The Owlery
Remus knew he shouldn’t go.
There were about a hundred reasons why meeting Regulus Black in the middle of the night was a terrible idea, and only one reason to actually do it—curiosity.
Sirius would kill him if he found out. James would probably insist on coming along just to hex Regulus. And Peter… well, Peter would probably just panic.
Still, here Remus was, sneaking through the castle under the Invisibility Cloak, the Marauder’s Map safely tucked into his pocket.
His hip ached as he climbed the stairs to the Owlery, the autumn wind whistling through the cracks in the stone walls. He pulled his jumper tighter around himself, then left the cloak behind a statue just before reaching the top, so Regulus wouldn’t see it.
He was already there, arms crossed as usual, his dark hair framing his face. At the sound of Remus’ footsteps, he turned, smiling slightly.
"You came," he said, sounding almost surprised.
"Yeah, well, I had nothing better to do," Remus said dryly. They stood in silence for a moment. An owl fluttered overhead, landing on the railing.
"So?" Remus asked after a while, the memory of Regulus crying at his side suddenly flashing through his mind. "What do you want?" Part of him hoped Regulus would say something about Sirius, but he didn’t.
“Barty and Evan get their fags from a Slytherin in seventh year. His name is Lewis Walker."
Remus frowned, then remembered. The cigarettes. Or rather, where to get them.
"How much is he charging?" Remus asked.
Regulus shrugged. "Regular prices. Two Galleons, I think. He might not sell them to you, though."
Of course, there had to be a catch. Remus sighed, sitting down on a nearby bench. His hip was killing him. "Why not?"
"You’re hanging out with my brother," Regulus replied, a dry laugh escaping his lips. "But I might be able to get you some," he offered, his voice low. "If you want."
Remus narrowed his eyes. "Why would you do that?"
The other boy hesitated, looking at the owls rather than Remus. "I think you’re quite nice, to be honest. Even though you’re… Remus Lupin."
"What’s that supposed to mean?" Remus chuckled, a smile tugging at his lips.
Regulus didn’t answer right away. Instead, he kicked at a stone on the floor, sending overthe edge of the tower. His posture was stiff, and in the dim moonlight, his face looked sharper than usual—like he was forcing himself to hold something back.
"It means," Regulus finally said, "that you don’t act like the rest of them. The Gryffindors, I mean."
Remus raised an eyebrow. "I don’t?"
Regulus gave a small shake of his head. "No. They’re loud, and reckless. They never think before they act." He exhaled sharply. "You do."
Remus didn’t quite know how to respond to that. He wasn’t sure it was true, either. Sure, compared to James and Sirius, he was the sensible one. But that wasn’t exactly hard.
"So, what—" Remus tilted his head. "You like me, then?"
Regulus scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Don’t flatter yourself, Lupin."
Remus smirked. "You do like me, admit it."
"Yes, well, I also think you’re annoying." Regulus sighed, brushing his hair out of his face. "Look, do you want me to get them for you or not?"
"Yeah," Remus said after a few seconds. He enjoyed smoking- it seemed like something normal for teenager to do. Unlike everything else going on in his life. "If it’s not too much trouble."
Regulus rolled his eyes again. "We could meet up again tomorrow. You just let me know when you run empty."
Remus smirked. "I’d like that, yeah."
They stood there for a while, neither of them in any rush to leave. The wind howled through the Owlery, ruffling their hair, and the scent of feathers lingered in the air.
Regulus shifted, glancing sideways at Remus as he also sat down on the bench. "Does he talk about me?"
Remus blinked. "Sorry?"
"My brother, obviously."
Remus hesitated. The easy thing to do would be to say no, to pretend that Sirius never mentioned him, but that would be a lie.
"Sometimes," he admitted. "Not as much as you might think."
Regulus sighed, looking dissatisfied with the answer. "I see."
"You could talk to him, you know," Remus said carefully. "If you wanted to."
Regulus snorted. "No, I couldn’t."
"Why not?"
"You wouldn’t understand."
The Black brother probably was right. Remsu didn’t understand a lot of the things that were currently happening on the dark side of the wizardry world, but he refused to accept it. Just running around pretending his rather happy life at Hogwarts was reality. It wasn’t.
