Peter Rabbit

Regulus first meets James Potter when he’s 6 years old and reading in the back garden.

“Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were— Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter. They lived with their mother in a sand bank, underneath the root of a very big fir tree.”

Regulus smiles softly and nuzzles further into the space between the big tree’s roots. He holds onto the book tightly so that it doesn’t fall off his lap when he turns to the next page. His eyes are gliding over the pages and analysing every picture carefully before moving on.

The book was a gift from his teacher and usually, he wouldn’t dare bring something so special out to the garden. But he knows if his mother saw the “childish” book she’ll throw it out. She only lets him read long boring books, so despite his age, he’s never read anything like this, with its adorable characters and sweet story.

“But Peter, who was very naughty, ran straight away to Mr. McGregor's garden, and squeezed under the gate!”

Regulus shakes his head at the stupid little bunny when a thud close to his feet makes him look up in shock. He half expects his mother to be standing there but he’s only met with an obnoxious neon pink ball bouncing in place.

Regulus’ eyes follow the ball’s movements but when it finally stops, he looks back down to the book balanced on his legs. He inspects the picture of Peter Rabbit squeezing under the wooden gate, before turning the page. He’s barely started reading again when he hears a soft “pssst” coming from the wall on the other side of the garden.

He frowns in confusion at the sound, but he keeps his head down certain that it is just his imagination. No one lives in the house next door.

“First he ate some lettuces and some French beans; and-“ 

“Psst.”

Okay, now he knows he isn’t imagining things. He contemplates looking up to see what the person wants. But he ultimately decides against it, he much prefers finishing this book before his mother calls him in for violin practice. Yet, despite his resolve, he waits in curiosity to see if whoever is on the other side of the wall will try again.

“Hey, didn’t you hear me?”

It’s a child’s voice that breaks the silence.

“I heard you; I just chose to ignore you,” Regulus replies lazily turning a page, still not looking up from the book, but now he isn’t trying to read anymore. He listens intently, sure that his bold act of rudeness will either cost him a scolding when his mother hears, or the other child will simply leave.

Instead, he freezes when he hears the unmistakable sound of someone climbing over a wall. The sound of shoe soles sliding against stones and small puffs of air escaping from the effort. Then finally the sound of a dull thud as they land on the ground. Finally, a few fast steps over the grass and then someone is sitting right in front of Regulus.

This makes Regulus finally look up from his book and he stares in surprise at the boy seated across from him. His caramel skin shines in the sun and its rays dance between brown curls, giving him an angelic halo. When he tilts his head a bit to the side the sun-glare in his gold-rimmed glasses shifts and Regulus sees the curiosity shining in his hazel eyes.

“Why?”

The question takes Regulus by surprise, and he frowns at the pretty boy. “Why what?”

“Why did you ignore me?” He sounds like he genuinely wants to know the answer. Regulus can say with certainty that this has never happened before. Usually, when he tells someone he’s ignoring them unless it’s Sirius, they just let it go and leave him be, muttering about how rude he is.

“Did you climb over my garden wall just to ask me that?” Regulus asks with a brow raised looking the strange boy up and down. Now with the initial surprise gone Regulus can see that he has scrapped knees most likely from when he climbed over the wall and there are grass stains on his clothes. Regulus’ mother would definitely punish him if he ever looked like that.

Still, the boy smiles brightly at Regulus, showing the gap where his one front tooth should be, and his nose scrunches up in a very endearing way.

“Of course,” the boy says it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, and then leaning closer he asks in a serious tone that doesn’t suit him at all. “Now why did you ignore me?”

Regulus shrugs and looks down at his book again. “You were interrupting my reading, besides, you’re a stranger.”

“Oh,” Regulus glances up and sees the way the boy’s mouth forms a perfect circle when saying the word. He’s never seen someone do that. “In that case,” he smiles widely again, “I’m James, nice to meet you.”

James sticks out a dirty hand and Regulus rolls his eyes but after a moment he takes James’s hand. “I’m Regulus.”

“See now I’m not a stranger.” James looks very proud of himself; it almost makes Regulus laugh.

“Yes”-Regulus pulls his hand out of James’- “but you are still interrupting my reading.” Regulus points out and effectively bursts James’s bubble, but he quickly recovers as Regulus is learning he is quite good at doing.

James hums a bit and scoots closer, tilting his whole upper body to the side so that he can read the title on the book cover.

“Oh, I know this one,” he straightens up with a big grin painted on his face. Regulus thinks that he’s never met anyone who smiles so much, “my mom reads that to me, she says I remind her of Peter Rabbit, but I just don’t see how.”

Regulus stares at him blankly. The boy who climbed over his garden wall without invitation can’t see his resemblance to Peter Rabbit.

“Wait,” James suddenly exclaims, “you can read that all by yourself?” James is still close, and he looks in awe when Regulus nods. “So, you must be very smart then,” James smiles brightly and Regulus is waiting for him to continue but he doesn’t. It was just a statement, the fact that the sun rises every day and that Regulus is smart because he can read is apparently all the same to James. He can feel a blush creep up from his neck to his cheeks, and he has to look away from James’ intense stare.

No one has ever praised Regulus for something like being able to read. His parents just expected him to know how, and Sirius reached the milestone when he was Regulus’ age. Regulus never thought that it made him special or smart.

“James, what is taking so long?”

Both Regulus and James look toward the wall where a familiar head full of black curls is peeking over.  Sirius is still in his dress shirt and with the way he’s hanging his arms over the wall he’s going to tear the fabric. Regulus flinches slightly when he thinks of the punishment Sirius will receive because of it.

“Oh, James you met Reggie.” Sirius grins at his new friend and baby brother. Regulus can’t help but note how Sirius’s smile is different from James’s. Sirius’ is more controlled from years of etiquette training, yet no one can deny the ever-present mischief lingering behind it. James however gives the impression that he puts his everything into his smile, as if he bears his very soul with the curve of his mouth.

James nods his head profusely while getting up. “Yeah, did you know he’s really smart?” He runs over and picks up the ball that brought him to the garden in the first place. Regulus completely forgot about it despite it laying only a few meters from him in all its neon-pink glory.

Sirius barks out a loud laugh. “I know right,” He smiles warmly at Regulus, “my baby brother is a genius.” Regulus’ blush that disappeared comes right back at the praise from the two older boys. He returns his big brother’s smile easily.

In the meantime, James runs back to the wall, where Sirius is waiting patiently. He tosses the ball up for Sirius to catch, which he does easily. Sirius is about to climb down on the other side again when he hesitates.

“Reggie, do you want to come play with us?”

Regulus regards him for a moment and contemplates joining them, but before he can answer he hears his mother calling for him to practice the violin. Her voice is steadily coming closer and closer.

His eyes frantically meet Sirius’ when they both realise James is still very much in their garden waiting for Regulus to answer.

“No, I’m alright.” He stands up and swiftly walks towards the back door, but before he enters the house, he can’t help but hesitate and look back. James is sitting on the wall when he sees Regulus looking at him, he waves with a cheeky grin before jumping down and disappearing.