It is particularly cloudy today. Remus decides that it is the perfect weather for being in the library. He excuses himself from the dorm and starts walking down through the corridors. They are particularly empty today given the cool weather but he doesn't mind. His footsteps echo in the empty hallways the only other sound is the rain falling on the castles roof. As he enters the library he is met with the smell of cinnamon as Madam Pince loved the smell and left candles burning. He greets her with the wave of his hand and a smile. Many people have decided to read today and he is silently grateful that it is so quiet. As he is approaching the old literature section he catches a familiar face in the corner of his eye. He turns and sees Regulus hunched over a book at the corner table crammed between two shelves. Remus starts making his way over to his boyfriend's younger brother and sits down across from him. Regulus knows he is there but chooses to ignore him. “That's a good one.” Remus says attempting to start a conversation between him and the young Black brother. Regulus looks up, giving him a puzzled look “You’ve read Northanger Abbey?” he asks as if he doesn't believe him. “Who hasn't?” Remus replied with a smirk. Regulus just nods and continues to read his book. They sit in silence and read until dinner. They walked to the Great Hall together still not saying a word, there was no need to fill the silence because it was so very comfortable. As they enter the hall they go their separate ways. Remus sits by his friends placing a kiss on his boyfriend's temple. He starts to eat and looks up to find the rest of the Marauders staring at him. “What?” He says his mouth is half full of chicken. “Why in the bloody hell did you walk in with Regulus Black?” James says his mouth is hanging open. “Remus love, are you shagging my brother?” Sirius asked, his face completely serious. “No pads, I'm not shagging your brother. I just saw him in the library and we sat at the same table.” Remus says as if it's no big deal. Probably because it is no big deal. “Why is there a table shortage?” Peter comments. “No but he's a lot more tolerable than you lot.” He replies. James gives an offended look at this comment. Sirius doesn't look 100 percent convinced yet though. “I promise love.” Remus says playing with Sirius’ hair. Sirius melts in his hands and just nods. They continue the rest of dinner as they normally would. On the way out he catches Regulus’ eye and he gives him a short nod then they head their separate ways.
The next day at the same time he finds Regulus and they read in silence not a word exchanged but still some kind of understanding forms between them. This continues for a few weeks. Regulus sits at their table in the furthest corner from the entrance. Even though it's not been officially confirmed he starts wondering why Remus is “late”. Remus comes rushing into the library and starts apologizing. “Sorry your brother was hogging me and I tried to explain that I needed to come meet you and I swear I don't know how you put up with him.”he says all in one breath. “It's alright Lupin, I know how overdramatic my brother can be.” Regulus replies with a small smile. Remus gives out a light chuckle and plops down in his usual seat. They start reading like usual but occasionally Regulus will point out interesting things in his book and Remus will do the same. They start communicating more but still it never becomes official. Until one night Regulus was getting ready for bed when his owl tapped on his window with a package. He prays it's not something from his parents as he opens the window. He opens up the package after crossing his legs on his bed. He is surprised to see a book with a note attached. “A package from mommy dearest?” Barty says leaning over his bed trying to catch a glimpse at the name written on the note. He hears Barty gasp overdramatically. “Regulus,” he starts yelling accusingly “are you sneaking around with your brother's boyfriend?” he basically screams. He hears Evan chuckle from the bed beside him and he throws the pillow nearest at him. “Piss off.” he murmured quietly as he flipped over the note. “I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did -R '' he scans the book, he's wanted to read it for a while but hasn't yet. He spends most of his night reading the book. It really is quite good if he's being honest. Over the next few weeks it becomes a common occurrence that his owl comes to his window with a new book from Remus, and he doesn't mind it at all.
The next time an owl comes to Remus’ window is right as he is packing for winter break. He looks at the note attached. “I hope you have a good christmas break and enjoy this book.- R.A.B” He chuckles at the way Regulus signs off on letters, he wonders if someone will ever find his writing and have to decipher his name from three letters. He opens the book and find for the first time that it's been annotated. He smiles and the small annotations seeing that Regulus must have truly liked Remus to do this. Remus reads the book on the train and tries to read it during break but since Sirius moved in with James last year they have been pestering him nonstop. Once the long and wonderful break passes he gets on the train back to hogwarts. He really did mean to finish the book but didn't have time. As they sit at their usual spots he looks for Regulus but can't find him in fact Barty, Evan, Pandora and Dorcas are missing too. He figures they must just be off in their dorm unpacking and shrugs it off. Mcgonagal walks to them and places a hand on Sirius’ shoulder. “About time you feel the same Minnie.” He said laughing but Mcgonagal doesn't laugh. “Come with me please Mr.Black” she says nodding her head to the exit of the Great Hall. He gives Remus a look and he just shrugs clueless. Sirius stands up and follows her to her office. Once the Great Hall doors shut owls come bursting in, dropping copies of “The Daily Prophet” everywhere which is odd considering they only drop off in the mornings. He reads the head line. “Black Heir Dead.” He finds that weird since he just saw Sirius a few minutes ago but looks down and sees a picture of Regulus. His heart drops. Murmurs come from every direction. James is asking questions looking for answers from anyone. Remus ignores Peter's questions as he sprints out of the Great Hall running to the library. He runs to their table hoping this is some kind of sick joke but he finds the table empty. He sits in Regulus’ chair and sobs for what feels like hours. Once his tears stop he opens up to the last page of the book. It's blank except for the note Regulus has written, Remus didn't notice it before. He reads it through watery eyes, “Friendship means understanding, not agreement. It means memories last even if contact is lost. You showed me I don’t have to open up to be understood. I will truly miss you Remus, and thank you.-R.A.B” Remus clutches the book to his chest, falling to the ground. He sobs until the pages wrinkle from his tears. Maybe if he had just been a little bit earlier he could have saved him. Remus will spend the rest of his life thinking about those what ifs.