Friday 19th September, 1976

It was Friday, and I was ready to set my plan in motion. During lunch, when Regulus Black was in the Great Hall, I made my way to the Slytherin Common Room. I knew where it was thanks to the marauders, but I was yet to know the password, so I had to wait for a Slytherin to enter or exit the common room and then sneak in.

Shouldn't be too hard.

I waited in front of the common room for about 15 minutes, and just as I was going to give up and attempt this prank some other time, I heard hurried footsteps coming towards me. I hid behind a corner and watched as a second year Slytherin swiftly whispered the password to his common room and entered.

Taking my chance, I half walked, half ran inside after him, hiding behind a pillar so as to keep myself hidden. I couldn't help the gasp that came out of my mouth as I stared at the Slytherin Common Room though.

It was lavish, with green silk banners hung around the room, a beautiful ornate fireplace, and plush couches and seats spread across the room with French polished wooden tables dotted along the place as well.

The thing that I admired the most though, was, by far, the large windows at the end of the common room that looked out into the depths of the black lake. As I stared at the window, I swear I saw a tentacle belonging to the Giant Squid pass by, but it was gone before I could properly look at it.

I shook myself out of my awe and crept along the walls until I got to the Slytherin dorms. Deciding to go to the left, I followed the hallway, opening and closing the doors as I went, trying to figure out which one was Regulus's. I knew that I was searching the boys' dormitories from the state of their rooms, but it was only when I opened one of the doors furthest from the hallway entrance that I knew I'd entered Regulus Black's dorm.

The reason was the shiny Black family crest printed on many things that lay scattered across the floor. I entered the dorm and walked up to Regulus's bed. It was neatly made, but I could still spot the creases on his pillow where he would have rested his face, his hair dishevelled and strewn over his face, and where his blankets would have been ruffled, covering him as he slept, his breaths the only noise coming from him.

I blinked, and then blinked again. What the fuck was I thinking? Why the hell was I thinking about Regulus Black sleeping? And why did I feel my stomach doing summersaults as I thought of him sleeping in the bed right in front of me?

I shook my head and moved to the bathroom, where I completed my plan. It wasn't that difficult, and by the end of it I was already thinking about the satisfaction I'd feel when I saw him. I walked out of his bathroom, about to exit his dorm, when the door handle turned and someone opened the door.

I freaked out and hid in the closet, keeping it open a crack so I could see whoever entered the room, and, of course, it was Regulus Black. Hoping he was just coming in here to grab something and then leave, I stayed in the closet, but when he started taking his shirt off I was caught off guard.

His body, was, well, beautiful. I hated it, but it was true. His skin was pale, and his chest seemed to have been sculptured by the gods themselves. He was lean and muscular, and one of the most beautiful people I'd ever seen.

His hands moved with grace as he threw his shirt on the ground and started unbuttoning his trousers. That was when I snapped back to reality and realised I had been admiring Regulus Black getting undressed from inside a closet. What sort of a freak was I?

I was definitely not going to let myself stand in a closet while Regulus Black got undressed in front of me, and before I knew it I was jumping out of the closet shrieking for him to stop. Regulus's head jerked in my direction and he jumped back, stumbling against his bed.

"What the fuck are you doing in here?" Regulus yelled, hastily doing up the buttons on his trousers.

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. It was like I was frozen, except for my eyes, which roamed Regulus's body, until I realised what I was doing and planted my gaze firmly upon Regulus's face.

"I- um- I needed to... tell you something," I answered, thinking on my feet.

"So you hid in my closet as I undressed?" he asked incredulously.

"No! Well yes, but- I stopped you from undressing fully! Do you think I want to see any of that?" I managed to say, gesturing to Regulus's whole body.

He raised an eyebrow and stared at me, unamused. My gaze, no matter how hard I tried to control it, kept darting down to his naked chest, making it really hard to concentrate on what to say. Why couldn't he just put a damn shirt on?

"What did you want to tell me?" he asked.

I took a deep breath and opened my mouth, spouting the first words that came to mind.

"I don't like you."

Regulus stared at me incredulously. I stared back at him, silently cursing myself for being so stupid. I don't like you? I don't like you? Was that really the best thing I could have come up with?

"Wow, thanks for that shocking confession. I never would have thought-"

"I'm not finished," I interrupted, even though I definitely was. Regulus fell silent and I started speaking again. "I don't like you... but your brother does, and he misses you."

I wasn't sure what made me say it, but it was true. I could see it whenever Regulus's name was mentioned. The pain that would appear in Sirius's eyes. Regulus looked shocked, caught off guard, and he stared at me without really seeing me, his mind whirring. Finally, he spoke.

