Chapter Text
James really thought his days of sprinting through the halls of Hogwarts would be far behind him by the time he hit his thirties. But here he was - 35 years old and late to a meeting with a professor . . . hence the sprinting. Granted, at least this time he wasn’t the one receiving the detention. Then again, it was his son . . . still, better Harry than James.
As he got closer to the headmistress’ door, James hastily straightened his jumper. Headmistress McGonagall was probably expecting James to come in, clothes half untucked just like they had always been when he attended Hogwarts.
“Gillyweed.” James rushed out to the door. The griffin swung inward, and James rushed up the stairs.
However, just because Minnie was expecting to see him just as she remembered him didn’t mean he couldn’t dress to impress. Who knows, maybe if he could make her smile like the old days, Harry would be let off with just a warning.
James rushed into the Headmistress’ office and immediately pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Minnie was sitting at her desk looking disappointedly at the three kids in front of her. One glance at the three of them and James immediately recognized them. That combination of long, unruly curls, bright ginger hair, and always disheveled black hair was unmistakable. James looked over at the Headmistress and flashed her a sideways smile.
“Fancy seeing you here, Profess- I mean, Headmistress.” James walked over and put his hand on his son’s shoulder. Harry looked up at him and James tossed him a wink. The 15 year old beamed up at him in response. “What’s he in for this time?”
“Honestly, Mr. Potter.” Minnie’s serious gaze shifted from the kids to James. “Would it be possible for you to sound even a little upset that your son is being awarded detention?”
James wasn’t phased by the reprimand. He couldn’t be. It felt too familiar to have Minnie lecturing him again, a feeling that was almost fondly nostalgic. “Oh, I’m very upset with him - don’t you worry.” He looked down at the kids and three sets of eyes looked back at him. “I’m upset with all three of them!” He pointed a finger at the curly-haired girl that stood in the middle of them. “Honestly, young lady. What would your fathers say if they could see you now?”
Hermione Lupin’s mouth immediately curled into a smile that immediately twisted into a small scowl. Bless that little witch. She really was the perfect mix of Sirius and Remus. “Uncle Jamie, you’re going to get us in more trouble.”
“Oh wouldn’t dream of it.” He winked at Hermione before looking at Ron. “I’m assuming your mum is on the way?” Ron Weasley’s face turned into one of discomfort, and James had to keep himself from laughing. He didn’t blame the kid. Molly Weasley was on her way here and she would be in discipline mode . . . Godric bless them all. James looked back at Harry and gave his shoulder a little squeeze. He pulled his brow together in the way he always did before imitating any sort of authority figure. “I am extremely disappointed in the lot of you. Goodness gracious. What were you think–”
“Could we maybe refrain from the theatrics?” A slow voice drawled. James looked over behind Minnie, confused. He hadn’t seen anyone at first. But, now that he did see him, James wasn’t sure how he missed him the first time. He stood tall in an impeccably tailored suit. His hands were behind his back and his curly hair perfectly laid around his face, framing those gray eyes of his. Wow, this bloke was fit. Properly fit. And familiar.
Wait.
No.
No way it was –
“Reggie?!” James’ mouth was slightly open and he could feel how wide his eyes were behind his glasses. “Reggie is that . . . wow is that really you?’
Regulus Black didn’t say anything at first. He simply narrowed his eyes at James. “It’s Professor Black,” he bit out.
Professor Black . . . Oh.
Suddenly all of James’ mouth had gone dry. His hands were twitchy and he could feel a steady bit of blush creeping up his neck. There was no reason as to why the word Professor felt much sweeter in his mouth when it went before Regulus’ name. Then again, he was properly fit. He had gotten that bit right before. He hadn’t seen Regulus for . . . well it had to have been five years. He had grown into himself a bit more now, even in only five years. His build was still slender, but James had no doubt that if he were to peel those robes away, Regulus’ body would be perfectly toned —
“Mr. Potter.” Minnie’s voice cut through James’ inappropriate series of thoughts. James blinked and then looked over at her. She raised an eyebrow and blush spread across James’ face. How did Minnie still manage to make him feel like she could read his mind? “Are you listening?”
