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Remus is freaking out.
He can’t help it, even as Regulus sits there and laughs at him, the prat. He looks way too pleased with the situation. The situation being Remus failing out of school in his last year, after which he will be forced to live on the couches of his lovely friends’ houses, desperately searching for a workplace that will take him.
He will not be staying on Regulus’s couch, because Regulus is not a lovely friend.
“You won’t get kicked out.” He’s currently insisting, rolling his eyes–are they green or grey? He can never tell–at Remus even as he ducks his head to focus back on his own essay. Remus glares back.
“You don’t know that.” He says, making Regulus snort.
Remus has to hide a smile, knowing that Regulus hates when he makes noises like that, signs of impropriety that his parents have never approved of. Remus is constantly getting him to make noises like that, and he’s proud of it.
“Trust me, if they haven’t gotten rid of your infuriating little group yet, they won’t kick you out for failing one essay.”
“Aw, you think I’m infuriating?”
“Infuriatingly stupid, yes. Now write your essay, I’m not writing it for you.”
Remus grins, reaching out to steal one of Regulus’s quills and doing as he says. They work in silence, broken up by the scratching of their quills and the occasional grumble or question. It’s peaceful, comfortable, and Remus hadn’t realized he needed this until he’s basking in it. Regulus is good at that, at silently giving him what he needs, and Remus doesn’t think he’s aware that he does it.
He won’t be the one to point it out.
The silence doesn’t last forever: it never does with them. Regulus is the one to break it, which used to shock Remus, when they first started studying together. He still occasionally feels surprised at all the signs that Regulus enjoys being around him enough to seek him out first. Remus isn’t used to being someone’s choice.
Since then, he’s learned a lot about Regulus, and how much he can talk is one of them. Regulus is a quiet person, sure, but when you get him to open up . . . it’s exciting, how much he talks. How much he knows about the subjects that interest him. The way he gathers all these facts inside his head and lets them burst out of him when he feels safe and comfortable, just like Remus does.
Sometimes, Remus thinks the stars aligned to make them friends.
Remus is physically in potions, but mentally with Regulus.
Regulus is lucky enough to have a free period at the moment, so he’s flying around outside, practicing Quidditch, while Remus is stuck inside, in the dungeons. He’d much rather be outside, keeping track of how many times Regulus can catch the snitch in an hour. He’s been trying to beat his record all year.
Sometimes, Remus lets Regulus take him flying, although he only does it when Regulus is particularly miserable, to give him something else to focus on. Remus likes his feet on the ground, unlike all the nutcases he calls his friends. Especially when the weather gets as cold as it’s getting now that they’re edging into November. How Regulus can be happy to be outside now is beyond Remus, whose idea of a good Winter involves a good book by the fireplace.
Excited whispers grab Remus’s attention back to the classroom.
“What’s going on?” He whispers, leaning over to Lily, who is sitting on his right. She rolls her eyes at him but he knows her well enough to know that she’s fond of him, not annoyed.
“We’re making amortentia.” She whispers back, and ah. Yes, of course his classmates are excited about getting to make this potion. They’d made it last year, so he’s not sure why they’re doing it again, but this happens when Slughorn doesn’t feel like watching them so closely. He hopes it’s as dramatic as last year: he’d gotten to witness quite a few break ups over the potion, which had greatly amused him.
It’ll give him something to talk about with Regulus, who loves drama as much as Remus does.
The process isn’t too complicated. It helps that he’s working with Lily Evans, potions prodigy. He’s pretty sure that even the most complex potions would be easier with her help, and so they finish before anyone else, Slughorn bustling over.
Lily goes first, sniffing the potion and telling Slughorn what she smells. He notices that her gaze flickers across the room, to the table Marlene is standing at, and he has to twist to the side to hide his smile. He’s been wondering when they would figure it out. He hopes one of them will take the incentive after this class: he hopes that Marlene smells Lily when her potion is finished.
“Mr. Lupin, your turn!”
Remus turns quickly, seeing the amusement in Lily’s gaze. He rolls his eyes at her before bending down to smell the potions, immediately smiling at the smell of his favorite things.
