Forced Friendships
Regulus shouldn't have told his friends about his embarrassing crush, but in his defense, after almost kissing James, he was in a bit of a daze. The memory of the night was still fresh in his mind, but tonight he had other things to worry about, considering he was sitting on a bench by the lake, in the freezing cold air of a Monday night.
Why?
Because fucking Evan and Barty forgot to use the silencing charm.
As soon as Regulus realized this, he took the book he was reading and ran. Fucking ran.
However, even though he ran out of there as quickly as humanly possible, he still heard things he could never unhear.
Luckily, he was already dressed—well, kind of dressed. He was wearing loose grey jeans and an oversized black jumper, which, to be honest, was actually Evan’s. (Well, technically it was Barty’s, then Pandora stole it from him, then Dorcas took it from Pandora, and then Evan sneakily took it from Pandora. And tonight, Regulus stole it from Evan.) Regulus only wore this odd outfit because he thought he was staying in the dorm the whole night. But boy, was he mistaken.
Cursing Barty and Evan in his mind, he continued his reading.
Then he heard the voice of the last person he wanted to see, "OI! REGGIE!"
"Fuck my life," Regulus cursed under his breath as Sirius and his idiot friends walked towards him. Worst of all, one of those idiot friends was James Potter.
"Regulus Black, hello," Peter Pettigrew greeted, sitting next to Regulus. For what reason, Regulus didn't have a clue; he just wanted to be left alone.
"Why are you sitting alone by the lake? It's so late," questioned Remus. Regulus sighed and continued reading his book. He decided to answer before they started getting annoying.
So, without looking up from his book, he answered, "My friends are shagging and forgot to use the silencing charm, so I fucking ran."
This prompted a slight laugh from James fucking Potter. Regulus couldn't help himself but sigh again.
"Why aren't you with your other friends then, Meadows and Rosier?" asked Sirius, who Regulus could hear pacing.
"No clue where those two are," he responded, still trying to focus on his book.
Regulus thought it would hurt seeing Sirius and his friends. And it did. It fucking did. He wished they'd go, but he was too scared to walk away. He was too scared that if he did or said anything, he might break down. Weak is what he called himself.
"Quite the conversationalist, aren't you?" sarcastically commented Remus, who sat down next to Regulus too. Peter and Remus were now practically suffocating him, and he was about to explode.
"Fuck off," Regulus retorted, rolling his eyes while casually turning a page in his book.
"Be more polite, Reggie. Don’t you think he should be more polite, James?"
Regulus froze at the mention of James' name; his heart started beating way too fast, like he was sure he was going to die.
"Y-yeah, be nicer," James said, rather pathetically. He sounded nervous and hesitant, which slightly frightened Regulus.
This caused Regulus to look up, and oh, what a mistake that was. Looking at his brother made his heart sink, and looking at James made his heart run out of his chest. With all of this stress, Regulus was surprised he didn't die of a heart attack right there and then.
"Well, as much as I hated this conversation, I am going to leave now." Regulus sighed, standing up and attempting to leave, but he was stopped when Sirius grabbed his wrist roughly. Regulus forced himself not to gasp or panic at the sudden contact, and he immediately snatched his wrist back.
He hated physically contact with anyone other than his friends, it made him well uncomfortable and panicked, especially if it was his brother who abandoned him.
"Regulus, there's something I wanted to talk about with you," Sirius said rather firmly, and Regulus raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I don't—" he started to say but was interrupted by a cheerful voice, "Reggie!" The voice called, and Regulus glanced behind him, only to find his best friend.
Pandora is a literal godsend. Thank Merlin for her saving him every single time.
She threw her arms around his neck, and quickly gave me a small kiss on the cheek before letting go and standing beside him.
"Why are you out here with... them?" Pandora hesitated for a second before referring to the others, making Remus raise an eyebrow.
"We are honored to be referred to in such a kind manner," Peter said, his tone full of sarcasm.
"Evan and Barty are fucking," Regulus whispered, and she rolled her eyes, immediately understanding why he left the dorm.
"Let's go find Dorcas; I'm bored," he added, not whispering this time. He was about to walk away when Sirius coughed loudly and rather obnoxiously.
Regulus looked him dead in the eye, which was a lot of effort for him, and nodded for Sirius to continue.
"I want to talk to you," Sirius said simply, and Regulus shrugged.
"And I don't want to—" then Regulus was cut off. AGAIN.
"Hello, idiots... and Remus!" grinned a girl with red hair and a fierce but kind expression. This was Lily Evans herself. Regulus might hold a little bit of resentment since James used to have a very loud crush on her, otherwise, she was nice enough to be tolerable.
She then turned to Regulus and Pandora, who were shoulder to shoulder. Pandora was as red as Lily's hair. It was no secret into their little group, that Pandora liked Lily, though Pandora always said that she was sure that Lily didn't like her back.
"Baby Black and... Rosier, hello," she smiled awkwardly, pausing before saying Pandora's name. It seemed like she might like Pandora more than she let on.
And for the record, the name 'Baby Black' is something Regulus hates with a passion.
"Are you all hanging out without me?" she asked the four boys with a raised eyebrow, and Remus shrugged.
"Don't worry, Lils, we would never. We were just harassing Regulus when Pandora showed up," explained Remus, and she chuckled.
Pandora’s hand gripped Regulus' arm, which was extremely painful. That woman had some godly strength in her. Because—ouch.
"We were just—uh—leaving, actually," Pandora stuttered, looking at her feet. She then proceeded to drag Regulus away so quickly that he tripped and nearly fell flat on his face (Regulus was sure that he heard James and Peter laugh). Regulus' blood circulation was slowly being cut off as Pandora dragged him.
"Reggie! Wait!" shouted Sirius, but he made no effort to catch up with the two.
"We should hang out sometime!" shouted Lily, her voice sounding hopeful.
Unfortunately for them, both of their voices were ignored as Regulus and Pandora entered the castle.
"Pandora and Lily sitting in a tree~" Regulus sang in a whisper, and she nudged his shoulder.
"Don't even get me started. James was literally staring holes into your head," she joked, and Regulus didn't believe her.
Pandora dragged him until he was sure his arm would be cut off. They stopped in an empty hallway, and she began speaking quickly, "Don't worry about me and Lily. I would never date one of Sirius' friends," she said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes, and Regulus raised an eyebrow. "I mean—I couldn't do that to you," she added.
"Don't do that just for me—if you want, I can come with you to hang out with them," he suggested, a weak smile on his lips.
"No, Regulus—"
"Please, just let me be a good friend for once."
"You always are—"
"No, Pan, you are not compromising a potential relationship, just to save me from maybe seeing my brother more often. Plus, if we hang out together, it may help me get used to seeing— them."
Pandora frowned but nodded slightly.
Regulus wanted to be a good friend; he needed to be. His friends were being too kind recently, and he needed to pay them back somehow. Plus, he knew for a fact that Dorcas liked Marlene McKinnon, so that was another win.
He could do it, for his friends.