Chapter Text
The Hogwarts Express rocks beneath Julia’s feet as it pulls away from Platform 9 and 3/4s. The sound of friends greeting each other after a long summer away mixes with the steady thrum of the wheels moving along the track. Making her way along the crowded corridor, Julia smiles and waves to the “Hi Jules,” thrown her way while peering into compartments searching for her fellow Gryffindor 6th-years.
“Hey Potter,” the cheerful face of Max McKinnon calls as he steps into the corridor in front of her.
“Hey McKinnon, nice summer?” she asks.
“Yeah, it was alright. I’m happy to be heading back, though,” Max grins, casually leaning against the wall. “How was yours?”
“Yeah, it was nice. James forced me to spend most of it on the quidditch pitch with him. I think you’re in for a grueling practice schedule this year,” Jules laughs, tucking her dark curls behind her ears. Max and his sister Marlene are almost as fanatic about quidditch as James is, so Jules expects that he’s quite excited for the upcoming season.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he beams. “Hopefully, I’ll hear ya cheering me on in the stands,” he says cheekily. “Hey, are you a prefect this year? Frank just went on down for the meeting.”
Jules had received her badge via the post in August, much to the chagrin of her older brother. But Sirius reminded him that with both her and Remus as prefects and James as Head Boy, the Marauders were going to get away with murder this year.
“I am, and I should probably be joining him. I’m just going to find Alice and Mary first. I’ll see you around, yeah?” Jules smiles, giving him a small wave as she moves past him.
“Um, actually,” McKinnon starts, reaching out to take Jules by the arm, pulling her in a bit closer as a few Ravenclaws from their year, Hestia Jones and Bertram Aubrey, maneuver around them. “I wanted to ask if maybe, if you don’t already have plans,” he says quickly, looking down, “maybe you’d want to -”
“Hey McKinnon, piss off!” a voice interrupts.
Jules groans and shrugs off James’s arm that has suddenly appeared around her shoulders, tugging her tight to his side. She notices Sirius, Remus, and Peter are all in attendance. The crowd does nothing to lessen the blush she feels creeping up her face.
McKinnon’s eyes widen while he stutters out a greeting to James. “I-I’ll see you around, Jules,” he says, nodding and slowly backing into his compartment. Jules stares in disbelief. Not again!
“James, what the fuck! I think he was going to ask me to Hogsmede!” Jules hisses, ripping herself out of his grip and smacking his arm.
“C’mon, Jules. You can do much better than McKinnon.” James scoffs, rubbing the tender spot on his bicep. If there’s one thing Jules has learned growing up as James Potter’s little sister, it’s to give as good as you get. James ignores his sister’s grumblings and takes her arm to drag her down the train.
“Yeah, Jules. McKinnon’s nice and all, but he’s not right for you. You should wait until you finish school before you start dating. The boys at Hogwarts are a bunch of slimy gits,” Sirius winks before sliding into a compartment filled with the 7th-year Gryffindor girls and booming a, “Hello ladies!”
Jules rolls her eyes and throws him a two-finger salute to his retreating figure. Honestly, what a hypocrite.
Peter trails past, giving Jules an apologetic grimace. Remus shoots her a commiserating, soft smile and mouths, ‘sorry’ while patting her on the shoulder. “See you at the prefect meeting,” James calls before ruffling her hair and sliding the compartment door shut in her face.
Huffing, Jules is left reeling in the absolute absurdity of the moment. One second she was about to be asked out by one of the nicest and fittest blokes in their year, and the next, James sweeps the rug out from under her and disappears as though nothing happened. Jules wants to stomp her foot because she’s so annoyed at him.
As she continues down the corridor, she allows the feelings of disappointment to flood her. She wouldn’t know if she could do better than Max McKinnon; she hadn’t been asked out by a boy before. Ever.
She’d snogged Fabian Prewett during a rowdy Gryffindor party last year when James had had too much firewhiskey to notice his little sister getting felt up in the corner, but Fabian came to her the next day saying he thought they’d be better off as friends. So that was that.
It seems most boys at Hogwarts would prefer to avoid the wrath of the Marauders than risk asking out Julia Potter. She’s never really thought of Max that way before, so she doesn’t know why she’s so disappointed. As Sirius said, he’s nice enough, but he’s not exactly the boy she pictures when she imagines getting asked out.
Still, it would be nice to feel wanted by someone. To have guys her age feel comfortable enough to flirt with her, ask her out, maybe snog her behind a statue in stolen moments between classes. But James continues to scare off any potential admirers.
It’s frustrating when she compares her experiences to those of her best friends, Mary Macdonald and Alice Fortescue, who are all dating. Mary never has a shortage of boys vying for her attention. Hell, Alice and Frank Longbottom have been together ages!
After a certain amount of time with no boys paying her any attention, Jules is starting to question whether it’s really James keeping her from finding a boyfriend, or is it maybe just her that they don’t fancy?
