Regulus is nothing if not dramatic
Regulus’ pov
Regulus hated his life. Really, he did. Of course Sirius’ best friend just had to be James Potter. And of course, James Potter just had to be fucking perfect.
Stupid prat.
Regulus hated him. He hated how he shined brighter than the sun and he hated how much he cared about his friends. He hated his stupid grin and his stupid hair and ughhh. His stupid pretty eyes, that were accentuated by the golden wired glasses sitting on his caramel cheeks.
Regulus was about to faint. Again.
This time not because he was escaping an abusive household but because James Potter smiled at him. The git. How dared he. Regulus rolled his eyes but followed James into the living room and letting him explain the paintings on the wall to him.
James had offered to show him the house while Sirius cleaned the kitchen with Mrs. Potter. Now Regulus was stuck with an enthusiastic James, smiling while pointing at things and telling Regulus about them.
“This is a picture I painted when I was four” He pointed to an especially ugly one with red and green scribbly lines all over it.
“So you still have about the same amount of talent as you did back then”, Regulus commented and immediately wanted to slap himself. But James simply smiled at him. Oh god, not again.
Because you see, Regulus had this little problem. It had to do with having an embarrassing, fat crush on your brother’s best friend since you were children.
Regulus was handling it. Well, until now. Because until now he didn’t have to live in said person’s fucking house. Surrounded by said person 24/7. All day every day. Wow, Regulus was not going to make it through the summer.
Now James was showing him the toilet downstairs. His eyes kept flickering to the clothes that Regulus had to borrow because apparently he was to stupid to remember bringing his own clothes into the bathroom before showering.
And Merlin, Regulus liked wearing James’ clothes. But being not only surrounded by James’ constant smiles but also his smell… it was a bit much.
James was now leading him up the stairs. “My parent’s room”, he commented while nodding to the first door on the left. “You already know the bathroom.” Regulus looked through the open door and nodded. One wall was painted yellow and light flowed through the room, providing all the plants with sunlight. It was very Potter-like.
“Sirius’ room.” He pushed a door open, and stood in the doorway, making an inviting hand gesture to Regulus. Regulus stepped past him.
Sirius’ room was everything he wasn’t allowed at 12 Grimmauld Place. The wall was plastered with posters, not a single spot of white showing. The bedsheets were black and the bed was unmade. There was an electric guitar in one corner and his signature leather jacket was thrown over the chair at the desk. The desk itself was overflowing with paintings and sketches, brushes and different kinds of pens were scattered all over it. Regulus’ heart ached.
Sirius had found a home here. This was where he belonged.
And Regulus did not. Whatever the opposite of belonging was, that was what Regulus was feeling right now. He cleared his throat and looked back at James, who was apparently still looking at Regulus. He quickly looked away and Regulus blushed.
They made their way to another door and James’ sheepish grin told him that they were standing outside of James’ room. They went inside and Regulus felt James’ eyes on him as he took in the sight.
The window was open, the bed big and comfortable and pushed to the left wall. Surprisingly, the sheets were folded neatly and the pile of pillows at the head of his bed arranged nicely.
Then Regulus noticed the tiny dinosaurs that were printed on his bedsheets. “You have dinosaur bedsheets? What are you, five?”, he said while moving on to assessing the other side of the room.
He saw James grin out of the corner of his eye. Regulus shook his head, he understood this boy a little less every moment they spent together.
The wooden desk was pushed in front of the window. Plants were sitting on it next to a pile of books, stretching their leaves to the sun. There were even more plants on the shelf on the right side of the room. A rich green, an occasional spot of colour where one bloomed.
James’ whole room seemed to be alive.
Regulus turned slowly to take in all of the plants. They were hanging from the ceiling, winding down his closet, sitting on his bedside table and pushed into corners.
“Didn’t know you liked plants.”
“Yeah, well. I like to take care of things.” He chuckled. “Also, it makes me feel less alone to have plants in my room.” Merlin. Regulus turned to James but was immediately distracted by the wall next to the door.
It was almost fully covered with photographs. Pictures of his family, of his home, of his friends in the summer, of his friends in school. So many precious moment captured by a camera to remember forever.
“Did you take these?”, Regulus asked with disbelief. James nodded. “It’s kind of a hobby. I like to preserve memories, you know? Makes them feel important. And my brain is kind of jumpy, if that makes sense. It doesn’t take time to appreciate these moments. So I must make room for them.”
Regulus stared at him. Merlin’s left toe. It wasn’t enough to look this good. No, James Potter also has to be mindful and attentive and shit, Regulus was not going to deal with this right now.
“Could you show me where I’ll be staying?”, he asked, just to get away from James’ room and his stupid photo wall.
“Of course”, James smiled and showed him his the room at the end of the hallway. It was nice, about as big as the other rooms. There was a bed with white clean sheets that was pushed into a corner and an empty desk in front of the window. Because this was a guest bedroom, there also was an adjacent bathroom. Regulus was very grateful for this, no matter how tiny the bathroom was. A shower, a toilet, a sink. No storage space, but Regulus didn’t mind.
James carried his suitcase up the stairs for him. Regulus was absolutely not liking it, thank you very much.
And then the door closed and Regulus stood alone in his new room. And right then he decided that he could not face James Potter ever again.
Call him dramatic. He didn’t care. He could not and would not go out of this room as long as the house wasn’t on fire.
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He lasted four days.
For four days, the only person he had let into his room had been Sirius. His brother brought him food and hugs and asked him to please, please come out.
James had been at his door every day. He knocked and talked to him through the door. About his father coming home. About what his mother made for dinner. About how everyone was worried.
