A/N: Next chapter for you! A lot of talk, and a bit of action ;)
Chapter 14 - A Matter of Trust
It was the last Hogsmeade trip before Christmas. Regulus sent Remus a stealthy smile and, after checking that nobody was looking, Remus returned it.
They had run into each other by accident, of course. Remus had left his friends at Zonko's, feeling that half an hour was more than enough time to spend there. Obviously, the other Marauders had not agreed with him, and Remus had decided to go to Tomes and Scrolls and meet up with them later at the Three Broomsticks.
So now they were standing on either side of a large table, stacked with reduced price books, browsing and stealing glimpses of each other. Remus felt a bit ridiculous that his best idea of a good time on the most popular Hogsmeade trip of the year was to stand there and cast stupid grins at his boyfriend. God, he felt like a lovesick schoolboy. Which of course, on second thought, was exactly what he was.
The magic moment was shattered by a shrill voice as a woman with long curly black hair stepped up to Regulus. When he saw her, something Remus could only interpret as sheer terror flashed across his face, but almost immediately he had it schooled back into its usual blank expression.
"Awww," she drawled in an overly sweet tone. "If it isn't my darling baby cousin, Reggie." She pinched his cheek hard, her long finger nails leaving an angry red mark.
"Hello, Bella," he replied coolly.
The witch was accompanied by a man with long platinum blond hair and fair skin. He and Regulus greeted each other with a nod.
Both the man and the woman looked like they were in their mid to late twenties. Upper class from the looks of their robes, and there was no doubt that the witch was a Black; Remus could have guessed it even if he had not heard her addressing Regulus as 'cousin'. She had the signature aristocratic features and elegant beauty of the family.
"You must join us for lunch at the Hog's Head. We should have ourselves a nice little chat," she said.
"I don't know... I'm sort of busy. Have a lot of presents to buy yet..."
"But surely Regulus have nothing more important to do than spend time with his family, dear Bella," said the blond man in a cold voice.
"No, off course not," said Regulus, bowing his head. "I apologise."
"What is he doing here?" the woman suddenly asked, pointing at Remus. Her face contracted in disgust as she took in his worn Muggle clothes.
Regulus shrugged. "What do I know? I don't associate with his kind."
"Eavesdropping, are we?" she sneered at Remus. "Keep your nose out of respectable peoples' business, you lowly piece of trash!"
Remus stood there, rooted to the spot. After witnessing Regulus' initial reaction, he found it very hard to just walk away, leaving him alone with these people. This witch was obviously Bellatrix Lestrange. Sirius had told him that she was utterly deranged. Even though it was well known that insanity ran in the Black family, she supposedly was something out of the ordinary. 'Twisted and completely devoid of conscience,' Sirius had said. Looking into her eyes now, Remus believed every word. And he was supposed to just let her march off with Regulus?
Bellatrix glared menacingly at him. "Well? What are you standing there for? You better be on your way if you know what's good for you!"
"What the hell do you think you're doing? " yelled Regulus suddenly. "Get the fuck away from us! Idiotic Gryffindor! BUGGER OFF!"
Sensing the panic in his voice, Remus finally came to his senses. What was he thinking, drawing attention to himself in front of Regulus' family? Not a very good way to keep people from getting suspicious. They shouldn't have been standing so close in the first place.
He mumbled a quick apology and left the store in a hurry.
o0o0o
"Who was that in the bookshop, yesterday?"
Remus was resting his head on Regulus' shoulder, his fingers drawing lazy circles on his bare chest.
"Who?" said Regulus airily.
"You know who I mean. Your cousin?"
"Yeah. My cousin Bellatrix. And Lucius Malfoy - my other cousin's husband."
"What did they want?"
Regulus shrugged. "Nothing, really. Just to chat. You know - being family and all. They were out Christmas shopping and just ran into me."
"You didn't look too happy to see them..."
"Oh - they just startled me. That's all. They're all right."
"Okay..."
