Against The Odds

James’ world had been turned upside down ever since the other day. Him and Regulus meeting each other wasn’t as rare as it had once been a week ago. Three days ago, Marlene and James had decided to go to Ollivaner’s to pay Regulus and Dorcas a visit. That led to a regular visit. Now, don’t get him wrong, he still went to his daily coffee run in Hogwarts’ café, he couldn’t possible not go there, otherwise his sort of friendship with Amelia would end. And he’d grown quite fond of her.

So he found himself having two coffee runs each day. So he was extra energetic. Great. 

“You need to stop, Prongs, it’s getting unhealthy.” Remus told him as they walked through Hogwarts’ corridors along Marlene as well.

“Drinking coffee?” He waved a hand dismissively. “I’m fine—“

“Your obsession with Sirius’ baby brother,” He emphasized, cutting him off.

James closed his mouth shut. “Okay, now, if you put it like that—“

“Like what it is?”

“I’m not obsessed with Sirius’ baby brother!” He scoffed, as if it was a stupid idea, “He’s hardly a year younger!”

Now it was Remus’ turn to scoff, “So not the point.”

“Then what is the point?” He raised his eyebrows expectantly. “Cause he is only a year younger.”

“The point four eyes,” Marlene chimed in, earning an over-dramatic gasp from James at her nickname for him, “is that you are obsessing over Regulus Arcturus Black!”

“Keep your voice down, mad woman!” James whispered-hissed, looking around to see if anyone had heard. He tilted his head to the side, looking down—though not so down, since Marlene was quite tall—at his best friend since childhood, “How the hell do you know his second name?”

“Gee, I don’t know, maybe the fact that you’ve been saying his name over and over again for the past month?!” She sighed exasperatedly and lowered her voice to a whisper, “You know I’m all here for your delusions, Potter, I always am but… don’t you think you’re being a little bit obsessive? I mean you hardly know the guy.”
James clutched his heart like she had physically wounded him. “McKinnon! You’re supposed to be on my side!”

“I’m just saying,” She raised her hands up in surrender, “Maybe you should try actually talking to him? You know, instead of ruining any chance you have to get to know him by drooling over him and eye-fucking him?”

He gaped at her, although he couldn’t quite deny her words.

Okay, so he might’ve been… obsessive, if you may, with Regulus this past month. But can you blame him? Come on, as if if a curly black haired boy, silver wearer, nerdy, mysterious and grumpy guy suddenly came to your life you wouldn’t be as obsessed. Ah, the mere thought of him already gave James goosebumps.

Okay, so maybe this was getting slightly unhealthy.

“Or just give up?” Remus offered with a shrug, “He is Padfoot’s younger brother who will certainly kill and torture you if he finds out you’ve been having fantasies about him.”

James swallowed at his comment. He knew Sirius well enough to know that he would for sure murder him if he as much as glanced at his brother the wrong way.

Although, was it wrong? Because he’d never felt so right…

“And there he goes,” Marlene sighed deeply, throwing her head back, “Get a grip, James, I can basically hear you thinking about him right now.”

“God, I can smell it.” Mary sniffed, suddenly by James’ side.

“Where the hell did you come from?” James asked, frowning.

“I come with Baby Black reports,” Mary said, ignoring his question and giving him a pointed look while shaking a map she had on her hands.

“‘Baby Black reports’?!” Remus gaped at her and James. “What the hell are you two planning now?”

“You know I don’t fully approve of this,” Mary said, “But, I’m always here for some drama. So, even though I’m totally against stalking—“

“What?!” Remus practically choked on air.

James poked Mary’s side lightly, “It’s not stalking…”

“Fine,” Mary rolled her eyes, “Research of a person without their knowledge.”

“See?” James huffs, “That’s not stalking, right?” His smile faltered as soon as he laid eyes on Marlene on Remus, both with their jaws opened and looking at him in disbelief. He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “It sounds worse than what it is, okay?”

They both just shook their head disapprovingly but didn’t say anything against it, knowing it was a lost battle.

“Anyway, so I heard from Lucinda Talkalot who heard from Amelia Bones who heard from Xeno Lovegood who heard from Pandora Ollivander that Regulus’ favorite place to hang out is the Compass Park.” She said with a smile plastered to her face.

James immediately perked up at this news, “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” She beamed up at him, “So if he isn’t in Ollivander’s, or of course his place, he’s there!”

