2
Precious boy is pretty easy to explain. I wouldn't call it bad. I mean, it's not like me and the girls call him that to his face. Alex started it, it was back in first year. Alex had been saying goodbye to her parents at King cross station for the first time ever. And she overheard Walburga Black talking to her sons, Sirius and Regulus. She didn't hear everything, but what she heard was so out of context. She heard, and i quote,
"Take care of your little brother, Sirius. He's a precious boy." And Alex says she remembers almost daring to tell her how weird that was. I mean, I kinda get it? BUt if my parents ever call me precious, out of all the things you could call your kid, I'd throw a fit. But I don't judge, I don't know the woman, man. At first, I wasn't sure to believe Alex's word for it, honestly I'm not sure I still do. But anyway, we sometimes joke about it, just us four. We're not bullies or anything, so of course, we didn't tell anyone. Take it as a codename. Don't worry, Regulus Black isn't the only one that we "mock" like this.
There's this seventh year, I can't even remember his name. We called him Garfield because he always, and I mean always, brought up lasagna. Somehow he managed to ALWAYS bring lasagna into any conversation. A conversation about Quidditch? No. Lasagna. A conversation about your family? NO. LASAGNA.
I can't remember every single person that there's "names" for. But one that comes to mind a lot is actually, yes, THE marauders. I think they came up with the name for themselves in their first year, because I can't remember a time where they weren't called The Marauders. And the names they have for each other? Iconic. That is if I remember them correctly, James Potter.. I think they call him Prongs, which is a stag? I think so. I'm educated, wow! Sirius Black, man all the Gryffindors call him Padfoot. That isn't the best, honestly. Anything with feet is bad. But if James's nickname is related to an animal, I assume Sirius's nickname is as well. They're attached by the hip, man. Dog or like the small wolf kind of dog. I remember seeing it in a video game, I forgot the name. Then there's Remus Lupin, whose nickname is Moony. I'm not sure how that relates to an animal, I can only think of stars honestly, which is not an animal. Like his last name is Lupin, which is oddly close to Lupus which is a star constellation. And Moony, the moon? Night, along with the stars? I suppose. Then lastly, Peter Pettigrew. The small kid that follows them around. He's not a small kid, though he's my height, but older than me. I'm tall for a girl though, I swear. I swear. They call Peter, Wormtail. That's mean. If my friends had such cool nicknames and then called me WORMTAIL. They're not your friends dude. It would be the most reasonable crashout. Wormtail could be related to a worm, obviously. I suppose a worm has a wormtail. But so do rats? And some mice. That's a lame animal.
Anyway if i had to rank them by their nicknames.
- Moony. It's not mean or anything, kinda cool, you can't really use it in a bad way. And I can't relate it to an animal, which is a good thing.
- Prongs. Stags are alright, I suppose. I know I said I'm educated, but I don't know much about Stags.
- Padfoot. Feet, dude. NO. And I'm more of a cat person.
- Wormtail. As I said earlier, compared to the rest, this name sucks. Would be a reasonable crashout.
I'm sorry, that was all very random. Sometimes Alex calls James Potter for Potts. Though not to his face.
September 2nd 1972
Every first day is chaotic.
I woke up last, as usual. It was Poppy who'd been shaking me until I opened my eyes, though I didn't really get out of bed before a few minutes later. The girls were running around getting ready. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I don't do much. I'm not a gatekeeper, but I am a gatekeeper. I simply use spells. My hair is always a birds nest. So I use a spell every morning, and it's perfect. I change into my uniform, the white button up and my normal school skirt. And yes, we are supposed to wear tights under, most girls do. I do whenever I'm in the mood. Which I suppose i am now, and don't judge, but I put them on after I've put my skirt on..
I look around in my suitcase for my hair tie. Maybe i shouldn't just have shoved it down there when i packed. I NEED a spare hair tie. But as frustrated as I feel, I give up. Of course, my stupid ass decided to pack my suitcase at 3am two days before i had to leave. And i packed badly. Well, now I know what to write in my first letter to my parents! Valorie is panicking too, she lost her hairbrush. I smile at this. I swear I'm not a bad person, even if i gatekeep the spells I use. But this a highlight of my day. Valorie panicking.
Poppy is the calm one, she doesn't eat breakfast, so she's chilling right now. She's in her uniform, looking over her schedule. I'm halfway dressed as I brush my teeth. My rope is still on my suitcase along with my shoes. My skirt is sitting wrong as well. Perfect.