“Uhm, yes.” James chuckled nervously before running his hand through Harry’s perpetually messed up hair. “My son is a prodigy.”
“Your son,” Regulus interjected, “got caught attempting to hex all the benches in the Great Hall.” Ron snorted as he heard their attempted prank recited back to them. One look from Regulus, though, and the red head fell silent.
“Is that not what I said, Reggie?” James responded easily.
Regulus’ glare shifted towards James, and all of a sudden James understood why Ron had immediately stopped his laughter. “ Professor Black,” Regulus forced out behind his grinding teeth.
James felt his smile shift a bit as he was corrected for the second time. “Is that not what I said,” he paused for a second and tilted his head at Regulus, “ Professor Black ?” Regulus’ whole body went rigid when James said that. His jaw clenched a bit and James couldn’t help but notice how he felt unbearably hot in that moment.
What the hell - when did Sirius’ little brother get this . . . well, attractive?!
“He’s just a kid, c’mon we all did ridiculous things when we were kids.” James continued.
“No,” Regulus corrected, his eyes still cold and locked on James, “ you and your so-called ‘Marauders’ did ridiculous things when we were kids. Some of us actually focused on school.”
“Two of my ‘so-called’ Marauders are professors at this fine establishment now, so obviously we cared about school.” James fired back smoothly. He leaned back in his chair, smile still wide as he poked fun at Regulus. Anger sparked in Regulus’ eyes. Oh, James wasn’t expecting to like that as much as he did.
“James —“
“Oh no,” James raised a hand and cut Regulus off. “I think you mean Mr. Potter . If you insist on using titles.” Regulus didn’t respond at first. He just stared back at James, eyes full of that cold anger. Merlin, if he wanted James to cooperate maybe he shouldn’t be so fun to upset.
“ Mr. Potter ,” Gods, James thought to himself, that sounded so much better out of his mouth than Minnie’s , “this is not the first prank your son and his little ‘golden trio’ have been caught trying to pull off some sort of mayhem. They’re determined to cause the maximum amount of —“
“With all due respect, Professor,” Hermione spoke up and as she did, she sat straighter in her chair, “that’s not really fair. It’s not like this would have caused any real harm.”
“Yeah,” Harry chimed in. “Besides, what are you going to do? Punish us for something we didn’t even do? You walked into the Great Hall before our wands were even out.” Harry’s face immediately shut down with one stern look from Regulus. James had to hold in his laugh. He had to admit, he truly did get a kick out of seeing his son act the exact same way he used to.
“That’s exactly what I’m going to be doing, Mr. Potter.” Regulus moved his stare between the three kids. “And just because you are my niece, Miss Lupin, it is not your place to try and prove me wrong.”
“Unc — er, Professor Black, I just mean —”
“Detention.” Regulus cut his niece off. With his glare focused on her, Hermione shrunk in on herself. “All of you. Two weeks, everyday, with me.”
Three collective groans went up. “But Professor, the Slytherin and Gryffindor game is this week.”
Regulus’ expression didn’t change. “And?”
“And I’ve got practice!” Harry complained, throwing his hands up before throwing himself back in his chair. James was not successful in swallowing his soft laugh that time. Merlin, he really did raise a miniature version of himself.
“You should have thought about that before you three idiots attempted to hex the most used room in Hogwarts,” Regulus deadpanned.
“Professor Black,” Minnie chastised quickly.
Regulus rolled his eyes. “Sorry, not idiots. Miscreants, then.”
“That is not any better,” Minnie responded dryly. Regulus turned to look at her, expression communicating just how finished with this conversation he was.
“I’m sorry, Headmistress, how would you like me to address them?”
James was listening, but not really. There was something so pretty about the kind of mean Regulus was. James shouldn’t find that pretty, but he did. He also shouldn’t be admiring how attractive his best mate’s little brother was, but here he was — staring at the way Regulus’ hands were clasped behind his back in a way that made his hands look downright sinful. James quickly shook his head to himself. He really couldn’t let himself go down this path.
