Loving from a distance

Potter is an idiot. He's annoying as hell, stupid, childish with his silly little pranks and, the worst of all, the best friend of his brother.

And if that wouldn't be enough, he's the reason why his brother left him alone in their house. Alone, to deal with their furious person of a mother.

So it comes naturally that he keeps an eye on him.

Problem is, he's a Slytherin and Potter and his group of minions are Gryffindors. And as one knows, the house rivalry is nothing to joke about. A lot of attention would come with him being in the Gryffindor common room and he likes his private life as it is, thank you very much. Also, he doesn't know any Gryffindor well enough to be in their company in his freetime, which is another problem.

So it comes of an advantage that he is an animagus. Black cat, even, which means he's able to blend in perfectly with the gryffindors and their love for animals.

Truly, no other house has as many animals as the Gryffindors, he isn't even sure how tf they manage to control them.

But it comes to his advantage, so he doesn't pay enough mind to that thought.

He has been an animagus for quite some time now. He has started trying to become one when he noticed a book about animagi that Sirius and his group left on their table in the library. Honestly, it couldn't have been easier. And of course he knows about Lupin and his 'furry little problem' as Sirius and the others like to call it. Absolutely laughable how no one else has noticed a thing.

With some observing (definetly not stalking) he was able to learn about their animagi forms. And honestly? It makes so much sense.

Sirius as a dog, honestly, he could've guessed it. He is the most dog person there ever was on this planet.

Pettigrew a rat? He doesn't know much about him, but he did notice that he is quite funny. In the shadow of his friends, nevertheless.

And Potter? A stag? The way he is strutting down the halls of hogwarts as if he earns this place, him lazily sitting in the great hall and talking so loud everyone can hear it, his stupid smile and his stupid laugh that makes him look so happy, so carefree, as if he has no worry at all.

Regulus wants to wipe that away from him and look at it every minute of the day at the same time.

He doesn't quite understand it either and tries to push it away as far as possible.

Which isn't as simple as one would think, as he was standing in front of the Gryffindor portrait at the moment. In his animagus form, of course. And he swears to god, if it wouldn't open in the next few moments he would-

"The party's gonna be so great, I've heard that Potter and his friends are even gonna smuggle firewhiskey in here"

"Yes, you know them, thinking it would be a surprise when in reality it is all that they talk about. Everywhere"

"Haha, yes. How could one not love them?"

Regulus does in fact not love them. But he is very thankful for these fourth years, as he is able to run past without them noticing.

Gryffindor common room. He's finally here.

He looks around and comes to the conclusion that it is very comfortable here. If he would be in his human form he would roll his eyes at that.

Of course it is. These common rooms really do represent the house stereotypes. If this here would be his common room, he'd spend every spare minute snuggling into these red couches that one could fall asleep on and not wake up with the worst back pain ever.

Without another look he makes his way towards some stairs that he assumes lead to the boys dorms, if the structure of the Slytherin common room is any to go by.

Within his first steps there are people in his way that coo at him and try to pick him up.

He snarls irritated and scratches them until they let him alone

"Who is the owner of this beast? They have to be fucking weary of life."

As if that would be a sign, Regulus hears loud footsteps on the stairs and without looking up knows, that these are his brother and his names. The 'marauders'.

What a stupid name they made themselves.

With inner eye rolling he walks towards them and mows at them. He looks up with the biggest eyes he can manage, which looks fucking cute, if he believes his friends.

He still regrets telling them about his animagus form, as they always tease him about being the black cat boy who needs a golden retriever boy. Potter is often a topic there, too.

Idiots.

"Oh my god, do you see this cat, guys? Can we adopt it? Do you see this look it gives me? I think it wants me to adopt it, it really does. You can see that, right?"

Of course Potter would say some bullshit like that. Regulus wants to roll his eyes again. He's not going to survive, being close to him constantly in the future. Why does he do this again?

Right.

He wants to make sure that Potter is a good enough company for his brother. Plus, this way he can keep an eye on his brother, if he can't do it as a human, a brother.

Walpurga made sure of that.

And because of that, as the absolute only reason, he lets James pick him up and pet him.

He has never noticed how soft Potter's hands are. The way he strokes his head and his back is such a relaxing feeling he wants to close his eyes. Maybe, in another life, he would feel these hands on his own, on his whole body. Maybe-

The purring sound he makes startles him and he opens his eyes in an instant. Terrified by his own reaction, he wriggles himself out of James' grip until he puts him softly on the ground.

The moment he does that, Regulus tries to get as much distance between them as possible, without looking suspicious.

He hasn't noticed that the group has talked something through the whole time.

"James, we can't keep this cat. Maybe it belongs to somebody. Just imagine how much the person misses this cat. What would you do, if your cat would go missing and you couldn't find it?"

Regulus can see Potter thinking, hoping he wouldn't listen to Lupin. That one was always the smartest out of the group, Regulus always appreciated that on him, especially as he could see the adoring eyes his brother made at him, but right now it came to his disadvantage. Why wouldn't he stop being to reasonable?

"But look at it with those puppy eyes. I can't let him go now, what if it gets lost in this big castle and doesn't find its way back? Or worse, what if it would somehow find its way into the forbidden forest and gets eaten by some giant creature. You never know what is in this forest, some creatures are very dangerous. I've heard that there are even acromantulas out there. "

Sirius nods in approval. "James is right, such a tiny cat is rather helpless in this big, evil world, no matter if it's magical or not"

Regulus snarls at him. He was not tiny and especially not helpless. It was enough that Sirius calls him his 'baby brother' as a human, he does not have the right to title him that as an animal, too.

Lupin sighs and puts his face into his hands.

"Okay, we'll make a deal. What if the cat stays with us"

At Potters fistbump, Lupin raises an eyebrow at him

"but we will put on posters around the castle, saying that we have found a cat so the owner will know where it is and can pick it up."

At Potters frown, Lupin's face softens.

"But until then, the cat can stay in out dorm, as long as it doesn't disturb anyone or destroys something. What do you say?"

Potter's grin speaks for itself, the deal is sealed.

Great.

What the hell has Regulus gotten into?