First meetings
December 1971, start of Christmas break
While waiting for her brother to come out of the Hogwarts Express, Romina spotted, not far from her, a boy around her age waiting on the platform as well. She recognized him. He was the same boy who waved at the wagon Remus was on, on the 1st of September. He must have an older sibling going to Hogwarts as well.
Romina was taken out of her thoughts by the sight of a dark-haired boy with glasses jumping out on the platform so suddenly, as though he materialized out of thin air. He was laughing so loud she thought he was shrieking. Another dark-haired boy quickly followed, stumbling on his friend, this one without glasses but with slightly longer, more tamed hair. He looked vaguely familiar. A red haired girl came out of the same wagon, passing by them, and only stopping to roll her eyes at the boys in an exaggerated manner. Romina was just about to ask what they were laughing at when she heard someone scream in her direction:
“Watch out!”
She had just had enough time to get out of the way when she registered that the flying trunk coming out of the wagon skipped right past her, another dark haired boy- seriously how many were there?- running after it. This one didn’t seem as joyful as the other two, though. As he was going after what seemed to be his trunk, he yelled:
“You’ll regret this soon enough!”
Ah well, Hogwarts seemed fun.
A laughing boy- a blond one, finally!- came out of the wagon while shouting back:
“Start by regretting mocking my friend first, then you can come talk back about regrets!”
A chuckle came from the train from which Romina had turned her back to.
“You tell him, Pete.”
She recognized that voice instantly. She practically jumped on her brother the moment he stepped on the platform.
“Mimi! You’re going to make me fall!”
Thankfully, Remus was steady enough for them not to fall off. Remus was tall for his age, always has been, but Romina was tall as well, so that helped to steady their embrace. They got their height from their father.
“I missed you, you know.” she said, still hugging him.
He sighed “Yeah, I know.” He was hugging her back, “I missed you too.”
Someone interrupted their reunion soon enough, the boy with glasses.
“Blimey, Lupin, is that your baby sister? She looks just like you!”
“Yeah, she’s like a slightly smaller female version of you” added the boy named Pete, or rather Peter Pettigrew, if Romina recalled Remus’s tales. He turned to the glass-wearing boy “Don’t you think so too, James?”
That meant the fourth boy left had to be…
“That’s right! What about your own mini you, Sirius? Where’s that baby brother of yours?”
And with that, the apparent Sirius Black turned his head around, searching eagerly for something, or someone. His face beamed at the sight of the little boy Romina had spotted earlier on the platform. He shouted for anyone who could hear him:
“Reggie! Over here!”
And Romina was right. It turned out that the boy in question was the younger brother of the infamous Sirius Black who Remus always mentioned at least thrice in his letters. He would most likely attend the same classes as Romina next year. She didn’t know many magical kids, let alone ones her exact age. She was dreading the day she’d have to make friends on the Hogwarts Express, just like her brother did. But she knew that if he did it, she could do it just as well. So she might as well make acquaintance with the younger Black brother from now on. Who knows, maybe they'll get along.
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Regulus was not supposed to be here. He was supposed to be attending his piano lesson back at Grimmauld Place. But he was too eager to see his brother. These past few months had been torture without him. And so, he begged his mother to let him go greet his brother at the train station. She, of course, refused.
"Sirius is not to be greeted by any family member, he was sorted into Gryffindor" had she said, as if it was painfully obvious that her eldest son being sorted into a house other than Slytherin was the greatest shame she could ever imagine to bear.
Regulus still went along with Kreacher anyways, without her noticing. Regulus never gets caught. He'll find a way to bribe his music teacher somehow, just not now.
Nonetheless, Regulus went to the train station only to pick up his brother, not to interact with his new classmates and their families. Sirius made him do just that. Surely he didn't mean to make Regulus uncomfortable, he was just happy to see his brother again! Sirius only wanted to share the good things that happened to him with his dearest brother. Regulus still hated the whole thing. He didn't even have to talk, he just had to stand next to Sirius and smile as he talked. Regulus hated that even more.
For Merlin's sake, he was not a pet, he could talk. He just…needed someone to indulge him in the conversation. As much as he loved his brother, he hated being known as the "younger, quiet one". At ten years old, it's hard not to feel overshadowed by your much more charming eleven year old brother.
Needless to say Regulus was quite surprised when someone finally talked to him directly. A girl his age. She even ignored Sirius and insisted on talking to him. Romina Lupin, younger sister of one of Sirius' roommates. She asked what his name was. Clearing his throat and stepping out of Sirius's back, he responded:
"Regulus. My name is Regulus Black. Pleased to make your acquaintance. And you are?"
She stared at him, a bit confused, and then she laughed. Regulus never made anyone laugh, usually. He didn't even mean to do that. Still, she laughed without a reason and introduced herself while handing out her hand, as if to shake it:
"Romina Lupin! It's nice to meet you!"