Sure, James and Lily had been divorced for just about ten years now, but he still hadn’t had a proper relationship since her. Not that he was complaining - he’d had plenty of good shags and a few blokes even stuck around for a hot minute . . . but nothing serious. It wasn’t as if he was hung up on Lily. It would be kind of hard to be hung up with your ex when the two of you broke up when you both realized the ‘straight and narrow’ just wasn’t for you. Lily had started dating Mary not too long after the split was official, and James was more than happy for her. There was something so innately beautiful about watching someone you love finally find the person they were meant to be with. James, though . . . he just hasn’t really felt that spark.
It was corny. He was 35 for Merlin’s sake - who was he to wait around and fantasize about some obscure little magical spark that would bring him to life and make him fall head over heels for someone. But there he was . . . looking for just that.
And now here he was, looking at Regulus Black - his best mate’s little brother . . . and his whole body was alive with sparks.
“So I will see the three of you tomorrow after your last class,” Regulus’ voice broke through James’ train of thought. “Bring your quills. And, Mr. Potter,” Regulus turned his full attention to James, eyes still cold and serious. “I’m hoping there will be discipline on your end, too.”
Something stirred in James’ chest. “Oh of course, Professor,” he put a little emphasis on the word, and Regulus’ jaw clenched again. “Very disappointed. Lots of discipline, yep. We will be having a talk.” James clapped his hand against Harry’s back. He wasn’t very convincing, apparently — not that he was trying to be. Regulus rolled his eyes, and opened his mouth to reply. Just as he did, though, an owl flew in and landed on Minnie’s desk.
Minnie opened the letter and read it quickly. “Mr. Weasley, your mother will be here soon.” James bit the inside of his cheek to hide his amusement when Ron let out a groan. Oh, to be Molly Weasley’s child. Minnie turned and looked at Harry and Hermione. “You two can go. Professor Black will be expecting you starting tomorrow.”
Harry and Hermione jumped up from their chairs and hurried out of the Headmistress’ office. Halfway out the door, though, Hermione paused and looked back at the three adults and Ron. “Oh, uhm, Uncle Reg? This weekend —”
“Don’t worry, Petite, I’ll be there.” Hermione beamed at her Uncle at the confirmation. “I wouldn’t miss your fathers’ anniversary even though they insist on celebrating here at the castle instead of a suitable location.”
“Okay, good.” She waved her hand and the way she smiled left no indication that she had just received detention for the next couple of weeks. Merlin, James really never would get over how much she was everything he ever imagined his best friends’ daughter being. “Bye, Uncle Reg! Bye Uncle Jamie!”
She was out the door before James could reply. He turned back to Minnie and Regulus and gave them both a crooked smile. “Alright, then.” He stretched his arms over his head. “Guess that’s my queue to leave.” He backed toward the door and let his eyes find Regulus’ one more time. A few stray black curls were falling in front of his gray eyes as he looked back at James. How did his hair look purposefully imperfect? Was that possible? “Have a nice day, Professor.”
Something flashed in Regulus’ eyes for a split second, and whatever it was had James heating up all over again. “Have a nice day, Mr. Potter.”
James nodded and quickly averted his eyes. Fuck, that shouldn’t have been as hot as it was. “You too, Minnie.” The corner of Minnie’s mouth was barely pulled up in the tiniest of smirks. Blush spread across James’ face. Merlin, he was so embarrassingly obvious. He nodded one more time and with a quick fix of his glasses, he was out the door.
As he moved quickly down the stairs, James was shaking his head. Maybe if he shook his head enough, he could erase every embarrassing bit of that. He could go ahead and hit his head against the wall a couple of times. Maybe that would help. Did he really just spend the entirety of that parent teacher conference ogling the professor that was giving his son and not-so-but-basically-niece detention? And was that professor Regulus fucking Black? His best mate’s brother? Merlin’s fucking beard.
The groan of the griffin statue made James look up as he moved into the main hallway of Hogwarts. Right as he stepped out, he was greeted by a stern-faced Lily Evans and a guilty-looking Harry Potter. She looked up at James quickly and her look dissolved into her normal, bright, sunshine smile. James automatically returned it. Within a split second she was back to looking at Harry and her expression was back to the kind that made James stop talking immediately.
