Nicolas
Sirius opened his eyes groggily, his mouth opening and closing, making an annoying smacking noise.
His back was arched inwards, his arms raised above his head, a feeling of delayed tiredness crashed into him with full force.
Sirius slumped down, blinking repeatedly to get rid the sleep from his eyes, what's the time? he thought to himself, checking his wrist despite the fact he has never worn a muggle watch.
Just when he was about to close his eyes again a sudden patting noise startled him wide awake, his head whipped over to the window in confusion, an owl couldn't be here at this time could it?, he asked himself, noticing for the first time just how dark it was, must have had more than a little nap.
Sirius cast a quick tempus, 12:30 am.
"Great," Sirius muttered sarcastically, standing up to stretch, his joints cracked as he stood up, reminding him of the fact he was getting older.
Moony always get's a bit pissed when one of them mentions getting older and correlating that with stiff joints, even though they basically brought it upon themselves, what with James forcing them into playing Quidditch with him every fucking day.
He shuffled over to the window, his Doc Martens making a scraping noise as he walked, the rhythmic pattering didn't stop when he made it over, but it did when the cat? cocked its head to look Sirius over.
Sirius opened the window he must have closed at some point, or maybe the ghosts did it, chimed in a voice that sounded so scarily like James, Sirius almost looked around for the other man, before he remembered where he was and what he was doing...
As soon as Sirius re-opened the window, the cat shoved itself inside, purring against Sirius' stretched out arm.
So it wasn't a hallucination... He thought to himself as he used his other hand to warily scratch the black fur behind its ear.
"Hang on..." Sirius mumbled, the cat got past the fidelus charm, and...
"Hey," Sirius chuckled, picking the cat up to fully examine it, the cats claws almost immediately came out, ready to scratch him up.
"You're the same cat I chucked paper at." Sirius smiled at the thing, paying no mind to it as he moved back over to his spot, grinning as he sat cross-legged, setting the animal down in his lap, and to his surprise it actually stayed.
Again, Sirius wasn't so sure if cats couldn't scowl, because that was pretty much exactly what this cat was doing as it must have been remembering the events, because if looks could kill, this would have been in Sirius' top twenty...Which was saying a lot...
The cat looked up at him, dazzling blue eyes staring into his stormy grey ones, the cats eyes seemed to soften as he looked at him, but that's stupid, because it was a cat.... Right?
"You're not an animagus are you?"
The cats ears only twitched a bit, his feet paddling Sirius' leg as it curled itself into a ball and promptly shut its eyes.
Sirius stared down at it, he was shocked to say the least, but he was mostly in awe about how much it trusted him, and the fact it was adorable, with its white paws, and pink nose, it reminded Sirius of the stuffed animal Andy had gotten Reg for yule one year...
Sirius hooked his finger around the neck of the dress shirt, he didn't understand why it was necessary for him to wear one if all he was doing was standing still by the door and greeting guests as they came in, but his mother had only told him to do as he was told, swiftly turning around and leaving him to find his robes.
Sirius smiled tightly at the old, posh people walking through the door, the need to trip one of them over was scratching at him like a bad rash, but he wouldn't, he promised Reggie he wouldn't get into anymore trouble, and Sirius was nothing if not a man to his word, he puffed his chest out proudly at that thought, earning him an odd look from a distant aunt walking through the door.
Regulus on the other hand was not as calm, he was fidgeting with his sleave and biting his lip as his blueish, grey eyes looked around them, taking in the strangers and most likely assessing whether they were threats, Sirius looked down at the younger boy, and the urge to drag Regulus upstairs and play with their new wizard chess set washed through him, but he couldn't, not under the watchful eye of their mother as her grey eyes pierced into the side of his head.
Just as Sirius was about to reach for Regulus' hand and drag him off somewhere more reserved and quite so that he wouldn't get even more overwhelmed then he already was, his favourite cousin in the whole world walked in.
"Andy," Sirius said, trying and failing miserably at suppressing a grin, same could be said for the older girl as she looked at the two boys in front of her, her smile faltered by a bit as Bellatrix shoved past her, knocking her shoulder against Andys on purpose before stomping her way into the kitchen, probably going to practise her spells on their relatives house elves.
