IV- Line It Up
“Okay,” Regulus said as soon as the door closed, “Planning time, anyone got any ideas?”
Sirius had sat on top of the desk, rolling up his sleeves and tucking his hair behind his ear, “Ev, do you have a laptop?”
Barty smirked, “I stole one the other day,” He walked over to the bed they’d abandoned – from underneath it – pulled out a small laptop. He placed it on the desk and ushered his boyfriend over with everyone else to crowd around him.
It was lunch time now and they had decided to go to their dorm instead, to develope some sort of plan. Regulus could feel everything tying together, Their mother needing the locket, them being sent to the school where it came from, being placed in the house that the owner of the locket founded, being told the exact location of the locket, and being told to go to the location by the history professor.
“Okay so do you remember the name of the museum?” Sirius asked, Evan nodded, “can you look up where it is? Like how far it is from here?”
Evan typed in the name of the place into the maps, “.2 miles, we could walk there!”
“So here’s my idea,” Sirius started, pulling out his history textbook and opening it to the page Regulus had seen him reading in class. “This weekend every year three and above get to go to the village, which is where Binns said the museum is. I was thinking if we go to the museum then and check it out, we can find where the locket is located and where the security cameras are, there's no doubt there are some.”
Evan’s face split into a smile, he nodded his head in agreement. Regulus felt a surge of pride flare up in his chest for his brother, Sirius continued,
“Then some time next week, we could sneak out using one of the secret passageways that lead to the village.” He pointed to a statue in the page he’d opened the book to, “There’s one behind this statue here, I found it using the mirror, and we can break into the museum and steal the locket.”
“That’s brilliant, Siri,” Regulus complemented his older brother. Sirius grinned, all tension that’d been in his shoulders disappearing instantly.
“And if we also locate the security guards office, we can do something to get him distracted while we’re stealing the locket and I can get into his office and delete the footage of us!” Evan added, typing something else into the computer quickly.
“What if I spell the guard? I can practice sleep spells and perfect it by the time we execute this, then take out the guard without a problem.” Regulus chimed in, running over to his trunk to get the book his mother had entrusted to him.
“You can practice on me, I have no queries about being put to sleep. Plus, that would give us an idea of how deep of a sleep the spell puts someone under.” Said Barty, adding his contribution into the plan.
“What if something goes wrong though? I don’t want to hurt you,” Regulus’s fear took over, he never wanted to harm his friends or the people he cared about. No matter how mad he was he could never even flick his friends in fear of hurting them.
“I don’t think you will, caro stella,” Barty added the old nickname in, knowing Regulus always softened to it.
Regulus met his friend’s eyes, they were a warm brown that reminded him of honey. He knew he wouldn’t win this, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t try. Regulus held Barty’s gaze, narrowing his eyes at an attempt to say no. Barty smiled softly and it was all over. He softened immediately and sighed, whispering “okay, fine” and making Barty’s face split into a wide grin. Why was he never able to say no to his friends?
Regulus was going to be extra careful to not fuck up the spell now, “but we have to have smelling salts or something to make sure you wake up.” he added as Barty waved him off.
“Alright so it's a plan? Reg and Barf perfect the sleeping spell until we break into the museum. I get us out and back into the school without getting caught and Ev gets us into the actual museum, right?” Sirius clarified, looking in between his brother and friends. They all nodded.
****
The week passed slowly but they all got through it. Regulus and Barty spent most of their freetime perfecting the spell with a couple of scares that the latter only laughed off. Regulus had almost called off letting the boy help when he couldn’t wake his friend up for a good thirty minutes.
Regulus wanted to get the locket but not at the cost of his best friend. Never at any of his friend’s cost, he refused to admit it but he would take their safety over his mother’s pride any day.
Of course, when Regulus had finally managed to wake Barty up he immediately told him to cast that spell again, just like he’d done previously. Regulus refused. He wanted control of the spell and he wouldn’t get that by a couple of flukes, besides, that experience had scared him too much. He’d made them take the rest of the day off no matter how much Barty had protested, saying he was fine.
