Work Text:
-I-
If there was one fault of James Potter that he would readily admit, it was that he loved drama. Which is why when he heard loud voices in the corridor while making his way to Charms, he had to investigate to see what was happening.
To his utter delight it was a fight between Slytherins; not just any Slytherins, but between Snivellous and Regulus Black. Regulus Black was a force to be reckoned with, a very fit one at that. James thoroughly delighted in hearing the colorful insults Regulus came up with, even when James himself was at the receiving end of them. But Regulus Black insulting Snape? That was icing on top of the cake.
“-you dare to accuse me of stealing? I could buy the whole apothecary,” Regulus spat, “I can get ahold of potions you couldn’t even dream of. Why the fuck would I steal from the likes of you ?”
This pure rage that Regulus was displaying was giving James butterflies.
“Mulciber saw you, Black, leaving our dormitory!”
“And as I told you already, Mulciber is more daft than a troll. I have no need for something silly as a fungal potion.”
James leaned up against the column, enjoying the beauty of the moment while also fully aware that what Snape was accusing Regulus of stealing was stowed away amongst James’s socks.
“You are a spiteful child,” Snape continued, “Maybe you needed it for some revenge.”
Regulus scoffed. “Who do you think I am, my brother-?” Realization crossed Regulus’s face, and his jaw set. “For fucks sake,” he muttered under his breath.
“Well you ar-rrrgh!”
Regulus had drawn his wand from the pocket of his robe so quickly that Snape had no time to react before he flew into the air.
“I don’t need potions to get my revenge,” Regulus said, scowling up at the Slytherin hanging upside down.
James let out a cackle, attracting Regulus’s attention.
“What are you laughing at Potter?” Regulus snapped, and before James could respond, he was hanging as well, his glasses slipping off his nose.
James continued to laugh.
“Have you gone mental?!?” Snape shouted.
“No, I think I’m in love,” James admitted, “Regulus, won’t you marry me? Your spite fuels my soul.”
Regulus rolled his eyes, walking away as he left the boys hanging.
“That wasn’t a no!” James shouted after him. The figure retreated further away before disappearing altogether. Moments later, his friends happened upon the scene.
“What are you doing up there?” Sirius called up, a grin on his face.
“Your brother,” James sighed.
After a good laugh, Remus finally unstuck James. James gathered his fallen belongings, fixing his cracked glasses before setting them back where they belong.
“Hey Sirius, I’m going to marry Regulus,” James said, looking towards where the Slytherin had disappeared.
“Cool, we can be brothers,” Sirius replied.
“I know you don’t believe it,” James said, “But I will. I am marrying that boy.”
-II-
James had been pursuing Regulus Black with absolutely nothing to show for it for quite some time. As he entered his seventh year, he knew his time to win Regulus over was becoming limited. He had one year until he would leave Hogwarts, and who knew if he would ever see Regulus again.
“You are absolutely delusional,” Sirius said, after James had yet another failed attempt at flirting with Regulus. “You are actually giddy over the fact that my brother told you to go jump off a bridge?”
“Because he responded,” James emphasized, “He used to ignore me! It’s progress! Also if he didn’t secretly like it, I would have been sent to St. Mungo’s already.”
“I hate to say it, but James might have a point there,” Remus said. “James seems to be the only person I’ve seen Regulus have a conversation with that is not a part of his little friend group. And sure it’s mostly just Regulus berating James, but it’s more than nothing.”
“Moony, stop encouraging him,” Sirius complained.
“Just you wait, Pads,” James grinned. “Any day now, Regulus will admit that he does in fact tolerate me.”
“What high ambitions,” Peter muttered.
Within the next week, James had not succeeded to get anything more than negative words out of Regulus. Going into the Slytherin vs Gryfinndor match on Saturday, James had lost a little hope…then Regulus entered the pitch in his Quidditch robes. Green was nowhere close to James’s favorite color, but the way it looked on Regulus was heavenly. James sauntered up to shake Mulciber’s grimy hand, but James caught Regulus’s eye before he walked away and gave him a wink. Regulus pointedly looked at the ground.
It was actually considerably more difficult to focus when the most beautiful boy in existence was flying around you. It was as if his brain was always subconsciously trying to locate him in the pitch. Which might have been why when he saw Regulus shoot past him, James was just distracted enough to not see the bludger coming for his head.
He opened his eyes in the hospital wing.
“Hey! He’s awake.”
