A/N: Yes, we know, it's a short chapter, but there was nowhere else we could make a natural cut. Next week's willl be much longer :)

Chapter 10 – "I'm Not Sorry"

Saturday morning came and Regulus was very focused. They had to win this game. Regulus had to catch the Snitch. He would die from embarrassment if Davies caught it. He listened carefully to James' instructions in the changing room, although they mostly concerned tactics between the other positions. Seeking was a rather independent task, which was one of the things Regulus liked about it. It was just him, his broom and the Snitch.

They flew onto the pitch to loud cheers from the spectators. The weather was beautiful so it was perfect playing conditions and very enjoyable to sit on the stands. Regulus tried to focus on searching for the Snitch and ignore Davies completely. It was hard, however, because every time he came into his field of vision something started burning in his stomach. There was no sign of the Snitch in the first half hour. From the sounds of the spectators Regulus guessed that Gryffindor was in the lead.

"AND THERE GOES DAVIES!" shouted the commentator. "WHAT SPEED! HAS HE SEEN THE SNITCH?"

Regulus set off after Davies. He didn't think he had actually spotted the Snitch, but he had to be sure. Davies turned to fly back just as Regulus was about to catch up with him, and they nearly collided in mid-air.

"Watch where you're going, you bloody fairy!" Regulus snarled and gave Davies a hard push.

Davies looked surprised but then narrowed his eyes. "Same goes for you, you twat!" He rubbed his chest where Regulus had pushed him. "Bloody wanker."

Regulus felt heat rush to his face and before he knew it he had punched Davies hard in the face.

"BLACK!" called Madam Hooch and flew up on the side of them. "What are you doing?"

"He punched me!" said Davies, holding his nose, a trickle of blood seeping between his fingers.

"He asked for it!" said Regulus. "I'm NOT sorry!"

The stands had gone quiet for a moment but now the Ravenclaw tribune erupted in angry yells.

Peter looked wide-eyed from Remus to Sirius. "What... What's wrong with him?"

"I have no idea but he is going to get himself in trouble," said Sirius.

Shocked, Remus just sat gaping at the scene on the pitch.

"I will NOT have Muggle duelling on my pitch and I did not expect this from you, Black!" Madam Hooch raged.

Ravenclaw was given two penalty shots and Regulus a strict warning.

"He's lucky he wasn't sent out for the entire game," said Sirius and sat back down. "Come on Reggie," he mumbled, knowing that if they lost the game now, Regulus would be extremely unpopular in the house.

Regulus too had realised how much trouble he had gotten himself into. With a knot in his stomach he set off, frantically looking for the Snitch. Fifteen minutes later he was lucky. Both he and Davies spotted it at the same time and sped after it, but Regulus outmanoeuvred Davis and snatched the tiny golden ball right in front of his nose.

"GRYFFINDOR WINS!" rang the speaker and all Gryffindor spectators stood up, hooting and clapping eagerly.

Regulus landed and headed for the changing rooms immediately, but someone grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. It was James.

"What the bloody hell were you playing at? You can't just slug someone and then run off and hide!"

"I'm not hiding! The game is over, isn't it? Why should I stick around?"

Then McGonagall came marching over, looking even angrier than James. "Mr. Black, a word please," she said in a strict tone and told James to go back to the others and celebrate their victory. "I will not tolerate this kind of behaviour from anyone in my house and you would be the last one I would expect to lose his head like that."

"He provoked me," Regulus tried.

"That doesn't give you the right to hit him," McGonagall cut him off. "No matter what he said you should have enough sense to control yourself."

"Okay, Professor. Can I go now?"

"You are to report to detention in my office for a week, and I will not tolerate this behaviour again or I will take you off the team!"

Regulus bit his lip to prevent himself from arguing. He was already in enough trouble as it was. "Yes, Professor."

"And you will give Mr. Davies an apology."

"No," said Regulus determinedly.

"Did I not make myself clear, Mr. Black?" she said, looking incredulous. "You will do as I say or it's another week of detention!"

"I will take another week, then," said Regulus. He would rather bite off his own tongue than apologise to Davies.

o0o0o

Sirius, Remus and Peter came back to the common room ten minutes after Regulus.

"What was that stunt about?" Sirius asked his brother.

Regulus groaned. "Why is everybody making such a big deal out of it? He nearly flew into me and insulted me on top of that."

Peter eyed him cautiously. Merlin knew Regulus had had his share of run-ins before, but Peter couldn't remember having ever seen him resorting to physical violence.

"Insulted you how?" asked Remus a little puzzled. He had seen them almost collide, indeed, but he couldn't imagine Noel insulting Regulus without reason.

"You sure you didn't say something to upset him?" asked Sirius.

"I told him to look where he was going, didn't I?" snapped Regulus.

