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"That was last year. Besides, I need Herbology practise. Not all of us can rely on favoritism." You glared at Sirius pointedly.

"As if," he snorted. "You just wanted to see if you could grow something special there."

Remus gasped. "Y/N!"

You shrugged. It was partly true that you had been curious about magic mushrooms in the wizarding world, but as it turned out, the ones in Herbarium didn't make you high and rather shouted offensive words when you tried to pluck them out.

"And speaking of Slughorn, there are two invites," Sirius noticed, holding one out to Lily.

"Already got mine."

"Then whose-"

"Your brother," you replied, nodding towards the Slytherins' table. "I don't think Slughorn's caught up to your family drama. Asked me to give the invites to you guys like you were best buds."

"You give it then." Sirius handed over the letter. "I don't have any role in a party that I'm not going to anyway."

Your heart did a somersault. "No."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"I just. No."

"It's not like you have family issues with him."

"But you do! And by extension-"

"Y/N!"

You groaned and took the letter begrudgingly. While the conversation slipped to something more worthwhile, you silently crumpled up the paper and threw it on the floor.

You looked over to the Slytherin table instinctively. Regulus's eyes were boring into yours, as if he knew exactly what you were doing. You blinked and he looked away. You knew you were seeing things, so you went back to eating.

The truth was, Regulus and you never saw eye to eye. Yes, you were both in the same year, so you had a couple of classes together. But neither Sirius nor any Marauder knew about the silent enmity between the two of you, and you didn't understand it much yourself.

Maybe it started when he requested a more "competent partner" when Slughorn paired you two (while Regulus blamed you adamantly, you still claim how that potion blew up in his face to be a complete mystery).

Or maybe it started when you saw him talking crap about you to Malfoy and his goons last year (for which you transformed his pen into a frog, which jumped down his robes, leading to McGonagall knocking fifty points off Gryffindor).

What's more, he knew you were friends with his brother, which only made him dislike you more. So no, you weren't going to do any errands for him, especially so he could go to some elitist party that you weren't even invited to.

-

The rest of the day drifted off in ease, though Potions was another place Slytherins and Gryffindors had to suffer each other.

You were already late after James convinced you to scare Peeves in his invisibility cloak, so you hastened inside the classroom while Slughorn was turned the other way.

"There you are!" Heather had relief across her face when you stood beside her. "I was worried I'd have to be paired with someone from their lot."

"Their lot sounds like something they'd say."

"Great, play the devil's advocate while you're squashing up these bugs, yeah?"

Your face frowned into a look of disgust as you saw the squirmy creatures Heather had placed in front of you. "Why do I have to do it?"

"Because I did almost everything else?" Her smile wasn't innocent.

"Oh please, you saved this part because you knew I'd be late-"

"Your potions must have turned into a moss green color by now," Slughorn announced in front of the room while the clouds of brewing cauldrons made it harder to see who was who. "If not, you did something wrong!"

You and Heather looked at the cauldron in unison. Far from what was said, your potion emitted blue smoke and purple floating bits.

"I hate this class," you muttered under your breath.

"If yours is grey, you didn't add enough beetle juice!" Slughorn kept yelling over the disturbance. "If it's light green, add more herbs!"

"What are we supposed to do with purple?" Heather asked, hands crossed. "I did everything right!"

"Now, Mr. Black here did everything right!" Slughorn said right on time, and Heather rolled her eyes. "It's a perfect moss green, so no homework for you!"

Regulus didn't look proud. In fact, he wasn't interested in the class altogether. He muttered a silent thank you and went back to his cauldron. Yet Slughorn wasn't done with him.

"Excellent potioneer you would be in the future, Mr. Black! In fact, Mr. Greenstem, the greatest medical potioneer in Europe, is one of my dearest friends! He wants to meet you at the party tonight."

"Party?" Regulus repeated, looking unsure.

"Well, yes! Did Ms. L/N not give you the invite yet?"

Fuck.

"I'm sure she didn't get time to," he said, his glare flying right past Slughorn's shoulders and finding you. You controlled your urge to stick your tongue out at him.

With a proud smile, you went back to your potion in manners of great elegance, only for the cauldron to release green, putrid bubbles into your face.