Lily Evans: the witch whose ability to switch between such absolutes made her one of the most terrifying people James had ever met.
“What did we do this time, Harry?” Her voice was stern as she reprimanded her son.
“Nothing, Mum - I swear!” Harry’s response came out as more of a whine than anything else. Lily didn’t budge except for the raise of a single eyebrow.
“Nothing? Headmistress McGonagall called you into her office for nothing?” Her voice could not have sounded more like Molly Weasley’s if she tried. She looked over at James again who was now standing beside her, and her face switched back to the smile. “Sorry I’m late, Jamie. Meeting with the seamstress ran long.” She wrapped James in a quick hug before kissing him on the cheek.
“You know, Lils, most people set a wedding date before they run around to all sorts of wedding appointments.” James teased his ex-wife. She rolled her eyes before holding up a middle finger.
“Sod off, Potter. Don’t be jealous that I’m getting married.”
“Can you call it getting married if you don’t even know what year the wedding will be –”
“We are not here to talk about how my wedding is bound to be the event of the century.” Lily cut James off and turned her attention back to their son. “What did you do?”
Harry looked back and forth between the two of them before sheepishly shrugging his shoulders. “Dad said it was okay.”
At the same time the two of them respond to their son: “Hey, I didn’t say –” “Your father is an idiot, Harry –”
James and Lily looked at eachother out of the side of their eye. They were able to hold the look for a whole three seconds before their mouths were twitching into smiles. Merlin, he loved co-parenting with his best friend but it was hard to not tease her constantly.
After a few choked down laughs and coughs, Lily refocused her glare at Harry. “Just stop getting me called down here, okay? Who was it this time?”
“Professor Black,” Harry mumbled, scratching the back of his head. Lily’s face twisted up and she looked over at James.
“Why is he calling Sirius ‘Professor Black’?”
James’ tongue had never felt more tied. He opened his mouth, but thankfully Harry spoke first. “Mum, no - not Sirius. It’s his brother. He’s our new Charms professor.”
Lily nodded slowly and James could have sworn she looked at him out of the corner of his eye. “Little Reggie, a Professor? Never would’ve guessed that.”
“He’s kind of brilliant actually,” Harry responded with a shrug. “Mi loves him. He is her Uncle, though. She raves about him constantly . . . but still, it’s like he has it out for me — I swear!!”
Lily began to smile again. “He has it out for you because he catches you when you are breaking the rules?”
Harry didn’t respond at first. He looked down at his feet before looking up at his Mum again. “Yes?”
Lily’s laugh was automatic in response. “This is what I get for procreating with James Potter,” she muttered. “Common sense was never really a possibility.”
It was James’ turn to laugh, then. He couldn’t really argue with her on that one. He knew himself . . . which meant he knew his son.
Lily leaned forward and kissed Harry’s head quickly. “I’ve got to run, darling, be good okay? Please. Or try to. Just for your very tired, very old, very everything Mum.”
Harry rolled his eyes. “Mum, you and Dad are some of the youngest parents at the school. You are not very old.”
“Yes, but remember? We are war heroes. Therefore that’s plus nineteen years for us, making me indeed very very old.” She leaned down again and pressed two more quick kisses to the top of her son’s head.
He rolled his eyes as she did so. “I have to suffer through everyone commenting how fit my parents are, so no I don’t think the war made you old.”
James’ laugh poured out again.
Lily chuckled too. “Alright alright I’ve really got to be going.” She looked at James. “Can you handle this?”
“Been handled, Lils.”
Lily stared at him for a second before rolling her eyes and mumbling, “for fuck’s sake, I’ll just write him,” and with that she was headed off down the hallway toward the apparition point just outside the wall.
As soon as she was out of sight, Harry turned around. He beamed up at James, all evidence of guilt over his detentions gone. “So are you coming to the match?”
James smiled bigger, matching his sons’ expression. “Of course! I never miss one of your matches, you know that!”
