XVI —— the prefect's bathroom

🦢

THE RAIN HASN'T STOPPED SINCE eight o'clock the night before; Fianna's school cloaks have been charmed to be waterproof for years, so even in this miserable downpour, she can walk from one side of the castle courtyards to another without the fear of her hair getting frizzy.

It was one of the first things Salome taught her when she first took Fianna under her wing, alongside how to do her makeup and dress herself. Fianna felt a bit like Salome's dress-up doll, but also liked the attention from it. She thought that it was what having a big sister felt like. If she knew then what she knows now, she wonders if she would've been so happy about the makeover, given how complicated things have become.

She's kept Salome's teachings with her, though, pulling style advice from memory whenever she gets ready. These are what colours suit you, these hair products will work for you. Go here for clothes, but their knitwear's scratchy so avoid it. At the start of Fianna's fourth year, Salome presented her with school jumpers and sweater vests from the same Parisian wizard boutique she bought her own from, because they were miles better than Madam Malkin's. Fianna felt like she was friends with Fashion Jesus.

Fianna's Mary Janes (Salome's suggestion; ones heeled enough to give Fianna an extra inch, but not enough the teachers got pissy) hit the stone pavement leading towards Defence Against the Dark Arts. Regulus is waiting outside of the classroom for her. He kisses her quickly as a form of hello, something that Fianna still isn't used to.

It's been one full day since they kissed; she supposes there's no difference to their relationship to the outside world, because they were always apparently dating, but things feel miles different. Fianna doesn't know if they're dating now, which caused an entire evening of overthinking yesterday. (Like, they're fake-dating, yeah, but do they discuss turning the fake relationship into a real one? Do they date before that? Does Fianna mention going on a date, but she wants him to ask first for that thing? But does the normal rules of chivalry even matter when they've been fake-dating for so long?)

It's so confusing. She's trying to remind herself to just be in the moment, but living in the moment is difficult for someone that's constantly worrying about the future.

"I got you a present," says Regulus, and he passes her a croissant he was holding behind his back.

Fianna's eyes light up. "You're an angel."

The second she was ready this morning, she started putting up posters for the Yule Ball around the entire school. Yesterday she figured it would take the entire time she'd normally sit in the Great Hall eating breakfast, which it did — meaning her stomach has started to growl, making Regulus' croissant irresistible.

"Did you hand out all of your posters?" he says.

Fianna nods, chomping into her croissant. "By lunchtime, there won't be a single student at this school that doesn't know about the Yule Ball, or its theme," she says triumphantly. She looks down lovingly at her breakfast. "This croissant is delicious."

"Slytherin has the best pastries," he says with a shrug.

She gives him a look. "No they don't."

"You're right — Ravenclaw does. I swipe them from their table."

Fianna looks at him in shock. "I can't believe you stole this."

"It all comes from the same kitchen," he says, unbothered.

She brushes croissant flakes off the corners of her mouth, absentmindedly plucking out the first lipgloss her hand touches in her schoolbag.

"Your Duelling Club is later, right?" says Regulus.

Fianna nods, reapplying her lipgloss. "Uh-huh. The first one Remus and Salome are joining, too," she says. "Are you coming?"

"I don't know if it's appropriate," he says.

"Remus won't be mean to you if there's a crowd," she says.

Regulus frowns. "It's not him I'm worrying about."

Fianna looks at him, as it suddenly dawns on her. He must be worrying that by getting involved in the Duelling Club, Salome will be watching him, and the slightest misstep may make her believe he's an Order sympathiser. He is, of course, but she doesn't know that.

"OK," she says, quietly. "Honestly, I kind-of regret setting it as Monday nights. That's the only evening the prefects' bathroom is empty, so I can have a super long bath." She realises the euphemism of this, and she starts to blush. "No, wait — I didn't mean it like you should come to Duelling because then we'd go—"

"Oh, I bet you didn't," he says with a small smile. "But here I am, thinking of you naked—"

"Shh!" she hisses, nudging him lightly with her hand. No one's around yet, but still, Fianna feels paranoid about anyone overhearing. She can't believe she's more on-edge about this than Regulus being worried Death Eaters will figure out he doesn't side with them. Oh, to be a teenage girl.

Regulus starts to laugh. "I'm just teasing," he tells her, and quietly adds, "Like it takes me much to think of you naked anyway."

Fianna's insides feel clenched up, an intense desire for him to see her naked. In the same moment, the Defence professor opens the door, letting them into the classroom. Regulus pats Fianna's shoulder before stepping into the room, and she follows, shocked yet obsessing over the thought of him thinking of her.

Georgia's in this class, and since their seating arrangements haven't changed since last year, Fianna sits on the opposite side of the room to Regulus. But her heartbeat won't calm down, as she places her schoolbag down on her desk. She glances over her shoulder at him, catching him move his curly hair out of his face with her hands. His long, spindly fingers, she thinks. She didn't realise she could find hands attractive, but she thinks about his hair, and the way he towers over her, and—

Before Fianna knows it, she's marched over to his desk. He looks up at her, amused.

