Title: Tall, Dark & Mysterious love
Full Summary: This is a side story of sorts to my fanfic: Mad ministers and concussions are bad combinations. This is about Regulus and Severus' relationship. Regulus' POV.
Warnings: Slash, AU
Disclaimer: Don't own, never has, never will.

Note: This story jumps a bit in time, hope it isn't too confusing. Reviews appreciated, enjoy!

Regulus Arcturus Black was a bit of a coward, he supposed. He had run and hid away after he had realised what the Dark Lord was all about. He should have stood up to the man and fought for his freedom instead of fleeing. But, it was too late for that now, now he could only think of what he should have done instead of what he did.

Yes, he had fled. This little cabin he was in at the moment had belonged to his mother. The only ones who could enter the cabin was Walburga Black herself, or those who shared her blood. And, at the moment, the only ones who fitted that description were himself and his big brother, Sirius. But Sirius would probably never enter this place since him and Walburga hadn't had the best of relationships.
Regulus had chosen a life of loneliness, he realised. And he had abandoned the people he loved the most. He had Sirius had been good friends even if Sirius didn't get along with the rest of the family. And he had abandoned both his brother and his cousins... and his lover. That was probably the hardest to bear. It was Regulus who had persuaded his beloved to join the Death Eaters together. And now, Regulus had just turned around and left, leaving his lover in the claws of a madman. How could he have been so stupid? He should have asked Sev to come with him instead of just leaving.
Oh well, it was too late now. And since he was a coward, as previously mentioned, he could just sit and hope that his dear Severus would turn out fine.

He couldn't help but wonder how an infant could be the defeater of evil. "The-Boy-who-Lived" was what they called him. And, why would the Dark Lord go after a baby in the first place? Oh well, apparently the boy was fine, with the exception for a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead.

Regulus had seen the celebrations, disguised with the help of polyjuice-elixir. He was actually rather good at making potions, that was how he and Severus had met in the first place. Polyjuice was the only way he could get out of the house, to get food and other supplies. Even if he had been spoiled and had house-elves to do everything for him when he lived at home, he still knew how to cook.
While out he had bought a newspaper where they had printed the full story about their little hero. Regulus wondered what was going to be of the boy now, the newspaper didn't say. But what shocked Regulus was the story about Sirius. How Sirius Black had been the secret keeper of the Potters but had betrayed them to Voldemort. That wasn't right at all, Sirius Hated the Dark. Regulus knew that Sirius couldn't have betrayed his friends like that; he'd never do something like that. But even if Regulus was to tell this no one would believe him, why would they believe a Death-Eater scum?
This caused a dilemma for Regulus though, should he return to the wizarding world? He got to see his love ones again, but would they be happy to see him? And exactly how many would want to kill him for his betrayal? And, what would Sev say? Regulus knew that Sev had been cleared from all charges, thanks to Albus Dumbledore. Did he have another lover nowadays? Perhaps... it was better for him to remain where he was, for now.

Severus and Regulus had met at Hogwarts, both in Slytherin and both really intelligent. Two years separating them, Regulus the younger of the two. They were polite towards another and sometimes exchanged words. But you couldn't really call them friends, barely even acquaintances. They just talked since they found each other tolerable compared to the other Slytherins. Well, Lucius Malfoy was tolerable as well, but he was older and didn't like to be seen with the younger years. Same thing went for Bellatrix, she didn't want to be seen with the younger ones, not even her cousin. And Narcissa was in Ravenclaw, but the animosity between the houses was even greater back then, the risk to be cursed while speaking to someone in another house was always present. Despite this risk, Severus often hung out with a girl from Gryffindor, a red-headed beauty named Lily Evans.