“Right, amazing.” He rushed forward and wrapped his dad in a quick hug before backing away. “I guess I’ll see you then!” He turned away and started heading toward the Gryffindor common room.
“Oi, Harry!” James called after him and quickly fixed his glasses a bit as he did. “Please tighten up a bit, yeah? Your mum is going to blow up if you get called into the headmistress’ office even more this year . . . and you’re not around her to actually absorb the blow up so.” He tilted his head in his best ‘listen to me this is a threat’ expression, but he knew it didn’t land. Lily made the threats. James made the . . . Well James made something that was more associated with smiles and laughter and that little twinge of jealousy everyone felt when they looked at his perfect family.
“I’ll be good, Dad!” Harry agreed, turning a corner and leaving James’ eyesight.
James’ smile shifted into something of fondness as he shook his head. He just had to hope Harry could tighten up a bit and not get caught. He really should just let Hermione do most of the planning. She was much too clever to get caught by anyone - even Regulus.
Regulus Black.
James rolled the name around in his head as he meandered through the hallways to his exit. Well, Harry getting caught again by him wouldn’t be too bad. It would give James another opportunity to come up here . . . let him get to talk to Regulus again. That’s really all James could think about right now — finding a chance to see Regulus. That’s all he wanted, just to talk to him.
Well, okay there were a couple of other things James wanted when it came to Reggie . . .
Not Reggie, though. Professor Black .
Merlin, part of James really hated how his skin got all hot at the title and how little sparks were going off all throughout his body. He had been around Regulus Black for a grand total of 20 minutes and James Potter was already an absolute puddle for him.
“Oh, look what the hippogriff dragged in!” A loud, sarcastic voice cut through James’ thoughts and his face immediately flipped to a smile as he spun around. Straight, choppy blonde hair was swaying to him and a face adorned with silver jewelry and bright eyeliner was smirking his way.
“Marls!” James held out his arms and one of his oldest friends in the world let out a laugh before running into his outstretched arms and wrapping her own around his middle. James squeezed her tight. “Been too long. Don’t tell me Dorcas has a monopoly on all of your time now.”
“Oh you know how spouses are.” She gave him an extra squeeze. “Or did divorce make you forget?” James laughed into her hair one last time before letting go.
“Low-blow there, Marls,” he chuckled.
Marlene only shrugged, smirk still in place. “I aim low. More fun when you hit your target that way.” She smiled at her own joke, the same way she always did, before looking back up at James. “What brings you to the home of your glory days?”
James chuckled before he responded. “I’ll give you one guess.”
Marlene rolled her eyes. “Are you sure Harry is your kid? He gets caught an awful lot for someone who comes from a Marauder.”
“Too much Lils in him, don’t blame me.” James shrugged.
“I’m pretty sure the Lily in him is the reason he gets away with his madness most of the time.” Marlene said with that smirk of hers. “Who caught him this time?”
Just like that, the blush returned to his face. Marlene’s eyebrows shot up and James cursed himself. He really is the most obvious person in the world. “Oh, uhm, Regulus did actually.” Marlene’s eyebrows raised even more - if that was possible. “I didn’t, uhm, realize he . . . you know, taught here now.”
Marlene tilted her head a bit. “Should I have mentioned it to you?”
James’ face was growing hot. “What? No. I just . . . I just wasn’t expecting –”
“James. Potter.” Marlene’s mouth was creeping into a smile. “You just saw Regulus Black for the first time in years, and you,” she tapped his chest, “have a crush.”
“Marlene, what? No.” James was pretty sure his whole face was bright red at this point. He fidgeted with his glasses before he kept talking. “I . . . I just –”
“You,” Marlene cut him off, “just think Regulus is hot.”
“Marlene!”
“Oh this is too good.” Marlene’s laugh was closer to a cackle at that point. “I have to tell Sirius.”
“What? No! There’s nothing to tell Sirius!” James moved to block her from running off down the hallway immediately, voice raising as he protested. For fuck’s sake, he couldn’t even deny his miserable little crush effectively. Godsdammit. “Marlene, stop that.”
Marlene was trying to move around James as he kept moving so that he stayed in her way. “James, I’m going to tell him.”