New books and hot chocolate are expected smells: he smelled them last year. He didn’t expect to have additional smells tugging at him: mint and lavender, and . . . cold?
“I can’t describe it.” He tells Slughorn, frowning as he tries to put the scent into words. “It’s just–cold. Like, that first day of Winter, when you walk outside and your breath fogs up. That’s what I’m smelling.”
Lily is laughing next to him, but Slughorn looks thrilled.
“I think that might be the most interesting answer yet.” He explains as he walks away, laughing to himself.
“Since when do you like the cold?” Lily asks him, and Remus blinks. He doesn’t: he never has. He prefers Autumn, likes it when the weather is neither too warm or too cold. He does not like Winter, so why is he smelling it in Amortentia?
“I don’t.” He says, frowning.
Lily’s eyes light up, but a shout attracts their attention before she can say anything. Marlene and Sirius have finished their potion, and Lily practically throws herself on top of their table to hear what Marlene smells. He’s laughing at her, ignoring the glare he gets in response, when it hits him.
Lily smelled Marlene from their potion; Remus must have smelled who he loves as well. Except Remus hadn’t realized he liked anyone, let alone enough to smell them in a love potion.
When did that happen? And, most importantly, with who?
He barely clears the classroom when he smells it again.
The smell smacks into him, really. He’s the last to leave the classroom, having been in a daze while packing up. He’d waved Lily ahead when she’d tried to help him, knowing she wanted to talk to Marlene.
He walks out of the classroom, and there it is: mint and lavender and a distinctly Winter smell.
The only person in the corridor is Regulus.
He’s talking, Remus catching something about Quidditch and Slughorn, but Remus can’t do anything other than stare at him. Regulus is rocking back and forth on his heels, his hair windswept, his cheeks flushed.
He’s gorgeous.
Remus looks at him and wants so many things. He wants to bundle him up in a blanket because he can tell he’s freezing. He wants to make him hot chocolate and listen to him ramble about the most recent book he’s read. He wants to bury his hands in those black curls and tip his head back and–
Oh, fuck.
Remus is a smart man. He’s not being egotistical in saying so, it’s just a fact. He likes learning, he likes reading, and he’s smart. He’s coming to realize that he’s more book smart than street smart, or he would have realized his own feelings without the help of a potion.
“So, you’ll help?”
“Yes.” He says without thinking about it, only knowing that Regulus asked him a question. Of course he’ll help, why was that a question?
“Oh, great! Do you want to start tomorrow?”
Start what?
Remus blinks, looking at Regulus, who looks back at him with a soft smile. It’s one of his favorite expressions on Regulus, because Remus is sure that Regulus doesn’t even realize that he is smiling. His lips are irrefutably tilted up at the corners, however, and Remus is proud to take credit for that.
“Uh, what am I doing exactly?”
The question makes Regulus frown, and then his eyes narrow. He’s giving Remus the look he always sees him point to his friend group, the one that says he isn’t stopping until he gets answers. Why is he giving Remus that look?
“You weren’t listening.”
It’s said as a statement, not a question, and it immediately makes Remus feel guilty. Regulus has a thing about needing to be heard, to be respected, and he doesn’t want to be the one to make him feel as if he isn’t.
“No.” He admits with a wince, rushing to speak before Regulus ends up snapping or anything worse. “I’m sorry, I think I’m just out of it from Potions. I’m listening now, I promise.”
For a moment Regulus looks as if he wants to fight for the principle of it, but then he deflates. Remus makes sure to properly listen this time, knowing he’s lucky that Regulus is repeating himself even once, even as he can’t help but track all of Regulus’s movements.
He twists the rings on his right hand while he talks, and Remus finds it adorable.
Apparently Remus is now a photographer. As Slytherin Quidditch Captain, Regulus is responsible for getting pictures of the team for their school newspaper, and he wants Remus to come to their next practice to take pictures for them.
“You already said yes.” Regulus tells him, eyes narrowed, as if he thinks Remus is going to take his words back. As if Remus could look at Regulus Black asking for his help and turn him away.
“Tomorrow works for me.” He says with a laugh, loving that the confirmation makes Regulus’s eyes brighten.
“Great! We’ll be out early, around six, thanks!”
