Chapter 13: Back To Hogwarts
Notes:
okay, warnings because this chapter is heavier than my usual;
70s homophobia, the F slur, and someone tries to force Regulus into speaking.
I'm so sorry about another angsty chapter
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
1976
They went back to school soon after that. James' parents walked them through the train station, keeping an eye out for Walburga, thankfully, she didn't show up, and all the boys got were a few nasty looks. James and Regulus held hands the whole way there, they'd discussed what to do last night, and Regulus had told James that he didn't really care what anyone thought and that he was planning on telling his friends anyway.
They all sat down in a carriage, the couples pairing up and Peter sitting next to Remus,
"Look at you lot! Can't stay away from each other for more than five minutes." He grumbled, James just chuckled and leaned down to kiss Regulus' cheek.
The girls eventually found them and poked their heads through the door, all with shocked faces when they saw Regulus leaning against James reading.
"Oh– so that's where you went, we heard some rumours about you two running away." Mary was the first to recover, sitting next to Regulus and offering him a friendly smile, Regulus smiled back.
"Well, this is definitely a surprise." Lily sat next to James, kissing his cheek, James felt Regulus let out a huff and chuckled. Marlene sat next to Peter, offering Regulus a small wave.
"We figured things out over the holidays, these two are living with me for now." James gestured to both Black brothers, smiling.
Everyone chatted happily on the ride back to the castle, none of the girls asked why Regulus wasn't talking, and James and Sirius helped interpret what Regulus wanted to say.
"So, you two look comfortable, anything you want to tell us?" Mary winked at James, and he smiled,
"We're soulmates," James replied, pulling Regulus closer,
"I thought you didn't have any Words?" Lily asked, she'd been the first person he told after the Marauders, he'd told her in the same conversation as her coming out, he'd also found out Mary and Lily were soulmates that day.
"I don't, but that's because Regulus can't talk, I said his words at the start of the year." Regulus nodded to what James said.
After that, the girls let it go, not commenting on Regulus' problem, going straight back to talking about what they'd done during their holidays, James could see Regulus smile at his book, hiding his face from the rest of the group.
~
Regulus knew school wouldn't be great after running away. He wouldn't be able to talk to most of his friends, having to sneak around and send letters, and Wilkes had been even worse, paying more attention to what Regulus was doing. He and James hadn't made any big show of being together, Regulus sat with him to study and smiled at him in the halls, but they had kept the PDA low, so not many people had found out they were dating.
Right now, Regulus was running drills on his broom, separate from the rest of his team so he could do crazy dives and spins. Regulus was glad he'd kept his position on the team, flying had always been calming to him. After the practice had finished, Regulus made his way down to the grounds, catching sight of James watching him.
Regulus landed and started walking towards him, when James grabbed him and kissed him, lifting Regulus from the ground, once James put him down, he was smiling, but his expression was obviously confused.
"You look good in your Quidditch uniform," James explained, and Regulus shook his head with a fond expression, leaning up to give James a kiss on the cheek, then waving goodbye to him and walking to the changing rooms.
Once he was in the changing rooms, he heard whispers all around him, whispers about him being a blood traitor, calling him a coward, and calling both him and James many unsavoury names, Regulus tried his best to ignore them, but once he'd gotten fully dressed and moved to leave, he was blocked off.
"Going back to suck Potter's cock? Is that why you ran away? Your parents found out you were a faggot?" One of the older boys laughed, causing a wave of chuckles to start around him, Regulus tried to push past, but he was too small, his body built for speed, not strength.
"Look at him, he's not even denying it, bloody disgusting." Another boy spat at his feet, Regulus was surrounded, and he felt panic start to rise in his throat.
"Alright, leave it off the Quidditch pitch, do whatever you want outside of practices, but at least pretend to be civil here, alright?" The captain called, and a few of the boys rolled their eyes and grumbled, but they moved, letting him out, Regulus walked out as fast as he could, and saw James waiting outside.
"Regulus? Hey, are you okay?" James stopped him, grabbing both his arms and looking at him concerned, Regulus felt like crying, instead, he shook his head and hugged James tightly, James wrapping his arms around Regulus and holding him close, whispering small reassurances into his ear.
They eventually made their way up to the castle, James shooting Regulus concerned looks every few minutes,
"Hey, do you want to come up to my dorms? I've got the cloak." James offered, and after a moment's hesitation, Regulus nodded, wrapping the soft fabric around himself, watching himself disappear until he was covered, then James began leading them up to the Gryffindor entrance, opening the portrait and waiting for Regulus to touch his hand before he continued, up the stairs and opening a door. Once they were inside, Regulus took the cloak off, and followed James to what Regulus guessed was his bed, "So, are you going to tell me what happened?" James asked, and after a moment, Regulus pulled out the notebook he'd gotten for Christmas.
