Chapter 6
Oliver gets sick of it. When it gets to December 2nd, Oliver’s done letting this continue. He and his friends are all miserable— even Regulus is miserable! It’s ridiculous! Oliver’s putting a stop to it. The only way to do so though is to get Regulus in a situation he can’t escape from, which entails not going back to the dorm at night and following Regulus. Regulus is always going to the Astronomy Tower, which isn’t really surprising considering the Black Family and their obsession with stars. Oliver follows him there. Regulus is sitting near the railing with his back pressed against the wall.
“What do you do up here?” Oliver asks while looking around.
Regulus startles, snapping his head to face Oliver. “What- What the fuck are you doing here?”
Oliver crosses his arms. “I’m sick of your attitude.”
Regulus rolls his eyes and looks back at the stars. “Not my problem.”
Oliver drops his arms and frowns. “Why are you pushing me away? And it’s not even just me! It’s all of our friends-”
“We’re not friends,” Regulus cuts in.
Oliver’s quiet for a moment while he processes what Regulus just said. “What?” he asks in a small voice.
Regulus looks over. “We’re not friends,” he says again. “I don’t know what you were expecting when you came up here but all you’re doing is annoying me.”
“I thought…” Oliver trails off. He shakes his head. “No, you don’t mean that. We are friends.”
“I have told you multiple times that we’re not so why does this fucking surprise you?” Regulus asks, bitterness lacing his words.
“Because I thought you cared!” Oliver yells. “I thought that’s what you did. You say you hate me and that we’re not friends but we are and it’s stupid but I thought we were.”
“Well we’re not,” Regulus sneers. He stands up and grabs his bag. He walks past Oliver to the door. Oliver doesn’t follow. He doesn’t think he can. But then he does. His legs are propelling him forwards no matter how much he doesn’t want them to. How much he wants to let Regulus take the fall for his actions— to face the consequences. It doesn’t matter how much Oliver wants to crawl up into a ball and sob, he knows Regulus needs him. His friend needs him. Oliver stands in front of Regulus to stop him from leaving. Regulus just barely stops himself from bumping into Oliver. He looks ready to kill someone. “Move.”
“No,” Oliver says firmly. “I’m done letting you run away, Regulus. You have to face this and it has to be now.”
“What are you talking about?” Regulus asks. “I have been nothing but clear of the dislike I have for you so move the fuck on.”
The two of them stand there and look at each other for a moment. Oliver’s shoulders slump. “You know, I thought you cared. You protected me, you stood up for me and I thought that made us friends. That maybe you actually cared. But you don’t because you don’t have the capacity to care for anyone other than yourself.”
“I know,” Regulus enunciates. “That’s what I’ve been telling you since day one. I’m not looking for friends. I don’t want them, I certainly don’t need them and I don’t fucking want anything to do with you.” He pushes past Oliver to start walking again but Oliver grabs his arm causing Regulus to whirl around. He’s got his wand in his hand within seconds and the tip of it presses against Oliver’s neck. Oliver doesn’t even flinch. He looks at Regulus.
“You’re not some cold, heartless person, Reg,” Oliver says softly. “You can yell at me and threaten me and shove your wand in my face as many times as you want but it won’t make me think it any less true. You can also deny whatever you want to make yourself feel better because the truth is, Regulus Black, you care about me. And you care about Barty and Evan. And Pandora and Dorcas. We’re your friends and that isn’t something you have to run away from.” Oliver tries a comforting smile. “We don’t bite.”
Regulus gives him a blank look. “I have seen Crouch bite six people today.”
“Okay he is not a good example ever,” Oliver says with exasperation in his tone. The corners of Regulus’ mouth twitch while he tries to suppress his want to smile. Oliver exhales deeply. He slowly brings his fingers up to remove the wand from his throat. He uses two fingers to point the tip of the wand away from him which causes Regulus to glare harder. “Pandora says we’re friends and-”
“I don’t care what she’s said,” Regulus interrupts again. “She’s not always right, Potter.”
Oliver’s stomach sinks. “Reg, you don’t mean that,” he pleads. “You don’t mean that.”
Regulus’ expression hardens. “I do. Get over it and leave me alone.” He manages to get around Oliver but he doesn’t let up. He’s not letting Regulus keep doing this to himself and their friends.
“Regulus!” He follows Regulus down the tower. “For fucks sake! Why are you pushing me away?!”
