Target acquired.
He was walking alone through the halls, likely on his way back to his house common room before the curfew kicked in. She'd been planning this all week and any second now, he'd be cutting through the courtyard. As soon as he walked under the tree she was waiting in, she let loose her spell and a wild bunch of vines and ropes scooped down, wrapped around her unsuspecting victim, and lifted him into the air, easily immobilizing him and keeping him from getting to his wand.
"What in the bloody-"
Fae let herself fall and swing, legs hooked on a higher branch and bringing her upside down and face to face with her captive, grinning madly. "Gotcha! Sirius Black, you are dea-"
Their combined voices were cut off as Fae swung a little too far and crashed into him a bit, mouth crushing lightly against his forehead from her upside down position. She squeaked and then gave the struggling boy a wide-eyed stare as she swung away, brown eyes locking with blue.
"Oh shit! Regulus?!" Fae said.
He glared at her and snarled. "YES! What the hell?! Why am I hanging from a tree?" he yelled.
"I'm so sorry," she said, laughing. "I thought you were Sirius! You guys look kind of similar from the back, you know?"
His arms twitched as if to cross them with ire. "Oh and the green robes and short hair weren't a giveaway!"
"It's dark? No, you're right. My bad. Here, let me get you down," Fae said, reaching to start tugging out some of the vines and ropes, still hanging upside down. He huffed while she worked, using gentle hands and being mindful to make sure his hair wasn't caught or his robes weren't being pulled too hard.
Eventually, he bit out, "What were you trying to do anyways?"
Fae winked at him. "Sirius stole the last chocolate eclair at dinner, which is unforgivable. Thought I'd shake him down and teach him a lesson."
He shot her an incredulous stare and his anger seemed to evaporate with his surprise, thankfully. "All this for a chocolate eclair?"
"I don't fuck about with my chocolate. And besides, he had it coming for other stuff too," she said, laughing delightedly.
"Like what?" Regulus asked as Fae arched up, grabbed her branch, and let go so she could drop to the ground just beneath him.
She hummed and idly searched for her wand. "Nothing immediately comes to mind actually, but it's Sirius. He either did something or will do something annoying, as is his won't."
"Hmpf. You're not wrong," Regulus said, huffing a little laugh, although still frowning as he watched her.
Finally, Fae found her wand and started unwinding the ropes and vines one by one, being careful not to just let him drop or be strangled. She gave him a sheepish, sweet smile. "I really am sorry. I know how annoying it must be to be confused for your older brother."
"Yeah."
"Did you get an annoying nickname too?"
"A nickname?" he asked, giving her a curious look.
Fae rolled her eyes and flicked her head. "The Gryffindors call me Little Potter. Although, some have moved on to calling me Little Terror instead which I suppose is marginally better. Best would be to just call me by my name, you know? Oh, my name is Fae, by the way."
The dark-haired boy had snorted a little bit about her comments and then nodded with a little smile. "I know. I'm Regulus."
That made Fae pleased, knowing that he'd heard of her and her proper name. She hadn't been sure, but she figured he'd understand. "I know. We have like, four classes together?" she said, nibbling on her bottom lip in concentration. "You're pretty good at transfiguration. That assignment we had this week on transforming a flower into perfume?" she trailed off.
When he nodded again, she kept going. "Brilliant work, yours smelled exactly like white roses, whereas mine kept turning out to smell like bluebells, for whatever reason."
The younger Black brother looked smug and pleased with himself and then Fae clicked her tongue. "Oh, this oughta do it!"
Fae cast a final spell and the remaining few vines released Regulus, sending him falling down right on top of her. Having seen that coming, Fae plucked him out of the air with a playful 'oof', arms catching him around the waist and then gently setting him down. He towered over her and looked completely dazed and red in the face as Fae patted his cheeks, adjusted his hair, fixed his robes, and then settled her hands on his biceps.
"Are you okay? No bruises or dizziness?" she asked, peering up at him, faces getting close as she rose on tiptoes. Good lord, he might've been taller than Sirius or Remus.
The red spread from his ears to the bridge of his nose and he averted his gaze, taking a step back, but not far enough to escape her gentle grip. "N-No, I'm fine."
Letting him go, she handed his bookbag to him and then gave him a wave with a waggle of her fingers. "Good. I'll see you in classes then?"
"See you," he said quietly as Fae turned and departed.
Fae sauntered away triumphantly and grinning with her teeth. Although capturing Sirius in pranks was always fun, her target had, in fact, been Regulus and she had the Marauder's Map to thank for being able to pin down a reliable location to trap him.
The thing about Regulus Black was that he was brilliant and figured out the Horcruxes long before anybody else did. Not only that, but he was deeply ingrained and pretty much born into the Death Eater lifestyle that would one day destroy him. He'd be a valuable ally to have and so she'd been watching him, figuring out how to lure him in early on.
There was little about him in the Harry Potter books, but what she did know was that in his note, he called Voldemort out and told him basically that 'I want you to know that it was me who fucked you over'. It implied that Voldemort had looked him over often enough and certainly would never have seen it coming, but it also revealed that Regulus wanted to be known and remembered. That, and it was sad the way he died so young at 18, with seemingly only Kreacher to remember him and mourn him.
She watched him in classes, the way he answered teachers often enough and much preferred being called Regulus as opposed to Mr. Black. He sat with a few fellow Slytherins, but rarely talked to them and usually kept to himself. He was quiet, but not in a wallflower way. It was a caught-up-in-his-own-head kind of way which Fae could relate to. It was also a kind-of-sad-kind-of-lost way, filled with empty gazes into nothing, wondering if this was all there was to life, if she had to guess. She could relate to that less, but she recognized it.
Basically, her understanding was that Regulus was a bit of a dreamer who longed for acknowledgement and something to make him feel alive and special. He needed attention, even if he thought he didn't want it. He needed to stand out from Sirius' shadow, even if he refused to acknowledge Sirius' greatness in any capacity or the way he looked up to his older brother. And he needed friends that challenged him, pushed him, and filled the days with meaning. Fae figured that she and Romilly could fill that spot perfectly well, and so she began to hunt.
Later that week, the October full moon came and went with ease. Remus was definitely dreading it less and maybe even a little excited for it, although he didn't bend to any sensory or strength training still, nor running in the Forbidden Forest. He did, however, cave and let Fae drag him out of classes for the day of the full moon, on the condition that they make it for at least afternoon classes the following day. It was a hard bargain, but they came to an agreement.
The full moon itself was fun, Fae increased her conscious time by another ten minutes, and the two werewolves woke up the next day with no bleeding injuries, albeit plenty of bruises and soreness. Romilly, true to her usual reticent and relaxed attitude, took her excuse for missing classes easily, which had just been 'Marauder Stuff'. James, Peter, and Sirius helped back up that claim by inflicting the whole school with a few roaming thunderclouds that would pick random victims and shock them such that their hair stood on their head.
