Chapter Text
If we were to read the book of Regulus Black we would see a myriad of moments that underscored his belief that the world couldn’t be interpreted through a lens of good and bad moments, no matter how much he secretly wanted to be able to. That would simplify things, he thought but never voiced aloud.
It didn’t start when his brother ran away to his best friend’s house, a best friend whose smile was as bright and annoying as sunshine could be and whose life was so perfect it set Regulus’ teeth on edge. The best friend was a problem for many reasons and Regulus wished he had always interpreted him that way. It got worse when Sirius opened up to the best friend, and the best friend’s perfect parents, about what really went down at the Black family household. Calls were made, the house was visited, bruises were discovered, prior injuries both Regulus and Sirius had mysteriously accumulated during their childhoods were looked into, and the boys were removed from their familial home.
Regulus was young at the time, nearing fourteen, and as much as he wanted to remember every detail of what had followed, he didn’t like to revisit it. Those memories were kept under lock and key in the back of his mind.
The only good thing to come out of it was that Sirius got to see their mom’s estranged brother and for a few months he served as a guardian to the boys.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t meant to last as Uncle Alphard lived across the country and didn’t have the ability to take on two teenage boys.
It was the best friend’s mother, Effie, who helped to navigate the situation. It seemed that a local elementary school nurse and a nearby preparatory school’s principal were looking to adopt.
Regulus liked them, sometimes even admitting to himself that he loved this life he had been rushed into, but he never said aloud either. Often, he wished he knew how to express that to them, but after everything he had been through he couldn’t find the words.
Sirius didn’t have the same issues. Unlike Regulus, Sirius excelled in therapy. Unlike his younger brother, Sirius told Minnie and Poppy he loved them all the time. Sometimes he even called them his “moms.” Unlike Regulus, his older brother adjusted to the situation better than anyone could have expected. The difference between them kept Regulus up at night.
Regulus found his stride away from his brother in a school setting. Sirius ran with the jock crowd, preferring the soccer team with their rowdy games and even rowdier parties. Regulus was immediately called to the art scene, instead joining various clubs and becoming involved in every student show at the prep school they attended when Poppy recommended he take up painting as a way to manage his stress. She knew the boys’ mother made them practice piano daily and immediately moved Minnie’s unused piano into storage and out of the household. She liked doing small things like that for them. Regulus thought most of the time she didn’t notice that he noticed everything she did for them to make them more comfortable.
They interacted at school, naturally. Regulus was familiar with Sirius’ friends and Sirius knew his. The groups rarely ever crossed though.
But that was about to change. With a decision made two days after New Years, Minnie would change everything.
And since we aren’t only reading the book of Regulus Black, we might as well move on to James Potter now.
————-
“Help me, help me, oh gracious one.” Sirius flounced down on James’ bed with a dramatic huff that was neither surprising nor out of the ordinary.
James rolled his eyes and gestured for Sirius to take off his shoes. James was surprised Sirius was even able to wear his Doc Martens upstairs, somehow making it past James’ mom and her no-shoes-in-the-house rule.
“What do you need, Padfoot?” James asked. Knowing Sirius it could be anything from buying him a latte tomorrow when they return to school after winter break to planning some elaborate prank that involves them putting a horse in Minnie’s office.
”I need you to ask out my brother.”
“Ask him…out?” There was no way James heard Sirius correctly.
“Like on a date.” Sirius clarifies as he sat up to face his best friend. “Keep up, Prongs.”
That comment didn’t make James any less confused. “A date?”
“If you’re going to just keep repeating half of what I’m saying back to me, then I don’t see the point of us having this conversation.”
“Padfoot,” James sighed. “I don’t understand how this conversation began in the first place.”
Sirius hunched his shoulders and ran his fingers through his shoulder length dark hair before breathing out like a confession, “I wanna date Remus.”
“Well, yeah,” James shrugged. “Everyone knows that.”