Regulus stops and Oliver nearly bumps into him. Regulus turns around and Oliver gets to see the pure look of distress in his eyes. “I have to,” he finally admits. “My family hates yours. They refuse to let me be friends with you. You’re right, I don’t want to be pushing you or Barty or Evan away, but I have to. You can’t do anything to change that. My mother would never approve and if she found out that I was disobeying her, she’d lose it.”
Oliver takes a moment to let Regulus’ words sink in. He gives Regulus what he hopes is a reassuring smile. “Let’s get you back to the dorm, yeah? We can talk this out and figure out what to do.”
Regulus sighs. He looks down at his shoes. “Okay…”
“Great.” Oliver steps down to be on the same step as him and links their arms. He guides Regulus down the stairs and into the corridor. They make their way back to the common room while trying to avoid Filch. When they get back to the dorm, Evan and Barty are still awake. The four of them sit on Evan’s bed as they try and figure out what to do. “So what exactly is going to happen if you disobey your parents?” Oliver asks.
Regulus doesn’t look up but Barty and Evan give sympathetic looks towards him anyway. Oliver looks between them with a confused expression. Regulus sighs. “Your brother’s friends with mine. Don’t you know what they’re like?”
“Well James has told me a few things here and there but he doesn’t talk about Sirius’ family an awful lot,” Oliver says. He looks up thoughtfully. “But I mean, parents don’t actually hit and curse their kids.” Oliver looks back down at his friends to see that they’re the ones confused now. “What?”
“You mean…” Evan blinks. “Your parents, they don’t…?”
Oliver’s eyes widen. “Oh Merlin, no, they’d never! Do…” Oliver looks between his friends again. “No. No, come on.”
“Not even when they’re angry?” Barty asks. “They don’t even hit you? They don’t have to do both.”
Oliver gaps at them. “No. No, they’ve never hit me. Merlin, I don’t think my parents have ever properly yelled at me before.” Now Regulus, Evan and Barty are gaping at Oliver. “No, stop that,” Oliver orders. “They can’t seriously- I mean, they’re your parents!”
“Not all parents are good, Ollie,” Evan whispers and it’s the first time any of them have called Oliver by his nickname. It makes his heart break.
“But- but they’re still your parents.” Oliver’s pleading with them now. To say they’re joking. He needs them to say they’re kidding. “They- they’re supposed to be the ones that protect you, not the ones you need protecting from.”
Regulus shakes his head. “Your parents sound unreal to us, Oliver.”
“But they shouldn’t,” Oliver whispers brokenly. “They shouldn’t. All parents should love their kids.”
Evan pulls his knees to his chest. “I suppose mine did once. When me and Panda were little.”
Barty shrugs. “My dad was never around when I was a kid. It was always just Mum and I because Dad was working at the ministry. It’s still like that most of the time.”
“My parents have always been like this,” Regulus whispers. “When Siri and I were little and we wouldn’t stop crying or laughing or just making any sounds in general, our mother would use a silencing charm on us or put us in a room that she then put silencing charms on. Sometimes she’d forget we were in there.”
Oliver feels tears fall down his cheeks. He closes his eyes and lets himself breathe.
“I didn’t even get the worst of it,” Regulus continues. It feels wrong for any of them to speak above a whisper. “Sirius would always protect me. If I’d done something and Sirius had found me before our parents did, he’d say he did it and take the punishment. He was always there to take the hit for me but-” Regulus squeezes his eyes shut and Oliver can see the tears on his cheeks. “She made me watch,” he croaks out, a sob on the tip of his tongue. “She made me watch while she punished him in my place.”
“Regulus, that’s not-” Oliver shakes his head. “Okay, we need to get one thing straight. All of you are aware that that’s not good parenting, right?” They all avoid eye contact with him. “Oh my Merlin- okay, listen to me. That is not okay. That’s not how a parent should act. No parent should hit or- or curse their children. That’s not punishment, that’s torture.”
Regulus sniffs. “Isn’t it the same thing?”
Oliver’s heart sinks into his stomach and he feels sick. “Oh Reg… sweetie, no.” Oliver shifts where he sits. “Can I hug you?”
Regulus looks at him for a moment before looking at Evan and Barty. He takes a deep breath before nodding. Oliver wraps his arms around Regulus who hugs him back. Regulus grips onto the back of Oliver’s sweater and cries into his shoulder. They’re both crying. Regulus uncurls one of his hands to blindly reach for his other two dormmates. They join the hug and the four of them sit there for a long while. Just hugging. They all really need it.