The rest of the Quidditch team filed in fifteen minutes later and Regulus decided it was time to disappear to his dorm. He was not keen on being near James right now, and the usual victory party was starting up as well. Regulus was not in the mood to party at all.

o0o0o

"Are you okay?" Remus asked Noel when they went for a walk a few hours later.

"Well - what the bloody hell is the matter with that bloke? Is something not right in his head, or what? What have I ever done to him?"

"He... he just has a short temper," said Remus and kicked a rock. "I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it." He bit his lip. "He, um, said that you insulted him first, and that he only told you to watch where you were going."

"What?" said Noel incredulously and stopped to face Remus. "He called me a bloody fairy! Maybe that's his problem. Maybe he's a homophobe."

Remus looked a little shocked. "He… he did?" Maybe Regulus was a homophone. Maybe that was why he had been so angry with Remus ever since he had become Noel's boyfriend. The thought stung in his heart.

"Yes. Still doesn't quite explain why he has never had a problem with me before, though," said Davies. "I've been out for years. But maybe he hasn't heard it until recently."

"M-maybe not..."

"Well," said Noel and took Remus' hand. "Sod him. It doesn't matter what he thinks, Remus. His brother is cool with it and he's your best friend, so it doesn't matter what Little Prince Black thinks, does it?"

"I guess not," said Remus and forced a smile. "I, um, have something else I wanted to talk to you about, by the way," he mumbled and felt his ears go red.

"Yeah?" said Noel, sending him a soft smile as they started walking again, hand in hand. "Something exciting?"

"Well," started Remus and swallowed a lump. "You asked me if I wanted… if I… if we... You asked about s-sex, and well… I don't think I'm ready to go all the way just yet, but I wouldn't mind trying… other things." He could feel his face burning red just by thinking about what he had just said to Noel. He hadn't thought he would actually be able to get the words out.

"Oh," said Noel and smiled. "Well, of course I didn't expect you to jump right in at the deep end. Not when I'm your first and all. I rather like taking one step at a time too. I can show you some really good things we can try."

"I'd like that, but I've been wondering - where would we be able to meet up and… well you know..."

Remus felt a lot better now after Noel's reaction, and he felt blessed for having such a understanding boyfriend. He had been afraid that he would be disappointed to hear that Remus didn't want to go all the way yet.

"I could always ask my dorm mates to clear out for a few hours. They won't mind. I do it for them too on occasion," said Noel.

"O-okay. Good. Because I think I would be too embarrassed to ask my dorm mates."

o0o0o

Regulus lay on his back on his four-poster with a purring Polaris on his stomach. He had magically sealed the curtains so nobody could disturb him. He had done it after Nigel had stuck his head in to tell him he was brilliant and asked why he wasn't at the party. He had been doing some serious thinking. He had to pull himself together now and stop acting like this around Davies and Remus. People were starting to wonder what was the matter and soon they might get suspicious. He would simply have to tone it down and not attract so much attention.

o0o0o

Regulus avoided people most of Sunday but went down to breakfast Monday morning, determined to behave normally and not show how Davies and Remus made him feel. It shouldn't be so difficult. He had lifelong experience in controlling his emotions and pretending.

He sat down next to his brother, said good morning and started putting jam on some toast.

Sirius looked a little surprised. "Well, good morning, Your Highness."

Remus looked equally surprised but didn't dare speak to Regulus. He was still thinking about what Noel had said about him possibly being homophobic and Remus didn't want to risk him blowing up in his face.

"So, what are you lads doing today?" asked James. "After lessons, I mean."

"I'm meeting up with Chelsea," said Sirius and flashed him a grin. He had been spending a lot of time with her lately.

"I don't know yet," said Remus, pouring himself a glass of pumpkin juice. "Probably just sit and do some homework."

"Maybe you can study with your boyfriend?" suggested Peter. "I mean, he's a swat too, isn't he?"

"Of course he is," said James. "He's Ravenclaw. "They're in love with books, the lot of them."

Regulus felt the now familiar flash of irritation at the mention of Davies, but he remained neutral in his expression.

"Maybe I could," Remus said and shot a quick glance at Regulus, but was relieved to see that he didn't react to the mention of Noel.

"You want us to stay away so you can have the dorm to yourselves?" asked Sirius and snickered when Remus blushed red.

Regulus snorted before he could stop himself but quickly tried to pass it off as a case of crumbs in his throat.

"We start training right after lessons, Regulus," said James. "Don't forget."

Regulus eyed James irritably. "Do I ever forget? But I can't play today. I have detention with McGonagall."

"Right. You landed yourself two weeks," groaned James. "Great job. You won't be able to join practise for two weeks because you couldn't control yourself."

"Yeah, we still don't know why you did that, other than you said he insulted you," said Sirius.

