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James James Potter was not happy.Now don’t get him wrong, he was usually a pretty happy guy. But not now. He was just told by his co-workers that the coffee shop right next to his work just got shut down. He loved their coffee.Or maybe it was the hot barista that had him going every morning.Ugh you can’t just say this stuff, James thinks to himself. He has been separated from his girlfriend for three whole years. Barely enough time to be looking at anybody. Well according to him.And his son.That part was probably left out, per usual. In James’s head, no one wants a single dad. Or at least, the hot barista didn’t. That’s the only person James really cared to think about, to be honest.His son, Harry, was with his moms right now. Lily and her fiance, Mary, had been together for about 2 and a half years now, and recently just got engaged.At least Lily knows how to move on.Well it wasn’t about moving on. James honestly had no time to be dating right now. His life is booked. With his job, Harry, and constantly bouncing around, he had absolutely no time. Not that he would change anything. Harry was the light of his life.Speaking of Harry.He was supposed to be leaving right now in order to pick his son up from preschool. Lily has grilled him about being late time and time again. He couldn’t listen to her again.Rushing out of the office, James grabs his tote back and says bye to his co-workers. He tries to think back to how he got on this train of thought.The barista.James didn’t even want to think about it. He probably wouldn’t ever see the young man again. No more coffee for him. If his coffee wasn’t coming from the dark headed boy with an arm sleeve full of tattoos, James simply didn’t want it.His hands. God his hands.Okay, this is enough, James thinks. He is starting to get obsessive. Before James realizes, he is sitting in front of Harry’s school.Adult face, James. He thinks, putting his car in park.Before he can even get inside the classroom, his legs are slammed into and something small wraps around him. He obviously knows who it is, but he loves to pretend he doesn’t.“Who is that!” He dramatically gasps, giving the full effect.“Dada! Dada!” Harry starts, “It’s me, dada!”James pulls Harry up into his arms gripping him in an embrace. Harry stuffs his face in the crook of his dad’s neck.“I missed you,” Harry whispered in his ear.“I missed you a million times more, Haz.”To James, this is the hardest part about being a parent. It’s bad enough he has to leave him at school everyday, but he also has shared custody with Lily. He tries to soak up all the time he can get with his son, but it’s hard. They have very different schedules.“Mr. Potter, hi,” Harry’s teacher, Mrs. Huckaby says to him, “I just wanted to let you know that unfortunately I will be moving, so I will no longer be Harry’s teacher. I'm not sure who will be my replacement, but I wouldn’t worry too much.”“Thank you so much for telling me. I am sure that whoever it is will be amazing at what they do,” James says with a smile.Not unfortunate enough, actually. He hated this lady. She always had some bad note to send home with Harry. Harry talks too much. He writes too big. He’s always moving and can never sit still. The list goes on.He’s four.James didn’t know if ADHD was genetic, but if it was, Harry definitely inherited it.“Let’s go home, Dada!” Harry yells before running out. James quickly follows him. Harry was great at getting out of awkward situations. Buckling him up into his booster seat, Harry looks at him with his big doe eyes.“Can uncle moony and paddy come over for dinner?” And God, how could he say no to that?“I’ll ask them honey, but I can't promise anything.”“Thanks dada.” Regulus Walking out of the coffee shop, Regulus had a scowl on his face. Well he usually always did, but this was a special occurrence.He just got laid off from his job. Well technically the owner died and no one was willing to take ownership. But Regulus had one more class and he officially had his masters degree in teaching. Luckily, that class was tonight.The thing he would miss most would probably be the hot customer that came in every morning for a hot white mocha with two extra shots of espresso. Walking down the sidewalk, a certain poster catches his eyes. NEW JOB OPEN AT WESTWOOD PRESCHOOL Regulus had always thought he would be a highschool teacher, but this should keep him on his feet until that door opens. Calling the number at the bottom, Regulus calls the school and convinces them to let him start.“After tonight, I will have my masters in teaching. Interview me early tomorrow morning so I can start tomorrow.”Long story short, Regulus might just be a preschool teacher by tomorrow morning. He decides that he can run home real quick before he has to make it to school. Walking in the door, he is met with the faint smell of cheese.“Good afternoon, Sir Regulus. Your grilled cheese will be ready in just a couple minutes,” Evan Rosier, Regulus’s honorary best friend says. Along with Barty, of course. Barty would skin him alive if he didn’t get his mention.