After that, the four of them only got closer. Regulus stopped avoiding them and Oliver even heard him laugh. It was amazing and he couldn’t stop talking about it for weeks. Before he knew it, Christmas had arrived and he’s on the train. Oliver’s standing outside the compartment James, Sirius, Remus and Peter are sitting in. He sways back and forth as he looks down the train to where Regulus, Barty and Evan are getting into a compartment of their own. James notices Oliver hovering at the door. “Ollie?”
“I’ll be right back,” Oliver says before running down the train to his friends’ compartment. He opens it and pulls Evan into a hug. After their break down hug, Regulus has been okay with touch from them but he still doesn’t like it so Oliver, Barty and Evan have started to hug each other extra tight for Regulus. It makes him smile every time. Oliver lets go of Evan and hugs Barty. He looks at Regulus and smiles. “Be safe, yeah?”
Regulus doesn’t nod or promise that he will be because they all know that he won’t, he just smiles because it’s all Regulus can do. Tears spring to Oliver’s eyes and his hands curl into his sweater. He’s itching to hug his friend but he knows that’s a no go. He hugs Evan again. Evan laughs and hugs him back. He says a final goodbye before going back to his brother’s compartment. He wanted to sit with his friends but he also wanted to sit with his brother so Regulus had told him to sit with his brother so his parents didn’t freak out. Oliver had been sad but he was happy he got to spend the train ride with his brother.
The train ride was filled with laughter and banter. Oliver gave Sirius the mirror which he thanked Oliver for. Remus promised to visit and Sirius said he’d write. The train stopped and they got out. Oliver’s eyes followed Sirius as he walked off to find his parents. They weren’t there. Their house elf had been sent to take them home. Oliver thinks it’s for the best. If Walburga or Orion were to show their faces, they’d be punched.
Being home makes Oliver feel so happy. He’s missed chatting and doing potions with his father and cooking with his mother. Effie and Monty want to hear all about their year so far and how Oliver’s liking Hogwarts. Oliver talks about his friends and Effie’s really happy he’s found people he cares about. Peter’s staying for the entire holidays and Remus arrives the day after Christmas. James spends a lot of time talking to Sirius through the mirror. Oliver misses his friends and can’t wait to see them when the holidays are over.
The holidays come and go and Oliver’s back on the train before he knows it. He sits in a compartment with his brother and his friends but gets ten minutes into the train ride before he can’t hold it in anymore and goes off to find his friends. He’d seen Barty briefly on the platform but Sirius was quiet, which was very strange. Oliver was worried about Regulus and what had happened. Sirius had given back the mirror which Oliver slipped into his pocket.
Oliver opens the door to the compartment his friends are in. Dorcas, Pandora and Evan are on one side, Regulus and Barty are sitting on the other. Pandora jumps up and hugs Oliver when she sees him. He laughs and hugs her back. “Aww Pandora, did you miss me?”
“Yes,” Pandora nods. “I did. Sit.” So he did. Oliver sits down. He talks with his friends but his friends aren’t like James’. They don’t want to know what happened over Christmas so Oliver doesn’t tell them. He does give out presents to his friends. Barty, Evan and Regulus look so shocked Oliver wants to murder their parents. What Oliver got for everyone was friendship bracelets. Regulus calls him childish and Oliver offers to take it back but Regulus presses the bracelet close to his chest and tells Oliver to try.
They’re braided string bracelets that are adjustable. It was very hard to figure out how to do it without getting help from his parents and using magic. Regulus’ one is green and black, Barty’s is green and blue, Evan’s is blue and grey, Pandora’s is purple and blue, Dorcas’ is green and yellow and Oliver’s is yellow and orange.
The year flies by. Soon it’s Oliver’s birthday and James insists on hosting a party which Oliver doesn’t want. James says he’s boring. Oliver doesn’t tell anyone about his birthday but the gift that Ashe drops into Regulus’ hands (Oliver still can’t seem to be quick enough to catch it before Ashe drops his things into his food) tells his friends what day it is. They spend time with each other in the dorm to celebrate and Regulus gives him a hug for his birthday. It’s one of the best birthdays Oliver’s ever had.
The days continue to pass and Oliver hears about a new way that James asks out Lily almost every week. Sometimes he does it in the Great Hall and Oliver (along with everyone else) has to watch (gets to watch, as Dorcas keeps reminding him. All of Oliver’s friends find it hilarious when Lily turns him down again and again). Lily’s slowly getting used to it (which is very sad) and says no every time James walks up to her. Oliver’s starting to find it funny but that’s mostly because Lily isn’t completely dying from embarrassment anymore.