On another topic, Regulus’s nightmares were getting worse, they weren’t always the same thing, sometimes they were memories. Sometimes they were worse. In the worst ones he was in this void, screaming for his brother. He wasn’t able to find him. Then he was screaming for his friends but he couldn’t find them either. Then, he’d turn around to all of them looking at Regulus with glazed eyes and injuries all over. They were hurt badly. He always ran to them, asking them what happened and trying to stop any sort of bleeding but they stayed silent. It was always Sirius who spoke first in this dream, “Reg, how- how could you?” he’d say.
Then Regulus would wake up, crying, small, and fearful. He’d done something to hurt them. They were hurt and it was all his fault. He always checked on his friends after that, making sure they were okay. They were always fine.
The memories were always from different points from when he was younger, usually having to do with his mom. Sometimes the memories were from recent events, but they were mostly just from when he was too young to remember anything but those events. Some of them were from before his dad had passed, some were after. Some were experiences with the people of Knockturn before they feared him, before he meant something there and before they knew better.
There were countless things Regulus saw when he closed his eyes and each and every one of them he hated. He hated that every time he went to bed a sort of anxiety climbed up his spine and his breath caught in his throat. He was scared to sleep, pathetic. It was only the first time he fell asleep, after he woke up from the nightmare he slept relatively normal and never dreamed. Regulus much preferred his dreamless sleep.
The possibility of him ever being the cause of his brother and friend’s pain shook him to his core. Especially to see it almost every night like it was on loop. He falls asleep and his loved ones are hurt, he did it. He did it. He hurt them. He hurt the people he promised himself to never lay a harmful finger on-
“Regulus? Are you okay?” Asked a voice from somewhere around him. Regulus looked up to see the prince staring down at him with this concerned look on his face. He must of zoned out because the sun was starting to set and his eyes felt dry when he blinked, like they’d been open for a long time. He hadn’t heard Potter walk up to him either, he thought everyone had left the library.
Regulus looked out the window again, “what time is it?” he asked, instead of answering the boy. He wasn’t okay and he had a strong feeling the hazel eyed boy would be able to see through him if he told him he was.
“Nine-forty-seven, are you okay?” Potter asked again, looking Regulus up and down before meeting his eyes.
“Yeah,” Regulus said, then the realization hit. He’d been staring at this book for two hours and hadn’t taken in anything and he promised Evan he’d be back before curfew. “Shit,” He whispered, picking his book up and throwing his bag over his shoulder. He also needed his brother’s help with his testosterone shots since he hadn’t had it yet this week. He didn’t want to talk to the prince right now but he had no idea where Sirius was. He sighed before turning back to the messy haired prince, “Do you know where my brother is?”
“I think he’s helping Remus with something right now, why?”
Regulus huffed another sigh, why was his brother spending so much time with Lupin? He mumbled something inaudible under his breath, not really paying that much attention to Potter. He was more worried about the fact that he had to feed their snake and save his own life from his best friends. He also needed to ask those same friends for help with his shot, he hated asking them for help. It wasn’t like they wouldn’t help him or make fun of him, they weren’t like that. Regulus just hated asking for help in general, it was degrading and he could do most things on his own or figure it out. If Regulus wasn’t so deathly afraid of needles he’d just do it himself, but he was and he needed help.
Regulus turned, making his way back to his dorm, when he felt a hand clasp around his wrist. He felt himself stiffen at the unexpected touch and he felt how his breath caught, discreet enough to go unnoticed.
“Wait! Did you need help with something?” James asked when Regulus looked back at him. He had this funny look on his face that the smaller boy couldn’t quite distinguish. Regulus just gave the prince a look, he was still holding onto his wrist. The touch wasn’t extremely uncomfortable but it also wasn’t welcome to someone like Regulus. The prince gave him a strange look before his cheeks turned a pretty pink and he let go, he was probably embarrassed.
“No,” that's all he Regulus said, then he turned for one final time and left for his dorm.
****
Regulus shut the door to the green and silver room, “These people are weird as hell.”
“Well good evening to you too, Reggie,” Barty greeted sarcastically, “weren’t you supposed to be back before curfew?”
“Don’t tell Evan,”
Regulus collapsed on his bed, feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over him, he just wanted to go to sleep. He shot up, he didn’t know why he was suddenly so tired or why he had the desire to go to bed. He shook his head, riding himself of the feeling. Regulus threw his bag off his shoulder and next to his bed, grabbing Basil’s food from the bottom drawer of his nightstand.
