Rotten To The Core

As they pulled into the drive of Udiria Academy, Regulus looked out the window and saw the prettiest building he had ever seen. It was a castle, big enough to house hundreds of people, with intricate patterns and carvings all over. Out front there was a garden of sorts, with hedges forming a wall around the grass area and a beautiful fountain in the middle, where some people were sat talking to each other. Once the car had fully stopped, Regulus took that as their cue to get out and went to open the door for them all when someone came round just as he did and opened it for him. 

Warily, he stepped out of the car, closely followed by Remus, then Marlene and Mary. In front of them stood five people, all dressed somewhat formally apart from one who wore a leather jacket instead of a blazer. Regulus’ heart dropped as he realised who it was. Sirius. He knew he was going to run into him at some point, but he didn’t expect it to be within his first minutes in Udiria. Sirius looked at him for a split second, before scanning over the others faces, figuring out who had come over. For a moment, Regulus thought he saw a flash of shock on Sirius’ face, but it was gone just as fast. If it was there, he was really good at hiding it. Had he known that Regulus was one of the ones coming over? Regulus was quickly snapped out of his thoughts when Remus nudged him and someone started talking. It was an older woman, with square glasses and a pointed hat. She had robes of emerald green and her hair was tied back in a tight bun. 

“We are pleased to welcome you four into Udiria, and I have full faith that you will all be very comfortable after settling in. I am the headmistress, Professor McGonagall. You may come to me if you have any troubles, for my door is always open to those in need. James here will be giving you a more thorough introduction but I’m afraid I have to leave you now as there is some business I need to attend to.” with that she nodded at who Regulus assumed was James and walked towards the castle. 

“Hi! I’m James, or Prince James, but there’s no need to be formal. It’s so great to finally meet you all. Here is Sirius, Peter, and Lily, they’re going to be helping you guys settle in over the next few days.” He stepped forward to greet them all while still talking, making his way down the line, starting with Regulus. “This moment right here will go down in history as the day our two peoples began to heal.” 

“How about the day you show us four where the toilets are, long journey, you know?” Marlene said

James laughed. “Little over the top?”

“Bit more than a little” this time from Regulus, looking up at James for the first proper time. Although he wasn’t meant to like these people, he had to admit that James was very attractive. He had tanned skin, his glasses were slightly crooked on his face, like he’d thrown them on in a rush and hadn’t bothered fixing them, and his dark hair was standing up like he constantly ran his hand back through it. 

“James, can I have a word with you for a second” Sirius said, eyeing Regulus like last week's food. James nodded and stepped to the side with him, leaving the four stood with Peter and Lily. Lily spoke up, sounding very cheerful. 

“Hey guys! I’m Lily and this is Peter, we’re gonna be taking you on a tour of the school in a minute, along with Sirius, just once those two are finished.” She looked over her shoulder to see if James and Sirius were anywhere near done, which it didn't seem like they were, so she carried on. “We haven’t really been introduced to you guys yet, so what are your names?” 

“Well I’m Remus, that’s Regulus, and that's Marlene and Mary” Remus said, sounding bored. 

“Great to meet you guys! And, uh, who are your parents?” she hesitated a bit on that question, sensing that it could start something.

“My dad’s Scar, Marlene’s dad is Captain Hook, Mary’s mum is the Queen of Hearts, and Regulus’ mum is Mother Gothel” Remus said again, taking the lead with this conversation.

“Mother Gothel? Does that mean you and Sirius are brothers? That's great! That means you’ll already have someone close to help you with anything you need then” she said.

“Yeah he’s not gonna help me. There’s a bit of.. history  between us.” Regulus said, feeling uncomfortable. Lily sensed this and went to change the subject. He was surprised that she was able to read him that quickly but decided to bring it up another time. 

“ You guys are going to love it here, there’s lots of extra-curricular activities you could take part in, some of them being football, fencing, charity committee, decor-” she stopped mid-sentence as Sirius and James came back. Sirius looked slightly less angry, and James was still smiling. 

“Ok guys! If you’re all ready for the tour, I’m going to leave you now in the very capable hands of these three. Remember you can come to me if you need anything at all, I’m always there to help. My dorm number is 3110 if you can’t find me, see you later!” With that, James turned and walked away, leaving the four with Sirius, Lily, and Peter.

***

The conversation

“James, why didn’t you tell me that my brother was one of the ones coming over?” Sirius asked, anger creeping into his voice.

“I didn’t think it was necessary, also I thought you’d want to see him after all this time.” James replied.

“ I- He- You don’t know what happened. Everything went wrong when I left. I tried to get him to come with me but he didn’t want to. He said he didn’t want our mother to be left on her own, and that if both of us left, things would just be worse when we got back. He said that he would rather stay in that house with our mother, than be free of her. I was angry at him, he was angry at me. In the end I left without even saying goodbye to him and I could tell how angry he was when I drove away in that limo. And in the end I wasn’t just angry at him for staying, but I was angry at myself for not trying harder to bring him over. Things are just going to be worse now that he’s here and as much as I want to mend things with him, part of me also hoped I would never see him again. I know that sounds horrible but I’m still so angry at him and now that he’s here, and I’m going to be seeing him all the time, I just- I’m scared I’m going to say the wrong thing to him when I’m angry and the we’ll never be able to make things right again.” Sirius’ voice was shaking now and his hands wouldn’t stop moving as he tried to keep his composure. James looked him dead in the eyes, all jokes put aside, leaving just seriousness. 

“I’m really sorry, I didn’t know things were that bad. But also, if you so desperately wanted to get out of that house, why shouldn’t I have given him the same opportunity? He had just as much right to leave as you did, and since you turned out so good, I was hoping the same could happen with him.”

“It’s fine, just don’t expect me to be around him all the time. And please, just let us sort this out on our own.” Sirius said. James nodded and they both walked back to the group.