＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚
Regulus pulled away too quickly.
Rune didn't even get the chance to close her eyes.
He stared down into her widened eyes and waited for her to say something. He had imagined hundreds of ways she'd react but staring up at him in silence was not one of them.
"Er— are you okay?"
She swallowed hard and he noted the way her pupils dilated before she pulled on his tie and brought him down to her. "Kiss me again."
With a small smile, he moved his hands of the counter and rested them on her waist as he lowered his lips to hers.
Her fingers immediately curled around his neck as he ran his tongue against her bottom lip before their lips moved against each other's in sync.
She was kissing Regulus Black.
SHE WAS KISSING REGULUS BLACK!
Rune pulled away and stared at him, blinking repeatedly as she glanced from his eyes to his lips to her fingers on his neck. He was breathing on her.
"Should we like... discuss this first or something?" she sputtered.
"What?"
"I mean, we're kind of making out. Do you think we should discuss the implications or... or maybe the techniques. I'm not quite talented at this yet, so maybe you could tell me what you want me to do or not do—"
"Rune," he breathed, pulling her waist until she was pressed against him. "Shut up."
And then he was kissing her again.
His teeth grazed on her lip until she opened her mouth enough for him to slip his tongue inside.
"We're so making out," she murmured against his mouth, and he laughed sending an entire wave of butterflies tumbling through her stomach.
Rune could feel her heart thumping against her chest and just when she thought she might forget how to breathe, he slowly pulled away.
He was still close enough that his breath fell on her lips- still close enough that her nose was on his cheek.
"Reg," she said softly.
"Hmm?"
"You're kind of crushing me."
He pulled away enough until he was no longer holding her hostage between his body and the counter.
She snuck a glance at him only to find that he was staring at her in disbelief.
She had a vague sensation that she might have been looking at him the same way.
"What are we doing?" he asked, running a hand through his hair.
He was so darned attractive.
"You wanna... er... act like this never happened?" she asked.
He nodded and licked his lips.
"You did that on purpose!" she exclaimed, pointing at him.
"What?" he asked, licking his lips again.
"You're so—so—so—"
As she fumbled for words, a smirk spread over his lips.
And before she could consider the repercussions, she closed the distance between them and pressed her mouth against his again.
She gasped into his mouth when she felt his fingertips brush against her thigh as their lips locked.
He had somehow found a way to slip his tongue into her mouth again and the wet heat of it was making her insides into shambles. She wanted him to kiss her and kiss her and kiss her. And then kiss her all over again.
How could something feel so good? she wondered as he worked his way around her mouth.
When they finally moved apart, she couldn't help but feel ecstatic at the sight of his shaky breath and reddened ears. She was obviously doing the same thing to him as he was to her.
He repeated her question from before, "You still on for acting like this never happened?"
"Consider it forgotten." She stepped out of his hold, wincing when she felt the coolness of his rings against her thigh as she moved. "What were we talking about?"
"You were about to eat," he said. "And I was on my way to bed."
"Well, be on your way then. Goodnight, Regulus."
"Goodnight, Rune." He turned on his heel and walked out of the kitchen.
Rune lifted her fingers to her lips as her mouth fell slightly open.
Forgotten, she reminded herself. Food!
She turned around and walked back to the counter where her cornish pastry was and where the water was done boiling.
Kissing. Lips. Regulus. Tongue. Forget. Forget. Forget. Regulus. Regulus. Forget.
She took a generous bite from the cornish pastry to remove the thought of Regulus before she felt someone circle their hand around their arm and spin her around.
With her mouth full of food, she looked into Regulus' eyes.
"I don't want to forget," he said.
Since she couldn't speak, she nodded.
"We don't have to label it but we're a thing, okay?"
Rune nodded again.
"Okay. If that's all, then goodnight again, Rune."
The pastry was still in her mouth, so all she could offer him was another nod.
When he left the kitchen again, Rune slumped against the counter and chewed as she tried to process what had just happened.
And when she realized, she couldn't help the grin that fought its way onto her lips.
She just had her first kiss with Regulus Black.
But more than that, she was a thing with Regulus Black.
After her meal of leftovers (which she had decided was the best meal of her life) she was giddily walking back to the dungeons where she expected she was going to have the best sleep of her life.
She needed to sleep and dream and wake up to accept that she wasn't already dreaming.
Since the possibility of it being a dream occurred and she wanted to bask in its bliss for a bit more, she took the longer route to get there.
Just as she was passing a storage room, she heard laughter.
Both of which she recognized.
She stopped in front of the door and stared at it in a rigid silence, wondering if her mind was so out of it that it was playing tricks with her.
But it came again followed by a shhh and then giggles.
Rune pulled the door open to find Tina and Rabastan pressed against the wall, clearly in the middle of what was act of intimacy.
"Oh my god!" exclaimed Rune, clapping her hand over her mouth as realization dawned on her. "Oh my god."
"Oh my god," fretted Tina, taking a step closer to Rune.
Rune could do nothing but stare at them in disbelief as they glanced from each other to her.
"I can explain," tried Tina.
Rune shook her head. "No, no, you don't have to. I get it. The blood status thing." She broke out into a genuine smile. "Oh my god! It makes so much sense to me now, I can't believe I missed it."
Tina heaved a sigh of relief and just as she was about to say something, she noted the way Rune's smile faded.
Rune looked at Rabastan. "Does Regulus know?"
"Er..." stammered Rabastan, pressing his lips together. "Why do you ask?"
"Please just answer me. Does he know?"
Rabastan glanced at Tina before nodding hesitantly. "We don't keep secrets from each other."
Rune felt as though something inside her had been doused. "Then do you know why he and I were...?"
She trailed off at the end of the sentence and hoped more than anything for Rabastan to look at her in confusion and ask for the rest of the sentence.
But all he did was glance wearily at Tina before sighing and nodding.
Rune bit down on her lip before turning to Tina. "Then do you also know that he and I were faking it this whole time?"
"Rune," murmured Tina.
"Please answer me."
Tina nodded. "Yeah."
Rune laughed bitterly as she nodded. "Okay." She wiped her hands on her skirt, "Okay so, you were all just taking the piss out of me for the last couple of months then. Okay, no I—I get it."
"It wasn't like that—" tried Tina.
"Please don't tell him that I know," interjected Rune, speaking directly to Rabastan. "Now that I'm well aware you two don't keep secrets, please just do me this one favor and don't tell him that I know."
"I won't," replied Rabastan. "Rune, I'm so sorry."
"Don't be." Rune was already stepping away. "I'm happy for you two really. I hope you get everything you deserve."
Before either of them could get a word in, Rune turned around and sped off to her room.
Please, she prayed. Please let this be a dream.