Chapter 5
Pov. Regulus
Regulus couldn’t believe it. He was really going on a date with Remus Lupin. Okay, to be fair it was a fake-date but that didn’t make it any less weird.
Since his brother had just left him at their parents’ without saying goodbye or at least asking him to come with him he’d been pissed, so this had been the perfect opportunity to get back at him. His brother had hurt him and now it was his time to deliver karma.
Regulus looked over to Remus next to him and then down to their intertwined hands. As they walked away from the dungeon and in the direction of the entrance, Regulus realized that this was probably one of the stupidest things he’d ever done.
He noticed that Remus next to him started to get a bit anxious by the way his free hand started fidgeting. At first he was unsure why Remus was so anxious all of a sudden but then he felt it too because everyone was staring at them.
He softly squeezed Remus’ hand, encouraging him to just continue and ignore those people but even for Regulus it was hard to ignore them and he was used to people staring at him.
When they finally reached the door, opened it and stepped outside it felt as if a massive weight had been lifted off of their shoulders and both Remus and Regulus let out a sigh.
“Wow, I did not expect that that many people would be standing at the entrance just to watch us leave for our date” said Remus, chuckling a bit having realized the absurdity of the situation.
“Tell me about it, I mean I’m used to people constantly watching but this was intense, even for me” Regulus said also chuckling and both boys then started walking towards Hogsmeade.
On the way both Remus and Regulus fell into silence, though not an uncomfortable one. Both were thinking about where them dating would lead them, especially Regulus.
Regulus had never dated anybody, seeing as he was as gay as a gay dude and his mother was homophobia in person just like most pureblooded families. He never meant for anyone to find out.
It was all so stupid. Just thinking about it made him wanna vanish. He had been out with his housemate John, the first boy who he finally wanted to try to date. Turned out said housemate reported everything to his mother who then obviously found out that he was gay.
But the past is the past and he had to concentrate on the future. John could go to hell and he would continue living, just as proud as before. He just had to make sure not to get hexed by homophobic students, mostly Slytherins.
Suddenly he, unlike his character, broke the silence. “Hey Remus, if we’re gonna be dating I think we should know stuff about each other.”
Without much time to think Remus answered. “Yeah, I think that sounds plausible. What if we meet at a certain place at a certain time in the week?” Regulus thought about that one, it made sense but he wasn’t so sure seeing as his housemates hated him enough already who knows what would happen if he started sneaking around.
“How about we meet each night at the astronomy tower? It’s a win win, we get to know each other and other people will think we’re doing you know… couple stuff” Remus then said with a wink at the last part which made Regulus almost choke on his own breath.
That boy was dirtier than one might have thought, Regulus wondered what else he may have up his sleeve.
“Oh wow, you’re a naughty one, aren’t you?” He said chuckling with the knowledge that Remus’ cheeks turned a bright red colour.
Remus just shrugged his shoulders and continued walking, a big smile fixed on his face.
They continued in the comfortable silence they had before until they arrived at their final destination, Hogsmeade. Luckily this wasn’t Hogwarts so barely any people were stopping to stare at them.
Without even being able to make a suggestion on where to go, Remus had already pulled Regulus in the direction of Honeydukes Sweetshop and they had soon entered the shop.
Inside the shop it smelled a thousand smells at once and Regulus was a bit overwhelmed with it. He had never been inside of any of the shops in Hogsmeade because before his mother had thought that everyone who went to Hogsmeade was a lowlife so he wasn’t allowed to go.
So maybe it did have its perks that he was finally freed of her. He felt like he was able to breath for the first time without being constantly watched, interrogated and judged and oh, did it feel good.
It felt so good in fact that he let go of Remus’ hand and just closed his eyes and did a little spin, like a ballerina. When he opened his eyes again he saw Remus watching him with soft, warm eyes and a big smile.
“You know, its nice seeing you finally be yourself, I always felt as if you were sad being the way you were before.” Remus then said and Regulus saw that Remus was being genuine.
He just gave Remus a smile and without a comment he took Remus’ hand again and went over to the chocolate section of the store but when he came to a stop his mouth flew wide open.
Regulus had never seen that much chocolate, hell he didn’t even know that many different chocolates existed. When Remus saw his face he couldn’t help himself but laughing out loud which earned him a very deathly glare from Regulus even though he couldn’t hold it for long and the death glare turned more into a death smile.
“Can I tell you a secret Remus?” Regulus suddenly asked and after he got an approving nod from Remus he continued. “I’ve never eaten chocolate in my life. Mother always said it’s a disgrace to the nature of wizards.”
This had Remus speechless and filled with a bit of anger. He knew that Regulus’ and Sirius’ Mother was a total witch, pun intended, but this was a different level of gruesomeness, for him at least.