Sirius leveled him with a dark glare and James held up his hands in a conceding motion. “If you want to find someone who will be surprised, you’re gonna have to talk to people who don't go to our school. Besides,” he lowered his hands. “I don’t see what me going on a date with Regulus has to do with that.”
Sirius turned away from James to stare off at the dark blue walls of his friend’s bedroom. “I’m not allowed to go on a date until Regulus does.”
“What?! Who says?”
“My moms. Minnie and Poppy don’t think it's a good idea for me to start a romantic relationship until I’ve worked—” he paused to swallow. Even now, after years of friendship it felt a little personal to James when Sirius hesitated before opening up to him. Like he had done something to cause the hesitation. “Until I’ve worked on myself a bit more. In therapy and stuff.” His voice trailed off.
James nodded along. It seemed sensible on the part of Sirius’ adoptive parents. Minnie and Poppy wouldn’t want Sirius to possibly enter into a toxic relationship. It wouldn't be his fault, or Remus’ for that matter, but Sirius still had a long way to come in terms of properly expressing his emotions. Any relationship could turn toxic if someone wasn’t in the right headspace to be involved romantically with someone else.
“There’s one thing I still don’t get, though.” James replied when Sirius was done speaking.
“Regulus?” Sirius responded.
“Regulus.” James confirmed.
“You see, Regulus was there for this whole conversation. He was laughing over his waffle when they said they didn’t approve of a romantic relationship for me right now,” Sirius explained. “And that must’ve given Minnie the idea because she knows exactly how prickly and adverse to love Regulus is.”
“Oh?” James said, feeling like all of the pieces were about to click into place but still couldn't see how Sirius was about to get from point A to point B.
“So, Minnie pointed her finger at Regulus and said that I can’t date anyone until my younger brother does. And you know what the bastard does?”
“What?”
“He kept fucking laughing,” Sirius threw up his arms in exasperation.
James didn’t bother pointing out that he finds Sirius’ dramatic storytelling a bit comical, he felt that might make the situation worse. Instead James said, “Let me get this straight. You need someone to date Regulus because of this rule your mom’s imposed, so that you can go out with Remus.”
“Right,” Sirius confirmed.
“And you want that person to be me?” James pointed his finger to the center of his chest in confusion.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Why not?” Sirius shrugged.
“Regulus hates me.”
“That’s not true.” Maybe Sirius did have a point there. Regulus didn’t hate James. Regulus loathed James. He didn’t know when it had started. Definitely not when he first met the younger Black brother in elementary school when the boy had started kindergarten. Regulus had been a sweet kid and James had immediately felt a protectiveness over him. For a few brief years, the three of them got along great.
It wasn’t until Regulus hit seventh grade that everything changed. James and Sirius were in eighth grade, it was a little over a year before Sirius would officially move out of his Walburga and Orion’s home, and Regulus built walls around himself whenever James was around. The change occurred overnight and only got worse when Regulus also made the switch to living with Minnie and Poppy, which James couldn’t blame him for even though he very much wanted to be there for the younger boy as much as he was there for Sirius.
The end of middle school marked a time when James stopped counting on Regulus to come over whenever Sirius would. If he had some spark of hope that once Regulus started as a freshman at Huntington Prep, the school they all attended, they would reconnect; it was crushed when Regulus shunned the personal invitation James had given him to one of his games.
They ran in separate crowds, rarely having to cross paths in the halls, and besides the few times a month when James went over to Sirius’ house and stayed for dinner, it was a rarity for them to be in the same room at the same time.
“Fine,” James said. “But that doesn’t mean that he’ll go out with me if I ask.”
“I’m not so sure about that.” Sirius’ voice sounded distant as he answered and James didn’t know how to interpret that further.
“What do you mean?”
“What I mean is…” Sirius paused for a second before continuing, “that you two are basically the epitome of ‘opposites attract.’ He’s a black cat artist and you’re all a golden retriever jock.”
“I’m not a jock!” James couldn’t help but feel offended at the tone Sirius was using.
“Your varsity jacket is hanging off your desk chair.” Sirius pointed over to exactly that. “And your soccer cleats are under the desk.”
