Saturday 1st November, 1976

I woke up to the distinct smell of Regulus Black. I inhaled deeply, noting the strong scent of pine needles, the metallic, cold, smell of the expensive cologne that always seems to surround him, and the faint tinge of mint.

I sighed, content, as I pressed my head closer against the pillow that smelt so much like Regulus it was as if he'd slept there. The smell of him was so comforting, the reason why beyond me, and I would have stayed there for much longer if not for the headache that started throbbing the second I'd gained consciousness.

I frowned, wondering why my head felt like it was splitting open, when the memories of last night surfaced, namely Regulus dressed up as Leo Poisonwood and the rage that fact brought along with it. I also recalled walking along the hallways with him, alone. I tried remembering what happened after that, but it was hard when half my mind was occupied by the pain in my head and the other part was begging to fall back asleep to smell of Regulus.

I bolted upright, immediately regretting the action as the pounding in my head increased. I winced, letting out a quiet hiss, and opened my eyes slowly so they could adjust to the light of the room. I looked around, my gaze landing on Regulus as he sat on one of his friend's beds, a book in hand. His head was bent as his eyes roamed the pages of his book, his hair covering part of his face.

So there had been a reason I could smell Regulus Black; I had slept in his bed. I had slept in Regulus Black's bed. I was currently sitting in Regulus Black's bed with said boy mere metres away from me.

At my sudden movement he looked up, our eyes meeting for one startling second before I looked away, feeling my body heat up. I'd been so drunk last night, and while I couldn't remember all of the details of the night, I remembered enough to know that I had been a pain in the ass.

I looked down, noting the clothes I was wearing, relief washing through me. We hadn't hooked up, at least. So why was I in his bed? I cleared my throat, forcing myself to look at the raven haired boy next to me.

"Um, why am I here?" I asked somewhat hesitantly.

"You were really drunk and refused to give me the password to the Gryffindor Common Room, so I brought you here," Regulus explained shortly, eyes darting back to his book as soon as he finished speaking.

I frowned at his words, ignoring the stabbing pain in my head. He'd brought me to the Gryffindor Tower? And when I didn't give him the password, he had dragged me here and let me sleep in his bed? Why? It didn't make any sense, since he hated me, for him to help me.

"Why did you help me?" I asked, voicing my thoughts.

Regulus scoffed, snapping his book shut and glaring at me like the question alone offended him. I raised my eyebrows at his reaction and his scowl deepened.

"I helped you because I'm a decent human being," he snapped. "I'm not going to just leave a drunk girl alone and defenceless in a room full of drunk, hormonal teenagers."

I blinked, caught off guard by his answer. I hadn't really thought about it like that. The thought of Regulus looking out for me, being a decent person and helping me, made me feel strangely warm. It didn't help that he called what he did decent behaviour and not something I needed to repay him for.

"Oh, um, okay. Thanks, I guess..." I said lamely, unable to think of a good reply. I blamed it on the pounding headache I had.

"You should probably go before my dormmates come back," was Regulus's reply.

I nodded my head, getting out of Regulus's bed almost reluctantly. His scent still stayed with me but was much fainter. I found my wand in my pocket and cast a disillusionment charm on myself, heading to the door when I heard Regulus snicker.

"What's so funny?" I asked, trying to reign in my anger. No matter how much I disliked this boy, he did just help me, so I could at least try to be civil with him.

"Your disillusionment charm is shit," he answered.

I glowered, storming out of his dorm and the Slytherin Common Room. I winced as the movement increased the pain in my head, deciding to stop by at the Hospital Wing and get an anti-hangover potion.

Madam Pomfrey had not been impressed when I'd asked her for the potion but had handed it over nonetheless, muttering about how I'd been the fifth student to ask her for one this morning. I'd grinned at that, knowing very well she'd have a lot more requests before the day was over.

With my head clear, I walked to the Gryffindor Common Room at a leisurely pace, enjoying the calm of the weekend. No classes to rush to, no need to wear uniform. I did have homework, but that could wait.

As I entered the Common Room, I had a brief glance of my surroundings before I was noticed. James was pacing back and forth, his hair messier than usual. The rest of the marauders plus Lily, Marlene, and Mary watched my brother worriedly.