James let out a groan. It felt like a thousand little hammers were tapping in his head. He blinked a couple of times, taking in the blurry people surrounding him: Sirius, Remus, Peter, and… Regulus?
“What the fuck-?”
“Language Mr. Potter,” the voice of Madam Pomfrey said, as she bustled over. “Take this, for your head.” James did as he asked and swallowed the pills placed in his hand.
“What is that Poppy?” Sirius asked, peering over the matron’s shoulder. She swatted him away.
“To help concussions, Mr. Black. Nothing else.”
Sirius sat back down deflated.
“You should feel better instantly, but you have to stay for twenty minutes to make sure there are no side effects.”
She hurried away as quickly as she came. As she said, the hammering faded quick and James reached for his glasses on the side table. As he had thought, the blurry figure had been Regulus, sitting a bit further away from his friends.
“What happened?”
“Fucking Mercer sent a bludger to your head and you fell off your broom,” Sirius answered. “We are going to get such revenge-”
“It hit you so hard that you went flying off,”Peter interrupted, “I thought you were dead for sure, but luckily Regulus was able to catch you on his broom.”
“He-” James, turned to Regulus. “You caught me?”
Regulus looked down at his feet. “Don’t make it a big deal Potter.”
“It was a big deal,” Remus interjected, smirking over at the younger Black brother, “Regulus was about to catch the snitch and abandoned it to catch you instead. He could have won the game, but now the rest of the game is postponed since Gryfinndor would have been a chaser down.”
James’s jaw dropped.
“It was a bold choice for sure, considering you weigh like twenty stones,” Sirius said. James reached out to punch him, but a sharp pain shot to his head. He winced.
Regulus started.
James raised an eyebrow in his direction. Regulus’s cheeks were tinged with the faintest pink and it was clear that he was chewing on the inside of his cheek. Regulus Black was embarrassed and possibly concerned for James’s well being?
“You saved my life?” James asked, his voice shining as brightly as the smile on his face.
Regulus looked like he wanted to bite back with a thousand different insults, but could only come up with a meek “You wouldn’t have died-”
“Just broken every bone in his body,” Remus supplied.
“I can’t believe you saved my life,” James said again. “And you were strong enough to hold onto me? You are the total package aren’t you.”
“Merlin Potter, that bludger to the head must have really f-”
“Will you marry me, Reggie?”
“Absolutely not.”
James’s friends laughed, and Regulus, who was now red in the face, abruptly stood up to leave.
“Someday you will say yes Regulus Black,” James said to the back leaving through the door.
“Must you embarrass him like that?” Remus asked, shaking his head as the doors slammed shut.
“Moony I’m not trying to embarrass him, but he saved me . He gave up the game for me. ”
“Yeah and so you better properly thank him,” Sirius said, “I saw how angry his team was at him.”
James nodded. “I’ll get him a ring.”
“No James!”
James grinned. “Not an engagement ring, obviously. I didn’t get hit that hard. But he likes jewelry, so I will get him a ring as a thank you gift. Or a necklace. That might be better.”
“Oh you are getting him jewelry because he likes it? And not because you like him in it?” Remus teased.
James shrugged.
“It will be a win-win situation for the both of us.”
-III-
It was really hard to focus on potions when James was sitting across from Regulus Black. And Regulus was there on purpose.
“It’s really nice of you to tutor me,” James said for the third time since they had sat down.
Regulus sighed, setting down his book.
“I told you, I’m doing this as a favor to Sirius. Not because I like spending time with you.”
“I know. But still, you didn’t have to.”
In fact James was shocked that Regulus had agreed to do it. Surely he knew that Lily would have been perfectly capable of tutoring. It was actually because Sirius owed James a favor that Sirius even agreed to ask Regulus if he would tutor James in the first place. James liked to think that Regulus agreed because he wanted to spend time with James as well.
“You’re paying me.”
Right. That too.
“You don’t need the money.”
“I get an allowance each month and I have already spent it.”
“On what?”
Regulus ignored him. “From what I understand, you are currently learning about medicinal potions, correct? Although there are hundreds of medicinal potions, Slughorn is only teaching you twenty. Today we will go over five and create flashcards for those.”
“Wow. You are taking this so serious. And here I thought that-”
“Don’t you dare say it, Potter.”
James grinned. “You don’t know what I was going to say.”
“If I had a galleon for every time I heard you make the same “serious” joke, I’d be living like a king.”
James laughed out loud.
“That’s fair.”
Regulus slid the open potions textbook in front of James.
“We are starting with the easiest potion to remember; a healing potion.”