When Regulus was in his third year and Severus in his fifth he and Lily had some sort of fallout, something to do with Regulus' dear brother no doubt. Regulus had found Severus that same evening in an unused classroom in the dungeons, where Severus had furiously worked on some sort of potion. It had been a mere coincidence; Regulus had walked around the dungeons for something to do, had seen a light pour out from a door that had been partly opened and looked inside. When the smoke from the cauldron surrounded him it gave him an air of mystery and his magic seemed to dance around him. Regulus had carefully stepped inside the room, mesmerised by the swirling magic. Severus had looked up then, his dark eyes glowing and made him look even more mysterious than he already was.
"What do you want?" Severus' voice had sounded accusing but yet, somehow distant.
"I'm sorry, I did not mean to disturb. I just saw you working, you look really different working like that, so passionate."
"As compared to what?" Even though Severus' eyes had been on Regulus he still worked on his potion, so focused.
"As compared to how you normally look in the common room and in the rest of the school... What are you working on?"
"Nothing really, just experimenting."
"I see, mind if I watch?"
Severus had just shrugged and turned his eyes back to his potion.

After that they seemed to meet more often, and some sort of friendship had been formed. Severus had told Regulus that he and Lily had known each other for a long time, even before Hogwarts. Severus had loved Lily, not like when you're in love with someone, more like a sister. And that they weren't on speaking terms really made Severus upset, even though it didn't show.
Exactly when they had gone from friendship to something else Regulus couldn't tell. All they knew was that they suddenly were very attracted to each other. They had started dating during Regulus' fourth year, and Severus' sixth.

It was during Regulus' fifth year, and Severus' seventh, that Voldemort had started his "campaign" as it was called. They had joined, expecting marvellous things. It wasn't until two years later Regulus had so cowardly fled.

A split personality huh?
That was what the papers said, the Dark Lord was another personality of a young man called Tom Riddle. Well, young and young, the man was technically around 60- 70 years old.

There was peace in the wizarding world. The Dark Lord had somehow risen again, the ritual making his body younger, around thirty-five years old. And hadn't that been terrifying, what with the Dark Mark starting to burn all of a sudden? But, shortly after the Dark Lord had risen a peace-contract had been drawn up and signed. And now, everything seemed so... calm and peaceful. There had been some agonizing days, when the Potter boy had gone missing and then the minister had been declared mad. But, Harry Potter had been found again and now everyone was happy. Actually, if Regulus remembered correctly, today was Harry Potter's birthday.

His thoughts were interrupted by a pounding on the door. Who could that be? With his wand in a strong hold he slowly walked towards the door. He had just reached the door and prepared to open it when a familiar voice was heard through the door, making Regulus jump in fright:
"Regulus Arcturus Black, you open this door. RIGHT NOW!"
Regulus hurriedly obeyed.
"Sirius?"
"Yes, it is me. And you, are coming with me." His voice left no room for objections.
"What, now?"
"Yes now!" Then Sirius took a hold of his wrist and apparated them away.

They were walking up a road towards a large house, or manor was more like it. All the while Sirius talking about what had happened during the years. Apparently Narcissa was married to Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix to Rodolphus Lestrange. They entered through huge doors of the manor and Sirius pulled him down a rather lit hall towards two slightly smaller doors than those they had just entered. Sirius slammed the doors opened, music welcoming them:
"I FOUND HIM" Sirius shouted in a happy voice.
The, rather large, room went silent and Regulus looked around. He immediately recognized his cousins Narcissa and Bellatrix who almost ran up to him. He hugged them, all the while still scanning the room. His eyes locked at the tall, dark man in the further left corner. So mysterious, and so handsome. He broke free from the crowd of people who wanted to shake his hand and walked straight up to the man who had always been on his mind all these years. He kissed him, and the kiss was answered almost immediately and Regulus felt so happy. It was amazing how much a kiss could tell: Regulus knew that Severus had missed him, had been worried about him, Severus forgave him and, best of all, Severus loved him.
They were interrupted though, by a high-pitched laugh coming from a really blonde man who could be none other than Lucius Malfoy:
"Hah, I knew it! I knew you were gay Sev, I just knew it."
Regulus glared at him, how dared he interrupt? Regulus pointed his wand at the blonde and spelled his mouth shut. Then he did the same with Sirius, since he looked ready to curse Severus. Regulus smiled cheekily when his brother gave him an annoyed glare, and then he turned towards Severus again, and they kissed again.

The End