#pinned coz it's my first jegulus fic

[astranix]

ok so i sorta wrote it. sorta

regulus isn't swim team captain but he IS a really good swimmer and and and also there's jegulus:

"Ah, fuck it," Sirius Black says, effectively starting the countdown to the end of the short, and admittedly ridiculous life of one James Potter. Not that he knows it yet. He's an idiot, this foolish, naive James Potter, who doesn't know just what he's getting himself into. "I'll call my brother."

"Your...brother?" James Potter asks, slowly looking up from the clipboard in his hands. "You have a—huh?"

James has known Sirius half his life, distantly, if nothing else.

They go to different schools, but they'd met back when they were fifteen, at the same place, Hogwarts Swimming Academy—and after seven very narrow races, had conceded to becoming sort-of-friends.

They've come some way from then, two years and two trophies later, but Sirius has never even mentioned a brother.

Never, nope, nada.

James would have remembered that.

Sirius hums, suddenly very busy with his towel.

James waits.

"He just got back from France," Sirius says, with a sigh, and finally looks up at James. "Well. I say got back but it's really more like left for good."

James only vaguely knows about Sirius's strange situation, his fight with his parents, the reason he lives with his uncle in England.

"He's living with Alphard too, now," Sirius continues, "and it's um. Odd," he laughs, bleak and dry, "we're like strangers, hardly brothers. First time I'm meeting him in two years, let alone living together. He had a falling out with my—er. His parents. And...it apparently escalated, so now he's here."

"Right," James wants to play it off as cool, even though it's so not, but Sirius looks highly uncomfortable, "right. So, so—he could actually take Fenwick's spot? As in, erm. He swims well?"

Yeah, good going, Potter.

Sirius finally cracks a grin.

"Better than me," he says, which is incredibly doubtful.

Sirius is—well. He's Sirius Black.

"Anyway," he shrugs, "he can come by tomorrow. Just check him once, alright?"

It's when they're about to go back home that James realises he's never asked anything else about this supposed brother.

"Hey, Sirius!" James calls, and Sirius, swinging a leg up around his bike, looks up. "What's his name?"

"Oh, you won't need a name to recognize him," Sirius says, sounding amused, as he revvs up his bike, and rounds it out of the parking lot.

(-)

Sirius was right.

James doesn't need a name to recognise his brother.

He's late, and the team is already doing warm-ups when he comes. Barty is still struggling with his dive on one end, Caradoc and Rosier are in the centre lanes.

But, but.

There's someone here James hasn't ever seen before.

He cuts through the water faster than the swimmers in all the other lanes—is he even fucking breathing—and there is something so strange about how naturally he becomes one with the water, every arc of his arm perfect.

Oh, fuck.

The boy stops smooth at the opposite end, reaching an easy ten seconds before Rosier, and stands, sticking his elbows on the white-blue edge. He isn't wearing goggles, one bored eye on Barty, and oh, yes definitely, absolutely, this is Sirius's brother.

If James didn't know any better, he would say this was Sirius himself.

They're probably the same height, although he might be taller, and he is... pointy, in a way, thinner and bonier, cheekbones sharper, hair shorter.

He is some sort of wrung out, triangular version of Sirius.

James doesn't realise he's been staring, until the boy looks away from Barty, and meets James's gaze head-on.

James's throat is suddenly too dry, as he swallows, and half-raises an awkward hand in greeting.

The boy looks him up and down, slow and assessing—he's literally fifty feet away, why is James feeling so fucking freaked out—and finally, raises a mocking hand back, smirk pulling on his face.

He's fucking smirking.

Before James can react, say something, anything, he's swimming again, this time towards him, head disappearing under the water for so long that all he can do is marvel at this dude's lungs.

He reaches too quick—god, he is so good—and ducks his head up from the water, right at James's feet, who backs a step away.

"Impressed?" the boy asks, that infuriating smirk playing on his face again, not even slightly out of breath. His hair is wet, eyes tinged red. His voice is different from Sirius's, though, very different, his accent apparent in every syllable.

James ignores the question.