He and everyone else read the news: muggle attacks, wizards with muggle parents disappearing, even werewolves were being spotted more often than usual. Remus hated that the most.
Silence stretched between them again, the wind rustling through the Owlery.
Remus wasn’t sure what to think of Regulus right now. He had always been Sirius’ little brother, the one who followed rules, the one who spent his breaks with the worst Slytherins and obedience his parents like a good puppy.
But here he was, speaking to him like an equal, like he saw him, like no one else did, maybe.
Regulus tilted his head slightly, watching him. "You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?"
Remus blinked. "What?"
"Sirius."
Remus sighed, running a scarred hand through his hair. "I suppose I always am. He makes it difficult not to."
Regulus let out a small chuckle, though there was something bitter behind it. "Yeah. That’s true."
Another pause. Remus could feel Regulus’ eyes on him, sharp and calculating, but not judging. There was something different about this moment—about the way Regulus looked at him, like he was trying to understand something even he didn’t quite understand.
"You don’t have to pity me, you know," Regulus murmured after a while.
Remus turned to face him fully. "I don’t." Which was true. He pitied Sirius though, the one who was at least trying to make a change. Howe, at this moment, judging regulus felt wrong. Remus didn’t know what he had to deal with, so he wouldn’t say something till he found out.
"Good. Because I don’t want you to." Regulus’ expression was unreadable, but his body language wasn’t. The way he leaned slightly toward Remus, the way his fingers twitched at his side as if debating whether to move closer or not. Remus recognized it. He knew it well, because it was the same hesitation he felt himself whenever he was with Sirius.
Before Remus could think about it properly, he reached out, his fingers brushing against the sleeve of Regulus’ jacket. The fabric was smooth, expensive, unlike the old jumpers Remus was used to. Regulus didn't pull away. Instead, his gaze flickered down to where Remus’ hand was before meeting his eyes again. His eyes seemed pleading, like he desperately wanted Remus to go further.
But what was he even thinking? This wasn’t right, none of it.
For a moment, neither of them moved. The air between them felt heavy, charged with something unspoken. The logical part of Remus' brain screamed at him to step back, to remember that this was Sirius’ brother, that this was dangerous and if anyone found out, he’d probably end up dead, literally. But another part of him—the part that had always been drawn to things he shouldn’t want—kept him in place.
“Do you fancy any girl, Remus?”, regulus than asked, gazing up to him with the most intense expression he had ever seen on the younger Black.
Did he?
No, and he knew it. He never did. He didn’t understood why James was so crazy over Lily or why Sirius adored Mary that much. When he was younger, he always thought it would happen one day, but it never did.
Hesitantly, Remus shook his head.
Regulus was the one who moved then. Slowly he reached up, fingers tracing the edge of Remus’ jaw, just a ghost of a touch. Remus inhaled sharply, heart pounding. He should stop this. He should say something. But instead, he found himself leaning in, just slightly, just enough.
Regulus’ breath hitched. His fingers curled slightly against Remus’ hair, his own breath coming a little quicker now. The space between them was almost nonexistent.
A loud hoot from an owl above suddenly startled them both, shattering whatever spell they had been under. Remus pulled back immediately, standing up so fast his hip protested in pain. Regulus straightened as well, his face carefully neutral, though there was something unreadable in his eyes.
Remus swallowed hard, his thoughts racing. What the hell had he just done? Boys touching boys- that wasn’t normal. He didn’t need even more extraordinary stuff happening in his life. Being a werewolf was more than enough.
And yet Regulus Black had been inches away from him, and Remus hadn’t wanted to pull away.
"I should go," Remus said, his voice a little unsteady.
"Yeah." Regulus nodded once.
Remus hesitated for a moment longer, as if there was something else he should say, something he should do. But instead, he just turned and left, grabbing the invisibility cloak on his way down the stairs. His heart was still racing.
As he made his way back to Gryffindor Tower, he tried not to think about how close he had just come to doing something reckless, something irreversible.
And he tried even harder not to think about how badly he wished the owl hadn't interrupted.