“There’s nothing to tell him! I didn’t even say anything!”
“Sirius needs to know!”
“Sirius doesn’t need to know anything, Marls. I swear to –”
“What does my husband need to know?” An easy, calm voice spoke up and just like that both James and Marlene froze. James looked over to see Remus Lupin barely smiling at the two of them. His hands were in the pockets of his robes as he walked over.
James smiled over at him, but it was sideways and forced. His face was still flushed. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Remus raised an eyebrow at James’ floundering and Marlene let out a cackle. James quickly whipped his head around and shoved Marlene. “Fuck off, Marls!” He turned back to Remus and this time managed to flash him a smile that was his normal bit of sunshine. “Nothing to share, Remus ol’ pal!”
“Yeah really - nothing to share, Remus.” James felt his shoulders sag in relief and he tilted his head toward Remus as a nice little ‘told you so’. Then he felt Marlene’s eyes shift back to James. He looked down at her to see her smirk back in place. He opened his mouth to stop her, but was too slow. “Just that you are going to have a brother-in-law soon.”
“Marlene I swear to Merlin and Morgana and all that is holy!”
Marlene was already running away from James down the hallways. Remus was laughing softly, but James didn’t really stay to make sure Remus kept Marlene’s relentless teasing to himself. He was running after her. Marlene’s laugh got louder and louder as she rounded the corner and dodged different groups of students. James felt his own face twist into a smile as well.
As they ran, James saw Madam Pomfrey roll her eyes. That made James let out a laugh. It’s not his fault he was still chasing his friends through the halls of Hogwarts in his thirties. It’s just hard to grow up sometimes.
༻✧༺
Regulus groaned as he threw himself down onto one of the benches in Pandora’s classroom. He threw his head back and welcomed the dull pain of his head hitting the wall. Pandora wasn’t phased. Her eyes were still locked on the cage of pixies as she hummed to them softly. Regulus let out another groan, hoping to indirectly demand his best friend’s attention. She needed to stop messing with those little blue menaces. He was obviously much more important. He let out a long, exaggerated, tired sigh.
“Regulus, darling.” Pandora’s voice was light even as her attention stayed on the pixies. “Could we pivot from whatever heavy mood we are experiencing right now? It’s not good for the pixies.”
“It’s not good for me either, Pandora.” Regulus opened his eyes slightly and looked at his friend. “Help me fix it.”
“Your idea of fixing it would not actually fix anything.”
“You don’t even know why I’m upset.” Regulus protested.
Pandora didn’t miss a beat. “It’s a boy.”
Regulus’ eyes opened all the way at that and he sat forward. “How did you–”
“And by the way you are being extra dramatic about this–”
“I’m not being extra dramatic!” Regulus protested.
“And because I know which student you just had a meeting with in the Headmistress’ office . . .” Pandora let her voice trail off as she turned to look at Regulus. Regulus felt his face get hot. “It must be the boy.” Regulus didn’t say anything to that. Pandora stared at him for a beat longer before turning back to her little beasts. “And because you are a smidge dark and more than a smidge over the top, I know that what you want me to do is commit some light murder.”
Regulus slumped farther against the wall. “It would help.” He muttered.
“Oh, darling.” Pandora pulled a pixie out of the cage and placed it on her shoulder. It began to crawl through her blonde curls as she faced Regulus again. “Removing James Potter from this life won’t make you be in love with him any less.”
“We could try it and see, though.” Regulus persisted, voice still an annoyed mutter. Pandora’s eyes came to life a bit in the way only hers could as she gave Regulus a knowing look before turning back to her pixies.
She might usually be right, but Regulus was pretty sure she was wrong about this one. Most problems really could be solved by a swift little murder, and he couldn’t see how this one would be any different. It would be really difficult for James Potter to leave Regulus unable to form a coherent thought from the grave. Regulus hit his head against the wall behind him again.
Fucking James Potter.
