Wednesday 1st December, 1976
It was the day of the prank. It had finally arrived, and I was up way earlier than I needed to be, nerves dancing in my stomach. What if something went wrong? What if Regulus didn't show up? What if we got caught? Was this how the marauders felt every time they pulled a prank?
I spent the morning pacing around my dorm, waiting for the minutes to pass until I needed to be at the Great Hall. Eventually I gave up, deciding that being early was better than being late. I left the Gryffindor Common room fully dressed just as the other students started waking up.
When I arrived at the Great Hall, I found Regulus already there, foot tapping on the stone floor impatiently as his eyes looked all over the Hall and the few people awake inside. I walked over to him and nudged my shoulder with his, grabbing his attention.
"You're early," I commented.
"So are you," he replied.
I grinned at him, and surprisingly he grinned back. Usually he only half smiled, or had a small smile, but right now he was full out grinning at me. I liked it.
We chatted for a bit, mostly small talk to pass the time as we were both too nervous to have an actual conversation. When people started arriving at the Great Hall, we hid around a corner close to the entrance and Regulus cast a disillusionment charm, claiming he was better at it then me.
After that we waited for our victims to arrive, trying to stay as still and quiet as possible. The stuff in my hands were heavy, and I hoped that the marauders were going to appear soon because my arms were starting to ache.
Finally, we saw the four troublesome boys enter the Great Hall, laughing with one another rather loudly. I felt Regulus's shoulder nudge mine, and together we crept towards the entrance, peeking our heads out from behind the wall so we had a clear sight of the marauders.
"Ready?" I heard Regulus ask.
"Ready," I confirmed, adrenaline and nerves pumping through my body.
I took a deep breath, briefly closing my eyes as I collected my thoughts. God, I hoped this worked. I opened my eyes with a determination and threw the objects out of my hand, letting them land right where the marauders were sitting.
Instantly, glitter burst out of the bombs, the red and green colours mixing together as they hid the marauders from view. Regulus muttered a spell, his eyes on the cloud of glitter as students and teachers alike in the Great Hall gawked and shrieked.
Regulus and I waited in tense silence for the glitter to disappear, and when it did we were not disappointed with the results. Where the marauders had been standing mere moments ago, four bright pink flamingos stood in their place, squawking and flapping their wings.
The Great Hall erupted into cheers, screams, and laughter as everyone stared, shocked, at the four troublemakers of Hogwarts that were now flamingos. The disillusionment charm on Regulus and I disappeared, and I launched myself at him, enveloping him in a hug.
Regulus froze, his whole-body stiffening against mine, before I found his arms wrapping around me and pulling me closer. We stayed there like that for one blissful second and I inhaled his scent, pine needles and mint. After, I let go, looking down at the ground embarrassedly. Thankfully Regulus didn't seem to notice my flustered state as his eyes darted to the Great Hall where the teachers were now hurrying towards the four boys, which had caused quite a bit of trouble in their short time as flamingos.
The shortest one, Peter, was running around, screeching at random students causing them to shriek and, in one case, fall off their seats altogether. James, the flamingo with the glasses, was stealing random students' food, the students in question too scared to tell him off. Sirius, the most flamboyant of them all with the brightest shade of pink and lushest feathers, was standing on the Gryffindor table and squawking like mad, as if he was giving a speech. Remus, the calmest of them all, was sitting in the seat he had previously been using and was serenely eating his food.
Regulus and I shared a look, stifling our laughter. We looked back to find that Sirius had left the Gryffindor table and had started rather viciously pecking the Slytherins. When the Slytherins left the table and started backing away, Sirius the Flamingo stalked towards them menacingly, and then started full out chasing them around the Hall, flapping his wings as he went.
He stopped his chase rather suddenly and started looking at the Slytherin table, as if in search for someone. When he couldn't find the Slytherin he wanted, he seemed to stomp his webbed foot angrily before continuing his attack on the remaining Slytherins that hadn't started fleeing the Great Hall.
"Was he trying to find me?" Regulus muttered, glaring at Sirius the Flamingo
"We need to leave before they see us," I hissed in his ear as answer, trying not to laugh.
He nodded, tearing his gaze away from the rampaging Sirius as he grabbed my hand and started full out sprinting away from the Great Hall. We ran down a few corridors and up some stairs until Regulus found a broom closet and shoved both of us in there hastily.
We were both laughing and shushing one another, trying, and failing, to stifle our amusement. We were in such a state that it took us a few minutes to calm down, and only then did we realise how close we were to one another.
His face was so close, if I tilted my head up and went on my tippytoes I'd be kissing him. I felt heat rush to my cheeks at the thought, only for the feeling of embarrassment to be replaced with disappointment when I realised the prank was over. We would no longer spend patrols planning for it or have study sessions get side tracked by what supplies we needed. I no longer had an excuse to talk to him besides the Transfiguration assessment, and when that was over we'd most likely never talk to one another again.