“Thank you so much, Sir Evan. I must hurry though. I have my last college class in about an hour.”“Ooh, boring. How lovely. So, what’s happening?”“Well I got laid off from my job.”Evan literally spits out his tea.“WHAT?!”“Yes… But oh I do have an interview to be a preschool teacher tomorrow morning.”“When will you start?”“Tomorrow morning.”Any calmness that Evan might have reclaimed has been lost again. His eyes just about pop out of its sockets. He stares over at Regulus as though he might be insane.“Don’t you think you’re getting a bit ahead of yourself?”Regulus takes his grilled cheese very willingly and takes a bite out of it.What could go wrong?”He goes to his final class and afterwards goes to sleep with a content smile on his face. James James wakes up with groggy eyes, blurry and half closed. Reaching for his glasses, he tries to get a good look at his clock.I must’ve woken up before my alarm this morning.8:18am, the clock read. James closes his eyes, rating them before the long day ahead of him. This morning, he realized he wouldn’t be going to the same coffee shop he’s gone to every morning for the past 2 years. At least he could sleep longer.WaitJames shot up out of the bed. Whipping his head to look at his clock, he reads it carefully this time.Harry has to be at school at 8:30.Lily was going to kill him.Scrambling out of bed, James throws on some random clothes he found on his floor. God knows the last time he cleaned his room. He stayed up late last night with Sirius and Remus way after Harry went to bed. He sprints downstairs, almost tripping twice on his way there. He throws a lunch together (one that Lily would chop his head off for) and an applesauce for breakfast.“Harry, honey, wake up.”Turning around to go to his 4-year old’s room, he comes face to face with his 4-year old.“Morning, dada,” He says, wide awake and fully dressed.James looks too relieved. Picking Harry up, he jogs them out to the car.“Haz, darling, why didn’t you wake dada up?”“You were sleeping.”He was right. The whole way to school Harry babbles on and on about random things going on at school and with Lily and Mary.James listens. He takes this in. Being able to just listen to his son talk about what he enjoys. Pulling up to the school, James unbuckles Harry and pulls him out of the car.“You’re gonna have a new teacher at school today, Haz, so be nice please.”“Hopefully they’re not mean like Mrs. Huckaby.”“Hopefully.”After checking him in and walking him to his class, it is exactly 8:28 exactly.They’re early.Looking around for Harry’s new teacher, James’s heart stops in his chest when he sees him.The hot barista.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Regulus
No
fucking
way.
This has got to be a joke. The hot customer that Regulus had been literally daydreaming about is standing in the doorway of his classroom.
Please tell me he doesn’t work here,
he thinks, looking dead in his eyes. Regulus doesn’t think he could stand being around him this much.
Thankfully, he doesn’t look like he’s dressed to be a teacher, but instead a little boy runs up from behind him and grabs his hand.
He has a son.
Shit.
Regulus was basically praying at this point that he didn’t have a wife. Maybe they divorced, or they were never together.
“Um, excuse me?” He asks, looking straight into Regulus’s eyes.
After recovering, Regulus decides to actually speak.
“Hi! I’m Regulus Black, I am your son’s new teacher.” Bending down to Harry’s height, he then asks him, “What’s your name, little guy?”
Harry, of course, hides away behind James’s legs. James gives a little chuckle, but looks up to Regulus.
“This little guy is Harry, and I’m James. You worked at the coffee shop before this, right? What happened to that?”
James.
Fuck.
“The owner just recently died, and no one was willing to take ownership,” Regulus says with a little shrug, “I have been working on my masters for teaching, but when I got laid off, there really wasn’t any other choice of what to do.”
“Oh. I’m sorry for your loss,” James says.
“Don’t be. The guy was a bat.”
As soon as Regulus said it, he immediately wished he didn’t say that.
How inconsiderate,
he thought. That was someone’s son. Doesn’t make it any less true, though. Much to his surprise, James lets out a huge laugh, throwing his head back, his whole body shaking.
“Yeah, that’s kind of how Harry’s old teacher was. We didn’t like her much.”
“Oh that’s a shame to hear. Well I can promise you’ll probably like me a little bit more, anyways,” Regulus said, mostly to Harry.
Talking was so easy with James. He felt like he could do it all day and never run out of topics. But unfortunately, Regulus has a class to teach, and James has a job to get to.
“Well I got to run. Either his mom or I will be picking him up this afternoon.”
His mom.
James
Fuck
The hot barista was Harry’s new teacher. How was James going to survive the school year? They made eye contact for a while, until James decided to speak up.
“Um, excuse me?”
They break eye contact, James coughing slightly to diffuse the awkwardness. As soon as he starts talking, James is at a loss for words.
I’m in love,
he thinks.
