Work Text:
She sent a letter to her boss immediately when she got home and she got one back barely an hour later wishing her a speedy recovery.
She felt like she did speedily recover from the injury. She took the potion when she got home as well and her head felt so good that she didn’t even tell her parents about what had happened.
They would have just worried and told her that she shouldn’t have been playing Quidditch, so really, there was no point. She did a spell to hide the bruise on her lip and decided they didn’t need to ever find out.
However, she wasn’t entirely sure she had recovered from the day. Whenever she closed her eyes she could see Regulus’ grey ones staring back at her and when they had their guests over, she was finding it hard trying to keep the conversation going when all she could think about was the way Regulus had spoken when he was trying to get her a healer.
But she sat there politely throughout the night, trying to act like everything was normal. Trying to act like Regulus Black wasn’t at the forefront of her every thought.
This time, she had no potion to blame.
Regulus eventually went over to Evan’s, who was waiting for him with a stupid grin on his face.
“So,” he said, “how did your hospital trip go?”
Regulus shook his head as he sat down next to his friend on the couch.
“Uneventful.”
“Really?” Evan asked, “You didn’t fuck her in the healer’s office? Not a nice quickie in a supply closet?”
“You’re gross.”
“Hey,” Evan said defensively, “you said yes to the bet.” And Evan was right.
He had said yes to the bet. And at first, Regulus didn’t care, because he had nothing to lose and five hundred galleons to gain. And that was still true, but he wondered if he’d feel just as guilty hurting her emotionally than as he did by hurting her physically.
He shook himself out of it.
It was just going to be a quick fuck, he wasn’t going to lead her on so it was fine. Besides, she never had to know about the bet so no feelings would get hurt.
“I think it actually helped me get closer to her though,” he said.
“That’s boring,” Evan said, “I don’t want to know her favourite colour or her favourite book.”
“You do know who we are dealing with though?” Regulus asked, “I really don’t think she’d take just anyone to bed, it’d have to be someone she actually liked.” Evan shrugged, Regulus had a point.
“Do we even know who she’s taken to bed?” Evan asked and Regulus felt something flood his body.
“No,” he said.
“Do you know if she’s even in a relationship?” Regulus turned to his friend.
“No.”
“Mate, are you serious?” Regulus suddenly felt like an idiot.
“Well she hasn’t mentioned anyone,” Regulus said, trying to defend himself.
“I mean, who would want to put up with that?” Evan laughed but Regulus made a mental note to find out during the week.
Regulus was lost in thought. He couldn’t help replaying their time at St Mungos over the weekend. Regulus was used to her being hard and rough, but she was soft and kind and Regulus thought that was a good look on her.
Because even though she was the complete opposite of what he was used to, she still had her wit and quick thinking and that was something that Regulus always enjoyed.
His mind couldn’t help but wander back to his thoughts that first week they were making potions. What would she be like in bed? He hoped that soft and gentle part would come back out again, but he was also looking forward to her keeping her smart mouth. He could have fun with that.
It wasn’t that he wanted to, but he just couldn’t help thinking about those clothes she had worn on Friday.
Fuck, he thought. For some reason, he was excited to see what would happen next week.
When she walked in, Regulus immediately asked, “How’s your head?”
“Fine, thank you,” she said, walking to her desk, “I think our potion helped.”
“That’s good.” He noticed there was no bruise on her lip, but he didn't want to ask about it.
As she sat down their boss came out and made her way over to their joined desks.
“How is your head, darling?” She asked.
“It’s better,” she said, “I had a bit of a headache, but it’s gone now.”
“Good, I hope Regulus looked after you.” She shot him a look and Regulus wasn’t sure how much of it was playful and how much was serious.
“He did,” she said and when she smiled, he couldn’t help but smile with her.
“Good,” she said, “because we never got to have our team bonding session, even though, I hoped you two bonded in St Mungos. I thought Regulus would come back straight away, but I’m glad he stayed with you.”
Regulus took offence that she thought he wouldn’t stay there, but he took it in stride.