"You must Sirius's brother, then," he says. "I'm James."

"What gave it away?" he asks, dry, and sticks up a hand to shake, "I'm Regulus."

Reg-u-lus.

Another star, James thinks, taking the boy's offered hand without thought, and nods back with a polite smile.

Regulus's smirk comes back full force as he tightens his grip instead of letting it go, and James only has time to widen his eyes before the boy is pulling him in, with a surprising amount of strength.

James tries digging his heels in, but that only makes him slip faster, and he falls in with a resounding SPLASH!

Regulus Black's laughing when he comes up, gasping and bewildered—

"What the—absolute—fuck," James pants, "was that?!"

"Well," Regulus says, bobbing around in the water, and looking too pleased for his own good, "you didn't tell me whether you were impressed or not."

James wants to throw him and his stupid french accent out the fucking window right now.

"And this is supposed to impress me?" James asks, still shocked, as he shakes the water off his hair and starts climbing up the bars, a wary eye still on the other boy.

"Nah," Regulus says, "but you won't forget me now, will you. First impressions and all."

It's not a question, and before James can formulate some inadequate reply to that, he's gone again, kicking off from the wall and swimming, his backstroke as good as his freestyle.

James wouldn't have forgotten him anyway.

"Fuck," he mutters, when Regulus is gone, glancing down at his clothes, dripping water everywhere, "fucking hell."

"James!" the little piece of shit calls from the other end of the pool, "am I on your team yet?"

James shakes his head, disbelieving. This boy is fucking insane.

(-)

Right.

So, Regulus Black only hates James enough to get his one good pair of clothes wet (with chlorine swimming pool water, of course), but he apparently loves everyone else on the goddamn team.

And everyone loves him back.

Rosier, who'd taken a whole year to get used to James and Sirius's brand of humor, Barty, who still doesn't much talk to anyone—

They're all suddenly...talking together.

And laughing, joking around.

Chummy is the word James would use, which is just bizarre, especially since Barty Crouch has probably never made a single friend before—harsh, but true—and Rabastan Lestrange had unanimously been considered too intimidating to initiate a conversation with.

By the end of the two hour practice, Regulus has taught Barty how to dive perfectly well.

(James grits his teeth, and tells Regulus he's on the team. Barty cheers and claps Regulus on the back, which again: what the fuck.)

(-)

Rabastan seems to have adopted Regulus, really.

They're standing outside, James is waiting for his Mum, and Rabastan is carrying Regulus's fucking bag for him, as said boy talks on the phone.

"So?" Rabastan asks, when Regulus comes back, expression suddenly blank. It looks strange on him, his face as still and sharp as a marble statue, eyes still red. "Do you need a lift?"

"Er, no," Regulus mumbles, mumbles, like quietly, "Sirius said he's, um. Talked to Mrs. Potter?" he turns to James, who blinks.

"He can't come pick me up," Regulus explains, looking away, like he's embarrassed. For what though, James can't explain. "Said that Mrs. Potter would drop me back at Alphard's when she comes to pick er—you up."

"Alright," James says, slowly, because there really isn't anything else to say.

There's an awkward sort of pause, broken only by the honking of a car that reaches the gate, speeding so fucking much that James is sure it'll crash.

It stops an inch away from the metal bars.

Rabastan winces, as the driver honks again, loud and impatient.

"And that'll be Rod," he mutters, before nodding a goodbye to them, and rushing away.

Then it's just the two of them standing alone.

Regulus doesn't speak, or even look at him.

(-)

"Thank you," Regulus says, to his Mum, when they reach Alphard's place. James has been here a couple of times, mostly after swim meets. It's huge, all white brick and green lawns. "Thanks a lot."

"It's no problem, honey," Euphemia replies, smiling at him, eyes still worried.

"Oh," Regulus nods, looking surprised, "right, right. I'll—I'll just go. Goodnight."

And he fumbles with the car door, before rushing out.

"Good," James says, belatedly, "...night."

He's gone already.

"The poor boy," his mum says, quietly, shaking her head as she takes a turn, "awfully jumpy, he looked."