Oliver goes to all of James’ quidditch matches and cheers him on. He doesn’t do it as much when it’s against Slytheirn but he still cheers whenever James gets a goal (which is a lot). James drags his brother along to different hang out with his friends along with Frank and Alice. Alice is very nice. Her and Frank are Head Girl and Head Boy which means James and his friends get away with way too much. Oliver doesn’t mind hanging out with them. Sometimes James doesn’t invite Oliver, sometimes it’s Alice or Lily that are the ones inviting him. It makes him feel special.
One time when Oliver was hanging out with Lily, Alice, Mary, Marlene, Peter and Remus, some boys kept looking over at them and snickering. They were in the training grounds (because it was a very sunny day) while Frank took James and Sirius for flying practice, along with two boys in Frank’s year. They’re names are Gideon and Fabian Prewett. They’re twins and Oliver cannot for the life of him tell them apart. Oliver and the others were meant to be studying but they didn’t get much of that done.
The boys are starting to annoy them and Alice keeps glaring at them whenever she catches them looking. They seem vaguely scared of her. Eventually, they do come over and make mean comments about Lily’s weight. Oliver’s ready to punch them when Alice snorts, “She may be big but something of yours clearly isn’t.”
The boy who had said the mean things pales and his friends start laughing. He blubbers nonsense before stomping off, his friends following while teasing him. “Thanks, Alice,” Lily says.
“Of course.” Alice bumps their shoulders together. “Besides, they’re wrong.”
“You don’t think I’m fat?” Lily asks.
“There’s nothing wrong with your body,” Alice tells her. “Fat isn’t a dirty word. You’re not overweight, Lils, you’re healthy. Besides, who doesn’t love a big woman?”
Lily blushes at the complements and Remus nods in agreement. “There’s nothing wrong with being bigger than other people,” he says. “No one is the same as anyone else.”
“Gideon and Fabian are,” Oliver mumbles. “Like seriously! I can’t tell them apart for the life of me. It’s ridiculous! We should totally dye Gideon’s hair bright pink so we can tell them apart.”
The others laugh and the interaction is forgotten about— by everyone except for Oliver. He can’t help but linger on the fact that he wanted to punch those boys. They were mean to Lily and they deserved it but he’s never wanted to physically hit anyone before. Then the heavy weight of things crashes onto Oliver. He wanted to hit them. He wanted to. He really did. Sure, it was because they were bullying Lily but does the reason justify the act? No, no it doesn’t. Oh Merlin. Oliver is a horrible horrible person.
No. He’s worse than that. He’s a Slytherin.
In the holidays after Oliver’s first year at Hogwarts, it takes him less than a day to break down in Euphemia’s arms about how he’s a horrible person and that because he’s a Slytherin, that means he’s a horrible person. Effie holds him as he cries, promising that it isn’t true. He doesn’t believe her. Oliver’s curled up in his mother’s lap in the middle of their kitchen while James and Monty are outside doing who knows what. Effie strokes her son’s hair as his sobs slowly quiet to hiccups and then smooth out into heavy breaths.
“There you go,” Effie hums. “Mamá’s here.”
Oliver takes a stuttering breath. “Mamá, ¿soy un monstruo?”
“Oh, mi hijo,” Effie whispers. She lifts his head to wipe the tears from his cheeks. "No eres un monstruo.”
“Pero soy un Slytherin,” Oliver says through hiccups.
Effie laughs. She tucks a curl behind Oliver’s ear. “So was I,” she whispers. Oliver’s mouth falls open. “¿Soy un monstruo?”
Oliver shakes his head. “No, Mamá, no eres un monstruo.”
Effie hums. “¿Pero tu eres?” She smiles and presses a kiss to his head. She tugs him into a hug again and he tucks his head under her chin. “Hunny, you’re not a monster because you wanted to hit someone. You’re just protective of your friends. It’s a good quality to have. James would do the same and he’s in Gryffindor. Is he a monster?”
Oliver shakes his head. “No.”
“That’s what I thought.” Effie rubs her son’s back. “When I was sorted, I wasn’t surprised. I didn’t think of myself as a monster and you shouldn’t either.”
“But Papá was in Gryffindor, wasn’t he?” Oliver asks as he moves back to face his mother. “And you were in Slytherin?” Effie nods. “But you guys- I thought- huh?” Oliver was confused. His thoughts about his self-hatred were forgotten.