“And your point is?”
”That you two could be perfect for each other,” Sirius said, but narrowed his eyes right after and turned to glare at James. “If you do go out with him, no kissing is allowed though.”
“No kissing?!” James sounded more alarmed at this than he was comfortable with. He had a lot of crushes in his lifetime and he’s thought about kissing quite a few of them, but because he never had a crush on Regulus, he’s had no thoughts of kissing him. He didn’t like how the very notion of that happening made heat crawl up his neck.
“That’s my younger brother! You won’t degrade him by putting those same moves you put on that guy at the resort in the Virgin Islands.”
“That was a winter break fling! And you said you approved when I showed you his picture!”
“No kissing.” Sirius returned with a note of finality.
“Fine,” James said. In the back of his mind he realized that he was essentially bargaining with Sirius about kissing Regulus when that wasn’t even in the realm of possibility…yet.
James immediately dismissed that thought from his mind. It wasn’t going to happen. But even as he had the thought, he found he wasn’t doing quite as good a job of convincing himself as he does during games when he convinces himself the crowd isn’t there.
“I know you’d be doing me a huge favor,” Sirius started. “Please just think about it.”
James let out a breath, not comfortable with admitting that he was mostly in agreement already. He loved helping his friends. Whenever Remus, Peter, or Sirius needed anything he always rushed to help them. Besides, James was always looking for an excuse to get close to Regulus. This could present the perfect opportunity. They’d both be helping a person they mutually love and could somehow end up friends again.
“Sure,” James agreed. “I will.
Sirius grinned at him. Reading his best friend like a book and immediately knowing where James’ head was currently at.
“You should stay for dinner. Mom’s making lasagna.”
“Can we go out for ice cream after?”
“In the middle of winter?”
“I can’t live without my cookies and cream.”
“I know, Sirius.” James responded. “I know.”
—————-
The day that would end up defining the rest of James’ senior year started horribly and only got worse.
James woke up late. What a way to start his first day back from break, he thought to himself as he hurriedly styled his hair and brushed his teeth at the same time. He quickly picked out an outfit. Something smart and sensible looking, something that would impress the younger black brother.
James had tossed and turned all night coming up with a plan to ask Regulus out. Pretty much immediately after Sirius went home, he’d always had a curfew but he only started respecting it when Minnie and Poppy acquired custody, James admitted to himself that he was going to go along with Sirius’ foolish plan.
Somehow, in less than twenty minutes, James managed to get out the door on time, stopping briefly in the kitchen to say goodbye to his parents and grab a protein bar.
As he cruised down the street over to Remus’ house to carpool with his friend, he rehearsed the speech he was going to approach Regulus with later in the day.
Should he have gotten flowers? Should he still get flowers? He didn’t really know what the etiquette was with asking someone to fake date you so that their brother/your best friend could go out with your other best friend. Was there even any etiquette for a situation so unique?
He didn’t realize how long he had stopped in front of Remus’ house until the taller boy ripped open the passenger side door and jolted James from his thoughts.
“Morning,” Remus said, greeting him as he did most mornings. As soon as he took his seat in the car, he reached for the aux cord. It was basically an unspoken rule that Remus was always on aux.
James was still in his head and didn’t deign his friend with a response.
Remus noticed immediately. “What’s wrong?” He asked.
James shrugged as he pulled the car away from Remus’ house, through the window he could see Hope Lupin handing her husband a cup of coffee. Remus had the same parental situation as James did: two parents who were normal, who raised their sons because they loved them and wanted the best for them and not because of years of traditional values permeating the family line.
“How did you know something’s wrong?” James asked in return.
“James, I wouldn’t call you a morning or night person, I’d call you a twenty-four hour person,” Remus started to explain. “You didn’t greet me because you're tired or unhappy to be going back to school after break. It has to be something else.”
“Has Sirius ever told you that you’re too perceptive?” James raised an eyebrow in Remus’ direction.
“Everyday. Now tell me what’s the matter.”
