Chapter Text
Pretty.
That was 9 year old Regulus’ first thought upon meeting James Potter for the first time. It was Sirius’ first holiday home and Regulus was obsessed with hearing about Hogwarts. Sirius had been sorted into Gryffindor, which raised a lot of hell at home for a while, therefore discussion of anything Hogwarts related in the house was strictly forbidden. After dinners, they’d sneak away to Sirius’ room and he’d recount everything that’d happened during his first year so far, down to the most mundane and frankly boring details. They’d lie on his bed, on the floor, sit at his desk, stare at the ceiling and just talk and listen.
Regulus was obviously very interested in the class subjects, the castle itself, the teachers and Quidditch, but he was most interested in Sirius’ friends and the staggering amount of shenanigans they’d already gotten themselves into despite only having been at Hogwarts for less than a year. Endearing themselves to teachers, pranking students, hexing bullies, Regulus watched in starry-eyed wonder as Sirius theatrically recapped everything they’ve done together so far, getting up on the bed to act out duels or putting on an old shawl to imitate professor Mcgonagall.
Sirius would go on and on about Remus Lupin, the lanky brunette and smartest person he knew, or Peter Pettigrew, the nicest yet most wickedly scheming boy ever. Most of all, he would talk practically hours about James Potter, the coolest motherfucker alive. From what Regulus gathered, his brother had sold his soul for the perfect best friend, one that suited him so well they may as well have been long lost twins.
As a child, Regulus had not a single jealous bone in his body. He knew his place in Sirius’ life and didn’t at all feel threatened by the entrance of this new, admittedly cooler, batch of people.
So when the opportunity to meet one of his school friends for the first time arose, Regulus was secretly ecstatic. James was to pick Sirius up at the house tomorrow afternoon so they could hang out. It was a short window, but Regulus was dying to meet any of Sirius’ friends so it really didn’t matter to him.
When the doorbell rang, both Sirius and Regulus excitedly bound down the stairs, somehow the exact same amount of thrilled to see James.
The door swung open and Regulus was suddenly face to face with, as Sirius put it, the coolest motherfucker alive. He was tan, with dark messy hair and big glasses. He smiles with deep dimples and Regulus’ heart stops.
Pretty.
“Jamie!” Sirius jumps on him, pulling him into a massive crushing hug. Regulus just stands, eyes wide, still staring right at James. Sirius lets go and puts his arm around Regulus’ shoulders.
“Oh and this is my brother, Regulus! I’ve told him all about you, he thinks you’re wicked cool.”
Regulus blushes. He doesn’t say anything, too busy peering up at James with massive eyes.
James gives him the warmest smile he’s ever seen. “Hey Reg, I think you’re plenty cool yourself. When will you be joining us at Hogwarts?”
Regulus blushes even more, if that was even possible. He doesn’t even register that, by asking a question, James was expecting an answer. It seemed James was picking up on Regulus’ hesitance and sheer shyness because he laughs a little, looking at Regulus endearingly.
Sirius, thank Merlin, steps in to answer. “He’ll be in first when we’re in third.”
“Nice, looking forward to seeing you then Reg!”
James gives him a chocolate frog and he takes it slowly, then scurries back up to his room, not even bothering to let them leave first. Sirius and James laugh distantly from the front door and, right at the top of the stairs, Regulus hears Sirius say: “I think he’s got a massive crush on you.”
His heart jolts. No way he was that obvious. No way his own brother would air him out like that. This was so embarrassing and mortifying, grounds for murder, even. Before he can start bolting back down to kill Sirius, he hears James’ reply.
“Don’t be mean Siri, he’s adorable! Leave him alone.”
Regulus closes his door as quietly as possible and sits down with his back against the door, clutching the chocolate frog. He doesn’t want to hear anymore. James defended him. James thinks he’s adorable.
When he’s finished devouring the chocolate frog, he carefully cleans the little cardboard package and the card, then places both under his bed.
~
The next time they meet in person, it’s at Diagon Alley a few weeks after their initial meeting. Regulus begged all night for Sirius to let him come along, promising that he wouldn’t be embarrassing in front of his friends, he wouldn’t spend too much of Sirius’ money, and he would only speak when spoken to. Sirius laughed, because obviously he could come and hang out with his friends, he just didn’t realise how serious it was for Regulus and wanted to see how much begging he’d do.
