recall you laughing after a prank was pulled on Snape, a prank that was a result of this intellect I may add"
"I'm pretty sure Remus was the one who came up with it but don't worry you'll get there Potter"
he frowns slightly and that causes him to reflect on their conversation, he hadn't said anything to upset James.
"Is something wrong?"
"Nothing it's just--why do you call Moony by his name and not me?"
"I-uh..." As if the universe decided to show him a little bit of love he heard Barty call his name from the library door, he quickly apologized and started grabbing his stuff but before he left he said..
"I'm sorry about your cat, I'm sure they'll come back soon... I'll see you later Potter" he smiled dimly.
"Yeah I'll see you too Reg" he nodded and ran towards where his friend was waiting.
"Sorry to drag you away from mister dream boat but Panda was looking for you, something about...fairy's?---hey are you okay?"
"I think I messed up -" Barty cut him off. "Reg I love you man but I have had no sleep thanks to Evan, If you know you know, my point is I'm in no position to give you the advice you deserve so save that for the council please"
"Then why the fuck did you ask?"
He shrugs.
"Human decency, now if I turn into a snake would you carry me to the dorm?"
*.*.*.*
He stopped dead in his tracks as he came face to face with his brother, they both stared at each other for a moment.
"Heading into the dorm?" He let out a quiet meow of affirmation and Sirius nodded.
"Good I was just about to drag you out of bed....want me to carry you in?" He thought for a moment then meowed, less walking for him.
Sirius picked him up and quietly made his way to the dorms.
"I wanted to come get you because James was spiralling, I didn't know what to do and Moony's a heavy sleeper so-i thought he could use a furry friend other than Padfoot...I see you thought so too"
He nuzzled further into his brother's chest, Sirius chuckled and patted his head, he then carefully made his way inside the dorm, the curtains to James's bed were shut and both Remus and Pettigrew were still sleeping.
Sirius kissed him on his head then put him on the floor.
"Goodnight Mon Étolie " he meowed softly then made his way over to James's bed, he slid under the curtains.
James had his back turned to him and was mumbling something in Spanish.
He extended a paw and lightly touched his shoulder, James turned around and he had a bright smile on his face.
"There you are, I was worried" he positioned himself so that laying on his back then he picked him up and placed him on his chest.
Regulus looked at him with a tilt of his head, deciding to think about anything to distract him from the fact that he is currently sitting on James' body which by the way is really firm, probably because of Quidditch.
"You know, I did the dumbest thing today, I've told you about the guy that I like right?"
Right...the only reason he hasn't fully embraced his crush is because James' heart belongs to someone else and unless he finds that guy and murders him there is no way In hell he has a shot.
"---so I asked him why he doesn't call me by my name and...well he didn't really answer that but anyway, I’m pretty sure he might have a crush on Moony and that’s bad since he’s dating Pads--"
Wait...what?
"He's just so cool you know, actually the first time I met him for real--he was writing poetry in his notebook, I only know it's poetry because I caught a small glimpse one time" he cut himself off to chuckle.
"His handwriting is amazing and I love that he's so passionate about literature and potions, Merlin I wished you could meet him, Padfoot said he likes cat's, really you remind me of him a little"
Morgana's soggy left tit.... James likes him..like actually likes him.
He tried to step off of James but the other pouted.
"Please don't leave, not yet at least...just stay a little longer?" He let out a breath then curled up on James's chest.
He left early that morning with a silent promise to himself that he'd come back the next night.
________________________
It was raining, the perfect weather that showcased what he was feeling inside,
He felt like he was invading James' privacy, but the latter seemed to like him, if his rant from last night was anything to go by, in cases like this he needs wisdom.
Now there are three people he would go to for that, there are more but Dorcas wanted to get some practice in for next week's game.
Evan was busy trying to soothe a moody Barty.
Remus was....doing whatever with his brother.
So that left Pandora who was thankfully having a conversation with her girlfriend who is another person he'd go to for advice.
They were in the greenhouse and he was immediately invited in by the two.
"---it's no trouble at all, I was just telling Lily about Nargles, some strange stuff has been happening around here and I believe it to be their doing" Lily smiles lovingly at her.
"I said it was the work of peeves but she does make a strong argument"
"Thank you love, now Reggie, what can I do for you?”
He cleared his throat. “Okay so, a few weeks ago I went to the forest to take a little nap and I was a cat” Lily’s eyes lit up in recognition.
“You're the cat that James found, your Leo I was beginning to think you didn’t exist” Pandora tilted her head.
“Reggie, what happened?”
“Okay so I’ve been spending some of my time in his dorm, but this last couple of days I’ve been swamped with work and I didn’t have time to visit him, and whenever I’m there he always talks about this guy that he likes,
but last night when I went there he was talking about a conversation we had that day so it turns out he likes me but he thinks I like Remus, which is fair cause he’s hot but no I like James,
and I really don’t know what to do so oh wise woman of Hogwarts please show me the way before I jump off the astronomy tower”
A giggle left Pandora once he was one with his rant.
“You really do like him, I’ve never seen you this flustered before…Hm, I don’t know James very well but he is a kind person as far as I can tell, so my advice is to tell him” Lily nodded.
“I honestly think he’d be happy to know, and I think if we put all our hats in the ring we could come up with an easy way to tell him”
He sighed. “Where do we start?”
___________________________________________
Regulus half ran towards James after dinner, he made sure to leave early and turn into Leo, he also had to make sure there were no late classes.
He pawed at James’ pants and the other looked down with a smile.
“Hi there, is something wrong?” he meowed and started to walk towards the stairs, signalling for the other to follow, he said a quick goodbye to his friends then ran after him,
They continued to walk up the stairs as James kept inquiring where they were going, Regulus didn’t make a sound until they reached the astronomy tower.
“Okay I’m here now, what did you want to show me” Regulus walked towards the railings and jumped up, James walked over and leaned over the railing.
“You wanted to show me the stars?” he meowed, then jumped back down. “Hey,uh-where are you going?” He walked inside and quickly changed back, just in time for James to walk inside.
“Reg? What are–” “I don’t like Remus like that” that just made James look more confused, but who cares he doesn’t know how to start this kind of conversation.
“What?” he let out a breath. “I’m the cat”
“And I repeat ‘What’?”
“A few weeks ago I was taking a nap in the forest and you picked me up…I’m an animagus” James pressed his lips into a line.
“Does that mean you heard”
“yes”
“Oh, well that’s just great, shite I’m sorry Reg I–”
“You don’t have to apologize, I should, I basically invaded your privacy” James shook his head.
“No, I’m the one that picked you up, wow that sounds weird”
“Yeah” he agreed.
He stayed silent as James seemed to wrap his head around the past few weeks, he then walked closer and took one of his hands.
“Reg, since you don’t like Remus like that…do you maybe–like me?” James intertwined their hands more and he lost all rational thoughts.
“James I swear if you make this even more embarrassing for me than it is, I will turn into a cat” he laughed.
“James huh? I see we’re both using first names now” he shoots him a glare. “Okay sorry…can I kiss you?”
“Yes please”
The kiss was soft and short, but that didn’t matter, the only thing he cared about was the person he was kissing.
“Does this mean I won’t get to see Leo anymore?”
“Do you like the cat more or me?” James pulled him closer, wrapping him up in a hug. “Nonsense, love your the same person ... .though you still didn’t answer my question” he sighs.
“Yes James, but only if I can see your animagus form” he hummed. “Deal”
________________________________________________________ End.