"What's wrong?" Regulus asked, noticing my sudden change of mood.
I cleared my throat, putting a smile on my face. "Nothing. I just wish we could have seen their faces."
Regulus smiled, nodding his head in agreement. Seeing him smile lifted my spirits, and I decided to enjoy our time together while it lasted. I could mope about never talking to him again when it happened.
I opened my mouth to say something when we heard footsteps walking down the halls. We both shushed each other, grinning like mad as we waited for whoever it was to pass. I spent the silence studying Regulus's appearance, trying to memorise everything I could about him.
"I think we can leave now," Regulus whispered to me when the footsteps faded. I nodded my head, and we exited the cupboard, looking around to make sure no one saw anything.
"I guess we're the new pranksters of the school," I joked, nudging Regulus's shoulder with my own.
"We better be, after all that effort we went through to make sure the prank was a success," Regulus murmured back.
"You two did it?!"
Regulus and I spun around when we heard Sirius's stunned voice, finding the four marauders staring at us in pure shock. Regulus and I glanced at each other, wondering what to do when James's face split into a giant grin. That was definitely not the reaction I had been expecting.
"Bloody brilliant," James exclaimed, walking forward.
Regulus seemed to shrink back, hiding his face behind the carefully formed mask he'd perfected over the years. James didn't seem to notice or care, continuing forward until he was close enough to wrap me into a giant hug.
"I'm not even mad to be honest," Sirius said with a grin. "Being a flamingo was awesome."
"Mr Black, Potter, Lupin and Pettigrew!"
Professor McGonagall's voice was enough to silence us as we watched the teacher stalk down the halls until she arrived in front of us all.
"You cannot just run away after we transfigured you back into humans."
"But Professor, being turned into flamingos was a very traumatic experience for us," Sirius stated solemnly, the exact opposite of what he was saying just a few moments ago. "Running away was a trauma response."
McGonagall looked down at Sirius through her glasses, clearly unimpressed. I tried my best not to laugh, knowing that wouldn't help the situation at all.
"You attacked a student."
"Multiple, actually," Sirius corrected.
"That isn't helping your case, mate," James whispered in Sirius's ear rather loudly.
Sirius just shook his head, grinning like a madman as he looked up at his Head of House.
"I can't be responsible for my actions, Professor," Sirius said. "I was a flamingo. It was my flamingo alter ego that hurt those poor kids, not me."
Professor McGonagall looked like she was ready to give Sirius detention for the rest of the year, but instead took a deep breath and told Sirius they would talk about this later, and that she needed to check up on the students currently in the Hospital Wing.
She walked away, leaving the rest of us grinning at one another.
"Honestly, Y/n, the prank was amazing," Sirius enthused, turning back to me.
"It was very impressive magic," Peter supplied.
"You're a great prankster," James added.
I noticed that they were speaking as if I did the prank on my own and that the boy standing right next to me did nothing at all, which irritated me. I glanced at Regulus, only to find he was not right beside me and had disappeared sometime during McGonagall and Sirius's talk. I frowned, upset that the marauders had ruined the perfectly good time we'd been having together.
"I think I preferred you all as flamingos," I muttered under my breath.
"But I'm your brother!" James exclaimed, betrayal clear on his face.
I glared at him. "Exactly."
Sirius laughed, slinging an arm around my shoulder as he directed me to our first class, Defence Against the Dark Arts. "You know you love us."
"Sure I do," I replied dryly.
When we arrived at class, everyone was talking about the prank. I smiled, feeling proud, as did the marauders, walking around me like I was the most important person in the world.
We sat down, and instantly the boys were upon me, trying to get me to join in their pranks, even Remus. I shook my head, refusing every offer and plead.
"I only pranked you guys to teach you a lesson," I explained. "I wanted to show you that my opinions mattered and ask that you not ignore me or brush me aside in the future."
The marauders looked at one another, surprised. Or rather, James and Sirius did. Remus and Peter looked at the ground, embarrassed.
"Okay," James said simply. "We promise not to ignore you or brush you aside anymore."
Class had nearly ended when the teacher called for the class's attention, informing us what we were to be moving onto next lesson. Werewolves.
I was surprised to find I had forgotten all about the mysterious werewolf inhabiting the school. I guess everything had gotton too much, with school, the prank, Regulus. Now though, I looked around the room, wondering if the werewolf was in here with me.
I didn't hate werewolves. In fact, I was a supporter. Growing up in a house with Fleamont and Euphemia gave us an idea of right and wrong, and humans being stripped of their rights because they transform into a werewolf once a month was definitely wrong.