James glanced down at the picture of hand drawn potion on the page before looking back to Regulus.
“It aides the one who takes in speeding up the healing process with both physical wounds and stamina. As with many medicinal potions, there are similar herbs such as dittany. I don’t know how your herbology scores were-”
“Oh I know all about dittany,” James cut in, “consumed it many times actually. Its stalk is used in wands, typically choosing owners with strong intuition. Ninety-percent of dittany-core wand owners end up in the healer field of work. Also if you mix it with silver, it cures werewolf bites.”
Regulus raised an eyebrow. “Ninety percent?”
James nodded. “Actually wand cores can often be used to accurately predict someone’s future. For instance, fairy wing cores tend to choose owners with wanderlust, so it is safe to assume that they will end up as travelers and explorers.”
Regulus stared across the table at him with a scrutinizing gaze so intense, that James felt nervous for the first time in the Slytherin’s presence.
“What is it?”
“Sirius said you were brilliant,” Regulus stated, “I had no reason to believe that he was even remotely telling the truth. How is it that you know so much about wand cores and their owners, yet are failing potions?”
James felt his cheeks heating up despite it being quite cool in the library.
“I don’t find potions interesting enough to listen ‘spose.”
Regulus scoffed. “You don’t find potions interesting?
“Why would I want to spend time brewing when I could use a jinx or a hex and get the job done in two seconds?”
“I take back any inferences that I might have made about your intelligence. You are daft.”
“Good thing you are here to help me.”
Regulus rolled his eyes, and pressed on with the tutoring session. Regulus told James each potion and ingredients, describing the properties while James wrote them down on his notecards. At Regulus’s suggestion, he drew pictures alongside to give him a visual aide.
“What is that supposed to be?” Regulus peered over at James’s notes.
“A scorpion, clearly.”
An amused smile crossed Regulus’s face briefly before he commented on the scorpions appearance looking more like a squashed banana. James, however, was stuck the fact that he had made Regulus smile for the first time ever. And it was so beautiful, he was determined to see how many times he could elicit it before the end of their study session.
“Can you brew any potion in this book?” James asked.
“Yes. What are the ingredients in an antidote for common poisons”
“Bezoar, mistletoe, and…I don’t remember. Can you make a Bulgeye Potion?”
“Yes. The ingredients in a common poison antidote are bezoar, powdered unicorn horn, dried herbs, and mistletoe. Try and create a mnemonic to remember them. Something easy.”
James thought for a moment, before scratching on his notecard.
“Believe in yoUr Heart, Man”
“Where is the unicorn horn in that?”
“Your is spelled as UR.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Regulus said.
Another ghost of a grin. That was two.
“Can you make hair-dying potion?”
“Are you looking to change your hair?”
“Thinking about it. What’s your favorite color?”
“Green.”
“I could make it work.”
Three.
“What is considered a common poision?”
“A sting from a scorpion or something. How about a love potion?”
“James. Can we please focus?”
“Last question. Can you brew a love potion?”
“...yes.”
“Have you?”
“That’s another question. I think we are done for today anyways.”
James decided that he had made incredible headway in the hour they were together. Three smiles was more than he had gotten in his entirety of knowing Regulus.
“Regulus if I end up getting high marks on this exam, I think my parents will personally send you a thank you,” James said while they packed up.
“You must have set the bar very low,” Regulus replied.
“Oh I definitely have. They’ll also be eager to meet their future son-in-law.”
“I would never marry someone that isn’t bright enough to understand the importance of potions in everyday life,” Regulus said without missing a beat. James chuckled.
“For you Reg, I’ll become a potions master for your hand.”
Regulus cracked a small smile for the fourth time at James. James knew he was going to ride this high until their next session.
-IV-
James was not that drunk. He loved dancing and the Gryffindor Common room was packed full of people, so the obvious place to dance was on a table. Marlene was in his arms as they moved in a sultry swing for the room full of spectators.
James sang loudly to the spanish song as his hands roamed down Marlene's sides. She threw her head back, until she could see his face singing up to him as well.
She laughed as he leaned down to kiss the top of her head, and then she stood up straight again, grabbing his hands and setting them on her waist, moving with the music. James complied, but caught a sight to see over her shoulder.
He was pretty sure by this point that the boy was a fallen angel who was set on torturing souls by being unattainable. He was leaning up against a back wall, watching James dance with not an ounce of shame in his face that he was caught. In fact his mouth turned ever so slightly upwards, his eyebrow quirking as James found himself trapped in his gaze.
