Blackmail? Yes Please
Regulus should not have gone back to the dorm. Nope. He had been bombarded instantly by a mess of Pandora, Dorcas and Barty. “Do you have it?” Dorcas was yelling. “Give it!” Barty added. Regulus quickly fought them off, stepping away from their shining eyes and what not. Evan was standing slightly off to the side, smirking at Regulus’ distress.
“I got it, Dora. And no Barty, I’m holding on to it. What even makes you think I would trust you with it?” Regulus slipped the pinkish potion from his pocket while shrugging off his robes. He held it up to the light. It had a mother-of-pearl sheen to it, so obviously it was Amortentia.
“Uncap it!” Pandora cried out excitedly. Regulus hesitated, but did so. At once, swirls of smoke rose out of it. Regulus stared at it, unable to smell anything yet. “Come on Reg, smell it!” Pandora encouraged, clearly excited for her turn. Solely because of Pandora’s request, Regulus took a deep breath. Cedar wood, pine and leather stood out the most against other smells. Wait. Where did he smell them? Regulus froze, his grip on the vial tightening. No. Nope, the potion was most definitely wrong.
There was no way he had a crush on James Potter.
Regulus quickly capped the vial, tossing it to Pandora, who squealed as she fumbled with it. Regulus lay down on his bed, ignoring his friends. He had a crush on James Potter. Sirius’ best friend. Out of every single person on this planet. Why him? Regulus had no idea what he had done in his past life to deserve this. Turning his head, the clock showed that it was dinner already. He could process all of it later. He got up, shrugged on his robe before plucking the potion from Barty’s hands, just as Barty was about to take a sniff. “Hey! Give that back!” Barty yelled. Regulus ignored Barty, walking out of the dorm with Pandora, Evan, Dorcas and Barty hot on his heels.
“Oh it’s dinner,” Evan said aloud.
“No, it’s lunch,” Regulus deadpanned. It wasn’t his best, but it drew out a smile from Evan. Regulus noted the way Barty mirrored Evan’s smile, saving it for blackmail. That certain file was expanding very quickly. Regulus slipped the potion into his robe pocket once again. He stayed quiet as they walked to the Great Hall, slightly late.
The moment they stepped into the Great Hall, all Regulus saw was chaos. What even happened? Several people were screaming their heads off, shrill noises that annoyed Regulus. Right at that moment, Dorcas shrieked as well. Regulus turned to glare at her, but faltered when he saw her. Dorcas’ black hair has streaks of Slytherin green running through it. Her hair was quickly turning the same shade. Pandora was the same, except her light blonde hair was turning Ravenclaw blue. It seemed the same thing happened to Barty and Evan, from the way Barty had yelled out loud and Evan muttering quickly to himself.
Regulus caught his own reflection in one of the mirrors of the Great Hall. His own black hair had streaks of Slytherin green as well. Wait…Regulus looked closer. Was that red? No. It could not be. “Dora, tell me that’s not Gryffindor red in my hair,” Regulus said slowly, turning to face the now completely blue-haired girl. Pandora did a double-take before nodding. Regulus tugged at the ends of his hair in frustration. He knew exactly who was in charge of this. Turning on his heel, he stalked quickly towards Gryffindor’s table.
Sirius Orion Black, about to be a dead man, was laughing, probably at the chaos he and his friends had caused. Regulus stopped in front of him, at a gap between Lupin and Pettigrew. Lupin turned around at once, and Pettigrew followed. Sirius turned to look at him as well. His own hair had streaks of Gryffindor red in it. “Reggie! Whatever happened to your hair?” Sirius laughed. Regulus gave him his death stare, but Sirius only grinned. Potter wasn’t here, Regulus noted. Strange. Not that he cared. Right?
“Change it back,” Regulus bit out, venom evident in his tone. Catching his reflection in another mirror, Regulus’ hair was now Slytherin green with Gryffindor red running through it. He refused to acknowledge that it may be the other way around.
“I have nothing to do with it, dear brother,” Sirius said, quickly cracking up after. Regulus simply stared at him. Sirius stared back, daring Regulus to do something. Regulus glared back. Sirius raised an eyebrow, calling him a coward. Regulus smirked slightly, prepared to blackmail Sirius.
“Whoaaa Pads, what’s up?” An all too familiar voice cut through their silent communication. Regulus glared at James Potter, ignoring the way he became a scrambling mess inside. But honestly how could he? James’ own brown hair had red streaks as well. Regulus almost melted right then and there. Forcing his eyes away, he caught Lupin watching him intently. Regulus tilted his head slightly, pulling the blackmail card as he glanced between Lupin and Sirius. Lupin raised his hands in silent defeat.