The following morning was spent with Remus letting her sleep for all of a few hours, before waking her and sending her off to classes, annoying bookish git. Romilly was her favorite person that day, letting her sleep behind piles of books and keeping her from getting caught by teachers. She miraculously had chocolate and other snacks in every class for Fae to munch on. The tall blonde really came in clutch that night - when Fae struggled to stay awake for Astronomy because of course the day after had to be on a Tuesday. Even the usual music session and some good old Ram Jam wasn't helping her drooping eyelids. Fae was slumping over in her usual armchair when Romilly took a seat on her left side, long legs still touching the ground easily despite sitting high up on the arm.
"If you want to take a nap, I can wake you before class? Or even just carry you there, if you don't wake up," she offered.
Fae looked at her very seriously for a moment and then said, "I love you" whilst reaching out and dramatically grabbing Romilly's hand. Then she pulled back because she realized Romilly wasn't wearing her gloves at the moment. "Oh sorry, I know you don't like being touched."
Romilly rubbed her hands together and shrugged a little, looking down. "No, it's okay if it's you," she said quietly.
Fae grinned. "Cool. Fuck, your hands are freezing. Are you cold?"
"I'm always cold," Romilly answered and well, that explained why she always wore her outer robes and extra thick socks and was constantly pulling her sleeves down.
"Here, borrow my hoodie. I always run hot anyways," Fae said, shucking off the garment. It was a big, baggy black hoodie with a lion crest over the right breast and James' quidditch team number, 15, on the back in big, varsity gold. Euphemia and Fleamont had it made special for him when they found out he made captain and then Fae had claimed it because it was comfy as fuck. Romilly took it tentatively, fingered the material, and pulled it on. She sighed and snuggled into it, giving herself the most fucking adorable sweater paws that Fae had ever seen. Fae leaned over, settled her head in Romilly's lap, and trusted the girl to wake her in a few hours.
The next day, determined to continue her mission, Fae split off from Remus and Peter early from their morning run so she could go visit her favorite Defense Against the Dark Arts professor - Diane Artemisia. "So how goes teaching?" Fae asked with a cheery smile and a hearty sip of her coffee. Professor Artemisia had remembered her preference and it was awesome.
"Awful. Why did I let Dumbledore talk me into this?" the woman said, looking annoyed, contrite, and amused all at once.
"Because the position is supposedly cursed and you like challenges?" Fae offered.
The Auror rolled her eyes and playfully smacked her own head. "Oh yeah. Hmph. So what's the occasion for your visit? I heard moons are going well for you and the other one."
"Remus."
"Yeah him, bright kid, does well in my classes," she said with a thoughtful smile.
"He's such a nerd," Fae said, rolling her eyes.
Professor Artemisia laughed and then crossed her arms. "Why are you here Fae?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.
Fae had always liked her frankness. It certainly helped that they knew each other well enough and Fae didn't really have to bother with the sweet act to get her way. "I saw on the curriculum that we were doing mock duels next week in groups of three, practicing the defensive spells we've learned so far."
"Yes, and?"
"Could you do me a solid?"
Come Monday, Fae had recovered from the full moon and was back to full strength and full control of her magic. She practically bounced into Defense Against the Dark Arts, Romilly at her side, and wasn't surprised in the least when Professor Artemisia split them into groups of three and gave Fae what she had asked for - a group with Romilly and with Regulus Black.
They had been focusing on eight defensive spells so far over the term - Impedimenta, Petrificus Totalus, Fumos, Incarcerous, Baubillious, Depulso, Ascendio, and Orbis. They had Monday and Wednesday class time to choreograph a mock duel between the three of them using all eight spells with extra credit awarded for any other interesting spells of their choice - within reason of course. If somebody got hurt, the fun was over. The classroom was transformed and desks were cleared, mats and targets taking their place. Fae waved Regulus over with a grin.
"Well I suppose I don't need to ask if you know how to cast Incarcerous adequately enough," he said, joining the two girls with a bored expression.
Fae laughed and winked. "Then I guess it's your turn to get me back and I'll do my best to houdini out of it, yeah?"
Romilly looked between them and put her hands on her hips. "Am I missing something?"
"Yeah - this!" Fae cackled, catching Romilly with Incarcerous and Ascendio rapidly following, leaving her tied up and hanging from the rafters on the ceiling.
"Haha, very funny, put me down," she said dryly.
"What's the magic word?" Fae sang.
"Go fuck yourself," Romilly answered, causing Regulus to choke on air.
"Correct!" And then Romilly was dropping from the ceiling, hollering in surprise, landing in Fae's waiting arms, and then struggling to get away like an unhappy cat.
"You guys are weird," Regulus said.
The girls paused in their messing around and gave him twin pitying smiles. "Oh honey."
Romilly, like Fae, never did work for a class in the actual class. Usually, they studied at night or, better yet, during other classes. So it was to Regulus' dismay that they mostly just fucked around for most of the first class together.
"Impedimenta!" Fae said, laughing wickedly as Romilly moonwalked in slow motion. Regulus looked like he really wanted to be annoyed, but the squiggle of his mouth was a dead giveaway.
Romilly got her back with a Petrificus Totalus and Fae went stiff and fell backwards on Regulus who cast the countercurse and was almost elbowed in the gut by Fae as she shot forward, laughing, "Eat a bag of dicks!"
A little while later, Fae was caught by Regulus' well-aimed Orbis spell and was absorbed by the ground. "You suck!" she yelled.
"You swallow!" Romilly shouted from the sidelines.
"You two are so foul," Regulus said, shaking his head and hiding a smile. "Can we actually work on the assignment now?"
"We are," Romilly said, casually aiming a Fumos at him. The smoke had him coughing and Fae cast a quick Ventus in retaliation, blowing the smoke back at Romilly and messing up Regulus' hair.
"We're practicing," Fae pointed out, giggling as her Ventus spell gave Romilly a Marilyn Monroe moment and the tall girl struggled to keep her outer robes and skirt from flying up. Damn shame that was, how Romilly hid her gorgeous, long legs. Maybe Fae ought to convince her to wear trousers with her one day?
"Colloshoo," Regulus cast, causing Fae's and Romilly's feet to stick to the floor before they could go at each other again. Fae gave him an offended look. That was the spell she always caught Sirius with. Oh how the tables had turned.
"Like that?" Regulus asked with a smirk.
Fae grinned. "Now that's the spirit!"
Regulus had a wicked streak, like his brother. He was brilliant, clever, and had lightning-quick reflexes which made dueling him very fun. Unlike his brother, he was also extremely committed to actually doing well in classes. Thus, with fifteen minutes left in class, he managed to get them to settle down and discuss the assignment, although not before Fae got him with a Rictumsempra, causing him to laugh uncontrollably. Regulus Black had an adorable laugh, deep and rolling and with the occasional snort. So different from Sirius' high, contagious bellowing, but wonderful all the same.