“ Wait, so you’re telling me, you’ve never had chocolate in your entire life???” Remus asked Regulus very shocked and when Regulus shook his head, Remus made it his personal task to change that.
Without a word more exchanged, Regulus just stared at Remus while he went to the many chocolates and picked out his personal favourites for Regulus to taste. Then he went to the counter, bought the chocolate and came back with it in a big bag.
This had all happened so fast that Regulus was still standing at the chocolate section when Remus was already done with his purchases.
“I got you chocolate to taste later.” Was the only thing Remus said to Regulus before he took his hand again and left the store.
Regulus really started to warm up to this guy. At first he had resented Remus a bit because when Sirius came back home for the summer holidays after his first year at Hogwarts, all he could talk about were all his super cool new friends, Remus included, and Regulus had gotten jealous.
When Remus came to him with the dating idea he was skeptical at first but wanted to do it for the sake of his own revenge but now, even though he had only spent barely an hour with this guy, he felt like they would be good friends.
Remus stopped abruptly which caused Regulus to stop his thoughts. They had arrived at The Three Broomsticks, the famous pub everyone was always talking about. Regulus was actually excited to go in and try butterbeer for the first time.
They went inside, got a table and waited for a bartender to get their order. Remus noticed Regulus’ excitement but couldn’t quite grasp why he was so excited until it clicked for him.
“You’ve never had a butterbeer, have you?” Regulus just shook his head again and gave Remus a sad smile. This only made Remus more determined, he was going to make sure that the boy would get everything that he had missed so far in his life.
They ordered their Butterbeer and when it finally came Remus patiently waited for Regulus to start drinking his.
“Here goes nothing” were the last words Regulus said before taking the first sip of his first ever butterbeer. As soon as the taste of the butterbeer hit his mouth it was as if he had tasted the godly heavens.
“This is fucking amazing” he told Remus with the widest grin anyone had ever seen on Regulus’ face before he eagerly drank the rest of his delicious butterbeer. Remus followed shortly after and in the end they had made it a competition on who would be able to drink their butterbeer the fastest.
Remus won, but only because Regulus almost choked on the drink, not used to drinking that fast. They laughed a bit after this until Remus had another idea.
“I think I know a place that you’re gonna like. You wanna go there?” Remus asked already knowing Regulus would say yes, though he didn’t have much choice seeing as Remus was holding his hand, again.
They left The Three Broomsticks and wandered a bit through Hogsmeade until they came to a stop in front of an old looking building with the name “Madam Puddifoot’s”.
“What is this shop? I’ve never heard of it” Regulus asked confused but Remus just gave him a smug little smile and pulled Regulus inside.
The first thing Regulus noticed in the shop was the smells, again. Though it smelled like many different things, they all had one thing in common. They smelled wonderful.
Then, Regulus realized and his eyes immediately lit up.
“It’s a tea shop. Oh my, I love tea” He looked at Remus who gave him an encouraging nod and then Regulus was all over the store finding tea to buy. Around 10 minutes later he came back with 10 different tea types.
“I had a feeling you might like this shop” Remus told him wearing a big smile. Regulus then paid for the tea, put it in the bag with the chocolate and they headed outside, hand in hand.
Even if this afternoon had been one of the best he’s ever had, he started to feel a bit drained which happened often when he was in big crowds so he turned to Remus.
“Would you mind if we headed back? I think I’ve had enough social interactions for one day.” Regulus told him, hoping that Remus would understand.
“Yeah of course we can” Remus then answered him with a reassuring smile. After that they headed home in the same comfortable silence they’d had this whole time.
They didn’t stop walking, before they reached the dungeon and therefor the Slytherin common room entrance.
“I think your astronomy tower is a good idea. See you tonight?” Regulus asked Remus, almost in a whisper so no one near them would hear them. Remus answered, equally as quiet.
“Sounds good.” He paused and Regulus could see that there was something on his mind that he didn’t know how to ask. Luckily, or unluckily however you wanna see it, Remus decided to ask away in even more of a whisper than before.
“Not to make this awkward but there are a lot of people here and we do have to make our dating believable. Mind if I give you a very no homo kiss?” he laugh-whispered by the idiotically way of his words.
Regulus didn’t know what to say. Yes he knew, that they had to make it believable but this would be his first kiss. But thinking about it, there were worse first kisses than your brothers best friend/crush so he nodded.
And just like that Remus was leaning in closer and Regulus closed his eyes. Then he felt the soft touch of Remus’ lips on his. He felt weird while this kiss was happening, something he had never felt before.
But before he could explore this new feeling further Remus’ lips were already gone and Regulus opened his eyes to see a smiling Remus.
“I hope you had a great day, love, and I will see you later” Remus said, giving Regulus a last wink before he turned around and left the dungeon, leaving Regulus all alone with this strange, new feeling.