James felt unstable just seeing Regulus in his black tee, but then Regulus pulled the necklace he was wearing up to his lips to chew on it. A familiar silver ring on a chain that James had never seen Regulus wear before. He hadn’t even been sure that Regulus had kept it, since the gift had been received with little enthusiasm from the Slytherin who had saved him.
The song came to an end, and James whispered into Marlene’s ear.
“I have to go, the love of my life is beckoning.”
Marlene laughed, holding her arm out for James to help her down from the table.
“Go get him!” she pushed him forward. He made his way to where Regulus had been, or at least where James had thought he had been. Somewhere in the throngs of bodies, he had become turned around and Regulus Black was nowhere to be seen. Instead he found the drink table, which was much easier to locate.
He stared at the bottles in front of him, unsure what he should drink or really what the labels in front of him said. He took a green bottle and started to pour some into an empty cup.
“Are you sure that you should have another drink, Potter?”
James spun to see Regulus standing, his arms crossed against his chest.
“I was looking for you.”
“I know.”
Regulus had the ring of the necklace between the fingers on his left hand again, pulling the chain back and forth. James tracked the movement, feeling nauseated from the butterflies it gave him…or maybe it was the previous shots he had downed.
“You are wearing it,” James stated. “I like that.”
A small smile played on Regulus’s lips. “I figured you would. You are easy to please. And you are also very drunk right now, so I will take that cup.”
“I am not,” James said, “Did you see me on that table?”
“It would have been hard to miss. You Gryffindors do love to have people gawking at you.”
James frowned. “That sounds like an insult.”
“It was. But you don’t see me complaining about it, do you?”
As usual, James felt like Regulus was playing in some sort of game with him. The rules were already hard to understand when he was sober, let alone now.
“I’m saying that you gave quite the performance,” Regulus supplied.
“Oh,” James caught up, “Do you want an encore? I could give you a private performance.”
Regulus actually let out a small laugh, and James somewhat connected that this was the most he had ever seen Regulus smile.
“Seeing you with McKinnon up there was enough.”
“Were you jealous?”
“Not a bit. Besides, I know that you are not McKinnon’s type.” Regulus took a sip of the cup he had taken from James. The drink must have been strong, because Regulus winced and set it down. “Jesus James, it’s a good thing I took this shit away from you. You’d keel over from alcohol poisoning, is this just straight vodka?”
James had no clue what he had poured actually. Regulus grabbed an empty cup and pulled out his wand. The cup filled with water, and Regulus took a long swig to presumably get the taste out of his mouth. Regulus then handed the cup over to James.
“Drink, pretty boy.”
James took the water, but refrained from taking a sip.
“You think I’m pretty?”
Regulus’s eyes rolled up to the ceiling, mouthing “fucking hell” before responding, “Yes James, you are so, so very pretty. Now drink the water.”
“And you care about me to get me water. Merlin, you are so bloody perfect Regulus Black.”
“So you’ve told me,” Regulus replied dryly. “Drink.”
“I will but only because you are so pretty.”
If James hadn't taken the last round of shots, he would have noticed the amusement flickering in Regulus’s eyes. Instead he cooed again, “You are so pretty. I have to marry you. Please?”
“Not when your drunk off your ass I won’t. I’m going to deposit you with one of your responsible friends.”
James allowed himself to be turned around, but only because Regulus had a hand on his back and this was the first time that James was conscious of Regulus purposely touching him. He was led to where Lily and Mary were sitting on a sofa, talking.
“This is yours,” Regulus said, shoving him forward towards the sofa next to the girls. James stumbled, the water sloshing a little out of the cup. When he turned around Regulus was gone.
“You good James?” Mary asked as he sat down.
“It wasn’t a straight no,” James beamed.
-V-
James sprinted through corridors, throwing open every open door along his way. He would glance inside, say his name, and if there was no response he went to the next. It was on the sixth floor, the thirty-second door he had opened, that he had a reason to pause. The first reason was because that the door was locked. Once James had resolved the issue, he sensed a stiff air of uneasiness, as if the room itself was holding its breath for James to leave.
“Reggie?” he whispered, shutting the door softly behind him. “Are you in here?”
The responding silence would have turned him away, if not for the almost muted sharp intake of air given at the moment James had said his name.
“Reggie, it’s just me. I need to know if you’re okay.”
The long pause was interrupted by a commanding, “Leave me the fuck alone, James.”
James sighed, relief flooding through him. He pulled out his wand.
