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Regulus groaned as he was awakened by the sound of his bed curtains being opened, and then a gentle hand shaking his body. He pushed the hand away and rolled over to hide his face on the pillow, trying to drift back to the peaceful sleep. He felt exhausted, and he wasn't quite sure why, since he calculated he had slept for at least eight hours, but his eyelids felt heavy and didn't want to make an effort to open them.
“Good morning, Reg,” He heard Barty's sweet and low voice next to him. Sometimes, Regulus truly didn't understand how Barty had the strength to wake up so early every morning and with a smile still on his face, and since first year he had become ‘Regulus personal alarm’, as he liked to call it.
But it was a Sunday, and he was planning to rest. He had studied his ass off for the whole entire week, pulling all-nighters and spending hours in the library revising for the upcoming exams. He had decided to take a day off and rest before Monday came and the chaos and stress continued.
“Come on, darling, wake up,” Regulus felt as Barty sat on the bed next to him, but instead he hugged and burrowed his face on his pillow, not planning to wake up any time soon. “Alright, you leave me no choice,” Barty sighed, and suddenly Regulus’ body was greeted with cold as his covers were thrown off to the floor. He sat up immediately, glaring at his boyfriend who was smiling at him. He then groaned and fell back on his pillow, rubbing his eyes with his hands and then rolling over once again.
“Let me sleep,” he said with a hoarse voice, and brought his knees to his chest.
“No, Reg, you need to wake up,” Barty insisted, and started to run a hand through the other boy's hair, detangling his black curls. Regulus thought that this wasn't particularly the best way to wake him up, as he felt himself drifting back to sleep as he felt the warmth of Barty’s hand massaging his head.
“What time is it even?”
“A quarter past nine,”
“You woke me up at nine A.M?” he said, indignantly, as he rolled over to look at Barty and covered his face with his hands, “It's Sunday! Let me sleep for a few more hours,” he complained, '' I'll join you at lunch time.”
Barty sighed and stood up, and Regulus peeked through his fingers to see him standing in front of his bed, arms crossed, “This is exactly what I don't want you to do, Reg. You’ve been studying your ass off for this entire week and are basically running on caffeine!”
“Exactly! So then, let me sleep!” He rolled his head back onto his pillow and closed his eyes, and thought that Barty had given up when he heard silence for the next few seconds. Suddenly, his head hit the cold, hard mattress as his pillow was yanked away from him, and he sat back on the bed, now annoyed. “What's the matter with you today?” he asked, angrily, and crossed his arms to cover his cold hands under the warm sweater he was wearing (which belonged to Barty)
“I have barely seen you this entire week, Reg! You're always either in the library studying or running from class to class, and we don't spend time together anymore! Last night, I had to sit with Mulciber and Avery for dinner and talk to them. Bloody Avery! You don't know how boring that git can be,” Barty started explaining, and took a deep breath before dropping his arms to the side, “the thing is, i miss you, Reg. I miss spending time with you, having lunch with you, going to sleep together. And I get that you're stressed out because of all the exams you're taking, but… you need a rest.”
Regulus felt guilt crashing inside of his chest like a wave. He looked down to his lap, not bearing to see his boyfriend like this. He had disappointed him. He had been so busy with everything that he couldn't even take time for the person he loved the most, and what kind of boyfriend does that? Barty had done so much for him and this is what he was giving in return: ignoring him and prioritizing study. He felt like an arsehole.
“I’m… I’m so, so sorry, Barty,” he said, and looked up to him, scared to find anger or disappointment in the other boy's eyes, but instead kept going when he found none of that, “I didn't even realize you were feeling like this. Merlin, I'm such an arsehole. It's just that I've been so busy with exams and homework, and my parents have been bombarding me with letters, and Quidditch practices are now-” he suddenly stopped talking. He was just using excuses to justify his shitty and unnecessary behavior. He ran a hand through his face, and took a deep breath, “I am really, really sorry, Barty. I can't justify this one. Let me make it up to you, please.”
But to his surprise, a faint smile spread across his boyfriend's lips, and he reached out a hand to put it over Regulus’. “You don't need to apologize, my love. I didn't mean to blame you. I woke you up to tell you that I had something prepared for us.You need to rest, and that's exactly what we are going to do today.”
Regulus stared at his boyfriend in shock for a few moments. He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve Barty being so nice to him and preparing something for him after treating him like, well, shit for the whole week. He should be the one taking him out, making it up for him, not Barty. He felt ungrateful and guilty. He couldn't let him do this, he was the one that had been wrong and had been hurting his feelings.
“Darling,” Barty said, after a few moments of silence, and he snapped back to reality.
“I… Why are you doing this?” Regulus whispered, and slowly stood up. The other boy furrowed his brows in confusion, as he took a step closer to him.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, why are you doing all of this for me after I treated you like shit for a whole week, Barty. I should be the one taking you out, making it up to you. Aren't you…mad or something?”
