belladonna | marauders imagines

Regulus | the love club

"Love your sweater," you said, smiling a bit too much, as if you had just said an inside joke.

Regulus beamed, sitting beside you without a second thought. Slytherins weren't usually seen at the Gryffindor table, but Christmas was a good excuse as any, right?

"Almost didn't recognize you but merry Christmas, little brother," Sirius yelled, hugging him sideways. "Looking less like the Bloody Baron each day, huh? You're blending in well."

"Especially in that sweater,' Remus added, reaching for the mashed potatoes. Regulus frowned, looking at his clothes again.

"What's wrong with it?" he asked, offended.

"No I didn't say- well, you're wearing Gryffindor colors."

Regulus paled when you burst out laughing. The glares his housemates have been giving him from across the hallway suddenly made sense to him. He started fumbling with his words.

"You- you said gold was your favorite color!" he said defensively, hugging himself as if that would shield his idiotic mistake.

"I was just seeing if you'd fall for it," you shrugged, cutting yourself a piece of cake. "No one's favorite color could be gold. Oh stop the glare, you look wonderful."

"Aw, you picked out this because you thought it was Y/N's favorite color?" Marlene asked teasingly from the other side of the table. Regulus wanted to throw a fork at her.

"It was an honest mistake," you spoke up on his behalf. "Reg's terrible at fashion, you know that."

Sirius squinted his eyes suspiciously. Out of everyone at that table, his brother was the only one with a proper sense of shopping. Regulus shrank under his questioning eyes.

Shit, shit, shit.

He hoped Sirius wouldn't ask anything. It's not like he could say - hey I love shopping but pretends to be bad so I could spend more time with my best friend. Yes, I know I don't need any excuse to talk to her but I'm still new to human affections. I don't want to be distant and if that means I have to wear ugly sweaters or nod at her questionable choices, I'll do that gladly. With a forced smile.

Sirius muttered something like interesting under his breath, but he didn't go on, which Regulus was grateful about.

But his brother wasn't the kind to let things go that easily. He cornered Regulus as soon as everyone went outside to see the snow.

-

"Have you seen Reg?" you asked Lily, who shook her head apologetically.

"I saw him with Pads a while ago. They looked very much deep in thought," James said.

You groaned. "Do you reckon they're fighting again?"

"Nah, they're far past all that," James waved it off. "Maybe he's telling him he's an animagus."

"HE'S AN ANIMAGUS?"

"Oh, you didn't know that," he laughed nervously. "Uhm, if you see a huge dog in our room, just act surprised. Lils, my love, wanna sneak off to Hogsmeade?"

"Still no on the date," Lily said, rolling her eyes. She went her way and James followed with a pout, leaving you in the snow to be a one-person search party for Regulus Arcturus Black.

-

"There you are!" you said sharply, stopping Sirius on his path. "Where the hell is your brother?"

"He uhm- he's, I don't think I'm supposed to tell you that," he said, scratching the back of his neck.

"What did you do?" you sighed. "If you buried him somewhere, there's still time to dig him out—"

"Merlin I was near the pond," Regulus said, walking up to you from behind. "Though I'm glad to know you have little to no reaction if I do get murdered."

"As if he would ever kill someone and get his clothes dirty," you scoffed. Sirius shrugged.

"Fair point. See ya," Regulus started to walk away but you chased after him with no hesitation.

"Where are you going?" you asked, careful not to step on branches and roots. "I'd jump off a cliff for you but sometimes I fear I may also be the one pushing you. Can you PLEASE talk?"

"Just needed some quiet time."

"You're sure you're not just ignoring me? Because you were perfectly fine earlier."

"Not everything about me is you," he stopped, a little meaner than he intended to. You were used to his occasional outbursts so you stood your ground.

"What did Sirius tell you?" you asked casually.

If he was taken back, he didn't show it. "We were just catching up on everything we missed. Birthdays, quidditch matches, dates. I always knew he had a thing for Remus but he actually asked him out? I didn't think he had the courage."

I certainly don't, he thought, smiling sadly. You mistook his stares for nostalgia. He mistook yours for pity.

"Then he asked me if I ever fancied someone," he continued, shrugging. "I said I was alone too much of my life for anything of that sort."

"Really? Cause I thought you were the kind of guy to easily fall in love."

"I wouldn't even know what love feels like," he lied swiftly. "Would you?"

"I only had crushes," you pointed out.

"Hmm, how do crushes feel like?"

"Well, you can't stop thinking about them, you feel strange when they're around, and then you want to— why are you looking at me like that?"

His eyes had completely melted, and the slight twinkle in them looked as if someone stole the stars just for him. He shooked his head slightly, disagreeing with what you said.

"You make it sound like a fever," he laughed. "It's nothing like that. You feel calm, happy, and safe. You feel like yourself with them, and they make you want to love yourself. It's wonderful, not chaotic."

"For someone who's never felt love, you know a lot about it."

This is it. Just say it. Just say it.

"Actually, I- sort of. Uhm, you're-duck."

"What?"

A smack at the back of your head made you lose balance. You landed on your back as clumsily as you could and watched as Sirius roared with laughter. You saw him reaching for another snowball already.

"Oh hell no," you stood up and ran away, hiding behind a tree just in time. Sirius started attacking Regulus instead.

"MY JACKET!" Reg yelled, angrily scooping up a heap of snow. Without even forming it into a ball, he dumped them on his brother's head.

"YES FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT—" James had appeared out of nowhere, but his words were cut off as you used your wand to make another snowball hit him square in the face.

"Cheating," he mumbled inaudibly, half-buried in snow.

You laughed and walked back to the scene, removing yourself from the tree's protection. Regulus smiled mischievously.

"No!" you yelled, running away. He chased you without hesitation.