I mean c’mon! Midnight trysts in the prefects' bathroom?
The quidditch season was fast approaching and Ravenclaw had plans for greatness this year; their captain had set out a strict training schedule, taking full advantage of the pitch that lay empty every morning between the hours of four and five. Determined for glory, Gareth made sure he was the first one up to rally the troops and there were no exceptions.
“You have got to be kidding me!” Gareth sighed, as he pulled back their seeker’s drapes. “C’mon now! I’ve got the whole team waiting down there, and you’re cosied up in bed? With the opposition!”
“Be quiet!” Gilderoy whispered harshly. “You’ll wake him back up!” He kissed the messy black curls laying next to him and untangled himself from the boy’s embrace.
“What’s he doing here… again?” Gareth asked taking a seat on the end of the bed lighting a cigarette.
“He’s had a tough time Gaz, and that’s all I’m saying on the matter.” Gil hopped across the room trying to squeeze into his trousers.
“A seeker’s curse that.” Gareth teased, “might be a good idea to get a bigger pair, maybe?”
“You must be joking! These make my arse look gorgeous-“
“Once you get in them.” Gareth’s lip quirked, taking a drag.
“Once I get in them.” Gilly huffed, finally doing the button. He grabbed his cloak and swept out of their room.
The Ravenclaw team’s first training session was wet and miserable. Gareth thought it must’ve been the mixture of the weather and getting dragged out of bed so early, that had an effect on the team. “We are the best we have ever been. Rosie, you’ve been working on that left swing and I can see the improvement! If we get some early nights in, and work at it this season, we will win. The snakes and lions might have some fresh young seekers, but we have experience and brute strength on our side! Look at the grip on Gil’s thighs, you can see he’s been getting practice.” Gareth winked across the field to his friend, Colin Harvey let out a wolf whistle and the rest of the team chuckled.
“You’ve spent a considerable amount of time admiring my legs this morning Gaz!” Gil pouted, earning few more laughs from the team.
After a quick shower they made their way to the hall for an early breakfast, Gilly picked a few pastries to take back up to their dorm.
“So-” Gareth started, as they made their way up the tower. “When did Sirius decide to get a perm?”
Gil snorted, “You’re a right arse, you know that?” He stopped on the step above Gareth, blocking his way. “His hair is naturally like that, he just suffocates it in sleekeazy’s. It’s a bit wild actually, like some sort of creature-”
“You’re not falling in love with him, are you?” Gareth asked, leaning against the wall.
“No! No, definitely not! He just- he needs a friend right now, one that knows about the way he’s feeling…and fine, I’ve not been completely where he is. In fact, his father makes mine look like bloody Mother Teresa! But, I know what it’s like to be the black sheep in the family.” Gil looked troubled, like he wanted to either burst out into every detail of what happened to the boy -or tears.
“And what exactly happened to him?” Gareth began to pick at the old stone wall.
“All I will say is that his family know about his preferences, he’s broken the engagement with Cissa, and he was up most of the night with tremors-” Gareth watched Gil blink back a few tears.
“Tremors?” Gareth pushed.
“Gareth, please don’t make me say any more -” Gil pleaded.
“Like the sort you would get if-” Gareth didn’t get a chance to finish his question, as Gilderoy turned his back on him and carried on up the stairs.
Gareth followed him up, lighting a fresh cigarette as he entered his room, he saw Sirius sitting up in the bed, batting away the sweet treats Gil was trying to force feed him.
“Something sweet will help you feel better, you know.” Said Gareth, making his way over to the pair. Sirius’s face paled, but he took a cauldron cake from the plate and began to pick at it. “You should go back to your dorm, Sir. All the lads are worried about you, said they haven’t heard from you in ages. Ray told me what happened in Defence the other day.” Gareth took a seat on the bed next Sirius, handing him a cigarette.
“I can’t. James hates me, and I don’t think Moo- Remus is my biggest fan right now.” Sirius said, taking a drag from the stick and closing his eyes as he blew out swirls of smoke.
“No one hates you, James certainly doesn’t. He’s only being his usual righteous self over what happened with my brother.” Gareth fiddled with the cigarette between his fingers, mulling over whether he should ask the question that has been playing on his own mind the past few weeks. “Why did you do it? Telling the Snape boy how to get past the willow, what happened?”
“You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to, dear.” Gil cut in.
“I’m not going to judge you Sirius, I just want to know what happened.” Gareth put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. Sirius looked between the two lads and took a deeper drag.