“Oh my Go—“

“James, this is getting concerning,” Remus cut him off, “You can’t just—” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as they came to a stop in front of the library, “Sirius can’t find out—“

“What can’t I find out?” A familiar voice came from behind Remus and threw his arm around his shoulders. 

James gulped. Oh, fuck.

“Hey, Pads,” Remus said, growing slightly red at Sirius’ close proximity—these idiots—and glanced at James worriedly.

“Oh, crap!” Mary sighed exaggeratedly, clearly trying to come up with an excuse, “I guess your surprise birthday party won’t be so surprise anymore…”

“What?!” Sirius’ jaw hang open. “Macdonald did you just ruin my surprise birthday party that is never a surprise because one has been thrown every year since I met Prongs?”

James would’ve normally laughed at that, but he couldn’t. Not when a sudden sense of dread started forming in his chest. He never lied to Sirius, for fuck’s sake. He was Sirius. His best friend. He couldn’t keep secrets from him. God, he was so close to just spilling everything to him. Although what would he say? Hey, Sirius, so I really need to have a make-out session with your little brother till he struggles to breathe! Yeah, not exactly ideal, no. So he kept his mouth shut. He didn’t exactly want to bury his own body.

“Shit, I thought you’d overheard,” Mary hissed, as if she were angry at herself for spilling the secret. God, it always amazed James how much of a brilliant actress and liar Mary was. The lies always easily rolled off her tongue, and her facial expressions made it ten times more believable. It was scary. Well, the best thing you could ever see, but still quite scary. 

“It’s fine,” Sirius threw his free hand in the air aimlessly, “It’s not like I wasn’t expecting it anyway.”

“Speaking of parties, though…” Mary said, “When’s the next one? I’m craving some alcohol.”

Marlene groaned, “No parties…”

“Oh, come on, Marls, live a little,” Mary rolled her eyes, ruffling her best friend’s hair, “I promise I’ll restrain you from drunkenly flirting with Dorcas Meadowes this time.”

“You said the same thing last time,” She mumbled, throwing her a pointed glare.

“Well, I mean it this time,” Mary said, once again making it believable with her innocent facial expression. Although everyone knew better that to trust Mary’s promises about not letting them make fools of themselves at this point.

“Do not try your mind tricks on me, Macdonald,” she throws her a death glare, “It won’t work.”

“How about Friday?” Remus perked up. It was rare for Remus to be excited for a party, but when he was… let’s just say it was a good sign.

James smiled brightly, “Sounds good to me.”

Mary nodded as Marlene groaned and threw her head back.

“Ooh, who’s Prongs stalking this time?” Sirius said, suddenly catching sight of the map Mary had on her hands.

Okay, so a little backstory… James had quite the tendency of… how do you say? Obsessing over his crushes. Not obsessing obsessing like crazy, just… he knew everything about his crushes. Who their friends were, their family, where they hang out… you get the drill.

So over the years, Sirius caught up with his ‘obsessive’ behavior. So whenever he saw a map, and a wild eyed James… he knew a new silly crush had developed in James’ stupid heart. And it was rare that Sirius wasn’t the first person to know about his crush. But he couldn’t just drop a bomb like ‘I’m crushing on your little brother!’ just like that. So… this was bad.

God, this was bad.

So bad.

James was going to be sick

Sirius narrowed his eyes as he snatched Mary’s map from her hands. “So? Who is it?” 

The tension in that very moment was palpable. No one moved. Everybody held their breaths. And James felt like the world was spinning as he locked eyes with Sirius and forced a smile.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” He said, trying to snatch the map back but Sirius shoved it far from his reach as he turned it around to see where the map was drawn.

“Compass Park?” He frowned, looking up at him, “I thought Reggie was the only weirdo that went there. He always says it’s almost isolated.”

Oh, thank God for Sirius Black’s obliviousness. 

He internally sighed, ignoring the way his heart faltered at the mention of Regulus’ name.

“Actually,” Mary, bless her, chimed in with her phenomenal acting and lying skills, “It is pretty isolated. It’s rare to see more than twenty people in the small area.”

James sent Mary a glare that said thanks for nothing?! God, where was she going with this?

Sirius, however, paid no attention whatsoever to Mary’s words, his gaze focused on James and he could see how his grip on Remus’ shoulders—yes, he still had his arm around them—tightened. He cocked his head to the side, “Why did I not know that you had a new crush, James?”