Aunt Druella and Uncle Cygnus made small talk with their parents, they looked stoic, as all Blacks did, but his Aunt and Uncle hadn't always been cold, he remembered when he was much younger and Uncle Cygnus didn't tell him to stop crying when Sirius tripped and fell, instead he used a healing spell, he didn't say anything, but in Sirius' books it was the most an adult who wasn't Uncle Alphard had done for him...Ever.
The four adults didn't even give the children a glance as they walked stiffly into the drawing room where the rest of the family had all gathered.
"Regulus," Narcissa said, a small smile taking pride of place oh her porcelain skin, her grey eyes stared warmly into his, Sirius looked over at the two with a fond smile on his face, he was glad that Narcissa and Andy cared about Reg as much as he did.
"Upstairs?" Sirius whispered quickly, they could have actual conversations if they went into his or Regulus' room without worrying about being overheard by pesky adults.
Andy hummed thoughtfully, slapping Sirius's bicep slightly.
"Race you," She muttered in his ear, laughing as she ran gracefully, knowing where all the creaks in the floorboards where.
"Hey," Sirius huffed, mumbling about how she cheated and got a head start as he raced after her, missing the same floorboards as he stormed up the stairs, following her into his room.
Andromeda was lounging on his bed, giggling as she ran her hand over her slightly frizzy hair, Aunt Druella always complained about how her brunette locks were almost as untameable as Bellatrix's, who they had just given up with all together.
"That was not fair-" Sirius breathed, placing his hands on his knees as he caught his breath, his side hurt slightly from having to miss the places on the floor he knew would alert their parents sharply.
"And you know it." He finished, just as the door closed, and Narcissa and Regulus came in, the boys lip was bleeding slightly from where he had been biting it, but other than that he was alright.
"I hate wearing these things," Narcissa muttered, shrugging off her thick cloak, underneath it was a green dress and a black cardigan, prim and proper, like all their clothes, Sirius thought dumbly, joining Andromeda on the bed, he opted for sitting against the head board, his knees were spread out, shoes resting next to Andys head.
"Oh right, that reminds me," Andromeda said, her green and white dress spun as she stood abruptly, making her way over to her own, ridiculously expensive cloak.
She pulled out a pouch from one of the pockets, it was a velvet baggy with gold ribbon, her eyes lit up, and she took Regulus' hand in her own as she moved them over to Sirius' bed, Narcissa had already found her place, sitting next to Sirius with her knees pulled up to her chest, except she had taken her black slip-on shoes off.
Regulus sat down with his back rested against one the bed posts, making Sirius remember to shut the velvet green curtains.
"S'cuse me Cissa," He chirped, reaching over her to shut the fabric on her side.
"Ands could you-" But when he looked up she had already mindlessly shut the ones at the other end of the bed, she mumbled about them being in here somewhere as she stuffed her hand into the bag.
"There we go," Sirius said, sitting back down with a huff, his robes where already discarded onto the floor, and he had unbuttoned the first couple buttons on his dress shirt, he sighed in relief, letting the bow tie fall limp on either side of his neck.
Andromeda stuffed her whole arm into the seemingly small pouch, emitting a small gasp from Regulus as he peered closer.
"Andy, how?" Sirius breathed, leaning more into the middle, Narcissa didn't seem to find it as exciting, but she still smiled fondly at the two brothers and her older sister.
"Extension Charm, my friend taught me." Andromeda grinned at the brothers shocked faces, Cissa giggled, tucking her knees underneath her chin, her golden hair fell down her shoulder in a plait Andromeda must have done up.
"Ahah."
"For my darling sister," Andromeda said, passing Narcissa a silver locket, the younger girl gasped at the sight of it, her eyes glassed over.
"Oh Andy," Narcissa whispered, Andromeda chuckled sheepishly.
"C'mere," Andromeda ordered softly, Narcissa complied, crawling over to her sister, letting the older girl clasp the silver chain around her neck, the girl who stood out the most on the bed of black and brown cried, her face went red as she burrowed herself in her sisters arms.
"I love you Andromeda,"
The older girl tensed slightly in surprise, Blacks didn't say "I love you", Sirius looked over to Regulus who was sat awkwardly next to them, Sirius' eyes softened at the sight of him, his baby brother...
" I love you too Narcissa,"
Sirius jerked his head softly at Regulus, who smiled slightly, crawling on the green bed sheets over to the other boy, who pulled Regulus close into his side, this is alright, Sirius thought, smiling down at the boy bundled up next to him, this is more than alright...
