Chapter 1
It was 7:03pm when the world ended.
Regulus had woken up like it was any normal day. When his alarm beeped beside him, he was up instantly.
He sat up on his bed, only for a moment. The cold morning air stung his skin, but he had learnt to ignore it. He stood from the bed and walked methodically to the bathroom. He stared into the mirror in front of him, quickly brushing his teeth. He leaned forward on the counter and spat into the sink.
He watched the water as it washed away the gross mixture of his own spit and the toothpaste.
Regulus looked back up, into the mirror. He ran a hand through his hair with a deep sigh. He heard his brother, Sirius, whining in and moaning in his own room as their mother tried to wake him. Regulus shook his head at himself in the mirror. His reflection returned the look of disdain as he listened to his brother's
useless complaints.
-
"Fuck's sake, it's freezing out here, Reg," Sirius muttered at the bus stop. Regulus made a quiet humming noise of agreement, and Sirius groaned again, slamming his head against a street lamp. Regulus huffed, and then laughed softly at his brother's display.
Sirius looked back at Regulus, and a grin stretched out over his white teeth. Sirius laughed at himself too, then, shaking his head as he did so.
"You're so stupid," Regulus laughed, and then he saw the bus turning a corner down the street. Sirius straightened up, and walked over to Regulus when the bus finally pulled up. Regulus shuffled around his pocket for his bus pass, and then flashed it to the driver. Sirius did the same, but didn't follow Regulus from there. He ditched the other boy, and found his friend, Peter. They sat beside each other and were immediately chattering away, like every morning.
Regulus ignored the two of them, immediately finding his way to the back of the bus. Barty was sitting at the very back, like usual, her face pressed up against the window, and her cap tipped down low over her eyes to block out the sunlight.
Regulus thwacked Barty's head with the back of his hand, and Barty immediately jumped up. "The fuck is your problem-" he started, and then turned his head to see it was Regulus standing there with a raised eyebrow. "Oh," Barty said, his face reddening. He quickly grabbed his bag from the seat beside him, and placed it on his lap, freeing up a spot for Regulus to sit. Barty was immediately back to leaning against the window again, trying to get more sleep before they got to school.
Regulus silently watched Barty sleep, unwilling to bother him.
Over a long period of time, Regulus had finally learned to like the boy. When they had first met, she acted like an annoying bastard. Constantly bugging Regulus and the rest of their peers during classes. Now, she did all of those things, but for some godforsaken Regulus still liked her. Mysteries of the universe, he supposed.
Regulus had a pretty neutral opinion on these bus rides. On one hand, they did give him time to think. On another, there wasn't much else he could do besides thinking.
And, see, for someone like Regulus, who was one of the world's worst over-thinkers, this wasn't always a good thing. The silent bus rides often gave him the time to ponder things like 'does Barty actually like me?' and 'what if I fail my studies?' and, also, 'what if mother is angry when I get home?'
As one may assume, these were not always the most fun things to think about.
Regulus looked to his sleeping friend, and tried to calmly mentally address each worry. Some days he was able to, some days he wasn't. He still tried. He looked to Barty and thought real hard. 'If Barty didn't like me, they'd already have told me. Barty doesn't waste their time on people they don't like.' Regulus thought to the next thing. He tried to be as logical as possible, constantly relying on his ability to remain calm and calculating. 'I won't fail anything, because I've been getting good marks all year. Logically, there would be no reason for that to change.' Regulus exhaled shakily. As long as he was smart about his thoughts, they wouldn't consume him. 'Mother... If mother is angry...' Regulus felt all of the tension forming in his stomach again.
There was never any way to handle the unpredictable woman. No way to know what she was ever going to do. Whether she would choose to punish Sirius or Regulus, whether the punishment was physical or otherwise. There was no way of...
Regulus was jostled out of his thoughts by Barty, who was frantically nudging his shoulder. "Hey, Regulus, we gotta get off the bus!" She said urgently, and Regulus looked to all of the other people who'd already filtered off the bus. Regulus put his bag over his shoulders again, and quickly stood, speed walking his way off the vehicle. He mumbled a quiet thanks to the bus driver, and Barty quickly caught up with him. She was immediately shivering in the cold. "Gonna freeze my fucking tits off," she remarked, pulling her thin jacket around herself tighter.
Regulus swallowed dryly. "If you're always so cold, why do you keep wearing that godforsaken jacket? I know you have warmer ones."
Barty grinned at Regulus, making a 'devil's horns' gesture with his hand. "It's for the swag, Black."
Regulus gave Barty a look of deep disdain. How the boy constantly managed to act like a small, immature child would always be beyond him. "Okay," Regulus said, the disgust evident in his voice. "You deserve to freeze."
Barty's grin only widened, and she shoved Regulus into the snow beside them. Regulus spluttered as he fell to the ground, and Barty had already taken off running, shoving other students away as she did. Regulus strained to hear her shout something vaguely like "you'll get to freeze, Black!" In that moment, Regulus wished he could've said he had been mature. Brushed himself off and peacefully strolled down the sidewalk like a reasonable human being. Unfortunately, he had already taken off running after Barty.
Barty was a few feet ahead of him, walking at a normal pace now, seemingly sure of their safety. Sure that Regulus was far behind them. They were wrong. Regulus vengefully shoved Barty into the snow from behind, making Barty fall face-first.
Regulus ran off before Barty could retaliate. He ran down the sidewalk until he got to the point where he had to cross the street with the rest of the students. He waited for the walk sign, and he was off. He watched Barty pull himself up from the snow, and try to run down the street to follow. Barty was just a second too late. Regulus laughed from the other side of the street, flipping Barty off with both hands as cars drove in between the two of them. Regulus waved goodbye to Barty, then turned on his heels to go into the warm school, ignoring the obscene things Barty yelled from the other side of the street.
Regulus waited at a small table near the front of the building. He waited until Barty walked into the school, eyes narrowed and their hands shaking at their sides. Regulus leaned back in his chair, and calmly took a water bottle out of his bag, sipping on it as Barty came towards him.
Barty reached out to grab the water bottle, like Regulus knew they would. Regulus grabbed their arm and twisted it until Barty was making undignified whining noises. "Ow, ow, ow, shit, alright Reg, I get it!" Regulus let go of their arm, and Barty was shaking it and calling Regulus things under their breath. "You suck, Reg," Barty complained as they fell into the chair across from Regulus. Regulus did nothing but give them a small smile, then take textbooks and notes out of his bag. Barty groaned. "Come on, Reg. You're gonna let me die of boredom like this?" Barty then watched as Regulus did nothing but continue to go over his notes for the twelfth time that week.
"Alright, then," Barty said, standing from the chair. "I'm gonna go bother Em," he said pointedly, and then pouted when Regulus didn't argue. He then walked away, as if to prove a point.
Regulus watched as she drifted through busy halls to find Emma Vanity, pretty much the only friend shared between the two of them. Barty was still close enough that Regulus could see when Barty found Emma. They were immediately wrapped up in conversation with one another, which made Regulus feel a bit left out. Sure, he had been a dick to Barty, but he always was... And usually Barty didn't just walk away from him. Had he really pushed her too far this time? This worry was only worsened when Emma and Barty began walking away from him. He had at least expected them to come back for him, too.
Regulus tried his best to ignore all of those thoughts. He was just fine with being left alone for an extra couple hours until lunch, wasn't he? Yes, he was. He was used to it.
Regulus shoved all of his things back into his bag, and then he was walking down the halls again.