Family
Regulus enjoys sparring. It quiets down the roaring in his head when all he can think about is his next move, and how he could defeat his opponent. A little bit like chess, except he was much better at this. Nico was a good opponent, strong and quick, and very clearly experienced. He fought with such grace and ease; it almost reminded him of watching Sirius dance. Regulus was good but Nico was better.
They had been here all day, training Regulus with a sword (Regulus had always hated fencing), spear (not too bad, but not his thing), and daggers (much better). Now, they were just going fist to fist. Nico obviously knew his strengths because he didn’t punch, didn’t strike, instead waiting for Regulus to lose his focus, and trip him up. Regulus fell to the ground with a thud, sore from the impact. Nico had never failed to knock him down. He looked up to see Nico extending a hand, a smile in his eyes.
“Are you sure you’re not a Roman, brother?” Nico asked, hoisting Regulus up. “You’re a good fighter.”
Regulus snorted. “You kicked my ass,” Regulus replied, trying to catch his breath. Nico gave him a small smile.
“You’ll get there.” Nico turned and started walking off. “Go by Cabin 7 and make sure you’re okay. Thanks for the match!” Regulus nodded before turning and walking off to Cabin 7.
“Regulus!” James immediately called out, as Regulus stepped into the cabin. “Is everything okay?”
Regulus rolled his eyes. “I’m fine, Potter. I just had a sparring match with Nico, and he recommended that I get checked.”
Regulus watched as James’ face flooded with relief. Was he really that worried? Regulus’s mind couldn’t help wandering through all the reasons he would be this worried about Regulus’s safety. 1) He’s just a nice person (likely), 2) Regulus is his best friends’ brother (more likely), 3) maybe he actually cares about Regulus (almost impossible).
Shut up, Regulus scolded himself. He was here to get checked up, not to converse with James. Sure, it couldn’t hurt… but Regulus wanted to get out of Cabin 7, and talk to the Hecate kids (and Barty), his newfound friends, and people Sirius didn’t really want to talk to.
James wordlessly led him to a cot in the corner. Regulus quickly realized it was the same cot that James had led him to on his first day at camp. James walked away from Regulus to a taller, blonde-haired boy. Regulus saw James talk to the boy for a minute. The boy turned and started walking towards Regulus.
“Hi,” the boy said. “I’m Will Solace, head of the Apollo cabin. And you are…” he looked down at his clipboard, tapping his pen against it. “Regulus Black, son of Hades.”
Regulus nodded. Will was nice. Will was kind. Regulus could just feel it, in the shimmer of his kind blue eyes.
“So, you’re just getting checked up on after a spar?” Will said. It was more of a statement than a question, but Regulus nodded anyway.
“Yeah. I was sparring with Nico, my brother, and I got knocked down. He recommended that I stop by,” Regulus said, twisting his ring.
Will nodded knowingly. “Good thing you did. Nico can cause a lot of damage, even if he’s not trying to.”
Regulus didn’t speak while Will examined him, simply nodding, or shaking his head in response to questions. He was eventually let go after a couple minutes of questioning, and reaching the conclusion that Will was cool and he liked him.
He quickly made his way to the lake, where, sure enough, Pandora, Evan, Barty, and a dark-skinned girl that Regulus had seen, but hadn’t talked to, were sitting next to the water, chatting away, while Pandora put the dark-skinned girl’s hair into long, beaded braids.
Barty was the first one to notice him, waving him over. “Hey, Death Boy! Sit down!”
Regulus sat down next to Barty, shifting uncomfortably under the stare of the dark-skinned girl. He was mildly surprised when the girl extended a jewelry-covered hand.
“Hi. I’m Dorcas, Aphrodite cabin. Nice rings.” The girl smirked, the gold beads in her braids glinting.
“Thanks. I’m Regulus.” Regulus said, shaking Dorcas’ hand stiffly.
“I know. Dumbledore wasn’t particularly subtle, Mister ‘son of Hades, apparently’,” Dorcas joked. Regulus smiled slightly. He liked these people. They were cool and intriguing and a little strange, but in a good way.
Regulus waited a moment before speaking again. “I like your jewelry,” he said quietly. Dorcas let out a loud, happy sounding laugh.
“Thanks! I made them myself!” she said, showing off the silver and gold rings and bracelets on her hands. They were beautifully engraved with all sorts of things. Initials, snakes, flowers, all engraved in metal. She also had a string necklace with six painted beads on it, standing out against the primarily metal accessories. It was a piece of jewelry he had seen on many of the campers, including Pandora, and James.
“What’s that necklace?” Regulus asked, pointing at the odd beaded necklace. Dorcas’s hand reached up, rolling the bead between her fingers.
