Hidden passage
Two boys were walking in Hogward’s corridor, one feeding the other tangerine as if they were one of these embarrassing middle schoolers couple, and to be completely honest, they kidna were.
One was taller, his big round glasses on his nose and his green eyes shining with wonder. The shorter one had black wavy hair and his blue eyes were concentrated on not looking too much at the green eyed boy’s lips. He was walking beside him, way closer than boys their age were supposed to when they were friends, but none of them seemed to complain about their closeness.
After they had eaten their first tangerine, Regulus took the other fruit out of his pocket and absent-mindedly threw it at a ravenclaws student who was visibly younger than them, maybe 14 or 13 years old. And who yelped in pain when it bounced on his head. His face seemed familiar, but Harry couldn’t figure out where he had seen him.
“Fucking hell Regulus I’m allergic to this shit!!”
“I know.” The Black only answered, giving the poor student a smug smile, before keeping his path steady as he was still walking with Harry next to him.
“That was so bloody mean.”
“I know right? How terrible of me to throw a tangerine at Barty who laughed at Pandora for having a bad grade in potion class.”
“Barty ? Barty Crouch Jr ?”
“You know him ?” Regulus looked at Harry who was making a weird face.
“A… Bit .”
He simply nodded, figuring he would ask him his past with him another day.
“So, which path should we take?” Changing subject huh? Regulus would just go with the flow.
“I figured out we would walk down the hill and around the shrieking shack as all the students do, why? You know another one?”
“Eh… How long does it take from Hogward to Hogsmeade with this path ?”
“Around 30 minutes.”
“Alright then, the one I was thinking about takes one hour.”
“Why would you use the longest path to Hogsmeade ?” He was really confused, where did this idea come from ?
“It’s more discreet” Now that was interesting, a secret passage ? He definitely needed to see that.
“Now you've got my attention, when we get back we have to use it.”
Harry nodded and smiled at the slytherin, who looked the other way to hide his red cheeks, damned pale skin color he had. Finally outside the castle, they ran into some students before being completely alone a few minutes later. The cold air of February whipping their exposed skin making the boy with hair as black as his name shiver, he had always been a sensitive-to-the-cold type of person. But a few seconds later he was surrounded by warmth all around him, and he let out a sigh of relief at this feeling, before turning his face toward the person who was the originator of this sudden warm and inviting atmosphere. What a bloody gentleman he had fallen for, that was unexpected of a gryffindors. Perhaps Harry was one of a kind, he shared blood with James but they were two completely different people and he still couldn’t completely wrap his head around this fact. It felt… Ill-acquainted, being treated like that and not having to do something in exchange. It wasn’t how he was raised at all. You want to talk with your brother ? Only when you have learned these 5 spells. You want to sit with us ? Prove us you’re really a fan of Tom Riddle. You want my attention ?
Get on your knees and open your mouth.
You are only good at obeying orders, you can’t stand for yourself because you are terrified of disappointing your family, unlike your brother, he has always been more than you, more confident, more powerful, more than you’ll ever be, no matter how hard you try. And that’s why he replaced you.
“Regulus.” He stopped himself from jumping, dragged out of his mind by the voice of the boy he was going out on a date with. Right, let’s concentrate on that.
“Yes ?”
Instead of getting an answer, the taller boy cupped his face and pressed a quick kiss on the tip of his nose, which made him instantly turn into a crimson mess. He then turned his face, getting closer and closer to his left ear, and he could feel his hot breath crash on the sensitive part of his skin, right under the ear.
“Tag, you’re it.”
“You-“ he couldn’t even finish his sentence before Harry was backing away, running down the hill like a kid and laughing like a maniac. “COME BACK YOU-.”
“WHY ARE YOU STAYING STILL SLYTHERIN ? CAN'T SLITER ANYMORE ?”
Alright. He’s going to kill him.
The walk was not as long as Regulus had planned, chasing after the boy and casting not-too-dangerous spells at each other had led them to arrive pretty quickly at Hogsmeade. And in front of the banner welcoming them in the village, he was finally able to get his hands on the other boy.
“You. Are. A. Pain. In. The. Ass ”
“Well-“
“If you turn my sentence into a sexual joke I’m hexing you right here.”
“You won't, you like me too much for that.”
“Being right doesn’t suit you, keep on being a dumbass.” He didn't care about looking at him afterward. His mind concentrated on what they should do before going to Hog's Head.