Before Remus could say anything else, Regulus had pressed their lips together and slipped his tongue into his mouth, efficiently silencing him, making him forget what he was about to say. Remus surrendered immediately, allowing Regulus to do with him whatever he wished. Damn it - that boy would be able to seduce anybody with just a snog.
He felt himself being pushed gently onto his back, and he sighed in pleasure as Regulus slowly started kissing his way down his neck. Next, a soft tongue was trailing along his collarbone and down his chest. He arched his chest up as Regulus gently worried a nipple with teeth and tongue.
"Sweet Merlin, Reg... you make me..."
He felt Regulus chuckle silently against his skin as he moved further down across his abdomen and then - oh! Now he was hovering over his cock, teasingly flicking his tongue over the tip.
"Regulus, please," he begged, and the other boy obediently complied, sliding his lips down his shaft.
Remus lost himself in the warm wetness surrounding him, knowing that he wouldn't last long, even though it hadn't been half an hour since he had last come. And sure enough, just a few minutes later he was crying out as the younger boy finished him off with a few flicks of his wrist.
When the waves of pleasure had washed away he opened his eyes and stared into Regulus' lust blown ones. Remus quickly flipped him over to reciprocate.
He soon had Regulus writhing and moaning, thrusting up into his mouth. With his fingers twisted in his hair, he murmured unintelligible things as Remus swirled his tongue around the head and up and down the spit slicked shaft.
Regulus' breath and thrusts were becoming short and erratic. "Oh God, I'm... I'm gonna..." He tugged at Remus' hair, trying to pull his head away, but Remus wouldn't have it; he held on to the hips and hollowed his cheeks, sucking hard until the other boy bucked up, spurting down his throat. He swallowed quickly and kept sucking until there was nothing left.
Remus looked up and was met by big eyes and a stunned expression.
"You... you... swallowed?"
"You're very observant," chuckled Remus as he moved up and lay down next to his boyfriend.
"But that's... people do that?"
"No, I'm just a depraved pervert."
Regulus raised his eyebrows.
"No, I think it's pretty normal, Reg. At least that's what I hear from my house mates' bragging about their conquests in the common room... Don't you ever listen to your house mates talking about sex?"
"I most certainly do not!" Regulus huffed, sounding slightly offended.
"No, of course you don't," laughed Remus.
"Such things are a private matter."
"So you didn't like it?" Remus asked, a bit worried.
"I didn't say that."
"Is that a blush on your face? Are you blushing, Mr. Black?"
"No!"
"You are blushing!" Remus laughed.
"Am not! Blacks don't blush."
o0o0o
"Regulus, there's something you should know."
They had just gotten dressed and were about to leave for their respective houses.
"Hmm?" The other boy looked up from adjusting his necktie.
"James knows about us."
Regulus' face went white. "What? He knows? How did... how did... He's going to tell. Oh, God - he's going to tell! Everybody will know!"
"Calm down. He won't tell. He promised me."
"And you believe that?"
"Of course."
"Remus, you're so naïve sometimes. He'll tell. Of course he will! He'll LOVE to get me into trouble."
"Reg, he won't," said Remus, placing a soothing hand on his thigh. "I guarantee it. Even if he doesn't care about you, he would never do anything to hurt me."
"He'll tell Sirius! I'm as good as dead."
"He won't tell Sirius either. He gave me his word."
Regulus snorted. "Sirius is his beloved brother," he spat. "They share everything, don't they? Do you honestly believe he will keep quiet for your sake?"
"Yes I do. And if you don't believe that, there's also another reason why he wouldn't out us."
"And what might that be?"
"Lily. He's crazily in love with her - as you and the rest of the school must be only too aware of - and he would be in big trouble with her if he did anything. She's very supportive of us."
"She... what? She knows, too?"
"Err, yes. She's known for a while."
"How?"
"I told her."
Regulus' eyes widened. "You - WHAT? Why would you tell someone? Do you want us to be revealed?"
"I needed to confide in someone. She's a very good friend of mine. She's been a great help, actually. If it wasn't for her it would all have come out when you got injured at the Quidditch game."
"But why would you tell her? Why would you tell anybody?"
