Work Text:
“Good morning Regulus,” Professor Fleamont says to him as he opens the door to the classroom.
Regulus nods, “Good morning professor.” He heads off into the small room that Fleamont has turned into a private office area to put his things down. He quickly grabs his folder and computer out of his bag and brings them back out into the classroom, handing the professor the folder, “Here are the graded essays from last week.”
Fleamont smiles at him, taking it from him and throwing his head back, “Thank you so much. I’m sorry that I couldn’t get to them myself, but my kiddo had a game and I wouldn’t have been able to grade them.”
Regulus shakes his head, “I understand, it’s no problem at all. It was a nice break from the rest of my school work and I enjoy reading and grading essays.” He really does understand, in fact it makes his heart soar everytime he hears the man talking about how much he cares for his kid and attending their games and extracurriculars over his off hours work.
Fleamont hums, quickly flipping through the pages, complimenting on some of his remarks and leaning to his desk to add something else, “This is incredible criticism, Regulus.”
“Thank you.” He smiles, moving to sit down at the small table that Fleamont had set up for him near his setup and opening up his computer to start working on the next part of his project.
Fleamont hums and goes through the rest of the papers, standing up and handing them back to him so he can hand them out while Fleamont starts working on grading the online assignment that was due over the weekend while the students work, as well as handing him a copy of the lesson plans for the week, “By the way, did I see pins on your bag when you came in?”
Regulus hums, thanking him and accepting the papers from him, “Yes. My other class was canceled so I brought a different bag since this was the only class I was coming onto campus for. It’s decorated with pins that my brother and friends have given me over the years.”
“You don’t have to, but would you mind me taking a look at them? My kid has recently started collecting pins so I’ve been noticing them more.”
Regulus nods and stands to grab his bag, a little messenger bag that Sirius got for him years ago. He brings it back out and shows off the pin-filled strap to his professor. Fleamont takes a moment to look over each pin before his eyes catch on a certain two and Regulus feels himself freeze up at the sudden attention.
He feels like melting into the floor and disappearing when the man finally points at the two pins, “Would you mind if I ask about these? You don't have to tell me, but I know of most of the other ones, at least a bit.” Regulus swallows thickly, focusing on the pins that Fleamont is pointing at.
He doesn’t want to tell him.
Regulus has a bad association with telling adults about his gender identity and sexuality, the adults in his life always scolding him or yelling at him or punishing him for it.
But he knows that Fleamont won’t do that.
Right?
He takes long enough that the man starts to pull away, “You don’t have to tell me if it’s private or something you don’t want to talk about.”
“No, it’s fine.” Regulus corrects quickly, “They’re ah- this one is the trans pride pin and this one is the gay pride flag.”
Fleamont seems to take a moment to register it before his face changes with realisation, “Oh goodness, have I been using the wrong pronouns and name for you the entire time? Can I ask the proper way to refer to you?”
Regulus shakes his head, “It’s Regulus and he/him, I was able to get that changed in the system when I started here.”
“Oh thank goodness, if I ever say something that makes you uncomfortable about your sexuality or your gender, please do let me know. I’m trying but I’m not perfect with it.”
“You’re… you’re alright with it?”
Fleamont hums and starts working on his computer, “I mean, of course I am. I’m working at one of the most progressive schools in the area. Did you really expect me to be upset with you about something like that?” He shakes his head.
Regulus hums, frozen to the floor, “I mean- I didn’t doubt that you’d be okay with it, I’ve just had bad experiences in the past.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry Regulus.”
He shakes his head, finally picking up his feet and going to toss his bag back in the room. He goes to sit down, and it’s only then that he responds, “It’s fine. I’ve- I’ve gotten away from all of those people, I’m in a much better place now.”
“That’s good,” Fleamong nods, “You’re always welcome to my home.”
Regulus nods, thanking him, even though he knows he won’t be taking the man up on that offer. Not when he’s Regulus’ boss and his mentor, not when that would be breaking the bounds of professionality -- even if Fleamont seems as though he’s never cared about that.