"So how should we do this?" he asked, eying the two squirmy girls and daring them to start up again, like a strict dad.
After giving it about five seconds of thought, Romilly started them off. "Well I liked that move you pulled - with the Depulso? So we could do that and then-"
"I could launch Romilly with an Ascendio and catch her on the ceiling with Incarcerous," Fae added.
"And I could cast Fumos on you both, blinding you while I escape," Romilly continued. Then both girls paused and looked at Regulus to continue.
He blinked and then slowly said, "And then I could cast Ventus to blow it away."
Fae grinned and snapped her fingers. "Where I would then become a turncoat and get you with that Orbis. Also, points for the bonus spell!" she said.
"Not if I get you with Impedimenta first," Regulus carried on with a sharp smile of his own.
"Leaving me open to Petrificus Totalus you both. And I win," Romilly said teasingly, naming off a seventh spell.
The black-haired boy looked stunned at what just happened. Fae wanted to roll her eyes. Just because she and Romilly tended to mess around, didn't mean they weren't still being academic badasses. There was a moment of silence and then Regulus said, "Well shit."
"We get that a lot. So what other spells could we do?" Romilly said.
Regulus thought for a moment and then a wicked look came over his face, making him look very much like Sirius or even James. "Well, it's Halloween on Friday. You ever heard of Melofors?"
"We're listening," Fae said.
"It's a jinx that turns the target's head into a pumpkin," he explained.
Romilly nodded approvingly. "I like the way you think."
"Dibs on being pumpkin king!" Fae called out.
On Wednesday, they were back at it. The first half of class was messing around disguised as figuring out how to incorporate as many spells as possible, plus the one they had forgotten on Monday - Baubillious.
"I can't believe both of you are in Hufflepuff, nasty mouths you have," Regulus said, voice half-awed, half-exasperated as he Levicorpus'd them apart to keep them from attempting to turn each other's robes bright, obnoxious colors.
Romilly rolled her eyes. "That's nothing - you should see us or the other Hufflepuffs on Spoons night."
"Spoons night?" he asked. With twin, devilish grins, the two girls explained to him the miracle that was the card game Spoons. To his credit, he looked intrigued, and then appropriately horrified when they described the Hufflepuff twist to the game and how the spoons were hidden. Hufflepuffs were good finders - at any cost, Romilly explained with a vicious smile.
"Yeah. And besides, I almost was a Slytherin. Hatstall, remember? Damned thing couldn't figure out where to put me," Fae said dramatically.
Regulus thought for a second and then gave them both a cute, genuine smile that shone from his pretty blue eyes. "Well. I think you both would've done alright in Slytherin."
Which was about as good a compliment you could get from a Slytherin. Romilly and Fae took it as such and invited him to come for the next Spoons night - see if he could make it out of the badgers' den with all his limbs intact. He looked a little nervous, but thrilled by the challenge.
They didn't have Defense Against the Dark Arts on Thursdays, but they still had Charms and Potions with Slytherin so they overheard a few of his friends telling him Happy Birthday. Fae and Romilly shared a look.
"How come you didn't tell us today was your birthday," Romilly demanded, sitting herself down on Regulus' right side.
"Yeah, Regulus. I thought we were friends," Fae teased, sitting down on his left.
The usually composed and nonchalant boy looked instantly and exceedingly panicked to have the two girls surrounding him, at the Slytherin table during lunch.
"Oh, uh, I-" he stuttered.
"No worries," Romilly said, stealing a piece of bread off his plate.
While Regulus' attention was on keeping Romilly from stealing more food, Fae swooped in and tucked a piece of his hair behind his ear. He jumped and looked at her wide-eyed. "We'll think of something for tomorrow," Fae said. Then the two girls shared a sly smile, stole more of his food, stood, and sauntered away, concealing laughter at his now bright gold hair. Huh, he looked pretty good as a blonde.
Regulus was black-haired again and glaring at them when they walked into class on Friday. His intense look was replaced with confusion and wonder when Romilly upended a bag in front of his face, spilling a mountain of chocolates and candies onto the ground in the center of their little circle.
"Since we gave you a trick for your birthday yesterday, we figured some treats were due today," Romilly said.
Taking a handful, Fae tossed it at him. "So you better be grateful. A girls' chocolate stash is sacred. Happy Halloween bitches!"
Regulus gave them a beaming smile and nodded. "Thanks… Now what the hell are even half of these?"
The Hufflepuff Chocolatiers were only too happy to educate him on muggle candies. He had good taste - he spent most of class snacking on all the Reeses Peanut Butter Cups he could dig out, hiding laughter while Romilly tossed M&Ms into Fae's mouth and intentionally made it difficult so Fae would go flying because you just don't waste good chocolate. It was more fun than watching the other groups perform their routines for sure. And besides - with six extra spells and a pumpkin king, their routine was the best anyways.
When class ended, Fae didn't want to say goodbye. So she didn't. Instead she invited him to Sirius' birthday party on Sunday, telling him they could properly celebrate his as well. Provided he could get there of course. In standard, extra, Sirius-fashion, he'd decided to throw his 16th birthday on the Sunday just before and make it an exclusive, illegal party. Exclusive in that it was in Hogsmeade so if you wanted to go, you had to find a way to sneak out. Illegal in that there was maybe going to be a bottle of Firewhiskey or two. Mostly, it was going to be a lot of karaoke and cake and dancing. It was going to be a blast.
Regulus looked both challenged by the idea of sneaking out and unsure of having anything to do with anybody's birthdays, least of all his older brothers'. He told them he'd think about it and then departed.
As Romilly and Fae headed off to Care of Magical Creatures, the tall girl spoke up. "You know, he was pretty cool for a-"
"A Slytherin?" Fae cut her off dryly.
Romilly rolled her eyes. "I was going to say a Black," she said, playfully shoulder-checking Fae as they walked. "Supposedly they're a dark sort and we all know how annoying Sirius is. Regulus was….neither. He was alright."
Fae's eyebrows went into her hairline. "High praise coming from you. I didn't expect you to warm up to him so easily," she said. And it was true - Romilly was awkward and prickly with strangers at the best of times. But this week together had gone swimmingly and much better than Fae had hoped.
The blonde shrugged. "I've always thought he was decent," she said. "Never really knew him til now, but he's one of the few that never called me Eleanor. Guess he knows what it's like to be called by the wrong name."
"What, like he was called Sirius or something a lot?"
"Yeah. He was."
Generously, the Marauders allowed Fae to share their secret passageway with Romilly and both of them ended up in Hogsmeade on the eve of Sirius' birthday. To both of their surprise, Regulus did show up. A lot of people showed up, but the trick was really less of getting out and more of getting back into Hogwarts, especially after curfew. Somehow, Fae didn't doubt that Regulus would have no trouble.
Sirius' party was wild and loud and Regulus looked a little awkward, especially when it came time to sing Happy Birthday and she forced him up onto a table next to his older brother. Sirius, already a few drinks in, only looked shocked for a second before he wrapped an arm around Regulus' shoulders roughly, swayed them back and forth, and sang louder than everybody in the room before doing a stage dive.
