Chapter Text
The first time Regulus saw James Potter, the word ‘arrogant’ immediately came to his mind. To say the least, he was not wrong. Of course, he has heard about him. How could he not? James Potter was his brother’s best friend, after all.
To tell the truth, Regulus first heard about James Potter from Sirius. The first time he came home for holiday in his first year, he told Regulus about the friends he has made: James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. He called themselves the Marauders–stupid name, Regulus thought.
Regulus knew about the Potter family, but not in a good way. His parents were always calling them traitors. For what, he didn’t know. He just assumed it must be related to blood supremacy–that was just how his parents have always been. However, that was not what Sirius told Regulus. He always said that James Potter was the best person he could ever meet (that hurt Regulus’ feelings a bit, but he didn't tell his brother).
Naturally, Regulus expected a noble but adventurous young man when he thought about James Potter. His expectations were completely shattered when Sirius first introduced them. To Regulus, James Potter screamed the words cocky, arrogant, and annoying. He could even say that James Potter was worse than his own brother.
As the time went on, Regulus found him even more annoying. Regulus liked calm and silent surroundings, while those two words were James Potter’s enemy. Regulus didn't talk much, while James Potter was like a talking machine. They were like two polars, completely different. Regulus couldn’t think of a common ground for them. However, he also couldn’t understand why the Gryffindor Chaser has always been following him around when they did not have classes.
Though both of them were in the quidditch team for their own houses–James being a Gryffindor chaser and Regulus being the Slytherin seeker–they never talked about quidditch. Even after each match, they rarely interacted–mainly because Gryffindor and Slytherin were not exactly on friendly terms. So, Regulus didn’t understand why exactly James Potter was literally sitting across from him in the library. James Potter and library being in the same sentence was very weird to him.
“Can you not read?” James Potter said, interrupting Regulus’ thoughts.
“This is a library, and in case you didn’t know, people here read.”
“I know, but don’t you think talking is more fun?”
“No,” answered Regulus.
Did Regulus just see James Potter pouting? He blinked. “What exactly do you want, Potter?”
“Let’s talk. Can’t you see that I’m trying to have a conversation here with you?”
“I can see it very well. You’ve been following me for days. You think I wouldn’t notice?”
“That’s intentional,” said Potter. He grinned. “Is it not working? You noticed me anyway, so I guess it does work.”
“If you’re planning to start a mess, you got the wrong Black,” said Regulus. He returned to his books and started reading again.
Potter laughed. “You got a sense of humour too, huh, Mini Black?” — “Don’t call me that.”
“And well, I didn’t plan anything. At least, not yet. I’m genuinely here to talk with you.”
“Why would you even do that? You’ve got friends, talk with them.” Regulus started to get annoyed.
“You’re not one of them, though.” said Potter. There was something in the way he said it, Regulus didn’t know what exactly. He did not sound like he was joking or playful like he usually was, so Regulus was confused as to what it meant.
“I’m serious—” — “No, you’re not.” Regulus interrupted. He could see Potter’s confused face and he looked like he was wondering what he said wrong. “You’re not my brother.”
Something clicked inside Potter’s head, Regulus knew, when he finally laughed. “Right, I’m not Sirius. I’m James. And right now I’m asking you, Regulus, to be my friend. WIll you?”
At that time, Regulus didn’t know exactly what he got himself into. He just thought, maybe he could give Potter a chance and actually tried to know him more than just what he saw on the surface.
Regulus officially became James Potter’s friend in his second year.