Fleamont goes to say something, Regulus can tell, but then someone walks into the classroom and Fleamont is welcoming them in. Fleamont stands up once the class time comes and starts his lecture, then goes off to telling students to work on their next assignment. Regulus stands up to hand out the papers and answer some questions for Fleamont while the man gets to grading.
It’s only after all of the students have left and Fleamont has thanked everyone that the man brings it up again, “I hate to beat a dead horse, but if there’s anyone that gives you trouble about your pins, you’re welcome to come to me and I’ll help you get things figured out.”
Regulus smiles gently at him, “You’d really do that for me?”
“Of course,” he says, handing him another stack of papers that the students turned in on their way out, “I wouldn’t want anyone being treated badly for something that they can’t control. Besides,” he hums, working his way back to his own desk working on getting ready for his next class, “my kid is nonbinary and queer. I would want them, or anyone else, to feel comfortable coming to me for any reason.”
“Your-” Regulus asks, his eyes wide.
Fleamont’s kid is queer? They’re nonbinary?
Regulus had assumed, for the entire six weeks that Regulus had been learning under him, that their kid -- James -- was much younger than Regulus, perhaps only a couple years old.
But the fact that they’re old enough to have had conversations with their dad about their gender and sexuality…
“Is everything alright, Regulus?” Fleamont asks, bringing him out of his reverie.
Regulus snaps to look up at him, “I-” he clears his throat, “Your kid is nonbinary? Is that why you call them kiddo?”
Fleamont nods, “That would be the reason.”
“Can I ask how old they are?”
“They’ve just turned 24.”
“Oh so they’re not much older than me.”
He shakes his head, “No. You might know them, actually. They just graduated, likely with your brother since he graduated last year, too.”
“What did they graduate with?”
“Psychology and clinical therapy. They look similar to me.” He pulls out his phone and goes to show him a photo.
Regulus isn’t sure how he hadn’t put it together before. He had seen James all throughout the campus, talking about their games, and about their classes, and about the cool parties that they had just been to. They had a reputation for being big and boisterous and wanted by everyone at the school -- not including Regulus, not at all. Nope.
It just so happens that everyone is attracted to Fleamont, so Regulus can understand the relation.
“I do know James. Or- well, I know of them.”
“They were hard to miss.” He shakes his head, “I had a class that they would come and sit in on last year because they had a weird period of forty five minutes between classes and that class was obsessed with asking me when they would come in.”
“But you didn’t know?”
The man laughs, stretching out, “James is a force of their own making, you don’t know what James is going to do when. They just do.”
“I think that’s what a lot of people liked about them.”
“It’s for sure a charming trait of theirs.” He smiles, jerking his head, “You should head out so you don’t get caught with my next class coming in.” Regulus nods and goes to grab his bag, putting the papers he needs to grade in the folder he uses for this class and putting it back into his bag. He grabs the bag and throws it over his shoulder, thanking Fleamont and leaving the room to go back to his flat.
Sirius is there with Remus when he gets there, throwing his bag down and walking into the kitchen while Sirius asks him about the class. Regulus hums, “It was good. I came out to Professor Fleamont accidentally and he was good with it. Other than that, I got a-”
“Woah, no. You can’t just say that then go on.” Sirius says, flying up from the couch, “I’m fucking sorry?”
Regulus hums, “I brought the bag with all my pins, he saw the pins, asked about the pride ones, I told him what they meant, he told me that he was okay with it and that his kid is nonbinary and a lot older than I thought they were. Turns out that their kid is James Potter, the hotshot from your year, and that was it.” He goes through the motions quickly, “And Dorcas made me a custom tea today from the cafe and that was delicious.”
“Wait, I’m fucking sorry. The hot professor that you’re interning under is the father of the hot kid in our year?” Sirius blanches, “And you’re so casual about it? You were obsessed with James for two years.” He pauses to scrutinise Regulus, “You’re still into them, aren’t you.”
