𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 - regulus black

chapter twenty-seven

Rumors about the youngest of Black being a 'fag' had died down before even spreading. Regulus never got to know what happened that night and he didn't want to hear about it anymore. The only thing that remained was finding out the culprit. They both had their idea, hinted by Regulus but they still decided to investigate. And their investigation unsurprisingly led them to the only person they had been suspecting.

"I swear I didn't tell anyone!" cried out Ivanna Flint, regarding the boys with angriness in her chocolate brown eyes.

"Nobody knew except you. Do you really think we're going to trust you," hissed Regulus while glaring at her.

Not wanting to deal with her anymore, the boys decided to give up. But the girl revealed herself to be a good ally to them. They quickly understood that she wasn't the one who spread the rumors and that she really wanted to help them. Regulus' esteem for her went up and Ariel's esteem for girls in general went up as well. His mother and Narcissa weren't the only exceptions of good girls anymore, he found someone he appreciated in Ivanna, more than any girl in Hogwarts.

"You see, it's nothing about the kiss. There's no proof of anything going on between you two. I asked people if they knew about any rumor going on with Black and most of them didn't hear of it or don't know what it is about. And I guess all of them think it's rubbish, literally nobody believes the heir of one of the most famous pureblood family can be into guys. Even less two sons both from a famous family," she explained them one day after having done a little investigation for a few days. They were all three sitting at a table of the common room. It was rather late, barely anyone was still awake.

"And so from where those rumors were coming from?" murmured the blond boy, still checking if anyone was listening to them.

"Some Gryffindors. You know how they are, they hate Slytherins and people who believe in the superiority of pure blood. And they probably hate gays too. So they made up rumors."

"And they say we are the bullies..." sighed Ariel, feeling angry by these revelations.

"It's not like it blew up anyway. It was about me but I've never heard anything," added Regulus.

"I surprisingly didn't hear anything either..." said Ivanna, surprised at the realization.

Regulus rolled his eyes at her words before standing up.

"I'm tired. I'm going to bed," he just said while letting his hand brush Ariel's shoulder as he walked behind him.

The boy's hand slightly touched his for a few seconds in return before he angled his face towards him to watch him leave.

"Oh you two are so sweet," cooed the girl in a singsong voice.

"We are, right?" said the boy, smirking in amusement, as he faced her again.

"I used to get excited about you like any other girl but recently we got closer and I get more excited about you two being all lovey-dovey in the cutest way."

The blond boy chuckled at her words and thought for a while. Her brother Silas Flint used to be their housemate and Ariel knew him rather well which was how he got to know about Ivanna. The girl at first was like any other girl but he somehow took a liking in her because of how funny and shameless - a bit like him - she was. However, now their relationship was completely different. Having her discovering their secret, even though it was by accident, brought the two closer.

"So, you've given up on me?" asked curiously the boy with a chuckle.

"Not totally, I admit," she answered, looking rather amused at her own statement.

Ariel laughed, knowing she was just joking.

"You might have a chance who knows," he said shrugging.

And this time, it was her turn to laugh. "Are you being serious? You're too into him and I know it."

For a second, the older boy didn't know what to say upon hearing this. Was this true?

"Does it show a lot?" he whispered more seriously.

"No don't worry. It's because I know it that I see it. Otherwise, nobody could guess it, except if you pay attention to your relationship and notice the details," she answered, serious as well.

"What kind of details?"

"The stares, the smiles... the amount of free time you spend together... your clinginess..." she finished with a laugh.

"Well, we look like very good friends." And he laughed with her.

"Most people are thinking that yeah, not believing something else could happen between two males, especially you two... by the way, I think James Potter and Sirius Black know too," said Ivanna casually.

Ariel's blue eyes widened in surprise. He could have guessed they weren't completely clueless about this but they really knew it and Ivanna knew about that.

"How do you know?"

"I was curious to know if the older Black knew about those rumors and what he thought about this."

"Hm I see. Thanks for telling me... I mean thank you for everything. And Regulus will never say it but I know he's thankful that you kept the secret."

"It's normal. And I know he's too stubborn to say it, we've been classmates for almost seven years."

And Ariel laughed again at her words.

Ariel had so rarely relate to his classmates. But during the next few days he realized they had more in common than he thought. It took him eight years to realize this fact. Unlike his fellow Slytherins becoming excited about being able to finally start their full-time job as Death Eaters, he shared thoughts with his other classmates from other houses. Most of them, and Ariel too, were feeling anxious about their future. Adult life was something those teenagers feared a lot. A part of them felt impatient and curious but a part of them remained afraid and nostalgic at the idea of leaving childhood for real.

Ariel had all of these thoughts in his head. He knew once he was out of Hogwarts everything would accelerate whether it was about founding a family or finding a job.

His brother sent him a letter one day, telling him he got him a job interview at the Minister set for July. It was going too fast and Ariel hated that. Lucius who had never cared about him, who hadn't even taken any news from him the whole year and during his whole scholarship, decided now to "help" him as he would say. It only angered the young boy. He didn't even bother replying, thinking he had more important things to focus on.

These days, he was busy studying like his classmates. N.E.W.T.s were around the corner, he had never been so close to graduate. It was now only a matter of days. Ariel would never talk about this with Regulus. They would just enjoy their few moments together. Ariel was pretty sure he couldn't have a future with Regulus and the younger boy probably knew about this. They wouldn't stop seeing each other but meeting would be hard. Ariel would get busy and Regulus would just continue his studies in the following year. But thinking about them being apart, not even meeting anymore, made Ariel's stomach form a knot. The thought was just unimaginable. But he knew his life would change the moment he would graduate.