Regulus got down gingerly and made his way over to Fae with a dirty look that was poorly concealing a look of wonder and happiness.
"You're the worst," he said.
"Happy Birthday Regulus!" Romilly and Fae chimed in unison. He rolled his eyes and then laughed a little.
"We haven't celebrated a birthday together since before he came to Hogwarts," the teen said in a quiet, awed voice. Fae smiled at him, shared a look with Romilly, and then they attempted to drag him onto the floor for a dance.
The next week, all of the desks and chairs were back in the DADA classroom and it was back to lectures. Regulus went back to sitting with his Slytherin buddies and not talking. He was watching though, and Fae called him out on it every time she caught him looking, giving him an obnoxious wave and making him blush bright red. Romilly joined in, occasionally throwing Peanut M&Ms at him.
He pretended to be distant and acted like things were normal, but Fae knew he was bored again. It would only be a matter of time before he was back. Unfortunately for him and fortunately for Fae, the opportunity came that following weekend. The first weekend in November was always crazy, Romilly explained, because it was the first Quidditch game of the tournament and it was Slytherin vs. Gryffindor.
Not that Fae needed that to be explained for her - James had been gearing up for it all week and had not once shut up about it. She swore, she heard his pep talks in her dreams and could hear him shouting drills from across the school during classes.
The game ended in Gryffindor's favor to James' joy. Slytherin turned on Regulus real fast for that one - blaming their Seeker for failing to catch the Snitch. Come Monday in Transfiguration and DADA, his Slytherin buddies, Avery and Gibson, were on the other side of the classroom and giving him the stink eye, as were majority of the other students in green. Fae and Romilly marched over and sat next to him as if that were their usual spots every day. Regulus didn't talk to them, in a righteously foul mood. But he smiled a bit when Romilly shared some Reeses Cups and Fae discreetly hexed the back legs off of Avery's chair.
They continued spending classes with Regulus the next day too, in Charms and Potions. Romilly huffed amusedly as Fae waved Regulus over, uncaring that Potions was usually a two-person lab, not three. They pulled up a stool between them and fought good-naturedly over elbow space until he yelled at them to stop jostling him or he'd spill something.
"Nice thinking. Their loss is our strategic Potions grade gain," Romilly said.
"You know me, all about getting those good grades," Fae joked.
"You guys must be stupid," Regulus deadpanned about ten minutes into the lab.
"Absolutely, the stupidest in Potions by far," Fae agreed playfully, chin cupped in her hand as she watched Regulus meticulously reorganize their workbench.
Romilly rolled her eyes. "Speak for yourself."
"How have you two passed this class so far?" he asked in horrified wonder as he watched them guilelessly add ingredients to the cauldron.
Fae grinned and batted her eyes. "With our dazzling charm?"
"Bribing Professor Slughorn?" Romilly suggested.
"Luck, pure luck," he said dryly.
"And isn't it so lucky that we have you now?" Fae said, snatching up a bottle of blue liquid that he had set down a little too close to her. It was too pretty for her not to fuck with it and swirl it around right in front of her face, causing her eyes to cross.
"Give me. The beaker."
The black-haired Slytherin set to work on their potion with a heady determination and the two Hufflepuff girls chimed, "Thank you Regulus!" in teasing unison.
Potions was really fun with Romilly, but it was downright hysterical with Regulus. Fae wasn't bad at Potions. She wasn't great either, she was just deeply average and so was Romilly, not that either really cared. However, watching Regulus fuss and yell at them for their incompetence while basically doing all their work and also attempting to teach them in an actually adorably sweet and patient manner was the best. And besides, she was trying to lure him in. What better way than to make him feel superior and smart and needed? So Fae had fun pretending she was worse at Potions than she was, and then hilariously, Romilly had the same thoughts and started fucking with him too. It was even better when they started getting obnoxiously obvious with it and Regulus took it in good humor and started playing along.
"So like, you don't mix Wondersprout with Essence of Murtlap? Like ever?" Fae asked, drawing out the 'v' in 'ever'.
"And you absolutely have to stir it counterclockwise 100 times? What happens if you stir it 100 and a quarter?" Romilly questioned.
It was Thursday when Regulus caught on. "You guys are fucking with me."
"Little bit," Fae laughed.
"You make it easy," Romilly teased, shoulder-checking him affectionately. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, but smiled still.
"Okay, I'll say it slowly, so you can understand. You pick up the water and measure 2 cups. Got it?" Regulus explained, gesturing grandly to the measuring cup.
"Got it," Fae said, nodding with a squiggly smile.
"And then you heat it to exactly 40 C, okay? On the burner. And remember, we don't play with the fire or touch it with our bare hands. Because that will make you go ouch."
"Okaaaaaaaay." Romilly said, hiding her own laughter behind a gloved hand.
"And then you pour it into your teacup and add the teabag," Regulus said, voice slow and extra articulate while he demonstrated. "Just one teabag, and let the string hang over the side, not in the cup."
"Right," Fae gasped out at the same time Romilly snorted and buried her face in her arms, shoulder shaking.
"Let it sit for ten minutes, which is five minutes, but twice in a row, and then you enjoy."
All three of them burst into laughter at his dramatically prissy sip of tea, pinky in the air and all. "Thank you Regulus!" Romilly and Fae chimed in unison.
Slytherin had eased up again over the weekend and on Monday, Avery and Gibson practically marched Regulus to their regular seats. Fae and Romilly shrugged and just called him over for any reason they could think of, asking obnoxiously stupid questions that made him laugh and sigh in fond exasperation. He pretended to be annoyed with walking back and forth, but seemed pleased that they refused to just let him go.
Tuesday was the full moon so Fae missed classes and the opportune music session with Spoons, but she was pleased to find out the next day that Regulus had partnered with Romilly in Potions, stating that while Romilly might've had a better chance at the lab without Fae, she was still helpless without him.
Regulus spent that week walking back and forth between desks in classes so much that he literally almost got detention which made Fae and Romilly laugh so hard, they fell on the ground, clutching their seizing stomachs.
To make up for missing the previous music session, Fae went all out for the following week, hoping Regulus would show up. He didn't, but the other Black sibling did. Sirius had heard about her music sessions and showed up with James, Peter, and Remus to join in, walking into Hufflepuff like they owned the place. It had started chill, and then Sirius and Fae had gotten in the mood for some Queen, so the Marauders and Romilly migrated to Gryffindor tower and ended up with Sirius' record collection spread out on the floor of the common room.
Remus had attempted to contain them to their room, but Sirius argued that Hufflepuff let Fae use the common room and surely Gryffindor was just as cool. It was a poor attempt on Remus' part, to be fair. Lily tried to get them to quiet down too, but failed miserably and instead accidentally prompted Sirius and Fae to get into a dance off. And then James had to get in on the action and Fae forced Peter and Remus to twirl her and she yanked Romilly into a waltz to be dipped dangerously close to the floor and then the Prewetts and Marlene and Dorcas and Mary and a bunch of others started dancing too.