“I said nothing about that.” Regulus shakes his head, grabbing his snack and leaving into his room.
…
Regulus is in for the shock of his life when he walks into Professor Fleamont’s room a couple days later and goes to put his bag away in the small office that he always puts it in and he’s met by the Adonis that is James Potter.
James Potter who is standing in the room with a short sleeved shirt and an unbuttoned patterned button up.
James Potter who Regulus is ridiculously attracted to.
James Potter who… graduated months ago and shouldn’t be here.
Regulus jumps a bit when he finally registers that they’re in there, lounging on the small couch chair on the far end of the room. He watches them as he makes his way to where he usually puts his bag, doing so and grabbing out the folder and his computer like normal.
James smiles at him after a couple moments, “Hello. Regulus, right?”
His heart does not fly up into his throat at them saying his name. He also does not feel his face warm at the sight of them.
Regulus clears his throat, “Yeah, and you’re James.” James nods with a cocky grin, “Does your father know that you’re back here?”
They let out a belly laugh, their head getting thrown back, “So formal about it, just like papa said. You’re so cute, Regulus.” They bring their head back down and their smile turns into something more gentle, “I thought papa said that he gave you the week’s lesson plan. I’m the guest speaker for today.”
“Would that be considered nepotism? Being brought in by your father to speak in a class when you just graduated?”
“Not when I’m talking about research projects.” They hum, “I know that I just finished, but that’s part of the reason he brought me in. I just had to finish up with my theses and my research projects that I did all throughout university. I am a psychology student.” They push themself to stand up, “And I’m the most conveniently available for him. It’s nice to meet you, Regulus. Papa has told me all about you.”
Regulus swallows, nodding, “You as well.”
James grins at him again, “You’re so fucking cute.” And with that, they’re walking out of the room and back into the main classroom. Regulus follows behind them, pulling the graded papers out of the folder and putting them on Fleamont’s desk.
The man smiles at him, “Thank you Regulus. I take tit that you two met?”
James nods, “Yeah, just now. But I’ve also seen Regulus throughout the campus the past couple of years.”
Fleamont nods, “That’s good.” He turns to Regulus, talking to him about what he’s needing him to do during the class and while James and Fleamont are talking. Regulus agrees easily and Fleamont turns to tell his kid -- ‘kiddo’ as Fleamont calls them, wildly enough, as they seem nothing like a ‘kiddo’ -- about what he’s wanting from them.
“I know, papa.” James smiles, “We talked about it last night, and I know how to give speeches and stuff.”
“I know, James.” Fleamont smiles an uncannily matching smile back, bringing his hand up to rest on their shoulder, “But it’s only my procedure to give you all the details a hundred times.”
They grin at him, going to settle down in his chair at his desk. Regulus half expects Fleamont to get after them for it, but then he has to remind himself that Fleamont isn’t like that.
It’s not hard when the man rolls his eyes and walks forward, scratching at their scalp. He laughs when James leans back into the chair, “This is comfy as hell, papa. Why don’t we have chairs like this in the house.”
“Your mother would kill me if I replaced her nice chairs with my office chair.” Fleamont smiles.
James hums, nodding, “Her and her specific decorations.” They spin around in the chair, “Maybe if she sat in here we could tag team and convince her.” Then their face shifts, “Wait, no. She’d just get after me for scratching the floors because I couldn’t sit still.”
“Or messing up the walls.”
James groans, throwing their head back, “I’m never getting your nice office chair again, am I, papa?”
“You’re about to move into your own place, James, you can get your own chair like this.” The man smiles. Only a couple moments later, the door is opening and the first few students -- always early, people after Regulus’ own heart -- walk into the room and go to sit down, greeting Fleamont and Regulus then giving a look at James.
It takes maybe ten more minutes before the rest of the classroom is filled in and Fleamont moves to stand in front of everyone, opening up the point of the day’s lecture and introducing James and what they’re going to be talking about. Regulus moves to get to the work that Fleamont gave him while James takes the floor and the man sits back down.
