No Surprises
The last remnants of light faded behind the trees of the Forbidden Forest as the sun slipped toward the horizon, casting a golden glow over the towers of Hogwarts. Regulus Black sat on the windowsill, his gray eyes fixed on the landscape before him. His gaze focused on the Forbidden Forest, as if he were waiting for something, anything to relieve the anguish he felt in his chest.
In the same room, James Potter paced back and forth like a caged lion. His restlessness filled the air with tension, and the silence between them felt heavier with each passing second.
“You always do this,” Regulus’s voice broke the silence, low and laden with resentment that had built up over weeks. “You always pull away when I need you most.”
James stopped abruptly. His characteristic tousled hair fell messily over his forehead, while his hazel eyes sparkled with a mix of impatience and frustration. “What do you mean?” he asked, adopting a defensive tone, as if he already anticipated an argument.
Regulus lowered his gaze to his trembling hands, trying to control his emotions. His fingers fiddled with the ring on his index finger, a gift from his father if he remembered correctly.
“You pull away.” His voice was firmer this time. “You run off with your friends like I don’t matter. Like...,” he paused to catch his breath, “like I don’t exist. You leave me alone, time and time again.”
James ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “You know that’s not true, Reg.” He lifted his gaze, his usual indifference surfacing when things got complicated. “I have a life beyond this. I can’t be at your beck and call all the time. Do you understand?”
“At your beck and call.” Those words echoed in Regulus’s mind.
“I promise to stay longer next time.” James was trying to cut off the argument, his tone colder, as if his thoughts were already elsewhere. With someone else, perhaps.
Regulus lifted his head and looked at him. He knew that promise meant nothing. James would always choose Sirius, his soul brother, or Lily Evans, his eternal love. Regulus was just the toy he occasionally used for entertainment.
“We...,” he hesitated, fighting against the knot in his throat, “we’ll never be a real couple, will we? We won’t go on dates or spend a weekend together. None of that is ever going to happen, is it?”
The silence that followed was deafening, more revealing than any response James could have given. Regulus felt his eyes welling with tears but refused to let James see him break.
James stopped moving and, in an attempt to ease the tension, knelt before Regulus. He placed his hand on Regulus’s knee, a gesture that once had been enough to calm him. But now, that touch only made him uncomfortable. James’s gaze reflected a mix of apology and... annoyance?
“Regulus, it’s not that simple. You know that... this can’t last forever. It was never anything...” His words faded into the air, and Regulus felt as if each word buried a knife in his chest.
Regulus forced a sad smile, feeling bitter laughter welling up inside him. “In the end, that’s what this was all about, right?” He always knew this moment would come, but he was never truly prepared to face it. He had given his heart to James, and now he could feel it shattering into a thousand pieces.
“So what are we?” Regulus whispered, his voice barely audible. “Or what were we?”
James looked away, his usual confidence now seeming small and almost scared. “I don’t know, Reg. I never wanted to hurt you.”
Regulus stepped down from the windowsill and moved away from James. “Too late,” he thought, though he said nothing. The silence between them became unbearable. Outside, the wind began to batter the windows.
“James...” Regulus swallowed hard, trying to calm the knot forming in his throat. “I can’t keep doing this.”
Looking at James one last time, he hoped to find something that would encourage him to stay. James didn’t respond. And that, Regulus thought, was the clearest answer of all.
In the infirmary, the silence was almost deafening. The soft crackle of the fireplace and the clinking of bottles on the shelves were barely audible, but to Regulus, everything had become static and overwhelmingly distant. Madame Pomfrey was speaking in front of him, but her words seemed to come from far away, as if he were underwater and unable to process them clearly.
“Regulus...” Madame Pomfrey repeated softly but firmly. “You’re pregnant.”
The words fell on him like a silent curse. Pregnant. That term, that reality, didn’t fit anything he had envisioned for his life. Regulus remained still on the bed, his back straight and his hands clenched in his lap, trying to maintain his composure. Inside, however, he felt the pieces of his world crumbling one by one, like a house of cards collapsing in a gentle breeze.
“There must be some mistake...” he whispered, almost inaudibly, staring at the healer with wide eyes, unable to believe what he had just heard. “It can’t be... no... it’s not possible.”
Madame Pomfrey gently shook her head, her expression calm, if not slightly worried, used to handling the emotional chaos of Hogwarts students, but never something like this. “There are no mistakes. The diagnostic spell is clear. You are several weeks along. Male pregnancies are uncommon but not unheard of.”
Pregnant. Regulus clung to those words, searching for anything that would anchor him to reality. But he couldn’t help but let his mind drift into the abyss. What was he going to do? He was barely fifteen. He could hardly manage his own life, and now this...
A child. A son he hadn’t anticipated or desired, but who was now there, growing inside him. The weight of the truth crushed him.
“How long...?” he asked, his voice trembling as he looked at Pomfrey but not truly seeing her. “How many weeks... do I have?”
“Approximately seven weeks, according to the spell.” Her tone remained calm, as if each word was designed not to further unsettle Regulus. “Mr. Black, you have time to make a decision. It’s important that you take care of yourself and think about what you want to do.”
What he wanted to do... In his mind, that phrase echoed like a cruel joke. What were his options, really? His life was no longer his own. It hadn’t been since he was a child. He was destined to meet his family’s expectations, to be the perfect boy. But this... this broke all the rules, all the molds.
The reality hit him suddenly with brutal force. James! The name erupted in his mind like a cry of desperation. How would James react when he found out? The impulsive, carefree Gryffindor who had never shown real interest in a future between them, not even in a serious relationship. Regulus shuddered at the mere thought of telling him. James wouldn’t accept any responsibility; he knew that. He had never wanted that kind of commitment.
Regulus wasn’t going to cry, even as the knot in his throat tightened and tears began to well in his eyes. He couldn’t afford to break down, not now. Not when so much was at stake.
He got up from the bed, feeling his legs tremble. He needed to get out of there, needed space to breathe, to think, to understand what he was going to do.
“Mr. Black,” Madame Pomfrey’s voice stopped him before he could take a step toward the door. “I know this is a lot to process, but you need to think about your health, about what’s to come. Don’t make any hasty decisions. You have support if you need it.”
Support. That word felt empty. What support could he really receive? His family would tear him apart if they found out. Sirius had abandoned him years ago, and James... James would just walk away like he always did.
He had never felt so alone.
“Thank you...” he murmured, though he wasn’t sure what he was thanking her for. He turned and left the infirmary, leaving behind Pomfrey’s words but carrying with him a much heavier burden.
He walked through the empty corridors of the castle, his mind filled with overwhelming confusion. His whole body trembled, and finally, when he found an empty corner in the dungeons, he slumped against the wall, hiding his face in his hands.
How had he gotten here? He couldn’t think clearly. This couldn’t be happening. Not to him. Not now. A child. He hadn’t wanted this, but it no longer mattered what he wanted.
Regulus, in the cold shadows of Hogwarts, let a tear fall down his cheek as he prepared to face what was to come.