'The guys on my team, they saw us kiss and said some really bad shit, they probably would have beaten me if my captain didn't stop them.' James pulled Regulus into another hug, running his hand through his hair,
"Shit, Regulus, if that happens again, tell me, yeah? I'll make sure to get them good." James promised, and Regulus laughed, he hoped it wouldn't come to that, but Regulus was glad James was willing to protect him. They stayed there, just laying together for a while, before Sirius and Remus fell through the door, too busy eating each other's faces to notice there were other people there. "Merlin you two, that's disgusting." James made a fake retching noise, and Regulus laughed when his brother and his soulmate sprung apart.
"Reggie! What are you doing up here?" Sirius asked, whipping his mouth and sitting on the bed across from James'
'Chasing unicorns.' Sirius barked out a laugh when he read what Regulus wrote, James shaking his head before kissing the top of Regulus' head.
'That was in French? Why did James laugh?' Sirius blinked as he read, and James looked guilty,
"Well, Sirius taught me French, back in what, second year? I can read it too." James explained, Regulus nodded, then paused, going red and poking James' chest. James laughed and kissed Regulus' cheek, "Yeah, I saw what you said about me."
"Good to see you're sneaking around, we'll make a Marauder of you yet!" Sirius quickly changed the subject, breaking the boys out of their daze, Remus fell back onto the bed next to Sirius, laughing and shaking his head at his boyfriend's antics.
Regulus eventually had to go back to his own dorms, sneaking through the Gryffindor common room under the cloak again, he handed it back to James once he was sure no one could see them,
"Are you sure you don't want me to walk you down?" Regulus shook his head and kissed James' cheek, making his way down to the dungeons.
A few people had asked how Regulus got into the Slytherin common room without being able to talk, and he'll admit, he used to just wait for someone to walk through and go in after them, but he'd learnt in Second Year, that he could hold his wand at the entrance and think of the password, and it would open, it wasn't like his usual wordless casting, it didn't take any magic at all, but it didn't work without the wand. Regulus walked in, he was in a significantly better mood than when he'd come up from practice, but he was distracted and ended up running into Snape.
"Watch where you're going, Black." He sneered, Regulus nodded at him and moved to walk away, but Wilkes called after him,
"Aren't you going to apologise to him?" Regulus tried to keep walking, but then Wilkes cast a Body-Bind Jinx, and Regulus fell to the floor. "Apologise to him." Wilkes knew Regulus couldn't talk, he'd known since first year, he was just being cruel at this point.
"Wilkes, it's fine, he doesn't need to apologise." Snape tried to stop Wilkes, Snape had probably guessed by now, Regulus had held some respect for him, and they used to wave at each other in the halls, Regulus probably would have asked to brew with him if he could talk.
"It's not fine, he's disrespecting you, he needs to apologise." Wilkes snapped at him, and Regulus saw him raise his wand, "If he won't do it, I'll make him, Imperio." Regulus felt the unforgivable take over his body, and then felt the Body-Bind disappear right after, "Say sorry to Snape." Wilkes commanded, Snape looked uncomfortable. Regulus opened his mouth, trying to say the words, but he couldn't and it was starting to hurt his throat.
"Wilkes, stop, he obviously can't speak," Snape said, and Wilkes rolled his eyes, ending the curse, Regulus immediately dropped to the ground, holding his throat and gasping, tears were falling from his eyes. Regulus ran to his dorm, seeing Evan and Barty both there, he sent a silent locking spell at the door, his throat felt like it was on fire.
"Reg! Merlin! What happened?" Barty ran to help keep Regulus standing, and Evan conjured some water and handed it to Regulus to drink, the cool water helping soothe his aching throat, but not by much.
'Wilkes tried to Imperio me into speaking.' Regulus' writing was messy, his hands shaking, he heard Barty gasp in shock, and he sat down on his bed.
"Do you need help? We can go get Dorcas." Evan offered, sitting next to Regulus, petting his hair, Regulus shook his head, his throat would hurt for a while, and he wouldn't be able to make any sound without it hurting, but it would heal on its own.
"If Potter doesn't do something about this, I will, and I'll make it worse than what he did to you," Barty promised, Regulus smiled at him, and then, they heard someone jiggle the doorknob, Evan and Barty immediately went back to Evan's bed, and Regulus closed his curtains, ending the locking spell, hearing Wilkes walk in, Regulus sighed, and cast as many shield and warning spells as he knew, settling down to sleep until dinner.
Notes:
I'm not sure if the wizards were as homophobic as everyone else in the 70s, but in this they are 3