Barty smiled softly at him and took a step closer, cupping the other boy's cheeks with his hands and bringing his head towards him, their noses now almost touching, Regulus’ dark curls tingling on Barty’s forehead. “Haven't you understood it yet? Because I love you, and I still love you, Reg. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you. I just want you to be happy,” he whispered, and Regulus felt his heart melting a little, “Now, go get ready and I'll meet you downstairs, okay?”
Regulus nodded and Barty pressed a kiss on his forehead. They stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds before they broke apart and Barty exited the room, glancing at the other boy for one last time before closing the door.
____
Ten minutes later, Regulus met Barty down in the common room. He had combed his hair and changed clothes (although the sweater he was wearing was still not his), a green and silver scarf wrapped around his neck. Barty smiled when he saw him, and they both exited the common room, Barty leading the way as the date was still a mystery to Regulus. To his surprise, they stopped in front of a portrait which he recognized as the entrance to the kitchens, and furrowed his eyebrows a bit while wondering what his boyfriend had planned.
“What are we doing here?” He asked, but Barty gave him no response and instead proceeded to tickle the pear that was inside of the painted fruitball, and a door was revealed where the portrait used to be after the pear giggled.
Barty started to walk inside the hallway that led to the kitchens, and Regulus followed him, but he stopped him by putting a hand over his chest. “You stay here, I'll be back in a few minutes.” He nodded, confused, and waited for his boyfriend to come out of the room, which he did a few minutes later, now grabbing a casket on one hand and with a bunch of what looked like blankets under his arm. Regulus smiled at him and raised his eyebrows as he realized what this whole thing was about.
“Are you serious,” he asked, crossing his arms, but Barty just shrugged in response.
“Just follow me.”
Regulus followed his boyfriend outside of the castle and they walked through the Hogwarts terrains as their hands brushed, before Regulus finally interlocked their fingers because ‘his hands were getting cold’.” It was chilly outside—a beautiful autumn morning. The sun reflected on the Black Lake, although no heat came from it, and a cold breeze ran through the air, making both boys' cheeks pink and numb. The leaves were already starting to fall and the Forbidden Forest was covered in beautiful red, orange and yellow leaves, which crunched below the boys’ feets. It was a truly beautiful day, and Regulus regretted even more having missed part of the season.
As they approached the entrance to the forest, they made sure Hagrid wasn't watching them before proceeding. His huts' chimney was releasing heavy clouds of smoke and Fang, the key-keepers dog who would usually follow him everywhere, was nowhere in sight, so the boys concluded that it was safe to step into the forest.
They went deeper into the forest in search of a clearing in where they might be able to sit, Regulus gripping onto Barty’s arm as the roots became bigger and the forest darker and darker so only small patches of sunlight could be seen through the leaves. Thankfully, it didn't take them long before they found the perfect spot to sit down. It wasn't that big— a small clearing covered in autumn leaves and a few rocks, the trees that surrounded it hiding it from the rest of the forest.
They decided that this was their best option and settled down. Barty left the casket on top of one of the rocks and, with a swish of his wand, Regulus made almost all the leaves go back to their trees, that way they could have a somewhat-steady ground to sit on. As the other boy placed three blankets on top of eachother, each one a different color, and started unpacking the food that was inside of the casket, Regulus wandered through the small clearing, barely managing to avoid the scratch of an angry bowtruckle that he had accidentally stumbled on while inspecting one of the trees.
He had never been so deep in the Forest. Yes, he used to recur going there from the spam of third year to fourth year when he wanted to be alone every time he had a big fight with Sirius, and him and Pandora liked to wander around it while they waited for Xenophilius to return from his ‘nargle-hunt’, whatever those creatures were supposed to be, but never this deep. But he wasn't scared. Maybe it was because it was daytime, or maybe it was because he was with Barty. And Barty made him feel safe.
“Reg,” His boyfriend called him, and he turned around. There, Barty was sitting surrounded by plates full of food, and he was puring what seemed like coffee from a flask to a mug. Regulus approached him and sat down next to him, crossing his legs, and accepted the mug Barty was handing out to him.
He took a sip from the drink and felt its warmth spread around his body, and smiled. He then looked up again at Barty, who was now taking out some tea bags from the casket (he had never been a fan or coffee—always complained it was too bitter, no matter how much sugar Regulus added to it), and his breath hitched for a second.
Because looking at Barty under the morning sunshine, sunlight hitting his face and turning his skin almost golden, freckles that were not visible at first sight looking like stars splattered across his cheeks, his messy, brown hair now almost blonde, was like looking at art in all its forms. The flecks of teal that surrounded his honey eyes made Regulus want to stare at them and drown and float in of them and never leave them.
He was perfect in all the ways that made a masterpiece what it was. It reminded him of the paintings from muggle artists Pandora had shown him a few years ago, while studying the Renaissance era or something like that in her Muggle Studies class. Regulus wished he could paint him over and over again in all the art styles that ever existed, that way Barty could be engraved on his memory forever, cherishing upto the last detail of his face and body, keeping him safe forever inside of his heart.