“I have to ask someone on a date today.” James breathed out after the confession. He assumed Remus already knew the whole situation but it still felt hard to talk about it with the anxiety tightening his chest.
“Oh?” It was now Remus’ turn to raise an eyebrow. “That shouldn’t be that hard for you.”
“Don’t shame me, I’m vulnerable right now,” James replied, feigning hurt.
Remus shrugged, “I’m just saying that you’ve always been open with how you feel. How many times did you ask out Lily before she told you she was a lesbian with a pretty steady relationship with her ‘best friend’?”
“That was just in middle school”
“James,” Remus chastised in a sing-song tone of voice. “How many times?”
“37,” James didn’t love talking about how much Lily Evans had once stomped all over his heart. She had been one of his biggest crushes for years and for a while there he had been convinced that Lily was the love of his life, his parents’ ever present love for each other had served as some inspiration for the all-consuming crush James had harbored for the girl.
Now though, she was one of his closest friends but he was definitely closer with her girlfriend, Mary Macdonald. But not as close as Sirius was to Mary. And certainly not as close as Remus was to Lily.
If James was closest with any of the girls he had grown up with he would have to say Marlene McKinnon. She used to live down the block from him which gave the two of them the excuse to play games in the street until one of their mothers eventually came out and told them to be careful. Her family moved a few years back but she never transferred out of Huntington and James was happy to support her at her games with the girls soccer team.
“And if anything her constant rejection should’ve shaken my confidence a little.”
“Yet, you persisted.” Remus smacked him in the shoulder. “Regulus will hardly be different. Him and Lily have very similar temperaments.”
“Ah,” James said. “So you do know exactly who I’m asking out.”
“Sirius called me with his plan right when Minnie established the rule.”
“You didn’t try to talk him out of it?”
“Oh no, I definitely did. He wouldn’t hear it.” Remus shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Who is it that Sirius wants to ask out?”
It took everything in James not to shout at Remus ”You! It's you! And everyone can see it but you!”
“Sorry, Moony,” He said to Remus. “Best friends honor. I can’t spill.” Sirius would kill him if he told Remus about his feelings. It's been like this for years, ever since Remus joined James, Peter, and Sirius at school freshman year, Sirius has been smitten.
Of course, he didn’t realize at the time that the reason he was following Remus everywhere, wanting him at every hang out all the time, and constantly blowing up his phone just to have the chance of talking to Remus for a few seconds was because he fell head over heels the first day they all had Pre-Algebra together the morning of that fateful first day of high school.
It wasn’t until this past summer that Sirius had a revelation. James had watched the two of them miss each other for years. Everything changed in June. Remus had called from where he was staying at his cousin’s house for an extended vacation at the beach. Through some light teasing from Sirius and James, followed by some direct questioning from Sirius when he realized he had missed something, they found out specifics on what Remus was getting up to.
Remus had met someone on vacation, and Sirius, king of jealousy, didn’t exactly take it well. James still remembers how that phone call had ended, with Sirius hanging up the phone and storming out of James’ house. James had called back Remus immediately, the latter boy was already in a bad mood and didn’t want to talk anymore.
It was a bad time for everyone all around.
It took a lot of mediating on James’ end and a lot of patience to make Sirius realize that it wasn’t really fair for him to be mad at Remus for having some summer fling with a person they didn’t even know when Sirius had been having year-long flings with people Remus knew at their school.
After even longer conversations, Sirius finally came around to why exactly he was so mad. Just in time for the end of summer. He apologized to Remus for how rude he had been. In James’ mind, he had imagined the apology would also include a confession. Instead, much to James’ disappointment, Sirius wanted to wait to confess which transpired into months and months of what Sirius called waiting but James had titled “the stalling period.”
Well, now here they were and if James was very involved before, he was now permanently entangled in the love life of his two friends.
Remus had a disappointed look on his face but he got rid of it in one swift motion and tried to look normal about Sirius going out with someone else. Admittedly he was an expert at hiding all Sirius related feelings after years of practice. It made James sick to his stomach over how hurt Remus had to be on the inside.