“You think he doesn’t already know?” Barty questioned, moving to Regulus’s bed next to where the mint snake’s enclosure was.
Regulus sighed, “I figured he did, but just in case he didn’t, don’t tell him.” He explained, not facing his friend in favor of feeding Basil. Barty was grinning his usual grin, it was mischievous and easy and oddly relaxing to see. Regulus felt like that embodied Barty as a whole – mischievous, easy, and oddly relaxing.-- He smiled to himself at the thought, hiding his face from his brunette friend.
They sat in a comfortable silence until Regulus was done, “Barty?” He hated how small his voice sounded. He looked at his friend.
“What's up, Reg?” Barty sounded concerned and Regulus hated it, the way he was looking and talking to him. His smile had faded so Regulus turned so he wasn’t facing him.
“Could you-,” Regulus took in a deep breath, “Could you help me with my shot?”
Barty’s smile returned to his face, but this one wasn’t the usual one, this one was genuine – He seemed happy that Regulus had asked him for his help with such a simple thing.-- Regulus felt himself relax unconsciously at the sight, returning the smile easily. If Regulus liked touch more he would probably hug his friend.
“Of course I will, la mia stella,” Barty agreed, that genuine smile still on his face.
“Thank you,”
Barty nodded and asked what it was that he had to do to help. Regulus explained to his friend where he needed the shot and to make sure he counted down before doing so, as it was easier for him to prepare that way. Sirius always counted and it made him feel better because he knew when it was going to happen.
“So I’m assuming Sirius helped you with this before?” Barty guessed, picking up the syringe that Regulus had just filled. Regulus nodded as his friend looked at him fondly, he just returned a questioning look.
“What?”
Barty shook his head, “Okay so do you want to do it now?” he checked.
Regulus took in a deep breath and nodded, now this was the worst part of being trans, not the transphobia. He turned away and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the countdown. Barty placed a gentle hand on his arm and told him to take a deep breath, Regulus listened.
“Alright I’m going to count down now,” Barty informed him, giving Regulus a second to process and prepare, “3,”
Regulus squeezed his eyes shut even harder, if that were even possible.
“2,”
He pressed his lips in a thin line.
“1,”
Then it was over, and Regulus opened his eyes to see Barty smiled at him, holding onto his hand. Regulus didn’t even notice Barty had reached out, or maybe he had been the one to reach out. Regulus felt his cheeks heat up from embarrassment, now Barty had actually seen him when he was scared. Well, scared of a more rational fear, not like when he was with his mother. That was different.
“Stai bene, tesoro?” Barty asked, his voice was barely above a whisper. It was comforting.
“Yeah, I’m okay, thank you,” Regulus smiled, he wasn’t lying, he really was okay now that it was over.
“Anytime,” Barty let go of the raven haired boy’s hand and stood up. Regulus knew he meant it, he felt himself relax once more. He didn’t know he’d been tense.
“What the hell did I miss?” Evan said from behind Barty, sounding confused and a little disappointed at having missed something.
“Just me taking my boy juice,” Regulus shrugged, he wasn’t planning on telling his friend about his fear. He hadn’t told Barty – even though it was probably obvious now – and he wouldn’t tell Evan about it either.--
“Ah,” Evan said in understanding, taking a seat at the desk, “So why were you late?”
Regulus groaned, “Because James Potter held me back.”
“What did he want?”
“I don’t know, I think he was just checking on me.” Regulus answered, “Why does he keep doing that?”
His friends both shrugged and the smaller boy fell back on his bed and threw the covers over his head. He wasn’t feeling tired anymore but the bed was comfortable and soft so he decided to just lay there in peace, besides, the room was cold. He felt someone lay on top of him, most likely Barty.
“Get up and shower before you go to sleep, dumbass.” Evan voiced.
“I’m not going to sleep, mom ,” Regulus chided, “I’m just warming up, it’s fucking cold in here.”
“Warm up in the shower,” Evan bit back, his voice had a smile hidden in it.
The hidden boy mumbled something about being bossy and kicked the person laying on him. Barty let out a yelp and smacked his friend in the arm, calling him an asshole. Regulus kicked him again and scurried out of the bed to avoid his friend’s attempts at revenge.
