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Regulus was sitting in the library studying for midterm exams when his brother approached with a cup of tea.
“Hey Reggie,” his brother said, peering over his shoulder, “Could you do me a favor? Could you deliver this to James?”
Regulus raised his eyebrow in suspicion. In his experience when the elder Black asked of something, it usually meant that Sirius was up to something. Like when he came to “visit” Regulus but was really pranking the seventh year Slytherins that had jeered at Peter Pettigrew that morning. Or when he needed dried newts for a “class project” but actually made jaw-locking potion to distribute to the entire Hufflepuff Quidditch team after they stole the Gryffindor practice slot.
“Why can’t you?” Regulus asked dryly.
“Because I was supposed to grab us both a cup, but Minnie reminded me that I am to serve detention with her,” Sirius supplied, “Could you let him know that too?”
Regulus continued to stare at him blankly.
“Please, I’ll nick you some candies from her desk. She usually has a stash of sugar quills.”
Regulus made a show of rolling his eyes while taking the cup and saucer from him.
“I want strawberry.”
Sirius thanked him and disappeared before Regulus got up from the desk. With a sigh, he headed across the room to where James Potter was scribbling away at a long piece of parchment.
Regulus called out his name as he neared, and the bespeckled boy looked up with a happy look of surprise.
“For me?” he asked, taking the drink.
“Courtesy of Sirius,” Regulus replied, “He said he had to run and serve detention for Professor McGonnagal.
“Didn’t know he had detention,” James placed the saucer down in front of him. “Suppose he got caught trying to purchase his essay from a Ravenclaw again.”
“Sounds like something he would do.”
“It worked once with Binns, but he should know better than to do it in Transfiguration.”
Regulus hummed in agreement.
“Do you happen to know much about the history of dragon pox, Reg?” James gestured to his parchment.
“That’s a seventh year subject.”
“Yes, but you surely have read every book in this library,” James smiled, “And I mean that as a compliment.”
Regulus outwardly shrugged, although his insides were twisting a little. Anyone would if James Potter gave them a compliment.
“Afraid that my knowledge on the topic is limited.”
“That’s a shame.Thanks for the tea Reggie.”
Regulus nodded, turning to walk back to his desk. He glanced over towards James as he sat down in front of his own books, seeing that the boy was taking a sip while scribbling with the other hand. Regulus cracked open the cover of his textbook and delved back into the realm of astronomy.
Not more than a few minutes had passed when Regulus felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Growing up in a household where perfection was stressed had left Regulus with a keen sense of when he was being watched. Regulus looked up, eyes scanning the room for someone out of place.
To his surprise, James was the culprit and the Gryffindor was not just watching Regulus…ogling would have been a more accurate description. James’s eyes widened as they met Regulus’s and he gave an enthusiastic wave. Regulus, after checking no one was behind him, gave him a small wave back. James’s smile widened to a concerning degree. Uncomfortable, Regulus tried to focus back on the words in front of him, but when he glanced up again, James was still staring at him in awe.
Regulus shifted in his seat, quickly going through reasons why James might be staring at him. The most obvious was that a prank was being played on him; Sirius’s doing no doubt. He went back to reading, though subtly tried to check that warts had not sprouted on his face or that his hair hadn’t turned a bright shade of pink.
“Reg.”
Regulus jumped at the sudden appearance of James standing in front of his desk.
“James. Can I help you…?”
“Yes. Please tell me how you came upon having such pretty eyes.”
Regulus blinked.
“Excuse me?”
“They are such a beautiful shade of grey-blue. I don’t think I have ever seen such beautiful eyes in my entire life.”
“I- they are the same as my brother’s I think.”
James seemed to consider this, before shaking his head.
“No, your eyes are much more beautiful than Sirius’s. They have these little specks of silver on the edge.”
Regulus was quite sure now that he must be being pranked.
“Okay, knock it off Potter,” he scowled.
“Knock what off?”
“Whatever you are doing.”
“The only thing I am doing is trying to knock off your socks.”
Regulus had to focus on not letting his lips upturn at the absolute ridiculous and very much James-like response.
“Well you will have to try harder than complimenting my eyes if you are trying to impress me.”
Regulus looked back in his book to show his indifference, but in a quick movement James turned around the chair from the desk in front of Regulus and straddled it.
“I got all night,” James stated, “I hope it doesn’t take that long, but I will stay here if I need to.”
“You will stay here until what?”
“Until I get you to agree to a date.”
Regulus raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you have a dragon pox essay to complete?”
A confused look crossed James’s face. “Do I?”
“Yes? You were working on it about five minutes ago when I brought you tea?”
