September 1 1971
There was a crack next to the bed. Regulus groaned softly while rubbing his eyes. He saw Kreacher standing in the middle of the room. “Sir Regulus, I am here to wake you up for breakfast.”
“Mm okay thank you Kreacher.”
“You're welcome, would you like some tea?”
“Yes please.”
“Come down soon Sir Regulus.”
Kreacher left with another crack.
Regulus loved his house elf. The elf was his only friend once Sirius went to Hogwarts last year. Oh god, Regulus missed his brother so much. He would never tell Sirius this but it got worse when he left.
Regulus was very nervous to go to Hogwarts. He wasn’t sure if it was because he would see his brother again or his family's bad reputation. Either way he just wanted to get out of this cold dark house.
He got up with a loud sigh and started for the bathroom. He quickly showered and put in his hair products. After he got dressed into his school robes and went downstairs. He entered the dining room where his parents were already seated. His father was at the head of the table. He sat down next to his father and across from his mother. His father was reading the paper while eating and his mother was already glaring towards Regulus.
Regulus knew his mother was dropped on her head as a child. He knew there was no way she didn’t have brain damage because the way she acted towards everyone wasn’t natural. He loved his mother even though she gave harsh punishments for simple mistakes. He loved his father even though he watched and was never actually present.
“Good morning mother and father.”
His father didn’t look up or say anything and his mother just kept glaring. This was expected though. If his parents ever answered him back he would probably faint right there.
He ate his toast and eggs and drank his tea. His tea was the perfect temperature and just how he liked it. Black. He continued to sit there staring between his mother and father wondering if there were going to say anything about ‘making them proud’ or ‘don’t disappoint us like Sirius did’. But it was just silence which again made sense.
But as he was excusing himself from the table he heard “Stay”
His father never talked first so this had to be bad. He sat back down. His father looked up from the paper. “You can not be placed anywhere but Slytherin do you understand?” He did understand but it didn’t mean he wanted to. Regulus knew that not being placed in Slytherin meant he was a major disappointment. He didn’t really want to follow his family’s footsteps. He wanted to live his life as far away from his parents as possible. But Regulus was smart. He knew if he left, his brother would have to stay and his brother was too stubborn to stay.
“I understand I will try so hard not to disappoint you.” He said dryly. Regulus regretted this as soon as he said it. He was always a sarcastic person. He gave back witty remarks and did so with a straight face every time. He feels like his parents should expect this from him since he does it often.
“Regulus you will not try, you will do.” His mother cutted in. She said it with such an angry tone his father even glanced at her. “And stop with the attitude while talking or you won’t talk at all.”
Regulus had the urge to roll his eyes because she said this at least once a day. And she followed through all the time. He didn’t get to talk much in this house. He felt his mouth being silenced shut. He couldn’t move his lips. He knew better than to talk like that but he also knew that they presented the opportunity too often. It was so easy.
“Regulus you will NOT disappoint us. You may leave now, get your things.” His father went straight back to reading his paper. Regulus knew that this was him being excused. He stood up and went upstairs to get his things.
When it was finally ready to go he couldn’t be more excited. He walked downstairs where he found his mother and father just looking at him. He felt so uncomfortable. His mother quickly unsilenced him with her wand.
“Regulus make sure you sit with your cousin on the train.”
“Okay mother I will.”
He definitely wasn’t going to do that. He might talk to her but he would not sit with her for almost 7 hours. Cissy was one of his favorite cousins but he could not stand the guy that she is with. Lucious Malfoy was a real cunt. He met him once and that was all he needed to hate him.
“Write to us when you get sorted into Slytherin.” If I get sorted you mean.
“I will.” Conversations with his parents were always short and lacked emotions.
“Let’s get going. We will floo to the station.”
Regulus just nodded as he walked to the fireplace. He took the powder and said “Platform 9 and three quarters.” When he got there it was busy. He could see all the kids hugging their parents goodbye. He saw kids meeting up with their friends after the summer holidays and he saw parents with tears in their eyes. He swiped the remaining dust off his cloths.
As his parents entered they just stood there and stared.
“Goodbye we will see you at Christmas. Make us proud.” His father just stood there with cold eyes.
“I will see you at Christmas”. Regulus said with a nod.
