It's been such a long time since I've posted anything. I'm so out-of-practice with my writing, so I'm hoping this isn't too bad. I'm surprised I even got anything written!

But Barty/Regulus is really messing with my heart right now. I just adore them together, so I wanted to write a little bit of fluff.

I hope you like it!

A Thing

Regulus didn't dare open his eyes. His head was throbbing like nothing he'd ever felt before and every little movement made his nausea a thousand times worse. He felt like if he tried to sit up, he'd bring up all of last night's dinner. The thought of the awful day he had ahead of him made him feel even worse, so he groaned and rolled over slowly in his bed. His eyes flew open in an instant when he rolled into another person who was apparently sharing his bed.

He recognised the boy next to him straight away. It was Barty – his best friend. And after a few moments, he also came to the realisation that he was in fact in Barty's bed, not his own. Barty opened his eyes slowly after Regulus rolled into him and glanced at Regulus in confusion.

"What's going on? Why are you in my bed?"

Regulus pulled the covers up over himself and peered at Barty over the top of the duvet with tired eyes. "I don't know… but I feel awful."

"We got pretty drunk last night," Barty stated. "You were hammered."

"I wasn't that bad," Regulus replied, knowing full well that he was that bad. Regulus wasn't usually the type of person who got drunk. He normally frowned upon people who let themselves get completely wasted on alcohol, but last night had been… a blur. He could barely remember it. Barty, on the other hand, got drunk on a regular basis. It was normal for him.

"Reg… you ripped your shirt off in the middle of the common room and asked people if they wanted a lap dance…"

Regulus could feel his cheeks going red. Yes, he remembered that now that he thought about it. What was he thinking? He'd acted so out-of-character. Sober-him would never offer anybody a lap dace. Regulus didn't even know how to lap dance.

He thought about last night more. He was remembering things. He remembered chugging down a full bottle of Firewhisky. He remembered trying to give Barty a high-five and slapping him in the face. He remembered knocking on Professor Slughorn's office door and running away, laughing hysterically as if it were the funniest thing in the world. Merlin, he remembered…

"What are you thinking about? You look like you're going to be sick," Barty said, leaning back apprehensively.

"We kissed," Regulus said quietly, and to his horror, out loud.

"Oh," Barty replied, looking slightly embarrassed. "Oh, fuck. We did."

"A lot," Regulus continued, trying not to look his best friend in the eye as he remembered all of the intimate positions they had gotten themselves into last night.

"And it was good," Barty muttered. "Really good."

"It was?"

"Crap. No. I mean, yes. I mean-"

Regulus glanced at Barty and he couldn't help but smile at the way Barty was desperately trying to say the right thing but failing to figure out what the right answer was.

"Barty," Regulus said softly.

"YES?" Barty replied, maybe a little bit too loud. He was now bright red.

"If you liked it, you liked it. No big deal," Regulus whispered.

"What if I didn't like it?" Barty replied quickly.

"Then that's fine."

"But what if I did like it?" Barty asked. "What if I liked it a lot? Like more than anything I've ever done?"

Regulus laughed. "I'm fine with that."

"Okay," Barty said, nodding.

There was a brief moment of awkward silence, and then Regulus moved closer to Barty. "Guess what?" Regulus whispered?

"What?"
"I loved it," Regulus murmured, his face only inches away from Barty's now.

Barty blinked in surprise and grinned stupidly at Regulus.

"Really?!"

"Yes."

"I loved it too!" Barty practically yelled. "I was so scared that you didn't love it, and I was so scared that you wouldn't even remember which is why I was pretending that I didn't remember because I was terrified that if you did remember or that if I just told you we kissed and you didn't remember, that you'd be angry with me or hate me or someth-"

"-Barty, I have absolutely no idea what you just said," Regulus said, smiling at his friend's over-excited expression.

"Okay, I have a confession to make," Barty said breathlessly.

"Go on…"

"I'm gay and I'm in love with you, and I totally understand if you don't feel the same way because I know a kiss is just a kiss and you're probably straighter than the straightest… well… the straightest thing in the world, but I just wanted you to know just in case you feel the same way, and-"

Regulus leaned forwards and closed the gap between them with a slow, gentle kiss. Barty sighed into it and brought his arms up to wrap around Regulus, holding onto him like he never wanted to let go. It was a sweeter kiss than the kisses they'd shared the night before. It was an exploration of their feelings rather than a hungry fight for dominance. It was perfect.

When they broke apart, they stared at each other for a good few minutes not saying a word. Finally, Regulus broke the silence.

"I'm kinda gay too, by the way," he said quietly with a small smile. "In case you couldn't guess."

"So… this kissing thing..." Barty said. "… It's going to be like, a thing now? Between us?"

"I hope so," Regulus replied. "If you want it to be a thing."

"I want it to be a thing more than ever."

"Then it's a thing."

"Does that mean that I can call you my boyfriend?" Barty asked, looking utterly ecstatic.

"Yes," Regulus said. Before he could say anything else, his nausea started to get the better of him and he jumped up out of bed.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to be sick," Regulus muttered, running towards the bathroom.

"You're sick of me already?!" Barty called after him.

Regulus wanted to say something in reply but he didn't have time. He slammed the bathroom door shut behind him and barely made it to the toilet in time before he was throwing up violently.

Afterwards, he felt awful, but the only thing he could do was smile. After years and years of secretly pining, Barty was finally his. For the first time in a really long time, Regulus felt utterly and completely happy. Perhaps today wouldn't be so bad after all.

~The End~