I still have my toothbrush in my mouth as I get into my shoes. Everyone else seems ready, except for me? Damn. I use the spell on my hair and spit the toothpaste out my mouth. It's like extra whitening toothpaste, it tastes horrible, but it's good. Zendium guys, my dentist recommends, and so do i. I grab my rope and school bag. I'm NOT going to wear my rope, I hate it. It's so big. I'm sorry but clothes don't look the same on me as it does on thin teenage boys. So instead i just carry it under my arm, maybe I'll shove it in my bag, if I have space.
The dorm is like a triangle, two bunk beds. They're actually kind of tiny. But big enough for teenagers, though by the looks of it, the size looks like it's designed for a five year old. There's couches and chairs in front of the beds. A cool thing is how much light comes into the room, like literally. The ceiling is high up and there's HUGE windows on almost every wall. Blue banners between the windows. It's those windows that are tall, they reach the floor and ceiling. When you walk into the room, right to the left, there's a wall. Like the room is a half round triangle. On that wall there's a dresser that looks like a counter. It's white. Almost every piece of furniture in the room is white. Then the carpets, bed sheets and banners are blue and black. The Slytherins are known for their pride, but I’m sure their rooms aren’t so filled with their house colours. Or I wouldn’t know.
Our common room is a few stairs down from our dorm room. I LOVE our sky roof, it’s bright and nice. Right now the sun is going up, so the view is amazing. There’s really just lots of couches and chessboards. Bookshelves too. But it’s home.
The great hall is filled with kids. Understandably so. The four long tables are full as well. With food. And because I didn't eat dinner yesterday, I was raging hungry. I saw down beside Poppy, across from me Alex and Valorie sat.
“What subjects did you drop or take this year?” Alex asked, looking at her schedule. I look through my bag for my schedule.
“I didn't drop any subjects, i take the same as last year.” Poppy said, nipping at her bacon. She didn’t even need to look at her schedule.
“I don’t take any extra subjects at all, only the required ones.” Valorie added, her mouth full of pancake.
I found my schedule. I dropped Care of magical creatures which I have taken ever since second year. In second year we had to choose three new subjects, not more or less than three. It sucked, I chose Divination, Muggle studies and Care of magical creatures. But in third year we could choose to add one or two more classes, or drop one. I added Ancient runes, which I've had ever since. This year I’ve decided to drop Care of magical creatures and Divination, I added Arithmancy, which is a whole new class for me. So other than the required subjects I take Muggle studies, Arithmancy and Ancient runes! I think it’s a good match.
“I take Arithmancy instead of Care of magical creatures.” I said, Poppy groaned.
“So now I’m the only one out of the four of us who takes it? I mean, I love animals but that’s not cool.”
That made Valorie chuckle. “Animals aren’t my thing, I never even took the class in second year.” She said and Alex smiled.
“I dropped it last year, remember? Glad you came to your senses.” She said, the last part while looking at me, obviously.
“What is Arithmancy even?” Valorie asked, before I could answer, Alex did for me.
“Predicting the future, reading symbols. Books.” She said and shrugged, Valorie gave us a look. Honestly, it did sound crazy boring. “And that’s supposed to be less boring than Divination?” Valorie said sarcastically. No comment from either me or Alex, I just smiled and ate my banana split. Don’t ask why I eat that for breakfast.
Breakfast went by too fast. On my way out of the Great Hall, The head girl stopped me.
“y/n! Hey. Here’s your patrol schedule. Hopefully it doesn’t mess with your Quidditch schedule. The captains always get mad when it does.” She said happily, trailing off at the last part. Which was definitely more to herself than me.
“Right…” And with that she left me standing alone with the paper in hand. I had to go to class, but I still checked it. Patrol, tonight. With precious boy. Just great, at least it’s not the same night as Astronomy class, but first school day? That sucks. I look over to the Slytherin table, the head girl is on her way there. Precious boy has to cancel his plans tonight, if he has any. Wow, I’m so funny.
Stairs, the school has too many stairs. I lost Alex when the head girl talked to me. We both have Arithmancy together but she left me and now I’m lost. I wish I knew if any of the other students around here have Arithmancy. I keep walking in circles. Until I decided to take a new route. Weird stairs, and finally I see a sign. “Arithmancy.” I sigh and open the door. The room falls into silence. Actually I bet it already was silent.
