CHECK YES JULIET ▷ JAMES POTTER [1]

𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐄. 𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟎

GRIMMAULD PLACE, AUGUST 1970

     REGULUS BLACK WAS HIDING BEHIND his mother's skirt, bashful and shy at only nine years old. His brother — Sirius — had his usual aura of mischief to him as he stuffed several cocktail sausages into his mouth. It was the annual Pureblood Summer Gala that was held before the start of the term, although the oldest of the brothers still had another year before he would be venturing to Hogwarts.

     "Who do you keep looking at?" prodded the older brother, noticing how the nine year old's eyes kept straying every few minutes before he once again buried his face into their mother's skirt.

     Regulus flushed, avoiding his brother's curious gaze. "Nobody!"

     The fervent denial only intrigued Sirius more. He followed where Regulus had been staring to find none other than Juliet Fawley — she was reading beneath a large oak tree not too far away from the boys. Through the tree's leaves, the sun shone on her vibrant red hair and made it glimmer like a ruby in the light. Whilst Sirius thought she was one of the more tolerable purebloods of his age, he had never paid much attention to her beyond one or two conversations.

     "Does Reggie have a crush?" Sirius whispered, his tone light and teasing. He knew better than to be too loud though, saying such a thing in front of their mother would surely be as good as signing the couple's marriage contract.

     "Of course not," argued Regulus, pouting. "I am only nine, Siri. It's not proper of me to concern myself with those matters and girls — girls are icky!"

     Sirius shook his head at his brother's antics. "Well, maybe when you're ten like me, you won't think girls are so . . . icky." He struggled to hold back his laughter, an idea forming in his mind. "Do you want me to talk to her for you?"

     Regulus contemplated the offer, which assuredly meant he did have a crush. "Leave it. I doubt she'd like you bothering her."

     "Oh, is that a dare?"

     "What?" Regulus was taken aback, not having realised how pompous he had sounded. "No, it was a statement. You're not going to do someone ridiculous, are you? I wasn't implying anything other than you can be a bit of a nuisance and a girl like Juliet would not want to —"

     "Dare accepted, brother."

✧࿐ ཾ✧

Juliet usually liked pureblood parties, but it seemed like the older children were starting to lose interest in her. It wasn't fun being on the outside and that was exactly how she felt when she saw that Narcissa Black and Emilie Rosier were sneaking away with some of the older boys without inviting her. Her parents not-so-gently encouraged her to socialise after she had attempted to stick by the mingling adults, so that left her seeking a reprieve in the form of a book.

"Do you like animals?"

The redhead glanced up, scrunching her eyebrows in confusion at the boy that had appeared out of nowhere. Sirius inclined her head towards the book she was reading — Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them — and her face heated up. At ten, she preferred Newt Scamander to the animals.

As if realising she had been quiet for too long, she stood up and smiled like she had rehearsed in front of the bathroom mirror. "I suppose so."

"Brilliant! Look at what I can do —"

"Wait, where did you get that wand?" asked Juliet, awestruck when the boy pulled out a wand from behind his back. "I thought we aren't allowed one until we're eleven."

"Oh, it's my mother's," he admitted in a blasé manner. "I stole it."

Juliet blinked, the book she had clutched against her chest dropping to the side. "You stole it? That's a horrible thing to do!"

"Not really. She's a bit of a dragon."

Unsure what she was meant to respond, Juliet titled her head up to meet his eyes — even at ten, he was quite tall. "What did you want to show me, Sirius?"

Sirius stepped closer and her stomach was consumed with an uncomfortable, foreign warmth. He clasped her hand and brought it towards the walnut wand. Their hands were touching and Juliet's heartbeat became so thunderous that she missed what the boy had said entirely.

"Close your eyes," he repeated himself.

Without thinking, she obliged. He said something under his breath and guided her hand to make a pattern in the air. Then, she felt his lips press against hers — it lasted no longer than four or five seconds because her eyes immediately shot open in surprise and she bumped their foreheads when she tried pull away. It wasn't unpleasant, but it was her first kiss. Before she could even stress about if she did it right, or if her hands were in the correct position, she looked around and saw the pair were surrounded by a kaleidoscope of pure white butterflies.

Whilst Juliet gasped in amazement, Sirius pocketed the wand, satisfied. Both of their faces were rose red, but it was such a charming scene of innocence that it didn't matter.

"Thank you." As if sensing a pair of eyes on them both, she took a step back and straightened her posture. "But it was rather silly of you to risk getting into trouble. Your mother will be furious."

✧࿐ ཾ✧

     Something Regulus had never felt before twisted through him — resentment. The brothers had always been rather close and he was eager to attend Hogwarts with Sirius, believing them both being sorted into Slytherin would only cement their bond. Yet, Regulus didn't like what he felt as he observed what — at nine — seemed like a magical kiss that meant his sibling and his crush were destined to be together.

     "Mu—Mother," the young boy promptly corrected himself as he tugged on the fabric of his mother's skirt, "Sirius stole your wand. From what I can tell, he's troubling the Fawley girl."

     Annoyed, Walburga took her son's word for it and stormed over to Sirius. Trailing behind the woman, the child didn't think anything of it as she dragged his older brother away by the ear. Regulus opened his mouth to talk to Juliet, but she swept past him to follow Sirius.

     That was the first time Regulus Black realised he was invisible to Juliet Fawley.