Chapter Text
James Potter had been in love with Lily Evans since he was eleven years old. The first time he had seen her was when she was called up to the sorting hat. He had known then that she was beautiful but that was purely based on appearance. It wasn’t until a few months later when he realized how truly brilliant she was. She always raised her hand to answer questions or ask important ones. She was never afraid of what others had to say about her nor did she care. She was confident in who she was. James had never had confidence issues himself but still he admired the way she held her head high. That’s why he fell in love with her.
He loved her and he knew that he always would. Even after five years, he still held himself to that. Sure, Lily had never shown any signs of returning the feelings but that didn’t stop him from showing her how he felt. In the beginning James never minded when Lily shot him down. He’d just say; “I can always try again another day.” But they’re in their fifth year now and he’s worried she’ll never feel the same. In the previous year Lily had agreed to be friends with James and he thought that was a sign he was getting her approval. Unfortunately, it was not.
“Maybe it’s time to move on, Prongs.” Remus suggested as he carded his fingers through James’ hair.
“Yeah, there are tons of wonderful girls who would die for your affection,” Sirius grinned with his head tilted off the side of the bed.
“And blokes!” Peter added. Sirius pointed at him as he groaned a loud “yes” of approval.
Remus rolled his eyes at the two boys before focusing back on James. “Why don’t you take a break from love for a bit, ey? Maybe clearing your mind might help you figure things out.”
James sighed and leaned his head back on Remus’ leg. “Maybe.”
The four boys talked for a few more hours before everyone slowly started to go to bed. Peter went off first, as usual, and then Sirius. Remus grabbed a book from his small shelf and began to read on his bed while James continued to sit on the floor and think.
“James.” Remus called to him softly, careful not to wake the others.
“Hmm?” James hummed in response, still staring at the small stain on the rug in front of him, his eyebrows knitted in concentration.
“Go to sleep, love.” James nodded his head absently. Normally, James was one of the first to go to sleep wanting to get as much as he can since he has to be up before most for Quidditch practice or simply to just go for a run. Today, James had too much on his mind to sleep. But maybe Remus was right, maybe he should take a step back from romance, from Lily. How much clearer does your mind get then when you're sleeping?
So, he pushed himself up and climbed into bed. He gave Remus a soft “goodnight” before closing the curtains behind him encasing him in darkness. He took his glasses off and placed them on his bedside table. Tomorrow was going to be a big day for him, after all what was James Potter without his hopeless romantic acts?
He finally fell asleep after an hour or so of tossing and turning. When he woke up, the sun was just barely peeking through his curtains. He immediately sprang up and threw on his glasses, already planning what new ways he could manage to woo Lily Evans until it hit him. He wasn’t going to be asking out Lily Evans today. The realization was so sudden that it made him a bit light headed, though that could have been because he stood up too fast, he sat back on the bed and ran his fingers through his hair.
It’s okay. He assured himself. It’s an adjustment but that’s fine.
With a sigh and a slight shake of his head he stood right back up with his lips pulled into a grin. He continued his daily morning routine, brushed his teeth, got dressed, messed his hair up a bit, and then he went out for a run. The common room wasn’t busy yet, only a few other students were up at this time. Most of which were Quidditch players since they were used to being up this early for practice. But there wasn't practice today, the Slytherin’s had the field this morning, so James had time to clear his mind with a run before classes began.
He greeted his fellow classmates as he walked through the common room and through the corridors. James cut through the courtyard to get to the outer bounds of the school. On days when it was too cold he would just jog through the corridors but it was pretty nice out for early December and he wanted to take advantage of it as much as he could. He began a light jog around the school’s base and began to pick up speed as his mind began to race with thoughts of Lily Evans. Which was counterproductive since the idea was to stop thinking about her, about everything actually.
Frustrated, he started going faster as he rounded the corner only to collide with another body sending both of them tumbling to the ground.
“Sorry,” He said quickly as he stood back up, he went to put his hand out to help the other figure up but realized he didn’t know where they were. His vision was a big blur with a big blob of green and black. Though he couldn’t tell if that was the other person or the ground beneath them. The collision must have knocked his glasses off.
James could hear the other person shuffle as they got up. They muttered out a low, “‘s fine,” followed by a sigh.
Even with how low the voice sounded it sounded familiar to him but he couldn’t figure out who it was. “Uh, sorry. I would properly greet you but…well, I can’t exactly see where or who you are.” He chuckled.
There was a bit more shuffling and a minute later his glasses were being gently placed back onto his face. His breath caught in his throat as the person he had knocked into came into view. The first thing he noticed was the other boy’s eyes. A deep gray with small specks of blue, barely noticeable without the right lighting, and they were sending him a fiery glare. James straightened up a bit and gave him a lopsided smile. “Hi.”
The boy took him in for a moment, clearly not impressed he scoffed and rolled his eyes. His hands dropped from James’ glasses and he reached down to pick something off the ground. His broom. Confused, James scanned the boy finding that he was in his green and black Quidditch gear. James then remembered that the Slytherin’s had the field for practice this morning. “Coming from practice?” He asked, trying for light conversation.
The other boy looked at him blankly. “No, I just wear this and carry around my broom as a fashion statement.” He said sarcastically.
It wasn’t that funny but James laughed anyway as if unable to prevent himself. The other boy was confused but for a split second James swore he saw a tiny smile flicker on his face. The boy huffed, sending the bit of hair that was covering his forehead to the side. “Are you done?” He asked.
“What? Not a morning person, baby Black?”
This was, apparently, not the right thing to say. The younger boy shoved him against the castle wall with his forearm pressed into James’ throat. Most people would be scared by such an interaction but for some reason James just giggled. Giggled! The boy was not pleased by this reaction so he pressed harder on James’ throat while his expression grew hard as well.
“Never call me that again,” he said, his voice as cold and sharp as an icicle. “Understand?”
James couldn’t help but smile. He thought himself very stupid at the moment but couldn’t help as the words tumbled out. “What should I call you instead? Regulus is a bit boring don’t you think?”
Regulus pushed off as he scoffed. “I’d rather you not call me anything at all.” He picked up his broom again, having dropped it when he pushed James against the wall and began to walk away but he turned back. “I’d also rather you never talk to me again.” With that he turned and fully walked away.
James watched as the younger boy walked in the opposite direction without turning back. For a moment he let his eyes wonder the length of the boy from behind but then he turned a corner and vanished from his sight. With him gone James finally took in the previous interaction. His face twisted in confusion but he shook his head hard not wanting to think about it and began to walk back to the Gryffindor common room.