𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 - regulus black

chapter twenty-five

It was late at night, Regulus and Ariel were alone together in the common room like it would often happen, except that it was later than usual. Ariel was sitting on one side of the green-velvet sofa facing the crackling fire while Regulus had his head laid down on his lap. The boy's hand was slowly brushing through his curls of raven hair, helping him relax.

"Bloody hell. I really drank too much..." groaned the younger boy.

His eyes were close and his brows were furrowed.

"The potion I gave you should start working on your head soon, don't worry. I got it at the best apothecary of Diagon Alley."

"I hope so hm..."

"Just relax..." he murmured.

"Talk to me. It helps me relax..." answered the boy.

"What do you want me to say."

"Can I ask you questions..?" asked hesitantly the boy as he opened his eyelids to look up at Ariel.

It was the first time Regulus drank this much so Ariel wasn't sure what to expect from him when he was in this state. But he still nodded, signaling him to continue.

"How did you know you liked boys?" asked the boy as he stared up at him. He didn't come up with this just now, it was something that had been in his mind for a while.

It was an unexpected and surprising question. It took Ariel a while to answer. He was staring back at him with his hand still in his hair.

"I just knew it."

"It was so easy?"

"Yeah. It was always that easy. I've just always disliked girls anyway."

Regulus hummed, thinking about his words before continuing. "Wasn't it hard to keep it a secret all this time?"

"What about you?" he quickly avoided answering this question as curiosity got the best of him.

"It wasn't because I only realized recently. I had never felt any real attraction to someone before you in fact," said Regulus with honesty.

This time, this statement wasn't surprising. By now he knew so well Regulus, the contrary would have been more surprising.

"Well as for me, it was really not that hard. Keeping it a secret, keeping up that façade, it was just my act. But recently, it became more difficult," he finished with a sour laugh as he diverted his eyes towards the fire and Regulus could see a hood of gloominess covering his blue eyes.

"Have you ever fallen in love with someone before?" 'before me' meant Regulus and Ariel knew it.

The blond boy laughed, "I thought I did with those guys that I fucked with. Not all of them of course. But it was only some flirts. I realized I couldn't fall in love with someone that didn't like me back."

His last sentence came with more sincerity. To make it more sincere he even looked down at Regulus who just stared back at him without much expression visible on his face. He was simply observing him, looking focused.

"What are you going to do?" he almost said 'we' but refrained himself from doing so.

"About what?"

"Marriage."

And Ariel shrugged in response. "It's not like I have a choice."

"This is sad living in our community. Don't you think?" he said thoughtful and Ariel thought about his words.

"In some aspects yes. But if I really hated this, I would have left a long time ago. Like your brother."

"But you didn't. Because you have good reasons."