Tea; Noun / A hot drink made by infusing the dried, crushed leaves of the tea plant in boiling water.
It seemed the go-to drink every time he ended up on Remus Lupin’s doorstep. Regulus would saunter in, flop down on the couch, and Remus would ask if he wanted tea. No, he never did. He hated tea. Hated it. It was hollow in his mouth. Such an odd feeling. Hollow mouth, hollow throat. Just as hollow as he felt. Every time, he’d tell Remus not to tell Sirius he had visited. Remus never seemed to, but probably wanted to. It wasn’t exactly wise to have a Death Eater come to your door every so often for comfort or just a place to sit and gather thoughts, but Remus assumed he truly had nothing to lose, so the comfort of a lost, forgotten boy wasn’t all that bad. They never slept together, though there had been touches and removal of a few items of clothing. If there had been more time in a life, Regulus was sure they would have. He would have had time to make this man feel special, instead of Sirius accusing him of things he’d never done. Sirius didn’t understand or realize what he had. Regulus knew he was no traitor.
“Don’t tell Sir-“
“Forget about Sirius,” Remus said from the kitchen, “I think it’s past times that we remind ourselves that’s our only link. Do you want any tea?”
“Yes, sure.” Regulus said as he sat at the table. “I’ll be leaving the country next week.” It was a lie. Remus turned toward him.
It was the first time he’d ever said yes to tea. And the last.
Remus refused to drink tea for the next twenty years.. it started to taste hollow in his mouth. Hollow mouth, hollow throat. Almost as hollow as he felt.