“Hi! I’m Regulus Black, I am your son’s new teacher.” Bending down to Harry’s height, he then asks him, “What’s your name, little guy?”
Regulus.
Why is his name even hot?
Just fucking kill me,
James thinks.
Harry, being the dramatic little fucker he is, pushes himself behind James’s legs.
Way to go, Harry. Yeah, no I got it.
They talk for what seems like hours, and it almost physically pains James to go. He tries to cover it up as though it’s
only
because of Harry, but he feels like they both know it’s not.
Saying bye to Harry and walking out the door, he immediately calls Lily.
Connecting on the line, he automatically hears Lily’s voice.
“Hello?”
“Lily, god, I need you to pick Harry up from school today. And maybe every single day after today.”
“Woah, j, breathe. What happened?”
“So you know that hot barista at the coffee shop I was telling you about?”
“Yeah, the one with pretty hands.”
“He’s Harry’s new teacher. What am I supposed to do? I can’t talk to him ever again.”
And you want to know what Lily did.
She laughed.
“Lily, I’m being so serious right now. What am I supposed to do?”
“James, it's not that big of a deal. I’ll go pick him up today, but you have to tomorrow. It’s really okay. Just be yourself, and if he doesn’t like it, that's his problem.”
“Lily, you’re a lifesaver.”
“Yeah yeah love you too.”
James was feeling way lighter after his conversation with Lily. Him and Lily were basically high school sweethearts. James spent 5 years trying to get Lily to like him, and when he finally did, they moved in together. They had a son, but soon realized that they didn’t want each other as much as they thought they did. Nevertheless, it wasn’t ever awkward between the two of them. James was Lily’s wingman to get Mary, and Lily is now James’s wingwoman.
Little did he know that a certain someone had heard only the end of his conversation.
Regulus
He’s married, dammit.
Well this has simply ruined his day. Regulus didn’t know what he expected. There’s no way anyone looking like that would be single anyways. He should’ve known better. He was determined to not let these kids down. From what he’s heard from multiple parents this morning, Mrs. Huckaby was
not
a nice person. He was gonna be the best role model that he didn’t have growing up.
“Okay kids, simmer down. My name is Mr. Black and I’m your new teacher ....”
Later that day…
Once the day was over, Regulus was exhausted. He loved his class and all of his kids, but god were they work. He could sleep for days. Now, all that was left was pickup.
Parents came in and out, signing their kids out and leaving. All Regulus could think about was what Evan and Barty were cooking for dinner. Hopefully pasta. Evan was skilled at making alfredo, and Regulus was craving it.
A woman with a face that could never be forgotten walked through the door. She had bright red fiery hair and piercing green eyes. She had her arms linked with another girl. This one had dark brown skin with a curly afro. She had probably the best style of clothing Regulus had ever seen in his life, and he grew up with a really stylish brother.
“Hello,” He greets them, “Who are you here for? I didn’t see you this morning.”
The two girls looked at him with amusement in their eyes. Regulus had wondered if he said something wrong.
“We’re here for our son, Harry,” The redhead said with a bright smile.
Oh.
Harry’s mom.
James’s wife.
This other girl is probably her friend,
He thinks looking at them intently.
“Oh, okay. You must be James’s wife, then? I met him this morning.”
She laughed.
She laughed at him.
Regulus was taken aback.
“Did I say something wrong? I’m sorry-” He started, but was completely cut off.
“No, honey,” She said with a bright laugh, “James and I are not together. I’m Lily, and this is my fiance, Mary.”
Thank god,
Regulus thought to himself awkwardly. That could’ve been bad.
Thankfully, the awkwardness subsided as Harry came running up to them.
“Mama! Ma!” He yells, running up to them.
Lily
“Mama! Ma!” Harry yells, running up to Lily and Mary.
“Hiya Harry,” Lily starts “How was school today?”
He’s bouncing around on the floor, rambling about anything and everything. “It was good, mama. Ma! Can we play legos when we get home?”
Mary looks at him fondly, “Of course we can, buddy. Only if you promise not to be a pain at bedtime tonight.”
“I promise,” Harry says, but everyone knows it’s a lie.
Lily looks at him adoringly, “Say bye to your teacher, Harry.”
“Bye Mr. Black!”
“Bye Harry!”