Well, fuck, he’s using first names. No ‘Prongs’ or ‘Prongs’ or ‘Love Of My Life’… This was bad. Hell, what had James been thinking? Of course Sirius could see right through him. Oh God… well, it was fun living. Sadly, his life would end at any moment now, since he could see the puzzle pieces slowly piecing together through Sirius’ scowl. Shit.

Mary cleared her throat, “About that…” she sent James a quick ‘I’ve got this’ glance, “James didn’t want to tell you cause… you see, you kind of know his crush? Pretty well, I would say.”

Oh, Mary Macdonald, I will kill you, thought James as he shot her a death glare that said ‘Not helping!!!’

She pointedly ignored his protest as Sirius’ gaze snapped to hers, “James’ crush is one of Regulus’ best friends.”

Oh. 

So that was were this was going. 

THANK GOD FOR MARY MACDONALD. 

Realization seemed to draw Sirius and he gaped at James, “What?!” He sagged in relief, “So that’s why you didn’t tell me! You were afraid I’d tell Reggie.”

James’ heart did a stupid little flip as he hear Regulus’ name and he swallowed, “Yeah…” he croaked out.

“And Reggie is always either alone there or with his friends,” Sirius nodded, his smile spreading as he realized everything.

Oh, James felt bad.

Marlene nodded, “Yeah, he actually likes, um, Barty.”

Sirius’ eyes widened and his mouth hanged open, “Barty?!”

“Um.” James swallowed, “Yep.”

The mere idea of liking Barty made James internally gagged. He vividly remembered their first interaction, and the few interactions they’d had over the week since he’d come to Ollivander’s.

“That bastard,” Sirius fake-gagged. “You like him?! You’re too good for his cocky ass.”

“He can’t help how he feels,” Marlene shook her head, faking pity as she patted his shoulder.

He sent her a quick glare before sighing and stretching out his hand in front of Sirius, “Can I get my map back?”

Sirius shook his head as he handed the map back, “I can’t believe this, Prongs. Did you know he’s taken?”

At the mention of Barty being taken, James felt blood rushing to his cheeks as he remembered Regulus telling him that. Ah, Regulus. His red lips and—

Oh my god, was he blushing just by thinking about Regulus?!

Yes, this was definitely bigger than his previous crushes.

For the rest of the conversation, James totally zoned out with thoughts of curly hair and perfect hands.

***

The next day, as he was woken up with his alarm he decided today he was going to conquer Regulus’ heart. Somehow. It was Wednesday, which meant Regulus probably had classes, so no working hours, which meant he’d only have one coffee run. Which made James, after his usual morning practice, get extra ready for his usual coffee run at the Hogwarts café. He didn’t make anything to his hair, since he liked it messy—and people liked it messy too, but he brushed his teeth for three minutes, took a shower, cleaned and washed his face, put on the best outfit that said I-Woke-Up-And-Put-The-First-Thing-I-Saw-While-Still-Being-Cute-As-Fuck he could find.
Basically, James looked good. 

Not that it was unusual, but he looked good nevertheless, which made him even more confident.

When he’d see Regulus, he wouldn’t stumble over his words, he wouldn’t stare, he’d talk. He’d be cool and collected. He’d be the hot and mysterious one.

He confidently walked through the Hogwarts corridors with a wolfish grin, and his headphones on blast. Coffee & TV by Blur was on max volume as he looked through the crowd for any certain curly haired boy. No sign of him whatsoever. 

He entered the Hogwarts café with sagged shoulders, as he hadn’t seen Regulus yet, and got in line to get his usual iced coffee.

As he waited in the short line, he saw Amelia talking to a black haired, very pale, and dressed straight out of a vampires film girl. She was the very opposite of Amelia, which she didn’t seem to care at all, since she was talking to her with this little glimpse in her eye…

God, of course he had to see two people clearly in love with one another today. Why couldn’t those be Regulus and him? Hm? What else did he have to do to earn Regulus seeing him the same way the black haired girl in front of him was looking at Amelia? Had he been cursed or something? Was he unlikable? Because let’s be real. James was attractive, he had the charm, he had the funny and cocky personality, and no one really… wanted him that way. Sure, many people crushed over James, he wasn’t blind—although Marlene would have something to say about that statement—and of course he’d been told by people that they had a crush on him, but… a part of James always wondered if it was actually real. Did they actually like him or was it the idea of him? His popularity, his Hockey skills, his looks… 

He’d never been in a relationship. He’d never even been close to being in one. He was always the one watching people fall in love, helping people fall in love, but it was never people falling in love with him. He was always falling in love with the wrong people, people who wouldn’t love him back, who couldn’t… The question was… why couldn’t he be loved? His heart was huge, he loved so many people, he expressed his love, he wasn’t ashamed of his love, but for some unknown reason… he was never given it back. It was like he handed people his heart inside a glass box, and they always ended up dropping it and crashing it. He never got another glass box. And part of him wondered if he’d ever receive one back.