“So,” she continued, clapping her hands in front of her, “because we missed out on our bonding session, I decided it’d be better if we went out for dinner this Friday to make up for it, what do you think?”
They both smiled at her.
“Sounds good,” they both said before the boss excused herself and went to the office to answer an owl tapping on the window.
As she walked away, Evan came in and Regulus quickly caught him up on the news.
“Great,” Evan said, “I haven’t been out in so long, I need an excuse to get drunk.” She scoffed at him as he sat in his chair.
“Do you think it’s really appropriate to get drunk at a work event?” She asked.
“Obviously you’ve never been to one of our events.” Evan winked at her and she couldn’t help but scoff again.
Regulus turned to look at her.
“You obviously don’t know the boss that well,” he said, an amused look on his face. She squinted her eyes at him, not sure whether they were being serious or not. “You’ll see on Friday.”
She gave him a cautious look before going back to her work.
Because Friday had basically been a day off for everyone, they were all trying to catch up on the work they missed. Her and Regulus didn’t miss out too much considering they were still only trying to find new potion ideas, but Evan was apparently busy; he didn't even kick the back of Regulus’ chair once.
On Wednesday during the meeting Louie came in to tell her and Regulus that they had a new request for a potion.
“An unlucky potion?” She asked and Louie nodded.
“An unlucky potion,” he confirmed.
“So like, the opposite of Felix Felices?” Regulus asked. Louie nodded.
They decided to work on the potion by themselves first, because they both agreed it was harder to think when there was someone there. But on Thursday morning, they’d share their ideas and see if they’d be able to start a trial on Friday.
She didn’t want to admit it, but she was struggling to think of a way to approach this potion. At first she wanted to start by looking at the ingredients for Felix Felicis and going opposite to that, but she was struggling to think of an opposite for most of these complex ingredients.
On Thursday morning she was nervous, because for the first time, she had no ideas. And she really didn’t want Regulus to find that out.
“So,” Regulus asked when she sat down and he made his way over to her desk, “what do you have for me?” He sat on her desk and he noticed that this time, she didn’t look like she wanted to tell him to get off it.
“I, well,” she said, “you go first.” He squinted his eyes at him. That was unusual. Usually she was always eager to share her thoughts and opinions. But Regulus happily obliged.
“Well I was thinking maybe we test out some antimony because they’ve just done a recent study on it that showed it had highly malleable characteristics which can help for specific potions.”
“Interesting,” she said, “do you have anything else we can work with?”
“I was thinking maybe even looking at some ingredients from the sleeping draught because that will help slow down the individual’s thoughts to hopefully increase the chance of things going wrong. Specifically I was thinking flobberworm mucus and valerian because of their other uses.”
“Is that all?” She asked, hoping there was more to help buy her some time to think of something to say.
“So far, what do you have?” He had his palms rested on her desk, his legs swaying softly over it. She was looking up at him, anxiously playing with her hands in her lap.
“Well,” she said, “I thought maybe we could look at the ingredients for Felix Felices and look at using the opposites of it, or the ingredients that counteract those ones.” She felt like she was rambling and not making sense.
“Okay,” Regulus said, seemingly deep in thought, “like what?”
“Like,” she said, trying hard to remember the ingredients in Felix Felices. “Maybe something rooty instead of thyme?” Regulus squinted his eyes at her. That made no sense.
“Okay.”
“And maybe thinking of the right spell instead of fleximpra .” Regulus took her in. She was avoiding eye contact and her hands were fidgeting nervously in her lap. Her leg was bouncing. Regulus wished it had something to do with their hospital visit last week, but Regulus knew this was different.
“It’s okay if you don’t have any ideas.” She looked at him offended.
“Of course I have ideas,” she huffed, “they just haven’t come to me yet.” She said it so quietly it took Regulus a few seconds to understand what she had said. Anytime before last week, he would have found it hilarious that he had more ideas over her.
She had come in and solved his potion immediately, he needed the ego boost, but now he found the way she was acting more interesting than anything else.
He let out a small laugh and she looked up at him with a hard look on her face.