“It’s a camp necklace. Each bead is for another summer I’ve been here. This is my seventh year,” Dorcas said, squeezing on the bead in between her fingers. Pandora finished braiding Dorcas’s hair and pulled away, sitting on her knees next to her, drumming on her thighs.
“It’s my sixth,” Pandora said, leaning her head on her twin brother’s shoulder. Evan stroked her long, pale-blonde hair.
“It’s sixth for Barty and me as well,” Evan said, holding his older sister close. Honestly, Regulus wouldn’t have thought that Evan was the younger sibling with his protectiveness over his older sister. “Pandora brought me with her for her second summer.”
Regulus’s mind wandered to James, bringing Sirius and him. How long has James been coming here? It had to be more than his second summer since he had disappeared the previous summer, constantly smirking with an untold secret. He had to have been here.
“Earth to Death Boy! Hello!” Barty yelled into Regulus’s ear, waving his hand in front of Regulus’s face.
“Sorry. I just have a lot to take in right now,” Regulus said, pushing Barty’s hand away.
Barty grinned. “I could give you a distraction if you want, pretty boy,” he flirted, wiggling his eyebrows. Regulus rolled his eyes and shoved Barty away.
“Barty, that was rude. You don’t even know if he likes guys,” Evan chided.
“No, I do like guys. I just don’t like him,” Regulus said. Barty let out an indignant gasp, dramatically pressing a hand to his chest.
“How dare you?! I’ll have you know that I am irresistible!” Barty said, dramatically flipping his hair.
“I beg to differ,” Regulus deadpanned, keeping the smile from creeping up his face.
Barty grinned, humorously. “Well, if you ever realize my true beauty, the offer still stands, pretty boy!”
“Too bad I have no interest in taking you up on it,” Regulus said, feeling the smile on his face grow.
Dorcas leaned over to Regulus. “Ignore him. He’s an idiot,” she said, sounding too fond for Regulus to take the word seriously. “He flirts with everyone, but especially his friends. It’s better that you just ignore it.”
“Or flirt back!” Barty interrupted.
Regulus nodded to Dorcas, ignoring Barty. Honestly, he was just happy that there was even a chance that these people saw him as a friend. He never had much luck making friends.
“Pandora!” yelled a female voice. Regulus turned to see who it belonged to, to see a girl with red hair, sprinting towards them.
“Lily!” Pandora said, as the girl slowed down, breathing heavily.
“I figured out a way we can infuse the weapons with fiendfyre! Come on, we have to get working!” Lily said excitedly, grabbing Pandora’s hand and dragging her up.
Pandora smiled kindly at Regulus and the others as she let herself get pulled away. “I’ll see you guys at dinner.”
Lily dragged Pandora away, soon to be followed by Dorcas, Barty, and Evan.
“We should go. Barty and I are counselors for our cabins, and Evan promised to enchant something for me which he really should be doing, instead of sitting around on his ass,” she said. “I’m sure you can find someone else to talk to while we work, Regulus.”
So, Regulus ended up just walking around camp absentmindedly. He liked camp well enough, even if there was a surplus of people he didn’t really want to talk to. At some point he just decided that he wanted to see Sirius. Sirius was, surprisingly, not with James, instead sitting alone in the dining pavilion, rolling a small red gem in between his fingers. Upon seeing Regulus, Sirius quickly put it in his pocket.
“Hey Reg,” Sirius said, gesturing for Regulus to sit down next to him.
“Hi. How’s camp for you?” Regulus asked, eager to start a conversation.
Sirius shrugged. “It’s nice, I guess. I met some cool people from the Hermes and Hephaestus cabins. I haven’t gotten to talk to James a lot though. Also, I don’t like Nico very much.”
“Why not?”
Sirius looked at him as though it was obvious. “It’s like having another you, except Italian. Now I have two annoying little brothers.”
“Actually, Nico’s like, eighty-something,” Regulus interrupted.
Sirius looked at him, confused. “What?”
Regulus shrugged. “Something about being trapped in time in a casino. I don’t really get it.”
Sirius smiled silently for a minute. “Are you okay here Reg?”
Regulus met Sirius’s smile with one of his own, though much smaller. “Yeah. I’m okay.”
Suddenly, Sirius embraced his little brother. This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, but what was uncommon was Regulus embracing him back, clinging to his older brother in a way he hadn’t done since he was eleven. Like Sirius could protect him from the world, and all the problems in it. This was safety for Regulus, at least until he learned to keep himself safe.
“We’re safe now, Reg,” Sirius mumbles into his brother’s shoulder.
“I know, Sirius.”
“I love you, Reg. You know I love you, right?” Sirius mumbles. Regulus doesn’t say anything in response. He just pats his brothers back gently.
“Sirius?” Regulus said after a minute.
“Yeah Reg?”
“Could you let go?”
Sirius laughed and released his little brother. They sat there together in comfortable silence, unsaid words ringing through the air.
I love you too, big brother.