Today is the day (2nd year)
I’m sittin’ in the railway station
Got a ticket for my destination
Homeward bound
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home where my thought’s escapin’
Home where my music’s playin’
Home where my love lies waitin’
Silently for me
September 1st, 1972
King’s Cross railway station was busy with Muggle commuters, most wearing suits or office clothing and heading for their ordinary jobs. None of them knew the significance of that specific day or that, in the same station they used every other day, a whole magical world existed which they would never meet.
In-between platforms nine and ten a gateway lay hidden, accessible only to warlocks who had to pass through a solid barrier to reach Platform 9 ¾. Every first of September, all wizarding families would gather at the platform from where their children would leave for the first day of a new school year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Regulus stood at the platform with Sirius.
His family had returned to their house in London a few days before. Their parents had said their goodbyes in the morning and then their father had disappeared for the Ministry. Sirius had forced a few words to their mother and rushed out of their house, waiting for Regulus in the courtyard. Walburga had lightly embraced Regulus, her hand resting almost gently on his shoulder before returning to her chambers. Regulus had stood at the bottom of the stairs, watching her figure disappear to the second floor when Sirius had called out for him.
Sirius laughed. He was talking to a boy with auburn hair who seemed a few years older than them. Regulus stood a little farther from his brother as Walburga had warned them not to be seen together once they would leave for Hogwarts. He glanced around. Students were boarding the scarlet Hogwarts Express, some of the older ones already wearing their school robes with their House emblems.
Regulus swallowed with difficulty.
He had been waiting for this moment for years. It was a great honour to be accepted at Hogwarts though there was no doubt Regulus, as a pureblood wizard, would be a student there. But now, attending Hogwarts meant so much more not only for him but for his entire family.
After Sirius was sorted in Gryffindor, the Blacks became fretful about Regulus also being rejected by Slytherin. Blacks were direct offsprings of Salazar Slytherin and all those who had attended Hogwarts were placed in Slytherin House. For every other student, the Sorting Ceremony would be a process of anticipation as they would never know with unmistakable certainty which House they would be sorted into. For Blacks, that wasn’t the case. The Sorting Ceremony had always been a moment of pride and honour for them like making a debut in society and claiming their lineage, the lineage of one of the most powerful wizards of all times. They didn’t just know the Sorting Hat would place them in Slytherin, they were born for it.
Sirius had shaken that certainty. Him being a Gryffindor was considered a blasphemy in their family and last year while Sirius was at Hogwarts, Regulus had seen how their other relatives looked down on his family in many social gatherings. He had seen the hard look on his mother’s face many times whenever her father and her cousins made veiled insults and ill comments about Sirius.
As the first young male and heir to the Black family, Sirius was destined to carry that responsibility and be a proper Slytherin to legitimise their kinship to Salazar. When the Sorting Hat decided Sirius would be placed in Gryffindor, Sirius had thought this responsibility would somehow evaporate but instead, it had become a burden that Regulus was now forced to carry alone.
Since last year, Regulus had begun to understand what his mother saw when she looked at him. And now, whenever he looked in the mirror, he saw it too. An opportunity. The second—and the only—chance Walburga had of her family line reclaiming Salazar’s lineage through her second-born male child.
“C’mon, we should get going,” said Sirius, placing his hand on Regulus’ shoulder. The auburn-haired boy he had been talking to had left to join a group of Gryffindors near the Hogwarts Express.
Regulus glanced at the clock on the platform. “All right,” he said. “You go first.”
“Nope. You’re coming with me.”
“We’re not supposed to talk to each other in public, remember?” Regulus said.
“We don’t have to talk if you don’t want to,” Sirius said with a sly grin.
Regulus rolled his eyes. “Don’t pretend you’re that stupid.” He brought his finger to his temples. “Right. I forgot. You don’t have to pretend.”
Sirius shoved him lightly and Regulus laughed. “Let’s go, you little prick,” said Sirius. “We’re gonna miss the train.”
“But Mother said—”
“Mother said we shouldn’t be seen together in Hogwarts.” Sirius waved his hands around the platform. “Does this look like Hogwarts to you?”
Regulus let out a sigh. “You’re insufferable. You’re not going to back down, are you?”
“Hey, I don’t wanna pressure you,” Sirius said. “You can sit in our compartment with me and the others or you can try to mingle.” He shrugged and leaned casually on the wall, a grin on his lips. “I know how you love social interactions with people you don’t know.”
“Oh, and I’m supposed to know your friends now?” Regulus asked with an arched eyebrow.
“Well, you’ve certainly heard a lot about them,” said Sirius. “You might as well meet them in person.”
Regulus shifted on his feet uneasily. “Fine,” he finally said. “But don’t expect me to like them.”
“I wouldn’t dare to.”
They grabbed their leather trunks and embarked on the train.
“Need some help with that?” Sirius asked, glancing over his shoulder.