****
Regulus awoke that Saturday morning to distant noises from outside the building. Slowly, he sat up and rubbed at his tired eyes, he had slept terribly. He had yet another nightmare, this one being one of the worst experiences he’s ever had. He sighed and threw the covers off him, going to see what the noise was. He noticed the window in the corner of the room opened to a slightly slanted roof. It wasn’t steep and it was set low enough for Regulus to climb onto it easily.
Being as quiet as he could, he slid the window open and crawled on top of the roof. It was a beautiful morning, chilly but not too bad. The air was damp and still, the sky was cloudy and gray. He could hear birds chirp and he could see the sun rise slowly, tinting the sky with hues of pink and orange. He only saw the source of the initial noise that had woken him when he looked down.
There, in the middle of the field, was his brother, Pettigrew, Lupin, and the prince. They looked as though they were trying to be quiet but had been, obviouly, failing miserably. He wondered what the hell they were all doing up this early on a Saturday. They must have been up a while too because they were all fully dressed, walking back to the castle. Regulus thought it couldn’t be any later than six.
Just when Regulus was going to go back inside, Potter looked up. He found his eyes immediately and froze, blinking up at the boy sitting on the roof. Regulus smirked and waved at the boy who looked like a deer in headlights, and held back a laugh. The prince waved back hesitantly and slowly, now falling behind his friends and Sirius.
Sirius, having noticed one of them missing, turned around to look at Potter, who was still looking at Regulus. The older Black followed the prince’s gaze to Regulus, who was still smirking and watching the scene bellow him. Sirius barked out a laugh and waved enthusiastically at his younger brother. Regulus laughed then, his brother with his excited demeanor versus the prince who looked as pale as a ghost.
The other two friends had noticed Regulus and walked over to where Potter and Sirius were standing, looking like a mix of the other two boys. He couldn’t decipher the emotions playing out on the two friends faces but they were stunned, nevertheless. Pettigrew paled slightly and hid behind Potter, who still hadn’t looked away from Regulus.
Sirius started waving his brother towards himself, telling Regulus to come join them. Regulus sent back an exasperated expression, How the fuck do you expect me to come to you?, he thought. Sirius, having understood his brother’s expression, pointed down slightly and to the left of where Regulus was sitting. He followed his brother’s gaze but didn’t see anything, he moved closer to the edge and understood.
There, under the roof, was a small wooden platform that Regulus could jump onto. Carefully, he swung off the roof and set himself down on the platform, looking around to where he could go next. He saw a large wood box placed next to the platform and jumped down onto it, only then realizing that he didn’t have any shoes on. He decided he didn’t care much. Regulus jumped off the box and onto the grass and looked to the platform, finding out it was actually some sort of makeshift closet outside the building.
Regulus turned back to find his brother, seeing him already smiling at his brother and the other three, staring at Regulus with wide eyes. He made his way to the four teenagers, wet grass feeling cold against his bare feet and chilly air surrounding him. Lupin was smiling down at the smaller boy and his other friends looked frozen in time.
“Good morning, Reg,” Sirius greeted, a grin plastered on his face with bright eyes and pink cheeks.
“Morning, Siri,” Regulus returned, putting his hand in the pockets of his jacket he’d managed to slip on before climbing out of the window.
Potter turned to Regulus, who was trying to not shiver. He looked at Regulus thoughtfully, then he smiled kindly, his eyes lighting up in the morning sun. He looked back up at Regulus’s window then at the younger boy once more, “What were you doing sitting up there anyways? Especially this early.”
“I heard a noise,” He answered simply, the wind picked up again and he shivered with it, “What are you guys doing up this early?”
“We were hanging out by the lake!” Sirius answered enthusiastically, he loved little things like that, where he could be around people. Sirius looked at the others then back at his brother, “I’ll tell you the rest later.”
Regulus nodded in agreement, “Okay, I’m going back inside, it’s cold. Au revoir, salope.”
“Je t’emmerde,” Sirius called after Regulus, who had already started heading for the window.
Regulus ran up to the small box and stared at it, he didn’t know how his feet –now covered in wet grass and dirt– would feel against the wood. He imagined it and it irked him completely, he really should have put shoes on. He would just wipe the dirt off his feet but that was worse, he hated touching dirt. He swore under his breath and looked around the box, trying to find something he would use to get the dirt off. He groaned and pulled his jacket sleeve over his hand and wiped the dirt off, making sure to get all of it.