-

"Uhm, is Regulus Black coming this way?" Heather asked, right when Slughorn was winding up the class.

A braver version of you might have stood your ground and tried to reason with Regulus, but you remembered how you recommended his name to Muggle Studies professor yesterday, so you did the only thing you could.

"I'll catch up on Astronomy, yeah?" You said, then took off.

"Wait!" You thought you heard some pretentious pureblood voice, but you pressed past your friends and out the dungeons.

There was a burst of crowd when you were in the corridors, where witches and wizards were animatedly talking about the upcoming Quidditch game. You said a few greetings as you briskly walked past, hoping you had lost Regulus in the rush.

"L/N!"

Apparently not.

He materialized in front of you like he had made apparition possible in Hogwarts just to catch up.

"I'm kind of in a hurry." You turned to the opposite side, only for him to sidetrack you first.

"We need to talk."

You blinked, seeing no way out. "Fine, I didn't forge your signature, so you can just opt out of the class."

"What?"

"Muggle Studies." You noticed how confused he looked, so you tilted your head sideways. "Did that letter not come yet?"

"What? I don't have much time- could I talk to you without you running off or speaking nonsense? Why are you running off?"

"I have places to be!" You started moving again, this time slower. Regulus kept a few steps behind.

"So do I, except you're stealing my invites!"

"That's what this is about?" You huffed, climbing the stairs to Astronomy Tower. The class wasn't about to start for another forty-five minutes, so there was no one in sight. "Frankly, I think it's beneath you."

"Beneath me?"

"Even if you didn't get the invite, I'm sure Slughorn would have personally escorted you from the dungeons if you missed his slumber party."

"Someone is sour for not being invited."

You turned around, promptly making him halt two steps down. The sudden anger on your face caught him off guard, but he hid it well enough.

"I'd never be caught dead at a blood purist party, that's more your style."

"It's anything but a blood purist-" Regulus paused, taking a deep breath in. "This is not what I wanted to talk about, quite honestly."

You weren't surprised. "Well then, what is it?"

"I need... I need your help." It sounded like it hurt him physically just to say it.

You smiled properly for the first time this entire interaction, a gleam so wide Regulus looked like he regretted saying it already.

"My help? With what, Astronomy?"

Regulus laughed. "I'll get your tutoring when I plan to fail my exams, thank you."

"Fine, be like that." You turned around to move up the stairs.

"Wait!" Regulus grabbed your wrist, then let go of it just as fast. His hand felt cold. You wondered if he was secretly a vampire, but vampires wouldn't have a flushed face like he did right then. "Sorry. You know I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't important."

"Go on then."

"I need you to steal some Fluxweed from the herbarium." Regulus deadpanned, amusement long gone from his face. You started up the stairs again.

"No. Fluxweed is for Polyjuice Potion. I'm not getting you that even if I could."

"You're not going to ask why I need Polyjuice then?" He followed, closer in distance this time.

"I don't need to. I don't want to be a part of anything you all do."

"That's rich coming from a marauder."

"Our pranks don't end with harming anyone, if you haven't noticed."

"As opposed to me?" Regulus shot back. "What do you think I'm going to do? Dress up as Dumbledore and hex everyone?"

"Okay, what do you want to do?" Both of you had reached the top of the Astronomy tower, which lay secluded with the autumn evening sky. "Are you telling me this has nothing to do with your friends?"

Regulus looked at a loss for words. His hesitation was answer enough.

"Just go ask Slughorn. I'm sure he'll make you your own personal stash with no questions asked."

"No wonder my brother hangs out with you," Regulus said, lowering his voice. "You're just as prejudiced as he is."

Your mouth fell open. "You hang out with Malfoy, Rosier, and Mulciber. Are you seeing the irony here?"

"I want the potion to see if Malfoy's found any secret passageways out of Hogwarts. Do you think I'll do that if I were anything like them?"

"Passageways?" You immediately thought of the Marauder's Map. "How could Malfoy know them?"

"I don't know, but if he does, Hogwarts will be filled with Death Eaters by next week. This is important."

He sounded serious enough, but something in you didn't completely trust him. "How do I know you're not lying? Sirius says you are quite good in that department."