His thoughts were interrupted with Amelia’s usual charming smile, “Hey, James.”

“Hey,” He forced a smile, shaking his depressing thoughts away as he leaned against the counter and smirked as he whispered, “Who was that girl?”

Amelia’s smile immediately faded at that and it was replaced with a scowl. “She’s off limits.”

“Really?” He frowned, “Cause it looked like she was really into you.”

She blushed at that. “Oh— you weren’t— you aren’t into her?”

“No,” James rolled his eyes, “I would never interfere in whatever it is you two have going on there.”

Amelia blushed even more at that. “Emma is… she’s just a friend.” 

Dear God, James had never seen Amelia Bones so nervous.

“Is that so?” He tilted his head, intrigued by her reaction.

Oh God, was this another best friends to lovers story? Lord save her.

“You’re blushing,” the girl next to Amelia—another barista—who he knew as Xenophilius Lovegood, one of Amelia’s best friend, whispered with an amused smile plastered to her face.

“Shut up, Xeno,” Amelia whispered-hissed, shooting her a death glare, “As if you don’t act the same way anytime anyone as much as mentions Pandora.”

“Pandora Ollivander?” The words were out of James’ mouth before he could think twice about it. 

The two friends, as if on sync, turn their heads to him, staring at him in awe.

“You know Pandora?” Xeno croaked out.

He shrugged, suddenly self aware, “I mean, kinda?”

Her eyes go wide, “How?”

“She’s best friends with my best friend’s brother.” He says, trying to stay calm as he mentions the love of his life (Regulus Arcturus Black).

“I forgot Sirius was related to Regulus,” Amelia said and shut her eyes closed, as if she knew Xeno would kill her anytime soon. “Please don’t mention it.”

“I won’t,” James smirked, amused by this whole interaction. So, Pandora and Xeno? Hm. Made sense, to be honest. “But you, pretty girl,” James leaned on the counter, narrowing his eyes at Xeno as his smirk grew wider, making her to send him a glare, which James pointedly ignores, “Have to do me a favor.”

“What do you want?” Xeno sighed, clearly bored with James.

“So, are you close with Pandora?” He asked casually.

“I guess,” She narrowed her eyes skeptically, “Why?”

“No reason.”

Amelia sighed, “Will you stop acting mysterious and just tell her what you want her to do?”

“Fine, fine,” James put his arms up in surrender, “I want you to put in good word for me to Pandora.”

Xeno raised her eyebrows, “Excuse me?”

“You like Pandora?” Amelia asked, eyes wide.

“Not her, her friend,” James said, waving a hand aimlessly as the words escaped his mouth. 

Great so now more people knew about his crush on his best mate’s brother.

“Of course you like Regulus,” Xeno sighed, rolling her eyes.

James frowned, “How’d you know it was Regulus?”

“I just knew.”

“How?”

“I just did.”

“Yes, but how—“

“I won’t do anything if you keep asking questions I can’t answer,” she said with a bored expression.

James light up, “So you’ll do it?”

“Yeah, I guess I could,” she shrugged simply.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” He said, beaming down at her.

“No problem, James,” Xeno said, rolling her eyes, although a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

“God, we are one big, pathetic love mess, aren’t we?” Amelia sighed as she wrote something down on her notebook. She looked up and narrowed her eyes at James, “The usual?”

***

James had gotten extra ready for nothing, since he didn’t see Regulus all morning.

He found himself surrounded by the Marauders in a restaurant near Hogwarts, waiting for their lunch to come out.

God, if only his lunch would be Regulus and his perfect fucking lips…

Jesus, Amelia was right, the two girls and him really were one big, pathetic love mess.

“So, who are we inviting to the party on Friday?” Sirius asked, taking a sip of his Diet Coke.

“The girls, obviously,” Remus perked up from his spot next to Sirius.

“Well, duh,” Sirius rolled his eyes.

“You asked.”

“Besides the obvious ones.”

“You didn’t add that part first.”

“Because it was obvious?”