Regulus jumped on top of the wooden box, then the out-door-closet, then finally, he climbed on top of the roof. The air became still once more, it was calming in a way Regulus couldn’t describe. The roof itself was cold but it wasn’t uncomfortable, the shingles were unusually smooth and didn’t feel like sandpaper.
Regulus turned to see if his brother was still there, he found Potter’s eyes first. Potter must have been watching him because as soon as they made eye contact, the hazel eyed boy broke it.
Pettigrew whispered something to his friend and grabbed ahold of his hand, dragging him along inside the castle. Lupin was lagging behind, only continuing when the other two started walking again. Sirius was next to the scarred boy, he was also watching Regulus, probably making sure he didn’t fall.
Regulus turned back to his window, opening it as silently as he could, trying to not wake his two friends. Fortunately, they were sound asleep and didn’t stir as he closed the window.
The room was warm with the still rising sun illuminating it with its orange hue. Regulus made his way across the room and into the bathroom to wash off before he woke up his friends and they made their way down to breakfast.
****
Regulus checked the time on the wall, it was only ten in the morning, they had enough time to check out the entire museum. They had to, first, locate the locket, then the security room, plus any additional information that could be detrimental to their success. They would be able to develop a plan after they had all the information, and a good one at that. They didn’t have any room to be sloppy. If all went to plan then they would all be out of this school in a week and they could go back to their routine.
They had all finished eating a little bit ago but they needed to be accompanied to the village by a prefect or of of the head students. Remus had been chosen to help join them, though they were promised that it was only so they knew how to get to the village, not because they weren’t trusted. Regulus wasn’t so sure he believed that, but he figured they’d find out soon.
Remus exited the Great Hall talking with Potter, who was talking excitedly about something. Regulus thought, for a moment, that the prince actually looked quite nice in his casual clothes. He was wearing maroon converse shoes that someone had drawn all over with, what seemed to be, a black sharpie. His jeans were a light blue that he had paired with a white T-shirt and a maroon flannel that matched his shoes. The prince’s hair was still a mess but it somehow made him look even more attractive.
Regulus then realized what he was thinking and shook his head, as if to rid himself of the thoughts. Yes, he was gay, but that didn’t mean he had to find the prince of the kingdom his mother wanted to take over attractive. He was not attracted to the prince, he was just pretty. That was it.
“Hey guys!” Potter greeted when he and his friend reached them, “If you don’t mind, I’ll be walking to the village with you. Don’t tell anyone, but I really don’t want to take the third years down there so we’re pretending I’m helping you guys.” He explained throwing a wink at Regulus.
They made their way out of the castle and down a cobblestone path surrounded by flowers. Regulus had never seen so many living plants before, nor such green grass. The flowers cast a sweet smell through the air, putting any sort of fake fragrance they had on the island to deep shame. The flowers were pink and red and blue and all the colors a flower could be. The one that stood out the most to him was red and looked like it belonged in a painting. Regulus stared at it until he couldn’t anymore, not knowing why that flower was so beautiful to him.
The wind was blowing, cooling the warm spring air and shaking the dark evergreen trees. Birds were flying above the group, following the direction the wind was blowing. Regulus thought they might be enjoying the weather too. The sky was cloudy but not in a way that it was going to rain, it was simply cloudy. He hoped it cleared up enough for him to see the stars tonight.
The walk to the village wasn’t a long one and his friends – plus Potter and Lupin – had made conversation majority on the way. Besides Regulus, Lupin was probably the most quiet but he seemed to still be listening, commenting on something someone said every once and a while to remind them of this.
When they did reach the village Lupin and Potter turned to the four, Lupin spoke first, “So we’re supposed to go with you to wherever it is you want to go.” he said, Regulus had to hold back a an eyeroll, “We were told to watch over you and not tell you that’s what we were doing, but I think that’s stupid. So James and I are going to go to be in that pub over there,” he pointed to a small building called The Three Broomsticks, “Meet us there before two and do whatever you want.”
Regulus really liked Lupin, Sirius must have felt the same way because he said, “You’re perfect.”
