Aftermath
October 30th, 1977
Regulus forgot where he was for a moment when he first woke up, the first thing that hit him was the headache, then the realization that he was still laying on the couch with his body pressed up against James Potter.
He sighed, trying to get up without waking the other boy who was sleeping soundly.
“Morning,” Sirius smirked from his spot in the armchair across from the couch. “Sleep well?”
“Fuck off,” Regulus hissed, slipping out from under James’ arm which had wrapped around him in their sleep. “How are you even awake I thought you hated mornings.”
“I love mornings,” Sirius snorted. “Only time I ever got any peace and quiet at home.”
“Mother wakes up at six,” Regulus pointed out.
“I got up at like four each morning my dear brother, I’d get some breakfast and go back to my room before she could have even known.”
“That's actually genius,” Regulus admitted, sitting down at the foot of the armchair next to his brother.
“I know,” Sirius smirked. “I’ve got to teach you all of my little tricks now that all eyes are going to be on you.”
“If only you could teach me Occlumency.”
“I can if you want,” Sirius shrugged. “It's really not that hard.”
“Wait you can…” Regulus gaped at his brother. “How did she know about everything that happened at school last year?”
“Bella and Cissy are little rats,” Sirius rolled his eyes. “And I let her read my mind to an extent.”
“How’d you learn?”
“Bella taught me actually…” Sirius admitted. “Dunno how really, she just asked me if I wanted to learn back in my first year. She’s incredibly good at it, guess the whole Legilimens thing runs in the family, her father is one too.”
“Why’d she help you? No offense but I don’t think she ever liked you.”
“She didn’t like me while she was teaching me either. Honestly, I think she was trying to get me to piss off mother enough so that I’d get deemed ‘unfit’ to get married, mostly because I think she was scared that they were going to set us up or some shit.”
“Ew,” Regulus scrunched his nose. “I mean I know mother and father are cousins but I don’t think that ever really set in for me.”
“It’s fucking disgusting,” Sirius chuckled. “Anyways I could teach you how to block her out if you wanted. Just a warning though, once you do it she thinks you’re hiding something from her and she gets quite vexed.”
Regulus shrugged, “I think she’ll get angrier if she finds out what happened last night than if I learn a complicated bit of magic.”
“True true,” Sirius smirked. “Meet me tomorrow night?”
“Why not tonight?” Regulus asked, eager to learn how to escape his mother as quickly as possible.
“Oh uh,” he glanced over his shoulder. “I promised I’d help Remus study tonight.”
“You? Helping the brightest wizard in your year? That’s rich.”
“Hey! I’m very well rounded,” Sirius hit his shoulder gently.
“I’m aware that you are,” Regulus laughed. “Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow night?”
“Nine o'clock?”
“Astronomy tower?”
“Perfect,” Sirius smiled. “Now get back before those creeps realize where you’ve been.”
“Oh fuck,” regulus shot a glance over his shoulder to get a good look at the clock.
7:26 AM
“They’re probably too hungover to function,” he groaned, realizing that Barty and Evan were all his responsibility today.
“Here,” Sirius handed him a potion bottle from the side table next to him. The liquid was bright green and shimmered when he shook it. “One shot-glass worth, it’ll clean em’ right up.”
“Thank you,” Regulus took it from him gently, entirely planning on taking a swig from it as soon as he left the common room. His head was pounding and he doubted he could make it all the way back to his own common room before 10:00 AM if he didn’t take something.
“See ya, Reggie,” he smiled as his brother turned on heel. “Try not to forget about me huh?”
“Impossible,” Regulus smirked. Though his brain raised a bright red flag as Sirius didn’t seem to have said anything about the break, or about if he was planning on abandoning his brother again. He’d have to think about it another time, Barty was no doubt throwing up in their bathroom right now, Evan was probably sleeping soundly, as he did every time he had a hangover. Regulus was grateful for that fact though, he wasn’t in the mood to deal with mean, hungover Evan Rosier at the moment.
He took a shot of the green liquid as soon as he got into the hall, away from the judging eyes of his older brother. Who had absolutely no idea exactly how much alcohol regulus ingested the night before.
Spoiler, it was a lot.
Regulus felt so much better after he took the potion, and he hurried back to the common room to see his friends. The common space was empty, bottles and such littered the floor and a few students were snoring softly on the sofas but no one was up and about. He crept through so as to not disturb anyone, he pushed open the door to his room and was immediately hit with the overwhelming smell of alcohol. As he expected Evan was sound asleep and Barty was nowhere to be seen, though the bathroom door was closed. He knocked gently and there was no answer. He tried the latch but it was firmly locked.
“Baty if you’ve got a girl in there speak now so that I don’t see shit that I don’t want to,” Regulus warned as he draw his wand.