He grabbed his trunk and walked towards the train. He was so nervous. You would have thought with all of the awkward family gathering and the weird and proper interactions that he would be less nervous.
He made his way towards a compartment that looked empty. He did not want to run into his brother or his cousin. Though he never seemed to have any luck because he ran into Malfoy. He groaned as he saw him. Lucious smirked at him.
“Hello there Regulus. Narcissa is this way.”
“And I needed to know that why?”
“So you can sit with us like your mother said?” He asked all innocently.
He sighed deeply before he said “Alright.” He followed Malfoy through the train. He followed him through the compartment door. He saw Cissy’s face light up a bit when he saw him.
“Hello Reg.” She seemed happy to see him. He had always been her favorite.
“Hello Cissy. How are you?” He said with a slight smile.
“I’m alright. I am a little sad this is my last year.”
“Who said this was your last year? You have to pass your exams first.” He said with an innocent face and a small smirk.
“Ha Ha I forgot you were so funny.” She said dryly. They just stared at each other and started to burst out laughing two seconds later.
“So are you excited for your first year at Hogwarts?”
“Can’t you see I am just bursting with energy?” He said with a straight face.
“Aw come on Reg. I can save you a seat when you are sorted.” She was so sincere.
“Thank you.” He was only thinking about how he might not even sit at the same table as her.
They fell into a comfortable silence and he heard Cissy and Malfoy start to talk with another girl he didn’t catch the name of.
He was thinking of the other houses he could be sorted into. Hufflepuff? Not likely. Gryffindor? He was not brave enough for that. Ravenclaw? Possibly not again he was almost sure he would get Slytherin which he was a little upset about. Slytherin seems almost too rude for his liking. Sure he could be an asshole but he wasn’t a bully. He liked to be by himself and read his books. He didn’t want to get trapped by the people hungry for power. He didn’t want to be the heir. And he was itching to disappoint his parents like his brother did.
He was interrupted by these thoughts when the door opened. As he looked over he saw his brother.
“Reggie! I have been looking for you forever!”
“Well you found me.”
“Do you want to come sit with me?” His eyes were filled with hope.
“He is already sitting here.” Malfoy said. Regulus rolled his eyes.
“Aww Lucy do you want him all to yourself?” Sirius said teasingly.
“Shut it or I will hex you.”
“Stop it Sirius.” Cissy said annoyed.
“I said nothing wrong. I just think your boyfriend likes Reggie a little too much.”
“Don’t call me Reggie”
“Sirius, I will not stop him from hexing you.” Cissy was getting very mad at him.
“I am only observing.” He said putting his hands up and shrugging his shoulders.
“I do not want Regulus here. He can leave if he wants to.” Malfoy was fuming. It was funny seeing him like that.
“You know I think I will. I will see you at the feast Cissy. Goodbye.” He stood up, got his trunk and left.
“Reggie, I missed you so much.” Sirius said as they got into the hallway. He went in for a hug and Regulus dodged it.
“Don’t call me that.” He said as they started walking to a different compartment. He was already mad at his brother for forgetting about him and now he was acting like nothing happened.
“Yeah yeah, it is my job as an older brother to call you whatever I want.”
“Yeah it was also your job to write to me and come home for summer but somehow you messed that up too.” He grumbled.
Sirius stopped walking and turned slowly. “What did you just say?”
“I said you stopped writing and didn’t even come home.” He was getting mad because Sirius was acting like he had no idea what he was talking about.
“No, I wrote to you and mother and father said not to come home for the summer.”
“What? No, I didn't get any letters and mother and father said you wanted to go see your blood traitor friends instead of coming home and seeing me.” Regulus spat.
“First of all, don't call them blood traitors. Secondly I bet you mother and father took the letters before you got them. Ugh, very typical. Why did I not see that coming? And I did want to go and see you but they told me I couldn’t come home this summer.” Sirius had an angry look on his face. He was practically shaking.
“Oh I didn’t know.” That’s all he said. What else was he supposed to say? He was so mad at Sirius for months. But it was just mother and father telling lies. What else were they lying about? He had a sick feeling in his stomach. He felt guilty for blaming Sirius all this time. He should have known that his brother wouldn’t have forgotten about him. He should have known that Sirius wouldn’t have replaced him with James Potter and his other friends. Everything was okay between them still. Right?