James and Peter shared a quick glance before James spoke up, “Yeah, the girls, and I was thinking maybe Frank and his lot?”

“Yeah, for sure,” Peter nodded, desperately trying to ease the tension.

“And Alice and her lot too, hm?” Sirius nodded, completely forgetting about his bickering with Remus.

“Wait, hold on,” Remus said, grabbing his journal from his backpack and setting it down in front of him, opening his pen as he started writing ‘People Invited For Friday’s Party’.

Sirius scoffed and rolled his eyes, “God, you and that damn journal.”

Although James didn’t miss the way his lips turned upwards as he said this. 

“So we remember, dipshit,” Remus shoot him a glare.

“Alright, Moons, no need to get defensive,” He smirked as he puts his hands up in surrender.

Remus rolled his eyes and said nothing. He flushed slightly, clearly finding Sirius’ previous movement attractive. He cleared his throat, “So, the girls, Alice and her lot, Frank and his lot—“

“Wait, does that mean Fabian will be there?” Sirius asked, looking at Remus.

“Um,” Remus rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, “I guess?”

“No way am I letting that pervert inside my house!” He snarled.

“He isn’t a pervert!” Remus snapped, glaring at him.

“Not this again,” Peter mumbled under his breath, “Alright, maybe we could invite Amelia and her lot?”

“Ooh, yes, I love them!” James said, silently thanking Peter for trying to avoid the Fabian Subject.

“By Amelia and her lot you mean her, Xeno, Emma, Lucinda and Amos?” Remus asked, writing down their names as Peter nodded. 

“Oh, I forgot to mention,” Sirius leaned back against his seat, “I invited Reg and his friends.”

Time stopped.

He felt Remus and Peter share a knowing glance. 

He swallowed. “W-what?”

Sirius frowned, “Is that a problem?”

“No, it’s no problem,” Peter chimed in with a glint in his eyes—not a good sign, “So I’m guessing Barty will be there?” He looked at James and patted his shoulder encouragingly, “You’ll be able to make a move, Prongs!”

He glared at him. Ever since Marlene had lied that James fancied Barty, his friends always teased him about it. And he hated it.

“Yeah, that was my initial plan, but I remembered he was taken,” Sirius looked at James apologetically.

“It’s fine,” James bit out, avoiding his gaze.

He hated lying to his best friend. 

“No, it’s not,” Sirius sighed, leaning slightly forward, “I know I said I didn’t approve of you and Crouch, and I still don’t since I know you’re too good for him, but I want you to be happy. And if he can’t see how amazing you are then he’s the idiot I always knew he was.”

James smiled weakly at him. Sirius looked like he truly pitied him. Fuck. How did he even say, ‘Oh, don’t bother, I’m actually crushing over your brother!’

But Sirius was reeling now, “Yes, he’s a fucking idiot,” He scoffed, as if he just remembered something, “You know, I remember when he dated Reggie—“

James’ mouth fell open, “HE WHAT?!” he practically yelled, earning dirty glares from the rest of the restaurant.

But James couldn’t bring himself to care because the love of his life had dated a complete and utter dick who he hang out with to this day.

Fuck.

“Well, yeah,” Sirius shrugged, frowning slightly at his friend’s sudden outburst, “It was when they were like fifteen, the same year I—“ He swallowed, cutting himself off. He didn’t have to finish the sentence. They all knew what he was about to say. The same year he left his house and moved in with the Potters. “Yeah. So, he totally broke his heart.” He said simply, as if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb. WHAT THE FUCK.

Be cool, be cool… James reminded himself. But come on now… James was anything but cool. “What a dick!”

“Well, it was a long time ago,” Peter narrowed his eyes at James with a hint of a smirk, clearly enjoying his friend’s discomfort.

“Wait,” Sirius said, “Does this mean you don’t like him anymore? Cause you just called him a dick.”

“Er…” Well, shit. He scratched his jaw, “Yeah, I’m over him.”

“That was quick,” Remus snorted.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the man of the hour!” Sirius practically screamed as his eyes landed on a figure walking down the street near the restaurant they were sat at.

James heard the sigh coming from this ‘man of the hour’ and he didn’t have to turn around to know who it was. His sigh was all he needed to hear to know exactly who was approaching them. Regulus fucking Black.

He heard his footsteps coming nearer and James’ heart started beating faster. 

“Sirius,” Regulus said, looking unimpressed as usual as he came to a stop at our table. 