Regulus was clearly struggling behind him. “No, I’m good,” he said. He finally managed to lift his trunk over the stairs of the train’s entrance, and he let it drop heavily on the aisle. He wiped some sweat from his forehead. “Do you even know where the others are seated?”
“Nope,” Sirius said. “But I bet it won’t be difficult to find them.” He smirked at his brother. “James can be very loud.”
“’ Course he can,” Regulus muttered. He reached for his trunk and started following Sirius down the aisle.
The train was overcrowded with students. Regulus scanned the place, hoping that Sirius wouldn’t find his friends and they could share an empty compartment instead, just the two of them. Having to spend almost eight hours with four Gryffindors was torture enough. He definitely wouldn’t have a conversation with them; he would simply ignore them for the whole ride, reading casually or pretending to be asleep. If noisy Potter would do us the honour to keep his mouth shut.
Someone bumped into his shoulder forcefully, hurrying down the corridor, and he was about to snap when that person turned around and their eyes locked. Strange. He could have sworn they’d met before. Her eyes were so pale they seemed almost translucent, switching between icy blue and silver, like sea glass catching the light. Her eyelashes were white just like her hair and eyebrows. Like a fairy, Regulus thought.
“Sorry,” the girl mumbled awkwardly, rubbing her arm.
“Pandora over here!”
She whipped around. “Coming!” She moved past Sirius and the other students and reached a boy who looked exactly like her.
“You okay?” Sirius asked, stepping near Regulus and grabbing both of their trunks.
Regulus let him. “Yeah, sure,” he said. “Let’s just find the bloody compartment. I hate the crowds.”
Sirius nodded and continued his search, peeking into every compartment as they passed by. Finally, he found the right one where three boys were already seated, their voices cheerful and loud. He quickly swung open the door and stepped inside with his arms wide open. Regulus hesitantly approached, hiding beside him. He slightly craned his neck to get a better look at the boys. Not that he was interested in them; he just wanted to understand what all the fuss was about. One was chubby with sandy-brown hair, the other was tall and skinny like he hadn’t had a good meal in ages. His face was a canvas of several scars as if he’d tripped over multiple urchins. Pettigrew and Lupin, he thought. The third one seemed uncommonly charming. Though his dark hair was wild like an ostrich’s nest, his skin was brown and his hazel eyes were warm, hidden behind crooked square glasses. Potter.
“Everyone, your attention please!” Sirius said, stepping aside and gesturing towards Regulus. “This right here is my brother,” he said proudly. “Regulus Arcturus Black.” He raised a finger. “The second.”
Regulus sighed and brought a hand across his eyes. “Hi,” he mumbled, mostly because his good manners wouldn’t allow him to show any rudeness. Yet.
“Dear Godric, he looks just like you!” James said, cheerfully. “A mini you.”
Yes, that’s it, Regulus definitely hated him.
“What are you talking about?” Remus said. “Look at them. Regulus looks perfectly…perfect.”
Okay, perhaps he liked Lupin.
“All right, all right,” Sirius said. “Not fair. I got the good genes.” He heaved his trunk onto the rack and sat next to James with his legs crossed.
“Here, let me help you,” Remus said. He’d stood up, already lifting Regulus’ trunk to place it next to Sirius’.
“Uh, thanks,” Regulus muttered.
Remus shrugged and returned to his seat, Regulus moving to sit beside him.
“So, Regulus, how are you feeling?” James asked.
Please shut up. “Good,” he said shortly.
James exchanged a look with Sirius who only shrugged.
“Aren’t you nervous?” Peter asked, squashed against the window to make room for Regulus and Remus.
“No,” said Regulus.
“Very talkative,” James muttered.
Regulus' eyes fell on him. “I prefer to speak only if there’s something meaningful to say," he said calmly. "Otherwise, I tend to keep my mouth shut.” You should do that sometime.
Remus smirked, glancing sideways at Regulus.
“All riiight,” Sirius said, rubbing his temple. He straightened up. “Hey, I’ve heard we’ll have a new professor for DADA.”
“Right,” Peter said. “Dumbledore employed a new one about two weeks ago.”
“What happened to Pembroke?” Remus asked.
“Third-degree burns,” said James.
Remus made a face. “What?”
James shrugged with his hands up. “Went on a trip to Hong Kong. Got roasted by a Chinese Fireball.”
“I’d kill to see a dragon up this close,” Sirius said, his gaze drifting away like he was daydreaming.
“Trust me, it’d also kill to see you up this close,” Remus said. “After it has you medium rare.”
Regulus snorted.
Sirius shot him an amused look. “Of course, the only time you react, it’s when Remus is taking the mick out of me.”
“What can I say?” Regulus giggled. “You’d look awful with your skin melting off.” He almost sounded like the idea thrilled him.
James looked at him like he was facing Zodiac the serial killer.
“Do you know why it took Dumbledore so long to find someone to replace Pembroke?” he asked. “You’d reckon there’d be a line of people ready to fill his place. I mean, it’s the Defence Against the Dark Arts, in Hogwarts.”
