The Marauders have had this prank planned for weeks, waiting for the perfect moment to attack. It is quite simple, no elaborate charms or ideas, just good old fashioned mischief. It all hinges on being able to sneak into the Slytherin common room and dorms but, Merlin, they are so secretive about their stupid password.
It took Moony 3 weeks of tutoring a first year Slytherin girl for her to finally, accidentally let it slip. It probably helps that she definitely fancies him, but that is not an irregular occurrence in Hogwarts. Moony just has that sexy charm about him and you can just tell that he is a good kisser. James can confirm that part.
But that has all led up to this moment: standing on the stairs down to the dungeon, masking their whispers with the sound of the waterfall beside them, surrounded by 24 buckets of red and gold glitter.
“Okay so, here’s the plan,” Sirius whisper-shouts, “Moony and I will take the girls dorms-”
“Course you will!” Peter interrupts, indignantly.
“Oh shut it Wormy! I am only going so I can keep bloody Cassanova over here in check.”
Remus looks at the finger pointed in his direction for a moment, deadpan, before leaning forward to pretend to bite at it. Sirius pulls back quickly, cradling his finger to his chest and fake crying. James loves it when Remus and Sirius are in this mood - he just knows this prank is about to be brilliant.
“As I was saying…” He sticks his tongue out at Peter, “Moons and I are doing the girls' rooms, so you two take the boys.”
They all know that the real reason Sirius isn’t doing the boys’ rooms is because he would definitely take it too far when he got to Regulus’ room.
“Do I have to go into Mulciber's dorm?” Peter squeaks.
James squeezes his arm reassuringly. “How about you take the first three years and I do the rest, eh?” They have never really known why Peter gets so freaked out by Mulciber, but he has been ever since first year.
“Nice one Prongs.” Moony smiles at him.
James and Sirius had meticulously planned the timing of this prank, knowing for a fact that this is the one day in the term where every single Slytherin has a class at the same time. How convenient. Obviously there will be some stragglers and unexpected skivers, but the Marauders have handled worse in their time.
They agree that James should have the cloak as the girls and the first few year groups are definitely more likely to go to classes than the older Slytherin boys. And they are not the people you want to be caught by.
The common room is deserted when the boys walk in, Moony and Padfoot pacing towards the staircase to the girls dorms, levitating 12 of the glitter buckets behind them, after a quick good luck and: “meet you back in here once you are done, make sure the coast is clear.”
James and Peter carefully tread up the stairs. It is not unheard of for the Slytherin boys to lay traps around the dungeons to keep people out. James thinks it is the highest honour that people have to set traps so as to not be victims of the marauders. The two of them split after the third set of stairs, James continuing to the top and Pete slowly entering the first dorm.
The top floors are completely empty, much to his surprise. He was expecting Rosier to be lounging around here somewhere in that unbothered, bored manner he seems to have adopted.
James spots one of the dorm room doors slightly ajar and decides that is a good place to start. He finds the room empty when he pushes the door open further, not really looking around before reaching for his wand to start working.
He freezes when he hears a lock unlatch on the bathroom door from across the room.
Fuck.
Haphazardly throwing the invisibility cloak over himself, he backs up against the wall and takes a deep breath before the door creaks open.
James is so focused on not giving himself away that he doesn’t even register who the boy is or what he is doing here. He closes his eyes for a second, hoping that the boy will be gone when he opens them again.
But nope. He’s still there. Not only is he standing at the end of one of the beds flicking aimlessly through a book, but now that James looks properly, the boy is definitely, absolutely, 100% Regulus Black.
Because of course it is.
James looks over his frame. He is a lot skinnier than Sirius, James thinks he might actually have been born to be a seeker. The brothers both have this sleek, dainty look about them but where Sirius is built with muscle and curves, Regulus is smooth, sharp and streamlined. There is something so quietly powerful about it. But he would never tell Padfoot that.
He casts a final look at the boy and is about to back out of the dorm, still carefully levitating the buckets of glitter in the hallway outside, when his eyes stop on Regulus’ jumper.