“Hey, Reggie boy,” Sirius winked at him. 

Regulus looked at Remus, who was sitting next to Remus and nodded at him, then at Peter who also nodded as a greeting to his best mate’s brother, and then… then he totally ignored James.

Okay…

That totally didn’t break James’ heart. 

“Hi,” James blurted out, desperate for the shorter boy’s attention. He heard Peter snort beside him, but he couldn’t bring himself to care, his focus on the boy standing in front of him, careless of James Potter. Who didn’t care about James Potter? For fuck’s sake, people always paid attention to him. But of course, the one person he wants attention from doesn’t give him it.

That caused Regulus’ eyes to snap down and meet his.

Oh, fuck.

“Hi,” He replied, looking away.

What the hell was going on? 

“Hi,” James repeated stupidly, making him wince slightly, “I already said that,” He muttered under his breath.

“Yeah,” Sirius said, narrowing his eyes slightly at James. He looked at. Regulus again, “Hey, take a seat.”

“I’m fine,” He said through gritted teeth, glaring at his brother.

“Okay, okay,” Sirius rolled his eyes. “Whatcha doin’?”

“Talking to you.” He deadpanned. 

“What were you doing before I saw you?” He asked, rolling his eyes yet again.

“Walking to class,” Regulus said through bored eyes. Eyes James wanted to sink into.

“Where were you coming from?” Sirius narrowed his eyes skeptically.

His brother sighed, “You’re still doing this?”

“Yes, I’m still doing this,” Sirius said, raising a skeptical brow, “Where were you coming from? You weren’t in your dorm. Or already at Hogwarts.”

“Oh my God, Sirius, are you serious right now?” He asked, making Sirius smirk and open his mouth to probably say ‘Well yes, I am Sirius’ but Regulus cut him off,

“Don’t.”

Sirius rolled his eyes, “Will you just tell me who it is?”

“No one.” Regulus snapped, glaring hard at his brother. “Now, excuse me, I have to find my class.”

“Find?” Peter cocked his head to the side.

Regulus’ eyes snapped down to meet Peter’s, clearly just now remembering they had an audience and flushing slightly. God, he was so pretty. “Yes, find.”

“Do you not know where your class is?” Sirius asked, eyes glinting with humor.

“No.” Regulus said through gritted teeth.

“What class are you taking?” He asked.

“History of Art,” Regulus mumbled.

“Where?”

“Somewhere called ‘Storm Class’.” He rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed he had to share this information.

James didn’t blame Regulus for not knowing what the hell that was, he remembered his first year last year, he had had so much trouble learning which building had which class, since the classes had names—odd names.

“Oh,” Sirius nodded, “That’s near the Casting Class.”

“Gee, Sirius, thanks for the wonderful information,” The beautiful boy deadpanned. 

“I was just pointing out,” He scoffed, “No need to be such a crybaby.”

“I’m not a—“

“I’ll show you where it is,” James heard himself blurt out. What?!

All four pairs of eyes snapped to his. He was focused on the grey ones, though. 

“What?” Sirius echoed his thoughts, as always.

“The class,” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “I’ll, uh, show him where ‘Storm Class’ is.” He said, then his eyes snapped back to the love of his life’s, “I’ll show you where ‘Storm Class’ is.” He repeated. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

“Great!” Sirius jumped in before Regulus could open his beautiful mouth and probably rudely decline.

“Great?” Regulus glared at his brother.

“Yes, it’ll get you two to get to know each other,” He beamed, looking between the both of them. His little brother and his best mate. God, what had he gotten himself into?

Remus coughed out a laugh and scratched his jaw, “I think it’s a wonderful idea, Padfoot.” He nodded solemnly.

“Totally,” Peter chimed in, a mischievous glint in his eyes, “And you could go get a coffee afterwards—“

“Okay, Wormtail,” James cut his friend off with a glare. That little bastard. He glanced Regulus a quick apologetic look before quickly turning into a cocky smirk, his head cocking the the side as he stared at the clear blush in Regulus’ cheeks with narrowed eyes.

Before James could think much of it, Regulus turned to his brother, “Or you could show me.”

“No, I want Prongs to show you,” Sirius smiled brightly at him.

“Sirius, pourquoi tu fais ça?” Regulus snapped in a low voice, glaring at his brother.

“Que veux-tu dire, petit frère?” Sirius retorted, not missing a beat.

“Tu sais exactement ce que je veux dire,” He sneered, “Arrêt.”