"He wasn't like that earlier," James huffs. "Pulled me into the pool with full clothes on."

His mum—being the traitor that she is—laughs.

"I suppose you need that every now and then," she adds, smiling at him through the rear view mirror.

"I was caught unaware!" James insists, "I could have drowned."

"Well, that would have been just terribly embarrassing for me," Mum laughs, "having a son who's been on the swimming team since ten years now, drown in the pool with twenty swimmers milling around him."

"Mum."

(-)

Sirius is tired when he reaches back. He rides his motorcycle in, whistling absent-mindedly, and removing his jacket, drops the keys on the table.

Regulus is sitting there and eating, jaw tight.

"What the fuck was that, Sirius," he asks, and Sirius blinks at him, confused. "You said you'd come pick me up!"

"Yeah, but," Sirius sighs, "I got late, alright. We've got to submit this shit for chemistry tomorrow and Marlene hasn't even started, plus— "

"But you said," Regulus stresses, hand clenched around the fork in his hand.

"And then I changed my mind!" Sirius says back, in the same tone, annoyed. "Anyway, it's not like I left you waiting. I called Effie. She's very reliable. And she's driven me millions of times, so I don't see what's the problem. James is— "

"James," Regulus cuts in, sneering, and shit, he looks like fucking Orion Black now, "didn't need to know that I'm such a fuck up that my parents don't want anything to do with me, and neither does my brother, apparently!"

Sirius blanches, stares at him. What—

"I don't know what bullshit story Alphard told you," Regulus continues, eyes suspiciously bright, "but you were the one who sneaked out at night and literally fucking ran away. I was kicked out!"

"Regulus, I— "

"No, shut it, you don't even know," Regulus says, quieter now, staring at the tabletop, "mother told me to get out. She said she's sick of seeing my face, and that all I remind her of is you. Just because I try acting like—I don't care, doesn't mean you can just— "

"Regulus," Sirius whispers, and pulls him up from his seat, wrapping his arms around him. Regulus stands there, rigid and breathing too quick, before he relaxes just a tiny bit. "Fuck. I didn't—I didn't mean to— "

"Are you crying," Regulus asks, looking faintly annoyed. Sirius might be, actually. He hasn't ever seen Reg bursting out like this. "Why're you crying? This was my moment, goddamn it."

This kid is so fucked up, Sirius thinks, and hugs him tighter.

Regulus is taller than him, which had been a rather unpleasant shock at first, and still makes it hard for Sirius to reconcile this person with his scrawny, tiny slip of a brother.

"You always steal my moments," Regulus grumbles, voice muffled into Sirius's shoulder, who can't help but laugh.

"I'm sorry," Sirius says, and he means I'm so so sorry I left you alone with them and I'm so sorry I didn't understand earlier, "And James wouldn't think anything like that. I haven't told him about...all this, of course I haven't."

"It's probably obvious," Regulus mumbles, "him, with his mother laughing and joking and teasing each other like they're fucking friends. Us, living with our old gay uncle halfway across the world."

Ah, yes.

The stark differences between what a parent should be like, and Walburga and Orion Black.

"Hey, Alphie isn't old," Sirius says, instead of explaining how he'd felt all this too, all of this, right down to that feeling that maybe there's something irreparably wrong with him because of them. "Besides, why do you care so much about what James thinks?"

Regulus goes stiff in his arms.

Sirius pulls back, and looks at his face, pink and flushed, Regulus Black is blushing!!! and stares at him, incredulous.

"No way," he says, "no way."

"He's such a dork," Regulus says, snorting.

"No fucking way," Sirius repeats, with feeling.

"I mean, I don't know," Regulus says, "he was staring at me funny and I wanted to...to..."

"...flirt with him?" Sirius suggests, dreading his answer.

"No!" Regulus yelps, "yes? Maybe. I don't know what I did, though."

(-)

bonus because this ended in a very unsatisfying way:

("What was his reaction?" Sirius asks, belatedly, "like...how did he seem?"

"Wet?" Regulus guesses.)

AU where Regulus is swim team captain