“It’s cursed,” Regulus said casually.
“What did you just say?” James asked, with a confused frown.
Regulus cleared his throat. He placed his hands around his mouth like he was holding a megaphone, leaning closer to James. “I-SAID-IT’S CURSED.”
“Yeah, no I heard you,” James said, rubbing his ear with a pained expression. “What do you mean cursed?”
Regulus sighed. In a way one would do if he had to explain something to a dense person. “The post is cursed,” he repeated, forcing a mock polite smile. “You do know what ‘cursed’ is, right?”
James stared at him, his expression one of sheer disbelief.
“I’ll take that as a no. Cursed is something—”
“I know what ‘cursed’ is,” James said shortly.
“Splendid,” Regulus said sarcastically, holding his hands up, palms open. “So, rumour has it that someone asked Dumbledore to hand them the post of teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts a few years ago but Dumbledore turned them down. And as every reasonable person would do, they cursed the post so that no professor could ever last for over a year without facing a life-threatening incident that obliges them to leave it.” He looked over at Sirius. “And you call me dramatic.”
The others were stunned. How hadn’t they heard about any of this?
“What I’m saying,” Regulus went on, “is that the post is jinxed. Apply for it, lose two hands in best-case scenario.”
“Who cursed it?” James asked.
“Well now, it’s a rumour, don’t expect everything to be revealed,” said Regulus.
Peter leaned forward. “If that’s true, I wonder who’s the poor man who got employed.”
“She’s a woman,” Regulus said. “Valentina Morales.”
“And you know that how…?” Sirius sounded dubious.
Regulus waved a hand. “Mother told me. Personally, I knew Pembroke wasn’t going to last long. Everyone knew he was useless, curse or without.”
“He wasn’t that bad,” said James.
Regulus didn’t reply; only looked at him with an expression that seemed to say ‘I’m sorry for you. Of your condition, precisely.’
Beside him, Remus sank deeper into his seat, wincing slightly as if in pain. Regulus’ attention snapped to him. He watched him closely but not too intently; he didn’t want to pry. From where he was sitting he could see Remus’ scars more clearly. Some were faded while others seemed fresh, not too big but definitely evident on his tan skin, filled with countless freckles. How can someone obtain that many scars? On different occasions? He watched as Remus leaned back his head, closing his eyes like he was about to be sick. The others didn’t seem to notice. They were already talking about Quidditch and the trials during the next week.
“Here,” Regulus said quietly, leaning to Remus, careful not to touch him. He fumbled into his pocket and held out a crumpled wrapper with a small piece of chocolate. “Sugar helps.”
“With what?” Remus asked, confused.
“With everything?” Regulus offered.
Remus smiled and took the chocolate from Regulus’ outstretched hand. “Thanks,” he said and took a bite. A few moments later, his features seemed to relax and Regulus crossed his arms lightly, looking pleased.
“Hey, Regulus,” James began.
For the love of Salazar, what? “Yes?”
“Sirius told me you’re interested in Quidditch.”
“I am.”
“Are you thinking about applying for the team?”
Regulus nodded. “Once I get sorted into Slytherin, yes.”
Peter, trying to find a comfortable position for his legs in the enclosed space, slightly turned his body towards the young Black, his elbow jabbed into Remus’ side. “How can you be so sure? That you’ll be in Slytherin?”
“All my family’s been in Slytherin,” Regulus replied, sounding proud. “Through centuries now.”
“Your brother was placed in Gryffindor,” James noted.
“My brother is adopted.”
Sirius smirked. “If only.”
The others laughed. Regulus tensed slightly.
“Who knows perhaps we got separated at birth,” said James.
Sirius smiled. Genuinely. “We should check that out then. Your parents might want to take in their lost child,” he said.
Which only made Regulus feel even more out of place.
James nudged Sirius playfully. “Just imagine. We could share my room,” he said.
An odd feeling settled in the pit of Regulus’ stomach.
“You think your mother can handle both of us?” Sirius laughed.
As if he was somewhere he would never fit entirely.
“She’s had worse,” said James. “Besides, I’ve always wanted a sibling and she’s been asking about you since last Christmas.”
His heart began thumping furiously. Ten, nine, eight… He tried to move, to put as much space as he could between him and Remus, to stay apart from him and the others, but there wasn’t any space in the narrow seats of the compartment. So his body pressed uncomfortably against Remus’ shoulder, like an extra puzzle piece forced into a frame it was never meant for.
“Trust me, I wish I could’ve stayed with you during summer break, for a couple of weeks at least,” said Sirius.
He doesn’t need you—Stop—He’s found someone more important—That’s not true—He’s going to leave you behind—Stop it—And you’ll be all alone in that house—SHUT UP.
“Hey, did you say something?” Sirius asked, facing him.
His walls came up. “No,” said Regulus. He resigned in his seat, stubbornly still and passively indifferent. He stayed like that until they reached Hogwarts.