And Regulus now suddenly remembered how much he had missed this. Just seeing him under the sunshine, happy and glowing, being able to express all the love that he couldn't because people were constantly surrounding them, looking at him and realizing that he couldn't possibly be more in love, only to be proven wrong moments later because he would never be able to stop falling in love with Barty Crouch Jr.
Because Barty was simply beautiful in Regulus' eyes
____
The birds chirped quietly and no noise could be heard apart from that and the leaves moving with the wind, some of them falling from time to time. Regulus was resting his head on Barty’s lap, his eyes closed as the other boy ran a hand through his hair, trying his best to not drift back into sleep. He was gentle, as Barty always was with him, and Regulus felt at peace. Like as if he was floating in the middle of nowhere, but yet completely safe and surrounded by love. Very few times he had been in a state of complete peace and calmness, and most of those times it had been because Barty was there. He was now only realizing how much he had missed this.
“I brought some of your books, in case you got bored,” Barty said, his voice low and calm, almost fading with the wind so as to not disturb the tranquility that surrounded them.
“I could never get bored when you are around,” Regulus whispered back. He then opened his eyes, squinting them to protect them from the sun, “which ones did you bring?”
He felt Barty extend his arms and look through the casket, which was now full of empty plates and leftovers. Regulus sat up as Barty took out three books from it.
“Uh, I wasn't sure which one you are reading right now, so I just picked three from your bookshelf. Here '' he said, while giving the first one on the pile to him. Regulus smiled as he traced the cover—a bit old now, its sides already peeling and pages now yellow— with his hand.
“Little Women,” he said in a low voice, reading the title. He hadn't seen that book in so long, almost forgot he even had it.
It had been a gift from Narcissa for his tenth birthday, something that was some sort of ‘tradition’ between the two. Narcissa would gift him her old books each birthday for him to read something that wasn't scary tales and old stories about muggles, and she had said that this was her favorite book. For a while, the book had been left untouched, collecting dust in the bottom of his closet (he couldn't risk his parents or Kreacher finding that he owned muggle literature, and the risks Narcissa took to not only read those books but to also manage to gift them to him was one of the reasons she was his favorite cousin), until one day, a few months before leaving to Hogwarts, he finally decided to read it, and was almost instantly captivated by Alcott’s story. This wasn't anywhere near to the kind of books he was accustomed to read, but that didn't mean that he couldn't appreciate the richness in the characters and enjoy the story. It wasn't a personal favorite of his, but, in the end, it was a good read (he may have even shed a tear or two when Beth died, but not that he would admit it).
“I forgot I had this, Narcissa gave it to me for my tenth birthday,” he said, running a hand through its pages, as Barty leaned closer and rested his chin on his shoulder.
“What is it about?”
“It's the tale of four sisters and their journey through life, love, death and grief,” Regulus explained, as he stopped to look at one of the illustrations that the book came with: Laurie gifting a bouquet of flowers to Amy and, next to the drawing, Narcissa’s neat and pretty handwriting saying not-so-pretty words regarding Laurie’s behavior. He chuckled as he read the comments that his cousin had written, “It's not a personal favorite of mine, but I think I will give it to Pandora. It talks about topics like feminism and womanhood, I bealive she would like it.”
Silence surrounded them again as Regulus flipped through the pages and scanned them, before he closed the book and left it on his lap. He looked at Barty and stared into his sweet eyes before leaning over and giving him a slow, soft kiss on the lips. He seemed to be surprised by the sudden action at first, but almost immediately melted into the kiss, bringing his hands to cup Regulus cheeks like he always did.
Oh, Merlin, he had missed this so much. He had missed his soft kisses and he had missed tasting him, holding him, just being with him. Because, right now, they were the only people that mattered in the whole universe. They were alone and they were floating with each other's hold, never letting go, never wanting to let go. They roamed around the stars and all their fears of being judged or discovered were gone for at least these few moments, where nothing but them was real. Nothing but Barty was real. Regulus promised himself he would never, ever again, let him lose Barty.
“Reg,” His boyfriend whispered, as he broke them apart, although he was still holding his face with his hands, “Do you want to stay here for a little longer?”
“Whatever you want to do,” Regulus whispered in response, and leant in to press another kiss on his boyfriend's lips, “you were the one who brought me here. I'm fine with just being with you.” And that was the truth, because as long as he was with Barty, he knew his days would be filled with sunshine and joy and comfort and safety.
Barty felt like sunshine. He was sunshine. He was the sweetest of dreams, dreams he wished he never woke up from. Dreams he didn't deserve to dream, to have. But yet, he was there. And he was with him, and Regulus felt pity for everyone who didn't get to experience Barty, who didn't get to know him or his sweet smile and his beautiful, honey eyes. He felt as if he was now the luckiest person in the world. Probably because that was what he was.
Barty smiled and pressed their foreheads together, both boys staring into eachothers eyes.
“Let's stay here for a little longer, shall we?”
“Let's stay here forever.”