“Oh yes, you brought me tea!” James exclaimed. “You must let me repay you for the gesture.”
“It was actually Siriu-”
“Consider it. You. Me. Two mugs of warm butterbeer. A roaring fireplace.”
Regulus shook his head.
“Absolutely not. I will not be treated like one of your…conquests.”
James' face fell, and for a moment Regulus almost regretted his choice of words. It was so rare to see James without a smile (at least for Regulus), it was disconcerting to see it disappear.
“Of course you wouldn’t be!,” he cried out, “I am sorry if that’s what you thought!”
“I’m joking James.”
James looked relieved then asked again, “So you will join me for the three broomsticks?”
“No.”
“You are right. You deserve more than just a date to the three broomsticks.”
“I’m not going on a date with you, regardless of where it is.”
“Isn’t there anything I can do to get you to go on a date with me?”
Regulus outwardly sighed. Whatever game James and Sirius were trying to play, was getting tiresome. Maybe that was the point.
“I want flowers,” Regulus played along, hopeful that compliance would give the opposite effect that brother was seeking. “Molies. A dozen of them.”
“I can do that.”
“And a list of reasons why you are worthy of taking me on a date.”
James nodded again eagerly.
“And tarts.”
“What flavor?”
“Apple and red currant.”
“Okay, what else?”
Regulus was starting to think that James was taking this a bit far.
“Perform me a song in the great hall.”
“Got it, what else?”
“Bloody hell James, what else do you want me to say? That I want twenty galleons?”
“Is that what you want?”
Regulus slammed his book shut, now believing that James was not going to call it quits.
“I don’t know what you and my brother are playing at,” Regulus stood up, “But you are not funny.”
James stood up with him, gathering up Regulus’s belongings.
“I’m not trying to be funny,” James said. “I would do anything for you.”
Regulus normally would have scoffed, but James was looking so genuinely sincere, it was becoming offputting. Regulus tentatively took his stuff from James.
“Okay. Whatever you say.” Regulus started to walk away, but James began to follow.
“Can I walk you to your dormitory?
Regulus glanced over towards him.
“Must you?”
“I’d like to. If you’d let me.”
Regulus sighed. “James I swear if I you are trying to pull something-”
“I promise I am not pulling a prank!” James exclaimed, “I swear on my life. I swear on Siruis’s life.”
Regulus betrayed a ghost of a grin. “Fine. But you are carrying my stuff.”
James eagerly took his bag.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
James looked back quizzically.
“Your school books that you abandoned over there?”
James’s eyes lit up in realization, running over with Regulus’s bag still slung over his shoulder as he gathered his own things. Once he was finished, he hurried back to Regulus with that stupid looking grin still on his face.
“Ready?”
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
It was weird walking alongside James. Not that it wasn’t necessarily a nice thing. Regulus, like most of the school, was not exempt from the charms of James Potter. It wasn’t as if Regulus fantasized about James or anything; he just recognized the fact that he was strikingly handsome, clever to a fault, and very skilled at Quidditch.
Talking with James had always been easy, and this time was no exception. He always made sure to listen to what you were saying, which for the younger sibling of such an obnoxiously loud brother, was everything. Frankly, James was impossible not to get along with.
“Are you nervous for the Ravenclaw match?” James asked.
Regulus’s gut reaction was to tell him no, he was not nervous. But this was James. He would listen.
“A bit, to be honest. After not catching the snitch last match, I got laid into by Collins-”
“I’ll kill him.”
“No!” Regulus laughed, “He had the right to. I was out of focus.”
“Because you were too distracted by the phenomenal display of the opposing team’s captain.”
“Yes that was definitely it,” Regulus responded, voice thick with false sarcasm knowing that James was not far off.
“If it makes you feel better, I had my personal record for getting hit by bludgers,” James said.
“A phenomenal display for a Captain.”
“Not my fault,” James said, “I kept getting these glances of the opposing team’s seeker out of the corner of my eye, throwing me off my game.”
The entrance to the Slythetin’s dormitories was quickly approaching, and for a half a second Regulus was wishing he was in Ravenclaw so that the walk had taken more time. That is until he heard the familiar voice of Barty Crouch.
“Reg, wait up!”
He turned to see his two best friends and roommates walking towards them. Both of their eyes widened when they saw who was in Regulus’s present company.
Regulus snatched his bag off of James’s shoulder.
“Thanks Potter,” he said curtly, moving to get away from the embarrassment of having his brother’s best friend walking him to his rooms.
“Wait!”