“I guess we’ll see soon enough,” Remus said. “Once you and Regulus go on a few dates, Sirius won’t want to waste any time.”
“Who said anything about a few dates?” James asked.
Remus turned to him with a confused frown across his mouth, “You didn’t think about that?”
“What?”
“That Minnie’s not going to allow anything after just one single date,” Remus explained. “You’ll have to go on at least three before Sirius can even go near the person he wants to ask out.”
“He’ll have no problem going near them,” James mumbled.
“What?!”
“Nothing!” James rushed to cover up his fumble.
Remus gave him a look but didn’t question James’ misstep further.
Great, James thought. Now he’s going to think that Sirius has a crush on someone they’re all mutually friends with.
He was saved from having to say anything else, which would most likely just end in him rambling and creating more of a mess for his overthinking friend, by pulling into the senior lot on the north side of campus. He was lucky enough to have a parking spot this year, carpooling with Remus definitely encouraged the school to give him one over other students.
The first bright spot of the senior lot was that he actually had a place there. The second was that Sirius was given a parking space right next to James’. James didn’t think regularly about how that meant seeing Regulus, the younger Black brother was more often than not already inside the school by the time James’ car glided into the spot next to where Sirius was already parked every morning.
It was pretty much the same routine all of their other school years too. Regulus and Sirius had been driven everyday by Minnie and Sirius would always wait in the front office with her for James to arrive. Regulus hid himself away inside the school with his group of friends or, as James suspected, by himself.
The realization of Regulus possibly seeing James at this exact moment, after James had to quickly get ready and had barely formulated what he was going to say made his heart rate spike.
“Regulus is already inside,” Remus said, cutting off James’ internal spiral. “It’s just Sirius.” He gestured over to where Sirius was sitting in the driver’s seat looking down at his phone. As if sensing that Remus was looking at him, he raised his eyes from whatever he was looking at and softened when he saw it was the tall, curly haired boy of his dream, his words not James’. James wondered how long he had been waiting for James to deliver said boy.
Turning off the car, James gave Remus a few extra seconds to get out and talk to Sirius one-on-one before he ran around the car to greet his best friend.
The pair were standing there just looking at each other.
This started in September when they all got back to Huntington after summer vacation. It originally annoyed James and Peter on an extreme level. Sirius, with nowhere he was able to channel his newfound emotions without his fears getting in the way of asking out Remus, had started what could only be described as “gazing.” If Remus was actually tuned in to Sirius’ lovelorn actions he would have seen what was right in front of him and the fact that he was doing the same thing back.
James had to admit that it still sometimes made him angry. Not for the first time this morning he considered screaming at them to look at what was right in front of their faces. God, he had been awake less than an hour.
Having now made his way around the car, standing in front of his two friends, James cleared his throat. When that didn’t work he cleared it again, the second time with more gusto and that finally got their attention.
Both of them snapped apart and Sirius furrowed his eyebrows when he saw James standing there. “Are you okay, Prongs?” Sirius asked. “Do you need a cough drop?”
“Nah,” James replied, waving off his best friend’s worries. “I’m good. Just something in my throat.”
“So…” Sirius stared, fully pulling himself out of the small sliver between his and James’ cars and therefore out of Remus’ direct personal space. “Did you think about our conversation yesterday?”
James opened his mouth to answer but Remus said first, “He did.” Remus didn’t exactly look pleased when he said this though. “Soon enough you’ll be able to ask out this mystery person.” He lifted his backpack that had been resting at his feet to sling it across his shoulder and started walking down the hill the senior lot resides on and towards the main building.
“Moony! Wait up!” Sirius shouted after him but the taller boy wasn’t going to let up.
“I can’t be late again!” Remus responded without turning around.
“He seems upset,” Sirius said, more to the air than to James.
“He’ll be fine by lunch time,” James responded.
“So you thought about it?” Sirius asked, returning back to their discussion from the day before.
“Yeah,” James reached up to run his hand across the back of his neck. “I just need to find Regulus sometime today.”
