#generfluid regulus

Regulus stood outside of Sirius’ front door, hand raised poised to knock, but he couldn’t do it. He was chewing nervously on his bottom lip and he could feel his heart pounding in his ears.

Just as he was about to give up and run away, the door flew open and he was suddenly staring up at his older sibling.

“I got bored waiting to see if you would actually knock.” Sirius told him in answer to his silent question, pointing to the camera on the side of the door Regulus hadn’t seen. “You gonna come in now the door is open?”

Regulus swallowed and nodded, stepping over the threshold and into Sirius’ flat.

Remus was sitting on the sofa, he had his feet up on the coffee table and there was a book resting in his lap.

“That’s a good one.” Regulus pointed at the book. “I finished it last week.”

Why was his voice so quite? Fuck.

“Reg, you alright?” Sirius asked, as they placed a gentle hand on Regulus’ shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s…I just…” Regulus sighed heavily and collapsed down on to the sofa next to Remus.

“What’s happened?” Remus put his book down. “Is it James? Did he do something?” Remus asked firmly, fury flashed across his eyes and Regulus was quick to shut it down.

“No, no, he didn’t do anything. He’s really great.”

“Then what’s going on?” Sirius asked as they sat down and placed a fresh cup of chamomile tea down in front of Regulus.

“I…I…” Regulus took a deep breath and then sipped at his tea, collecting his thoughts. “I need some help.”

Normally, Sirius would make some kind of joke at that statement. There must be something on Regulus’ face that was telling Sirius how serious this situation was. Remus stood up with his book and excused himself. Leaving the Black siblings to it.

“You can ask me anything, you know.” Sirius rubbed their hand up Regulus’ back and Regulus breathed in deeply, relaxing into the touch.

“How did you know?” Sirius stayed silent, giving Regulus the space to get his words out. “That you’re not always a boy, I mean.”

“Ah,” Regulus heard the smile in Sirius’ voice. “What do you want to know, Reggie?”

“How did you figure it out?”

“Well, I didn’t really have the words at the time, but I knew that there was something different. So, I started small. I tried eye liner and nail varnish, only when mum and dad weren’t around, obviously. Then, one day, I was out shopping with Lily and Marlene and they caught me staring at the skirts they were trying on. So, they dragged me into the changing room with them and encouraged me to try one on.” Sirius was smiling fondly at the memory and Regulus found himself smiling back. “The rest is history.”

“Do you…can I…” Regulus chewed on his lip again and Sirius pulled it loose with his thumb.

“Stop chewing on your lip, you’ll make it bleed.” His sibling gently chastised him. “Come on.” Sirius took his hand and stood up.

They went to Sirius’ bedroom, where Remus was sitting up on the bed and reading.

“Switch.” Sirius said, as they let go of Regulus’ hand and went over to the chest of drawers.

Remus didn’t ask any follow up questions, just smiled and left the room.

“Right, here.” Sirius held out a black skirt to him and Regulus’ eyes went wide.

“What? Now?”

“No time like the present. Remember, gender is just a construct. If you don’t like it, then you don’t need to try anything else on.”

Over the next hour and a half, Sirius helped Regulus try on multiple outfits from their wardrobe, some more feminine than others, some more neutral. Sirius said it was because some days they were more they than he or she.

“Reggie? How’s it looking?” Sirius called to him through the bathroom door. “Is that the one?”

Regulus’ hands were shaking as he looked at his reflection. The black dress fit his curves and accentuated his hips and made his legs and arms look amazing. Add in the subtle makeup and half up-do that Sirius had done for him and Regulus couldn’t believe how comfortable he felt.

Not just comfortable…

“Hot.” Sirius said from next to him. “Soz, but when you didn’t answer I thought you might be freaking out, so I thought I should just barge in.”

“It’s alright.”

“You do look amazing, though.”

“Thank you, Siri.” Regulus felt himself welling up, but Sirius shouted at him.

“Don’t! You’ll smudge your makeup.” Sirius beamed at him. “Fancy showing off your new look?”

Regulus laughed. “Alright.”

“One last thing, to really make your legs pop.” Sirius held up a pair of black heels. Regulus gulped and just nodded. “Here, I’ll help. They’re a bitch to get used to.”

Once the shoes were in place, Sirius led Regulus into the living room, calling out to Remus as they walked.

When they stepped into the room, Regulus froze and the smile dropped from his face.

James was staring at him unblinking and Regulus felt like he was going to vomit. Why was he here? What if James hated this? What if he thought Regulus was a freak and wanted nothing more to do with him?

“Reg, you look…” Regulus watched the lump in James’ throat bob as he swallowed.

“Do you like it?” Regulus was shaking with nerves as James stood right in front of him, running his fingers up both of Regulus’ arms.

“Like it?” The look on James’ face suddenly turned predatory. “Fuck, baby, you look delicious.”

“There are other people in the room you know!” Sirius made a heaving sound.

James ignored Sirius as he ran his fingers over Regulus’ hips. “Wanna go home?” He growled.

Regulus nodded.