Lost in her thoughts, she almost misses a familiar head leaning into the corridor a few compartments down until she hears, “Oi, Jules! Over here!” Mary waves, beckoning her inside to join a seated Alice.
“I missed you!” Mary squeals while wrapping Jules in a tight hug after she slides the compartment door shut.
“Oof - I missed you too,” Jules laughs while stumbling back under the force of the embrace.
Putting her book aside, Alice stands to greet Jules with a hug of her own, and the three girls spend a few minutes trading updates since their last letters.
“Did I see you talking to Max McKinnon?” Mary asks, her smile doing her no favors in hiding her apparent glee at this statement.
Alice perks up, leaning forward as Jules places both hands on her face. The sentence comes out mumbled behind her fingers, “Ugh, yes. He tried to ask me something. I think he was gonna suggest we go to Hogsmeade together, but James interrupted and scared him off, the git.”
Alice rubs her back comfortingly. “Maybe he’ll try again when he knows James isn’t around.”
“No, James has ruined it. Again,” Jules sighs petulantly.
“Remember when he thought Cresswell was going to ask you to Slughorn’s Christmas party last year?!” Mary giggles. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that cross.”
“Bloody hell, I’m not going to have my first date until I’m thirty at this rate,” she says while rolling her eyes in frustration.
✨
Thanks to Alice’s timely reminder, Jules leaves the compartment with just enough time to make it to the prefect meeting without being late. As she steps out into the hall, Jules finds herself immediately running into something. What feels like a stone pillar ends up being the side of a very tall boy. She stumbles but feels cold hands squeeze her bare upper arms, steadying her as she cranes her neck and meets the steely gaze of Regulus Black.
Briefly, she grins, thinking she has run into Sirius, despite her annoyance at him for his earlier participation in James’ interference in her love life.
The brothers look so alike with their long, dark curls framing their pale, drawn faces and striking grey eyes. Regulus has grown a bit taller than Sirius over the summer. He towers over her, making him somehow even more handsome and intimidating than he was previously.
Her smile dims as he regards her with a cool look of indifference, pushing a dark curl out of his eye. “So-sorry,” she stutters, finding it hard to maintain eye contact with his intense stare.
“Potter,” he remarks lowly, gently moving her back so he can continue past her.
Jules nods at him, wide-eyed and holding her breath. She hesitates before continuing down the corridor after him, not wanting it to appear as though she’s trailing him to the prefect meeting.
Jules has never really had an issue with Regulus besides the knowledge Sirius has shared of his younger brother’s blood-supremacist views. But the fact that Regulus is both a Black and a Slytherin means this wasn’t very shocking. He mostly keeps to his housemates in their classes, so they’ve never had much cause to interact.
The most attention Regulus pays her is the glares he has begun directing toward her and James. She’s sure as Gryffindors and blood-traitors, the Potter siblings were already far down his list of people he regarded well, but after Sirius moved in with them last summer, James and Jules seemed to have quickly shot to Enemy #2 and #3 in Regulus’ eyes.
Previously, she would have begrudgingly admitted that she’s always thought Sirius’ younger brother to be rather good-looking, objectively speaking, of course. But recently, when she thinks of Regulus, she fixates on Sirius’ disappointment in him. It seems like no matter what Sirius says Regulus is determined to choose the Black family name over his brother.
Entering the prefect meeting, Jules makes a beeline for Remus. Sliding into the seat next to him and accepting his side-armed hug, Jules does her best to avoid the steely gaze she can feel trained on her from across the room. She directs her attention to the front of the room, intent on listening to her brother and Lily Evans welcome the prefects back for another year.
✨
In the common room that evening, Jules scans the prefect schedule and sees that, for the most part, thankfully, she is partnered with Gryffindors. James and Lily had explained that this year prefects patrol in pairs. There was no explicit mention of the threats the Wizarding World was facing outside the castle walls, but it was clear that Hogwarts staff would feel safer if the students patrolling the halls at night weren’t doing so alone. Due to scheduling conflicts, partners might be from different houses or years.
A smile overtakes Jules’ face as she notes her name next to Remus’ several times this term. Jules has fancied Remus since his first visit to the Potter’s the summer before her first year. Remus lounged next to her in the grass, watching James and Sirius attempt to get a quaffle past Peter while he excitedly explained the premise of his favorite muggle books to her. His round, welcoming brown eyes lit up as he spoke, and Jules was entranced. Immediately after the boys returned to their separate homes, Jules begged her mother to take her to muggle London to buy something called The Hobbit and dreamed of when she’d get to see Remus again.
She pictures patrolling the dark, quiet corridors of the castle with him. Biting her lip, she imagines Remus using the time to confess that he has always had feelings for her. Maybe he’d back her against the cold, stone wall, scarred hand on her hip and warm breath brushing her face. Or maybe, he’d just pull her giggling and blushing behind a tapestry for some privacy. A girl could wish.