Sirius tsked, “Ah, il faudra être plus précis…”

“Tu es—“ He cut himself off, making Sirius look at him knowingly.

James could do nothing but just stare in awe at how beautiful those words sounded in that perfect mouth of Regulus’. Well, he was probably insulting James, but it still was very sexy. He heard Peter snort beside him, which gave him the impression that Remus was thinking the exact same thing but about a complete different brother.

At last, Regulus closed his mouth shut, making Sirius smirk at him cockily.

“Whatever,” Regulus muttered under his breath, “So, are we going or not?”

“Yeah,” James breathed out as he sprinted up from his seat a little too enthusiastically and quickly, earning mocking glances from Peter and Remus.

“Great,” Sirius clapped his hands together and looked between the two of them, “Go on, then.”

Regulus and James shared a quick glance—which was eternal for James—before walking out of the restaurant.

“Have fun!” Sirius cooed as his three friends watched them go.

“Don’t forget to be safe!” Peter sang mockingly, earning Remus to shove his shoulder as he snickered. James glared at him and flipped him off when Regulus wasn’t looking.

They made their way out of the restaurant and straight to Hogwarts, which was near.

“So,” James broke the awkward silence, “Haven’t seen you since, like, Friday?” He said, trying to act nonchalant. He knew exactly that he hadn’t seen his best mate’s younger brother since Friday, 16:30 pm after he ate banana bread.

“Yeah,” Regulus nodded. 

Silence. Great, James, this is going great, he thought to himself, Your plan of making Regulus fall for him is totally working.

At least he was still wearing a good outfit, right? That had to make him fall at least a bit for him. Right? He swallowed and looked at the curly haired boy again.

“You know, I used to get lost last year all the time,” James said, shoving his hands on his pockets.

“Don’t recall asking you,” Regulus retorted. Okay, that should not be a turn on. Yet James found himself biting the inside of his cheek and glancing at him with a shit eating grin on his face.

“Alright, Baby Black, what do you suggest we talk about then?” He raised his eyebrows.

Regulus glanced at him and then straight ahead again, watching his steps as they entered Hogwarts. “Nothing.”

“Ah, I don’t think I’ll do that, no,” James clicked his tongue, cocking his head.

“Fine,” The younger boy sighed, “Let’s talk about how you asked Xeno Lovegood to put in good word of you to Pandora.”

James’ eyes went wide and he stopped in his tracks. Of course Pandora had seen right through Xeno’s bullshit. And of course Pandora had told her best friend, Regulus, about it. Fuck.

“What do you mean?” James managed to choke out, trying to act as nonchalant and innocent as possible.

Regulus rolled his stunningly gray eyes and sighed as he stopped in his tracks as well, “You may fool Pandora into believing that suddenly Xeno took interest in you and brought you up so much, but you can’t fool me, Potter. So you might as well explain yourself.”

James gulped. Fuck, fuck, fuck, he was caught. He scratched his jaw, avoiding eye contact, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Right,” He scoffed, looking up at him knowingly. 

“Yes, right!” He shot back defensively.

“Your defensiveness tells me all there is to know, Potter,” Regulus said, unimpressed as he started his pace again.

James followed him like a lost puppy, “I’m not being defensive!”

“Mhm,” He said, gaze straight ahead.

“I’m not!” He huffed as they reached the first stairs.

“Okay.”

“Great.”

“Fine.”

“Sure.”

“I just wanted you to have a good impression of me,” James sighed out, giving in.

Regulus seemed to be taken aback by the sudden confession and his eyes widened slightly. He finally looked at him, “What?”

“I knew Xeno would tell Pandora who’d tell you, because you’re her best friend and I’m your brother’s annoyingly attractive best friend,” He said, throwing one hand in the air aimlessly.

He rolled his eyes at the ‘attractive’ comment and said, “Why’d you want me to have a good impression of you?”

“Because you hate me and Sirius would much appreciate us getting along,” He said, his shoulders sagging. It wasn’t a complete lie; part of the reason why he wanted Regulus to like him was that Sirius’d be beaming if his brother and best mate got along. And the other part… well, it involved some certain puffy pink lips against his. 

The younger boy looked away and nodded firmly. He almost looked… disappointed? No. No, James was feeding his delusions. He couldn’t be disappointed by James’ answer… why would he be?

“I know that sounds insane,” James hurried to say, begging him silently to just look at him again, “But… I know you know that too. Right?”

