Regulus Black. The boy who was always by himself. He never seemed to smile, never laughed, he never had something funny to say. He looked the way a living statue would, walking around the castle with a monotonous look on his face, a perfect appearance, and the most flat sound of voice. Was he even alive? Many had asked themselves as they watched him walk past them.
You were about to find out he was indeed alive and, even if he wouldn't admit it himself, in much need of a friend.
It was late at night, several hours after dinner, when you found yourself walking to the library for the fourth time that week. You had an herbology essay to write and were in need of a lot of research if you expected a decent grade, for some reason the exact book you were looking for was always taken, and there was only one copy of said book. Just your luck! At that point you didn't even stop to ask for the book, just walking to the shelf where you already knew the book was supposed to be.
"Damn it." you grunted, running your hand over the spines of the books there as you reached the empty space where the book was supposed to be. You lowered your head in exasperation, starting to read over the rest of the titles there to see if one could be of any use. You tilted your head, reading the titles in low murmurs as you walked backwards. "Ouch!" you complained, your hand instantly shooting to the side of your head where the hard feeling of what you saw was a book hit you.
"Are you alright?" asked the boy with a slight furrow of his eyebrows, placing the book he held now on the table as he neared you.
You shook your head lightly, getting the pain out of your head as you gave the boy a soft smile "I'm just fine." you sighed, running a hand through your face as your eyes landed on the table next to you "No way." you muttered in surprise, grabbing the book by the table and holding it to his face "Did you just hit me with Flesh-Eating Trees of the World ?"
Baffled, the boy gave you a nod "I believe so." he said, watching as a smile appeared on your face before he said "I'm... Sorry?"
"Don't be." you mused "You won't be needing this anymore, would you?" you asked, the relieved look on your face as he shook his head making him even more confused but managing to bring the smallest of smiles over his features "Thanks Merlin, I've been looking for this book over four days now."
"I just managed to get it this morning." he told you, your mind finally snapping out of its thoughts and more on the boy next to you.
You tilted your head, looking up at him with a kind smile "Well thank you for hitting the side of my head, I really needed it." you said "And the book, of course." you chuckled "It's Regulus, right? Regulus Black."
He awaited for the inevitable Sirius' younger brother or any kind or relation to his older brother, but when you said nothing and just stared at him waiting for his answer he limited himself to nod.
You offered your hand to him with a kind look "Y/N Y/L/N." you introduced yourself, shaking his hand eagerly once he took hold of yours. "I should be going now, but it was really nice talking to you." you said, grabbing your things and walking away from him. You took one last look at him, waving your hand with a smile as his head followed your movements until you were nowhere to be seen.
His hand felt tingly as if the energy from your person remained in his skin, leaving an almost warm feeling he couldn't quite place but he found himself looking for even more. He wanted to know more about you.
*******
You spent day and night reading the book, your essay nowhere finished as you still struggled with some of the terms there. You furrowed your eyebrows, scratching the back of your head as you turn the page back "What in Merlin's name is that?" you muttered to yourself as you turned yet another page back, looking for the term you knew but didn't remember the meaning of. Your eyes were focused over the pages, running your fingers along the lines as you took your quill and a stray piece of parchment, taking quick notes of all the information you needed to remember.
"Healing properties?" you read, writing it down as your face turned into one of disbelief "Don't know about that one... Side effects, that's more like it." you mumbled, writing furiously, not even noticing the scrap of the chair against the floor as someone took the seat in front of you.
"Do you always comment on everything you're reading?"
You rolled your eyes, looking up to see who was disturbing you when your face fell and quickly turned into a surprised one "Regulus." you breathed out with a smile "I didn't see you there, How are you?" you asked genuinely, putting your quill down.
"I'm fine." he said softly, motioning with his eyes to the little mess before you "Still writing the Herbology essay?"
You groaned, letting your head fall back "Sadly, yes." you sighed "Don't tell anyone but Herbology isn't my strong suit."
"Then I won't bother you any longer." he said "Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked you and you shook your head, his eyes flashing with a glint you never thought you'd see in his eyes.
For hours, the two of you worked on silence. The ruffling of pages, quills clinking against the bottles of ink and your low murmurs as you read over and over the pages the only sounds that flowed in the air inside the small study bubble the two of you created. At times he would ask you questions, little things he didn't quite understand and at last, you did the same.
"Regulus?" you called, the hum you got as a response making you continue "You already finished the essay, right?" you asked.
He lifted his eyes slowly, looking at you before he nodded "Yes." he answered simply "Why?"
You took the book before you and slid it across the table, his eyebrows scrunched together as he followed your finger "Do you think you could explain this to me?" you asked, tapping the line in the book.
