Sweet innocence ~ Jegulus

13.

"What's this I'm hearing about you and Potter dating?" Barty exclaimed, sounding absolutely outraged as he plopped down in the seat across from Regulus.

Regulus looked up from his book, eyes wide. "How did you hear about that?" He asked, looking around to see if anyone was listening in on their conversation. "Are you kidding? It's the talk of the day, King of Gryffindor and Slytherin Prince having secret affairs." Barty made a face as he spoke.

"We are not having secret affairs!" Regulus whisper shouted, making sure that Pince didn't hear him. Barty raised a brow looking unconvinced. "We're not." Regulus repeated, taking a deep breath. He pinched the bridge of his nose and paused, trying to find the right way to explain himself.

"You know how Evans broke up with him?" Regulus looked up at Barty waiting for him to nod before he continued. "Well she thinks that we're dating..." Barty opened his mouth to say something but Regulus spoke over him. "Don't ask me why she thinks that okay, she just does." Regulus shot Barty a look that made him close his mouth. "He asked me to pretend to date him for a couple of days to make her jealous." Regulus concluded.

"And you said yes?" Barty gave him a bewildered look. Regulus shrugged. "Why would you do that?"

"I don't know. If Evans is jealous of me and Potter then maybe Enzo will be too." Regulus muttered, he knew that it wasn't a convincing argument but it was better than telling his best friend that he has a hard time saying no to people.

"Speaking of Enzo..." Barty nodded to something behind their table. Reg turned to look over his shoulder seeing Enzo walk into the library. They made eye contact and Enzo smiled softly, walking over to them. "Hey Reg, Barty." Enzo said, sitting in the chair closest to Regulus. Barty nodded his head in greeting but otherwise didn't say anything only staring between them in amusement.

"Erm, Crouch do you mind if I speak with Regulus privately?" Enzo asked. The use of his proper name made Regulus tense for a moment, he knew where this conversation was going.

"Sure, yeah. See you later." Barty stood up and sent Regulus a 'you better fill me in on everything later' kind of look. Once they were alone, the pair sat in silence for a few minutes just looking around.

"So you have a boyfriend..." Enzo said after a while of uncomfortable silence. Regulus turned to look at him and saw that Enzo was already watching him intently. "I can explain-"

Before Regulus could explain that he and James weren't actually dating, a loud crash came from the front of the library. James stood at the door, looking down at a trolley full of books that he had just knocked over. He gave Madame Pince a sheepish smile before storming into the library, heading straight for Regulus's table.

"Hey, Reg. Bye, Hale." James said, sitting across from Regulus. "Erm, what?" Enzo looked at him with a confused and slightly angry expression, but James didn't pay him much attention to notice. "I have important matters to discuss with my boyfriend." James gave Regulus a pointed look, and Regulus had to stop himself from reaching over the table to slap him.

"Of course, I'll leave you to it." Enzo muttered, a disappointed frown on his face. Regulus looked up at him and reached out for his hand but Enzo was already halfway to the door. "I'm going to murder you." Regulus growled, turning back to James who was smiling at him. "Brutally." He added, flicking James's forehead. "Ow! Don't do that, people might think that you're abusing me!" James grabbed Regulus's wrist before he could flick him again.