“He’s been stalking Remus - Snape that is- has been staking Remus. I caught him. He would hide in the corridors, follow him all over the castle. I was scared for my friend. Reg told me that Snape had suspicions over Remus’s condition, that he was trying to get proof. To out him.” Sirius’s hand trembled as he brought the cigarette to his lips. “I caught him, waiting for Remus in the changing rooms for the prefect’s bathroom. James gave us the password and I told him to go down the week before the moon, to see if it helped the aches he gets. I waited for him in the changing room, I felt uneasy about leaving Remus alone, Then, as I sat there I saw him. Snape. Sat disillusioned in the corner, watching Remus get dressed. Obviously he saw all the scars, but what really bothered me was that Remus had no idea of what was going on in the shadows. He violated him Gareth! And I wasn’t going to stand for it!”
Gareth glared at wall, clenching his fists until he could feel his nails dig into his palms, as Sirius continued on.
“One afternoon, just before the moon, Reg found me and told me that Snape was brewing polyjuice. For Remus. He would have proof then, undeniable proof. I couldn’t let him get away with it, Gareth. I wasn’t going to have him hurt my - hurt my friend.” Sirius finished the cigarette and vanished it in his palm.
“So you thought you’d use Ray to teach the boy a lesson?” Gareth asked, he tried to hard to keep his voice even, still staring ahead of him.
“No, of course not! I didn’t even think he would take it seriously, we were arguing you see. I confronted him, called him a slimy pervert, asked him why he was so obsessed with Remus. He then went on about catching me and Remus by the lake a little while ago, and how he saw us go the willow one night and not leave again til the next morning. He was trying to rile me up, threatened to tell Cissa about my affair with a werewolf.”
“Are you?” Gil finally piped up, “You and Ray, have the pair of you finally-”
Gareth finally turned back, to face the two lads “What do you mean finally? Wait, you and my brother have been?” His head was reeling, trying to think of how he had missed the signs of-
“No. We are not. We have not. He’s not interested. He certainly wouldn’t be now. Regardless he is back with Mary again, and he looks happy. In the heat of the moment, I told Snape if he really wanted to watch, he should give the knot on the root a stroke, and if he’s lucky, he might get a look in at what he’s missing out on.” Sirius rubbed his face, pushing his mane of curls back. “I never thought he would try it on the moon, or that he would put two and two together like that. But I wouldn’t say that the scumbag didn’t ask for it, if anything did happen to him that night. I was so angry, that I couldn’t think and I was worried. What if word did get back to my family, about any involvement with Remus, and rumours of his condition. The Ministry would start poking, you know what would happen to him if they did. He doesn’t deserve that. He doesn’t deserve what I did to him either.”
Gareth watched his brother’s friend closely, “It’s Ray, isn’t it?”
Sirius didn’t answer, he just stared back, eyes like molten steel.
“And Draco, he isn’t your’s, is he?”
Sirius shook his head.
Gareth squeezed Sirius’s shoulder, “Gil, take care of him will you? I need to pop out for a bit.”
Sirius reached out for Gareth, as he made a move to leave. “You’re not going to tell him? Are you?” Sirius’s eyes were wide with panic. Gareth patted the boy’s hand, “Of course not, you prat. I’m going to get the only person I know that could talk some sense into you.”
Gareth turned back as he reached the door, “Oh and Sir, your hair looks alright like that. You look like that Lindsey Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac. I’m sure you’ve heard all about them, Ray bloody loves that Lindsey.” Sirius rolled his eyes back at him, and picked another pastry from the plate.
Gareth ran down to the great hall, the sun was rising and he was hoping the lion’s had finished their practice. He spotted the messy haired chaser, sat next to his identical son, both piling their plates with bacon.
“Have you got a minute Potter?” He asked, he was met with a pair of deep brown eyes and a pair of bright green. “Not you, baby Potter.” Gareth teased, snatching a rasher from Jame’s plate. He nodded his head towards the door and James rose from his seat to follow.
“Harry, eat up and go find Lil. She’s waiting for you in the common room, don’t wind her up like last night, and please stop telling her I promised to write your homework for a month if we win the match next week!” James leant down down to his son and pecked a kiss on the top of his head.
“He’s driving me up the wall that boy, and his mother believes his every word.” James groaned, Gareth huffed a laugh and looked back at the boy.
“Well, I’m afraid it doesn’t get much better for you today. I’ve got your star beater wallowing in my dorm, I think he needs someone to lend him an ear.” Gareth held the door open for James.
“I don’t even know what’s got into him recently. I’ve barely seen him in weeks, he didn’t even attempt to turn up for quidditch practice, I was nearly going to run try outs for a new beater.” James run his hand through his messy hair, and let out a frustrated sigh.
“I think he’s been going through some things, and bottling it all up. I know that Ray says he keeps things to himself, and I know you two are usually joined at the fucking hip.” Gareth led him up the stairs to the tower. “Just lend him a sympathetic ear, that’s all I ask James. He needs his best friend right now. Save any harsh words for when he’s ready.”