James is undeniably charismatic. With the way they’re able to just get in front of the entire class and smile and joke and laugh and tell their story. With the smooth way that they scan over the crowd of students and answer questions with ease and without a moment’s hesitation.
Then they’re finishing with their lecture and going back to the two at their desks. They pull up a chair and sit at the same desk as Regulus, grinning at him, “What’re you working on?”
Regulus hums, finishing with his sentence and resting his hands just on the keys, “An essay.”
“What is it about?”
“It’s an analysis on the writing conventions that Oscar Wilde used in his works.”
“Mm, do you like his works?”
“Adore them.” He nods, keeping his voice low, “I spend most of my time doing projects about Oscar Wilde or Gothic literature and horror authors.”
“That’s so fucking sick. I've got some good books about the conventions of fear if you ever want them from me at some time.”
Regulus swallows, “Yeah, I- that sounds good.”
“Perfect, can I get your number for that?”
“After class finishes.”
They grin, “Such a goody-two shoes you are, isn’t that cute.”
“What is it with you and calling me cute?”
“You are,” they shrug with one shoulder, their grin turning lopsided, “very formal.”
“You’re so stupid.” Regulus shakes his head, “Shut up and let me keep working. Find your own things to do and stop annoying me.”
“And that’s another thing,” they hums, leaning forward and resting their chin on their hands, meeting his eyes, “You have this nice little mean streak, insulting your friends and glaring at everyone. It’s incredibly charming.”
“You’ve paid more attention to me than you let Fleamont think.” Regulus observes, watching them out of the corner of his eye even if he starts clicking around on his laptop to see his next quote. And ‘nice little mean streak’ is oxymoronic.”
“Oh please do call me a moron more,” they smile, clearly enjoying teasing him, “And you’re particularly noticeable, even if you try not to be. You’ve got a very strong intimidating presence and it’s invigorating.”
“Now you’re just buttering me up.” Regulus shakes his head, “I really did mean it when I told you to shut up.”
Luckily they do. Instead, they go to grab their own laptop and start typing away on it. Regulus only briefly wonders what they could be working on, but he can’t bring himself to ask about it.
And when class ends, the two of them pack up and head into the mini office to put their things away and grab their bags. James picks up their bag from its place on the couch and straightens, “I think you said I could get your number for the books?” They make the smooth motion of pulling out their phone, opening it and presenting it to him.
Regulus puts in his contact, “Now are you just going to be texting me about the books?”
“For the most part.” They shrug, taking the phone back and shooting a quick text to Regulus. Regulus makes them a contact in his own phone. James swears under their breath and tells Regulus that they promised to stay for the next class so they can talk more. They put their book back down and Regulus snorts quietly, bidding James a goodbye, then Fleamont as he leaves the room to get to his next class.
…
When Regulus gets home that evening, Sirius does his usual grilling about his day, but he’s specifically focusing on if anything else fun happened in his class with Fleamont. He explains that James came into the class and that he gave them his number so they could give him some books that they had read about fear but leaves out the fact that they were flirting with him. Sirius, later, stole his phone and changed their contact name from Regulus’ dry format of ‘James Potter’ to ‘Hot Teacher’s Hot Kid’ which Regulus rolls his eyes at and pretends to change the name of.
He doesn’t. He thinks it’s funny and somewhat true.
He gets a text from James at ten at night.
Hot Teacher’s Hot Kid
[books.png]
i have located the books i was talking about
Regulus
Those are good sized books, I’d really appreciate it.
Even if just for my own personal reads.
Hot Teacher’s Hot Kid
theyre open to you for as long as you need
i dont need them any time soon and ive already read them
would you like to meet for a coffee and i can give you the books?
Regulus
Are you asking me for a date?
Hot Teacher’s Hot Kid
i think ive been very clear that im interested in you
how many times did i call you cute today?
so?
Regulus
I suppose. Where did you want to meet and when?
Hot Teacher’s Hot Kid
perfect!