“ Expecto Patronum,” James muttered, sending the message “ He’s okay, send for you soon” to the worried older brother covering floors 2-4.
James tiptoed around a large desk, revealing Regulus Black with his knees to his chest, head down. James slid down across from him.
“You really scared us there.”
“I wasn’t going to off myself.”
“Well the letter you left Sirius was…vague,” James admitted, despite knowing that Regulus would be pissed that Sirius had shown James what was supposed to be a private letter.
Sirius, though, had been beyond terrified when he opened the letter found on his bed after they returned from their last end of the year feast. He had shakingly handed it to his friends, demanding that they come to a different conclusion. But the apologies and words “final goodbye ” leapt from the page.
“Not my fault you all jumped to conclusions.”
“Reggie, you said that you wouldn’t be seeing us again.”
“I won’t be though, will I?” Regulus replied, lifting his head. James froze, simultaneously wanting to pull the boy to him and burn the entire school down. Regulus Black had been crying.
“Just because we are leaving Hogwarts-”
“I’m running away tomorrow.”
“Wha-? At the train station?”
“Yeah. I am going to get as far away as possible. America, maybe.”
“No, you can’t-”
“I have to James!” Regulus shouted, pleading, “You know what it’ll be like for me if I don’t. Ever since Sirius has left, the expectations my parents are putting on me are getting more and more each day. If I stay, I’ll be stuck forever.”
“Then I’m running away with you,” James said.
“James that is ridiculous-”
“I’m serious, Reggie. I’m done with school, so what’s holding me here? We can get tickets to America and-”
“And what? We get married and live on a farm with a dog?”
James smiled. “Sounds perfect to me.”
Regulus looked at James glassy eyed. “Can’t you ever be serious?”
“I am serious. Let’s run away and get married, Reggie.”
“...do you actually like me, James?”
“I’d think that would be obvious by how many times I have asked you to marry me.”
“I thought you were doing it to torment me.”
“I was only half joking whenever I asked you. But I’ve always liked you, from the moment I met you.”
“Why?”
“Unfortunately I’ve only ever gotten edge pieces together.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“You’re like a puzzle, Regulus. That I’ve been trying to fill in the pieces since I was twelve.”
Regulus digested what James had said.
“And what would you do if you finished the puzzle?”
“Glue it. Never let another piece go missing again.”
“And what if you don’t like the whole picture?”
“Impossible. I’ve only seen the edges, and it’s already beautiful.”
To James’s relief, a small smile ghosted Regulus’s face.
“I have another idea,” James said, “Besides you and I living on a farm. How about when you get off the train tomorrow, you come with me and Sirius instead.”
“My parents will come and find me.”
“And my parents will protect you.”
Regulus blinked.
“Is it really that simple?”
“Sure. My parents like jigsaws too.”
Regulus suddenly lunged, wrapping his arms around James’s neck in an embrace. James held him tightly back, vowing not to move until Regulus did. It didn’t matter how long it took, James was used to waiting.
(+99 or so)
A Partial List of Times James Potter asked Regulus Black to Marry Him:
- When Regulus cooked risotto for dinner at the Potter’s estate. Regulus responded with “I am only 17. Good Luck getting my parent’s permission on that one.”
- On a summer night, after James showed Regulus how to catch fireflies for the first time and Regulus was staring in the jar with such amazement. Regulus responded, “Perhaps later.”
- When Regulus kissed him for the first time under the starlit sky. Regulus responded with “Just think of the now, James”
- When James had to drop off Regulus on the train platform for Regulus 7th year. Regulus said, “I have a train to catch.”
- Christmas morning at the Potters, when Regulus said he loved James. Regulus laughed.
- When James rushed after a grueling Quidditch practice to make it in time to go with his parents to pick up Regulus for the last time from the train station. Regulus responded “Perhaps if you had showered first, I would have said yes.”
- When James woke up in the morning and Regulus was sleeping next to him, the morning light danced across his skin and James thought there was surely no one more beautiful than him. Regulus said, “It’s too early for that.”
- When Regulus came to James’s match sporting a Potter kit. Regulus said “Maybe if you had won.”
- When they moved into their first flat together. Regulus said “Do you know how much this place is costing us? We can’t afford a wedding.”
- When Regulus went into a loud rant about insolent coworkers. Regulus said, “Why did I decide to date a mental person again?”
- On Regulus’s 21st birthday, with a ring and a renewed promise that he was never going to leave him.
Regulus said yes.