On day three, he said: “Come on Regulus. I miss your pretty face.” Regulus did not scream into his pillow after that comment, absolutely not.
On day four, Sirius came with news: Remus had been invited to come over tomorrow morning.
“What?”, Regulus exclaimed, “Why?” Sirius shrugged. “They want to make you feel comfortable. They know he’s a good friend of yours.”
“Oh sure, and your massive crush has nothing to do with it?”, Regulus teased.
“What.”, Sirius squeaked and pressed a hand over Regulus mouth. “They don’t know about that. Never mention that again. Oh Merlin”, his brother said in a panicked voice while he was blushing furiously.
“They don’t know that your in love with Reeeeeemus? That you want him to kiss youuuuu? Hmmmmm?”, Regulus cooed. “Literally shut up”, his brother said while rolling his eyes, still red as a tomato.
“I might have suggested that Remus could come over. Entirely for selfless purposes.”
“Very believable”, Regulus nodded, “have you also volunteered to let him sleep in your room?” A small pause. “No, you did not actually do that”, Regulus laughed after seeing Sirius’ blush intensify. It was the curse of their pale complexion, you couldn’t hide even the faintest blush.
“Well, good luck with that.” “Thank you. I will very much enjoy it.”, Sirius stuck his chin out and smirked at Regulus. “Merlin, that’s my friend you’re talking about. Ew. Will you please just already ask him out instead of embarrassingly staring at him? It’s getting pathetic.”
Sirius shot him a glance. “Just come to dinner tonight. Pretty please”, he said with wide eyes and a pout. Regulus sighed. “Alright.” When Remus arrived, he had to get out of this room anyway. And his brother seemed so desperate.
Sirius lit up with a grin and pressed a kiss to the top of his head while standing up. “You’re the best. See you at 7 o’clock.” He left the room before Regulus could change his mind.
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Regulus regretted his decision the moment he opened his door. What had he been thinking? Family dinners were the worst. Yes, Mrs. Potter was amazing but he did not know James’ father. And everyone would be making small talk and asking Regulus about school. Regulus hated it. He was about to turn around to retreat to his room when James appeared.
“There you are”, he smiled before escorting Regulus downstairs. Regulus smelled the food long before entering the kitchen. It smelled absolutely fantastic. The record player in the living room was playing cheerful music and Regulus could hear Mrs. Potter and Sirius singing to it.
They entered the spacious kitchen and Regulus was immediately wrapped in the joyful atmosphere of the Potters. There were pots bubbling on the stove, spreading wonderful smells. Mrs. Potter was still swaying to the music as she greeted Regulus with a blinding grin. Sirius was sitting on the counter next to the stove trying the things in the pots with a small spoon. He was laughing with Mrs. Potter and then James’ father entered the kitchen.
“Sirius, dear, could you please bring five glasses? You probably have to walk twice, don’t try to carry five at the same time. We all know how that ends. Has anyone see the-“ And then he noticed Regulus.
Regulus was frozen. He couldn’t breathe.
But then the man smiled and extended a hand to Regulus. “Regulus, I assume. I’m Fleamont, but please call me Monty. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. My boys have been talking about you so much that I feel like I know you already.” Mr. Potter chuckled.
Regulus shook his hand. He was almost in a trance. None of this felt real. Suddenly, James’ hand was at the small of his back, guiding him to the table. Unfortunately, the butterflies in Regulus’ stomach were a little too real.
James pulled out a chair for Regulus and sat down beside him. One after the other, they took their places and started to pass food around. Sirius was telling a story and Mrs. and Mr. Potter were laughing, loud and unguarded. James was grinning too, but kept watching Regulus.
About halfway through dinner, Regulus started to relax. The food was delicious as always and Regulus caught himself smiling more than once.
This was not like the family dinners he knew. Where the Blacks were cold and distant, the Potters were warm and friendly. Laughter filled the air instead of uncomfortable silence. Regulus felt… safe.
“One time, James tried to fit his entire fist into his mouth and had to be brought to the hospital wing”, Sirius recalled, holding his stomach because he was laughing so hard.
“Nooo, don’t tell them that!”, James whined before he started laughing too. “I was twelve. It happens. At least I didn’t try to pet McGonagall in her cat form!”, James countered, making Sirius cry out: “I didn’t know! You could have told me!” He kicked James underneath the table.
“Boys, no fighting”, Mrs. Potter said while Mr. Potter chuckled.
“I remember one time in fourth grade when both of their hair was pink for a week. Didn’t Evans do that?”, Regulus said. It was the first thing he said all evening.
James stared at him before breaking out in a grin. “Yes, Lily did that. But we looked good, didn’t we Sirius?” “Mh, absolutely. Though it wasn’t worth the breakdown I had over my lovely hair.”, Sirius shrugged.
“What do you think about pink hair, Regulus? Should we dye it again?”, James turned to Regulus, still grinning.
“I think you’re the most idiotic people I know. Fighting each other for the title “biggest idiot” every day”, Regulus stated and James started laughing. Regulus felt his stomach do funny things at that.
He wasn’t used to people finding his insults funny.
When they finished eating, Regulus helped to clean the kitchen. Everyone was still talking and everything seemed so effortless.
Then Mr. Potter turned to him and leaned down a little before saying: “I was going to work on some potions now. Would you like to help me? I heard that you’ve got quite the talent.”
Regulus just nodded and followed Mr. Potter into his workshop.
He felt a little dizzy at the compliment and was eager to prove himself. Maybe fitting into this family wouldn’t be as hard as he had thought.