Effie laughs. “Your brother is quite like your father. You know, he knew he loved me the moment he saw me.”
Oliver scrunches up his nose. “Like James and Lily?”
Effie laughs again. “Not quite. Unlike Miss Evans, I was completely infatuated by Fleamont’s-” She clears her throat. “- personality.” Oliver laughs and Effie tickles his sides. “It was hard at first but we made it work.”
Oliver takes a moment to catch his breath from laughing and smiles at his mother. “Really? And what did Papá’s parents think of the two of you?”
“Oh they hated it,” Effie tells him. “They hated me and my family and they didn’t approve of us.” Oliver’s mouth drops to the floor.
“Really? Grandma and Grandpa?” Oliver asks, making sure they were talking about the same people. Oliver’s grandparents on his mother's side were long gone but his father’s parents were still alive and came over every Christmas. Once, Euphemia and Fleamont had taken Oliver and James to Mexico so they could meet all of their aunts and uncles and cousins. When he says there were a lot of them, there were a lot. Oliver got overwhelmed and started crying- though can you blame him? He was seven and had all of these people he didn’t know touching his face. Oliver’s grandparents always welcomed them, though. They didn’t seem to dislike his mother.
Effie laughs. “Not so much anymore, but they didn’t like me at all when I was younger. They’ve grown to tolerate me but Monty and I both know they’d much rather him have married someone else.”
“Would you have?” Oliver asks.
“Would I have what?” Effie asks.
“Would you have let Papá marry someone else if they really really didn’t want him to marry you?” Oliver asks.
“Would you marry someone you didn’t love if I told you to?” Effie asks in place of answering the question.
Oliver tilts his head and thinks. “I don’t know.”
Effie hums. “Well, if I told you you couldn’t hang out with Regulus, would you listen to me?”
Oliver shakes his head immediately. “No. I would tell you exactly where you could shove it.”
“Ollie!” Euphemia laughs. “You naughty boy.” She starts tickling him again and he squirms as he yells for her to stop. Laughs spill out of his mouth as he tries to fight her off. She stops and he tries to catch his breath. “They’re a bad influence on you, you know,” she tells him. “My poor innocent little boy.” She takes his face in her hands and kisses his forehead. Oliver laughs.
“Well James says bad words to me,” he tells her. “He swears.”
Effie gasps but it’s playful. “Really? Jamie does this? When?”
“All the time,” Oliver answers. He grins. “He taught me the word fuck.” Effie’s mouth jaw drops comically and she shoos Oliver off her lap. She walks over to the glass sliding door that leads to their backyard. Oliver laughs from where he’s sitting on the floor.
“James Fleamont Potter!” Euphemia yells once she’s outside. Oliver gets to his feet and runs after his mother. He holds onto the glass door as he watches his pale-faced brother hide behind their father. He laughs as Euphemia starts lecturing him about swearing and how he should not be teaching these things to his younger brother. James just takes it. He glances over to glare at his brother a couple times and when Euphemia’s done scolding him, she tells him to go inside. He immediately starts running to the door and Oliver squeals as he runs into the house and up the stairs. James is faster than him so he’s not that far behind by the time Oliver’s gone into his room, through the door connecting his and James’ rooms and then back down the stairs again. He rushes back outside and to his mother who wraps her arms around his shoulders to protect him from James’ wrath.
Fleamont pulls James under his arm and they stand outside while James and Oliver bicker on about the swearing incident. Oliver’s forgotten all about his self-hatred. Effie certainly thinks he’s back to normal again. She’s never told her son’s that she was in Slytherin. She wasn’t scared, but wary. When Oliver had gotten into Slytherin, she had cried in her husband's arms as he assured her that he would be fine. She hoped he was right because Euphemia didn’t have the best time in that house. Oliver seems to be doing alright. He made friends quicker than Effie did and doesn’t seem to find his classes all that hard. Well, he’s only just finished his first year. She hopes he continues to have a good time. She wants him to like Hogwarts. She did, despite everything, and so did Fleamont.
Her kids will be fine. They’ll be alright. If nothing, they have each other. Effie wanted more kids. She wanted a lot of them but there were a lot of complications when Oliver was born and Effie isn’t capable of having anymore children. She has two and they have each other, that’s enough. At least they have each other. Peter’s basically her kid at this point too so she has three kids.
Well, at this rate, she’ll have Sirius and Remus under her wing in a few years. She’s not so sure about Oliver’s friends but she’d be willing to take in whomever needs her. Anyone. Everyone.