The Moon and the Stars
"Don't you dare complain!" Remus laughed. The four of them were sitting at the edge of the lake. Pandora was even standing in it, her legs in the water up to her knees, walking around as they talked.
"Why, because you have your OWLs soon?" She grinned
"Yes, EXACTLY because of that!" Dorcas chimed in, playfully annoyed. They had somehow ended up on the topic of exams now, and Regulus started complaining about the amount of homework he had gotten.
"It's really not bad." Pandora assured them, "I remember how nervous I was last year, but don't worry, it'll be fine!"
She kept walking back and forth in the water, creating small ripples around her.
"I think you guys are just whining," Regulus smirked. "It can NOT be that bad."
He sat with his feet in the water, leaned back, and held himself up on his hands. His eyes were glued to the sky, and he seemed to read it like a book. Remus occasionally looked over at him, never meeting his eyes.
"I'll remember that for next year," Remus threatened playfully. "When you drown in a pile of homework and studying,"
He was lying down in the grass, looking up, particularly at the moon. It wasn't as bright as it had been a week ago, but it was still enough to cast light on their small group.
"How about we all study together? We two can prepare much better this way, and Regulus gets prepared. And you want" Dorcas pointed at Pandora,"you can join and help us. "
She sat leaned against a tree, watching all of them while playing with a stick she had picked up, now twirling it between her fingers.
It was quiet between them for a moment as everyone considered it. In the end, they all agreed. It was a really smart idea, actually, and would benefit them all. Remus and Dorcas would stay motivated enough to study and had someone on the outside to hold them responsible, Regulus would benefit by passively learning a lot and Pandora could revise for her NEWTs by tutoring them.
They chatted a bit more about random things, hearing gossip about the students from Dorcas and gossip about the teachers from Pandora.
It took a long time before Pandora came out of the water, looking at the castle.
“I’m tired, I think I’ll go back in now, getting at least a few hours of sleep” she announced, drying her legs with a spell.
Dorcas got up as well “I’ll come with you. Boys?”
Remus looked at Regulus, rather indifferent about staying or leaving.
The younger Black brother shook his head “I am staying”
“Me too” Remus added then and the two boys wished the girls goodnight, watching them leave.
It got quiet between them again as they watched the stars. Each sunken in their own thoughts, neither dared to talk really, instead, they soaked up the silence.
“That’s my star” Regulus spoke eventually
“Huh?” Remus turned his head, looking at Regulus, who was still stargazing.
“This star. You see the Leo constellation?”
Remus scanned the night sky, laying eyes on it eventually
“The bright star right there. That’s the Regulus star”
Remus smiled and nodded, looking at it. The Black family seemed pretty obsessed with stars, or maybe just some really impressive names that seemed incredibly deep in their meaning.
"I hope you are not even going to try and say anything, Remus Lupin" Regulus chuckled, noticing Remus being sunken in thoughts.
He grinned and shook his head "Don't worry, I'm not a hypocrite"
After that, they fell silent again and eventually both dozed off.
Remus could recall waking up several times, some of those times Regulus was looking at him but he would immediately fall back asleep and when he woke up again, Regulus was fast asleep.
It was an unrestful night considering everything, and at the first signs of sunlight, Remus sat up. He stretched, feeling every joint in his body crack and his bones having him, before leaning over to shake Regulus awake.
"What?" He grumbled, blinked a few times and immediately sat up.
"How late is it? Did we actually fall asleep?"
Remus chuckled "It can't be much past 5 considering that the sun hasn't even properly risen and…I wouldn't call it sleep because I feel as if I had been awake for three weeks"
Regulus rolled his eyes and got up, offering Remus a hand to help him up, which he gladly took.
"We should hurry. If we want to get back without being caught, now would be our last chance."
As if by some otherworldly force, they made it back to the Slytherin common room undetected and were immediately greeted by distant yelling.
Dorcas sat in an armchair, looking not much unlike a disappointed mom, but her face lit up as she saw Regulus and Remus come in.
It took only a few seconds for Remus to realize that the voices fighting were Barty and Evan.
"How long has that been going on?" He asked, half shocked, half impressed by the sheer noise level created and the fact that no one else seemed to be woken up by it.
Dorcas shrugged "I came out of my room so I didn't wake anyone up, because I really couldn't sleep after like three hours, and they had been on it already." she shook her head "You can't even make out what they are saying, I don't even think they know what-"
She was interrupted by the door being thrown open and Barty storming out, shaking with anger. Closely behind, Evan followed, tears colored by mascara streaming down his face.
"Alright, run away, coward! Sure, very mature of you!" he yelled through sobs as he realized he couldn't catch up, before leaving in the opposite direction.
Stunned silence was all that followed. Remus looked between Dorcas and Regulus, who were looking at each other.
"This isn't the first time they had a fight, hell they seem to be at each other's throat constantly, but it has never gotten this bad" Dorcas whispered.
"What's going on between them?" Remus asked eventually, not wanting to be nosy but being slightly disturbed by the events that had just unraveled before him.
"Not really our story to tell" Regulus sighed "But it's not like anyone could stop me right now."
He leaned against the wall he was standing at.
"They practically grew up together, best friends ever since I have known them, inseparable. All until our second year. It started subtle and they kind of grew apart but then the fights started like a year in, every few months at first but it has been even worse this year." he sighed, leaning his head back.
"If you ask me, there is a hell of a lot internalized homophobia at play here"