“Yes!” Sirius jumped at James, wrapping him up in a big hug. “Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” The words were coming out of Sirius so fast that James could hardly make out what he was saying.
“I take it you’re pleased.”
“Extremely.” A wide smile was stretched across Sirius’ face.
“Let’s save our excitement for when we have Regulus’ response.”
Sirius shook his head, his smile never wavering. “Sure.”
“And we should probably go to class. We don’t want another detention or else our moms will both kill us for starting the new year off that way.”
“Let me just grab my backpack.” Sirius ran around his jeep to the trunk where he always threw his backpack every afternoon after school and seemingly every morning before the day started. Sometimes James doubted Sirius actually took it out to bring it inside his home and do his homework at night. Instead believing Sirius waited to do his work until minutes before it was due.
While they were both strolling in the same direction Remus had walked moments before, Sirius slung his arm around James’ shoulders. “So what’s your plan with Regulus?”
James shrugged and opened up about the one piece of planning he had done, “I’m going to talk to him after school.”
“That’s it?” Sirius’ shock did nothing to cool James’ nerves. “Well, you’re known as bold for a reason, I guess. Text me how it goes.” Sirius grinned at him and it didn’t settle any of the feelings around what James was going to be anxiously awaiting all day to do.
—————-
James was right to be anxious. Even though he was asking Regulus to fake date him, the rejection stung. Especially with how emphatically he took to rejecting him.
“No.” A laugh bubbled out of Regulus’ mouth as he said this.”No no no no.”
“Are you sure you don’t have another ‘no’ you wanna say?” James replied. He couldn’t lie and say that Regulus hadn’t stunned him, because that’s exactly how he felt at the moment. Stunned beyond belief. Was he actually that abhorrent to Regulus Black that five nos came to mind when James asked him on a date.
Regulus raised both his eyebrows. If he hadn’t done this one simple motion, James thought he wouldn’t have noticed that Regulus was flushed. His whole face was tinged red. In embarrassment or indignation? James wondered silently to himself.
“Wow,” Regulus started. “I didn’t know you actually had the ability to be sassy. Well done, James.”
James can’t help the smile that comes across his face. That was cute of Regulus to say and he couldn't fight the warm feeling that blossoms in his chest when Regulus wasn’t weirdly cordial with him.
“You’re cute when you’re annoyed,” James said, because he never has been good with holding his tongue.
Regulus looks at him with the same amount of disgust someone else might use to look at a cockroach that just crawled out of the shower drain. James would know, he’s pretty sure he’s given the locker room drain the same look when the exact thing happened to him while showering in there.
“What do you want, James?” The look of disgust did not move.
“Didn’t I just say what I wanted?”
“To ‘take me out on a date,’” Regulus lifted his fingers in airquote motions while saying the words. “Is this some sort of prank?”
“No,” James said, slightly offended. “It’s not. I don’t…I don’t do pranks like that on people.”
The space between Regulus’ eyebrows scrunched together and James wanted to reach out and smooth down the area. He clenched his hand into a fist in order to resist the completely inappropriate urge.
James didn’t have to resist for long because Regulus took a steadying breath and the crease disappeared all on its own. James relaxed slightly but that soon proved to be a mistake.
“James, let me be honest with you,” Regulus started and James had the instinct to brace himself. There was once a time where Regulus could just say whatever he wanted to James without prefacing it in such a way. “I wouldn’t date someone like you,” he emphasized this with a pointed finger right at the center of James’ chest, “if the apocalypse started and we were the last two people on earth.”
“What?”
“The only reason you think that I would just say yes is because you, and my brother as well, think that everyone falls over pretty guys without a second thought. This belief has conditioned you into believing you can get anyone and everyone you’d like. I’m telling you now, and I’m hoping you internalize this, that you are wrong to think that.”
“You think I’m pretty?”
Regulus didn’t get more offended, he instead chuckled with some annoyance attached to the noise. “Right. Of course, that’s what you’d take from this.”
