Astronomy

Twelve: Regulus

It was November when Reggie started realizing that people were going to Hogsmeade.
He knew that once you were in third year, you were allowed to go, but he was only in second year. He was too busy with school to think about going anyway.
He was walking from his dorm to meet Leo when he saw James and Sirius. They had obviously just come back from town, as they both were carrying bags. It almost made Regulus sad, because he had to wait a year until he was allowed to town.
"Regulus!" Eve quickly caught up with him. "What's up?"
    "Nothing much. You?"
    "Nothing." She paused and glanced at him. "Are you okay?"
    "What do you mean?"
    "I don't know, it's just, you've been really quiet lately."
    "I'm fine," he said quickly. "I've just been overwhelmed with school for the past few weeks."
    She nodded. "I get that."
Reggie was a little confused, because a few weeks ago Leo had told him he suspected that Eve liked him. Leo had said she always seemed nervous when he was around, and Reggie honestly didn't know what to think. He obviously liked Eve, but just as a friend. She was pretty, and nice, and really smart too. Eve was everything he should like in a girl, but somehow just didn't. After thinking about this for a few days after Leo told him about Eve, he realized he had never liked any girl. He tried not to stress about this too much, thinking maybe he just hadn't met anyone yet. He thought about liking Eve, but soon realized he just didn't.
    They walked by the entrance to the courtyard, and Reggie stopped. "I'm meeting Leo here to hang out. Want to come?"
She shook her head. "I've got to go, I'm going to study."
She continued walking, and Reggie watched and wondered if she actually liked him or not. He was thinking about this when Leo walked over to him.
"Hey Reggie," he said cheerfully. "Sorry I'm a little late. We're you waiting long?"
"No, Eve was here so it wasn't that bad."
Leo nodded carefully. "So... do you think you like her?"
"I don't think so. She's nice, and pretty, but I don't really like any girls here."
"So you like a girl outside of school?"
"No," he said, quieter this time.
"Regulus?"
"Yes?"
Leo was hesitant. "Do you like girls?"
"Well of course... I think so. What would it be if I didn't like girls?"
"Maybe your gay. My cousin is, and he said he found out when he was our age."
Reggie stepped back. "What?"
"You know, being gay."
"What's gay?"
Leo's cheeks turned a bright shade of red. "You don't know what gay means?"
"Well, no. Come on, tell me."
Leo paused for a moment before saying, "It means you like boys instead of girls."
Reggie felt his face fall. "You can do that?"
"Yeah."
He didn't say anything for a moment. "That's definitely not me," he said, although he wasn't sure if he was trying to convince himself or Leo. "I like girls."
"Right," Leo said. "But you know that I wouldn't care if you were, right?"
Reggie nodded. "Sure."
***
Reggie sat in the back of the library, holding his book close so no one could see what he was reading. In his opinion, anything worth knowing had to have a certain amount of research behind it, and, unfortunately, this whole being gay think Leo had told him about was true. Boys could like boys, and girls could like girls.
The only specific boy that even came to mind was James Potter, and that's what truly scared him.