They ended up doing some window shopping, making comments about things around them and laughing. Their hands brushing against each other but never holding properly. It was overall pretty nice. Not a lot of students were there yet so they could interact with each other freely without having too much attention on them, as it often occurs when lions and snakes are seen hanging out with each other, it doesn't matter if they are friends or lovers. Maybe that's what got the muggle Evan away from Snape, even before he started hanging out with some of their slytherin peers and trying dark spells on his dear bullies.
However, he and Harry hadn't got the delicious occasion of experiencing the consequences of the rivalry they were supposed to have. So he could almost say they were lucky. For now on. Not so sure his parents would be thrilled by the news. The Potters were known for being Blood traitors after all. Not that he supported it. Just maybe… Maybe he didn't care that much about it after all. Maybe he could just love, for once.
He looked down at his empty hand, hanging loosely at his side. And then at Harry's. The red sentence engraved in its back as if he had cut open his flesh over and over again by writing it with a freshly sharpened dagger..
''I must not tell lies.'' He murmured, more for himself than for anybody. But Harry had still heard it. And almost as an automatic gesture, he pulled down his sleeve over his hand. Now all Regulus wanted was to know the story and then kiss all the scars on this body. But it wasn't the right time. So instead he looked up, searching for the pub's storefront before finally noticing it. It was almost noon, if the sun's position in the sky was anything to go by. Which meant they could drink and then get themselves something to eat before heading back to Hogwarts.
"Let's get in shall we?"
"Lead the way, little stars." He was probably supposed to be disgusted by the nickname and complain about it. He was not, so he did not. Instead he stepped in front of the green-eyed boy, opened the door for him, and smirked at the redness of his cheeks when he realized he was, in fact, keeping the door open and letting him first.
"It's not a bloody competition." He heard Harry grumble as he entered the pub.
"It's not. But you are just so pretty when you're embarrassed, I can't help myself."
"Stop for Merlin’s sake.”
They entered the pub one after the other, and Harry just followed Regulus, who seemed to be a regular at this place, he was moving like he owned it, all comfortable and elegant in this dusty place who, for some reason, felt strangely welcoming.
“Good afternoon Abelforth.” Regulus is the one who greeted the man behind the counter first, which was unusual for two reasons : one, Regulus was initiating small talks. And two, isn’t it supposed to be part of the bartender’s job to greet his clients ? But here again Harry had very limited experience when it comes to bars and pubs, so he couldn’t really judge the way things were here.
“Go sit Harry, I’ll be there in a minute.” Harry bit his tongue and stopped himself from making a comment about how sexy it was to be bossed around by him, and instead aimed for a good spot in the back of the pub, close from a window and in a relatively private area. Eagerly, he sat and quickly casked the cleaning spells scourgify in order to get rid of the dirt who was covering Regulus’ futur chair. Taking off his coat and putting down their bag. Waiting for him to return.
Less than two minutes later, the Black brother was back, one butterbeer in one hand, and one firewhisky in the other.
“I can’t believe they’ll serve alcohol to your little 15 yo self.” Harry muttered, before taking his butterbeer to take a sip out of it.
“You’re the one saying that ? I’m born in June, and I am technically older than you. If it wasn’t for the… Time travel thing.
Pride and fondness started rising in Regulus’ body as he was looking at Harry’s face, now dumbfounded, he looked like a deer in the headlights. Really dumb and lovely at the same time, it was a little weird.
“How did you know I wasn’t from this timeline ?”
“I wasn’t sure, but now I am. So ! Tell me how old you are.”
“You are such a… I don’t even know what you are. A snake.”
“You don’t seem to hate snakes that much though.”
“I sure have a thing for blue-eyed snakes with a dark sense of humor and a brain as big as their heart.”
“Alright you can stop.” He wasn’t saying that because Harry’s compliments were making him flustered, absolutely not. Thank you very much. He drank almost half of his drink in one gulp, before repeating himself. “Now in all seriousness, tell me how old you are, and also what the fuck you are doing here.
There was a silence between the two for a while, it seemed like Harry needed some in order to organize whatever was happening inside his brain.
“I’m 17.” Alright, older and old enough to drink the firewhiskey he had in his hand. “Now how much do you want to know ?”
“You know that telling me all that could have a huge impact on the future right ?”