Lily walks out, trying to decipher why Harry’s teacher looks so similar.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
James “Dada!” Harry screamed running through the doorway of the Potter Manor. James grew up in this house. All the memories he had as a child were made in this house. He wanted Harry to have that same experience. His parents gave it to him as soon as he turned old enough for his own house. They were growing older anyways and didn’t need all the space, so they bought themselves a little cottage down the road.“Hey Hazza! How was your day?”“It was so good. My teacher is so cool and he played with dinosaurs with me and he is so nice and gave us extra lunch time to talk and we played games and…” James truly didn’t think Harry was gonna stop talking. He couldn’t complain though, for he loved hearing him talk.Lily walked in soon after him, laughing at something with Mary.“James, oh James. Your little boy-toy was distraught that you weren’t picking up Harry this afternoon. Can you believe he thought we were married. Ugh, I thought I looked gayer than that,” She says with an eye roll.James simply rolled his eyes at that. First of all, anyone could take a look at Lily and know that she liked women at least a little bit. Also, there is absolutely, positively, no way that Regulus Black would be upset that James wasn’t there. If anything, he was shouting out with joy.“Oh please, Lily. Don’t make me laugh,” he said with a print of blush on his cheeks.“I am being so for real right now, James. Good thing you’re taking Har to school in the morning. AND afternoon. It’s your week, and it’s only tuesday.How am I going to survive? James thought to himself, internally groaning. Regulus “Bart. Kill me now. Please just fucking end my life,” Regulus said, sitting at the dinner table with Evan and Barty. He had noticed a speculation of tension between the two lately, but he decided he wouldn’t mention it.“Regulus,” Barty started, “You’re allowed to like someone. It’s normal. Unlike you.”Reglus had to agree with that statement, on both parts. It was normal. And he was allowed. He sometimes feels the need to restrict himself from relationships because he is trans. His thoughts aren’t always positive. He couldn’t even count on his fingers how many times Evan, Barty, or both of them have brought him down from a panic attack. It hasn’t happened in a couple months, but usually it happens when he’s asked out on a date, or when someone expresses a liking for him.Regulus knows he’s attractive. He’d be a fool not to. But sometimes he doubts his self worth and begins to question if people really like him.“Okay,” he whispers back quietly. One thing about Regulus is that he doesn’t like feeling weak. He puts on a confident facade, but in reality it’s not him at all. He’s pretty quiet, and he loves to read. He likes big jumpers and when the comforter of his bed swallows him whole.Regulus assumes that Evan noticed the shift, because he quickly changed the subject to Regulus’s first day. Regulus loved every second of it. From the kids to the nap time. Every part of it is aching for tomorrow.Regulus went to sleep with a content smile on his face, waiting readily for the day ahead of him. James James had to mentally prepare himself before walking into Regulus’s classroom. He was completely unprepared. What would he say or do?“Come on, dada! Let’s go!! What are you doing?”That snapped James out of his trance. He wasn’t here for Mr. Black. He was here to drop his son off at school.“Let’s go, dude.”Walking into the classroom for good this time, his eyes immediately find Regulus’s and attach to them.Why does he look so damn familiar, James thinks, his brain teetering at the thought.“Good morning, Harry, Mr. Potter.” Mr. Black says to the pair of them. His eyes are unwavering and he looks actually excited to be there. But, after all, James is pretty sure that’s how every teacher looks in the morning.Except Mrs. Huckaby. God, she was terrible.Harry says his goodbyes and runs off to play with his friends, leaving James and Regulus right across from each other.Surprisingly, James finds words tumbling out of his mouth.“Harry thinks very highly of you, you know. Would not stop talking about you at dinner last night.”Regulus laughs at that. He laughs and James honestly thinks he might pass away.“Ooh. Sorry ‘bout that. I tried not to be too overbearing for the first day. Although, I am planning a field trip, and we do need supervisors so I have a paper for parents to sign up. You don’t have to of course, but no other parents will and it would be amazing if you could.”James didn’t even blink.“Of course I will! I would love to.”Regulus’s eyes light up.He must’ve really needed someone to do this, jeez. James thinks in his tiny brain.“Great. That’s great. Let me go get the paper so you can sign in.”He walks off for a minute to get the paper and James finds a second to breathe. To think about what he’s doing. James can get off work, that's not the problem. But can he really be alone with Regulus all day watching a bunch of kids? God, he hopes so. Regulus finally walks back towards James.“Okay so if you can just sign here and here. Also since you’re like the only parent volunteering, could I get your number?”“What-” James stutters. He wasn’t ready for this yet.“You know, so I can make arrangements for groups and stuff. I would need to run them by you. I’m also not too sure where we’re going yet, so I figured you could help me decide.”You dumb fucker, James thinks to himself. Why would he assume anything else?“Yes! Yeah, that’d be amazing, thanks.”In just a couple seconds, James has a new contact.Regulus Black