Illicit Affairs

Regulus peeks his head out of the curtain surrounding the bed to find the room silent except for the soft snoring coming from the figure behind him. He holds his slippers in his hand, planning to put them back on once he’s out of the room. He slips out, careful to not make a sound.

He quietly makes his way to the door and breathes deeply as soon as it’s shut behind him. He looks around once again and finds no one.

Perfect.

Naturally, seeing as it’s five in the morning on a Saturday, no one is quite awake. The only people Regulus has known to be awake at this hour are the hard-core quidditch players or himself.

Regulus pads down the granite stairs and slips on his shoes once he’s reached the bottom. He slowly walks to the common room’s exit, hoping that the portrait is still asleep at this hour. He creaks the portrait door open and finds that he’s once again timed his exit perfectly. Silence hangs in the corridors like an early morning fog. He’s sure to be quiet as he walks down hallway after hallway back to the dungeons. He reaches the common room entrance and gives the password.

“Pureblood.” He mutters. The door swings open to another empty common room. He sighs in relief, grateful to not have to explain his early arrival to some prefect or nosy first-year.

The Slytherin common room is much less inviting than the one below the room he’d woken up in this morning. While they both shared the same standard furniture of the houses’ respective colors, there was a certain warmth that the Slytherin common room had always lacked. It reminded Regulus of home.

He trudges up the stairs to his dormitory. He slowly opens the door, trying not to wake his roommates, who were likely still fast asl-

“And just where were you until five in the morning?”

Shit.

Barty Crouch Jr. sits on Regulus’ bed with a shit-eating grin on his stupid face.

“Quidditch pitch,” Regulus replies.

“In your pajamas? Without your broom?” Barty nods to the Silver Sweep sitting next to the bed.

Regulus rolls his eyes. “Who said I was out there flying? I went for a run.”

Barty smiles knowingly. “Yeah, right. A run.”

Regulus turns red. “Fuck off, Barty.” Barty cackles as Regulus grabs his robes from the trunk at the end of his bed and turns toward the bathroom.

Once Regulus is in the safety of the empty bathroom, he leans against the door and sighs heavily. He really must stop doing this. He’s going to get caught one of these days. Barty knew, and had known for ages, how long would it be before someone else did? Like Avery or Mulciber or worse.

Sirius.

It’s not that Regulus cared much about what his brother thought about him these days. His brother was a dick. He’d abandoned him in that goddamn house without so much as a goodbye. His brother could shove his opinion up his arse for all Regulus cared.

No, it wasn’t his brother’s opinion on Regulus’s nightly activities that frightened him per se. It was more who was involved in said activities that Sirius would take issue with. See, it’s one thing for Regulus to be gay. It’s one thing for him to be gay and sleep in someone else’s bed most nights. It’s an entirely different thing for Regulus to be sleeping with James Potter, Sirius’s best friend.

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It was all very stupid of Regulus, who had always prided himself on being quite intelligent. Ever since Sirius wrote home a few days into his first year at Hogwarts, Regulus had sworn to forever hate James Potter. The way Sirius wrote about the boy drove Regulus crazy. James this and James that. James James James. That’s all Sirius could talk about in that first letter. It didn’t get much better from there, but at least James’ name was interspersed with the names Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.

Come September 1972. Regulus’ first year at Hogwarts. He boarded the train with his mother’s threats ringing in his ears. He followed Sirius to his compartment and walked in after him.

The second he met those brown eyes he was done for. It was infuriating.

James Potter, who Regulus had decided months ago was the worse person to ever walk the earth, was absolutely perfect.

James had dark brown curls that rebelled against whatever hairstyle his parents had likely forced on him. His glasses framed two beautiful dark brown eyes that looked at Regulus with curiosity. Oh, and that smile. That smile would haunt Regulus for the rest of his life.

Regulus spent the entirety of the train ride in silence. He was too entrenched in the battle in his head to listen to his brother and his friends joke around and talk about their respective summers. The second the train stopped, Regulus sprang out of his seat and found a group of other first-years to hide from his brother in.

Then came the sorting ceremony. He was, predictably, sorted into Slytherin. He’d begged the hat from the moment that it touched his head. He couldn’t risk another house. Not after Sirius’ sorting a year prior. The hat was solemn when it announced the decision, knowing exactly the reaction Regulus would get from his dear parents if news arrived that not one but both of their sons had been sorted into a house other than Slytherin.

Regulus scrambled to the table as his cousins cheered from their seats. He sat between Narcissa and Bellatrix, his cousins on his father’s side. Narcissa hugged him and Bella ruffled his hair, both grinning ear to ear. Regulus took in the affection and didn’t dare to look across the room at his brother.

Now Regulus was in his fifth year at Hogwarts and still barely looked at his brother. Especially when James was around. He couldn’t risk it. His brother knew him like no one else. If he met his brother’s eyes, Sirius would’ve known the second he did that he was head over heels for James. And if his head wasn’t so far up his own arse, he’d have noticed that same look in James’ eyes on that train ride too.

Regulus never thought anything would come of his ill-fated crush on James Potter. He had planned to ignore it. Forever. Life had other plans though.

It had been the first quidditch match of the year for Slytherin. They were playing Hufflepuff, and it was expected to be in the bag for the Slytherin team. Regulus had been the seeker for the Slytherin team since his third year, following in his cousin, Narcissa’s, footsteps. He was damn good at it too.

After the match was won, thanks to Regulus, of course, he had been buzzing with excitement. He always felt like he was on top of the world after a good match. Nothing could touch him for a few days after a win, it was that good. He was walking from the pitch to the castle when he saw him.

“Nice catch, Baby Black.”

James Potter stood by the exit to the pitch, leaning against the stands. Regulus stopped dead in his tracks.

“Don’t call me that.”

James tilted his head, smiling. “Okay. Nice catch, Regulus.”

Regulus about stopped breathing. He’d never really spoken to James Potter, save for the occasional acknowledgment in the corridors. Now, here he was.

“Thanks. I guess.”

“You did really well. You’re like a damn bird the way you fly. Did you know that?” James meant it. It was easy to tell with him. He seemed to mean everything, not bothering with passive aggressiveness or back-handed compliments like Regulus’ family specialized in.

“Uh, no. But thank you, Potter.” Regulus smiled tightly.

“Why Potter? Are we not on a first-name basis?” James smiled easily. He’d pushed off of the stands to come closer to Regulus.

“Are we?” Regulus stared at a spot behind James’ head. He couldn’t bear to make eye contact. No, that would be a bad idea.

James stopped to consider a moment and pursed his lips. Regulus stared. How could he not?

“Well, if we’re not on a first-name basis, what should I call you?” James asked.

“Anything but ‘Baby Black.’” Regulus shot back, not thinking too hard about what James might come up with.

James grinned, his eyes squinting as he did so. Merlin. “Okay,” he turned and began to walk away from Regulus. “Goodbye, little bird.”

What?

“What?” Regulus stared at James’ back as he walked away, then moved to follow him. “’Little bird?’”

James laughed, looking at Regulus as he caught up. “Little bird. Because of your flying,” James stated as if it made the most sense in the world.

Regulus was taken aback. What parallel universe had he entered upon stepping out of the Slytherin locker room? He didn’t know how to respond to James, so he stayed silent as they walked to the castle.

They reached the castle together and James paused next to the door. “Well, this is where I leave you, little bird.” He smiled and opened the door. Regulus nodded, still in shock. He darted inside and left James and his nicknames far behind him.