First year- The beginning of a long journey
Friday 1st September 1972
“Slytherin!” the hat had shouted through the grand hall.
A wave of relieve had flown through Regulus's body.
Not that he necessarily wanted to be in Slytherin, he wouldn't mind being in Ravenclaw or even Hufflepuff. Just not Gryffindor.
Anything but Gryffindor. He had seen with his own eyes what his parents had done to Sirius after he got sorted there.
He hadn't been able to sleep, the fear of what his parents would do creeping up on him lurking in the shadows.
But now here he was, taking place next to his cousin.
“Regulus! How wonderful you'll be joining us in Slytherin. We wouldn't have expected anything less of you.” Narcissa started. She had barely finished her sentence when her Boyfriend, Malfoy, huffed “unlike some” throwing glares at Sirius wo was laughing at something Potter said.
Regulus hated Potter. James fucking Potter who is better than everyone at everything, well, according to Sirius. That was what he concluded from the countless times Sirius had talked about him during the summer. Regulus felt emptier every time, like Sirius wasn't only starting to move more toward James, but also further away from Regulus. For the first time he felt alone in his own house. Left behind.
He snapped back to reality as the sorting hat had put another kid his age in Slytherin. Bartemius crouch junior. His family was one of the sacred twenty-eight as well, though his mother informed him of their disapproval of the crouches. But he figured that they wouldn't really mind Crouch Jr., as he seemed to have the same mindset as her.
He took place next to Regulus. Introducing himself as Barty, though it went more like: "Don’t ever call me Bartemius or I'll kill you without hesitation." So, Barty it was.
He admired his boldness and found that he was easy to talk to. Mid conversation another boy came sit across from them. “Am I interrupting?” he asked. “I'm Evan Rosier.”
“Not at all.” Barty replied “I’m Barty and this is Reggie”
“Regulus” he corrected.
Coincidentally the three of them were going to have to share a dorm the next seven years.
Evan was the one to open the door of the dorm, but Barty slipped past him as the door opened to claim the best bed. After a short consultation between Regulus and Evan, they took place on their beds as well.
A silence followed.
“So... now what?” Barty asked.
“I don’t know I'm still trying to comprehend that we're basically going to be living here the next seven years.” Evan returned as Regulus turned to unpack his trunk.
He didn't have much a lot of stuff he really valued, as his parents were the ones who picked his hobbies. They already decided he would be joining the quidditch team as soon as he starts his second year, so he was required to practice at least once a week.
He had one thing in his possession that he actually felt connected to. It was a necklace he got from Narcissa, she had always been kinder to him than Bellatrix, last summer she would come to him when she saw that he needed Sirius, but he wasn't anywhere to be found. She saw right through him and the next day she came to him with the necklace.
It was the Leo constellation, with his star, Regulus, centred. He flipped it around to see the Canis Major constellation with Sirius's star centred. “here” Narcissa said as she reached out to spin the necklace. When the illusion made it look like the two stars combined, Regulus saw a light emerge. He couldn't take his eyes off, mesmerised until the necklace stopped spinning. “you two are connected. Even if you're making yourself miserable by being in denial, he still loves you when he's not here. You two shine brightest when you're together.” Narcissa explained. Regulus felt tears building up behind his eyes. “Thank you” he whispered. “You have no idea how much this means to me.” Narcissa returned a warm smile to him “Don't show your parent's; though it involved a bit of magic to make the stars glow, it's still a muggle invention.” “Never” he replied. So, every time he felt lonely, he took his necklace to spin it around. His little light in the dark.
He took the necklace and hung it around his neck.
Regulus didn't plan on sleeping the first night, he snuck out to roam the castle and to figure out how it was built. Moving swiftly from shadow to shadow, to avoid Mrs. Norris. He found a few small nooks he made a mental note of, before he went back to the dorm. But as he slipped through the door he was confronted by Barty. “Where were you?”
“Just walking through the castle.”
“Ever heard of a curfew?”
“Do I look stupid?”
“Well...”
“Rude much.” Regulus threw a book at Barty, who continued talking. "I'm just saying, next time tell me you're going to sneak out so I can come along."
Regulus chuckled about that. "Do you really think I want you to come along?"
"Well, you don’t have a choice."
"I can just not tell you."
"I can put you on a leash"
Regulus raised an eyebrow "kinky."
Barty smirked and lay down on his bed, not planning to continue their conversation.
Regulus also figured it would be best to try to get a few hours of sleep. At least he had an entire weekend to prepare for class.
Monday 4th September
Regulus was the first of the three to wake up, he showered and got dressed. Barty woke up when he was buttoning his shirt. “you're not really a sleeper are you?” He asked Regulus. “Not when I have too much to think about” He answered.