He ignores Remus yelling after him in favor of getting inside his common room. Remus groans loudly and hits his head against the wall behind him. He hadn’t realized he would have to get up early for this.
Regulus is lucky that he’s so pretty.
Sirius is being insufferable.
He won’t stop talking. This is normal for him, and Remus is normally better at dealing with it, but right now he’s going insane. It would be easier if they weren’t talking about what they are, but Remus didn’t feel the need to keep his feelings for Regulus a secret.
“No.”
“No, what?”
“No, you can’t date my little brother, Remus!”
Remus rolls his eyes, making eye-contact with Peter, who looks amused. He’s got a sketchbook out, balanced on his legs. Remus will have to ask for a copy of his drawing, Regulus will love seeing Sirius in so much distress.
“I wasn’t asking you, Sirius.”
“You–I–what?” Sirius glares at him even as she stutters, clearly confused. Remus feels for her, he does, but he needs questions answered.
“Regulus is his own person. I’m not asking you or anyone other than him for permission to date him. What century do you think we’re in?”
Sirius splutters for a moment, looking shocked, but James speaks up before he can gather himself. James looks amused as well, which isn’t surprising, he’s always been one for dramatics.
“Why did you tell him if not to ask for permission?”
“I need to know more about Regulus. Like, what does he like romantically?”
At these words, Sirius drops down to his own bed, her head in her hands as he shakes his head. Remus feels all of his sympathy die on the spot.
“Sirius, you do realize that your brother is going to date at some point? Isn’t it better that I try to get his attention, rather than someone else?”
Sirius looks pained now, but they slowly nod.
“I suppose.” He bites out, and then sighs loudly. “We’ll talk about it more later. Why would you think I know what he’s interested in?”
“He’s your brother.” Remus points out, and then, when Sirius just stares at him: “What’s his favorite candy? Flower? Something, Sirius, give me something to work with.”
Sirius looks amused now, which Remus is glad for. He knows that Sirius isn’t exactly on board, but again, Remus wasn’t asking her for his permission. He’ll get on board, or she’ll learn to deal with it anyway, but Remus can’t change his feelings just because Sirius doesn’t want them to exist.
Even if he could, he wouldn’t want to. Regulus is too good of a person for Remus to want to be rid of him. He deserves to be loved properly, and Remus thinks he can do that. He’ll try, at least, and isn’t that enough?
“It’s so obvious that none of you have siblings.” Sirius sighs out, shaking their head at him, his lips tilting up. “I dunno what flowers he likes, but he loves sugar quills. And those hot chocolate bombs, the ones that have treats in them. He’s obsessed.”
That’s really cute.
“Okay, great.” Remus says, nodding his head, and then frowning. “When is the next Hogsmeade visit?”
It’s not for another two weeks, which is a real shame. Although it does give him two weeks to ask Regulus out. He shouldn’t need that whole time, but it’s nice to have it.
Sirius doesn’t tell him not to ask–he’s learning already.
Waking up early is worthwhile to spend time with Regulus.
He borrows Peter’s camera to take the pictures, and he already knows Peter is going to make fun of him when he requests duplicate copies of the ones with Regulus in them. He’s in most of the pictures, partly because he’s the captain, mostly because Remus couldn’t take his eyes off of him. The pictures reflect that.
“You’re still here?” Regulus asks when Remus joins him down on the field, looking surprised. He’d told Remus before they started that he could just take a few and go back to bed, and that he’d deal with Slughorn if he found an issue with that, which was really thoughtful of him. “Aren’t you tired?”
From anyone else, these questions would make Remus spiral. He’d convince himself that he wasn’t wanted and it would make him anxious. Regulus doesn’t mean it like that, however, and Remus knows him too well to be upset by it. Regulus is a lot like him when it comes to social situations: too blunt. Remus has never met anyone as bad as him when it comes to people, but he thinks Regulus might be worse. He loves it.
“No, I figured we could hang out here. Unless you have plans. . .?”
“No.” Regulus says quickly, and then his eyes widen. “No I don’t have plans, not no I don’t want to hang out. I do. Want to hang out.”
Regulus looks a second away from flying away from the conversation, his grip tightening on his broom, so Remus quickly laughs it off.