“Alohomora,” he whispered, waiting a moment before he pushed the door in. Barty was crumpled up on the floor, he only had a pair of boxers on and he was still clutching his wand in his left hand. The bathroom smelled more like vomit than the room had, both boys had probably been up all night throwing up into the toilet and sinks, and Regulus used a simple cleaning spell to tidy up as he turned Barty over onto his back and shook him awake.
“Get up Bar,” he grunted, Barty groaned and put his forearm in front of his eyes.
“It’s too bright,” he complained, his voice raspy and heavy with sleep.
“Drink this,” Regulus knelt down next to him and offered him a small paper cup of the green hangover cure. He took it greedily and downed it at once, he seemed to perk up after that and sat up.
“Thanks, Reg,” he croaked, his nose was bloody, and had huge black bags under his eyes.
“No problem,” he sighed, taking Barty’s hand and hoisting him up. “Let's get you cleaned up yeah?”
Barty nodded and pulled on a teeshirt before starting to wash his face and brush his teeth. Regulus left him to it and went back out into the bedroom where Evan was still sleeping.
He could’ve left him in bed, not subject himself to the string of curses that were bound to be shoved in his face the moment Regulus touched the other boy’s shoulder to wake him. But instead, he swallowed his pride and walked over.
Evan was still in the clothing from the night before, shoes and all. His cheek was bruising up nicely from Regulus’ punch, yet he looked entirely peaceful under the duvet. Regulus poked his shoulder, which was met by an annoyed groan and Evan covering his head and shoulders. This time Regulus was less gentle, he slapped Evan’s shoulder lightly and pulled the duvet down.
“Wakey Wakey Evan,” Regulus chanted, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Fuck off Black,” he moaned. Trying to pull his covers back up.
“No,” Regulus pulled them off the bed and tossed the duvet onto his own bed. “Get up and clean yourself up. It's time for breakfast.”
He would have his little bit of fun by not giving him the hangover cure right away, he’d make him suffer a bit before allowing him to go back to his angry, egotistical self.
“Fuck you,” he glared, pulling himself up. He was white as a sheet, his eyes glossy and tired. He could barely walk in a straight line to the bathroom. Barty had finished by the time Evan had dragged himself over there, he closed the door firmly behind him and Regulus heard the tap of the sink turn on.
“Feeling any better?” He asked Barty, who was pulling out a set of robes to wear for the day.
“Yeah,” he sighed, he was still peaky, but it was nothing a good breakfast wouldn’t fix. “Why didn’t you give Ev the potion?”
“Felt like he needed to be knocked down a few pegs,” Regulus replied shortly.
“I suppose he could do with that,” Barty sighed, yanking a pair of socks on. “But you do have to give it to him later yeah? I don’t think he’d be very happy if he woke up tomorrow and remembered you did nothing to help him.”
“What’s he going to do? Punch me? Because he already tried that one and it got him a nice fat bruise on his sodding cheek,” Regulus scoffed.
“No but he might go around telling everyone that you slept with James Potter last night,” Barty raised a brow and locked eyes with Regulus.
“What?”
“He reckons that’s why you never came back last night. He knows about the party and on top of the fact you two have been pretty buddy-buddy lately I don’t think his speculation is too far off.”
“I didn’t- I didn’t fucking sleep with him! God, what do you think I am?”
“A homosexual Regulus,” Barty said bluntly.
“I’m not-” Regulus ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I’m not gay Barty.”
“I never said you’re gay Regulus,” Barty pointed out, slowly doing up the clasps on his robes. “I simply said that you’re not straight.”
“Yeah, and what would make you think that?” Regulus practically shouted. His heart was beating through his chest and he felt his throat tightening as Barty began listing things off.
“You’ve not once had a proper crush on a girl since I’ve known you,” Barty began. “You flirt with Evan and I all the bloody time, you’ve literally told me that you’d fuck a guy before. We made out Regulus! Remember that? Then I called you my boyfriend and you freaked out!”
“We were thirteen!” Regulus protested, trying not to let his mind be consumed by the memories of their former relationship. He tried to turn away and take a breath, leaving Barty alone and going to finish caring for Evan who was most certainly listening to their bantering, but Barty grabbed his wrist before he had a chance an whipped him around so they were face to face.
“SO? I knew at that point that I was different, I knew that I'd never want to marry a woman for any other reason than securing a place in our fucked up society! I’m not saying that you’ll never have feelings for a woman in your life Reg, I’m just saying that you shouldn’t shame yourself for having goddamn desires. Whether or not they're for a man or a woman.”
“How did we end up talking about my sexuality!?” Regulus snapped, “you wanted me to tell you if I slept with James Potter. I didn’t okay? That’s it. You don’t need to spend every bloody second trying to figure out what’s wrong with me!”
“Nothings wrong with you! That’s the problem Regulus! You think that I’m always trying to ‘fix’ you but I’m only trying to get you to accept that you don’t need to be ‘fixed’!”