Or should he say, his jumper.
Regulus is standing at the end of his bed in black silk pyjama bottoms, woolen socks and James Potter’s jumper. He has never seen Regulus look so soft. He has to rub his eyes to make sure he isn’t seeing things. It’s just a regular crewneck jumper that Moony got him for his birthday a few years ago from a cool muggle shop, but it was his absolute favourite. He wore it almost every day for months until it went missing just before they went home for summer. He was so gutted, but Remus got him a denim jacket for Christmas, which was arguably even cooler so he didn’t mind that much.
The thing is, James has this habit when he is wearing anything that covers his wrists - he cuts holes in the cuffs. They are only small, but wide enough that when he pulls the sleeves over his hands, he can poke his fingers through. It is a signature trait amongst all of his clothes - the boys can always tell what belongs to James by just looking at the cuffs. His mum gets so annoyed by it, she has even charmed his dress shirts so that he can’t pick holes in them.
So that is why James’ eyes are fixed on the sleeves of the jumper that Regulus is wearing. There are small holes all around the seam of the cuffs, exactly where James remembers cutting them. He would have just brushed it off before, thinking that maybe Regulus somehow had come across a jumper that looks exactly like his did. But no. That is definitely his jumper.
He casts some spells they are using for the rest of the prank under his breath but decides to leave the glitter - he wouldn't be able to activate it without Regulus catching him and, honestly, he isn’t quite sure how to process what he has just seen. He quickly puts the rest of the prank in place in the other dorms before heading back down the stairs to the Slytherin common room.
When he gets there, Peter, Remus and Sirius are finishing putting all of the spells in place for the final element of the prank.
“Alright Prongs?” Moony prods his shoulder, “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”
James scoffs. Ain’t that the truth.
Sirius chimes in, “yeah, where have you beeeeeeen?! We’ve had to finish it without you!”
“There were some obstacles.” James smiles, trying to conjure up some of his earlier excitement for the prank. Sirius raises an eyebrow.
“Someone was still in one of the dorms so I couldn’t add the glitter, but I just used extra in the other rooms and compromised with that one a bit.” He winks at Sirius.
“And that Prongsie,” Sirius launches himself from the sofa, onto James’ back, “is why they pay you the big bucks.”
“Wait! You guys get paid to do this?”
James, Remus and Sirius all look at each other before leaning in to push Peter onto the floor and leg it out of the door. What an idiot.
He doesn’t join in with teasing Wormy on the way back to their common room, just laughing along as Sirius rips into him about being too gullible. He can’t really stop thinking about his jumper. Regulus’ jumper? He doesn’t even know.
James can’t figure out why he is feeling the way he is. He should be annoyed, should march right up to Regulus’ dorm and take it back. But he kind of…doesn’t want to? Which is ridiculous because he does NOT like Regulus and usually jumps at any chance to prove it. It just seems different this time.
He tries not to think about it over dinner, sitting with his back to the Slytherin table in order to stop himself from turning to look.
It isn’t until he and Sirius are sitting opposite each other on the sofa, that he just can’t hold it in any longer.
“Hey Pads?”
“Uh-huh.” He isn’t really paying attention, just gazing at something over James’ shoulder. But when James turns to look it’s just Remus reading in the armchair. Weird.
“Uh, do you remember that jumper Moony got me for my birthday?”
“The one from that muggle shop? Yeah, why?” Sirius is speaking nonchalantly but isn’t looking at him, eyes still trained on Remus.
“Did we ever find it? I mean it can’t have gone far, it is either still hidden somewhere in the dorm or something happened to it, right?” James is trying to piece the puzzle together as the words are coming out of his mouth, before he sees Sirius smile.
One thing to know about Sirius Black, is that he has many smiles. One for every occasion: mischief, flirting, giggling, his smile for when he wants to put on a show, his Moony smile, his ‘I’m fine’ smile. But this here, is a Sirius Black guilty smile.
“Padfoot?” James sits up slightly, “What did you do?”
A pause.
