The Story of Regulus Black - Years 5-7

LXX. Talk

CW: mentions of attempted suicide & child abuse

Barty Crouch Jr. was waiting in the dorm room when Regulus came back from practice at half-past ten.

His hair was hanging in damp clumps around his head, school clothes on rather than the Quidditch robes that Barty suspected were being washed. Regulus looked directly toward Barty when he entered the room, smiling a warm smile that lit up his face and made Barty's stomach do somersaults.

"Hullo!" Regulus greeted him, voice sounding much more joyous than Barty had heard it in quite a while. "Practice was great! I think we're really getting better, which is obviously very good. The backups are all good, too, which is important because now I think we can win even if we have to substitute some of the main players." He continued to ramble on about Quidditch as he changed into his pyjamas.

Barty watched, listening intently to Regulus's words. He had always loved how passionate Regulus could get about it, how happy he seemed when he realized that people were actually listening to him speak about something that he was so obviously interested in. Every time he would glance at Barty while speaking, his face would light up and he would speak with a new fervor. Barty thought that he would always love that about Regulus.

However, there was still that thought in the back of his mind. He knew that he needed to speak with Regulus, and Regulus had said that they could talk when he got back, but the more that he repeated the same Quidditch points and closer that he got to being ready for bed, Barty realized that it could not be out of interest at all and rather a way to kill time so that he didn't have to be a part of the inevitable conversation that was soon to come.

"Reg?" Barty suddenly interrupted, and Regulus looked at him curiously. He was running his fingers through his hair in the mirror, trying to shake out as much of the water as he could before he laid down. However, at the sound of Barty's voice and the look on his face, Regulus gave up on his hair and crossed the room.

"Yeah?" He questioned, tilting his head a bit to the side as he crossed his legs in front of him and stared curiously at Barty. His eyes roved over the features of Barty's face, the way that his features looked soft yet angular all at the same time. He couldn't keep the small smile from his face, but he could never keep that away when he saw Barty and got the urge to kiss every single square inch of his face. It wasn't the urge that made him smile, though, it was always the realization that he could do just that.

Barty saw the smile on Regulus's face, and it only made him hesitate that much more about what he needed to say. He knew that he needed to, that it was something that had to be said sooner or later. However, seeing the small sparkle of joy in Regulus's eyes - the sparkle that was so often absent - made him shift uncomfortably and hesitate as he tried to word his sentences in his mind and make the situation as unstressful as he could.

"Barty?" Regulus asked quietly, his brows coming together in the middle as concern crept into his veins. "Is everything alright?"

"Regulus, you said that we could talk after you got back to the dorm. You're in the dorm now. So can we please talk now?" Barty figured that bringing up the topic of a conversation would be the best way to start one.

Regulus pursed his lips and Barty could see the answer clear in his eyes before he even opened his mouth to speak. "Barty, I'm kinda tired..." he looked away, staring into the empty air at Barty's side so that he didn't have to see the disappointment in his eyes.

Barty sighed and shut his eyes, hanging his head so far forward that his chin nearly touched his chest. "Regulus, please. Can we please talk?"

"Barty, can we just talk in the morning? Please? I promise we can talk in the morning. But I'm just... I'm tired right now! Can we please just lay down?"