"Right," Andromeda sniffled as Narcissa detached herself, moving back to her spot, it was now a little crowded, what with Regulus having joined them, but he was only little, and it made the bed warm, which was so rare in such a cold house.
"For Sirius," She smirked at him, her face was blotchy and red from crying, but it wasn't bad crying, it was happy crying, Sirius was glad...
She pulled out a velvet pouch similar to her own, except it was red with a gold ribbon, she passed it over wordlessly before stuffing her hand back in, she snatched something out, but before anyone could really tell what it was she quickly hid it behind her back, sending Regulus a sly wink.
Sirius opened the pouch and and reached his hand in...
"Merlin," He gasped, she nodded, pursing her lips, trying not to let out a laugh.
"Sirius pulled his hand out, and in his fist was so much chocolate and sweets his mother would drop down like he did when...nevermind, bad moment to think of that, Sirius scolded himself, looking up at Andromeda with a grin he stuffed it all back in, before reaching over for a hug.
"Thanks Andy,"
"No problem little cousin,"
He went back down, letting Regulus curl back into him as he looped an arm around his younger brother.
"And last but not least," Regulus' eyes shined as she pulled out a stuffed animal, a cat, it had white paws but the rest of it was black, it had a red collar with a gold circle attached to it.
"Now," Andromeda held it away from Regulus' grasp, causing the little boy to huff in frustration, he folded his arms over his chest and he was sitting on his knees.
"I need you to take good care of him alright?" Andromeda said, she had a serious look on her face when she said this.
"Okay, Andy, can I have it now?" Regulus asked, cocking his head to look at it.
Sirius chuckled at his brothers and cousins antics, unlike Sirius Regulus did not have a sweet tooth, so this cat was definitely the way to go when it came down to him.
"Okayyy, Reggie," Andy said, dragging out the y, Regulus sighed through his nose at the sound of the nickname.
"His name is Patches, and I need you to take good care of him," The older girl said setting the cat down in the waiting boys hands, Regulus nodded in response, looking the cat over.
Andromeda chuckled, booping his nose and ruffling his hair before she dropped her pouch onto the floor, leaning back into her spot, Regulus was so used to it he didn't bat an eye as he leaned back onto Sirius, not taking his eyes off the plush.
"Patches..." Sirius hummed thoughtfully, now that he thought about it the cat looked almost identical to the plush one his brother had owned, is it here?
The cat purred deeply, subconsciously agreeing to the name? Sirius would say so, he laughed as the cat moved positions again, nuzzling itself closer to Sirius before letting out a content huff.
"Rem told me not to name random animals we find or else they'll follow us, but I think you're alright Patches." Sirius said, stroking its fur mindlessly.
The cat sniffled in its sleep, its ear twitched in the direction of the yellow clad diary, Sirius chuckled slightly at the sight.
"I think you're right Patch," Sirius hummed, slowly reaching for the book all the while making sure he didn't jostle the cat too much and disturbing it from its sleep.
"Right."
3/9/72
Well, as you may be able to understand giving who my family are and the fact that my brother is in Gryffindor, I assume you can gather that I've had some people be arseholes for it (excuse the language, I forgot to write that down yesterday).
Dainly, Rosier and Peterson have been giving me slight grief, but that has all been resolved, with much help from Nicolas Mellark.
(("Ah, so this is how Mellark and Regulus met..." Sirius said, an eyebrow raising at the yellowing page, is the writing in this always going to be so...Stiff? he thought to himself, smirking at the book.))
I'll be the first to admit that I can be unlikeable at times,
((At times? Sirius scoffed "As if little brother,"))
but so are those three miscreants, and the thing is Dainly and Peterson aren't even friends with Rosier, they like him as much as I do, which is nothing at all...
/-/
The common room was cold and dark. That's it, that was all Regulus had gathered so far, and the dorms weren't much better, Regulus had come to the conclusion that he would spend as little time in the Slytherin dormitories as possible, even though it was no different to his own home.
Regulus was looking at the timetable he had gripped in his hand, Transfiguration with Professor McGonogall was first, the boy sighed, running his hand through his curls, looking at the desolate common space around him, everyone was either in the great hall or their dorms, and again, Regulus was trying to avoid his dorm as best as he could.