“It’s fine,” he insisted, before getting up and getting a textbook from behind her, “I was struggling as well, why don’t we have a look together?”
He was already bringing a chair over to sit next to her so really, how could she say no? Especially when there was a part of her that was looking forward to working so closely with Regulus. She really liked this new kindness of his and she was happy to be around it.
Maybe, her suspicions would have risen if she saw the look Evan shot Regulus, but Regulus was quick to look away from his friend.
This was work. This wasn’t part of the bet, they genuinely needed to think of this potion. Most companies were happy to wait however long was necessary to get the desired effect of the potion, but they did have to do this in a timely manner and it was no good if neither of them had any strong ideas.
They flicked through the textbook, occasionally sharing thoughts and gong back and forth from there and by the end of the day, they had a rough idea of what ingredients they wanted to use, but they had no idea on where to start with them, so unfortunately there would be no potion making on Friday so instead, they only had the dinner to look forward to.
They were going to the Leaky Cauldron and Regulus was looking forward to going out. He didn’t mind the people he worked with. Sure, maybe they weren’t on an owl to owl basis, but they knew how to have fun.
And maybe, a part of Regulus was eager to see what she would wear.
“I’ll see you later tonight,” he told her after they spent all of Friday figuring out their method and filling out the paperwork for next Friday.
“See you soon,” she said, putting on her coat and apparating away.
She wasn’t sure what the dress code really was and it wasn’t like she could ask Regulus who seemed to be the person she was closest to in the office. And she didn’t really feel like asking the safety manager nor the boss, so she spent the next hour going through her entire wardrobe.
In the end she decided on a tight fitted dress that was appropriate considering the people she was going out with, but was still nice .
She threw on a nice jacket and apparated to the Leaky Cauldron.
She walked in and saw that Regulus and Evan were already there, still in the clothes they were wearing from work. It occurred to her that they probably apparated here straight from work and she wondered how much they had already had to drink.
Regulus’ eyes seemed to be drawn to her and he smiled and waved over to her, giving her a bit of needed confidence as she walked over to the table. They were sitting across from each other at the end and she realised her only two options were to sit next to Regulus or sit down next to Evan.
She sat down next to Regulus.
She took her coat off as she greeted them, feeling their eyes on her and making her want to put her coat back on. Was she not meant to change after work?
She sat down quickly and looked over at Regulus who was already smiling at her.
“So, I’m assuming you’ve already started?”
“You’re assuming right,” Evan said, finishing whatever was left in his glass. “Meaning you need to catch up.”
“Oh no,” she said, trying to give them a convincing smile, “I’m okay.” Evan was already standing up to go get another round of drinks and he gave her a confused look.
“C’mon,” he said, “it’s on me.”
She didn’t really want to be drinking at her first work function, but then the safety manager appeared and said, “Oh good, Evan’s getting us some drinks. I’ll get a firewhiskey please.”
She suddenly didn’t want to be the only one drinking.
Evan raised an eyebrow at her and she let out a deep breath.
“Okay, fine, surprise me.” He grinned at that and walked away while the safety manager sat in front of her. Thankfully, she had also changed her clothes which made her feel much better in her tight dress.
Thankfully, there wasn’t too much awkward silence because just as Evan left, Louie arrived and sat down next to her.
“How is everyone?” He asked and everyone mumbled out an answer before Louie began telling them the issues he has been having with a new supplier.
Evan came back with their drinks and placed something yellow in front of her, but before she could ask what it was the boss had arrived and everyone was saying hello.
Everyone had already started drinking and so she took a small sip from the straw coming out of the glass.
It was sour and it took everything she had not to make a face.
“Is it okay?” Regulus asked and she could taste the alcohol going down her throat.
“It’s okay,” she said, swirling the drink around with her straw. She wasn’t a big drinker, so she hoped what she was doing looked normal.
She’d drank before, mostly firewhiskey or some champagne from various events her parents and their acquaintances held, but that was about it and it was never enough to get her drunk.
“What are you drinking?” She asked him, referring to the amber liquid he had in a clear glass.
