Plotting
Your first instinct was to go to Anna. Anytime you had a crisis you’d deflect to your twin like a scared child running to their mother. You couldn’t help it, it was the dynamic that the two of you had. Anna was born six whole minutes before you but sometimes it felt like six whole years. She was just so mature and practical, she always had been. Sometimes Anna made you feel small with how well put together she was and the worst part was she didn’t even mean to. You’re just so different, she doesn’t always understand you. You’re messy, she’s neat, you’re scatterbrained, she’s organised. You’re emotional, she’s practical. Anna would never have written love letters like you did, once Anna decided something was over she never thought of it again.
You wondered if she thought about Regulus. When she’d broken up with him she hadn’t even cried, the only indication that she was sadder than usual was that she had asked you to make the hot chocolate you used to make for the two of you when you were kids. You couldn’t wrap your mind around it, she’d seemed so happy with him, as pleased as she could be but then your parents got divorced and she decided to move with your mum while you stayed with your dad. “I can’t have a boyfriend” she’d said “I’m moving to America, transferring to Ilvermorny, it’s impractical.” And that was that.
You know Regulus had tried to convince her that they could make it long distance, begged her and said he’d visit. Anna had made up her mind though and Regulus no longer fit into her life. You wished sometimes that you could be that pragmatic.
So when Anna’s letter came while you were crying on the floor of your dorm room, wondering what the hell you were going to do, your first instinct was to write back and ask for her help. You pulled out a quill, some parchment and even wrote her name at the top but then you stopped. What would you say? “Anna, I wrote a love letter about your ex boyfriend and accidentally sent it to him.” That would be insane. She could never know about how you felt about him. Regulus was Anna’s, he might have been your friend first but she’d had the courage that you’d never had, she asked him out. You couldn’t betray her like that.
You put the parchment down and banged your head on the table, groaning into frustration. “You’re on your own kid” you muttered, for the first time in your life you had a problem that you had to solve all by yourself. Great.
Eventually you had to get up and go to classes and miraculously they went without a hitch. Even fourth period potions which you shared with Regulus. He kept trying to speak to you but you kept your head down working with Marlene and sped out of there the second class ended.
Finally classes were over and you breathed a sigh of relief as you stepped out onto the courtyard with Marlene. It was a bright and sunny September day, free of clouds and holding onto the lingering heat of summer. It seemed like the whole student body was on the court yard, enjoying the sunshine and some of the tension in your shoulders dropped a little.
“Are you okay?” She asked “you’ve been so spacey all day.”
“I’m fine” you said, attempting to smile at her “just weird being here without Anna I guess.”
It wasn’t really true. Anna had been in Ravenclaw and the two of you had barely even hung out during school time but Marlene seemed to accept it and reached out to squeeze your hand.
“It’ll be okay y/n/n” she said and you squeezed back. “Thanks Marls.”
Just then you heard someone shout your last name through the crowds and you turned around on instinct.
“L/N” the voice called again. It was James Potter, pushing through the throng of students to get to you.
Your throat felt dry suddenly, you knew he’d come to talk to you about the letter. You contemplated running away but then you couldn’t avoid him forever, it was probably best to just get it out of the way.
You told Marlene you’d be just a second and she hung back a couple of steps, looking curious as you approached James.
“Potter” you greeted.
“L/N hey, look I’m glad I caught you -“ he started to go on about the letter, even apologising for kissing you during spin the bottle all those years ago and saying he didn’t realise it affected you so much. He was just in the middle of reiterating that although he was flattered he still very much liked Lily when you saw Regulus coming up behind him. Panic overtook your body, you weren’t ready to talk to him yet so you did the first thing that came to your mind. You jumped forwards, wrapped your arms around James’ neck and cut him off mid sentence by kissing him fully on the lips.
At first James’ body was rigid with shock and he didn’t really kiss you back but quickly instinct took over and his arms crashed around your waist, dragging you closer. His lips were soft and warm as they moved against yours and you forgot for a second why you were kissing him in the first place. Finally you pulled away and he looked a little dazed and confused about what had just happened. “I- I’m sorry” you stammered out and he ran a hand through his perpetually messy hair. “It’s okay?” He said though it came out more like a question and with that you turned on your heel and fled.
You ignored the stares of the people around you, trying not to feel the way that their eyes widened and their mouths flopped open like fish. “Shows over” you thought as the whispers started to move through the air like the breeze. The only mercy was that Regulus was nowhere to be seen.
Marlene followed after you, obviously, finally catching up to your pace as you reached the portrait hole to Gryffindor tower.
Her voice was awestruck. “You just kissed James Potter.”
“I did.”
“You gonna talk about? Explain maybe?” She teased.
“Nope.”
She grinned at you “you’re sneakier than I thought you were…I’m proud.”
You rolled your eyes “shut up Marls” but she just smiled.
____
During dinner James Potter had only one thought on his mind. Lily Evans had looked at him, for the first time in weeks she’d actually made eye contact with him. Weeks of letters and trying to catch her after class and in the common room, all resulting in nothing. Lily didn’t want to see him anymore, until today, until you. When you kissed him on the courtyard Lily had an expression that he couldn’t quite read and he was sure that it meant something, he just didn’t quite know what to do with it yet.
“Earth to James, earth to James.” Sirius snapped a finger in front of his eyes and James blinked, shaking his head as he realised he was trying to speak to him.
“What is up with you today mate?”
“Nothing I'm fine” James scoffed and Sirius raised an eyebrow.
“Then how come you haven’t even touched your casserole? It’s your favourite.”
James rolled his eyes and started shovelling casserole in “happy now?” he asked, mouth full of food and Sirius gagged.