Regulus turned, and found James grabbing his hand. Before he could question what was happening, James brought his hand up to his lips, kissing it gently. Regulus knew his cheeks were turning red, and that his friends were not going to let this go.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” James stated, walking backwards away. Regulus gave a quick nod, turning away from James and muttering the Slytherin password to escape into the warmly lit common room.
“What in the world was that?” Evan asked, following behind, “Did James Potter just kiss your hand?”
“Is there something you are not telling us?” Barty added, “Are you being courted?”
Regulus shrugged, throwing his stuff near the nearest armchair, settling in it. “I think my brother and him are pulling some kind of prank, but I cannot figure out what their angle is.”
“Why, what else did he do?” Evan asked.
“He mentioned something about my eyes being beautiful, and then asked me out. When I refused, he wanted to know what would make me say yes.”
“And what did you say?” Barty asked.
“A bunch of random shit he’d never do. What is concerning me is how good of an actor he is. He seemed totally sincere that he would do what I said.”
“Sounds like he’s under a spell,” Evan said.
“Or a love potion,” Barty added.
Regulus froze. How could he have not seen it before? James had only started talking to Regulus like that after he had drank the tea. He must have taken only a sip or two before
“You have got to be kidding me,” Regulus groaned.
“He is under a love potion?” Barty grinned.
“My brother had me deliver James a cup of tea,” Regulus supplied, “I am going to murder him.”
His friends burst out laughing while Regulus buried his head in his hands.
“I mean there are worse things,” Evan said, clutching his stomach. “Then having the school’s heartthrob be in love with you.”
“It’s not love,” Regulus snapped back, “It’s infatuation and you know that.”
“Still, he’s right fit. I would indulge in it while it lasts,” Barty said.
Regulus scoffed. “With any luck my brother has the antidote, and has given it to him after he had his laugh.”
But the next morning an owl arrived at the breakfast table, dropping a homemade bouquet of flowers in front of him, tied with twine.
Regulus recognized Moly on sight. “Bloody hell.”
“From James?” Barty waggled his eyebrows.
Regulus looked up to see that James was thankfully nowhere in sight, but Regulus had no doubts that the Gryffindor had been up at the crack of dawn collecting the flower from the school grounds.
“Twenty-four hours of this,” Evan said, picking them up, “How’d you get so lucky?”
Regulus snatched them out of Evan’s hands. “Shut up. If I had the antidote, I would have given it to him last night.” He put the flowers in his bag delicately, however, because they were his favorite flower.
A surprise awaited Regulus at his third period Charm’s class. At the desk he shared with Dorcas, a plate of tarts sat with a scrawled piece of paper bearing Regulus’s name.
“Who are these from?” Dorcas asked, eyeing the treats hungrily.
“It’s a long story,” Regulus sighed, but after giving the tart a suspicious glance over, he took a bite. The acidic sweetness got to him, and he offered Dorcas one as well.
Regulus was mentally counting down the hours until the love potion would wear off. He was actively avoiding running into the Gryfinndor, deciding to skip lunch altogether in favor of eating the last of the apple and red currant tarts in his dormitory. Despite Regulus continuing to tell himself that he did not have feelings for James Potter, a small part of him knew that it would be like a knife to the chest if Regulus had to endure any more faux proclamations of love.
If Regulus had calculated correctly, the love potion was to wear off at around 7:45. To his relief, James was not at dinner when Regulus sat down at six. That was until he felt someone tap him on the shoulder, halfway through his beef stew.
“This is for you,” a small Gryffindor girl said, handing him an envelope before scampering off. James’s barely legible handwriting was recognizable on the front.
“Is that from you know who?” Barty asked, waggling his eyebrows.
Regulus shoved him off, considering ripping the thing in half. But he assumed it was the masochist inside of him that opened it to see what love potion-addled proclamations awaited him.
Dear Regulus,
You asked for a list of why I am worthy of taking you out on a date. However I fully admit that I will never be worthy of your affection. So here are five reasons why I am not worthy of taking you out on a date.:
1. You are brilliant. Whenever I think that I may have some semblance of intelligence (and I have been told by professors that I am wasting my intelligence, so I must have some), I look at you and are instantly humbled.
2. You display an understanding of the world that I cannot come close to fathoming. When I am lucky enough to get a glimpse of your ideas, of what goes inside your brain, I am blown away. You see the infinite potential in your surroundings, and when you speak of what could be, you light up as bright as the full moon on a clear winter’s night reflecting on fresh snow. To get to bask in that light is a pleasure that I am grateful yet undeserving of.
3. You don’t shy away from how you are feeling. You do not fear the judgment of others, or feel the need to please to gain their affection. Your charisma comes from your ability to be wholly and authentically you.