"Sirius left me, in case you haven't noticed."

"That's because he didn't want to be a Death Eater too!"

A pause, where he stepped forward with an expression that did not look friendly. You stood your ground, hands clenched by your side in case you needed to punch him.

"I'm not a Death Eater," he said with gritted teeth and glaring eyes.

"Your track records say otherwise. You hate me because I'm a Muggleborn."

"I hate you because you're infuriating! It has nothing to do with your blood status."

"You find me infuriating because I'm a Muggleborn!"

"No, I find you infuriating because you get on my nerves! You pushed me in front of everyone on my first day of Hogwarts! Who does that?"

You blinked. Quite honestly, you had forgotten about the incident altogether. The reason behind his dislike of you being as trivial as a childhood embarrassing moment was funny in its own way.

"I just wanted to say hi, until you got back up and called me an idiot!"

"For which you hexed me right after." He wasn't shouting or angry anymore. He took another step forward, and you didn't know if it was the anger that was making him do it. He looked aware of the closeness too, but he didn't do anything about it. And neither did you.

Only then did he seem to register your words.

"You wanted to be my friend?" He asked, quietly contemplating that first day again.

"My judgement is known to have been wrong before, so." You said, not meeting his eyes. You could sense a lingering smile on his face. You could feel that smile, because he was only a few inches away.

"EXCUSE ME?!"

No matter how familiar that voice was, you still jumped out of your skin. You took a couple of steps back, where you saw a very disheveled Sirius come out of the broom closet, followed by Remus.

One look at their messy hair and wrinkled clothes, which looked like they were put on in a hurry, and you groaned.

"Don't you guys have a literal room together? Really? The Astronomy tower?" You asked, heart still beating rapidly from his shout.

"James and Peter share it too, so we have to get creative," Sirius said, his eyes darting between you and his brother. "What's going on here?"

"Hey Y/N," Remus smiled, his face red.

"Don't hey her!" Sirius threw his hands up. He turned to Regulus, who was still blinking in shock. "What are you doing with Y/N?"

"What are you doing with Remus?"

"Yes, I fancy boys, Reg. One more reason to burn me at the stake. Go run to mummy." Sirius rolled his eyes. "Now answer me before I make you."

"Make me?" Regulus laughed. "With what, shampoo bottles and too much eyeliner?"

Sirius audibly gasped. "Excuse me?"

"I'm not surprised you're shagging boys. I'm surprised Lupin could stoop so low to be with you! What, he's attracted to morons or does he not know that about you yet?"

Remus stifled a laugh, but stopped right as he saw Sirius push his little brother to the ground. You were about to intervene, but Remus held you back.

He looked surprisingly calm to see his boyfriend and his brother wrestling. You took a closer look, and saw that both of them weren't inflicting much damage on each other.

Sirius, a princess by personality, and Regulus, a privileged golden spoon-fed Black, had no idea how to throw punches. They were pushing each other down, pulling at robes, and making war cries as if that would help with anything.

Luckily, neither of them had the bright idea of taking out their wands yet.

"Give them a few minutes," Remus said, hands folded. "This is the healthiest communication they've had in a while."

"Regulus needs a favor." You told him quietly, watching the scene with sorrows of not having a Muggle video recorder. "Reckon I should help him?"

"I've always felt bad about him," Remus sighed.

"That's not an answer."

"You know him more than me, Y/N. Helping him or not is your choice."

You bit down your lips in confusion. All versions of gimmicks you've ever pulled on Regulus had come from a place of safety. There was something inside you that knew he wouldn't be dangerous, but trusting a Slytherin came with asterisks. Then again, you didn't want to be like Malfoy, and judge someone by just their house name.

"I'll hear him out, and then decide," you said, smiling. "Thanks, Moony."

"Don't worry about it. Want to go get pumpkin juice from the kitchen?" He asked, stretching his hands. "I'm famished."

You agreed wholeheartedly. The last sight you had before you left the tower was the brothers continuing their very uninteresting wrestling, and Regulus stealing Sirius's hair clip to throw it away. Power move if they didn't look completely like kids on a playground.

With a slight smile, you made a mental note to visit the Herbarium to get Fluxweed after your classes.

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the end

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