"I just told you! I needed to share this with someone I could trust. I needed advice."
Regulus buried his face in his hands. "You don't realise how reckless you've been, do you?"
"I haven't been reckless. There is no way she would ever let anything slip. I trust her 100 %. James too."
"You can't trust anybody, Remus."
"What? Of course I can! I know them well and I know I can trust them. End of story. Stop being so paranoid, Reg."
"How can you be so gullible? You can't trust anyone 100 %. That's the harsh reality of life."
"Don't you trust anybody?" Remus asked incredulously.
"No."
"You don't trust me?"
"Of course I don't!"
The statement struck Remus like a bucket of cold water. The shock and hurt must have shown, because Regulus' expression and tone softened.
"Well, I... don't take it personally, Remus. I probably trust you more than is good for me, you know. But complete trust? I could never do that."
"I trust you! Completely."
"Then you're an idiot."
"Are you saying that I can't trust you?"
"I'm saying that no one can trust anyone. On principle. You open up to someone, confide in them, expose yourself. Next thing you know, they stab you in the back and use your weaknesses against you! Or they trample on your feelings and leave you in the dirt."
Remus took a minute to compose himself. "I don't know what you've experienced, Regulus, but not all people would do something like that."
"Even if that were true, how would you know who would and who wouldn't until it's too late?"
"You listen to your heart."
"Bollocks."
"It must be very lonely never trusting anybody," Remus mused.
Regulus just shrugged.
"Of course you have to be careful who you trust; I know all about that. But I know Lily - she'd never betray us. She wouldn't, Reg"
"Well, maybe she wouldn't. She... she seems like a descent person. Not the gossiping type. Honestly, I'm not so much worried about her as I am about Potter."
"Isn't it ironic that you think higher of Lily who is Muggle-born than James who is a pure-blood?"
Regulus' brow furrowed and he wrung his hands. "It's... that's... Evans is different. She's not like the other Mudbloods. She's an exception."
"And James?"
"Is a mean bastard!"
"He's pure-blood. As is Sirius."
"Well, there are exceptions to all rules. They're both a disgrace to their lineage."
"But you can see the irony, right?"
Regulus straightened his back, arms folded across his chest. "Not at all. There are a few rotten eggs - so what? That doesn't mean that pure-bloods aren't generally more worthy and better people than those of lower blood status. That's just the way it is."
"And what about me, Regulus?" said Remus quietly. "What do you think of me?"
"You know what I think of you."
"I'm half-blood. Do you think you're a better person than me?"
Regulus bit his lip. "No. Of course I don't. I thought you knew that."
"I have no fine lineage. My mum is a Muggle."
"That's irrelevant. You're..."
"Another exception?"
"Shut up, Remus!" Regulus suddenly moved backwards, holding his hands to his ears. "SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP! I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT! JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
Remus had never seen him this agitated before. In fact he had barely even seen him angry, let alone lose his temper. He wasn't hot blooded like his brother.
"Reg..." Remus stepped forward and reached out to put a calming hand on the other boy's shoulder.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Regulus yelled. And with that he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
It took only a few seconds for Remus to react. He wrenched the door open and chased after his boyfriend.
"Reg, wait!" he called. "STOP! Listen to me, damn it!"
He caught up with him halfway down the corridor and seized his arm.
"Let GO!" cried Regulus angrily and twisted his arm out of Remus' grip. But before he could run off again Remus had thrown his arms around him.
"I'm sorry I upset you. I shouldn't have pushed you so much. I'm sorry."
Regulus desperately tried to wring himself free, but Remus held on tight. Finally he stopped struggling but remained tense in Remus' embrace.
"Come on, let's go back in for a while," Remus wheedled . "I don't want us to part like this. We'll be going home tomorrow and I can't bear the thought of us going two weeks without having made up."
Regulus sighed and relaxed into Remus' embrace. "I don't want to, either," he mumbled into his jumper.
They stood there for a long while, just holding each other.
"I'm going to miss you," said Regulus, his face still buried in Remus' jumper.
"I'll miss you too."