“Yeah.” Sirius sighed softly as he started to walk again. Regulus followed him into the compartment.
As he walked in he saw three other boys sitting in there already. He remembered Sirius talking about them at Christmas. There was Peter Pettigrew who Sirius said he wasn’t as close with. Peter was a bit shy and was a bit boring according to Sirius. There was Remus Lupin who was ‘so cool’. Lupin had a muggle mother but Sirius said he was just as good as any pure blood. Sirius also said they shouldn’t judge others for blood purity. It was weird to hear for the first time but he tried to take it into consideration. Sirius talked about Lupin’s awesome music taste and cool clothes. Lupin did seem a bit cool.
Then there was James Potter. The first time he heard about Potter he was jealous. Sirius was all like ‘he is like a second brother’ and ‘you would love him’ and ‘his parents are the best’. It was aggravating. Sirius hadn’t even met Potter’s parents at the time so how would he know? James Potter was the main topic that Christmas. He was also the main topic when his parents were screaming at each other about their ‘disappointment of a son’.
Sirius introduced the first boy as Peter Pettigrew. He had short blonde hair. He was a little chubbier and had bright blue eyes. He looked nervous and he had a small smile on his face. The second one was Lupin. He had shaggy dirty blonde hair that almost looked brown. He has a scar going across his face and he was very lanky. He was taller than average even sitting down and was very skinny. He had a book in his hands. He would hate to admit it but Lupin did look cool.
The last boy was Potter. He had darker skin that looked golden and kissed by the sun. He had a bright grin plastered to his face. He had round glasses that looked too big for his face and they were falling down a bit. His hair was a deep chocolate brown and very shaggy. It stuck up in different ways and was a bit longer. He waved aggressively.
“Hey!” They all said collectively. “You must be Reggie.” Potter said.
“Don’t call me that Potter.” He said with a sneer. Potter didn’t take that as an insult though he just smiled brighter if that was even possible. The four boys started to get into a conversation about their summers and Regulus couldn’t feel more out of place as he sat down near the window. He started to get mad at his brother because he realized that Sirius was doing just fine here without him.
He was sad a bit but realized it wasn’t his brother's fault that he wasn’t allowed back home for the summer and he needed somewhere to go. So he probably turned to his friends because who else did he have?
“How was your summer Regulus?” Peter said.
Regulus turned towards them. They were all looking at him. “Oh you know. It was just Peachy. I think it was the best summer yet.” He deadpanned as he rolled his eyes. They all started to chuckle even though it wasn’t supposed to be funny.
“Oh so it's a family trait Sirius? I thought it was just you that was dramatic.” Lupin said with a chuckle.
“I am not dramatic!” Regulus and Sirius said at the same time very loudly.
They both looked at each other horrified. “Mmmm okay.” Lupin said, looking down at his book smiling.
Regulus huffed and crossed his arms, sinking into the seat.
“Well Reggie you must have done something fun over the summer?” Potter said with a stupid grin.
“Yes, because my parents are the definition of fun. SIruis knows the fun that our parents give us and don't call me that.” He said, raising his eyebrows towards his brother. Sirius just stared at him with a sad face.
It turned into an uncomfortable silence until Regulus started to burst out laughing like a madman. Though no one else joined.
Everyone just went back to talking about a new topic of quidditch. Every so often Sirius would glance at him with a sad smile.
Regulus went through his trunk and started to read. Until there was about an hour left and he heard “Whatcha reading?” He looked up and it was Lupin.
“Oh just this book from my parents library. Something about legends at hogwarts.”
“Did you want to borrow any of mine? They are muggle books.”
“Muggles make books?” This got everyone’s attention and they just stared at him. Lupin laughed “Yeah they make books, do you want to read one?”
“Um yeah I don’t see why not.” Lupin handed him a book. “Thank you.”
“Yeah just give it back when you are done.” He nodded.
When the train stopped he followed the first years to the boats to go to the castle. As he was walking through the castle he realized how enchanting it seemed. It didn’t seem dark and cold like his house with his parents. As he walked he drank in the architecture and decorations. They walked through the great hall with everyone already seated. He saw the four tables with each house and he saw the table with all of the teachers. They all stood in front of Dumbledore and he hit his glass with a knife and everyone got quiet.
