Ink in Paper - Regulus Black

Chapter Twenty-Five

Another chapter, guys! Welcome back! I hope you all like it, because we all know what's in it, unfortunately. This is heavy angst, just as a warning.

Sirius couldn't breathe though his nose, so he made the most awful of noises through his mouth as he watched with dread Severus Snape walk closer to him, wand in hand and with his guard up even though he carried the smuggest grin in his disgusting lips.

"So that's who Luna Lupin has been sleeping with before dear Regulus," Severus said, looking at the corridor where Luna had disappeared to, stomping in anger. "Even that you have before him. I wonder if he knows."

"That's none of your fucking business, Snivellus," Sirius said through his teeth, unsure if moving was a good idea.

His wand was in his back pocket. If he made any movement to get it, Snape would probably attack him before he could get it. If a fight was to come, he would certainly lose with the disadvantage of being caught so out of rhythm. Without support or a crowd, Sirius wasn't as confident as he could be.

"Though I think your brother is the least of your problems, am I right?" Snape said, raising his eyebrows as he watched Sirius' stiff reactions. "Your boyfriend might be angrier about that."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Sirius asked, rolling his eyes.

"We all know Remus Lupin and you will certainly end up together at some point, then you can go and destroy him," Snape said.

Sirius stepped away from him, annoyed and eager to anywhere else where Snape wouldn't follow. "I really don't understand what you're trying to say or how this is any of your business," Sirius grumbled.

Snape raised his wand slightly, not to attack, but to point at something that Sirius couldn't see in his own face.

"Your lips can lie, but your face cannot," Severus Snape smiled at him.

Disgusted by the sight, Sirius crossed his arms in front of his chest, wanting to put some space in between them. He hated the image of Severus smiling so openly to him, as if he had done something good to him.

"Try finding a girlfriend for yourself and leave my love life alone, prat," Sirius said.

Still, though Sirius' anger grew, so did Snape's amusement over whatever he could see in Sirius' face. His grin was horrible, his calmness was perturbing. Sirius wanted nothing more than to throw a punch, but that was a fight that he knew he would lose, so he stood and watched as Snape slowly lowered his wand to point it to Sirius' stomach.

"I wonder if your little friends know about that girl. I mean, James Potter certainly does. He's the type to keep your dirty secrets, anything to be beloved, so I'm sure he doesn't want the truth to slip out either. Perhaps I should let Lupin know the company he's been keeping," Snape said. "Your little secret might have been enjoyable for a while, but not it'll come to back to bite you in the arse."

Sirius tried his best to swallow down his fear, allowing just anger to cause a dangerous glint into his narrowing eyes. Anger that needed to be masked to keep on showing in his face, because the idea caused such sudden happiness that it was hard to stop himself from laughing at the fear that he knew Severus Snape would soon feel – enough for him to leave them all alone, enough for them all to be safe from his curiosity.

"Severus," he said the boy's first name with such sweetness that it tasted like venom, "before you run off with my little secret, perhaps you should consider a bigger one having a bigger impact."

The biggest and most natural weakness in someone as academically focused as Severus Snape was his curiosity. It wasn't hard to wake it up, it was even easier to see it on his face whenever he heard something interesting.