Young & Royal

A few days had went by since the Christmas Eve party. There was still no sign of Sirius, and Regulus doesn' t think he'll survive the upcoming mess if his brother doesn't come back. It was one of these times where he was five again, needing no one else but Sirius by his side. His dear so strong older brother to face life with. It was selfish of him, he knew, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't help but wish for him to be here, back in this hell. Regulus didn't want to live this fucking hell alone. 

He didn't catch a break ever since that night, things just kept getting worse and his familly's plans just kept being rubbed to his face one after the other. But he was sure Sirius was having it just as hard, wherever he was. He actually understood the other's reaction, he really did. He understood why he ran away instead of bowing to that creature, Regulus secretely wished he could do the same. But they couldn't possibly both run away at the same time, it simply wouldn't work out. One of them had to stay (for a bit more time, at least).

But as much as he understood the other's motivations, he couldn't force a tiny tingle of sadness out of his heart. Why didn't Sirius at least look for him first ? Why didn't he try to get in touch with him once he was out ? It was, again, selfish of him to think that way. He wasn't even sure Sirius was even living well, in a state to think straight, yet he still expected him to reach out to him. Bloody selfish, he scolded himself pretty often, but still couldn't help to stop thinking that way. 

It wasn't his fault. His mind was just a delabred Arena of different dark thoughts fighting for dominance, and Sirius' departure was a close win. The dark lord was also a very present topic in his head these days, but he tried to ignore it, he'd get plenty of time to think about that later. But in general, he had absolutely no control over his mind and what it thought. It's like it was a person of its own these days, and Regulus Black was just a lifeless body walking around the castle. 

"Regulus ?" Called a voice from outside. "Can I come in ?" 

It was Narcissa, she probably got tired of waiting outside, as he has been locking himself for the past last hour. His familly assigned her to stay with him, alfraid he'd mess up anything. They chose her because she was the one he got along with the better. 

"Yeah" he replayed. She opened the door as soon as his voice was heard.

"Are you ready ?" She asked, standing behind him, looking at her reflection in the mirror. She wore her blonde hair in an elegant high ponytail, and a pale green gown embraced her silhouette. She looked really beautiful, he almost felt bad she had to assist him instead of spending time with her lover who was one of their special guests today. 

"I Guess so." He answered, standing up. He was in fact not ready at all. Today was the big day, the day he'll take the crown, the day he was supposed to spend with his brother by his side, the day he would rather not live at all.

"It's going to be alright" she tried. She knew he wasn't having if, she could feel it but she didn't really know what to say to make it better. 

"Yeah" he just answered. "any news of Sirius ?" He asked, it was on the tip of his mouth, he couldn't keep it in. No one besides him and andromeda seemed to care about Sirius missing, no one even mentioned it. Which was insane, because he could be anywhere. He could be injured, dead. Or he could be plotting their downfall. He could litteraly be doing anything, and they just didn't care, as if he didn't exist.

"No" she answered, looking away. "but he'll be okay too, he has always been the craziest of us, secretely" she tried a soothing smirk to which he smiled back. A tiny smile. "Let's go, king" 

"Oh please don't" he sighted. "And you can go ahead, Lucius is probably looking for you" he added, setting her free. 

"Are you sure ?" She raised an eyebrow. She did want to go see her lover, but that could wait. Regulus was her little cousin after all, if he needed someone then she could stay with him through the day. 

"Yes I am" he answered. If Sirius can't be here then he didn't need anyone else. He wasn't really weak minded, he just let toughts consume him too often, which is why it was pratical to have someone to bring him out of them. Sirius was the best yapper, man of the situation. But he wasn't here and it was okay. Regulus was only eighteen, a young adult, but his mind was well beyond his years, he had this. 

"Okay then, Take it easy Nero !" She gave him an amused wink before walking away in the corridor, holding her dress up to avoid triping on her trail. 

Nero. It was his nickname. He pretended to hate it, and it did make him cringe most of the time but deep down, if you squinted, he enjoyed being called Nero. It reminded him that it wasn't all bad. It was like a little bit of white on a pattern of black. 

"Oh boy, you'll end up drowning in your thoughts, and i heard you can't even swim! " an amused voice giggled. Regulus, surprised, turned his head to look for the owner of the unfamiliar voice. He came face to face with a brown haired boy, a bit taller than himself and probably around his age. He was also well dressed, a black suit and a grey tie, probably one of the guests too. But what was a guest doing inside the castle ? 

"Who the hell are you ?" Regulus asked. 

"Your worst nightmare" the boy answered with an amused smirk as he walked closer to the black heir. "Barty Crouch." Barty crouch? Regulus was sure that name belonged to one of the nobles allied to his father. But he was also sure that noble was an old crusty wizard, not this weird looking teenager in front of him. "Junior." He added in a low whisper, a playfull smile still on his face. Okay, it made much more sense. He must be the Crouch heir. It still didn't explain what he was doing inside the castle thought, everyone should be gathered in the court for the coronation by now. 