His hand was clasped around it and she couldn’t help but focus on how elongated his fingers looked as they wrapped around the wet glass.
“Firewhiskey,” he shrugged, taking another sip.
She looked up at him and mumbled out a ‘nice’.
Regulus thought this was the easy bit.
Regulus felt at ease. It was just as if she was a pretty girl he had met on a night out and he had had plenty of experience getting those pretty girls into his bed at Evan’s house.
Besides, he hadn’t done that since she had started working with him. Honestly, he hadn’t properly gone out since then and now that he was out, he was only focusing on the pretty girl in front of him.
But he put the blame on his dry spell for wanting to push her hair away from her face and he blamed the two firewhiskeys he had already had on the way he focused on her eyes looking up at him.
For a second there, he began to wonder how pretty she’d be looking up at him in a different position. But that was a dangerous thought and he was glad Evan had made her look away from him when he exclaimed, “I’m starving.”
She took her time sipping her drink, not really wanting to have another and not wanting to get drunk really fast, so by the time everyone finished eating she had also finished her drink.
Regulus had finished the firewhiskey Evan had got for him, but he seemed to be taking a break because when Evan got up again to get another drink, he politely declined.
She still had a bit of her own drink at that time, and she almost winced when she took another sip of it. Another reason it was taking her so long to finish it, it was much too sour for her.
That had been almost half an hour ago, but now everyone was finished and the boss had gone quickly to the bathroom leaving them to make their own small talk.
Louie was telling a story about his time at school and she was listening respectfully, until she felt a hand on her shoulder.
Her whole body froze.
Not too many people usually touched her, so when they did it seemed her body didn’t know how to react. But she forced herself to turn around to see Regulus looking at her.
“Want to come up with me to get another drink?” She didn’t, really, but Louie had finished his story and there was the tiniest awkward lull in the conversation that she didn’t want to stay around for, so she nodded and got up with him.
“Another?” Regulus asked Evan who nodded even though he still had half a glass.
Louie and the safety manager said they needed a break and so she followed Regulus up to the bar.
The lights were on but they were dim and it was very busy considering it was a Friday and most people came here after work and after she had been locked behind two people who Regulus had managed to push past, but wouldn’t let her through, Regulus put his hand out to her.
When she only looked at it he giggled and took her hand in his.
Her hand was cold and she noticed that his was bony. She left it limp in his even though he held on tight to her and pulled her through the crowd.
When they got there he let go and her palm felt awfully warm compared to her other.
“What do you want?” He asked when they got in line.
Shit, she thought, I don’t know.
“Uhm,” she said, trying to think, “surprise me?” She asked.
“Sure,” he said.
“But not what Evan gave me.”
“What did Evan give you?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. They had to shout slightly over everyone else’s conversations and it seemed Regulus had moved his head closer to hers so he could hear. “But it was too sour.”
“Would you prefer something sweet?” She thought about it.
“Yes please.”
She stood behind him while he told the bartender his order. She noticed the little vein on his neck had made an appearance again so she made herself look away.
He turned around to face her and she took a step forward after the person next to him left so they were facing each other, their sides to the bar.
For some reason, her words were caught in her throat and she couldn’t think of a single thing to say to the man in front of her. He had a polite look on his face and she couldn’t help but think how weird it was that out of all the people in the office, Regulus Black was the one she had befriended.
They stood there, not saying anything for apparently Regulus also couldn’t seem to find the right words to say to her.
It wasn’t awkward, but it wasn’t ideal, Regulus thought, he needed to be cool and charming and staring at her like an idiot was anything but that.
Thankfully, the bartender had finished their drinks and she grabbed hers while Regulus got his and Evans.
This time she followed close behind him so they wouldn’t get parted, considering Regulus’ hands were too full to hold hers again.
They put their drinks down and went back to their seats. When she put hers down and took a sip she hummed in content.
“This is much better,” she told him, “thank you.” He smiled.
“You’re welcome.”
They were smiling at each other until Evan chimed in.
“So, do you have a boyfriend?” Evan asked and she let go of her drink and placed her hands on her lap.