“Would you both shut the hell up!” Evan yelled as he came out of the bathroom “Allow me to sum it up yeah? Regulus is gay and doesn’t want to accept it even after he slept with james Potter-”
“I didn’t sleep with him!” Regulus groaned, honestly quite glad that Evan had taken the attention off of him and Barty’s occasional bickering about relationships.
“Sure,” Evan dismissed him. “And Barty,” he nodded to his best friend. “You don’t know how to keep your nose out of other people’s business.”
There was an uncomfortable silence in the air as Evan dressed, Barty was avoiding catching Regulus’ eye.
“I’m hungry,” Barty grumbled.
“Right yeah,” Regulus huffed, pulling his consciousness from the depths of his brain. “I need to get Evan fed before he throws up again.”
Evan flipped up his middle finger to which Regulus returned the gesture. The three boys made their way upstairs very slowly for breakfast, Barty was being stubborn and wouldn’t accept help from Regulus and Evan kept hissing and grumbling about the sunlight and how it was ‘burning his eyes from their sockets’.
“Stop being a drama queen Evan, you were well enough to call both Barty and I out earlier, I’m quite sure that some sunlight won’t kill you,” Regulus snapped, grabbing his wrist and dragging him along at a pace that might get them to the Great Hall before breakfast ended in an hour.
“Perhaps if you gave me a swig of the hangover cure I’d be better,” Evan countered.
“Not likely with how you’ve been acting lately,” Regulus turned his nose up. Barty was glaring at them.
“Just get some sodding perspective Regulus, I don’t think you should bother with Sirius anymore. Yet you clearly think there’s something worth saving, even with your mother replacing him at the end of the year, you attending that party last night proves it.”
Truthfully Regulus hadn’t gone to that party for Sirius at all, he’d gone for a reason that he’d never be able to fully grasp; James Potter. He didn’t have feelings for him, he couldn’t, but it didn’t mean that he couldn’t want to be near him. He’d never tell Evan or Barty that they’d slept on the couch together, they’d take it very differently than it was. Barty would squeal like a lovesick teenager, he’d try and set them up and insist that they were soulmates! Evan would probably just scoff and smirk, Regulus would never know if he was homophobic or a homosexual himself, he was much to guarded for even Regulus to be able to disypher that. And despite what either of his friends may think, Regulus was not interested in men. Sure he had kissed Barty a few times when they were thirteen, but he’d never wanted anything serious.
“Earth to fucking Regulus,” Even hit his arm.
Regulus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “could I get thirty seconds of peace to be left alone with my own thoughts? It’s like watching bloody toddlers.”
“Rude,” Barty whined, only proving Regulus’ point further. “How are you NOT hungover?”
“Only good thing I inherited from my lovely family,” it wasn’t necessarily a lie, he did get a very strong stomach from his parents, though they had no clue he used it to get drunk as hell at school. Last night had gotten much more out of hand than he was used to, the potion had just helped the process along a bit without the usual symptoms.
“Lucky,” Even mumbled, obviously holding back a snarky comment. He was eyeing the potion bottle that was peeking out of Regulus’ bag as they turned into the hall.
“Eat then you can have some,” Regulus said shortly. Much to his dismay the four Gryffinsor boys were settled down across the hall and James waved.
Barty smirked sleepily and Even raised a brow, “not a word.” Regulus said through gritted teeth.
The three of them settled down at the Slytherin table and piled their plates high with food. Regulus helped himself to two blueberry pancakes and a few sausage links and lured himself a tall up of orange juice. Evan was in the middle of pouring himself a cup of black coffee when Barty squealed.
“Ev! My mum said you could come for Christmas!” He beamed, shoving the letter into his friend's hands.
“Brilliant,” Evan smiled a bit as he skimmed the letter.
“Sorry we didn’t invite you Reg,” Barty bit his lip sheepishly. “I just assumed your mother wouldn’t allow it.”
“You’d be right about that,” Regulus sighed, trying not to let the fact that Barty hadn’t even asked bother him. “It’s no problem I swear.” He smiled, assuring Barty that he wasn’t angry with him.
They ate in silence for a while, no time for words as they shoved food down their throats. Regulus finished first, picking through his mail without much interest. He’d read the letter from his mother later, other than that it was nothing special. Just the paper and a reminder that his advanced potions essay - which would mark the end of their current partnerships - was due on Monday.
“Hey Regulus,” James waved as he and Sirius walked past the group on their way out. His smile was all too happy, and he didn’t seem to be weirded out whatsoever about the night before and how it had ended.
“James,” he smiled back, his cheeks were no doubt a deep crimson and Barty slapped his hand under the table.
Sirius shot him a look that said it all, ‘stay the fuck away from my best friend little brother.’ It was almost as if he could hear his voice in his head lecturing him on how he shouldn’t fall for someone so easily. Not that Regulus was falling for James. No. That wasn’t allowed, he couldn’t do that to his family. Not now anyways.