Lupin turned so red he could match that flower Regulus had seen earlier. The bright red boy couched a thank you and dragged Potter by his collar towards a bookstore. Potter waved to them as a way of saying goodbye, laughing at something Regulus couldn’t understand.
The four boys exchanged a look before going to find the museum, they’d been told it was at the far side of the village. They followed the road until they found an old building with vines growing on the outside walls, if the lights from inside weren’t visible Regulus would think it was abandoned. There was a sign on the door that said the museum hours, it was open.
Upon stepping inside the four saw a large skeleton of a dinosaur and a bunch of Greek-style architecture. Each piece had stands underneath it that told you what the artifact was and its history. Binns was definitely right about this place being educational.
He felt a hand grab his wrist and then he was being pulled over to a stand with maps of the museum. Barty had been the one to spot it, he grabbed the map and opened it to search for what they were looking for. Sirius spoke next, “Okay after we find what we came here for, can we please search the rest of the museum? There’s so much stuff here and I want to see it.”
“Yes,” Regulus agreed immediately, “please, let’s look around.”
Barty groaned and his boyfriend laughed at the two brothers. They’d always been extremely interested in history, especially since this was all so new to them. Sirius continued their point, “It’ll make our trip more believable too! We’re just really interested in history!”
“Exactly! Please guys, let us explore.” Regulus pleaded, knowing they would win this one. Regulus rarely ever asked for something, and never begged for it. He knew his other friends would cave easily for their best friends.
“Fine, fine, fine.” Barty consented, his cheeks turning pink from the embarrassment of having so quickly agreed. Evan just smiled in agreement as the two brothers high fived and took the map from their brunette friend.
The four made their way to the section of the museum called Hogwarts History, Regulus wondered if the school was that famous here. It probably was, the school had a huge history and one of the most famous men in the world running it. At one point the school had been involved in a war and had been a main battle ground. Their parents had been on the other side of the war, the side that lost.
The Hogwarts History side of the museum was in a large room that you entered through an arched doorway. It had almost all of the artifacts he’d read about in the books from the library that previous week. He saw the sword of Gryffindor, the diadem of Ravenclaw, the cup of Hufflepuff, and finally, the locket of Slytherin.
Regulus didn’t immediately walk over to the locket, as it was in the back of the room and there were cameras here. If he and his friends were spotted walking into the very thing that kept people like them on the island, it would be too suspicious. If they wanted to be successful they would have to do this right. They couldn’t be sloppy, they only had one chance at this.
Regulus took a hold of Barty’s hand, pointing to the sword and walking them both over to it. Barty asked him, quietly, what he was doing.
“The locket is in the back of the room, it’ll be suspicious if that's the first thing we go to,” Regulus whispered, looking down at the description beneath the sword. He turned around to call his brother and friend over, to find them already following. He smiled at them and started talking about random stuff about the sword, some things the description said and some things he read.
The four made their way around the room in no particular order, just looking at things and reading them sometimes adding their own information. They reached the locket a little bit after looking at a few objects, they did the same with the locket as they did the others. Regulus mentioned loosely that apparently it had been found in a cave in Sweden before being brought here. Sirius made an acknowledging comment and then pointed to another object, saying “do you remember Professor Binns talking about this?” and the moment with the locket was over.
After they had looked at most of the items in the room, Regulus looked at the map and found another location and suggested going to that next. As soon as they exited the room he felt himself relax a slightly, when did he tense up?
“Anyone else feel a huge amount of weight just be like- taken off your shoulders?” Evan asked quietly, looking around at his friends. They all nodded. So it was all of them. What had made them that tense?
Regulus pushed that thought to the back of his mind for when it was three in the morning and he couldn't sleep, continuing walking to the next area. He made sure he was keeping an eye out for the security room, he knew the others were doing the same thing.
They ended up having to go across the entire museum until one of them saw the room, even then they had to be as discreet as possible. The security room, dumbly enough, had windows all around the walls, making it very easy to see inside. It had a small screen that showed a camera in every room, like in one of those cheesy movies from the early 1990s – or from the ones he’d seen, it’s not like they get a lot of that sort of thing on the island.--
They now had everything they needed to know for this mission to work, now they could look around the museum like any other person interested in history. He sent his brother a knowing smile after this realization and received one in return. They decided to spend the rest of the time they had in the museum, much to Barty’s dismay, who was bored out of his mind.