Regulus gave him an annoyed look.
“I still haven’t found out if she has a boyfriend.” Regulus admitted when he and Evan had got the Leaky Cauldron early and Evan made a comment about what she would be wearing.
“Seriously?” Evan asked, “mate, you kinda need to. If she does then this whole bet is off and you can stop doing whatever you’re doing.”
“It’s just never felt appropriate.” Evan didn’t say anything so Regulus changed the subject, but if he knew what his friend was plotting he would’ve made him swear not to say anything.
“I don’t,” she said, looking straight at Evan.
“A girlfriend?” He asked.
“No,” she said.
“Me neither,” Evan said, taking another sip from his drink.
“That girl I was telling you about hasn’t owled me back since last last Thursday.”
She was surprised that he was looking at her while he spoke. As if she should remember the girl he had taken on a date last week that she specifically told him she didn’t care about.
“Sorry,” she said, even though she was sure the girl could do better than Evan.
“It’s fine,” he said, “Reggie here is single as well.” Regulus felt the heat rush to his cheeks so he took a sip of his drink to hide it.
She turned to look at him. He had a very angular face and the way his neck moved as he drank from his glass made her look away and take a sip of her own drink to hopefully cool herself down.
This drink was a nice shade of pink and she found that now she was actually enjoying the taste of it, it was easier to drink.
When Evan excused himself to go to the bathroom, Regulus turned to her.
“How was your friend thing last weekend?” Regulus asked and she was surprised he remembered.
“It was good,” she said, not wanting to admit that the whole time she was thinking about him.
“That’s good,” he said, “your lip isn’t bruised.” He motioned to his own lip and she smiled.
“Yeah, I did a spell.” He nodded.
“You know,” he said, “I’m glad you decided to work here, you’re a lot better than the old guy you replaced.”
“I’m glad I decided to work here as well.” She admitted, thinking that she must be starting to feel the effects of those two drinks because that wasn’t something she wanted Regulus Black to know.
“What was that?” Regulus asked, a small smirk tugging on his lips. She gave him an unimpressed look. Trust him to make her repeat it.
“I’m glad I decided to work here,” she said unenthusiastically.
“I can’t hear you,” he said and in a swift motion he grabbed onto her chair and pulled it closer to him.
She looked up at him, her mouth slightly open and her eyes wide.
Regulus bit back a smirk. He’d lost count of the amount of times he’d done that to a pretty girl in this pub and each time it had the desired effect.
“Could you repeat yourself?” He asked innocently and she tried to regain her composure and remember how to speak.
“I’m glad I decided to work here,” she said for a third time. “You and Evan sometimes aren’t that bad, but,” she said dramatically, “you’re both still on thin ice.”
Regulus thought that she was full of shit.
Maybe Evan was still on thin ice but he thought he had a pretty good foundation with her now.
They were much closer together now. Her chair was touching his and if she relaxed, her knee would be touching his. His face was barely centimetres away from her when they turned to talk to the other and Regulus was feeling good.
Especially when she went to take a sip of her drink and for some reason, finally decided to relax, meaning now their legs were touching.
When Evan came back, he had another three drinks in his hand and he put them down.
She thought they were really good at holding their alcohol because she was already feeling the effects of her two drinks and they were much more ahead of her, without even seeming drunk.
They chatted happily amongst each other. Most times it was just the three of them chatting together considering they were the closest in age and had gone to Hogwarts together, but at times it would go down the end of the table and everyone was laughing at something stupid Evan had said.
Evan kept excusing himself either to go to the bathroom or to get another drink, but when he brought back her fourth, and last she told herself, drink he came back with another girl.
It was late and so the boss and the safety manager had left, but when Evan came back with this girl, Louie excused himself as well and left.
She wasn’t sure if she was meant to leave too. Did Regulus want to go find his own girl to bring back? But before she could think about it for a second longer, Regulus put his palm flat against her bicep and whispered in her ear, “please don’t leave me with them.” She pulled back to look at him and he had a small smile on his face, but the look in his eyes was sincere so she nodded.
