The party had lasted long and Mary was growing tired of it. It was a cold clear night. Instead of making her way to her bed, she found herself meandering the corridors, her feet seemingly leading her to nowhere in particular, stumbling with the bottle of firewhiskey in her grasp.
Maybe it was pure coincidence that she traveled up the Astronomy tower , maybe it was fate.
A man rested his hands on the railings pondering, staring into the night. He didn’t seem to have noticed her yet, too entranced by the void of night
She’s tipsy and almost trips up the stairs to the astronomy tower to clear her thoughts, and she pauses by the door when she spots him. She knows who he is—she’s best friends with his brother, though the two of them hardly have interacted.
Regulus hadn’t noticed the girl, he had been way too engulfed in the depths of the night to have even taken notice of her. His dark hair flowed in the breeze and he took a deep breath, taking in the cold night air.
She shakes her nerves and decides to approach him, keeping enough distance between them not to startle him. “Hey.”
Regulus started, startled. The night was calm, his nerves were on edge, not expecting anyone to approach his spot. He turned his head, and saw a girl approaching. He was annoyed, but it wasn’t her fault, it never was. If she just hadn’t interrupted he’d have enjoyed the night. “What?”
Still holding a bottle of firewhiskey, she pretends to surrender. She’d seen Regulus at the party hours before. “Sirius, um… told me about the argument between the two of you.” She said and then offered him the alcohol.
Regulus’s eyes flicker for a moment. The sight of alcohol seemed to bring some sort of emotion into his eyes, or was that a trick of the light.
He considered her for a moment, taking in the scent of the alcohol. “Give me that. I need it.”
Mary tried not to smile. “You could at least say please.”
He rolled his eyes. “Please,” he muttered.
At least it was somewhat courteous, at least for him, he thought. He then brought the bottle to himself and downed it, the warmth of alcohol soothing him.
She rolled her eyes and joined the spot on the floor next to him, silent and the wind ruffling her curly hair.
Regulus was silent, taking in the night, but was surprised to see her join. His annoyance almost disappeared as he took in her presence. He didn’t know exactly whether it was because of the alcohol or not, but it felt rather nice. He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, though not at her directly, as if he was too embarrassed to look at her straight in the eyes.
“I know I’m probably the last person you want to speak to about Sirius “ she started. “But if it means anything to you, I’m here to listen.”
Regulus looked at her again, she seemed sincere.
“You’re right. You are the last person I would’ve wanted to talk to about Sirius.” He took another sip of the alcohol. She was being sincere, there was no malice in her voice. “I don’t know what to say or where to start.”
“Mm,” she took the bottle back from his hands, stealing another sip and sighing. “Perhaps why the two of you were even arguing in the first place?”
Regulus chuckled, a rare sight of him. Her suggestion was reasonable, but he didn’t want to expose himself too much. It was almost a little embarrassing to show any sort of emotion from his end, as if he was making himself vulnerable, something he despised to no end. “Why does everything have to have a reason?”
She raised a brow and handed the bottle back to him. “So you stormed out of the party after the argument for no reason?”
“No, I had reasons.”he grumbled, “My own reasons.” He took another sip of the alcohol. He didn’t have to open up to her if he didn’t want to, no matter how sincere she sounded. “But I can’t say why I stormed out.”
“Okay,” she shrugged, turning her gaze outward again.
Regulus looked at her again, she seemed pretty and it caught him by surprise. He almost didn’t want to admit it, but she seemed like a good listener. She seemed like she wouldn’t judge, and his guard was down slightly after consuming the alcohol.
“Can I..” He hesitated, thinking if he should even say it, but the alcohol gave him the confidence.
“Can I ask something?
“What?”
The alcohol was making him feel more confident, though not confident enough to fully express himself, but enough to ask the question on his mind.“Do you hate me?”
“What?”
He was looking away again, unable to bring himself to look her in the eyes. He felt that it was an unreasonable question, but he had to ask.
“I don’t think I’ve been a very nice person at all.” The admission of him being a bad person took courage though, the alcohol made him a little more vulnerable to her, and also the night around him was calming him.
“Maybe not,” Mary agreed. “Especially not to Sirius or a lot of the Gryffindors. But I don’t hate you. I barely know you.”
His expression softened slightly upon hearing her response, but he looked back at the night, pondering. “But if you knew me, would you hate me?”
She took another swig from the bottle. “Don’t think so. You’re nice to talk to. Right now, at least.”
Regulus was surprised at her response, he had been expecting her to say otherwise. He wondered if she was actually being honest and not simply lying. Regulus took another sip of the alcohol, looking at her from the corner of his eyes, then looking back at the night and then back at her again. There was something about her that made him feel safe.
“I have a weird confession,” she said.
“Go ahead, what is it?” He was surprised that she was being so upfront about what she wanted to say, but this seemed genuine for some reason.
Mary scrunched her nose at him. “I was looking for you after you left the party. I had a feeling you’d be up here, so I kind of followed you. Is that strange?”
Regulus chuckled slightly, it was unusual but he also thought it was flattering in a small way.