Still, I was wary about this werewolf, whoever they were. I'd never met one before, and while I was curious, I was also cautious. The werewolf had been on the schoolgrounds. If someone had been taking a night stroll, or been there for some reason, they could have been attacked.
I looked at the marauders, wondering whether I should tell them about the werewolf. No, I thought. It's not my secret to share. Even so, I wanted to find out who the werewolf was myself, if only to satisfy my curiosity.
My next class was Charms which I happily walked to. Charms meant spending time with Regulus, which I craved more than I should have. When I arrived I found him already sitting on our desk, staring at the board blankly. I wondered if he felt angry about what happened with the marauders, and if he was angry with me.
"Sorry the marauders gave me all the credit," I said quietly once I'd sat down. "You were the one who did most of the hard work."
"It's fine," Regulus answered stiffly.
It was obviously not fine, but I decided not to push it, knowing that would only put Regulus in a worse mood.
"Do you want to study for Transfiguration after school today?" I asked instead.
Regulus hummed quietly, thinking, before nodding his head. I smiled, feeling butterflies in my stomach. The class continued and all bad moods were forgotten as we talked about this morning and what a success it was.
By lunch I was all giddy and smiling, walking into the Great Hall with Regulus, only to part ways as we walked to our respective tables. I sat with the marauders who instantly bombarded me with questions about the prank, the one that was repeated the most being 'how did you come up with it?'
I thought back to when Regulus and I had been planning the prank one time, sitting on a window seat together as we bickered about what animal to transfigure them into. I had wanted them to become goats while Regulus had wanted them to be naked mole rats, so we were in a bit of a predicament. We were bickering with one another about which animal to transfigure them into when Dumbledore had walked by.
"I find flamingos lovely creatures," he had commented airily, his cloak swishing behind him as he walked away.
Regulus and I had turned to each other, wide eyed. Did Dumbledore just suggest what animal we should transfigure his students into? No, of course not, that would be preposterous, and yet slowly, grins spread across both of our faces as we finally came to an agreement.
"I guess it just came to me," I answered, deciding to keep that memory a secret between me and Regulus.
. . .
Wednesday 1st December, 1976
We studied in the magic room again. I didn't know much about it, and whenever I asked Regulus, he just smirked at me. The only thing I'd gained from him was the room is just for us. No one else could get in here; I'd double checked it myself, walking along the seventh floor with the marauders only to find the door was gone.
I didn't mind it much though. The room was great, and it was a place I could spend time with Regulus without worrying what anyone saw or thought about us. I didn't get to enjoy it today though, because when Regulus entered the room, it was clear his bad mood had returned.
"Hey, you okay?" I asked when he sat down.
Regulus nodded his head and wordlessly picked up a book, ending the conversation before it could even begin. I frowned but followed his lead, grabbing a piece of parchment and writing stuff up for our presentation. Ideas for design, colour, and, of course, information.
It was a while later and, frankly, I'd had enough of Regulus's bad mood. He was turning the pages of his book so aggressively I was surprised he hadn't ripped them. I dropped my quill in my inkpot, pushed away my parchment and turned around to face Regulus expectantly.
"Alright, what's wrong?"
Regulus's eyes briefly looked up at me before returning to his book as he turned a page, gentler this time.
"Regulus."
Still, Regulus looked at his book, though his eyes were no longer moving, firmly planted in one spot as his jaw clenched slightly.
"Regulus," I said again. "Don't ignore me. What's wrong?"
Regulus let out a frustrated sigh and gave up pretending to read, tossing the book onto the floor as he stared at me, a mix of feelings in his eyes.
"I just wanted- "Regulus broke off angrily, throat bobbing harshly as he tried to reign in his emotions. He tried again, this time calmer. "I did this prank for many reasons, one of the main reasons being to show Sirius that I- that I wasn't just obsessed with my mother's approval. That's all he seems to identify me as; a brainwashed kid willing to do anything to get the acknowledgment of his parents, but that's not who I am. I'm more than that, and I- I guess I wanted to show Sirius that."
Right after he finished talking, surprise washed across his face, like he hadn't meant to confess any of that. Right after was regret and all of a sudden he was on his feet, moving towards the door.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have said anything.
"No- Regulus, wait," my pleas went unheard as Regulus swiftly exited the room, ignoring me, and I was left alone.
A/N:
sirius saying it was his flamingo alter ego- i can't even
i recently published a new story called Scream on my account. it's a jegulus story vaguely based off of the movie Scream. you should go check it out :)
also, watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire while uploading this, and i'm literally freaking out whenever Barty Crouch Jr comes on the screen. like, yes, he's a murder and a psycho, but BEFORE that when he was in school he was the best 🥰🥰🥰
(btw, my headcannon for him is that he went crazy when Evan, Regulus, Dorcas, Pandora, and all his other friends died)
anywho, hope you have a good day/night!