In a way, she was glad that she was being forced to stay here, because if Regulus hadn’t said anything she probably would have gone home and spent the rest of the night wondering what the two boys were up to.
The girl introduced herself and they put together that she was a Ravenclaw in the year below them at Hogwarts.
When she finished her drink Evan took her back up to the bar to get another, without offering her and Regulus one.
“You don’t have anywhere else to be tonight, right?” Her chair was still extremely close to Regulus’ meaning so was she, and when Regulus turned to her they were so close that he didn’t have to scream.
She shook her head. “I mean, my parents will probably have a heart attack that I’m home so late, but they’ll live.” She regretted it as soon as it left her lips. She did not need Regulus Black knowing anything about her family.
But Regulus was a Black and he knew a thing or two about noble families.
He gave an understanding nod.
“Are your parents just like ours as well?” She wasn’t sure what he meant by that but she nodded anyway.
“Worse.” Regulus understood, he really did. He knew the girl sitting in front of him was wired so taut that any sudden movements could cause a snap, but he never considered why she was so stuck up.
“My mother still makes me send an owl to her when I get home,” he said.
“Don’t you live at home with them?” She asked.
“Yeah but when I go out I usually go back to Evan’s.” with a pretty girl, he thought, but chose not to say. “Evan lives by himself.”
She was taken aback by that.
“Really?”
“Yeah, his parents bought him a house. I don’t think they wanted him at home any longer than he needed to be.” She laughed and he smiled at her.
“I don’t blame them.”
“Do you still live with your parents?”
“Yeah, but I don’t think they’ll buy me a house, I’ll probably get our manor.” She shrugged her shoulders and quickly looked away.
“Yeah, mine won’t either unless I bring someone home to them.”
“Are your parents old fashioned as well?” She asked. She’d gone her whole life thinking no one’s parents could ever compare to hers, and she still thought her parents would always be worse, but maybe there were some similarities.
“Old fashion is an understatement.” She bit her lip. Her brain was telling her not to do it. Her brain was telling her that as soon as she said it she’d regret it, but she still opened her mouth and said, “My parents are the reason I originally gave up this job.”
Regulus shot her a quizzical look and waited for her to continue and for some reason, she did.
“They wanted me to work in the Ministry, but I didn’t want to.”
“They work in the Ministry, right?” Regulus asked, already knowing the answer. She nodded. “Did they try to get you a job there?” She nodded again.
“At first they made me apply because they didn’t want anyone to say I only got in because of my name, and, of course, I got it,” she took a breath, “but I turned it down and told my parents I didn’t get it.” Regulus was listening intently and it gave her the confidence she needed to continue. “So then they tried giving me one, but I,” she trailed off, “I refused.”
The way she said it and turned to look down at the table made Regulus think that wasn’t the entire story.
“You refused?” He asked, hoping she’d continue.
“I refused,” she confirmed, looking back up at him. “I didn’t show up to work and whenever they tried to talk to me about it I apparated away.” She said it really quickly and Regulus was already laughing. “I’m not proud of it, but when I told them I wanted to work here they were so sick of me being dramatic that they finally let me so I guess it was fine.”
Regulus didn’t expect anything less from her. He hadn’t really considered it before, but if he had to imagine what she’d be like at home that’s exactly how he’d imagine her. Spoiled and bratty.
Two things that he was recently struggling to associate with the girl in front of him who had been much kinder to him this past week.
He was laughing and she was hiding her face in her hands and Regulus was hoping that by the next time she’d do that, he’d be confident enough to move them away.
“I think they only gave me this job after you declined,” he said, no longer feeling annoyed by that thought, meaning he had drunk enough for the night.
“Maybe,” she said, “maybe you would have applied this year instead.” She looked up at him innocently and he couldn’t help but smile.
Regulus had a theory that talking about your bad relationship with your family brought two people together and she was already sharing it with Regulus after only a month.
Merlin, he’d probably be five hundred galleons richer before the new year.
She realised how empty the table felt now that it was just her and Regulus sitting there.