“Great! Do you want help cleaning up?”
Regulus nods after a moment, making Remus grin as he helps him bully all the balls back into their chest, the bludgers fighting him the whole way. Regulus is in his element with anything related to Quidditch, and it’s nice to watch, even if it’s just the way he knows where everything goes in the broom shed. Peter would laugh himself hoarse if he heard this thought, so Remus is determined to never admit to it.
Afterwards, they move to the bleachers, Remus sitting on the bottom row while Regulus sits on the grass in front of him. Regulus has a love for sitting on the floor, Remus has noticed. He does it in the kitchens, and when they’re outside, he’s always finding a spot on the grass. Remus joins him a lot, but his leg is bothering him more today, so he’s happy to stretch it out on the bleacher.
It doesn’t take long for Remus’s cane to end up in Regulus’s hands.
The cane is white, after James painted it in third year, saying that it would be fun to draw on it. His friends do that often, and Remus has kept a few of them–a smiley face from Peter, a snitch from James, a penguin from Sirius–although he normally uses a spell to get rid of the rest of the sketches. He has to, or the drawings they do in class would get him detention.
Regulus loves drawing, and he especially loves drawing on Remus’s cane. Remus doesn’t take his cane everywhere, although he makes sure to use it outside, and Regulus’s face always lights up at the sight of it.
Leaning over, he sees that he’s holding a blue marker, coloring in what Remus thinks might be the Black Lake. It’s hard to see from this angle, so Remus leaves him to it, going back to the stretches Madam Pomfrey taught him. He’s supposed to do them daily, but he forgot to do them yesterday. He knows better than to skip them for two days in a row.
“Do you have plans for Hogsmeade?”
Regulus doesn’t seem to have heard him, too focused on coloring in whatever he just drew. He looks very focused, his lips pressed together as he leans forward, blocking it from view. Just as Remus is starting to panic, thinking that he’ll have to ask again, Regulus shakes his head. He doesn’t give him a verbal answer, but that’s okay: he tends to stop speaking once he gets focused on something.
“Would you want to go with me?”
Regulus nods, and Remus beams. This is a lot easier than he expected it to be: now he has to plan the perfect date. It has to be everything Regulus could want from a date, so that he goes on more with him. He can’t mess this up, or it’ll all be ruined.
Before he can think about this more, Regulus turns the cane so that Remus can see it, grinning. He’s decorated the bottom with waves, leaving Peter’s smiley face untouched, and given Sirius’s penguin an igloo. Remus is tempted to point out that penguins don’t live in igloos, but the drawing is so cute that he doesn’t say anything. The snitch from James has been left alone as well, Regulus having been more focused on the sky, where he drew a New Moon. Remus is pleased to see that phase, as opposed to a Full Moon, which is normally used to represent him.
This time, he uses a spell to keep the full drawing, not erasing any of it.
The pleased smile Regulus gets at that is more than worth the teasing he’ll surely endure from their friends.
Going on a date with Regulus is not what Remus pictured it to be.
Regulus is shockingly casual about the whole thing. He dresses nicely, he always does, and Remus almost dies when he sees him in a green sweater–green like the forest he spends time in every month, like the color of Regulus’s eyes in certain lighting, his new favorite color. He’s waiting for Remus in the entrance hall, even though Remus had offered to pick him up from his common room, thinking it would be more romantic.
Regulus had laughed at him and said they’d meet here, so here they are.
Remus wants to hold his hand, but he thinks it might be too soon for that. He should work up to that. Regulus sometimes doesn’t like to be touched, so he’s not going to try until he knows Regulus would be okay with it, or Regulus makes the first move.
“Is there anywhere you want to go?” He asks, because he doesn’t want to just drag Regulus around the whole time. If he needs to get anything, Remus wants to help him with that.
Regulus hums, considering it. His right hand is swinging, Remus desperately wants to grab it in his own.
“I should get some new quills, and Barty wants a book. It’s about aquatic animals, he’s been obsessed lately. I want to help him. . .”
Remus lets Regulus talk, happy to listen to him ramble. He has a tendency to do this whenever one of his friends develops a new interest, making it his own so that they can talk about it together. It’s sweet.