Then Sirius demanded that they hear some of the amazing songs on Fae's mystery tapes so Fae and Romilly went running back to Hufflepuff to get the cassette player and the tapes, but a bunch of their fellow Hufflepuff's were still having their own music session and Fae felt bad depriving anybody of music so she invited them all along to Gryffindor and on the way back, they ran into Marjorie and some of the other Ravenclaw girls who were stressed from studying from finals so Fae lured them in with chocolate, because hey, the more the merrier. Then Sirius demanded food and drinks and Gryffindor was escalating into a huge, pulsing dance party and Romilly wanted some air so she and Fae walked back to Hufflepuff and the kitchens. On the way back, arms laden with treats that they absolutely were not going to share, a wild Regulus finally appeared.
"Your timing is impeccable, my most noble and beloved friend!" Fae cheered, high on the evening and eager to party.
Regulus stared at them, looking very much as if he regretted going anywhere near Hufflepuff. He was clearly between hightailing it and asking when Romilly spoke up.
"The music session has….gotten a bit out of control, but it's good that you're here. More the merrier and all that," Romilly said. The arch of her eyebrows and the drawl of her voice were definitely hinting to Regulus that he should come along and help her deal with Fae's energy and the sheer madness happening.
"Out of control? Your dumbass brother just had to listen to a specific song and it had to be in the Gryffindor common room and you know Gryffindors are like super nosy and then there was a dance off and now we've shoved like thirty people in there for a well-deserved party."
Regulus' eyebrows went high in surprise. "A party? What's the occasion?"
"Tuesday," Fae answered, grinning toothily.
"Right," he said dubiously.
"We're heading back to Gryffindor now. You can come with us and we might even share some apple cider with you," Romilly offered. Sharing food? Her eyes were practically begging 'please don't leave me alone in this'.
He reluctantly agreed. Extremely reluctantly. Actually, he refused because he didn't want to be the only Slytherin at a Gryffindor and Hufflepuff party on a random Tuesday night, which was a fair point. Romilly idly mentioned the Ravenclaws who were also there, Fae challenged him to be a trendsetter and thrillseeker for Slytherin and the two girls carried him off.
Thirty people had somehow multiplied into nearly seventy by the time they got back. To their credit, Romilly and Regulus stuck to Fae for a while, but Fae was too hyped on the loud music and the whiskey-spiked pumpkin juice to stay still for shit. After an hour or so, the two called it quits and Romilly offered to take him back to Hufflepuff to teach Regulus Spoons - so he could properly learn the rules and maybe have a fighting chance at next weeks' Spoons night. He looked incredibly relieved and they left with a handful of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs.
It was an incredible night and everybody was having so much fun - Fae loved spontaneous, brilliant moments like this. Then she saw Lily awkwardly standing in a corner with her arms crossed, and realized not everybody was having fun. Yet.
The dark-haired girl twirled over, latched onto Lily's hands, and started pulling her to the floor with a wicked smile, a wild cackle, and some ridiculous wiggling. Lily tried to escape her grip urgently, but Fae wasn't having any of her refusals. The werewolf just kept tugging and then dancing around Lily and hip-checking her and twirling under her arm and grabbing her hips to make them shake.
Bright red and extremely frazzled, Lily eventually yelled out, "I'm not good at dancing!"
Fae rolled her eyes. For all the badass, gorgeous, amazing that Lily was, Fae had noticed how often the girl played it safe and by the rules, but would often send longing looks at her and the Marauders, especially when they were up to no good. With a sweet smile, Fae interlocked their hands, sweaty palms stuck together, and started dancing at a more sedate pace with the red-haired girl, guiding her and easing her into the madness. "Who cares?" she said. "You don't need to be good at dancing to have fun. Fuck everyone else."
Lily verbally refused for a little while more, but didn't actually make an effort to pull away as Fae whirled her around the floor and spun her and taught her how to shuffle and shake her hips and throw some proper elbows. It was electrifying and when she let go, Gryffindor's strictest prefect came completely alive. Every eye in the room was on them, awkward dance moves and all. They snaked in and out of the crowd and when Fae saw James within a few feet, she gave him a wink and then disappeared.
Wanting a good vantage point to see if her brother would fuck up or not, she settled herself as high up the stairs to the boys' rooms before they curved as she could, relishing in the cold stone on her skin. A moment later, Sirius scared the shit out of her by dropping down at her side and wrapping an arm around her with a loud, "HEY FAE!"
He had just come from his room and smelled very strongly like Lucrecia's special brownies. His eyes were slightly bloodshot and completely zoned out. With a loud laugh, Fae wrapped her arm around his waist and leaned into his side. They swayed back and forth and loudly sang the song playing, stumbling over the words. Or, Sirius stumbled over the words and Fae made fun of him. When that song ended, it lulled into a slower rock song, more soulful, but still good for dancing. Fae grinned at her brother - he had managed to successfully twirl Lily and slowly dance in awkward, gravitating circles around each other a bit.
Fae had to admit - she was a bit jealous. "You know, James has the right idea with her. She's one helluva woman and I'm not gonna lie, if she were down, I'd be down," Fae said.
"Wha- What are you talkin' bout?" Sirius asked.
"I'm saying my brother has good taste in women and if it wouldn't totally break his heart, I'd be all over her like bees on flowers. Girl is hot as fuck," Fae admitted. It was true. For whatever reason, Lily Evans reminded Fae so much of Elsa from Frozen, who had incidentally been her gay sexual awakening.
Suddenly, Sirius wasn't swaying or slurring or singing, but rather looking at her with wide eyes. Wide, disbelieving, curious, hopeful eyes. Fae smiled to herself. She'd been meaning to have this conversation with Sirius for a while. Sirius shared a lot in common with her brother, both being charismatic, charming, fun-loving, attention-seeking, and wild. Where Sirius was different, however, was that James acted that way because it was who he was. Sirius acted that way, sometimes, because he was trying to prove that was who he was. Both Sirius and Regulus had the same instinct to prove themselves, although for completely opposite reasons. They wanted to find their places in the world - Regulus with the Black legacy, and Sirius completely without. Underneath the dramatics, Fae could see the insecure teenager who was just trying to figure out who he was. And to be fair, that's kind of what 16 was all about.
"I'm saying that if I had the chance, I'd totally make out with Lily Evans because I think she's sexy and beautiful and fun," Fae said, spelling it out bluntly. And then vehemently added, "But I won't! Even though I totally could, because I'm just that good. I won't, because James is serious about her."
There was a solid minute of silence for Sirius, which surely broke a record. Then, "Fae, you… you like girls? You're gay?"