As soon as my presence was noticed, James was upon me, looking livid but relieved. He stormed up to me and wrapped me in a bone crushing hug before letting go and smacking me in the side of the head.

I let out a yelp, rubbing my head as James placed his hands on his hips, glaring down at me and looking strikingly like our mother.

"Where were you?" James exclaimed angrily. "I was worried sick!"

I rolled my eyes. "Sorry Mum."

James narrowed his eyes at my response, his attention going to my clothes, the same outfit I was wearing last night at the party. He gasped, eyes going wide as he looked at me.

"Were you out with a boy?" he demanded. "Who was it? How dare they touch my little sister! When I get my hands on them-"

"They took me to a safe place to sleep while I was drunk off my ass," I said, cutting James off.

He blinked, surprised, and took a step back. I saw the girls smirking, glad to see me one upping my brother. The other marauders just looked confused, obviously wondering who this mystery person is.

"Who helped you?" Sirius questioned.

"Not telling," I said in a clipped tone.

Both Sirius and my brother let out a frustrated groan, knowing I wouldn't be telling them who helped me anytime soon, or ever. I only wished that meant they'd stop pestering, but then again, when did those two ever know when to stop?

. . .

Monday 3rd November, 1976

The weekend had passed in a blur of homework, studying for O.W.L.s, being pestered by the marauders about who helped me at the Halloween party, and hanging out with Lily, Marlene, and Mary. Before I knew it, it was school again and I sat at the Great Hall reluctantly, preparing myself for the torturous classes ahead.

The marauders had pranked Regulus again, casting a permanent sticking charm on his chair resulting in Regulus having to spend the rest of Sunday in the Hospital Wing. I'd hated it, mainly because I hadn't been a part of it at all. They hadn't even run the idea past me before doing it. In fact, they hadn't been letting me participate in my prank war at all, and it was getting quite frustrating. I decided I'll prank him back my own next time, since it was Regulus's turn to prank me.

The day passed quickly, and I found myself lazing about outside with Lily, Marlene, and Mary. Class had been awful, more so than usual because of their constant reminders of O.W.L.s. There was idle chatter between us as we relaxed. I had my head in Lily's lap, Marlene in the same position with Mary, both girls leaning against the tree to support Marlene and me.

My mind was on Regulus, and what he'd do for the prank. I was nervous, annoyingly enough, and was itching for him to get it over with. After the rather embarrassing prank the marauders pulled on him, I knew Regulus would make his revenge particularly cruel.

As if my thoughts summoned him, Regulus strolled outside, much closer to me than I liked. I tensed up, and Regulus's gaze darted to me, noticing my stiff posture. He smirked at my apprehensiveness, obviously enjoying the fact he had the power now.

He continued walking, my eyes trailing him as he sauntered further into the courtyard, when all of a sudden he was hanging upside down by the leg. Students looked up from whatever they were doing, attention caught by their floating peer. There were many laughs and whispers while Lily huffed beside me, unimpressed.

My blood went cold as I realised what spell it was and franticly searched the grounds, finding the marauders hiding behind a tree, laughing. Or rather, Sirius and James were, while Remus and Peter looked on nervously, not doing anything to help but not stopping it either.

I felt the anger rise, a furious creature inside me battling its way to the surface. How could they do this? I could barely see anything beside the red coating my vision as the rage inside me grew. It was Regulus's turn for a prank. The marauders weren't supposed to prank him twice in a row; that's not how things went. The fact that they had used Levicorpus when I specially said no, though, was the icing on the cake.

I stormed over to them, absolutely livid, and demanded they put him down. They did, rather reluctantly, and before they could even speak to me I was walking away, unable to spend another second with them.

They heard me tell them not to use this spell, I know they did, and yet they ignored me, deciding that my opinion didn't matter. They had taken control of the whole prank war and didn't even talk to me before pranking him. It was supposed to be something between Regulus and I, and while I would have been okay if they had helped a bit, they took over everything and practically kicked me out of my own prank war, and I had just continued to let it slide.

Not anymore.

A/N:

did i add a jegulus meme on a regulus black x reader? yes. what are you gonna do about it?

y/n being comforted by regulus's scent >>>

also, regulus being a king and saying making sure y/n was in a safe environment was decent behaviour. i'm on my knees for that man for real 🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️

literally so excited for the next chapter, its one of my favs.

hope ya'll enjoyed.