The pair reached the door to the room, Gareth stopped James from following him in. He opened the door very slightly and poked his head through. “C’mon Gil, time for us to find something to do, Sirius has a visitor.” Gil gave Sirius a tight squeeze and got off the bed. “And Sir, you’re to tell them everything, and I mean it. Whatever’s going on, you share the load. OK?” Gareth continued. Sirius nodded his head. “Well done lad, it’s going to get better. Let me know if you need anything, won’t you?”
Sirius nodded his head again, he looked up to Gareth with a small smile. “Thank you, Gary.”
Gareth huffed a laugh and pushed James through the door, and put his arm around Gilderoy, the pair left the two friends to catch up. “We did the right thing Gil, he can’t go on living all these different lives. It would be enough to send anyone around the bend.”
Gilderoy hummed as the pair made their way to their usual spot for a weekend smoke, by the greenhouses.
Their ritual started roughly a year ago when Martin Abbot, a seventh year Hufflepuff, made mention that his squib cousin had come into some pot from across the pond. A small group of select students met up the astronomy tower for a smoke, Gareth and Gil spent the night giggling as the stars spun around above their heads. However, when it was time to leave they soon realised that the astronomy tower was much too high and exposed for their liking. They crawled to the stairs, in fear that if they stood up they would get sucked off the edge of the tower, like a vacuum. Of course it was nonsense, but in that moment it made total sense to them. They decided the only thing they could do was keep as close as possible to the ground. They made it halfway down the tower, it took much longer when you go down stairs on all fours. They were woken up the next morning by a couple of first years, who tripped over them. The greenhouses were a quiet spot, too far a walk for many to make the effort to go near them.
Gareth pulled out the spliff he had rolled the night before, he lit it and took a hit and then passed it to Gil. “So…” Gareth started, he laid back into the grass enjoying the buzz tingling over his skin. “Sirius and my brother. What’s going on with them?”
“They fancy the socks off eachother, clearly.” Gil responded, laying back next to Gareth, he passed him the joint for another toke. Gareth took a deep drag.
“Hmm, clearly” Gareth giggled, the smoke finally making him feel light as a feather. “Of course they do, he really looks like Lindsey. It all makes sense.” He giggled harder.
“I cannae believe you told Sirius that, Ray will kill you.” Gil chuckled back. “I reckon Ray likes him because he reminds him of Sir though. He’s been making eyes at Sirius since last Beltane… well, that’s when I first noticed at least.”
“What’s he doing then, why isn’t he making a move?” Gareth sighed dramatically, passing the joint back.
“I’ve been asking myself tha’ fur ages there Gaz, it’s no like there’s any problem with Ray fancying him.”
“Christ no, of course not like. I wouldn’t mind my brother going with someone like Sir. Don’t get me wrong like, when all is said and done, the bloke’s a fucking twat. But, he’s a likeable twat, you know? I think someone like that would be good for Ray, he needs someone who brings him out of his shell, and he’s become a right cocky shite-” Gareth rambled, his body felt both heavy and light as a cloud. He ran his fingers over the damp grass, back and forth, like he was making a snow angel.
“Aye. Sometimes I think about just grabbing their faces and smushing them together, so they just kiss. I reckon it would be like tha’ sleeping beauty, one kiss and Ray’s eyes would be opened y’know. I mean c’mon! Midnight trysts in the prefects bathroom? They’re a right haiverin’ pair, fuckin’ Ach, Gilly, Remus would never look at me that way, there’s no a queer bone in tha’ boy’s body -Get tae fuck!” Gil had hogged the spliff for far too long, but Gareth was too far gone in his giggling fit. Which was only made worse by Gil’s Glaswegian accent, that got thicker and thicker, as he went into his tirade. “Gaz! Don’t yous remember when Buckingham Nicks were in Musical Mage Weekly, Ray’s eyes popped out of his heid at that topless picture af him.”
“You know, he still has that issue… He keeps it wrapped in tissue paper, under his bed.” Gareth snorted, finishing the joint with a long inhale. “Do you-” Gareth stopped and exhaled the swirls of smoke, hesitant to continue thinking out loud. “Do you think Ray is trying to hide who he is? Y’know, going with Mary and that.”
“No I think he genuinely likes her, some people like a bit of both y’know.” Gil teased, rolling over to face his friend. “He’s not ashamed, well, not of his persuasions at least. The shame is the same as the one Sirius feels, silly really. They’re both terrified of the fact it’s eachother. I guess it would be like me and you falling in love.”
