A Master Plan
Sirius:
Regulus Black didn’t let people touch him. All his friends knew that more than a pat on the shoulder or a small hug on special occasions would land them in the hospital wing. Sirius knew that; he knew exactly when Regulus would permit Sirius to touch him and when not to, which was something that even Regulus’s closest friends would mess up occasionally.
When Sirius ran away he blocked out a lot of memories from that house but always remembered Regulus. He remembered every moment he shared with Regulus very clearly. He remembered his eighth birthday when Regulus got him a necklace with the Leo constellation on it, Regulus’s ninth birthday where they snuck pastries from the house elves and ate them in their rooms.
Once Sirius had left, Regulus refused to talk to him. The one time Sirius had tried, Regulus had sent a stinging hex his way. Sirius missed his brother more than he would admit out loud to anyone. He wished that Regulus would run away from their parents and stay with James’s family. But, since Regulus wouldn’t talk to him, he needed to think of some other way to convince Regulus to run away.
“What if we sent a bird to his dormitory and the bird had a note and-“ James cut him off instantly, “I think he’d kill the bird mate” Sirius hummed in agreement then sat up in excitement making the blood rush into his head, “I got it!”
James looked at him expectantly and Sirius paused before he spoke for suspense, “ What if… you talk to him for me”? James laughed before realizing that Sirius wasn’t joking, “Mate are you- Are you serious”?
“I’m always Sirius”
“Shut up”
James looked over at Sirius, “Genuinely though, your brother hates me even more than he hates you. Remember the last Quidditch match against Slytherin ?” They both grimaced remembering how Regulus had almost knocked James off of his broom. Regulus had told Madame Hooch he thought he had seen the snitch but everyone knew it was targeted.
“Ok, fair point. But think about it, you’re James Potter! You’re the human embodiment of a Golden Retriever. Just talk to him, he won’t be able to resist your charm and then he’ll have to be friends with you. Then you invite him to a party we all get plastered and then suddenly he’ll want to talk to me again.”
“Do you think that will work? I can't get through to him, I’m sure of it”, James was looking at Sirius incredulously. Sirius leaned over, “How about a bet? You try to win him over and become his friend for the rest of the year. If you can’t become friends with him then you win and we’ll do something else. If you can be friends with him, then I’ll win.”
“Sirius, it's the end of September. Do you realize how many months I’ll have to do that? It’s also not fair to Regulus to become his friend with an ulterior motive.”
Sirius rolled his eyes, “Please James? Just until Spring break?”
James let out a long sigh, “ I don’t know why I’m agreeing to this but fine.” James stuck out his hand to Sirius and they shook hands.
As they were shaking their hands Remus walked in and stared at them, “ Oh no. What have I walked into”. Sirius’s face broke into a grin, “Moony! James is going to be Regulus’s new best friend!” Remus started to leave but Sirius sprung up and tried to bring him back, “C’mon Moony! It makes total sense. James is- well he’s James. If anyone can get Regulus to be a normal, friendly person, it’s James.”
Remus sighed, identical to James’s previous sigh, “ That is the dumbest plan you two have ever come up with, and you two are the idiots who started a water balloon fight right before finals.”
Sirius and James suddenly spotted identical grins.
“Stress relief Moony”, James said, “ Pretty sure Emmeline Vance got 100% in Potions right after”
Sirius nodded, “Can’t be a coincidence”.
Remus sighed and sat on his bed, “You idiots can do whatever you want with Regulus but leave me out of it”.
James grinned even wider, “ Wouldn’t dream of it Moony”.
Sirius agreed, “Never in a million years”.
Sirius lay back down on his bed and sighed a breath of relief. If anyone could get Regulus to talk to him again, it was James. He could weasel his way into anyone's heart, Sirius was sure of it. James had even become Lily’s friend, even after their third year, when she had announced that she would never dream of being his friend. Regulus was in good hands, he would finally be safe.