“Reggie.” Suddenly Evan was beside Regulus, his hands on his shoulders leaning down to whisper in his ear, even though it wasn’t much of a whisper considering she could hear him. “Don’t rush home.” He gave her a wink to which she visibly grimaced and he pressed his palm flat to Regulus’ cheek before giving it a quick kiss and then leaving them.
“Great,” Regulus huffed, “you don’t have to stay any more if you don’t want to.”
“It’s okay,” she shrugged, “I’ll keep you company.” She was hoping the effects of the alcohol would start to wear off, but considering she wanted to spend more time with Regulus Black, she was starting to think that it hadn’t.
But they had become closer in her month here, and she wasn’t hating it. In her drunken state, she may have even called him a friend.
“Besides,” she continued, “you stayed with me at the hospital so I guess I’ll pay you back.” He laughed.
“Thanks,” there was a slight pause, “honestly, I’m giving him an hour and even that is a bit of an overestimation.”
The meaning of his words took a few seconds for her to understand and he waited patiently, trying to keep his face neutral as he saw the realisation dawn on her face.
At first, her mouth opened slightly and her eyes widened, but then the lines of disgust were starting to appear and soon her face was etched into one of uncomfort.
He laughed.
“That’s,” she paused, trying to find the right word, “interesting.”
“I love Evan,” he said, “but he is hopeless.”
“Is he the only one who calls you Reggie?”
Regulus hated being called Reggie. It had started back at Hogwarts when a few girls had started calling him that and he hated the way it sounded like they were whining every time it left their lips.
He had disclosed this with Evan one night who, of course, thought it was hilarious and started calling him that ironically until, as ironic things usually do, became unironic.
But it dawned on Regulus how little he had ever heard her say his name and for some reason, he didn’t mind the way the nickname fell from her lips,
Her very pretty lips that he had bruised. The very pretty lips he had watched the healer touch and squish together. The very pretty lips that he suddenly really wanted to kiss.
Fuck, he thought, I’m drunk .
“Uhm,” he mumbled, trying to remember what she had asked him. “Oh, yeah,” he said when he remembered, she gave him a funny look. “Only Evan calls me that, it’s an inside joke.” He wasn’t sure if he was meant to explain the inside joke, but he had enough experience to know that it wasn’t appropriate to talk about your ex flings with someone you’re trying to make your current fling, so he changed the subject.
“Are you excited for the game this weekend?” It was the Quidditch world final and she nodded eagerly at the question.
“Always, are you?” And so they began talking about who they think would win and the embarrassing teams they went for as children and who they think should be kicked off next season.
After their laughter died down they both seemed to realise that there weren’t many people left at the Leaky Cauldron. Only the waiter and another group of people in the corner.
“I guess I should go make sure Evan is still alive,” Regulus sighed and she giggled, her heart doing something funny in her chest.
“I better make sure my parents haven’t sent out a search party for me.”
“It was nice talking to you,” Regulus said as if he was genuinely surprised about this.
“It was okay,” she said, smirking at him so he knew she was joking.
If this wasn’t her, Regulus would have asked her back to Evan’s much earlier. They knew the drill by now.
Whoever was home first put up the silence charm and then the next would do it when they got there. And he knew Evan who would have done the silencing charm just in case Regulus brought her back, so really, it would have been perfect.
But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He told himself it was just because this was still too early in the game and he risked getting rejected, but he was telling himself that so many times that it started to sound like he was convincing himself of that.
Regardless, they both apparated home, their hearts full as they steadied themselves, not convinced that it was apparating while drinking that was making them dizzy.
The five hundred galleons suddenly seemed to weigh a lot more on Regulus’ shoulders and he was reminded of this next morning when Evan came to join him at the breakfast table, the girl from last night long gone.
“Why didn’t you bring her back?” Was the first thing Evan asked.
Regulus thought it’d be easier to say he rejected her than have to explain the real reason.
“She was drunk,” he said instead, which was still one of his main concerns.
“And? So were you?”
“I don’t want to rush it,” he said and the tone that he used made Evan change the subject.