“Such as?”
“Life.”
Evan, who just woke up, snorted. “depressing”
“Reggie here doesn't take care of himself, so it looks like we're going to have to do that for him.” Barty explained to Evan.
“don't call me Reggie, and I do take care of myself.” Regulus shot back at him
“Guess we became parents at 11” Evan laughed, ignoring Regulus's comment.
Regulus eyed the two boys in annoyance and left for breakfast, their voices fading the further he walked.
He spotted his cousin at the table as soon as he entered the hall.
“Regulus!” Narcissa echoed through the hall. “I saved you a seat.”
She made a hand gesture implying regulus to sit in the empty seat next to her. Instead of the one next to Lucius, where he would also have to sit next to a nasty looking dude from Narcissa's year.
He gratefully took place next to her. They were having an interesting conversation about demiguises, as regulus saw Barty and Evan entering the hall. He tried to get their attention to invite them to sit with him, but they didn't notice and took place on the other end of the table. Narcissa seemed to notice his unsuccessful attempts. "Go sit with them." he flashed one of his rare smiles at her, "thanks cissy."
"Reggie! How long have you been standing there?" Barty said startled
"Long enough to hear that your conversation is boring enough to make me consider returning to my cousin. And I told you not to call me Reggie."
“Please Reginald, don’t leave us; we need you!" Evan begged.
Barty threw his head back in laughter, losing balance and falling out of his chair. Which made a few people look. "Idiot." Regulus commented before continuing, “I will accept to be called Reggie if that means you'll never call me Reginald ever again. Ever.”
“Deal!” Barty beamed with, what seemed to be his signature smirk. “Now, Reggie” he exaggerated that last word to push his boundaries a bit more. “What lesson are you most exited for?”
“I quite like potions, so maybe that. But I found Astronomy sounded intriguing.” he had always felt a connection with the stars. Maybe it might have been predictable. Because he was literally named after a star. Last year, when Sirius had left for Hogwarts, regulus would look at the stars every night. He stayed up for hours, talking to Sirius's star. Assuring him that they would do everything together again he next year, as he would be attending Hogwarts as well. He didn't feel as alone surrounded by the stars. It was a funny thing that he felt most left behind when Sirius came back. He moved on without him.
“What about you, Evan? Because we can already guess Barty's.” regulus said snapping out of his thoughts
“Oh uhm” Evan started seeming uncertain what to do with the sudden attention. "I think transfiguration sounded pretty cool, though charms looks more useful I guess."
Barty interrupted. “What do you mean 'we can already guess Barty's? You've barely known me for a day.”
“And yet we already know you're an annoyingly loud attention attractor.” Regulus replied trying to neutralize his face, when Barty pulled an indignant one.
“Well,” he stated, “then you might be shocked to hear that I, as well, am most exited for astronomy.”
“Is that your way of saying skipping classes and hiding in the astronomy tower?”
"Are you a mind reader or something, how do you do that?” Barty asked sounding genuinely interested.
Regulus made a dramatic bow and turned to go to class a little earlier; he liked the extra time.
After classes, regulus decided he ought to go outside to get some fresh air. Although the sun was shining, he could feel September's cold breeze. Regulus sat down against a tree, opening a book. When he was five pages in. *BANG* Already annoyed, he glanced over to where the noise came from. His eyes met Sirius's. Great.
The mischievous look Sirius always had, disappeared after he saw him.
He knew his brother didn't need nor want him around anymore. He didn't really care.
Regulus tuned his eyes away from Sirius, observing his friends instead.
Sirius had three close friends: Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and ,of course, James Potter.
They met each other on the train, and it had almost immediately clicked.
Sirius had made sure to tell Regulus every detail.
At some point they had started referring to themselves as ‘the marauders’, which Regulus found kind of lame; because really, A group name?
At first regulus had liked to hear Sirius's stories, but he felt a bigger and bigger gap between the two of them.
It still felt weird, after all those stories, to see them together. It felt like the image of Sirius right there, happier than he had ever been with Regulus, had been some sort of confirmation for him.
"Sirius!" Peter, a short chubby boy with ash blonde hair, called.
"Coming." Sirius said a bit dismayed, finally averting his eyes from regulus.
Remus shot a look back at Regulus with a questioning look in his eyes, but regulus just raised an eyebrow in return. Remus seemed to be the most intelligent one of the group. At least the most observant one, eyes constantly taking everything in.
James was the most like Sirius, laughing at everything, shining when doing so. Most abundant. Most cheerful and friendly.
Regulus was endlessly grateful for the way James had helped Sirius, but most of the time his jealousy took the overhand.
He wished he was cheerful and friendly. He wished he was the one to help Sirius.
He turned back to his book, and the next time he looked up the sun was setting.