belladonna | marauders imagines

Regulus | Slither In

Regulus was the kind of person who was more than fine to be left alone.

You were the kind of person who wasn't discouraged by that.

You helped him in classes (well, you tried. You mostly end up making explosive potions and gave him near-death experiences), wished him on his birthday, got him candies from Hogsmeade trips, and in short, made him so annoyed that he accepted that you were his personal demon.

You thought he kind of disliked you, so you left him alone for a couple of weeks. Shocking as it may be, you had some dignity left. But right before the exams, he found you in the library and dropped some books on the table.

"What are you doing?" you asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You need to work on Potions or you'll blow up Hogwarts," he said firmly. You still looked confused so he added, "I'm teaching you."

"Oh," you didn't know what else to say, so you gave him a nervous smile. He seemed half-happy and half-regretful of his decision.

The friendship became official then. He walked with you to classes, sneaked out to Forbidden Forest, and even introduced you to the kitchen elves. Somewhere around this cheesy montage, he fell in love with you. He wasn't sure if it was love, because he's never felt that way before.

Love did make people stupid. He started stammering around you, said the wrong things, and almost slipped that he was desperately in love with you several times. That poor boy didn't know what to do.

Luckily, you picked up on the hint when he asked you to go with him to the Slughorn's Christmas Party.

"I'd love to—" you began, but your words were cut off.

"I mean, only if you want to!" he said quickly. "I don't even like those parties but Slughorn's nice. To me at least. He's uh proud of me, he says — something my own father had never said."

"Reg—"

"Did I mention my family is shit? Because they are. I hate them. Every single one of them. Except for Sirius! He's okay—"

You sighed. "Are you going to let me—"

"I should probably talk to him soon. I feel bad. Wait, what were we talking about again?" He pretended to be deep in thought, then threw his hands upwards. "Who knows! I have to go. Goodbye!"

It goes without saying, he ignored you for the rest of the day.

So you confronted him at night.

——————

"MERLIN'S FUCKING BEARD!" he yelled, jumping up from the bed when he saw a figure through the window.

"It's just me," you laughed, effortlessly climbing down without making a fool of yourself.

"What the fuck are- how did you even?" He seemed to be at a loss for words, which was understandable.

"I can sneak into anywhere. My best friend is a Slytherin, remember? I learned some tricks from him."

He still hadn't found any of this amusing. "What are you doing here, Y/N?"

"Well, you never gave me a chance to answer!" you said defensively, hoping down on the bed. "To your invitation I mean. So I decided to come here and let you know that, yes, I'd very much love to go to the party with you."

He frowned. "Are you joking?"

"No, I'm Y/N."

Eyebrows rising up, he stared at you grimly. He seemed as if he was contemplating how to murder you right there and then.

Then, to your surprise, he burst out laughing. He was reacting to how stupid your joke was, so stupid that he remembered why he fell in love with you in the first place.

You smiled too, sort of oddly proud. Maybe you should be making dad jokes more often.

"You know when I asked you," he paused briefly. "I meant it as a date. Just to be clear. If that makes you—"

"I believe you made that obvious with your not-so-subtle nervousness," you cut through. "And yes, I'd love for it to be a date."

"You realize what you're signing up for, right?" He asked cautiously. "Like, I'm me."

"We need to work on positive talks." You rolled your eyes. "Besides, imagine what you'd be signing up for. Weekly escapades, more candies, lots of books, and of course, the night visits."

He sighed. "You're gonna get caught."

"Oh c'mon," you nudged his shoulders with yours. "We could be like Romeo and Juliet."

"You're certainly going to be the death of me," he agreed, making you scowl.

Smirking, he put his hand around your waist, pulling you in to kiss the top of your head. He realized he didn't mind having a personal demon. Not one bit.