Regulus sighed as he flopped onto the bed, black hair loosely falling in front of his eyes. He really couldn’t be asked to go to the Feast tonight, so he was just going to plug in his AirPods and read.
He opened his creaky bedside drawer, taking out a muggle book in which Remus had given him earlier. The book title was They Both Die at the End, and he’d been reading it for about a month now.
He was halfway through the book, but still struggled to concentrate without his music. With a tired yawn followed by an eye rub, he clicked onto the Spotify app on his phone, and pressed play on his playlist.
The screen showed that apparently She’s So Nice was playing on the bluetooth, but he heard nothing from his AirPods. Confused, Regulus adjusted the volume, maximising it whilst still hearing nothing in his ears.
Frustrated, Regulus turned off his phone, placed it back on charge and slammed his book shut. Angrily storming out of the room, he spared a glance at his open AirPod case, annoyed that he’d have to buy another.
He basked in the serene silence in which the empty corridors of Hogwarts carried with them. Orange and pink hues of sunlight filtered through the windows of the castle, and Regulus shielded his eyes away from the sunset.
The doors of the great hall dramatically swung open as Regulus gentle pushed them open. He wanted to fucking crawl back to his room the moment which he set foot in there.
The speakers of the Great Hall were blasting She’s So Nice, and he was the obvious culprit. Not only had he accidentally connected his phone and began blasting vulgar music, but he had turned the volume all the way up.
As soon as Regulus had walked in, he’d noticed Barty and Evan on the floor dying with laughter, and they obviously knew that Regulus listened to that song.
“Yeah treat her like a bitch,” Regulus suddenly heard James, his boyfriend of three years, singing from across the hall. He borrowed one of Regulus’ AirPods on occasion, and when Regulus didn’t show up to meals, James always noticed.
Regulus went to hospital last year for his anorexia, which was almost completely better now, but James always ensured that he ate from them on.
Lily Evans, Remus’ friend, was scolding James for the inappropriate lyrics, and Regulus only noticed this when he had gone right behind the group of them.
“Reg!” James exclaimed excitedly, like a golden retriever. Regulus took a seat in between his brother and his boyfriend, his cheeks flushed and his pupils dilated. “How did you manage this?”
“I didn’t mean to!” He grunted, upset. Regulus slammed his head on the table groaning.
“Regulus?” He heard a soft, feminine voice from behind him say. Great, everybody knew. He turned around to see Pandora in her full Ravenclaw robes, twirling a blonde curl around her index finger.
“Hey, Panda.” He sighed, burying his hands in his hair. Just as Regulus thought that it couldn’t get any worse, the song ended, and the playlist shuffled onto the next.
That was the moment when SLUT ME OUT began echoing across the Great Hall.