Only James Potter could strut back into Regulus’ life after not seeing him for nearly five years and have such an immediate effect. Regulus thought he was over this - he really did. Sure, he had a crush on him back when they were both in Hogwarts. That had fallen away a bit during the war. James had been with Evans and, honestly, there were more important things than fantasizing about how that bright smile of his would feel against the crook of his neck. Then Voldemort was dead. The war was over, and James was still . . . James.
He married Evans pretty quickly, and Regulus had thought that would be the end of it. It wasn’t that easy, though. Of course it wasn’t. His life could never be that easy. Regulus was trying his best to rebuild his relationship with Sirius, which meant he was around James more than ever. It meant he had to sit across from him at parties. It meant he had to see his eyes light up behind those glasses of his. It meant he had to see the way his arms flexed when he wrapped himself around somebody. It meant he had to watch as he ducked his head into Lily and whisper little things in her ear.
Regulus’ groan was more of a whine that time. “How is he so . . . so . . . so –”
“James?” Pandora asked from across the room.
“Yes.” Regulus ground out. “How is he so James ?”
Pandora hummed as she moved about her classroom. “You did realize he was going to come into the meeting, you know? It was his child you were reprimanding. Did you not prepare yourself?”
“I thought this was done with! I haven’t seen him in five years!”
“And why haven’t you seen him in five years?”
Regulus felt his mouth twist into a scowl. “Pandora –”
“You - my little dramatic darling –”
“We are the same height.” Regulus muttered under his breath.
Pandora continued on as if she wasn’t interrupted. “-were becoming so cripplingly obsessed with every little thing about James Potter, that you began to avoid him at all costs. You only went to see Sirius when he wasn’t there, you would back out of little Hermione’s events at the last second if you realized Harry would be there too, you backed out of Dorcas’ invites multiple times if Marlene said she was coming just to ‘be safe’.”
Regulus didn’t say anything. He just pursed his lips together. Pandora kept looking at him, unfazed - as if she was content to just wait him out. She probably was content to do just that. It’s what she always did. Regulus still didn’t say anything, though. He rolled his eyes and stood up from the bench. He walked over to a window and as he moved he kicked his foot at a stone that was uneven in the ground.
He hated this. He hated that James Potter had this gravitational pull as if it wasn’t just his personality that was the sun . . . it was his whole essence. Regulus shouldn’t want to be closer to the sun. He hates the sun. He hates those overly sunny days or those moments the sun ruins the perfect overcast the clouds created. So he should hate James Potter.
Granted, he did hate James Potter. He hated the way he had looked at him in that meeting in Headmistress McGonagall’s office. He hated the way he had called him Reggie. He hated the way those five years had only made him more attractive, more rugged. He hated those glasses of his. He especially hated the way he had called Regulus ‘Professor Black’ and immediately caused every single thought in Regulus’ head to evaporate.
Regulus really hated James Potter. What he hated the most was that he hated how he didn’t hate James Potter at all. And that there was nothing he could do about that. He let out another groan before looking back at Pandora. She still hadn’t moved.
“I am so incredibly fucked.”
Pandora shrugged before gently picking the pixie out of her hair and moving to put the monster back in its cage. “You aren’t fucked, darling.”
“Then what am I?” Regulus countered.
“I already told you. You’re dramatic.” Regulus snorted in response as he rolled his eyes. Pandora continued floating around the classroom, wand out as she summoned books from shelves and moved them to different tables. “It’s not like you’re going to see him all the time now. It’s not as if he’s here every day. I’ve been working in Hogwarts for four years now, and I have only seen him a couple times. Don’t work yourself up.”
Regulus sighed. Pandora was right. He might not ever admit to being dramatic, but he definitely was being just that right now. He shook his head and looked up. She was right. James didn’t work at Hogwarts. James didn’t go to Hogwarts. He wasn’t going to be here every day. Regulus could get over this crush.
“Right.” Regulus breathed out, and punctuated his sentence with a nod. “You’re right. I’ll be fine. It’s not as if I’m going to randomly become obsessed with James Potter again. I won’t see him again.”
Pandora’s smile was light as she twisted her hair up and slipped her wand in her curls. “Beautiful. Now hand me the pixies, will you? The third years will be here any minute.”
“Oh, absolutely fucking not.”