"Okay barty, get out" answered Regulus in a sarcastic tone. 

"Why are you so tensed ? I Can feel the negative energy from here" barty said, ignoring the other's command. 

"Im not, get out" he repeated.

"You are, and no, dont wanna" barty was now walking next to Regulus who was starting to lose his cool (it wasn't present to start with.) "The crown desappeared, the coronation will get cancelled, so you don't have to kill yourself already" 

"What the hell are you on" regulus stopped walking. He wasn't in the mood to joke with a semi-stranger about a traumatising topic. 

"Im not lying" barty added with a smile. "It got stolen two hours ago" 

"It that was true, you wouldn't be the one informing me." Spat Regulus, approaching the other in a warning way. "Now get out yourself before I curse you out" 

And as if he took the previous sentence as a joke, Barty just offered a playful smile and answered : "they didn't inform you because nobody knows yet" he said. 

"And how do you know then ?" Asked Regulus, who was still aiming a death stare at the noble in front of him. "Talking too much could make you take the blame, you should learn to shut up." 

"A fairy told me" barty said. And weirdly, it made Regulus laugh. A mocking type of laugh, but still a laugh. "Im serious" he added with a smile. 

"Oh I really wish you were "serious" " Regulus sighted, starting to walk again. He lost enough time with this weird accointance. 

"Oh no thanks, Id gladly pass being that dramatic brother of yours" barty said, following the move. And weirdly, it made Regulus laugh too. Not a mocking type of laugh this time. Just a scoff, like the ones he makes when Narcissa says a mean joke about someone, or when Sirius makes an out of pocket remark in the middle of a familly dinner. 

"And didn't your fairy tell you not to mess with the crown prince and that it could get you in trouble ?" Regulus asked in an amused but dark tone. He wasn't exactly happy about the idea of having fun talking to a stranger (because that step often lead to creating relations and building weird links called friendship that regulus was especially bad at). But he did feel a strange connexion with that random kid that day. Barty Crouch Junior wasn't like the other nobles he met, he had that vicious hint of malice that Regulus liked. That regulus had. 

"You're not a crown King without Crown, are you ?" He asked with an espiegle smile that Regulus almost found himself giving back. He stopped midway that action of course. He had other things to bother with instead of bonding with a weirdo in the middle of a corridor while the course of his life was changing in less than a hour later. 

"I still can curse you out of my way thought, all without a crown" he answered, without looking at the other's way. 

"Why so rude when I just told you a great New ?" He asked, faking an arrow shooting his heart. "you're not getting crowned tonight" 

"Oh my Bad. Thank you so much for delivering this amazing fake new to me !" He said with the world's saltiest tone. "shall your exellency leave me alone now ?" 

"Nah, outside is boring. Being by the king's side is more thrilling" he said nonchalantly. Regulus sighted. 

"How did you even get here ?" He asked. The guards shouldn't allow anyone inside the castle besides the familly members themselfs.

"I cast a blind spell at the guards. It's very fun, ill teach you sometimes" he answered.

"You're a fucking mental" he found himself chuckling again. If Sirius was there, he'd either be proud of Regulus for socialising or be mad at him for doing it with the wrong people. But once again he was not there, and it was probably the true reason Regulus was talking to anyone else to strart with. And it sucked, because he didn't want to open up to other people. He wouldn't have time to keep up with them with his futur duties. They would fail like any other relationship he had before. 

"You're drowning again, you should really learn how to swim" he scoffed. Regulus rolled his eyes, how did he even know about his swimming problems ? 

"Im not drowning in anything" said Regulus. He was indeed drowning in his thoughts again. Weirdly, barty was that person he previously mentionned needing to pull him out of them. 

"You are, your aura suddently became dark again, like it was at the start of our conversation before I cheered you up with my amazing sense of humor" Barty smiled, they were getting closer to the big metalic door and guest's noise could be heard from inside the castle. Obviously his aura would get dark, Regulus hated all that noise and all those people he didn't even know that were going to spend the morning cheering and acting like they were happy for him. He hated them with a passion. 

"You can see auras ?" He raised an eyebrow. That Barty was right, Regulus was letting negative thoughts consume him. Maybe meeting other people wasn't so bad, after all, he'd probably be on the verge of death if he was left alone right now. (Bold of you to assume he isn't already on the verge of death, but barty was Indeed making it slightly bearable) 

"My fairy taught me" barty smiled. His fairy again, Regulus thought. He wondered who Barty was referring to. But he didn't get time to ask, as they arrived pretty quickly to the door leading outside. 

"Good Luck, my king !" Was the last words barty uttered with a playfull wink, before desappearing out of the black's sight. 

And there he was left alone again. 

It was great time for him to face a destiny he's been postponing in his head for a while now. 

His coronation.