Chapter 3
Chapter 3: Why Godric, Why??
His entire body tenses up, luckily no ones paying attention to him. Well almost no one. Out of the corner of his eye he sees an equally wide-eyed frozen James Potter. He turns towards James, unsure of what to do. The other boy quickly tries to hide his panic with an awkward smile and a small wave. Regulus barely acknowledges him back with a nod before bolting out of the room as fast as possible without sprinting.
Of fucking course it had to be James Potter. It’s not that Regulus hates James- ok maybe just a tad bit. James has never been cruel, in fact he’s quite the opposite. That’s the problem. He’s kind and supportive, he’s the brother Sirius deserved. Not the one who would allow Sirius to take punishments for him, or the one who wouldn’t defend him against his parents. He’s grateful his brother had a safe place to run to. After escaping through the floo that night, no one questioned that Potter would be his first choice.
Walking into the great hall he can already tell Barty and Dorcas are arguing over something pointless, it’s nice to know their usual routine hasn’t changed. He goes to sit next to Pandora, which everyone has just accepted her sitting at the Slytherin table by this point.
“Can you two please just shut the fuck up for one moment?” Regulus snapped at the two after listening to their constant bickering for 10 minutes.
“How have you already been pissed off? We haven’t even talked to you yet?” Dorcas questioned.
Dinner appears in front of them just as Regulus murmured “by existing” which earned him an eye roll from Evan.
“Is this about Potions? Look I get it, being harassed for the Slug-club is annoying but I figured you’d be used to it by now-“
“It’s not that, it's the extra credit assignment.”
“Oh yeah I heard about that! Wait, why are you pissy over that? It can’t be too much of a challenge for you, all mighty heir.” She mocks.
“I’m paired up with James Potter.” He mutters while picking at his food, clearly not pleased.
“Oh, so can we expect him to be coming around the dorms soon?” Barty asked with a sly grin on his face, one that meant he couldn’t be trusted.
“I don’t know what on earth you are implying, but I know I detest it already. Keep me out of your scheme. Merlin knows this is gonna be excruciating already.” Regulus hissed.
“This is a bit dramatic, even for you.” Dorcas mutters.
“I detest that.”
“At least he’s nice to look at, could be worse.” Barty unhelpfully suggested.
Yes, James Potter was attractive. Everyone could see. It’s not like Regulus goes out of his way to look at the other boy. He just happens to see him on the quidditch pitch during games. The sun illuminating his warm bronze skin, his loose curls blowing in the wind. How he has to occasionally adjust his glasses after a while. These are just basic observations, Regulus keeps tabs on everyone he possibly can. None of these facts change his opinion on how this will go.
While exiting the great hall Regulus realizes he left his bag at the table and tells his friends to go ahead with the rest of the students. It takes a moment to locate, and just as he’s out of the door he feels a on the shoulder. As a reflex he draws his wand as he spins around, prepared for a fight. It takes him a moment before he realizes he has his wand pressed against James Potter's throat as he’s backed against the wall. He lowers it, but doesn’t put it away just in case.
“Sorry I realize that uh, probably wasn’t the best choice, kind of sneaking up on you.” He awkwardly exclaimed. He seemed.. nervous? What could he possibly be nervous about, he’s a Gryffindor after all. More importantly, he’s James Potter, basically the definition of confidence.
“Great observation skills. What do you want?” Regulus remarks. He doesn’t have the energy nor patience to deal with this right now.
“I just wanted to discuss the extra credit assignment but we can always talk about it later if this you need” he offers
“I’d rather limit our interactions as much as possible, so let’s just discuss it now.” He mutters
For some reason that earns him a little smirk, what is wrong with him?
“Ah, I see. I was just interested in your schedule so we could plan around it. Of course we both have quidditch so that’s something, but if you have any other clubs or events it would be great to know” he inquired
“I’ll meet you at the library tomorrow so we can compare our schedules and set up times to work on the assignment. Does that work?” He answered with an eye roll.
“Yep.” Enunciating the ‘p’ at the end. He looks away for a second, then returns eye contact before saying “I don’t there to be any tension considering the fact that our houses are kind of rivals and..” he trails off.
“And because of my brother.” Regulus finished for him.
James eyes go wide for a moment like he didn’t expect Regulus to say anything.
“No, well yes a bit, but I don’t want it to be a big thing. I just thought it could possibly be a point of conflict and wanted to make sure you are comfortable.” He explained.
Huh.
He can’t remember the last time anyone has gone out of their way to make him comfortable. Interesting.
“It should be fine as long as you don’t go out of your way to mention him.” Regulus responds in a cold voice.
He doesn’t think he can handle even more discussion of Sirius after how many people thought they were entitled to ask Regulus about what happened. Many of those people found themselves with buck teeth after continuing to push for answers. Of course none of them could prove Regulus did it because unlike his brother, he doesn’t get caught. He’s much too calculated and efficient.
“Yeah I’ll try my best” The other boy replied along with a clearly forced chuckle. He drops the smile and gives Regulus a rather warm look. “You know, if you ever want to talk about it I won’t judge or anything. Of course you don’t have to if you don’t want to, it’s just important that you know bottling things up isn’t heal-“
“Potter, I don’t need to talk about anything. I’ve got homework to do and you’ve already wasted enough of my time. I’ll meet you at the library tomorrow only because it’s necessary, maybe try and lose the hero complex by then.” Regulus snaps. He’s well aware James is just trying to be nice and that he’s being an asshole. In this moment though, he really doesn’t care. To be fair, everyone knows that Regulus Black doesn’t spare anyone’s feelings, so it’s not like they should be surprised.
As he turns around he hears the other boy calling his name as an attempt for some pathetic apology. As soon as Regulus arrives at the dorms he changes and gets out a vial of sleeping draught. You can’t think if you are unconscious, and he really didn’t want to think right now. So, he tips back the vial and then pulls his bed curtains back.