4. You are brave. You do not let your past define who you are. You are scared of nothing and no one. I strive to have a fraction of your inner strength.
5. You are beautiful. If we were in ancient Greece, the poets would write ballads of your beauty. You steal my breath with a single glance. Sometimes I wonder if you are not the proof I need that heaven walks amongst us.
You are the subject of my every dream. I could live a thousand lifetimes, and never come close to being worthy of you.
-James
Regulus read over the paper twice, heart thudding out of his chest. Nothing in what he had read about love potions ever said that the recipient would feel anything more than surface level infatuations. But this was filled with such deep though and emotion…how strong was this potion?
Strong enough to make the object catch feelings as well.
“Bloody hell Reg,” Barty said, reading over Regulus’s shoulder. “Did you ask him to bare his soul to you?”
“No,” Regulus said, hands shaking slightly. “Just a list…of….I think I said of why I should go on a date with him…or something like that.”
Evan took the letter out of his hands, and Regulus didn’t even have the mindset to stop him. His friend scanned the page. “Merlin, anything else you asked him of?”
“No, I asked for the letter and the flowers and tarts and…” Regulus snapped back into reality quickly. “Oh no. Oh FUCK.”
“What?!?” his friends exclaimed, but Regulus was already moving to get up from the table. To his horror, at that moment there was a flurry of movement from the Gryffindor table as James Potter stood up onto the table in the middle of all the dishes.
“Regulus Black,” James shouted, and a hush fell over the great hall. Regulus felt frozen in his spot as heads swiveled in his direction. Barty dropped the roll he was eating as music from an unseen source began to play.
“Regulus, what is happening?” Evan hissed, utter delight on his face.
“Please don’t,” Regulus pleaded, but James began to sing:
“ You are the sunshine of my life. That’s why I’ll always be around. You are the apple of my eye, forever you’ll stay in my heart.”
The giggles and whispers from his schoolmates were now being aimed in Regulus’s direction, as James jumped off the Gryfinndor table and began making his way to the Slytherin table. An angry looking Minerva McGonnagal was making her way down from the professor’s perch.
“I feel like this is the beginning, though I’ve loved you for a million years-”
It was the smirk on his brother’s face that sprung Regulus up from his spot. Regulus angrily stood up, meeting James before he could climb another table and grabbed his wrist. The singing abruptly stopped though the music of Stevie Wonder played on. Regulus tugged him out the doors of the great hall as he heard the shouts of Professor McGonagal asking Sirius to turn that wretched music off.
“Where are you taking me?” James asked, allowing himself to be led along the corridor by Regulus.
“To Slughorn’s.”
“Why?”
“To get a love potion antidote. I don’t care that there is only an hour left, we need to fix this now. ”
James stopped walking, causing Regulus to stumble.
“C’mon on James,” Regulus pleaded. “Please.”
“I’m not under a love potion, Reggie.”
“Yes, you are. My brother gave it to you in the tea I gave you last night.”
“And he gave me the antidote last night.”
Regulus dropped James’s wrist.
“...what?”
“He gave me the love potion as a little dose of double revenge. To annoy you, for refusing to lend him any more quills. And to embarrass me, for admitting to him that I have had a crush on his little brother for the last two years. But when he realized that you weren’t particularly bothered and that I was…well to be honest just being more of myself he gave me the antidote.”
“He-…you have a crush on me?”
James, despite having just sang in front of the entire great hall, now started to blush.
“Isn’t that obvious? I think I’ve proven that I have a bit more than a crush on you today.”
“But…all of that. The flowers, the song, the note …none of that was because of the love potion.”
“No. I realize that you were being sarcastic yesterday, when I was under the effects of the love potion. But…I thought it might be worth a shot.”
Regulus’s mind was spinning. James was not under any spells or potions when he penned that letter to Regulus. James Potter really did think that Regulus was brilliant. James Potter thought that he was beautiful.
“Regulus, please say something,” James said, and Regulus noticed that the boy was chewing on his lip in nervousness which melted something a little more in Regulus.
“Never sing to me like that again,” Regulus said, glaring.
“You are the one who asked me to,” James laughed nervously.
“I was just trying to get you to refuse a request. I hate public stunts like that.”
“Okay, noted. But the other stuff?”
Regulus pretended to consider the offer.
“Am I really the subject of your every dream?”
“Every single one.”
“Then I am not opposed to flowers or treats or the occasional declaration of love.”
The light flooded back into James’s features. “And do I get that date?”
Regulus nodded, and reached out to intertwine their fingers.
“How about one right now? Because there is no way I am going back to finish dinner.”
And James being James, listened.