"He should have thought about that before leaving me," Regulus said calmly, though there was a rawness to his voice that he couldn't disguise.

"He ran away from an abusive home-"

"One he left me in. He didn't even ask if I wanted to go with him. He just left," Regulus said, his voice going bitter at the end of his sentence.

"Would you have left with him if he asked?" I questioned, my voice somewhat gentler than before.

Regulus opened his mouth and then closed it, trying to come up with a response.

"No," he finally said. "For all the talk of Gryffindors being brave, my brother was a coward. He didn't stay, he didn't have the guts to face my parents. I do, and I will be what they want me to be, and I'll make them proud."

He looked me in the eyes, as if daring me to contradict him. I wasn't going to. What he said was wrong; Sirius wasn't a coward for leaving, he was brave, but I knew Regulus wouldn't see it that way, so I didn't bother to correct him. I never tried to think about what Regulus went through in his home; it was always about Sirius. Sure, I knew he went through a lot, and maybe I even pitied him for it a bit, but I never tried to understand what it was like there. I want to now, though.

"What's it like in your home?" I asked quietly.

Regulus was silent, opening his mouth but no sound coming out. Finally, he managed to say something.

"I feel like I'm drowning there," he choked out. "With Sirius there, it wasn't the worst; he usually shielded me from them, but now that he's left it's like all their anger just intensified. I try to be the perfect child, but I always end up making a mistake, and they always hurt me for it."

The confession melted away some of the hatred I felt for him.

"Regulus..." I started.

"You should leave," Regulus said gruffly, as if remembering who he was talking to.

I nodded my head and walked out, but not before I gave Regulus one final glance. As I walked to the Gryffindor Common Room, a part of me wondered if maybe I didn't hate him as much as I thought I did.

. . .

Saturday 20th September, 1976

"Do you know how to spell?"

"As a matter of fact I do Moony."

"Doesn't look like it."

"It really doesn't."

"Oh shut up Potter!"

"Hey!" I said indignantly. "I didn't do anything!"

Sirius groaned, glaring at me.

"Not you! Your brother!"

"So why are you glaring at me?!"

"Because I'm annoyed!"

I sighed and looked back to my essay I was writing for Transfiguration. It was Saturday, and Sirius, Remus, James, Peter, and I were all studying in the library, which only meant one thing. Chaos was about to ensue.

I managed to write a few more sentences before the next disruption occurred, this time from Peter who accidently spilled his ink pot all over all our work. The table was in an uproar as we franticly tried to get rid of the ink. As a result, we were kicked out of the library from being loud, and I was reminded of the detention I needed to be at about 5 minutes ago.

"I'll see you guys later," I muttered, jogging to the classroom in an attempt to not be too late.

I arrived 8 minutes late and opened the door to find bright hot pink hair greeting me. I blinked, taking in my surroundings and realised the hair belonged to none other than Regulus Black. The prank, I remembered, feeling an intense rush of guilt as I thought of the talk we'd had last night. What must he feeling right now, having confided his feelings in me only to then have me turn his hair hot pink?

I walked into the classroom and Regulus turned to look at me, completely calm except for the livid fire that seemed to be raging in his eyes. I looked away ruefully, trying to ignore the guilt milling in my stomach.

Our teacher for today, Professor Slughorn, looked between the two of us, noting our Gryffindor and Slytherin ties, and sighed. It seemed he got quite a few Gryffindor and Slytherins in detention together.

"Well, lets get this over with, shall we?" Professor Slughorn said with a tired smile, gesturing to the two desks in the room. "I'll be having you write lines for today, and by the time I get back I'd like at least 3 pages written."

We sat down in our seats and started doing as he asked silently. After making sure we were actually working, Slughorn unsurprisingly left the classroom. It wouldn't be like him to waste his day on two troubling teenagers.

I looked up at Regulus, unable to get used to the bright pink hair that accompanied him, and felt the need to say something, make up for my mistake.

"Nice hair," I said sheepishly.

He ignored me.

"It really doesn't look that bad," I tried again. "If you wore a fedora, put on a suit, I'm sure you'd look striking."

Still no answer.

"Listen, I'm sorry, I forgot I did it-"

"Why would you be sorry?" Regulus spat, finally looking up at me.

I blinked, startled by his question. I quickly composed myself, clearing my throat, but he continued speaking before I could say anything.

"I don't want you pity," he said. "Blood traitors like you are nothing compared to me, and it would do you good to remember that."

I scoffed, all feelings of remorse forgotten, and just like that, we were back to being enemies.

A/N:

the meme at the start of the chapter is one of my favourites 

remus insulting sirius's spelling while studying >>> and they say romance is dead

regulus confessing he felt like he was drowning at home 😭😭😭 my heart literally broke