Sinister sounding chuckling travelled down the spiral stairs and into the space he was currently standing around in, he didn't quite know what to do other than try and find Pandora at some point, and maybe even Sirius if he would give him the time of day...
Regulus was consumed completely in his thoughts as the three boys came down, two of them together and the other closely behind, but not in a conversation with the other two insufferable prats, Regulus took note as his thoughts swarmed his mind, blocking anything that was telling him to get away and find Pandora or maybe even Sienna...
"Well," Rosiers voice cut through his mind like a knife, any thought of Sirius he had ceased to annoy him as he sighed, stuffing his hands into his trousers pockets, turning around to face the three of them.
"If it isn't the blood-traitors little brother," Dainly sneered, making Peterson chuckle beside him.
"And yet my blood is still purer than yours." Regulus retorted, he felt a shiver go down his spine at his own words, he hated how fast he could switch to his parents words, he didn't believe in his blood being purer than, say Siennas, and yet it still came form his mouth willingly...
"What did you just say?" Dainly asked, moving to stand closer, he stood intimidating, and yet Regulus still had a few inches of hight on him, what could he say, he was tall, almost the same hight as Sirius...
"I said," Regulus sighed, stepping up as well, extending to his full hight, he always made a point of looking shorter than he was, it made him safer, less of a target.
"And yet my blood is still purer than yours," Regulus gritted out, he could see Dainlys face going red, hands balling into fists as his nostrils flared.
"Well," But Dainly was cut off by a throat being cleared, it was by the Quidditch captain, Caroline Nott, Regulus had seen her at those fancy pure-blood balls, ironically, he had never seen Dainly at one of those, Regulus smirked at the thought, he does amuse himself.
Caroline arched a perfect eyebrow at the group, she had a small grin on her face as she patted Rosiers back, snorting softly to herself, she leaved the common room, leaving the five? boys in her wake.
The fifth guy stood in the corner, has he been here the whole time? Regulus asked himself, his eyes locked with the hazel eyes of the boy leaned against the stone wall, he moved towards the small group slowly, like a predator eyeing its prey before it goes in for the kill.
His eyes flickered between the four boys, Regulus didn't recognise him, but he immediately knew he wanted to, what could he say, this boy looked intriguing, and he did love a mystery.
"What? You here to get punched in the face too?" Dainly asked, eyes looking between the mysterious loner and Regulus.
The boy with the raven and slightly golden curls tensed, if it came down to a fight? Yeah, Regulus was completely fucked...
The boy only shook his head, and then he raised his fist and then...
"Shit." Regulus whispered, surprising himself when the word came out, not even a day at Hogwarts and he was already using such profanity, he shook his head, eyes glued on the scene infront of him, Dainly on the floor, bleeding, might he add, Peterson was hunched over him in a slight panic, and Rosier looked bored, what empathy...Regulus thought, rolling his eyes at the boys behaviour.
"C'mon," The boy whispered to him, moving towards the common room door, Regulus didn't follow him, instead he looked at the guy in bewilderment.
"Well are you coming?" He asked, cocking his head to the door, Regulus' head whipped over to look at the three boys, Rosier still hadn't moved from his perpetually bored state, and Dainly hadn't stopped groaning, so, Regulus rushed over to the unknown guy, who grinned, flinging an arm over his shoulders as they left the common room.
"I'm Nicolas Mellark," Nicolas said, looking at Regulus with that same grin, they were walking up the stairs to exit the dungeons, it was slowly getting warmer as they trailed up to the great hall.
"Regulus Black,"
"Yeah, I know," Nicolas chuckled, looking at Regulus amused, the boy with the raven curls blushed slightly in embarrassment, he didn't realise how much influence his family had...
"What year are you in?" Regulus asked, Mellark looked like he was in his fourth year, though Regulus had learned to never jump to conclusions.
"Second," Now that, surprised Regulus, he looked at the other guy in surprise, Nicolas must have picked up on it because he chuckled, taking his arm off from Regulus, holding his hand out for the other boy to shake.
"Call me Nic,"
Regulus took the other boys hand in his own, smiling slightly at the contact.
"Well then Nic, call me Reg,"
Nic grinned, and that's when Regulus knew this would be the start of a long-lasting friendship.