“I took it back with me.” Oh. That is not what James was expecting. “I just needed some part of you with me and I figured that I got to have both you and Moony there without, y’know, you actually being there.”
Sirius still doesn’t look up. James does not hesitate in throwing a pillow at him.
“Why didn’t you just tell me that then, you wanker!”
And that smile turns into a genuine one riddled with mischief. “You just loved it so much, I couldn’t just tell you I was taking it!”
“Fucks sake Pads,” James rolls his eyes fondly, “You helped me look for it too! Honestly, sometimes I worry that you are too good at lying.”
“I am not a liar,” He shoves James backwards, “I am just deceitful.”
“Oh same thing!” James laughs at him.
Once they finally stop bickering and giggling, after considerably pissing off everyone in the common room (except for Remus who doesn’t even look up from his book) James pokes Sirius, thoughtfully.
“So, it’s still at Grimmauld Place then?” He watches as Sirius visibly shivers at the mention of that name.
He sighs, “I assume so. Well, unless Walburga has found it and shredded it into a million little pieces or something. I wouldn’t put it past her.”
“Huh. Oh well.”
And that is the end of that conversation. Within seconds Sirius is sitting on the edge of the armchair that Remus is reading in, probably doing some annoying thing. James curls up on the sofa and lists everything he knows:
- Sirius took his jumper
- Sirius still thinks the jumper is at Grimmauld Place
- James knows that it is not
- Regulus Black is most probably currently wearing said jumper
- James does not like how no.4 is making his tummy feel
He doesn’t know why Regulus has it or why he is wearing it but it really has nothing to do with him right? Like, he probably thought it was cool and took it, or knew it would annoy Sirius if he stole it, or just found it and didn’t even think anything of it. Which is something James is struggling to do right now. He really should just not think too deeply about it, but he can’t get the way Regulus looked out of his head. He has this boy wearing his jumper, who is all soft hair and sharp edges, burned into the back of his eyelids until he falls asleep that night.
James has almost forgotten about the prank they pulled off last night until the first few members of Slytherin house traipse into the Great Hall for breakfast. All of them covered head to toe in gold and red glitter.
And when he says head to toe. He means every single inch of their bodies, clothes, hair, eyelashes - everything.
Slowly, the table starts to fill up - some people scratching at their glittery skin (that is not going to work), some just acting as if nothing is wrong, some groups clearly missing people who were too embarrassed to come to breakfast.
Three boys walk into the hall, definitely Slytherins, but decidedly un-glittered. They were, however, all still in their pyjamas. Ah, they must be in Regulus’ dorm. James knew it wasn’t as fun as permanent glitter-bombing everyone's beds, but a charm so they were stuck in whatever they were wearing at midnight was the best he could do with Regulus right in front of him and 12 buckets of glitter balancing on his slowly dwindling wingardium leviosa. This also happened to be a plus seeing as Barty Crouch Jr was wearing no trousers.
James turns back to the marauders in time for them all to subtly high five each other. But that is also, inconveniently, when he spots Regulus Black. He stands at the entrance of the door, in the exact same clothes James saw him in the afternoon before. He is looking towards his roommates who are beckoning him over, before his gaze shifts to Sirius. He lets his eyes dawdle there for a moment, but then he sharply turns on his heel and walks away.
James feels a bolt of courage zip through him and, before he realises what he is doing, he excuses himself from the table and paces out of the hall. He knows they will be confused but he can come up with some excuse later - right now all his body is letting him do is chase after Regulus.
It is only the two of them in the corridor and James is still a way behind Regulus but he doesn’t care.
“Hey!”
Regulus stops.
“Reg? Uh, I mean, uh.” He clears his throat, “Regulus.”
The other boy turns his cold, sharp glare to meet James’ doe eyes.
“Potter”. The hairs on his arms raise.
It is at that moment that James realises he has absolutely no idea of what he should say. Instead, he just gapes like a fish.
Regulus sighs. “Can I help you?”
“I like your jumper.” He bites back a smile.