"Why don't you lot give me a break, already?" snapped Regulus. "How often have you two (indicating James and Sirius) landed yourselves in detention for doing something stupid? You probably have the school record! And you, Sirius - I seem to recollect numerous occasions where you have punched other students. So who are you to judge?"

"But those were Slytherins, mostly..." said Peter.

"Oh, so it's because I hit someone from the wrong house? I'm sorry - I didn't realise that. I will go tell McGonagall that I made a mistake, that I thought I was hitting a Slytherin, and then maybe she will let me off with a warning," said Regulus sarcastically.

Sirius put his hands up in defence "Easy, little brother. It's just because it's so unlike you to do something like this."

Remus dropped his head and pushed his scrambled eggs around on his plate. It was true what Regulus said. Sirius and James had more detentions in a month than Regulus had had since he came to Hogwarts.

"Maybe I should have a word with old Minnie and see if I can get her to let you wait till after practise to turn up for your detentions," said James. "She can't resist my charm and she also has an interest in us being as good as possible. I think she's starting to form a bond with the Quidditch Cup."

Regulus nodded. James might actually succeed. Not because the stern professor was receptive to charm, but she did take great pride in her house's Quidditch team.

Remus noticed Noel getting up from his seat to head for the door and Remus got up, excusing himself, and hurried over to catch him. "Er, Noel?"

Noel turned to him and smiled while telling his friends that he would be right there. "Yeah?"

"My friends are busy for the afternoon. You want to study together?"

"Yes, sure!" beamed Noel. "Meet you at the library, then?"

Remus nodded and smiled. "I'll be there after my last lesson."

Regulus saw them and suddenly didn't feel like sitting at the table anymore, so he quickly swallowed the rest of his food and left.

Remus came back to the table after giving Noel a quick kiss and sat down across from Sirius. Noticing that Regulus had left, he sighed and worked up the courage to ask Sirius. "Padfoot?"

"Yeah?" Sirius mumbled with his mouth full of food.

"Do... do you think that Regulus has anything against me being gay?"

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "You think that's why he's been behaving like a nutter?" he speculated. "Well, our parents don't - not surprisingly - approve of homosexuality and they might have banged that into Reggie's head, of course... But I've never heard him talk about the subject, and I think that if it was something he felt strongly about, we would have heard him bitch about it plenty during the years. Like with the blood purity and houses and all that."

"Perhaps," said Remus and felt a little better. "Just... Noel thought he might be homophobic. He called him a fairy at the Quidditch match and then Noel got upset with him. I think that's why Regulus hit him."

"Nasty little bugger," mumbled James.

Sirius sighed. "Prat. Well, I'll ask him about it during the holidays. I won't tell him that I talked to you about it, of course."

o0o0o

Barty caught up with Regulus at the end of the hall. "Where have you been hiding lately? One should think you've been trying to avoid me."

"Of course not," said Regulus. "You want to do something later?"

"Yeah. I could use a good laugh. We could play a prank on that faggot from your house. I can't imagine being a poor bugger and a fairy as well. Just begging to be bullied, if you ask me."

"I don't feel like playing pranks," said Regulus stiffly. "It's childish. Something my brother and Potter do."

Regulus did not want to play pranks on Remus. And he in general didn't much like it. Especially with Barty, who had a vicious sense of humour and played rather cruel pranks.

"You should try it sometimes, Regulus," sighed Barty. "To see the expression on their faces is the best thing in the bloody world. I would think a pure-blood like yourself would find it rather hilarious."

"Why on earth would you think that? Pranks are below me. It's something my brother does."

"He's a poor, half-blood faggot of a Gryffindor. He deserves it."

"Leave him alone," said Regulus without thinking.

Barty looked at him in surprise.

"I mean, he isn't worth it. And his bodyguards would give us hell. Remember I live in that house. I would like to be able to relax there without having to worry about when payback time came. They can play some rather nasty pranks, I tell you that. Well, being a Slytherin, you should know."

Barty sighed in disappointment. "Yeah, I know. They aren't exactly being nice to Snape. What do you want to do then? Since you don't like my idea."

Regulus shrugged. "I don't have much time today. Got detention tonight. And the rest of the week. And next one."

Barty's jaw dropped. "Bloody hell, you got that much just for hitting that bloke? Professor McGonagall sure is strict. Then you won't have Quidditch practice either? He wasn't worth two weeks of detention, if you ask me."

"He isn't worth a single point deducted," Regulus snorted. "Miserable sod. Actually I only got one week's detention, but then another because I refused to apologise to him. Over my dead body!"

Barty laughed. "You refused that? Brilliant, Regulus!" He slapped Regulus' back and swung his arm around him again. "You just reminded me why I like you."

"I'd rather spend the rest of the year in detention than apologise to that faggot."

A/N: Remember to check the illustration for the chapter on Zayhad's deviantart. Link on my profile.