Regulus sighed, something inexplicable passing through his face as he said, “Yeah.”

James mentally begs himself not to fucking *cry* at Regulus admitting he hates him. He knew this. He knew this. So why’d it hurt so much?

“Right,” He croaked out, eyes roaming the other boy’s side profile longingly. He just wished he could know what was going on through that beautiful head of his. 

“What’d I tell you about staring, Potter?” Regulus asked, finally looking at him with a hint of a smirk playing on his lips.

James felt his insides flare with need as he recalled the boy’s previous words; “If you want to get in my pants you’ll have to do a lot more than just stare at me,”

God, he really did see right through James. His eyes were fixed on Regulus’ tiny smirk.

“You’re cute when you’re cocky,” He breathed out, still eyeing his perfect lips, biting his own.

Regulus’ eyes went wide and looked away, and James had to stop himself from grabbing his chin and tilting his head upwards, forcing him to look at him with those perfect grey eyes of his.

“Cat caught your tongue?” James’ smirk widened as he leaned slightly forward and cocked his head to the side.

Regulus met James’ hooded eyes with a glare, “I’ll catch your tongue with a rat trap.”

James hummed, not at all fazed by his threat—if anything, he was turned on with it. He bit his lip, “Yeah?”

The younger boy rolled his eyes and scoffed, “Of course you’re into that,” he muttered under his breath, although James didn’t miss the slight pink shade on his cheeks.

“You know me so well, Baby Black,” He said, smirk widening.

“Don’t call me that,” Regulus said, his cheeks turning redder, “It’s bad enough when Burger King says it.”

James barked out a startled laugh at that, “You mean Macdonald?”

“Whatever,” He rolled his eyes and looked away.

He tilted his head curiously at the faint red in the other boy’s cheeks, “You’re blushing,” He whispered, grabbing his chin and tilting it upwards so he’s looking at James once again.

What are you doing, arsehole?! His mind sneered, This is your best mate’s little brother! Yet James found himself leaning forward.

“I’m not,” Regulus muttered, eyes roaming over his features.

“Then how do you explain the redness in your cheeks?” James pressed, the hand in his chin moving upwards to his cheek, stroking it gently.

Regulus’ eyes go wide and he takes a step back, “It’s just hot in here,” James doesn’t miss the way Regulus’ eyes dip to his lips for a moment before he started walking again.

James internally groaned at the loss but followed Regulus’ pace. “‘Kay, sorry, my bad, Reggie.”

“Don’t—“ Regulus sighed, apparently giving up on telling James not to call him nicknames.

They didn’t talk much after that, James’ thoughts were preoccupied with how close they’d been just moments ago, while Regulus’ were probably plotting a way to murder James. And James was into it. When James dropped Regulus off Storm Class, he went back to the restaurant where the rest of the Marauders were halfway through their food. James’ burger was already cold, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He felt Regulus’ skin against his fingertips, for fuck’s sake, how could he be mad about anything?

The four friends ate in pure chattering and laughing, and they split the check before his three friends went back to their flat, while James took a different path, towards the girls’ flat.

He was greeted by a startled looking Lily.

“Oh, hey, James,” She said, stepping aside to let him in, “I didn’t know you were coming.”

“I touched Regulus,” He blurted out, needing to get it out of his chest. 

Lily’s eyes went wide and two heads plopped up from the couch.

“You what?!” Mary demanded.

“Not like that,” James hurried to explain, taking a seat on one of the arm chairs next to the couch where Mary and Marlene were sprawled over.

“Then how?” Lily pressed, sitting down on the arm chair in front of James, eyes wide with curiosity.

“He wasn’t looking at me, so I tilted his chin upwards and then stroke his cheeks while pointing out he was blushing,” He said, blushing as he looked away from his three friends.

Marlene gaped at him, “You slutty, slutty man!” James glared at his best friend, making her beam at him, “Go on, tell us every dirty detail.”

And so James did. It was easier talking to the girls about this stuff than with the marauders, if he was being honest. The marauders would just tell him to go for it and say ‘they’re totally into you, mate!’ Even though they totally weren’t. The girls were honest. Lily would give him advice, Mary would tell him whatever she knew about his crush, and Marlene would give him a harsh but much needed reality check.

So James slept over at the girls’, gossiping and giggling over what his next move should be. He loved these girls. And he loved their ideas…

Because now James knew exactly what he’d do the next time he crossed paths with Regulus Arcturus Black.