There is a spark of surprise in Regulus’ eyes, followed by one that seems more sad. But that is all it is, a spark. There and gone before James can even really register it. Regulus’ face schooled back into a blank canvas.
“Is there a point to this conversation?”
“Just wanted to compliment you on your new style, I guess. I always thought you were more of a robes-and-suits-at-all-times kind of guy.”
“You think you’re clever.” Not a question.
“I know I’m clever.” James winks at him, but Regulus’ expression remains unbothered. “You know it too.”
James is leaning with his back against the wall now, with all the airs of the cocky bastard that he is known to be. He doesn’t know what he is doing - it was barely a month ago that he and Sirius were hexing Regulus across the corridor - but despite everything, he cannot bring himself to stop talking. To walk away.
“Bet you have spent all morning thinking about how I could have pulled this off, huh?”
“I try my best not to think about you at all, actually.”
“I bet that’s a struggle for you.”
“Oh, you have no idea.” Regulus replies, deadpan.
James lets out a surprised laugh. Did Regulus Black just make a joke? Aimed in his direction? He cannot quite believe that this is happening. He tries not to focus on the almost non-existent twitch of a smile playing at the corners of Regulus’ lips or the hint of mischief that dances across his eyes for a moment, like passing headlights. He definitely tries not to focus on why that makes something twist in the pit of his stomach. He can worry about it later. Right now, James is feeling bold.
“Was that sarcasm, or a confession?”
“You give yourself too much credit.”
“Or maybe you are just giving me too much attention. Watch out Reggie, people might start to think you are enjoying my company.”
“You wish, Potter.”
James smirks at him, and then sighs, “Well, I guess I had better leave you to your evil plotting or whatever it is you do in your spare time.”
Regulus nods at him as some form of a goodbye, without actually having to commit to saying anything because, of course, that would mean having to admit he had just spent the last five minutes talking to James Potter.
James walks away from the other boy, heading back towards the hall with a stupid grin on his face. He is about to round the corner when-
“I knew you were there yesterday.”
That stops James short. He turns to face Regulus in time to see him look down at his shoes, shuffling on the spot. He has never seen Regulus look uncomfortable or awkward. He has always seemed so placed, so calculated. It is the first time that James thinks, maybe he wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to walk away.
“What?! How?!” Regulus just looks at him blankly again, “And you knew I was there, yet you did nothing to stop me?”
He shrugs, “Why should I?”
“But how did you know it was me? That I was even there at all? I had-” James stops himself before he mentions the cloak. He knows Regulus would probably not do anything if he found out but he does not want that information getting into the wrong hands. Especially not if they belong to Walburga Black. Regulus has probably figured it out anyway.
“Well, I figured it was one of the four of you.”
“And of course by that logic…”
Regulus rolls his eyes at him. “Well Pettigrew is scared of the seventh year Slytherins, there is no chance Lupin would have let Sirius out of his sight and you,” he sighs, “you are the only person dumb enough to pull off something like this.”
“I think you mean ‘brave enough’.” James puffs out his chest and poses, Regulus distinctly ignores him.
“Besides, you weren’t exactly the depiction of silence.”
Ah, well, James can accept that part. But he couldn’t help it! He wasn’t expecting to see anyone and when he did he did not anticipate it being Regulus Black looking far too cozy in James’ jumper.
“I suppose I was just caught off guard. You see, that was my first time witnessing Regulus Black in his natural habitat.” Regulus shoots him a sharp glare. “Silk pyjamas! Who would have thought, eh? And don’t get me started on that jumper…”
Despite James’ teasing tone, Regulus’ hands come to the hem of the jumper in an almost protective way. That’s when he notices that Regulus is poking his fingers through the little holes in the cuffs periodically, just how James does it.
“You know, if you wanted to borrow my clothes, all you had to do was ask.”
Regulus blinks, confused. “What?”
James just smiles at him. “Keep it. It suits you.”
The tips of Regulus’ ears turn pink as he looks down at the fabric he is clutching in his hands, before throwing a shocked look in James’ direction.
“See you around, trouble.”