“You were softer when we were younger,” James couldn’t help himself. But Regulus had just insulted him and this was the only thing he felt he could throw back in his face.
“Right,” Regulus said again. “Well, a lot has changed since then and me wanting you in my life is one of those things.”
Regulus adjusted the strap of his messenger bag, and it reminded James that they were currently standing in the middle of their campus’ main quad. Luckily the mad rush for most of the student body to leave was over, but there were still all of the students involved in extra-curriculars hanging around. James didn’t want this conversation to get out. The rumors that flew around their school were always bad and he didn’t just want to spare himself from that but he also didn’t like the idea of Regulus involved in that too.
“Goodbye, James.”
He watched, feeling like he had just been tackled to the ground and was now breathless, as Regulus walked away.
—————-
James retreated. The one aspect of loving your school that nobody ever talks about is that you know almost every part of it. Not only does James own half a closet worth of school spirit merchandise and two varsity jackets, but he always held a book full of knowledge about Huntington Preparatory School.
Within the book is an entire chapter about hideouts. Whether it’s a study spot hidden in the library or a spot away from teachers to plan out a prank, James knows it all. Which is exactly how he ended up in one of his favorite places to leave the world behind.
The announcers box for the school’s football field hasn’t been used since all sports were moved inside for the winter. James has held a key to this special place since he snatched one for a prank with his friends his freshman year. Sirius just happened to “forget” to return it to the coach’s office when James asked him too. Eventually it came in handy when they did a reprise of the same prank and now James has it on the same ring as his house key.
He needs to be alone after how embarrassed he got today. Regulus has a sharp tongue and an even sharper attitude. James doesn’t think he’s faced rejection this hard since when he attempted to court Lily. Even then, she knew when to pull her punches.
A knock on the door gets James to look up from his spot on the floor. It isn’t surprising when Sirius pokes his head in and takes one look at James to know exactly what happened.
Coming into the box and closing the door behind him, Sirius walks over to where James sits and takes his own seat right next to him.
“I’ll take it that the attempt to ask out my brother didn’t go well,” Sirius said.
James gives him a withering look. “You mean he didn’t tell you right after it happened.”
“No,” Sirius started. “He just stormed up to me while I was at my locker with Pete and demanded I give him the car keys.”
“He didn’t care about how you’d get home?”
“I think he knows exactly who will be driving me home,” Sirius turned to him with a pointed look.
“Why is he so mean, Sirius?” The whine tinging his voice added moreso to the embarrassment already coursing through his veins.
“It probably has something to do with how we were raised.” Sirius shrugged as the words escaped him.
“Proabably,” James replied. “But it's not like you react that way to perfectly nice people asking you on dates.”
“Sure,” Sirius shrugged again. “But as Poppy has told me, Regulus and I are both well within our rights to have different coping strategies to everything we’ve been through. Being hard and prickly is just his way of getting through a life that hasn;t exactly been treating him fair.”
“He’s like a cactus.” James said back. A handsome but mean cactus “How long is he going to be in a bad mood?”
“I’d give it a day and a half. What you did was a minor offense,” Sirius replied. “Nothing like the time I stole the award he won sophomore year from the art department and hid it somewhere in our house.”
James squinted at Sirius.
Sirius continued, “It was raining outside and I was bored. He didn’t talk to me for a week, but he wouldn’t do that to you.”
“I guess I’ll give him a day to cool down, then I’ll try again.” He sounded sad and deflated to his own ears.
“If that’s what you want,” Sirius nudged him with his shoulder. “You know you can give up anytime, right? I won’t hold you to this if it doesn’t pan out.”
“I know,” James replied. “I can’t give up now, though. He’s made it personal.” James didn’t sound happy about this. Usually, he only felt this kind of determination during a game when his team was down and feeling it towards another person was new but not exciting.
“Come on, Prongs. What’ll cheer you up after that dreadful exchange with my brother?” Sirius nudged him with his elbow.
“You still want to do that prank on the backstage walls?”
Sirius grinned back at his best friend.