“James! Look at Reggie! Gryffindor’s main color suits him so much, doesn’t it?” Sirius tugged at one of Regulus’ curls. Regulus batted his hand away. James glanced at Regulus, who glowered back. He seemed to be doing that much more than usual today. But then most days, his brother and his brother’s friends didn’t turn his hair Gryffindor red. James broke out into a smile.
“Very much, Pads. Beautiful honestly,” James replied. Regulus flushed at once, his mind short-circuiting. He called me beautiful. HE CALLED ME BEAUTIFUL. Regulus faltered slightly, biting his bottom lip harshly just to let the pain slap himself awake. James fucking Potter had called him beautiful. There was no way Regulus would survive that. He almost melted into the floor right then and there. Avoiding James’ burning gaze, Regulus quickly feigned ignorance, glancing back at Sirius. It came easily to keep his face blank of emotions. And yes, he was well aware that his mind had switched to calling him James now instead of Potter. And yes, he could not believe he was crushing on James like the girls he had overheard in a library before. Well. The Amortentia was certainly proving true.
Sirius, completely oblivious to everything, rose dramatically from his seat. “I’m always right,” Sirius proclaimed. Regulus rolled his eyes in response to his brother’s dramatics. Drama ran in their blood after all. Regulus just chose to be dramatic in a quieter way than Sirius.
“Sirius, avant que je ne te lance un sort la semaine prochaine, redonne moi ma vraie couleur de cheveux (Sirius, before I hex you into next week, change my hair colour back),” Regulus snapped. Sirius simply laughed.
“ Pourquoi ? Même James est d'accord que cela te complimente bien (Why? Even James agreed that it suits you),” Sirius replied. James looked up at the sound of his name, even though he didn’t understand. Adorable. No, not adorable! Merlin aide-moi (help me).
Regulus stayed quiet at first, waiting for Sirius to change his mind. The stubborn git didn’t. Again, stubbornness ran in their blood. “ Changez-le ou je dis à ton ami loup-garou que tu veux le baiser (Change it back or I'm telling your werewolf friend here you want to shag him),” Regulus threatened calmly, as if he had just asked Sirius to pass the salt. Sirius choked on air at once, coughing harshly, making Regulus smile slightly.
“ Putain comment tu sais qu'il est un loup-garou (How the fuck did you know he's a werewolf)?” Sirius demanded, staring daggers at Regulus. Regulus ignored Sirius, observing the Great Hall. It was still as chaotic as ever. “Regulus!” Sirius snapped.
“ Tes amis et toi êtes vraiment des putains d'idiots. Quiconque est assez observateur peut vous voir tous partir la nuit ou observer l'humeur grincheuse de ton ami quand la pleine lune approche. J'ai compris en deux mois. Enfin, cette école est remplie d'idiots qui ne peuvent pas voir au-delà de leur égo (You and your friends are fucking stupid. Anyone observant enough would be able to see you all going off at night, or observe your friends' cranky mood when it gets closer to the full moon. I figured it out in two months. Then again, this school is filled with idiots who can't see past their ego),” Regulus hissed back. Sirius groaned, dropping his head into his hands.
“What are you two even saying?” Lupin finally interrupted. Speak of the devil. Regulus turned away from Sirius’, just as he caught James staring at him. There was a strange mix of emotions open on his face. Regulus ignored him once again. It would be better for the large part of him attracted to James.
“He knows, Moony. Wait, même qu'on soit des animagus ? (even that we're animagus)?” Sirius stopped halfway to ask Regulus.
“Oui bien sûr. Tu es un énorme chien, ton ami ici est un rat, celui que tu veux baiser est un loup-garou et ton meilleur ami est un cerf pour une raison étrange (Yes, of course. You're a huge dog, your friend here is a rat, the one you want to shag is a werewolf and your best friend is a stag for some weird reason),” Regulus replied coolly. Best friend. James was Sirius’ best friend.
“Yeah he knows we’re animagus as well,” Sirius groaned.
“Illegal,” Regulus added.
Lupin stared at Sirius, then Regulus, frozen with shock probably. James blanched and Pettigrew spit out his water. Sirius sighed as well.
“Oh, and Sirius wants to baise aussi le loup-garou (shag the werewolf as well),” Regulus threatened again. Sirius yelped. “I’ll translate it if you don’t change my hair back,” Regulus said sweetly.
“Diable (Devil). Comme un serpent (Like a snake),” Sirius muttered. Regulus shrugged in reply. “Fine. I can’t change it back. It’ll wear off by Sunday morning.” Sirius sighed.
Regulus shot him a death stare. “Sirius wants to shag one of you,” Regulus sang, already turning to walk off. Sirius shrieked and Regulus smirked, flipping his brother off as he walked away.
But when Regulus lay in his bed that night, hair still green and red, there was only one thing on Regulus’ mind.
I like James Potter.