I’m only what, ten minutes late..? Ups. I see Alex beside Simon, the prefect. Everyone seems to be in pairs. Just perfect. Everyone except, even more perfect, precious boy. The professor seems calm. He smiles.
“Miss Grindelwald. Take a seat beside Mr. Black right there. You’ll be partnered up for this group project. He can introduce you to it.” He said and turned around. I hesitated before sitting down beside Regulus Black. He said nothing at first nor looked at me, which I appreciate. Though he’s supposed to introduce me to the project.
“We just have to write an essay about a language of our own choosing. An extinct language.” Regulus said, keeping his gaze forward. I nodded. The assignment seems simple. I pull out my book from my bag. There must be something about extinct languages in there. If not, I’d have to go to the library. Correction. We’d have to go to the library. Gruesome thought.
“So, do you know any extinct languages?” I ask precious boy, though I don't look at him. It’s a stupid question, why would he know any extinct languages? Except for Latin. But of course, that’s not completely extinct.
“No.” He says coldly. He says it so simple. He apparently does not want to talk to me. Weirdly. And rude. But I don't budge. I mumble a quiet “Okay..” and continue looking through the book.
If he makes me fail this assignment, it’s on him. I swear I’ll make his life a living hell. I hope he’ll talk a little more tonight, just slightly, you know? I’m not going to if he doesn’t. That’d be awkward. A conversation goes both ways, Regulus Black, just so you know.
I only have two other classes that day. Double potions with Gryffindor and Transfiguration with Hufflepuff.
-
I walk down the corridor to the Great hall. That’s where the prefects say they meet for patrol with their partner. When my classes ended earlier today I decided to change clothes. I’m not one of those girls who change clothes every hour, but the school uniform gets tiring. And I barely changed. I just took off my tie and vest. Seriously, there’s no reason the uniform has so many layers!
Regulus is already in the Great hall when I get there. I’m not even late, he’s early. I wonder if he wanted to go, but it’s just a funny thought. I’m all for jokes and sarcasm. If I don't lead the word! We just start pacing around the corridors, no words. I look anywhere but at him. It is indeed awkward as I thought it’d be. No words, just the sound of our breathing and our footsteps. I don’t get why the prefects and quidditch captains have to patrol every night, there’s no one sneaking around anyway. But again, Hogwarts has hundreds of secret passageways that the teachers might not even know about. Students stumble upon them.
I found a weird room once. I was a second year and lost looking for my friends. A door appeared and inside was a small bare room with Alex’s bracelet on a stool. It’s like a tracker. Somehow it always leads you to her, if needed. I have worn the bracelet around my wrist everyday since then.
Once in a while we find a open window where the wind rushes in, or Filch's cat, Ms. Norris runs around. But other than that nothing happens. It’s boring and feels like an eternity.
Valorie would’ve loved this though, even the silence. That makes me think of what she said. I didn’t even have to purposely smell precious boy to know he’s wearing perfume. I’m no expert but it smells french somehow. I do think he had French roots, Valorie mentioned it once, i think.
He obviously puts on a mask, I’m sure of it now. He doesn’t speak much. His facial expression is the same, he hides his emotions, feelings too, I suppose. Again, i don't know him very well, but anyone who pays a mind to anyone can see he’s a cold one. I bet that sentence was hard to read, sorry, ha!
At a point, Regulus clears his throat.
“I suppose the patrol ends here.” He says, the usual facial expression on his face. I shrug.
“Till next time.” I say and turn to leave. Dramatically, he yells for me to turn back.. I’m kidding. He walks away too. The Slytherin common rooms are in the dungeons, whilst the Ravenclaw common room is in, well the Ravenclaw tower.
That was horrible. The whole interaction, if it even counts as one. Two hours with precious boy, and so far, he doesn’t seem very precious. AND I have an assignment with this guy. I’m already growing tired of him. Maybe he’s different than I think. But he has not made a good impression. But I shouldn’t judge, because I probably haven’t either.
That night I lay in my bed, staring up at the ceiling. Never in my four years and a day have I regretted choosing the top bunk. Poppy’s light snores across from me and Valories soft breathing is what i focus on as i drift into sleep.
One thing about me? I have a horrible habit of dreaming about recent events or conversation topics. Usually they’re mashed together.
So that night I dreamt of Regulus Black.