She laughed. "Pft, probably at least a little bit. I've never actually done anything with a girl, but yeah there's definitely been plenty of cute girls that I couldn't help looking at and wondering about, if you catch my drift," she said, wiggling her eyebrows.
"What about guys?" he asked rapidly.
Fae shrugged. "Guys are cute too. Gender just doesn't really matter to me."
"Oh," Sirius said, looking very pensive and shellshocked.
She waited a bit before asking, "Is that weird?"
"I don't know," he said thoughtfully, slowly, mind thousands of miles away. Fae winced a little. She hadn't realized quite how stoned he was, or how far in the closet he was, or both. Maybe now wasn't the best time. Oh well, too late now.
"Cool. Well if you ever want to talk more about it or debate the weirdness or lack thereof or whatever, you know where to find me," she offered, squeezing him around the middle and digging her head into his shoulder affectionately.
"Yeah. Cool," he said, nuzzling back and laying his head on top of hers. It was quiet between them for a little while, back to swaying and singing softly and just enjoying each others' presence. She hadn't expected him to speak again, but he apparently wasn't done yet.
"So what's the deal with my brother then?"
"Is this a sexuality question still?"
"No!" he shouted, then looked at her horrified. "Unless..?"
Fae guffawed. "No, absolutely not. Regulus is cute as fuck, but I don't see him romantically or sexually," she said between giggles.
"So why have you been hanging around him so much? You know what kind of company he keeps?" Sirius said, voice turning a tad nasty.
On the night of the best spontaneous inter-house dance party Hogwarts had ever seen, Fae wasn't having it. "And what kind of company is that, Sirius Black?" she said sharply. He frowned and she flicked him between the eyes. Then sighed.
"Look, I'm going to be blunt here and say that you don't really know Regulus very well," she said. After having been around both of them for a while, she could tell that they had probably once been pretty close, but growing up had grown them apart. And likely, neither were all that happy about it, but both were too stubborn to do something. She could relate.
"He was fading, Sirius. Lost and bored and listless and fading. He's full of life, like you, and I could see it dying in him. I had to save him, you see?"
For a bit, he struggled with words and looked like he wanted to argue with her, but they both knew she was right. At least about Sirius not really knowing him enough. "Just, be careful, alright?" he eventually said.
Fae almost felt bad for ruining his buzz. Almost. But this was Sirius Black and when Come On, Eileen came on, he tossed her over his shoulder and joined the dancing fray once more. They looked best when smiling and laughing, Fae decided, both Regulus and Sirius. They had the same, beautiful smile that could light up entire cities.
The next week, Regulus did very well at Spoons. He played all evening and then left with Fae and Romilly for Astronomy, even if Slytherins took it at a different time. After, he came back for a few more games, and eventually fell asleep on the floor by Fae's armchair. There were a fair amount of scratches gouged into his arm and his collarbones, his robes were stretched out ridiculously, and he was smiling with satisfaction at having one at least one game before falling asleep.
He came back for more on the weekend, and then stayed all day when the three of them heard Bohemian Rhapsody play for the first time on the wireless. Fae impressed them all by knowing all the lyrics well before anybody else could learn them, despite how many times it was played that day. Turns out, Regulus loved Queen. He loved a lot of muggle rock music, surprisingly, and Fae had a feeling that it was because of Sirius, but he'd never admit that. The Hufflepuffs got used to seeing him walk in casually more often than the Marauders did, although he didn't quite venture to sit at their table during mealtimes. Romilly and Fae sat with him at the Slytherin table whenever they felt like causing trouble and Fae actually finally had a conversation with the Klein brothers who were offended they weren't invited to the impromptu dance party at Gryffindor a few weeks before. Or Spoons night.
Fae wasn't stupid - it couldn't be that simple or easy for Regulus to just start spending all of his time with two Hufflepuffs, one of which was a Potter and the other of which was called 'mudblood' by most of his house still. Many of the Slytherins were looking, especially the ones in their year. Especially the ones that Regulus used to sit with and probably helped with classwork. Avery and Gibson looked more and more sour every day that Regulus didn't even glance at them when he walked into class and it didn't surprise Fae that they decided to get nasty about it. She was prepared for it and prepared to fight them for Regulus. He was worth it. Of course, nobody really could've guessed what happened and how bad it was, not even Avery and Gibson themselves.
They were brewing a potion that was supposed to cause sneezing, or cure sneezing, one of the two. It was a simple potion with relatively harmless side effects when made wrong so it was no big deal for Fae to push Regulus and Romilly out of the way, shielding them from the majority of the splash with her own body. Avery and Gibson had tossed something in the cauldron and it made the liquid froth and bubble dangerously. The nasty, pink liquid soaked her front, a good chunk of her arm, and even got into her mouth. It was just supposed to send her into a relentless sneezing fit.
But then Fae started coughing really hard and everything started itching really badly and when her vision began to swim, she realized she really couldn't breathe which was actually pretty alarming. She was on the floor. Her eyes had swollen shut, but she could vaguely hear yelling - mostly Regulus telling Romilly to get help, cursing out anybody who came near including Slughorn, telling Fae to hang in there, and then casting something nice and cool which eased her throat just a bit. Then she passed out.
Apparently, she was very allergic to one of the main ingredients - Amaryllis. Madam Pomfrey had informed her of this, after she'd woken up, feverish, swollen, and miserable. The kindly mediwitch put her back into quick order and left her to rest, at which point Romilly and Sirius appeared.
"What are you doing here?" she asked Sirius.
"Bunking off class with a migraine," Romilly sneered.
"Nevermind what I'm doing here! Fae, I told you to be careful talking with Regulus! He runs with a bad crowd and now look what's happened!" the black-haired boy said, looking very fierce and very much like James in mother-hen mode.
Fae rolled her eyes at him, and winced at the residual throb in her head. "Well, they're assholes and I stole Regulus from them so really, I'm not surprised. And besides, nobody knew I was allergic to Amaryllis. By the way, have you seen Remus?" she asked. Hopefully, the Amaryllis allergy was Fae-specific and not werewolf-specific. She had no reason to worry about Remus in this immediate moment, but still.
"That's not the point and don't change the subject! You could've died and it would've been his fault!" Sirius bellowed.
"Oh shut the fuck up Sirius! You're pathetic!" Romilly seethed, whipping out her wand. Fae held up her hand to calm her down and leave it to her to handle the irate, elder Black.
"No, I could've died because I did something his other friends didn't like and it's thanks to him that I'm okay," Fae insisted. Regulus had cast Glacius, a charm that nearly froze the room and made it much easier for her to breathe through her swollen throat. Not to mention, keeping her feverish temperature from spiking too high too quickly. It was clever and incredibly lucky for Fae. "Lay off him, Sirius. Regulus is my friend and I won't let you sit there, judging him and accusing him of bullshit just because he's in Slytherin," she spat.
Sirius gave her a wounded, true, kicked-puppy look. "He'll only get you into trouble, Fae. I'm just trying to look out for you," he said miserably.