He broke into a small smile, nodding his head before he lifted his eyes and met yours "Only if you tell me one thing." he said, making you curious.
"Alright." you said doubtfully.
"How long have you been waiting to ask me that?" he asked and your jaw dropped before you could stop it.
"I-I..." you stuttered, the smile on his lips making you even more frustrated "Oh, shut it." you grunted, fighting the smile that threatened to grow on your lips. But he raised an eyebrow as he returned to his own book, your smile finally breaking as you reached to take the book from him "Really?" you asked.
"You want your answers, I want mine." he said calmly.
You playfully glared at him, squinting your eyes before you sighed "An hour." you mumbled, crossing your arms over your chest.
He let out a breathy chuckle, taking the book from your hand "How Ravenclaw of you." he said under his breath.
You smirked at the comment, leaning down on the table to get a better look of the book as you said "Your one to talk." you said with an amused look on your face "The Slytherin that had to embarrass me first to help me."
You both laughed at your attitudes, the smiles now permanent on your faces as the playful bickering never ended. Not that day or any other, it became a habit for the two of you to meet at the same table to study, get homework done and read the entire library out of fun.
There wasn't a day you didn't see him, and people started to notice.
"I'm going to the library." you said, getting up from the spot in the grass you sat at with your friends.
"Going to see Black, again?" One of your friends asked you, the murmurs that rose from all of them making you stop.
"I am." you said, turning to face them with a daring look "You have a problem with that?" you asked.
"Not at all." she said, taking a look at the others surrounding her "It's just... well, he is weird, don't you think? Always by himself, never talks to anyone. Besides he's a Black, nothing good can come out of that one, I've heard stories...."
"So you do have a problem." you interrupted her, crossing your arms over your chest firmly "Well, you can keep your stories. And I don't care if he is always by himself, I really don't see the problem with that, maybe I'll start following his example." you spat, turning in your heel as you started to walk away.
" Y/N!" they called after you "You know we don't mean it like that."
"Why do you insist on spending time with him?" one of them asked.
"Because he is my friend!" you yelled, turning one last time to see them "He is my friend and I like spending time with him." You awaited for their replies, squinting your eyes as they just stared at you with wide eyes, or what you thought it was you until you followed their gaze over your shoulder "What?" you snapped, turning sharply to find none other than Regulus standing behind you.
"Regulus." you breathed out, letting your shoulders relax as he locked eyes with you.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Just fine." you muttered, taking his arm and linking it with yours "I was just leaving."
Arms linked together, you walked the halls of Hogwarts in silence, the tension in your body only rising as he stayed silent. "Wait." you said, letting go of him as you literally let your body fall to the floor, sitting in the middle of the empty hallway "I need a moment."
Regulus limited himself to stare at you, sitting on the floor with a furious hand running through your hair. Next thing he knew he was sitting next to you, playing with his hands.
"What are you doing?" you said suddenly, raising your head with a questioning look on your face.
He squinted his eyes "Waiting for you?" he said doubtfully.
You were supposed to be angry, not with him, but you were angry. Then why were you laughing, Regulus asking himself the same question. It didn't take long for him to start laughing with you. It was a sight to be seen: Both of you sitting in the middle of the hall laughing.
"I'm sorry about what they said." you said, after you both had calmed down and had spent a few minutes in silence "I really don't know if you heard anything but... well, I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologize." he said "I don't care what they say. It was what you answered that I cared about." he admitted, reaching for your hand to give it a firm squeeze "You're my only friend."
You smiled at that, returning the squeeze with a chuckle "You're my only friend too." you said, thinking about all the things that you had done together, days spent only with the other, the small jokes and things only the two of you understood "Best friend, actually."
"Best friend." he repeated, with a smile.
*******
Sirius Black couldn't believe his eyes when he saw it. One afternoon, running away from Professor Mcgonagall, he took a left turn that got him separated from his friends, the familiar laughter he thought belonged to them getting him to an empty hall.
He was about to call for James, running out of a hall only to duck his head and run back to where he couldn't be seen, his back flat on the stone wall. He was too far away to hear the words coming out of their mouths, but that wasn't what he was more shocked about. He listened carefully, not catching anything but the carefree sound of their voices.
He took a quick glance, watching as Regulus helped the girl to her feet, linking their arms together as they walked away, the blue scarf and Y/H/C the only thing he got from the girl next to him.
Sirius wandered the halls dumbfounded, his attention no longer on the present as a body collided against his chest, the only reason he wasn't on the floor because James held onto his shoulders. "Pads!" James said cheerfully, his face falling as he got no response "Padfoot?" he asked "You alright?"
Sirius' eyes met with the concerned look of his friend "I saw my brother." he blurted out "He was smiling."