Detention

The next morning, Regulus woke up with a slight headache. He blamed the short night and the restless sleep.

The feeling of Rider's hands on his shoulders seemed to haunt him and at the breakfast table he felt the DADA professor's gaze on him. Barty and Evan tried to encourage him to eat, but as big as the hole in his stomach was, he couldn't bring himself to touch his plate.

Apart from that, he tried not to let anything show. His appearance was cool and collected as always. His brown eyes, so similar to his mother's, looked ahead with a straight posture and he pretended to be emphatically disinterested while Rider's gaze burned on him. Barty now seemed to realise that Regulus was receiving special attention and snorted in annoyance. "What's your problem?" the brown-haired man asked, hissing and clutching his knife.

But Regulus barely heard him. He had made eye contact with Sirius. He looked at him through his grey eyes with an unclear gaze.

Sirius had inherited their father's steely eyes. Now Regulus stared at his brother, not sure what to do with his features.

The Gryffindor seemed to feel the same way, but only for a few seconds. Because as soon as Potter noticed the eye contact between them, Sirius called out to him disdainfully.

"What are you staring at, brother dearest? You look like a Grindylow!" he shouted clearly across the Great Hall, and quite a few students laughed in amusement. Evan put a hand on Regulus' forearm reassuringly, while Barty bared his teeth and looked belligerently at the Gryffindor table.

Before he could become violent, Regulus stood up and took his shoulder bag from the bench. "Evan, Barty. We have to get to first period." he explained calmly and collectedly, although he could feel the heat in his eyes. Fortunately, his two friends understood immediately and followed his example. They left the Great Hall together, seemingly untouched by the general sniggering.

———————

Even though they had recorded the first two lessons of DADA along with the Hufflepuffs, Regulus was glad that they arrived at the classroom ahead of schedule. That was, that was, before Rider arrived at the room and unlocked the door. He shamed himself for being childish. He had known that she would continue teaching him. She was a teacher and certainly wouldn't hurt him. He straightened his shoulders and looked at her coolly as he stepped through the door she had held open. Her icy blue eyes were immediately fixed on him.

Regulus had the feeling that the former Auroress could see right through his careful façade.

That she could see his fear of her and capitalise on it.
Why did he feel the weight of her hands on his shoulders?
Why-

"Reg. Are you feeling okay, mate?" Barty's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and Regulus flinched almost imperceptibly. He hastily composed himself and nodded curtly. He entered the classroom with a practised posture and didn't even glance at Rider, who had already sat down behind her desk.

As the Slytherin sat down in his seat, he spared himself the trouble of getting out his writing utensils. The former Auror favoured a practical style of teaching. It was a marked difference to the previous five teachers who had taught this subject.

To be honest, Regulus liked this way of learning just as much as any other way of absorbing knowledge. An intelligent mind could adapt to all circumstances. That's how his father had taught him and Regulus completely agreed with him.

Although this also brought envious people onto the scene. Including Sirius. After all, that's how yesterday's detention came about.

…

…

During the last summer holidays, Regulus had been alone with his parents for the first time. And although Walpurga and Orion acted as if they had never had a son other than Regulus, the tense atmosphere was clearly noticeable. Regulus had been actively engaged in his studies, including wandless black magic.

So when his sixth year began and he returned to Hogwarts, a Boggart had made itself at home in an old storage cupboard in the Slytherin common room. There was an immediate competition among the older pupils to see who could remove the Boggart. Barty, who knew about Regulus' exercises, announced to everyone present that his best friend could reject the Boggart without a wand.

Regulus and Evan's efforts to appease the demanding shouts of proof were in vain, and so the young Black stood wandless before the Boggart. He knew what form the shapeshifter would take, but he could not evade the challenge. He knew that none of his house mates would say anything about the boggart to students outside the snake house, because that would be against the Slytherin code of honour. But the thought that his entire house would soon experience his greatest fear made him press his lips together. When the door opened and none other than Sirius stepped out of the storeroom, the common room fell silent. Sirius had the same hard face that his parents always wore and cold grey eyes that regarded him with contempt.

"Oh Reggie....always too silly little Reggie....I'm so glad I ran away. Glad I left you behind. That I'm finally rid of you. James is my brother. He's there for me. You, on the other hand? You're terrible. You're-"

Regulus silenced the Boggart by holding out his palm and began to call out the magical formula, focussing his black magic on the Boggart. He kept reminding himself that this was not Sirius. Yes, it harboured the same thoughts as Sirius....but this wasn't Sirius. This was a Boggart.

With that thought, Regulus released the spell and threw the Boggart back. The other Slytherins cheered, but Regulus hardly felt victorious.

Over the next few weeks, the rumour seemed to have spread that Regulus Black could handle a Boggart without a wand. Curious glances were cast at Regulus in the corridor and quite a few students openly asked him if the smells were right. Of course, Regulus had not deigned to answer these questions.

But one evening, Professor Rider suddenly escorted him out of the Great Hall. She explained in a cool tone that Regulus had to serve detention. Because it was only his boasting that had given Sirius the idea of taking on a Boggart without a wand. Regulus protested, but Rider had shut him up and taken him to her classroom, where Sirius and his Gryffindor friends, who were apparently also involved, were sitting…

…

…

"...don't you think, Mr Black?" Rider asked him coolly and Regulus looked up at her, startled. He had been lost in his thoughts, brooding over the outrageous injustice of last night. He cursed himself for his renewed inattention. "Well?" the professor asked seriously. Regulus swallowed and composed himself before speaking. "Excuse me, Professor Rider. I was distracted," he explained calmly. His teacher shook her head in disappointment. "This seems to be a constant problem of yours, Mr Black. 'Come to my office after class today. Two points from Slytherin." With those words, she stepped away from his desk and calmly continued to give instructions about the patronus spell. Regulus closed his eyes briefly. Second detention in a row. He needed to talk to Professor Slughorn urgently. His parents were not to know about this.