Chapter 1
"Get off me!" Regulus growled at his older brother who was practically pushing him into a compartment on the train. "I want you to meet my friends, Reggie!" Sirius said in response. "Don’t call me Reggie!" He pushed him before realizing there were already three boys in the compartment. "Oi, Sirius, is this your little brother?" One of them with messy black hair and round glasses said as he stood up and hugged Sirius. "Unfortunately," Regulus grumbled, looking him up and down. "Hey!" Sirius said, pushing him slightly. Suddenly, he heard a small chuckle from a scrawny boy sat in the corner; he had a buzz cut, clothes that looked way too big for him, and big silvery scars all over his face and hands. "Something funny?" He said, arching an eyebrow at the boy. Sirius, who didn’t seem to hear him, turned to Regulus again. "Let me introduce you to everybody," he first turned to a quite chubby blonde boy in the other corner. "That over there is Peter Pettigrew; he’s great at potions, so if you need any tips, ask him." Sirius then turned to the scar-faced boy and continued. "That’s Remus Lupin, the smartest boy you’ll ever meet." Remus gave him a small wave. "And this, my brother, is the greatest man you’ll ever meet, James Potter," he said and turned to the messy-haired boy. "Potter!? Father told us specifically not to talk to him, let alone be friends!" Regulus said quite angrily. "Aww, Sirius, you guys talk about me at home?" James said with a snicker, turning to Sirius.
Everybody sat down except for Regulus, who turned to the door, placing his hand on the door. "Oi, Reg, where you going?" Sirius asked a bit surprised. "I am not staying here for the rest of the train ride," he said, opening the door and walking out of the compartment. The corridors were empty and quiet. He began walking down it when suddenly a door flew open and a boy taller than him with messy brown, almost black hair flew out and crashed right into him. "Ouch! What the fuck, man!?" Regulus said, backing away from the other boy who turned to him in horror. "Shit, I’m sorry! I swear to God I’m gonna kill Evan," he said, watching his breath. "Whatever," Regulus mumbled and tried to sneak past him, then he felt a tug on his arm and turned around. "Wait, what’s your name?" The boy asked. "Regulus Black, why?" He said with an annoyed sigh. "Black? Like Sirius Black's brother?" He said without missing a beat. "Yes," Regulus sighed again. "I’m Barty, Barty Crouch Jr," he reached out a hand for Regulus to shake. He thought for a moment; his dad had mentioned the name Crouch in the list of people he was allowed to associate with, so he shook his hand. "Pleasure."
Suddenly he was being introduced to all the people in Barty’s compartment. "Here we have the twins Evan and Pandora Rosier," he pointed to two people, both with blonde hair, both on his father’s list. "That’s Emmeline Vance," he did not recognize that name. "Over there is Dorcas Meadows, she’s a second year though." He actually recognized Dorcas from more than her name; she’d been at a few of his father’s gatherings. "That’s everyone, and everyone here’s the one and only Regulus Black!" Barty finished. "Hello," Regulus smiled and sat down beside Dorcas. "Haven’t we met?" She said, arching an eyebrow. "Yeah, I think so." These people were much more appropriate for him to make friends with, except maybe Emmeline Vance who turned out to be a Mudblood; he didn’t say anything though. Better just to keep distance.
The rest of the train ride went smoothly, and as they arrived, he felt slightly more comfortable with Bart, Evan, Pandora, Dorcas, and even Emmeline. He stepped out of the train, his bags in hand, and made it over to a very large man with long, messy hair and beard holding a sign saying "*all 1st years gather around me*." One boy with blonde hair and an extremely annoying voice asked, "Shouldn’t we hurry? The carriages are leaving!" To which the large man, who he later learned was called Hagrid, answered, "Of course not, we’re taking the boats!" A lump gathered in Regulus’ throat because he, in fact, could not swim. They were divided into groups of two per boat, and of course, he was placed with Hagrid; now he was sure the boat was gonna tip over. "Don’t worry, kid! The water is nothing to be afraid of!" Regulus looked up at him, clearly scared out of his mind; Hagrid gave him a reassuring smile which surprisingly made him feel a little better. He slowly got into the boat, and that little bit of reassurance completely disappeared. It did not help that the boat was extremely unsteady when Hagrid sat down. They set sail, and at first, it was going okay, when suddenly a giant tentacle rose from the water and splashed water on one of the other boats. Regulus froze; that thing was for sure gonna tip them over. He couldn’t move at all. "Oi! Kid, you alright?" He heard Hagrid behind him. He began to shake his leg as a desperate attempt to calm himself down. The other boats were now noticing that they were falling behind. "Keep rowing, kids!" Hagrid shouted at them. Regulus looked down at the floor of the boat. He was now shaking both his legs and fiddling with his hands. "Listen to me, kid, I know it’s scary. A lot of things are! But I’ve done this trip more times than you can count and no one so far has fallen off!" Hagrid said; his voice was calm and low, making Regulus calm down. "Talk to me, kid," he spoke so gently. Regulus slowly spoke. "About what?" He said, stammering slightly. "Well, let's start off with your name," Regulus took a deep breath. "Regulus Arcturus Black," he said, his voice shaky. "Nice to meet you, Regulus." Regulus was sure he would ask him about Sirius, but he didn’t. "So, I understand you’re scared of the water, so how about you close your eyes and just focus on rowing. I’m in the back so I’ll make sure we stay on track, Okay?" Regulus nodded and did as he said, closing his eyes and rowing, trying not to think about the fact that he was in the middle of a lake. And before he knew it, he was on land again. He opened his eyes to see grass in front of him. Regulus practically jumped out the boat. Hagrid close behind him. All the other students were already inside. "You okay, kid?" Hagrid asked. Regulus responded by hugging Hagrid tight and whispering, "thank you."