Jegulus - I'll be good

Part thirty-four

⚠ CW: Homophobic slurs, homophobia in general ⚠

Hey and hello everyone! I'm finally delivering a new part, miracles happen! Thank you all so much for your patience, I hope I'll get to update more regularly again, but I don't promise anything, lol.
Enjoy!

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Three weeks had passed and Regulus slowly got used to the new circumstances. Not having to act like he couldn't stand James in front of him took a weight off his shoulders he didn't even know he was carrying until things changed. The three of them made up a plan every Sunday, so James could spend time with both of them and still had enough time for himself. Sometimes they were hanging out altogether, but even if he liked Lily, it felt uncomfortable when they did that. Regardless of their agreement it felt like he was doing something wrong; but James and Lily were sure that this would fade too, it was just new. And he and James generally had to hangout in secret, because Regulus wasn't ready to come out in front of the whole school yet. Like yes, he kinda didn't deny that he was interested in guys the other day, but nobody knew that it was James and in the eye of his...position between the deatheaters, it could stay like that a little bit longer.
"Black, are you listening? BLACK!", someone's fingers snipped in front of his face and with a confused blink he zoned back into now and then. The whole Slytherin Quidditch team was staring at him, some amused, some annoyed and suddenly he remembered that they were supposed to have their training. And he was part of this team.
"I...I'm sorry, I was in thoughts", the Slytherin apologised and put on the last arm protection, "have a lot in mind. The Dark Lord requires a lot of attention and energy." In reality, he hadn't been to a meeting in over two weeks, but how should these idiots know that? Unfortunately, his parents were expecting him today at a dinner and that was it with his little break.
"I don't care for your personal problems. If you can't focus on the game, you're kicked out from the team. Got it?", their captain asked in a threatening manner.
Mulciber behind him laughed mockingly: "Come on, kick him out already. This faggot ain't gonna catch a snitch anyway. Just enjoys having a broom between his legs."
Even though Mulciber's words let him go from zero to hundred in the time he needed to finish his sentence, Regulus tried to ignore him and focused on the captain: "Yes, I understood. Won't happen again." They walked onto the field, Mulciber next to him constantly making his stupid comments, but when he somehow ended up talking about some incest parallels, Regulus eventually lost it and snapped. He let his broomstick get caught up between Mulciber's feet, so that he stumbled and with a quick move, Regulus held him down on the muddy ground: "If you don't shut your stupid mouth now, I promise to make sure that you never say a word again." He really could bear with a lot of bullshit that came from him, but he was fed up right now. His housemate was stepping over a line.
"What are you gonna do? Kiss me?", Mulciber asked unimpressed and this let the others laugh.
"The way you're acting makes it seem like that's what you want tho", the Black shot back. More laughter and cheering. He seemed to have hit a nerve with that statement, because now this idiot snapped too and punched Regulus into his face. Shock and pain let him breathe in sharply and he fell back. After a second of confusion, the Black collected himself and stood up from the ground, casually brushing off the dirt from his clothes: "How primitive you are. A fist fight like a bloody muggle? As if anyone can feel threatened by that." He wiped off the blood that was coming from his nose and picked up his broom, before getting into the air. He wouldn't get down on this niveau, so much was clear.

A few hours later Regulus put on fresh clothes and checked his face in the mirror. His nose was a bit swollen, his upper lip too as Mulciber apparently hit this part of his face also when he punched his nose. But it could be worse and maybe nobody would notice anyway.
He was slipping in his shoes as a little piece of parchment slid under the door into the room. He stopped in his movement and tensed up, but it was James' handwriting and he unfolded the paper. Just one word: Meeting?
And man, he would love to go there. Meeting James was a thousand times more in his liking, unfortunately...he didn't really have a choice, so he let him know that he had to be at his parents today. Just as he sent the paper back, his father appeared at the door to the grounds. Time to put on a show.

The dinner was surprisingly small. Reg had expected one of their huge dinners with twenty plus guests to brag about their success or money or whatever. But it was just them and Alphred, Morgana and their daughter Margaret Rowle. Must be a business dinner then, Regulus thought and with that he ticked it off. As he was sitting down on his seat on the table, Walburga grabbed his arm and pulled him closer: "What happened to your face, Regulus? You knew this dinner is today and then you show up like a wild? And what's with your hair? Shall we put you outside to the horses?"
Regulus pulled his arm away and grabbed his glass nonchalantly: "My hair is fine, mother. And my face looks like this because Mulciber is the one with uncontrolled impulses. Like a wild." With a slightly shaky hand he took a sip of his wine; not blindly listening to his parents and actually talking back felt like breaking a law. And Walburga looked at him as if he just did exactly that.
"Regulus Arcturus Black, your father and me didn't raise you to be disrespectful. Where does this attitude come from?", she asked seriously offended and obviously had trouble to keep her voice down to not raise the attention from her guests. But they were looking already anyway and Regulus almost backtracked. But no.
"It's not an attitude, mother. I'm just speaking out facts", he said calmly and before he could add anything more, Orion appeared behind him, resting his hand on his shoulder.
"Now, Regulus. How about you play something for our guests on the piano, while the adults are talking?" It wasn't exactly a question or a suggestion, it was a command wrapped in nice words.
So he got up and moved over to the piano. It just played into his hands anyway. He could play the piano in his sleep quite literally and that way he could hang in his thoughts, spending his time wishing he was somewhere else.
"Aren't you also bored of this nonsense dinner?", Margaret suddenly sat down on the edge of his stool and touched some of the piano keys, making a quiet sound, "I don't even know why we have to be here too, just because they have some boring adult things to do."
Regulus looked over her; she was a little bit younger than him, probably around thirteen, maybe fourteen. He had never seen her at Hogwarts, but if he remembered right, this family was traveling a lot, so she probably was home-schooled. Something he envied and pitied her for at the same amount.
"It's really not that thrilling. Unfortunately these things don't become more interesting when you're older either", he agreed with a sigh. If that was part of adult life, he didn't want to grow up. But on the other hand, it was at least no life or death situation.
"I like your hair. I don't know why Mrs Black was scolding you", she changed the topic and lightly pulled on his short low ponytail. Regulus gently moved her hand away: "It's too long for her taste. Please don't touch me." A grimace of bulking appeared on Margaret's face.
"Margaret, Regulus, please come here." This time Walburga's voice seemed to safe him from his situation, he really didn't want to end up making a child cry.
"We came together today to clear up a few things", Orion solemnly said, "and now that everything is settled, I'm very happy and proud to announce, that this arrangement will bring all of us benefits. Regulus, in a few years you're going to get married to Margaret."
"Isn't that very exciting, dear?", Morgana asked her confused daughter, patting her back.
Regulus' brain stopped working for a brief moment and he could only stare at his parents in sheer disbelief: "What? You can't do that!"
"Don't be ridiculous. Margaret is a lovely young lady and you have years to get to know each other. That's more than other people get, so be grateful for that", Walburga gave back in a sweet voice, but her fingernails clawed into his shoulder. Regulus wanted to scream. That was so wrong, on so many levels. How should he get out of that?