“I’m not too sure about that, you’re like a brother to me. Ray and Sir, they’re good friends but I would say us two are more similar to Sir and James.” Gareth grinned, turning to face Gil, leaning his head on hand.
“I think the both of them are scared of the commitment.” Gilderoy mused.
Gareth hummed, closing his eyes and enjoying the crisp autumn breeze.
The morning passed by the two, as they lazed on the grass, speaking about anything and everything that was on their mind.
Eventually Gil dragged himself up declaring he needed to reclaim his bed, “I have my weekly date with my dear Kenny on Capital Radio, we could be living in a nuclear fallout and still, I would never miss a second of that man’s show.”
Gareth snorted, stretching his arms and legs before pushing himself up. “Ah of course, because Kenny Everett’s priority would be hosting the weekend slot on Capital Radio, if we were living in a radioactive wasteland.”
“It should be, I simply would not have any reason to stay alive if he abandoned me aswell.” Gil sighed dramatically.
“I’ll be sure to write him and let him know, if God forbid such a day comes.” Gareth mused, grabbing his mate by the arm and leading them back to the castle.
As he reached the gates, Gareth felt ravenous. It was the best part of having an early smoke, the hall would be full of cakes and tea by the time the all famous munchies set in. Gareth found an empty spot on one of the tables and began stocking up on cakes to take back to his room, not that he was a secret eater, more because pot makes him eat like a wild animal during feeding at the zoo. He stuffed a jam doughnut into his mouth in one piece as he hid a few cauldron cakes in his pockets, half of it hanging out, jam dripping down on to his chin. He felt someone sit next to him on the bench, and jerked away suddenly at the contact. He dopily turned to face the intruder and was met with grey eyes for the second time that day.
“You have jam all over your chin. Right there.” Regulus drawled, pointing at the same spot on his own face. Gareth nodded, shoving the last bit into his mouth and grabbing a napkin. Usually, he would scoop it off with his fingers and lick the jam off, but imagined that would not be well considered in polite society.
“Hermione’s very much like your brother, wouldn’t you say?” Regulus started, pouring himself a cup of tea. Gareth stilled, suddenly he felt very sober. “I can see that she’s very similar to both her parents. She looks ever so much like Remus. But after spending time with her, her personality is unmistakable, and trust me I should know. Terribly volatile, but the mind on her, she could put it to anything. I wasn’t even angry with my brother last night, scared, but she’s a legacy that I wouldn’t want to sacrifice if I were him.”
Gareth’s mind was racing, trying to piece together what the boy next to him was trying to suggest. His eye’s widened as the puzzle fell into place.
“Good, you understand. You see, we’re faced with a new situation-” Regulus started, but was quickly interrupted by Gareth.
“He doesn’t know, your brother he doesn’t know, neither does Ray. Well, about your brother's involvement at least.” Gareth said.
“My brother’s many things, but he’s not an idiot. He will figure it out sooner or later. Anyway, the issue now is that my father has arranged a new match, taking my brother’s preferences into consideration. He’s approached Tristan Flint to take Rus’s hand.” Regulus sipped his tea, looking up to the older boy.
Gareth felt all the air leave his body and his head begin to spin.
Tristan Flint.
The notorious Tristan Flint was two years senior to Gareth, well known to be rough with any lad unlucky enough to be found in an encounter with him. Fabian told him and Gil one time that Tristan’s behaviour towards his lovers was so foul that the portrait of William Shakespeare banished him from his hideaway. Tristan Flint was the reason each gay, queer or curious lad had to learn a sonnet to gain access to Willie’s Corner.
“Lucius wrote to me when he heard the news, his note much the same tone as that look on your face…” Regulus took a deep inhale, “I know my father would disapprove, but I remember hearing mother speak of your family. Back in the old country, the Lleuad family were revered advisors. You and your brother, you’re so close to Rus, and he listens to you, he respects you. Please steer him to the right path.”
Gareth watched the boy, mulling over the naive innocence of his request. He gave Regulus a gentle smile.
“We have not been known as the Lleuad family for a very long time Regulus, but, I promise you we will look after your brother. And as we are as good as family now, that extends to you. If you ever find yourself in trouble, you reach out to us alrigh’?” Gareth patted Regulus on the shoulder.
Regulus’s shoulders stiffened, his face tense. He finished the last of his tea and stood from the table, extending his hand to the older boy. “You can call me Reg.”
Gareth broke into a toothy grin and shook his hand, “I suppose you should call me Gary then, that’s a privilege I only allow to Blacks.”
Regulus firmly shook his hand and then turned to leave.
“Look after yourself Reg. Oh, and best keep an eye out on the pitch when we next meet. Rosie’s got a mean swing on her these days!”
Regulus turned back and shook his head, a hint of a smile ghosting his lips.