Romilly snorted. "Regulus? The quiet, studious dork who never acts out, unlike you? Are we talking about the same guy? If anyone is getting anyone into trouble, it's probably Fae that's going to get him into trouble."
"Hey!"
"What? I'm not wrong."
"I just… I don't want anybody to get hurt," Sirius eventually said, adapting a pensive look again.
"We'll be fine, Sirius. I'll look after him, and he and Romilly have my back. Obviously," Fae said, taking Sirius' hand and giving it a quick squeeze. Then she let go and slapped his cheek playfully. "Now quit fussing, you're embarrassing me in front of my friends."
Sirius gave her a smile and a noogie, before leaving to go inform her brother, despite Fae's protests that she was fine. On the way out, he nearly ran into Regulus. The two shared a look before Sirius clasped his shoulder and then left solemnly. Fae and Romilly cheerfully greeted the younger Black and then the dark-haired girl thanked him for his quick thinking.
He stayed quiet, with a thoughtful look on his face. Fae studied him, and then patted the bed beside her knee for him to sit down. When he sat, he stared at his hands, and then looked at her with searching, dopey, big blue eyes. "Did you mean what you said?"
"That you're adorkable? Absolutely," Romilly teased, also taking a seat on Fae's bed, but on the other side.
He waved his hand in Romilly's direction, dismissing her comment, although his ears did turn a little red. "No. I meant about us being friends."
Feeling very fond and sure, Fae tucked some of his hair behind his red ears affectionately. "What do you think? You're ours now, Regulus," she told him.
"Seriously," Romilly added, lightly punching his arm. "Without you, this is probably how Potions would end everyday."
Regulus looked incredibly stunned and like he might cry. Or bolt. Then he laughed. "Please, you guys just like to play dumb so you can drive me crazy."
"You say that like that's not why you love us."
They talked idly for a bit, settling down and planning revenge. Regulus had just been informing Slughorn about Avery and Gibson nearly accidentally killing a student. Slughorn, wishy-washy and head of Slytherin, gave them detention and that was it. Romilly suggested pulling some strings so their detention would be served with Kettleburn, mucking out the Flobberworm boxes and Gryffin stalls. Fae smiled wickedly and informed them of her much better idea. She was a big fan of 'confuse, don't abuse' after all.
Romilly was giggling madly and Regulus was gaping openly when James came rushing in. In his standard whirlwind fashion, he looked her over, asked her a million questions, fussed over everything, and then kissed Regulus very sloppily on the cheek as thanks for saving his baby sister when he was finally assured she was alright. Apparently, Sirius had done the nice thing for Regulus this time around. Then James began to loudly promise utter, devastating consequences for Gibson and Avery. Fae just waved him off, telling him she had it covered. No way was she going to let her brother steal her fun.
"Seriously, your sister is mad," Regulus told him, backing Fae up.
"That's a funny way to pronounce 'Brilliant' Regulus," Romilly hummed. "No, don't worry, Fae's got it well in hand. Poor bastards," she said to James, voice filled with dreadful mirth.
James conceded on the condition that Fae stay with him in Gryffindor tonight so he could make sure she was okay. Fae replied with a counter offer and being that she was the one who almost died, of course she got her way. She spent the evening with her head in Remus' lap, being fed chocolate by Romilly and Regulus, and being fawned over by James and Peter while Sirius sung ballads in her honor. It was a good night.
The revenge was a nifty trick. Avery and Gibson were loud and brash and had a bad habit of calling Fae 'fucking Potter' and Romilly 'mudblood' which was terribly rude. So she turned it against them with a combination of Herbifors and a spell that reminded her of the taboo from the last Harry Potter book. Regulus and Romilly provoked the two morons into saying the 'magic words' while Fae cast her little spells from behind. For the rest of the week, every time they said any of their colorful derivatives of Romilly's or Fae's names, wildflowers and plants would sprout uncontrollably from their robes and all around them and shroud them in pretty, lovely, sweet spring. They were the laughingstocks of Slytherin and it was glorious.
Regulus finally gave in completely and just stayed with the two girls in every class until the end of the term, showing up in Hufflepuff at least on Tuesdays and sometimes on Thursdays for study sessions and Spoons. And sometimes he even showed up in Care of Magical Creatures because it was his free period and he was curious about the trouble they could get up to near the Forbidden Forest, which he and everybody's mother knew by now was Fae's territory.
And Fae was busy. Running every morning with Remus and sometimes Peter, classes from 9 to lunch, lunch with Regulus and Romilly, classes until 2 or 3, running again with Remus and James and catching up with the Marauders, then Hufflepuff or the library or Gryffindor to hang out with the Marauders or study with Remus or hang out with Regulus and Romilly. Bed at 10. Do it all again. Weekend mornings were for running in the woods or around the lake and she refused to give that up, but the second she slowed down, her friends were on her, wanting to do this or that. It made for a busy, exhausting life.
She loved it though - the busy-ness, the tightness of her schedule. Before she knew it, term was ending and she and Remus had one last full moon together. It was on the day right before they'd be getting on the Hogwarts Express, as it so happened. Fae wasn't looking forward to having to stay awake and drag all her shit onto the train in the morning. She also wasn't looking forward to being apart from Remus, Romilly, Regulus, Peter, and Sirius for a while, although she knew she'd probably be seeing Sirius sooner than later. Things were different now, however, and she worried about Regulus too. She worried about what would happen to him when Sirius was no longer the center of attention in the Black household. Fae knew very well, being the sole focus of an abusive, narcissistic, fucked up mother was not an okay thing.
"Told you so," Romilly deadpanned as they watched Fae and Remus Lupin come around the bend of the lake, racing and pretending to shove each other in the water. Everybody knew about Fae's restless habits and her strange commitment to exercise, but seeing it for real was jarring, Regulus thought.
Romilly had found him earlier, bored and wandering the halls, dreading the end of the term, and hating that he couldn't even spend it with Fae to distract him. The tall blonde girl had noticed and apparently felt the same because she dragged him off to the kitchens in short order to pack a big bag full of food.
"On days like this, she spends the whole day exercising, don't ask me why. Food is the easiest way to appease her," Romilly had explained. And so they ended up hunting down the missing third of their little group, running outside like a maniac in freezing Scotland December. Regulus wondered why he was friends with such crazy people almost as often as he wondered what in the world made them choose to be friends with him out of the blue back in October.
"Food! Bless both of you darling angels!" Fae said, coming to an abrupt stop before them with a wild, bright grin. Remus Lupin followed shortly after, out of breath and bent over panting.
"Pft! Angels, she says," Romilly said.
"So what's next on this, the final day at Hogwarts before break?" Regulus asked, feeling kind of awkward.
"Mmmm, strength training," Fae declared, already digging into the basket.
Remus Lupin straightened up and smiled. "Oh goodie - I think that's my cue to leave," he said.
"You sure Remus? Not going to try some push-ups and put some muscle on those noodle arms?"