His eyes were still soft with vulnerability as he met hers.“At least I have a pretty girl following me around. Can’t complain.”
“I wanted to make sure you were okay. Are you? Okay, I mean. I didn’t hear the argument but I know how Sirius can get when he’s angry. He’s rash and says rude things.”
Regulus sighed, he had never thought someone would be concerned about him. Though it didn’t feel like just anyone, he felt like he was safe with her. “I’m not okay. I don’t think I’ve been okay in a long time.”
She watched him, cautiously. “Why not?”
He laughed, but there was some sense of truth to the laugh. “A lot has happened, and I mean a lot.” He looked at her for a moment, she was listening but he didn’t want to burden her with problems. He felt as if he’d rather deal with them by himself, as it had always been.
“Mm,” she was eying him differently now like curiously.Regulus seemed to notice but he paid no mind as he leaned back into the night’s calm presence. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but he paused as he hesitated. “What is it?”
He thought about it for a moment, and the alcohol was making him feel more comfortable to be talking to her. “Can you keep a secret?”
“Probably not,” she giggled. “Why?”
Regulus didn’t laugh, though he smiled a slight, rare smile. “Let’s just say I’m not as emotionless as I appear.”
He turned to face her, and his eyes were softer than ever, as if a glimpse of the world’s darkness could be seen in them.
She watched his gaze flicker to her lips, and felt hers do the same. “No?”
He was aware of every movement and expression she made, his eyes seemed to follow her lips and then back to her eyes again. His eyes were cold, yet something about seeing her seemed to warm them slightly, if only slightly. He wanted to lean in but hesitated.
She didn’t notice they’d shifted even closer to each other and her eyes closed like she were expecting him to kiss her.
Regulus noticed the closeness of the two, and her eyes closing. He was too afraid to make the first step, but when he thought about it, he felt like she was leaning towards him herself. He leaned in too, eyes closed. The warmth of the night seemed to disappear into the distance, and everything was warm and soft. The wind flowed around them but it was irrelevant to the two, only the two could feel the soft night and the soft lips of the other.
It was cautious at first like neither wanted to scare the other off, though the firewhiskey started to take effect and she started to deepen it. Her tongue parted his mouth with a quiet moan and she shuffled closer.
Regulus was taken by surprise by her sudden movement, but he was also very much enjoying the moment. His kiss was soft and hesitant at first, but soon he was returning the movement, the firewhiskey was getting to him. His lips were moving together with hers, his hands moving against her.
Mary didn’t pull away when his hands rested on her waist gently she was only encouraged more.
Regulus broke away from the kiss after a moment, his dark eyes meeting her with a certain intensity.
His hands went up to her back, and he pulled her closer towards him, his lips returning to meet hers in another kiss. The alcohol was getting to him but he didnot want to end the kiss, not yet.
The kiss became sloppy as the alcohol starts to slip over their brains and they become more eager for each other. Quiet pants and groans and teeth clashing.
Regulus was completely aware they were being sloppy, but his mind had lost track of time and everything around them. Her body seemed to be against his as they kept kissing and biting. His hands slid up from her waist to her neck, one hand playing with her hair and the other caressing the side of her neck and her shoulder. Regulus was breathing heavily as the firewhiskey was getting to him. He pulled away from their kiss, his breath was shaky as he looked at her with a mixture of passion and desire. He caressed her neck and his gaze lingered on her lips.
“What?” She whispered, staring at him.
Regulus looked at her, his eyes were dark and his lip was twitching from the alcohol. He looked at her with a slight smile.
“That was…”
“Hot, right?”
Regulus chuckled, he felt his cheeks getting a little red from her words.“I was not expecting that, that’s all.” Though, he was slightly embarrassed, it didn’t seem to stop the smile forming on his soft lips once again. The night sky and air felt warm and calm around him.
“Yeah. I did not intend on snogging you when I came up here.”
Regulus snickered at the term snogging, he was still slightly embarrassed though his grin was apparent even in the darkness.
“It was a welcomed accident then”, his eyes met hers again and he almost leaned in but he didn’t.
A silent pause filled between them as he thought of what to say next.
She smiled in response, then cleared her throat. “I should probably um…”
Regulus sighed, he had a feeling she was going to leave in the next few moments. He couldn’t blame her if she did.
“Go on,” he said, slightly defeated. “I know I’m not the greatest company of people anyway.”
“No, it’s not that. You’re great company. And a great kisser that’s not- not why I’m leaving. I have an early class tomorrow and it’s nearly midnight, that’s all.”
Regulus chuckled when she called him a great kisser. He found her statement to be a bit amusing.“A great kisser?” As much as he would love to keep her and not let her leave, he knew she would have to regardless. “I see. Are you going to head back to your common room then?”
“Yeah. Want to walk me?”
Regulus hesitated, he didn’t want the night to end so soon. He wanted to spend more time with her but the clock was ticking, and he was becoming increasingly aware that she would have to leave.
“Of course”, he replied with a smile, hoping to make the most of the last few moments they’d have together.
So they did just that.