"Yes?" he says.

She begins, "Did you want to go to the prefect's bathroom later?"

"Do you want me to?" he says.

Fianna doesn't miss a beat. "Yes."

"OK," says Regulus, smiling to himself. "I'll meet you there."

"OK." She nods. "Cool."

Crouch appears at that point, sitting down next to Regulus. He gives Fianna a polite greeting, which is her sign to go back to her desk. As she sits down, pulling her notebook out from her schoolbag, she looks over her shoulder again; she swears she can see Regulus blush.

🦢

"HI, EVERYONE, AND WELCOME to the second Duelling Club session!" Fianna's standing on a bench at the end of the classroom, to try and make it easier for her to speak to everyone. She doesn't know about last week's numbers — Prewett failed to make a register — but this week looks good, a range of students from different houses and grades. Fianna looks over, to see Remus and Salome unhappily standing next to each other. "I'm sorry I wasn't here for the first one, but I hope this week makes up for it!"

"To your left, you'll see my brother, Remus, and Salome. If you have any questions about spells or technique, they're here to help," she says. "This Duelling Club is supposed to be fun, but I also hope that everyone learns some practical skills for the real world. Having said that, my brother's going to run through some basic defensive magic, so we can have a quick refresher and make sure we're all on the same page." Fianna looks over at Remus, as he starts to walk towards her. Concluding, she goes, "Thank you for coming!"

Remus lifts her hand up, to help Fianna step down from the bench. He doesn't bother standing up on it, and instead, starts running through three spells: Expelliarmus, Impedimenta, and Reducto.

"Where's Reggie?" says Salome, as Fianna stands beside her.

"Oh, he had homework to do," says Fianna. "I also think he wanted to avoid Remus."

Salome snorts. "Don't we all."

Fianna doesn't say anything, instead focusing on her big brother. He's got a natural charisma that lends itself to teaching; he used to tutor Fianna when she needed it, always explaining things in a way that would just make it click for her. She always wondered if that was why she's still top of her classes now, because her brother's mentorship gave her a head start. A bit like Salome with Fianna's fashion sense, she supposes.

As students move off into pairs, Remus returns to Fianna and Salome.

"That was really good!" says Fianna. "Really well explained."

"Thanks," says Remus, as he smiles. "What do you want us to do?"

"Just walk around the room, and if anyone needs help or guidance, give it," says Fianna. "I don't want this to feel like school, but also... there's no point in practising Duelling if people aren't going to improve."

"Sounds good," says Salome. "And yeah, you were well-spoken there, Lupin... Shame your boyfriend wasn't here to see it."

Remus doesn't say anything. Fianna frowns, looking across at her brother for an explanation. He avoids her gaze.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," says Prewett, appearing through the crowd.

Fianna says hello to him, but before she can remind him what Remus and Salome are doing, Remus slips away, wandering past the pairs of Duelling students. Salome stalks off, looking pleased with herself. Fianna's still confused about what — and who — Salome meant.

"Where's Georgia?" says Fianna.

"Oh, she's got an essay, I think," says Prewett. "So I guess we're partners?"

"I guess so..." Fianna says, unhappy.

They stand a couple of metres apart, getting ready to duel.

"Where's Black?" says Prewett.

"Busy," says Fianna. "And avoiding my brother."

"Fair enough," says Prewett, raising his wand, about to strike. "Always excuses with Death—"

Fianna disarms him before he can finish the sentence. Prewett looks over at his wand, sitting pathetically on the stone floor. She smiles politely.

Prewett gives her a dirty look. "Touche."

The next hour trudges past, Fianna winning almost every duel against Prewett. He tries to outsmart her, or say things to distract her, but her defence magic is swift and strong regardless. By the end, his frustration makes him careless and sloppy in his footwork; Fianna tries to hide her smugness, as Salome comments on Prewett's boisterousness.

As the lesson ends, Fianna tries to say goodbye to her brother, but he's already disappeared to go home. She wonders if it's because of Salome's comment from earlier, which has left Fianna feeling annoyed. Salome couldn't behave for one evening? But, Fianna knows she can't be rude because Salome is doing her a favour, so she walks up to her, to thank her through gritted teeth.

"It's really appreciated," says Fianna.

"No, it was fun, don't even worry about it," says Salome. "You're good, by the way — I haven't seen someone so... graceful, duelling before." Fianna smiles softly. The swan's swiftness, manifesting in her again. "I worry for anyone that's on the wrong side of your wand."

Fianna snorts. "Thanks... But, Salome? What you said earlier, about Remus...?"

"Oh." Salome has a tight-lipped smile on her face, as she shakes her head. "I didn't realise he hadn't told you... Maybe have a word with him about it, when you see him next."

Fianna frowns. "OK...?"

"It was lovely seeing you," says Salome, before she prowls off out of the classroom, going home.

Fianna decides to shelf the comment about Remus for another day. Maybe next week, she'll ask if he can come to school early, so she can ask him about it. Fianna didn't realise her brother was gay, but equally, it could just be Salome trying to get into his head... Fianna's unsure, but feels uncomfortable that Salome would take that route to bully Remus.