The older boy shook his head with an exasperated half-smile. "I'm sure," he said dryly, and then turned to him and Romilly. It constantly surprised Regulus, how at ease the Marauders actually were with him.
"You two can count her chin-ups and hold her feet down for sit-ups. I think I'll do another few laps of the lake and see you at dinner?"
Fae shrugged and gave him a tight hug. "Alright, see you then."
Less than twenty minutes later, the basket of food was completely demolished and Regulus was sat next to Romilly on a bench, staring at Fae in wide-eyed disbelief as she showed off how strong she really, actually was. Regulus seriously thought about casting a disillusionment charm, but then remembered how easily Fae had hauled him around when they met or how often she twirled people and dipped them with complete control and ease, no matter how much bigger than her they were.
"Is she for real?"
"Yup," Romilly answered, sounding very much as if this was all business as usual.
"She's lifting that bench up and down like it's nothing," he said.
"Mhmm."
Like most things she did, Fae went all out in her 'strength training' session, flitting from one ridiculous exercise to the next, working up a sheen of sweat and going as far as to ditch her sweatshirt halfway through a set of chin-ups. Her long, unruly black hair was pulled into a pony-tail and it swished rhythmically between her bronzed shoulders as she hauled herself up and dropped herself back down. His eyes were glued to her magnificent form and he couldn't help the sigh that slipped out.
Suddenly, his blonde companion snapped her head toward him and narrowed her gaze. "Hey - I saw her first."
"Excuse me?" he stuttered.
Romilly crossed her arms and inclined her head towards their friend. "I see you checking her out and I know you don't stick around just because we're awesome," she said.
Regulus blushed embarrassingly hard. "Well. I. Ahem," he coughed. Could he really be blamed?
Romilly sighed a moment later. "It's fine, I get it. Fae is...something isn't she?"
Apparently, he couldn't. Romilly was cool and crass, but level-headed. He usually felt a sense of camaraderie towards her when it came to being strung along to Fae's cheerful whims. Now, that sense of camaraderie was stronger, knowing that they both had a crush on Fae. And, maybe there was some rivalry too. "Yeah. She is," he agreed. They both sighed as Fae dropped to the ground and stretched her arms over her head, wiggling her hips back and forth to pop her back.
Friends, rivals, and maybe they could help each other too. "So what's the deal with Remus Lupin? They a thing?" he asked a moment later.
Romilly shrugged. "They're just really close friends, as far as I know," she answered, sounding thoughtful.
Regulus hummed. They really oughta find out - Fae was an extremely touchy person, but he just felt like Remus always got the sweetest sides of her.
"You should be more worried about Lily - Fae thinks she's hot."
He startled. "What, Lily Evans? That fire-crotch, fun-killing prefect for Gryffindor?"
"Ha! That's the one," Romilly said, snickering under her breath.
"Doesn't her brother really like her?"
"Yeah, which is probably the only reason Fae hasn't claimed her for herself."
Fair enough. Romilly and Regulus shared a look. They'd have to work together to keep Fae from being swept up by anybody other than one of them. Regulus smirked and Romilly sent it right back. They happily and silently returned to watching Fae work up a sweat, an understanding between them.
"I'll miss you two over break," Fae announced as she laid herself across their laps, all sweaty and gross. Regulus' heart skipped a beat at having her so close. She was so casual about touching - he'd never known anyone like that and even though her shoulder blades were digging into his thighs painfully, he couldn't say he minded.
Romilly wrapped her arms around Fae's legs. "We'll miss you too," she said.
"Speak for yourself," he stuttered out, uncomfortably embarrassed and sappy.
"Please, Reg. We know you'd be bored and lonely and inconsolable without us fucking up your peaceful days," Fae said, giving him a knowing, playful look. She always did that, looked at him like she saw right through him and everything in between. It made him squirm and it made him warm. And he could never tell if she was joking with him or telling him truths about himself or both.
"Pft. Something like that," he said. Then frowned. "It'll go by fast anyways. Break."
There was a long moment of silence, and then Fae proved him correct, as if she could read his thoughts.
"Sirius doesn't talk about home," she said quietly. "I know what it's like to live in a household that you don't tell people about."
It was old news that Fae was adopted. But it was a bit of a secret that people didn't realize was a secret - who she was before being adopted. Romilly had told him that. Fae didn't talk about her life before, not to anybody. It surprised him that she had grown up with a rough childhood, from the sound of it. Well, it did, and it didn't. Fae had a toughness about her that made him forget she was the same age as him. It was a special thing, he realized, for Fae to tell him and Romilly this.
All the same, it made him scared, somehow, to have her suddenly call him and his family out like this.
He jumped when she settled a cold hand on his cheek and made sincere, intense eye contact with him. "Regulus, look after him. And look after yourself, okay?"
He didn't say anything. How could he?
Then she smiled and heaved herself up to sit between him and Romilly and wrap her arms around them both, crushing them to her sides despite being so much smaller. "And both of you write me - even if it's only two weeks. I'll be lost without you both looking after me."
"Aha, yeah, okay," Romilly said, sassy amusement in her voice.
"..okay," Regulus eventually said.
Fae gave them both sweet kisses on the tops of their heads and then returned to her strength training.
He shared another look with Romilly. They both knew it was Fae looking after them. It was Fae who had found them and made them hers and strung them merrily along to her mad whims. They wouldn't have it any other way.
Regulus breathed in the moment and tried not to think about two weeks without either of them.
Fae heaved herself up onto the bar, flipped over and hung by her legs, and started curling herself up in inverted sit-ups. Her sweat-soaked tank top hung whenever she let her body swing down. She was wearing a sports bra and that alone made Regulus blush, but the sight of her tight, scarred, tan stomach made him feel like he was on fire. He and Romilly shared twin sighs again.
A/N: Happy hump day everyone! It is a gray day where I am, and I find that perfect.
So... here's the thing. I loved the movies and then when I read the books, I dug in DEEP into the lore and details. I feel we were all massively neglected by the lack of Regulus Black. I mean, what a story there.
Younger brother to the ever ridiculous Sirius Black, only son to a brutal bloodline, likely peer pressured into joining the Death Eaters because he, like most 17 year olds, had no idea what the fuck was going on, and then when he did get a clue, he went out with a big 'fuck you' to Voldemort.
That and I just find it heartbreaking that the only one who knew about his, horrifyingly early, death or cared enough at all was Kreacher.
So yeah. Brace yourselves for lots of Regulus. He's not a Marauder, but he deserves better.
Also, what did ya'll think of Romilly? She and Regulus will be Fae's best friends, teammates, keepers, enablers, and so on and so forth.
AND shout out to anyone with siblings who got called the wrong name by a parent or teacher, if Elsa was your gay sexual awakening, if you are demisexual, or if you are anywhere else on the LGBTQ spectrum. Allies are loved too.
I hope you're all having as much fun reading this as I did writing it.