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James was supposed to be taking notes.
Binns was droning on about some long-forgotten goblin rebellion, his ghostly voice floating through the classroom like a lullaby — if lullabies were sleep-inducing and painfully dull.
Quill in hand, James stared down at his parchment. The heading read Goblin Rebellion of 1612, and below that… nothing.
Except, in the corner of the page, he'd written Regulus.
Not once. Not even twice.
Dozens of times.
Regulus.
Regulus Black.
R. Black.
RB.
And then, when he thought no one was looking: Regulus Potter.
He blinked at that one, cheeks warming. “Merlin, I’m twelve,” he muttered to himself, and quickly scribbled it out — only to rewrite it even more carefully a second later.
From two rows ahead, Sirius turned slightly, eyebrows raised. “Are you writing fanfiction back there or what?”
James kicked the back of his chair, heart thudding.
After class, he stuffed the parchment into his bag, intent on hiding the evidence of his hopeless crush — but he wasn’t quick enough.
Regulus passed by, paused, and with a flick of his fingers, snatched the corner of the page that was still peeking out.
His eyes scanned the ink, unreadable.
James winced. “That’s — um. It’s just doodling. Boredom. Binns. You know.”
Regulus met his eyes, then folded the parchment once and tucked it neatly into his bag.
“I’ll keep it,” he said simply.
And walked away.
James stood frozen in the corridor, head spinning.
Boredom, his arse.