She walks to the prefect's bathroom, having changed into a bikini before Duelling Club started, wearing it underneath her uniform. She felt uncomfortable actually having a bath naked with Regulus, but equally, felt weird sitting in wet underwear, when she did bring a couple of swimsuits to school for this reason. (Well... not for this reason, but sometimes, her and Georgia would bring magazines and treat the prefect's bathroom like a private pool.)

Regulus is waiting for her outside the door, and Fianna smiles at him.

"Hi," she says, leaning up to kiss him lightly. "You're early."

"I'm sure you can gather why, Fee," he says with a shrug.

Fianna rolls her eyes, unlocking the door for the two of them.

They're met with a waft of rose and lavender scented steam, the big bath — a pool, really — a lilac colour. Regulus closes the door behind them both.

"It's been a while since I've been in here," he says, quietly.

"Oh, yeah," she says. "I forgot you were a prefect last year."

Regulus nods. "Before I was alienated for being a monster."

"OK, OK," says Fianna. "I don't like Dumbledore, but you can't fault him for not allowing a Death Eater to be a prefect?"

"I s'pose," he mumbles. "But anyway, I was thinking... I've got a meeting with them on Saturday, but maybe we could do something, just the two of us?"

Fianna, pulling her hair up into a bun, frowns. "... I didn't realise other people were coming here?"

"I meant as a date," he says.

"Oh," she says.

"Do you... not want to?" he says, quietly.

Fianna's eyes widen. "No, of course I do!"

"OK," he says, smiling softly. "We can go to Madam Puddifoots, before my meeting?"

Fianna starts to smile, too, her cheeks blushing pink. "Yeah, that'll be nice."

Fianna takes off her skirt and shirt, before she sinks down into the bathwater. There's a ledge that acts as a seat the entire way around, which Fianna kneels on, as she looks away from Regulus undressing, and instead, at the mermaid in the stained glass window. Fianna swears the mermaid looks at her, before she dives into the water. She didn't realise the mermaid could do that, but she feels comforted by the added privacy.

"How was Duelling Club?" says Regulus, as he sits down next to her.

Fianna tries her hardest not to look at his bare chest, or the black mark staining his forearm. Instead, she stares at his face, making an almost uncomfortable amount of eye contact. Luckily the attempt to avoid looking at the Dark Mark is felt by Regulus, too, who quickly hides it beneath the water's edge.

"Yeah, it was alright," she says. "Although Salome made a comment about Remus... I don't want to share it, though, in case it's true and he isn't ready to talk about it..."

Regulus frowns. "Cryptic, OK."

"Well, I find it weird that Salome would even treat that sort of thing as something to bash him for..." says Fianna, trailing off. Regulus isn't looking her in the eye, but instead, focused on something further down. Fianna snaps her fingers at him. "Uh, hello?"

"I'm still listening!" he says, putting his hands up defensively. "Merlin."

"Were you staring at my boobs?" she says.

"No," he says.

"Yes, you were," she says. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Yeah, Salome's homophobic," says Regulus. "I was multi-tasking."

Fianna gives him a look. "So you were—"

"Yes, I was, forgive me for wanting to look at your chest," he says. He reaches across underneath the water, one of his hands resting on her thigh. "Your necklace is pretty, by the way."

"Oh, thanks," she says softly. "I got it for my birthday."

"I got this ring for mine," he tells her, lifting up his hand — the one that was holding her leg. He shows her a silver ring with an engraving stamped in the middle; he takes it off so she can look at it, as he explains, "It's my family's crest. I think Mother decided becoming a Death Eater meant I was adult enough to get an heirloom."

"... Groovy," says Fianna, awkwardly.

Regulus smiles at her. He puts the ring on her middle finger. Fianna's mind, as sweet as the moment feels, races back to the feeling of his hand touching her thigh. Quietly, she moves closer to him, straddling his legs and sitting in his lap.

"Oh?" he says.

"You knew what you were doing," she says, rolling her eyes.

"Well, yeah," he says, and he smiles softly.

She rests her hands on his shoulders, as she softly kisses him, his head tilting up to reach hers.

"The door's definitely locked?" he says.

"Yeah, there's an enchantment on the door..." Fianna glances to the door, but then returns her gaze to Regulus, suspicious. "Why...?"

"Just wondered," he says with a shrug, but Fianna can feel his hands below the bath's surface, lightly tracing circles on her upper thigh. "Tell me if it's too much."

"No, it's nice," she says softly.

His fingers finally reach the space between her thighs; a moan escapes her lips before she can suppress it. He smiles gently.

"Does that feel good?"

"Yeah," she says softly, as her bikini bottoms are wriggled off, a joint effort between the two of them.

hi sorry it took two months to update but i hope this makes up for it (they did not have sex lol i'm not rushing into it but this felt natural to happen lol hope you enjoyed!!!!) let me know what you thought <333333

(also yes wolfstar is canon in this YAY)