“Good evening students. I would like to welcome you all back from your summers. I would also like to welcome the first years to Hogwarts. I hope you all find a place in this castle like each and every other student has throughout the years.” There was an applause of claps from the students.
“Now let's start the house sorting.”
Regulus felt very nervous. He was starting to sweat. He knew he would be one of the first ones to be called for sorting. As the lady called professor McGonangall started to read off the names he stopped listening. He realized how real this was. He realized how bad he could mess up.
“-can you hear me? Black, Regulus.”
He looked around and everyone was staring. He stepped up to the stool and the hat was placed.
“Oh God save us all another black.” The hat seemed to say.
“What?”
“Mmm this is interesting. You and your brother just don’t like family traditions do ya?”
“No, I do. What are you talking about?” The hat never answered his question.
“Slytherin would suit you. You have the ambition to fit in well.”
“So put me there?” He was confused on where this was going.
“No, don't be confused. You have options.”
“Options?”
“Yes I think Ravenclaw would suit you well don’t you think?”
He froze. “Why would you think that?”
“You are witty and can expand your knowledge there. You could live your life and wouldn’t drown there.”
“Drown?”
“You could have more opportunities to grow.”
“And Slytherin wouldn’t do that for me?”
“It would swallow you whole.”
“That seems dark.”
“It is.”
“So Ravenclaw would be nice?”
“You are starting to understand.” The hat said with a laugh. This time the hat spoke out loud instead of in his mind. Regulus is starting to realize he had been up there for at least 15 minutes. He looked around and everyone either seemed bored or intrigued.
“Best believe, RAVENCLAW.”
Everyone stared for 5 seconds before he brother jumped up and started to clap. Then everyone joined in and he was ushered off the stool.
Regulus made eye contact with his brother and was grinning like a madman and shaking his head up and down while putting his thumbs up. He never saw his brother happier. This made him smile but then he looked at Cissy. She was glaring at him before she put her head in her hands. All of the Slytherins looked that way. He sat down and realized that his parents would hear about this.
Uh oh he thought. He turned out to be ‘a disappointment’ like his brother. He saw the punishments his brother got when he got home from Christmas. He knew that his parents wrote terrible things to his brother. He heard the pained screams of his brother.
This was so bad. He didn’t even pay attention to the rest of the sorting. He couldn't.
He didn’t even notice a girl sitting next to him.
“Lovely to meet you, I’m Pandora.” She seemed very nice.
“Black.” He said as nice as he could.
“Isn’t Ravenclaw just so nice. I feel like it suits me well, don't you think?”
“Um, I guess so. I don’t really know you that well.”
“Yes well no one really knows anyone don’t you think?”
“No I guess not.” This girl was confusing him.
For the rest of the feast she went on about her weird morning on the way to Hogwarts and how she got her stuff taken. She didn’t seem concerned about it though. She seemed nice enough to keep around. At the end he followed the perfects to the entrance to the common room. It was hidden behind a tapestry. There wasn’t a password but you had to solve a riddle in order to enter instead. He thought that was cool but could see how that could be annoying at times. Like what if the riddle was too hard or what if someone from another house got it right and broke in. He saw the flaws in it.
As he entered though it felt like home in a good way. There were couches that looked so soft and they were a deep navy blue. It was dark in the room but it was almost comforting. There were fireplaces and there was a huge wall of books. He knew he loved the place as soon as he walked in.
He made his way to his dorm. He was rooming with two other boys. One of them was Dirk Cresswell, since he never heard of him before he assumed he was a Muggle born. The second was Gilderoy Lockhart.
Drik seemed very nice and his second house was definitely Hufflepuff. He was a bit short and had a nice smile. He talked a lot, which was annoying. He loved to talk about his mom and dad and brother. He had soft, fluffy brown hair. He seemed a bit taller and was covered in freckles.
Though Lockhart was so annoying it hurt. Even though Dirk talked a lot, Lockhart talked more and was so stuck up. He was dumber than a box of rocks and he always thought he was right. He had golden hair and blue eyes. There was nothing special about him. Regulus wanted to punch him after the first conversation with him.
Regulus was angry that he got stuck with the most annoying roommates. He was so tired he decided to just go to bed without writing to his parents. He was sure they already heard anyway.