They ran around the museum, not really paying attention to where they were going, just seeing something that caught their attention and bringing the others over with them. Regulus was able to tell that even Barty was having fun after a while. He knew the brunette was just enjoying his friends rambling about the random thing they had read previously or just found cool. Eventually, they ran out of time and had to meet up with the prince and Lupin.
“Alright, nerds,” Barty had said, “It’s about time we get to that pub.”
The walk to the pub was talkative, with them all talking about their favorite things they saw at the museum. They had plenty of time to talk too, even though they were all fast walkers, since the pub was on the other side of the village. Barty even joined in the conversation, mentioning a few things he found interesting (they were mostly things that Evan had talked about).
Sirius talked about the old maps that he had been able to translate. Evan talked about the magical sail boats that were enchanted to be an actual sea in the bottle. Barty liked the cursed items his boyfriend had known a concerning amount about. Regulus had personally enjoyed all the Greek stories and items, though he couldn’t pick a specific thing. The conversation was over all too soon as they reached the small pub.
Regulus found Potter’s eyes immediately, they were at a table in the corner and sipping on some sort of fizzy drink. Potter waved the four over, scooting over to make sure they had room to sit down.
“So where did you guys go?” Potter asked when they had got settled.
“The museum,” Barty answered in fake annoyance, “Those two,” he pointed to Regulus and Sirius, “are huge fucking history nerds.”
Potter raised his eyebrows in surprise, “Really? What was your favorite thing you saw there?”
Sirius grinned and shared everything he found interesting about the museum. Lupin was staring at him and clearly taking in everything the long haired boy was saying. He put in his own little things he knew about history, making sure Sirius knew he was listening. Meanwhile, Barty was practically making heart eyes at his boyfriend who was leaning on him and trying not to fall asleep.
After a while of Sirius’s rambling he asked the other two boys, “anyways, what’s that?”
Potter looked down, “Oh! This is butterbeer, have you not ever had it before?”
Sirius and Regulus shook their heads while Barty and Evan had stopped paying attention to anything but each other. Potter gasped dramatically, Lupin handed Sirius his drink, “here, it’s really good!” Potter did the same with Regulus.
“That’s so sweet,” Regulus said in amazement, “I mean that in a good way.”
“Holy Apollo, that's good,” Sirius concluded, handing the drink back to the boy sitting next to him.
Both boys grinned at the brothers' enjoyment of the drink and decided they all needed more butterbeers for everyone. Sirius got up to help the coffee haired boy with the drinks, insisting he keep his brother company while their other two friends stare at each other. Regulus smirked, he was definitely going to make fun of the two for this later.
“So I’m assuming they’re dating? If they’re not then they should,” Potter said once he’d relented to staying put.
“They are, not that it didn’t take them forever to do it though,” Regulus added that last bit just to see how well the others were listening. Judging by the fact that neither of them reacted to his comment, they were in another universe right now.
“That must have been painful,” Potter hummed, sipping slowly on his drink.
“It was,” Regulus sighed, his friends were idiots but he loved them for it – not that he’d ever tell them that.--
Potter ginned, honestly he could battle the sun for the brightest light on earth.
“So what did you like most at the museum?” he questioned, a curious smile on his face that was attractive in a way that shouldn’t be.
“The Greek stuff,” He replied quietly, feeling his pale cheeks heat up from embarrassment. Talking about himself wasn’t something he was ever really good at, it was easier to talk about his friends or brother.
Luckily, just as Potter was going to ask something else, Lupin and Sirius came back with drinks. Regulus took in a deep breath, he wasn’t used to people looking at him with genuine interest, which is probably what was making him so flustered.
Regulus nursed his drink as the others started talking, he didn’t mind just sitting quietly watching his friends and brother. He much preferred it to having to pretend to know how to talk to people.
They spent the rest of the day in the village with the prince and Lupin showing them around. At some point Regulus had to silently excuse himself due to the amount of people but the rest of the day was fine. He would’ve left by now if it wasn’t for the sheer joy that his brother was vibrating with. His brother, one of the few people he was able to understand in any way. One of the few people whose emotions he could read easily. Regulus knew he would do anything to keep that joy on his brother’s face, and he knew that same feeling was returned.