Welcome
Regulus hates James so much. He couldn’t care less how ‘safe’ this summer camp of his is, Regulus does not enjoy long walks through woods that he has been informed are ‘very dangerous’. Still, James looks so happy, skipping through the woods with Sirius. It would be sweet if Regulus weren’t determined to hate James with his entire being.
Regulus isn’t sure exactly why they must be kept safe. Effie just told them they were in danger and, well, Effie was amazing. Regulus didn’t believe that she could have told a lie in her lifetime.
So, they walk. And walk. And walk for hours. He wasn’t even sure how long it had been but they walked all the way, from the Potter’s house to the middle of this odd forest because James really likes fucking walking.
Regulus, lost in thought, and the aching his feet, walks directly into something, tall, and broad, and warm. Shit. He really should have been paying more attention to where he was walking. He stumbles clumsily away from James, falling back against a tree.
James doesn’t keep walking. He had probably stopped suddenly, and that must be why Regulus ran into him. Yes, that must be why.
Regulus hates him so much.
Regulus walks casually up to where Sirius stands at the top of the hill and looks down at the landscape below.. The view is breathtaking, the green grass interrupted by pebbled paths, and stables and pavilions. There were dozens of small buildings, built from different types of stone, arranged in an arch, as well as a large lake with a few canoes moving quickly across the waters.. It’s all just down the hill, within walking distance, or, as Sirius and James were now doing, running distance. Soon, Regulus was running down the hill at his brother’s side.
There was something that struck Regulus as odd about the camp the minute he stepped inside, with a shift from the breezy, but humid weather in the woods, to a warm, pleasant temperature that came so quickly, that he felt it in his bones.
Everything was so much stranger as a centaur trotted up to them. A bearded old man wearing half-moon glasses, with the bottom half of a sturdy white horse. Regulus watched, his eyes wide, and his mouth agape.
“Welcome back, Mr. Potter. I see you chose the forest entrance again?”
Regulus looked at James, who was grinning wildly. What the hell was happening?
“Hello, Professor! These are my friends, Sirius, and Regulus.” Regulus decided to ignore the fact that James considered him a friend in favor of stepping forward to say what he was thinking, and what Sirius must’ve been thinking.
“I’m sorry, but what the actual fuck is happening?” he asked, obvious irritation in his voice. He didn’t particularly care if he was offended. He pointed to the centaur. “Who are you? Where are we? Why are you half horse?”
The centaur stayed calm, placing his hand gently on Regulus’s shoulder. Regulus froze up, his glare solid on his face.“I am Chiron, the activities director here at Camp Half-Blood, though you may call me Professor Dumbledore. I find that it suits me better.”
Regulus brushed Dumbledore’s hand off his shoulder angrily. “Chiron? The fucking centaur from Greek mythology? The one who taught all the fucking ‘heroes’? And What is a “half-blood”? Why am I here? What is going on?”
Dumbledore was incredibly calm, staring with a slight smile at the furious Regulus. It only served to make Regulus angrier. “I’m sure plenty of your questions will be answered by the orientation film. Why don’t you and your brother go watch it?”
The orientation film turned out to not be very helpful. Great, one of their parents was a Greek god. Greek mythology is real, why not? It doesn’t change that his mother was always a bitch, or that his father was neglectful, or that he just walked through the woods for hours, and desperately wanted to take a shower. He was tired, sweaty, and the bright orange camp t-shirts looked hideous on him.
“Hey, Sirius! Reg,” James said cheerfully, walking into the sitting room of the sky-blue house, unoriginally called, ‘The Big House’.
Sirius practically jumped to his feet at the sight of James. Regulus slowly stood up, rolling his eyes. His legs were sore, and he was aware that he had cuts on his arms and legs that were still very much bleeding. He hobbled over to James and Sirius, eager to get out of the house. James furrowed his brow, watching Regulus’s limp.
“Sirius, my friend Frank will be showing you the cabin that you and Regulus are staying in. I’m going to be taking Regulus to heal up,” James said, gripping Regulus’s wrist. Regulus froze uncomfortably at the sudden contact. James pointed to a dark-haired boy, standing in the doorway.
“This is Frank. Everyone, say hi to Frank.” Sirius waved, friendlily. Regulus just glared.
James placed Regulus’s arm over his shoulders to help him walk, as he led him outside into the sun.
As James led Regulus to Cabin 7 which was apparently for children of the god Apollo, James pointed out his favorite spots in camp. There was a large rock-climbing, lava-spitting obstacle course (which seemed too chaotic and dangerous for Regulus’s taste), a volleyball pit (Regulus never liked volleyball. It did seem much more tame though), Pegasus stables (Those actually seemed interesting. Regulus always did like animals), the lake Regulus had spotted earlier (That seemed nice and peaceful), and specific campers who James would cheerfully wave and say hi to. It was rather irritating.
Cabin 7 was a small building, almost cottage-like, with a ceramic painted sun above the doorway. The inside was airy and breathable, with linen-covered beds that were empty at the moment. James practically carried a light-headed Regulus and lowered him gently into one of the beds. The building smelled like hyacinth, a soft and sweet, but melancholic scent. It would be lovely if Regulus hadn’t obsessively read the story behind it.
“Roll up your pants and sleeves,” James ordered, grabbing a tray of first-aid supplies and a glass of golden liquid. Once Regulus had rolled up his sleeves, wincing slightly, James gave him the drink.
“Drink some of this while I bandage the cuts. Don’t drink too much though,” James said, kneeling down to disinfect and bandage the cuts on his legs. It was a tedious and painful process, so Regulus took a sip of the drink, hoping to distract himself.. It tasted oddly like tea, the way Effie made it for him, two sugars despite the fact he always claims he drinks it with nothing, and it was warm. The glass had ice in it, yet the drink was warm. Regulus drank more, almost the entire glass, but James pulled it away before Regulus could finish it. He pouted involuntarily.