Regulus spends the entire walk to the village talking about the differences in Muggle and Magical wildlife, from zoos to aquariums. He tells Remus that he wants to visit the Muggle versions and Remus immediately starts planning how to make that happen. He likes the thought of taking Regulus outside of the Wizarding World. He’s such a curious person, it’ll be nice to see him getting to explore one side of Remus’s life. Maybe he could bring him to some sports games, he thinks Regulus would enjoy them.
They go straight for Honeydukes, Regulus looking delighted as soon as they enter. Four years later and these shops still excite Remus; he’s glad that Regulus feels the same way. He’s never visited Hogsmeade with Regulus, only ever bumped into him here, and it’s exciting to see the village through his eyes.
“How easily do you think I could prank Sirius with these?” Regulus muses, grabbing a bag of cockroach clusters, turning to smirk at Remus as he holds them up.
“He never pays attention in the morning, I’m sure you could put them in front of him and he’d eat them.”
His words make Regulus smirk even more.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking! You know, Sirius really does make it easy to prank him.”
Remus laughs at that, shaking his head as he heads to a corner decorated with Christmas gifts. It’s easy to find the hot chocolate bombs that Sirius had told him about, and he quickly grabs the ones he thinks Regulus will like the most, with marshmallows and strawberries in them.
“Oh, do you like those too?” Regulus’s voice makes him jump, not having heard him come up behind him. He’s looking at the treats in Remus’s hand, looking curious.
“No, they’re for you.”
Regulus looks like he doesn’t know what to do with that statement, although Remus isn’t sure what’s so confusing about it. Instead, he watches Regulus’s eyes jump from the items in his hand to his face a few times before he slowly smiles.
“Uh, thanks?” He says before reaching out to grab them from Remus, who pulls them out of his reach. He can’t help but laugh as he watches Regulus stretch to his tiptoes, trying to get them from him. Hasn’t he learned by now?
Regulus frowns about Remus buying them for him, which isn’t exactly the reaction Remus was expecting. He just shrugs it off: Sirius did tell him Regulus doesn’t have dating experience, although Remus isn’t sure how accurate that is–he’s heard rumors. Still, maybe Regulus is used to doing all the buying. He’ll just have to get used to Remus spoiling him, though: what’s the point of having a summer job if he isn’t spending his money this way?
Regulus buys them both butterbeer when they go to The Three Broomsticks, despite Remus trying to do it for him. He’s the one who asked Regulus out, he’s pretty sure that means he pays, but Regulus insists.
It’s there that things get weird.
Remus doesn’t have much dating experience, although he has been asked out quite a bit. He does know a few things for certain, though, and one of them is that they’re supposed to be alone. The whole point is getting to know each other, seeing if this will work.
Regulus hasn’t gotten that lesson, apparently, because he spots Fabian Prewett at a table and makes a beeline for him.
Remus gapes after him, holding both their butterbeers, and watches as Regulus drops down to sit at the table with Fabian, Emmeline Vance, and Benjy Fenwick. He turns and waves Remus over, looking confused, so Remus sighs and joins him. If Regulus wants to say hello quickly, there’s no reason for Remus to be upset by it.
Regulus is not quick about it.
He doesn’t seem to be in a rush to go anywhere, in fact, heavy in a debate about Quidditch teams with Emmeline and Fabian. Remus ends up talking to Benjy, who he likes, but his heart isn’t in it and he thinks Benjy can tell. He can’t stop looking over at Regulus, remembering that one of the rumors he’s heard about him dating had involved Fabian.
He can see how they would be a good match. Something about Fabian brings out a passion in Regulus, who’s currently half out of his chair as he argues with him about something he said–Remus catches the words ‘injury’ and ‘career ending’ before Benjy catches his attention again. They look good together.
It makes Remus feel sick.
Benjy is the one to end the interaction. Remus thinks he catches onto his frustration because his eyes widen one of the times Remus turns to look at Regulus, and then he blurts out that he needs Emmeline and Fabian to help him plan a surprise. The other two clearly don’t know what he’s talking about, but they don’t argue, waving as they leave.
