The Marauders
Regulus walked onto the Hogwarts Express whilst mentally preparing himself for his sixth year at Hogwarts. Over the holidays Regulus’s life had been dramatically changed as he had followed in his older brother’s footsteps and finally left Grimmauld place. Well, he had been more thrown out in reality, but that wasn’t the point. Regulus had immediately gone to Sirius, who was currently living with the Potters, and since then he had also moved into the Potter residence. He liked Effie and Monty, they were kind and selfless, complete opposites from his own parents. Him and Sirius had started to mend their troubled brotherhood, and had even planned to sit together on the Hogwarts Express so Regulus could get more accustomed to Sirius’s friends.
The one thing he didn’t like about living with the Potters is their son and Sirius’s best friend, James Potter. James was an egotistical, dim-witted disturbance in Regulus’s eyes, which is exactly why he presumed Sirius loved him so much. They hadn’t really talked much, partly because Regulus had too many grudges on James to count, but mostly because Regulus didn’t leave his room too much during the holidays. Oh he was not looking forward to an hour long ride of listening to James ramble about his unrequited love, Lily Evans, but he knew it would mean a lot to Sirius so he’d cope.
“ Oi, Reggie! This way! “ Regulus was abruptly pulled out of thought to follow his brother past dozens of noisy compartments. Suddenly Sirius stopped before an especially loud compartment, where he swivelled around and a serious look fell on his face.
“ Look, I know you might not love my friends, well I know you don’t like James as you’ve avoided him like the plague, but please tone down the sarcasm. Well you can be a little sarcastic with Mo- Remus because everything he says is sarcastic but- “
“ Sirius calm down, I’m not going to turn my nose up and walk out as soon as they speak, it’s going to be fine. “ Sirius’s face relaxed and he nodded.
Sirius slid open the compartment door and immediately sat down, Regulus heard rowdy cheers and immediate questions coming from all three boys. He took a deep breath and stepped through the compartment door, immediately aware of the deafening silence. He eyed the room to see Sirius looking a mixture of amusement and anxiety, his arm already flung around the boy sitting next to him. The boy next to Sirius had a collection of scars painted over his face, wavy auburn hair, and he looked startled at Regulus’s appearance but mostly intrigued. His eyes glossed over to the other side of the compartment to see a mousy, chubby boy whose skin was so pale it contested Regulus, and hair so blonde it was almost white. He looked absolutely petrified, which made Regulus almost laugh out loud, though he didn’t quite because his eyes fell on the nuisance that was constantly invading his life.
James Potter.
He hadn’t really bothered to look at James much as he was constantly trying to avoid him, but he couldn’t really do that much longer seeing as he was going to be sitting with him for at least a couple hours. James had a dark, rich complexion, his hair was messy and black, and he wore almost dainty round glasses which were sitting on the edge of his nose. His eyes showed surprise and uncertainty, but his mouth wore a lopsided smirk which made Regulus feel anxious for an unknown reason. Regulus swallowed hard and looked helplessly back to Sirius, as he had no idea where to sit.
Sirius must’ve misinterpreted the signal Regulus was sending for shyness so he cleared his throat to demand attention and announced “ my fellow marauders, this is my brother Reggie.“
“ Regulus “ He corrected Sirius.
“ Ah, you see he is in denial about his name, aren’t you Reggie- “
“ I’m leaving “
“ Fine ok I take it back- “
The rest of the carriage cracked up as Sirius sighed dramatically, as if to say ‘ this is what I have to deal with ‘. Regulus just rolled his eyes and began to sit next to him, before Sirius swatted him away “ I need my space, thank you very much! “ The boy next to him snorted in disbelief, clearly aware of Sirius’s real motives. Regulus didn’t care for Sirius’s real motives, he was too busy internally screaming because now he’d have to sit with James. Sirius owed him.
“ Don’t worry Regulus you lucked out, I once sat next to him and he put his feet on my lap the entire ride. “ The mousy boy wiped a fake tear from his eye and sighed dramatically as if he had just discussed a traumatising event. “ Oh please, Wormtail, you loved every moment of it “ Sirius teased. Regulus looked at ‘ Wormtail ‘ with a look of shock “ Your name is Wormtail? “ Regulus knew he sounded judgemental but it seemed to be rather funny because at once all of them broke out in fits of laughter, besides ‘ Wormtail ‘ who looked rather embarrassed.
“ No- “ Sirius managed before laughing again.
The boy next to him died down first before finishing what Sirius had attempted to explain “ No, it’s a nickname, we all have one. It seems your brother forgot to introduce us, that git “
James finally found his voice and added “ He really is a terrible friend “, he put on a disappointed and hurt face.
Sirius threw his hands up in defence “ Hey I’m right here! Besides, I will in a moment if Regulus will just sit down so I don’t have to keep looking up. “
Regulus threw a quick frustrated glance at Sirius before hesitantly sitting down next to James, who he could feel looking at him. “ Okay, okay, this is Remus “ Sirius looked at Remus, who met his gaze with a smile. Regulus noticed Sirius squeeze Remus’s shoulder before continuing “ he’s my boyfriend, so y’know don’t try anything on him “ he announced somewhat seriously.
Oh. Regulus felt like it was obvious but at the same time he definitely hadn’t seen that coming. He just nodded to move on from this awkward introduction stage, so he could just blend into the background of the conversation.
“ And that’s Wormtail- “
“ Sirius! “
“ Ok fine, that’s Peter, he’s allergic to everything “ Peter shrugged in agreement and seemed content with that obscure introduction. “ And you know James, he’s still trying to wed a girl that doesn’t like him in the slightest “ James was visibly not content with his introduction. “ You said I was making progress! She smiled at me in Diagon Alley and waved! “ He cried “ You’re right, James, she might just be planning your future children this very second “ Remus smirked. Sirius nodded solemnly “ I think she’s getting a little too possessive, might have to nip it in the bud “. Peter began to say something but James shot him a sharp look and he fell silent, Regulus smirked at that before realising what he was smirking at and abruptly stopped. “ I mean I’m sure you have a chance, you’re both prefects this year “ Peter finally spoke up thoughtfully. James’s face lit up and nodded, which made Regulus want to throw up at how desperate James was, but a small part of him actually admired it.
“ Aren’t you forgetting they were both prefects last year and didn’t make Lily fall head over heels in love “ Remus shrugged.
“ Oh Remus stop being a pessimist for once, I’m sure this is the year James’s love life prevails “ Sirius chirps, being weirdly convinced.
“ That’s the spirit, Padfoot! “
All Regulus could think was ‘ who the fuck is Padfoot ‘.