Throughout the years, Remus had become a close friend, along with the rest of the Marauders. Jules always volunteered to take shifts keeping Remus company in the hospital wing mornings after a full moon. And she and Peter had spent many snowy days by the fire playing Wizard’s Chess over the years, while Sirius and Jules bonded over their shared love of muggle music and bugging Remus to let them borrow his record player. Her favorite times were spent in their dorm, wrapped in a blanket, cuddling on James or Sirius’ bed, and listening to their latest pranks while eating an unhealthy amount of Honeydukes chocolate.
The butterflies she had had since her thoughts turned to Remus Lupin quickly disappeared when she caught another name next to hers on the schedule.
Regulus Black.
“Ugh, really?” she mutters to herself.
They didn’t have many patrols listed together, but honestly, one patrol with Regulus is more than enough for Jules. Why would James agree to this?
“Ah, tough luck, Potter,” Frank Longbottom says, glancing at the schedule over her shoulder. “If he gives you trouble, let me know, and I’d be glad to switch with you.” Jules smiles at him in thanks while Alice kisses his cheek.
“Do you know who James has paired me with on patrols?” Jules questions, plopping onto the sofa in front of the fire next to Sirius.
“Who?’ Sirius wraps his arm around her, drawing her into his side.
“Your brother.” Jules glares at James, who at least has the decency to look contrite.
Sirius’s eyes snap up from what looks like plans for their latest prank, squinting at James.
“Really, Prongs?”
“I know, I know,” James replies, rubbing a hand down his face. “Honestly, putting together that schedule was a nightmare. It took Lily and me ages to get that thing straight, not that I’m complaining,” he says more to himself with a small smile before shaking his head and continuing. “Anyway, because of extracurriculars and quidditch practices, you both were some of the only people available for those shifts. And,” he says, lowering his voice, “we wanted to avoid scheduling any of the Slytherins with muggle-borns. I know it’s not ideal, but you know I’d change it if I could, Jules.”
“I know,” she sighs, resigned. “I appreciate that. It’s just gonna be awkward. Since Sirius moved in with us, I feel like his favourite activity is shooting daggers at me. Also, I’m still mad at you for earlier with McKinnon,” she glares as he rolls his eyes at that last comment. “But, I guess it’s better than being partnered with Avery.” She shivers, not wanting to imagine being alone for any period of time with the Slytherin.
Jules feels Sirius’ breath blow through the curls at the crown of her head and turns to peer questioningly at him.
“You okay?” she asks him.
“Yeah,” he says, slouching down lower into the sofa. “It’s just that I just heard that our mother dearest has arranged for Regulus to be married next summer,” frown deepening as he speaks.
“What?” Jules yelps. “But he’s so young!”
“You know it’s common in pure-blood families for them to arrange marriages, Jules. It’s not really much of a surprise, is it?” James replies.
“Yeah, but it doesn’t make it right, though. I mean, Regulus is only 16, for Merlin’s sake! They could stand to wait until he finishes school, at least. And, no matter if he’s a prick, he should get the choice to marry whoever he wants.”
That makes Sirius let out a bark of a laugh, pulling her in close and kissing her atop her head.
“Do you know who he’s supposed to marry?” Jules asks.
“Alecto Carrow, I heard.”
Jules’ face scrunches at the name. The youngest of the Carrow siblings had a penchant for starting nasty rumours about anyone who miffed her off and hexing unwitting young muggle-borns. She was a right piece of work.
“Remus said he overheard her talking about it after the prefect meeting. Now that I’m gone, Mother probably wants to ensure Regulus doesn’t bring more shame upon the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Need to prevent Regulus from going off and marrying a blood-traitor or, god forbid, a muggle-born.” Sirius mockingly says while rolling his eyes.
“Anyway, I dunno, I just feel bad, I guess. I tried writing a few times this summer and never heard back. I just, I guess I thought if I tried hard enough to get through to him again, he’d change his mind. Getting betrothed is one thing, but I’m worried their next steps will put him in even more danger.” Jules and James shared a significant look, knowing that Sirius feared his brother joining You-Know-Who’s gang of supporters.
“You tried, and that’s the important thing. Regulus is going to make his own choices. And maybe if you keep trying, he’ll choose to make the right ones.” Jules says, leaning her head back down on Sirius’ shoulder. He hums noncommittally, but she feels a squeeze she knows means he’s grateful.
“Now, where’s Moony gone off to?! He promised to bring back some of that muggle chocolate I love.” Sirius exclaims, pushing Jules to the side to launch himself off the sofa in search of Remus.
As Jules makes her way across the common room to where Alice and Mary are laughing with Frank and the Prewett brothers, she envisions Regulus in a dark, dimly lit room. He’s in green dress robes that are so dark they appear black while holding hands with Alecto Carrow, the two surrounded by haughty pure-blood witches and wizards. Jules barely suppresses a shudder at the thought of being forced to marry at such a young age and to someone as horrible as Alecto Carrow. For the first, but certainly not the last time that year, she feels pity for Regulus Black.