Chapter 8
//cw: recreational drug use//
the rest of the holidays passed in a similar way to the first week. the christmas day feast itself was quiet, with sirius and regulus being two of only seven students in the castle. sat in the library on the morning of new year’s day, the two brothers were in silence as regulus completed an essay. a loud snowstorm was occurring outside, with a constant pounding of snow against the windows proving to be a little distracting to the younger black brother.
“what’s your favourite subject?” regulus asked, looking across the desk at his brother’s slumped position. sirius raised his head from his folded arms groggily, the new year’s hangover still in full effect. “you know mine” regulus added, prompting a quiet groan from sirius.
sirius sighed.
“i don’t know” he said eventually. “i like care of magical creatu-”
regulus snorted: “i should’ve seen that coming.”
“what?” it was still too early for sirius to be fully functional. “oh. no, i didn’t even mean it like that but now you mention it-”
“please stop” regulus said, raising his hands to cover his ears. “please.”
“i actually really like divination.”
regulus opened his mouth in shock.
“i know it’s unreliable blah blah” sirius sais as regulus remained in a stunned silence. “i don’t know, i just like it.”
“do you get good grades in it?”
“yeah.” sirius paused. “mcgonagall hates it; pisses her right off. anyway, the train’s coming in a couple of hours - do you want to go into hogsmeade for a bit first?”
regulus looked down at his incomplete essay: “sure.”
their walk into town was quiet apart from the sound the snow made as they stepped on it, leaving a long trail of footprints from the castle doors and down the mile long path to the village centre.
“butterbeer?” sirius asked, pausing outside the three broomsticks.
“err yeah, why not” regulus said, sitting down at a table and watching as sirius made his way to the bar.
he rested his elbows on the table as sirius placed his drink down, cradling the warm mug.
“who are you meeting at the station then?” sirius asked watching as regulus wiped the thin foamy moustache away from his lips with the back of his hand.
“barty” regulus said simply.
“crouch? the ministry guy’s son?”
“yeah, we have a lot of frees together so we know each other quite well.”
“you like him?”
regulus spluttered slightly at sirius’ question.
“h-how umm do you mean?”
sirius raised an eyebrow.
“do you like him?” sirius repeated much more slowly, “or do you like him?”
as regulus’ cheeks turned an impressive shade of red, sirius grinned.
“it’s not him,” regulus emphasised. “just-”
“men” sirius said, nodding knowingly. “i get it.”
regulus rolled his eyes before finishing his drink and retying his scarf around his neck.
“i’m going to go to the bookshop, but i’ll see you at the station.”
sirius nodded, raising his tankard to his lips once again. adjusting his scarf as the strength of the wind increased, regulus made his way up the narrow street to the bookshop. a small bell rang above his head as regulus pushed the door open.
he half-smiled at the elderly man behind the counter before disappearing down one of the aisles. he picked up a book with a diagram of a werewolf’s transformation, gently rubbing the pages between his fingers. he shook his head, making curls fall out from behind his ear.
“i wonder what remus would say about this” he mumbled to himself, returning the book to its pile with precision.
slipping a blue-covered hardback out from one of the shelves, regulus took it up to the counter.
“6 galleons” the man said after wrapping the book in tissue paper and sliding it back across the counter.
“thank you” regulus said, handing over the money.
as regulus made his way down the steps that led to hogsmeade station, he noticed sirius already sat on one of the benches.
“did you get what you wanted?” sirius asked.
regulus merely held up the package in response.
“i have a question” regulus began uncertainly. he waited for sirius to look at him before continuing. “what’s going to happen now that everyone’s back at school?”
“we can still make time to see each other if you want” sirius offered. “i have actually enjoyed the last couple of weeks.”
regulus jumped as the train pulled into the station.
“okay, i’m glad because me too.”
the train doors opened and sirius stood up, his smile spreading as he saw remus. the platform quickly filled with people but sirius pushed through the crowd to reach his boyfriend. he stood up on his tiptoes, gently connecting their lips.
“i missed you” he breathed out as he pulled away.
“i missed you too, love.”
“HEY WHAT ABOUT ME?”
sirius looked up to see james potter running at him down the length of the platform.
“not even a little bit.”
“dickhead.”
sirius rolled his eyes before intertwining his fingers with remus’ and leading the way towards the waiting carriages. they passed regulus on the way through the exit, and remus felt sirius’ grip tightening around his hand.
“he’s okay” remus assured him.
“yeah i know. i’m glad he’s not alone.”
“why would you think that?”
“i did run out on him like, three months ago.”
“hey, look at me” remus said, forcing sirius’ eyes off his brother. “he’s fine - he understands and he forgave you.”
the following morning involves a lot of groaning as the castle slowly came back to life after being practically empty for so long. regulus’ eyebrows furrowed as a dark-feathered owl he didn’t recognise dropped a small piece of parchment from its beak into his lap. he unfolded it, immediately recognising the writing.
‘you free after school today?’
throughout all of his lessons that day, regulus watched the clock impatiently, willing the hands to move faster. eventually the final bell rang and regulus made his way down to the quidditch pitch.
remus was already sat in the stands, some of his textbooks open on the bench in front of him. he moved them as regulus hovered awkwardly. remus already had a joint between his lips and he leant back against the row behind him, letting the smoke warm his throat.
he watched as regulus’ pale fingers deftly rolled his own joint, before narrowing his eyes as regulus suddenly sat up straighter.
“do you have a lighter?”
“yeah” remus fumbled with his pockets for a moment before handing it over.
regulus closed his eyes as he breathed out.
“how was your christmas?”
“quiet” remus said. “although i can imagine yours wasn’t.”
regulus smiled.
“not exactly but still really nice. how’s james?”
“err fine” remus said, slightly taken by surprise at the question. “i think him and lily went to some christmas market or something together.”
remus looked across at the younger boy. a dulled look had appeared in his eyes; similar to the one sirius had whenever something didn’t go his way, but regulus’ was darker, colder.
“anyway” remus continued hurriedly, “sirius says you’ve got plans to spend more time together.”
“yeah, hopefully.”
regulus stubbed his joint out on the wood of the bench before standing up. he turned to face remus who was still blowing out small clouds of smoke.
“see you soon” remus said as regulus smiled at him softly.
“yeah, it was nice to see you.”
—
after another two weeks of exchanging half smiles in the corridors, regulus began to grow impatient as he and sirius hadn’t spent time together since the holidays. at the end of one of his transfiguration lessons, regulus made sure to pack his things up slowly, waiting for the rest of his class to disperse.
“mr black, you are still in my classroom - is that intentional?” professor mcgonagall asked, making her way from her desk to his.
“yes, professor. you know you said to keep in mind where the biscuits are,” regulus dipped his head, unable to make eye contact. “i was wondering if i could take you up on that offer?”
mcgonagall’s eyebrows met briefly, but not for long enough for the youngest black brother to have noticed.
“what time would suit you best?”
“i-umm, is just after dinner today okay? also, i’m sure you’ve noticed i’m not very good at this talking stuff, so can we maybe play chess or something at the same time?”
“eight o’clock will be fine” mcgonagall told him.”
“okay,” regulus stood up, finally looking the head of gryffindor house in the eye. “see you then. thank you professor.”
mcgonagall smiled softly as regulus made his way to the door. as his hand closed around the handle, she called out after him.
“do you prefer to play as white or black?”
regulus couldn’t quite hide the small smile that came to his lips as he turned back to face her.
“white, please professor.”