“No more nectar for you. If you drink too much of it, you’re going to burst into flames.” Regulus didn’t reach for the glass again. At least his legs didn’t hurt anymore.
After James finished bandaging the cuts, he rolled down Regulus’s sleeves. “There, all better,” he said, grinning. His hair was wild, messy. It was very James. Regulus despised it. Regulus stood up, finding that walking was easy, not painful anymore.
“Is this your cabin?” Regulus asked. It would make sense that his dad would be Apollo because James is bright and warm and always tries to help, no matter how little it’s wanted, so Regulus isn’t surprised when James nods.
“Yep. James Fleamont Potter, son of Apollo, at your service,” James said, bowing extravagantly. Regulus almost lets out a chuckle. Almost.
“And do you know who my divine parental figure is?” Regulus asked, walking out the door with James by his side.
“Nope. no clue. That’s why you and Sirius are sleeping in the Hermes cabin,” James said gesturing to a cabin that looked very similar to the Apollo cabin, except when Regulus looked inside, it was overly crowded. Nope, not doing that. He could feel his breath growing less controlled, and his heart rate racing just looking at it.
“I am not living there,” Regulus said. He didn’t do cramped spaces, or crowded spaces, or people. Not his thing.
“Where would you rather stay?” James asked, giving Regulus that stupid smile. Gods, his grin is stupid. Regulus chose to look forward, refusing to stare at his stupid face.
“Somewhere less crowded. Anywhere less crowded would be nice. Preferably just me, and Sirius,” Regulus said, twisting the silver ring on his middle finger repeatedly. James laughed, the sound bright and loud and happy. His laugh was stupid too.
“I don’t think I can get you your own cabin but you could stay in Apollo cabin for the night,” he said warmly. Regulus was a little surprised by the offer. He wasn’t sure what to do with it. He never really knew what to do about kindness.
“Is… that allowed? I really would prefer not to get in trouble on my first day,” Regulus said, determined to not look at James and his stupid, pretty grin.
“That depends, how’s your leg feeling?” James asked mischievously. “It still hurts right?”
Regulus understood sort of. “It does hurt…” he said, giving James a very slight smile. “Perhaps I could continue healing in the Apollo cabin tonight.” James smiled brightly. They had reached an understanding.
Regulus wasn’t sure where to sit in the dining pavilion. He was supposed to sit with Sirius and the Hermes kids, who didn’t seem too bad but there were too many people. He didn’t want to sit with the prissy looking Aphrodite kids or the violent and aggressive Ares kids. He certainly didn’t want to sit at the Apollo table with James, and his stupid, awful smile. Eventually he decided to sit at the relatively empty Hecate table. He sat down with the three other kids, all around the same age as himself. A very pale girl with long light-blonde hair, and strikingly blue eyes smiled at him.
“Hello, I’m Pandora!” the girl said, her unnerving blue eyes shining. “Welcome to the Hecate table!”
“Um- I’m Regulus. Why are people tossing their food in the fire?” he asked, gesturing to the line of people throwing food in the hearth.
“Offering for the gods. We’re supposed to burn a bit of our food before we eat. I’m Evan, by the way!” said the blonde boy sitting next to Pandora, extending his hand. He looked oddly similar to Pandora, with the same pale skin, and pale blonde hair, and striking blue eyes. Regulus hesitantly shook his hand. “Pandora here made one for our table. She’s really quite brilliant.”
Evan clapped his hands in a fun rhythm and a fire appeared in the center of the circular table. Evan grinned as Regulus dropped a piece of brisket into the fire.
“I’m Barty. I’m a Dionysus kid,” said the dark-haired boy on the opposite side of the table. He had more piercings than a boy at his age probably should, and Regulus could see the slightest hint of a tattoo peeking out from under his sleeve.
“Isn’t this table just for Hecate kids?” Regulus asked, taking a small bite from his barbecue. Barty grinned in response. Regulus noticed the odd sharpness of his canines.
“Are you a Hecate kid?” he asked teasingly. Regulus shrugged.
“I don’t know yet. I haven’t been ‘claimed’,” he said, staring at his still-full plate. His snake-shaped ring shimmered in the setting sunlight. He glanced towards Pandora, who was eying the ring with curiosity.
“That’s a lovely ring! Do you like jewelry?” she asked curiously, fiddling with the red beads on one of her necklaces. She wore so many of them. Regulus nodded shyly.
“I love jewelry! I like collecting intriguing pieces and I really like necklaces,” she said, kindly.
Evan and Barty kept chatting away while Regulus engaged in conversation with Pandora, quickly becoming fond of her.
“Attention campers!” Dumbledore’s voice rang out through the pavilion. Regulus rolled his eyes, staring down at his plate. “We have some new campers joining us today. Everybody, please welcome Sirius and Regulus Black!” And then the applause started. It was so awfully loud, and he could feel people looking at him, staring at him. He covered his ears tightly with his hands, staring down at the marble table.
Make it stop, he thought. Make it stop… Suddenly, there was a loud cracking sound, and the applause stopped. Everyone around him was looking down, so Regulus looked down too. There was a giant crack in the marble floor, snaking around the tables, stemming from him. His seat. Oh no.
Dumbledore took a deep breath. “Please welcome, Sirius and Regulus Black, sons of… Hades, apparently.”
A short, pale, skinny boy with dark hair walked up. The boy didn’t look shocked, just confused. Regulus tried desperately to steady his breathing. “What,” he said. “The fuck.”