Sirius runs his hand through his hair. “If you wanna come just to ogle at James, just say so.”
“Shut up!” Regulus throws a pillow at his head, which Sirius promptly throws back. “You heard him yourself, he thinks I’m adorable! He gave me chocolate. Once I start going to Hogwarts, we can be together.”
Sirius cackles. “Oh Merlin, it’s even worse than I thought.”
When they finally arrive at Diagon Alley, Regulus beats Sirius to James, throwing his tiny arms around him and hugging. Sirius laughs like crazy and James hugs back, incredibly flattered and very enamoured with this tiny boy.
“What’s up Reg, heard you wanted to hang out with us today! Good choice, since we’re gonna have a ton of fun today.”
Sirius snorts. “Who is ‘us’? More like hang out with you, James.”
Regulus throws a glare over his shoulder at Sirius, then turns back to continue hugging James.
The day passes and Regulus refuses to let go of James’ hand the entire day. He follows the older four boys around like a little, bright eyed shadow, laughing at jokes and nodding enthusiastically at everything James says, despite not contributing anything to the conversation himself. James buys him ice cream, then later lets him choose whatever he wants from Honeydukes. By the end of the day, Regulus is bouncing off the walls.
“Oh come on James, don’t buy him more sweets! He’s gonna be so hyper when we get home!”
“Shut up Padfoot, I’ll do what I please with my money. Besides, how could you say no to a face like that?”
Regulus sticks his tongue out at Sirius, who just sighs exaggeratedly. “You’re just enabling his crush! He said it himself, once he gets to Hogwarts, he’s gonna ask you out!” He cackles gleefully.
Remus steps in. “Stop bullying the poor boy, no one made fun of your crush on–”
“Moony! Not in front of Regulus!” Sirius looks a little flustered, but immediately regains his composure. “And that’s a lie, James gave me so much shit for it.”
Peter laughs. “If anything, his crush means you talk James up an awful lot. How else would he think James is so cool, they’ve only met a handful of times.”
“Hey, I’d like to think anyone can see I’m cool, regardless of what Sirius says, or how many times we’ve met, right Reg?”
Regulus nods vigorously. “Yes. absolutely.”
Sirius points a finger at James. “Hey! That’s unfair, you can’t use Reg in this argument, he’s my brother so he should be on my side and he has a crush on you, that’s too much bias!”
James just shrugs. “What can I say, I charm everyone. Stop teasing Reg for something that isn’t his fault.” He smiles down at Regulus, who returns it brightly.
~
As the year progresses, Regulus looks forward to seeing Sirius next. To hear about Hogwarts, obviously. Nothing else.
Over the summer, the Marauders (Sirius thinks he’s so cool for naming his friendgroup, and Regulus thinks he’s absolutely right) hang out a lot. Regulus wants to accompany every single time but understands Sirius’ need to hang out without him. James couldn’t babysit him every hang out.
Even so, when Regulus wasn’t there, Sirius would poke fun at his obvious infatuation with James, and James would defend it, saying it was flattering and adorable. He loved looking after children and honestly didn’t mind Regulus dragging him around everywhere. He secretly loved being the favourite. Childhood crushes are normal, especially on someone as cool as himself, he thinks, so there’s no harm in it. It’s a little mean for Sirius to keep teasing him about it but, what does he know? Maybe that’s just how brothers are.
The last Marauders hang out before summer's end, they have a sleepover at the house while Walburga and Orion are away on business. Regulus gives James a drawing he made of them getting married. While the other three boys laugh, James bends slightly to be at Regulus’ eye level.
“This is a beautiful drawing, thank you Reg. I’ll put it up in my room.” His dimples are prominent. His eyes are sparkly. Regulus bashfully looks away. He wishes he was the same height as James, the same age as James, in the same league as James.
Regulus insists on sleeping downstairs in the living room with the rest of them, even if he ends up falling asleep first at 9:30pm, exhausted from trying to keep up with the bigger kids all day.