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James Potter paced the corridor outside the Potions dungeon like a man on the verge of either greatness or a mental breakdown. His fingers twisted the hem of his jumper, and he kept muttering under his breath.
"You're James bloody Potter. You’ve faced Slytherins, Snitches, and Snape’s ugly face. You can ask one boy out."
Except that boy was Regulus Black. And Regulus Black wasn’t just anyone—he was sharp and composed, and somehow infuriatingly elegant when brushing you off.
James finally spotted him emerging from the library, a book tucked under his arm, eyes cool and unreadable.
“Hey—uh, Black!” James called, voice a touch too loud.
Regulus stopped, blinked, then slowly turned with one eyebrow arched. “Potter. Are you… lost?”
“No! No, I just—look, I wanted to ask you something. Er. Not ask you something. I mean, ask you out. On a date.”
A long silence. Regulus just stared.
“I mean, unless you don’t like blokes, or Gryffindors, or Quidditch players—or me. That’s fair. Honestly, I’ll go drown myself in the Black Lake if you want—”
“I’ll… think about it,” Regulus said coolly, and walked off, leaving James staring after him in a daze.
---
Regulus didn’t usually seek advice, even from Severus one of his closest friends who was currently curled on a green velvet armchair in the Slytherin common room, reading and glowering.
But this was uncharted territory.
“Severus,” Regulus said, voice low. “Potter asked me out.”
Severus froze mid-page turn. “James Potter?”
Regulus nodded.
Snape closed his book with a thud. “And you didn’t hex him? Or laugh in his face?”
“I said I’d think about it.”
There was a pause. Severus sighed. “Do you… want to say yes?”
Regulus hesitated, then sat beside him. “He’s ridiculous. Loud. Smug. But he’s also… strangely earnest.”
“You like him,” Snape said flatly.
“Perhaps.”
Severus exhaled sharply through his nose. “Then say yes. But if he hurts you, I’ll turn his insides into a potion ingredient.”
Regulus smirked faintly. “Duly noted.”
---
The next day, James nearly tripped over his own feet when Regulus walked up to him in the courtyard.
“I’ve decided,” Regulus said.
James blinked. “Yeah?”
“I’ll go out with you.”
James gaped. “Wait—really?”
Regulus gave him a faint, wicked little smile. “Don’t make me regret it, Potter.”
And for the first time in his life, James Potter was speechless.