*Sirius' Perspective*
The train station was chaos. Owls flapped overhead, their wings brushing the heads of students saying their last goodbyes. Trunks scraped across the cobblestones, their handles clattering as families and friends exchanged hurried words, trying to stretch out every second. I leaned against the Hogwarts Express window, pretending not to care, trying to hide the tightness in my chest.
James sat opposite me, legs sprawled out in the seat. “Your mum chuck you out yet?” he asked, grinning that stupid grin of his.
I rolled my eyes. “Not yet. She’s still ‘hoping’ I’ll change, or whatever.” The sarcasm bit at the end of the sentence didn’t even hide the knot in my stomach. I had barely made it out the door without a dozen more reasons why I should return to my “proper place.” But it didn’t matter. I’d made my decision.
Peter chuckled nervously from beside James, clearly not understanding the weight of the conversation. Remus sat quietly, the calm center to our chaos, his face unreadable as usual. He shifted his prefect badge absentmindedly. I envied his cool.
The tension that had been gnawing at me since my return home hit harder as I watched the crowd. My eyes kept flicking toward the platform, tracking one figure—Regulus Black. He stood at the far end, speaking to someone, his posture perfect, his expression one I could never quite read.
“Worrying about your brother again?” James asked, his voice suddenly quieter.
I snapped my gaze away, as though my thoughts had been too obvious. “What do you think?”
James just nodded, understanding the layers of meaning. It wasn’t just my brother. It was what I had left behind: the suffocating traditions, the whispers of old family values, the expectations that had been placed on me from the moment I’d been born. I wasn’t supposed to run away. I wasn’t supposed to make a choice. And yet, here I was—alone, with my friends, trying to fight something that felt like it was already winning.
I stared out at the students streaming toward the train. Regulus was getting closer now. I could feel the pull between us, that same force that had always tried to bring me back into the fold of the Black family. I hated it, but I couldn’t help but feel it. That nagging, familiar pull.
The compartment door opened, and in walked Regulus. The air shifted immediately, as if even the train car itself knew the significance of his presence. I stiffened instinctively, trying to hide the sudden unease in my chest.
Regulus barely looked at me, but the moment his eyes flickered in my direction, the room seemed to go still. He was calm, too calm, as always—he’d perfected the art of appearing entirely indifferent. His gaze passed over me without any sign of recognition. But it was there. I knew it. The flicker of something I couldn’t name.
He turned to Remus then, his voice cool but formal. “You ready, Remus?”
“Yeah, just finishing up here,” Remus replied. But I could see the brief exchange of glances between them. There was something... different in the way Regulus carried himself this year, like he’d stepped into a new role that neither of us fully understood. It made my gut twist.
"Everything okay?" I asked before I could stop myself, though my tone was sharp. Regulus was about to respond, but he seemed to reconsider, his eyes shifting back to the door.
“I’m fine,” he muttered, clearly dismissing my question without thought.
Remus rose to follow him, and I watched them leave the compartment together. Regulus didn’t even glance back, but I could feel the weight of his departure in my chest.
“Bit tense, wasn’t it?” James remarked, raising an eyebrow. “You two exchange pleasantries while we were gone?”
I tried to chuckle, but it didn’t reach my eyes. “There’s nothing to exchange.” The words felt hollow.
Peter shifted uncomfortably, sensing something deeper in the air. Remus was always calm, too calm, but even he seemed a little uneasy. And that was saying something. Regulus had always been an enigma—aloof, cold, distant—but now... now he was something else.
I clenched my fists, fingers digging into my palms. The old mantras of my family echoed in my mind. You’re either with us or against us. There is no middle ground. Regulus had always seemed to stand firmly with them. But now, as he walked away, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was truly as lost as the rest of us.
*Remus’ Perspective*
The walk down the corridor felt like a dream, everything moving in slow motion as Regulus and I made our way to the front of the train. He had barely spoken to me, but there was an underlying shift I could feel—the same change that was happening within me. We’d always been polite, our interactions brief, but this year, things felt different.
"How’s your summer been?" I asked, unsure why I felt the sudden need to fill the silence.
Regulus glanced at me, and for a moment, I saw something more vulnerable in his eyes than I expected. He blinked it away quickly, though, and returned to his usual expression. “Quiet. My family didn’t make much noise this year.”
It was such a normal answer that it almost surprised me. Regulus, the boy whose family had seemed to consume him for years, now seemed less burdened by it, less anchored to them. But the questions that swirled in my mind didn’t stop there. Was this just a phase? Or was Regulus finally taking control of his own life?
I noticed his hands shaking slightly as he adjusted his prefect badge, and a strange feeling twisted in my chest. It wasn’t just his personal change that I found intriguing—it was his vulnerability.
“So... you excited for the term?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood. The thought of Hogwarts, of new beginnings, seemed to bring hope into every corner of the school. It should’ve felt like home again. But instead, it felt heavy.
Regulus turned to face me fully, his eyes flickering between me and the crowd of students passing by. “It’s going to be interesting,” he said quietly, as if mulling over the words before speaking. "I don’t know how this year will go."
*James’ Perspective*
“You think he’s going to change?” Sirius asked as he reclined in his seat, looking out at the train’s slowing motion. His voice was low, though, tinged with something I couldn’t quite place.
I let the silence hang for a moment before responding. “I don’t know. Regulus is... hard to figure out.”
Sirius snorted. "Hard? He’s the same as always—just another puppet in their twisted little game."
But I wasn’t so sure. Maybe Sirius was right, maybe not. I couldn’t stop thinking about the way Regulus looked at me, like he was calculating something in his head, trying to decide what role he would play in all of this.
"Either way, we’ve got bigger problems," I muttered. "Whatever’s going on with him isn’t something we can control."
Sirius didn’t reply, but he didn’t need to. The tension was thick between us, and it wasn’t just because of Regulus.
*Remus’ Perspective*
As we arrived at the Great Hall, the sorting ceremony was already underway. The tension between the houses, the rivalry, the years of history—it all hung in the air like a tangible force. I couldn’t shake the thought of Regulus as we took our seats. Something was changing. Something in him, something in me, and maybe even something in all of us.
Regulus hadn’t been the same since last year, and I couldn’t help but feel that whatever it was, it wasn’t just about family or blood. It was about something deeper. Something we all had to reckon with sooner or later.
And I was beginning to think that this year was going to be the one where we couldn’t ignore it any longer.