“That’s… Pretty much what I’m trying to do, what I do here will have an impact on your timeline’s future, but it won’t affect mine. And if I can change the future here, It’s probably for the best for a lot of people, including you.”
“I’m listening, tell me whatever you want me to know.”
And so they talked, Harry more obviously, he talked about Tom Riddle (in the future Voldemort) and what his beliefs will do in the future), how the second war went, the people who died, and the ones who did not. When Harry thought he had said enough it was 1.30 pm and both of their drinks were empty and forgotten at that point. Regulus was a bit surprised. But here again, that wasn’t that unusual for the wizarding society to see time travelers, even though Harry wasn’t exactly that, it was nonetheless similar. Still, the thought of him drowning while betraying the so-called Voldemort sounded like something he would have done. Nobody had the right to hurt Kreacher. Not even his parents. He had stopped eating for days and days when he had found out his parents were cruel to him, which led him to almost starve to death and his parents (especially his mother) being forced to accept not to cast dark spells at Kreacher again. And it was still a regular cause of fight between him and Sirius.
Afterward they talked about other things. But sometimes related to time-travel. How school was for Harry compared to now. All the gossip among students, and who married who. Among other things along the same lines.
They asked for another round of drinks (this time Harry paid and it was non-negotiable) and kept on with their conversations. Most of the time it was Harry who was talking and Regulus showing he was still paying attention with little '' hum '' or nods. But none of their were taken aback by that. It was just how they worked, and it worked perfectly fine.
At some point Regulus started feeling needy for more physical contact, blaming himself for having sat in front of this boy instead of next to him. His foot was tapping nervously on the wooden floor, making the dust fly away until at some point, his shoe hit Harry's.
He stopped moving for a split second, fighting his urge of just taking whatever he wanted from this boy, before sliding his feet back against Harry's. This contact was nothing, surely Harry couldn't even feel it. But still he was aching for this. Just a hint of proximity. A point he could press against. Harry was still talking and to be completely honest, he wasn't listening, he was just appreciating the sound of his voice. Now he could hear it, the slightly deep voice, the trace of a puberty he had already hit a while ago.
He looked down at the table, and let himself contemplate this hand. Harry's hand. With the sentence he still ignored the story of, engraved in it. If he was just a bit more brave, like his brother. He would take this hand in his and kiss it's back. Pressing his lips hard on the words as if he could cast an episkey with those, erasing each letter one by one. Erasing his pain. Erasing everything but them.
He looked at this hand as it moved, closing his eyes when it brushed against the side of his face, slowly oh so slowly moving a strand of his hair behind his left ear. He might have shivered. He couldn't really tell, all was just a blurry mess where only his and Harry's body were real.
His ankle stroked Harry's. As if this part of his body wasn't under his control anymore. All he ever wanted was far away. All the glory and all the fame. All his family's pride. He would throw all that away in a heartbeat if it meant he could stay here with him.
Harry stood up and leant over the table, and Regulus almost whined at the loss of contact between their ankles. Until he felt, once more. His mouth so close to his ear.
"What would you do if I told you that I really want to kiss you right now?" He bit his lips, trying hard and falling to stop his face from burning.
"I would drag you somewhere private and… let you do it as much as you want." He murmured, a bit more shyly that he was used to.
"I might be insatiable." Oh now the little lion was back.
"I'm pretty sure I could handle it." Regulus smirked, taking the other boy's chin between his index finger and his thumb in order to move him away and be able to look him in the eyes.
"Somewhere private huh?” Harry murmured, his eyes going back and forth at his eyes, then his mouth, then back at his eyes. “If you're still down for the secret passage I was talking about earlier…"
"Perfect.” Regulus smiled, before backing off and letting go of the other boy’s chin. “Now let’s get out of there before I bend you over this table and we traumatize the people here."
Harry chuckled, putting on his coat. "Would be a shame to be banned from Hog’s head."
"I agree, plus Alberfort is the only one who agreed to serve me alcohol."
They quickly gathered all their belongings and walked fast toward the exit. Ignoring the disgusted face some wizards and witches had on their face when they walked by.
Finally outside, Harry stretched out, before turning back to look at Regulus, his tan skin was beautifully strained with red powder covering his cheeks, the tip of his nose, and his ears. And Regulus thought that he couldn't wait to press him against whatever surface he could find, and snog him like he was his last meal on death rows.