Remus, placing his book down and holding the page with his thumb, looked up at Sirius like the cat who'd got the cream. “I know what’s wrong with him.”
“Do enlighten us dear Moony although if it’s about Lily Evans again I might just have to pitch myself off of the astronomy tower.”
James shoved him “shove off, at least I had a girlfriend.”
Sirius barked out a laugh “who’s got time for that?”
“James does” Remus interrupted, leaning forwards “if the rumours are true.”
Sirius let out a low whistle “being annoying really does work, I can’t believe you got Evans to go out with you again, I thought she said there wasn’t a spark.”
“Not Evans” Remus grinned and Sirius eyebrows shot up to his hairline.
“Not Evans? Bollocks, who then?”
“L/N.”
“Bullshit she’s all pally pally with my brother.”
“It’s true, I saw them with my own eyes about half an hour ago snogging the daylights out of each other right in the courtyard.”
“What?” Sirius whipped around in his seat staring at James in disbelief “Prongs is it true?”
James shrugged and Sirius reached out to slap him on the arm.
“It is true, and they say i'm a sly dog.”
James rolled his eyes, “I didn't say it was true.”
Sirius smirked “you didn’t say it wasn’t either” and it was at that moment that James noticed two things. Firstly Lily Evans was covertly listening in on their conversation while pretending she was engrossed in her trifle and secondly you’d just finished your dinner and were walking right towards them.
In the split second it took James to process this information he was off of his feet and catching you by the wrist before you could walk by. “Hey baby” he said and you looked at him confused.
“James? what -”
“I missed you!” He called out quickly “you should have eaten dinner with us, met my friends.”
You opened your mouth to ask him what the hell was going on when he leaned in and kissed you, cutting off your next words. This time you were the one caught off guard. When he pulled away you thought about confronting him but you saw Regulus coming over from the slytherin table and then saw how he sat back down when he saw you standing with James. Quickly you looped your arms through James’ deciding to go along with whatever charade he had planned.
Sirius Black leaned across the table holding out his hand “Im Siriu-” he started to say but James was already dragging you halfway down the table “catch you guys later!” he called out “want some alone time with my girlfriend.”
______
Outside in the hall you pulled your arm from his grasp “what the hell was that Potter?”
“Returning the favour?” he tried “you did kiss me first.”
You were silent at that, you supposed he was right.
“C’mon” he said “we can’t talk here.”
He led you through the hallways, down corridors and into passageways you didn’t know existed. In a record amount of time you were at the astronomy tower, wondering how you’d got there so fast.
“Let's just cut to the chase, you kissed me…why?”
You sighed and leaned against the railing of the tower. The sun was just beginning to set and from up here you could see the way that the sky faded into a hazy pink, orange clouds dusting the treeline.
“I was trying to avoid someone” you said eventually and James raised an eyebrow at you, silently prompting you to say more “because he got a letter too.”
He held up a hand, the other dragging through his hair “you mean to say you wrote more than one love letter?”
“Technically there's five of them.”
“Five love letters? Christ L/N.”
“I wrote them over several years!” you defended crossing your arms over your chest “and they were never meant to be sent.”
James shrugged “I figured when mine ended with ‘if I kissed you id probably get an std."
You winced “sorry, I forgot I wrote that.”
“Who’s the guy?”
“What?”
“The guy with the other letter you're desperate to avoid?”
You swallowed “I can’t say” and James raised an eyebrow.
“If i'm gonna help you I wanna know who it is.”
“You’re gonna help me?”
He shrugged “maybe, if you tell me what the deal is.”
You closed your eyes and counted to three “Regulus Black” you finally murmured out and James stepped closer.
“What?”
“Regulus Black” you repeated and you heard him suck in a breath. You opened your eyes to see him staring at you like you were mad.
“Regulus Black?” he repeated and you grimaced.
“Please don’t say it again.”
“okay, well aside from the fact that he’s a complete prat -”
“He’s not a prat!” you interjected and James raised an eyebrow at you as if to ask why you’d avoid him then.
“Isn't he going out with your sister?”
You swallowed “was” then winced at how that sounded “I- I mean I liked him first but then they started dating and I -” you stopped babbling “well you can see why I’d like to avoid him then.”
James nodded “that is complicated.”
The two of you were silent for a moment before finally he said “I have an idea though.”
“You do?”
“Date me.”
“Errrm I-I sorry James I just don’t think of you like that anymore but -”
He rolled his eyes “no, fake date me.”
You were stunned “excuse me?”
“Fake date me” he said again like it was the most simple solution in the world “you pretend to go out with me for a little bit until this love letter stuff dies down and Regulus will leave you alone. He and Sirius have some serious shit between them. Regulus wouldn’t dare come over if you were hanging out with us.”
“I-” you had to admit it was a pretty foolproof plan, even if it was a crazy one but right now you felt like a crazy plan was the only thing that would work. You knew some of the issues between the two brothers and you knew Regulus would rather step on glass than willingly face his brother.
James grinned at you “it’s good isn’t it?”
“And what’s in it for you?”
“Ah now this is where the plan gets truly brilliant” he said and you snorted at his theatrics “we date, you get Regulus to leave you alone and I get Lily Evans to do the opposite.”
“I'm not following.”
“She looked at me” he said softly “in the courtyard, this afternoon after you kissed me, she looked at me.”
“After all this time” you asked “Still Lily Evans?”
“Still Regulus Black?” he countered “even after your sister?”
You swallowed, you did still love him. That had to change.
“Let’s do this, Potter” you said and James grinned, grabbing onto your hand “you’ve got a deal, L/N, you've got a deal.”