Regulus turns to him after they leave, and Remus feels his breath catch at the sight of him. His hair is messy from where Fabian reached over and ruffled it, clearly trying to distract him, and his cheeks are flushed from the excitement of the argument.
All of Remus’s frustration dies on the spot.
It doesn’t matter that the last hour isn’t how Remus would have preferred to spend their date. They’re still on it, and he thinks there’s a good chance of there being more of them in the future. All that matters is that Regulus looks happy, and Remus played a part in getting him to look that way.
The date is perfect just for that.
Sirius is the one to make him realize what went wrong.
Remus has just finished telling his friends–the other Marauders, plus Lily, Mary, and Marlene–about everything, taking care to not complain. Sirius has a strange relationship with Regulus, where sometimes he acts like Regulus is the actual devil out to ruin his life, and sometimes she considers Regulus to be a perfect angel who's never done anything wrong. She insists that this is a normal sibling thing, and who is Remus to say otherwise?
Remus is pretty certain that Sirius would be upset on Regulus’s behalf if it sounds as if he’s complaining, and he does not want that argument. He’s learned from James’s mistakes.
Sirius listens to him explain how their date got hijacked but was mostly amazing, before he asks one question.
“How did you ask him out?”
“I asked if he was going to Hogsmeade, he shook his head, and I asked him to go with me.”
“I got that, but how exactly did you ask him? What words did you use?”
Remus shares a confused look with Lily over Sirius’s head, before he forces himself to think back.
“Um. . . I asked if he was going, he was distracted–drawing on my cane.” He can’t help but grin over at where it’s propped up against the wall, still covered in Regulus’s artwork. “He shook his head, so I asked ‘Would you want to go with me?’ and he nodded–why are you groaning?”
It takes a minute for Sirius to lift his head from where she’s thrown it in her hands, shaking her head. Remus spends the entire time exchanging confused glances with his friends, glad to not be the only one lost.
“Remus, that’s not–do you remember when you first became our friend and sometimes we would say something and you would take us literally?” He waits for Remus to nod before continuing. “Right, well, Regulus is like that. You asking if he wanted to go with you wouldn’t have sounded like you asking him out. You have to be really forward.”
Remus feels like an idiot. He’s spent all of this time with Regulus recently, and never picked up on him having the same issues Remus does. Was he paying attention at all?
At the same time, there’s relief. At least he knows that it wasn’t something that he did on their date. He can work with this.
“You could have told me that.” He can’t resist pointing out to Sirius, who at least looks sheepish. “How am I supposed to ask him out then?”
Everyone looks lost for a moment before Peter perks up.
“Hey, Fabian!” He shouts across the room, making Fabian pop his head up at the same time that Remus groans. He does not want Fabian’s help with this.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” He hisses at Peter, who just gives him an unimpressed look back. He doesn’t get to protest more than that before Fabian is coming to sit down next to Lily, who grins at him.
“What’s happening?” He asks with an easy grin, leaning back on his hands and crossing his legs in front of him. There’s no reason this pose should anger Remus, but it does.
“Remus here wants to ask out Regulus, I figured you could give him some pointers.” Peter says, ignoring Remus’s glare.
Fabian’s agreement gets cut off by Sirius, who seems to have caught on to the idea that Fabian once had a thing with his brother. Remus waits for her to freak out, but she just looks confused.
“Regulus told me he’s never had a boyfriend.” He says, now sounding slightly hurt. Remus shares a quick look with James, hoping they won’t have to run interference between the siblings. Remus does not enjoy doing that, and he thinks it’ll be worse now that he’s aware of his feelings for Regulus.
“Well, we never actually dated. We didn’t get that far, it was all just us having fun.”
That is. . . not the explanation Sirius wanted, judging by the disgusted look on his face. It’s not the explanation Remus wanted either.
He has to remind himself that Regulus is a free man, and that he didn’t do anything wrong by getting with Fabian. He didn’t necessarily do anything right, but Remus might be slightly biased. He’s never had an issue with Fabian before this, but things change.
Remus knows that better than anyone else.
There’s a pause, where James seems to be the only thing stopping Sirius from launching himself at Fabian. Fabian doesn’t look bothered by the obvious threat in the room, instead contemplating Remus for a long moment before he shrugs.
“It’s Saturday, so he’ll be in the kitchens. He makes himself hot chocolate and reads. It’s too cold even for him, so he won’t be outside doing it.”
That is surprisingly helpful. Sure, he could have used the map, but that feels a little strange. Remus has a crush but he isn’t a stalker.
(He’d been planning on using the map.)
“Well, what should I say?”
Fabian rolls his eyes at that, moving to stand back up.
“Why would I know? Tell him you’re obsessed with him and his hair and oh his eyes!” He pretends to swoon, which makes all the others laugh, even Sirius. Remus throws the couch pillow at him and he laughs as he ducks away back to his friends. Git.
“That’s not a bad idea.” Peter muses, but Remus just shakes his head with a frown.
Something tells him Regulus won’t enjoy hearing that he’s obsessed with him.
Not exactly the height of romance in Remus’s eyes. Regulus would likely throw something at him, or hex him. Remus has no interest in finding out. He’s seen the damage Regulus has done in the corridors: he’s vicious.
“What are you sitting around for?” Sirius’s voice surprises him. Sirius looks unimpressed from where she’s sitting, once again confusing Remus, who just stares. “Remus, go. He’s not going to sit around all night. Do you want to date him or not?”
He’s never wanted anything more.
Sirius succeeds in getting him moving, and he tries to shake off the nerves as he goes. They all wish him luck, which is sweet, but none of them get to him the way Sirius’s well wishes do. He can’t help but smile as he jumps out of the portrait hole, excited more than nervous now.
Regulus is exactly where Fabian said he would be.
He’s the only one in the kitchen when Remus gets there, which he’s grateful for. He’d probably scream if he had to wait for Crouch or Rosier, Merlin forbid both, to leave them alone. They can talk–the last time he spent time with them and Regulus, they sat with them for three hours before getting bored and leaving.
Regulus looks up when he enters and immediately smiles.
The sight is all the encouragement he needs to go sit with him. Regulus is in a booth in the back, his knees propped up, supporting the book he’s reading. He’s wearing a grey jumper and dark blue pajama pants with stars on them, and Remus is going to melt. Who let him look so soft?
Remus falters when he opens his mouth. He can’t outright ask him out without a conversation first, that would be awkward. Unfortunately, he can’t think of a single thing to say to Regulus, who looks concerned. His eyebrows are furrowing the way they do when he can’t solve a problem.
“Did you have fun at Hogsmeade?”
Small talk. Great.
Fortunately, it does get Regulus to relax again. He hums as he drinks from his mug, his eyes snapping back and forth from Remus to his book. The image makes Remus smile, knowing the urge to block out the world with a book. He likes that he can still capture Regulus’s attention despite this urge.
“Yes, it was nice.” There’s a small pause, Regulus sipping his drink and looking back at Remus. “Did you have fun?”
Nice isn’t exactly the date descriptor Remus was going for, which is just another sign that Regulus didn’t view it as a date.
“I had a great time.” He says, and it’s mostly true. He hopes he won’t be miserable in a minute. “Would you want to do it again?”
“Sure,” Regulus says, nodding. “The next visit isn’t for another three weeks, but I doubt I’ll have any other plans then.”
He definitely isn’t getting the date part. Well, Remus hopes not. It’d be a bit awkward if he did and still didn’t find it more important than his other plans.
“I meant it as a date.” He rushes out before he can talk himself out of it. It’s tempting, but he can’t face going back to the common room without at least trying. The others would make fun of him horribly, and Sirius might even take matters into her own hands. The thought is more terrifying than Regulus rejecting him.
Regulus is gaping at him, looking lost.
That is not how Remus saw this going.
“You want to date me?” He sounds insultingly surprised, as if Remus hasn’t spent the last few months completely enamoured with him. There’s no way Regulus missed all of that.
Regulus did in fact miss all of it.
Remus spends the next ten minutes going over the last few months, patiently repeating that yes that was me flirting and no I wasn’t just being a good friend. It’s a bit embarrassing really. He needs to take a class on flirting at this point. Hogwarts should offer that as a mandatory class. How is Sirius aromantic and better at it than him?
It’s all worth it for the smile on Regulus’s face when he agrees to go out with him.