Regulus
Regulus Black is fine being alone. In fact he prefers it. Some may call it a ‘need to wallow in self pity’ but he calls it ‘plotting’. What is he plotting someone might ask? He has yet to get that far. But the point is, he doesn’t need, or want, anyone or anything.
He is fine.
Great, even.
He was always destined to live a life of solitude.
A sharp bang on the window of his train compartment breaks his thoughts and he tears his eyes from the green carpet that’s turning brown with age.
Pandora. Oh thank gods. He was getting lonely.
She slides open the disappearing door and steps inside, her mouth split in a smile and a strange squeak coming from her throat.
“Reggieeeeeee '' she sing-songs as she pounces on where he is sitting.
Her arms wrap around his shoulders as they lose their balance and fall onto the floor, Regulus slamming his arm onto the train bench as they tumble.
A burst of air rushes through his lips as they land, “Hi, Pandy” he grunts.
She’s still smiling and laying on top of him as she leans down and leaves a large, smacking, kiss to his forehead. She even goes the extra mile to add a “mwah’ sound at the end.
Pandora rolls onto her side next to Regulus, putting her head on her propped up hand for support.
“How was your summer?” she asks.
From this close Regulus notices how her skin seems to have darkened from the sun and the number of light freckles lining her nose has doubled, accentuated by the light blonde of her hair and the crystal blue in her eyes. She looks like spring in September.
He grimaces, banishing all positive thoughts of her, considering she just, very rudely, came and knocked him onto the disgusting floor.
“It was going a lot better until you body slammed me, if I’m being honest.” He rolls himself up and climbs back onto the train bench, rubbing his elbow.
She gives him an over exaggerated huff, still laying on the floor below him.
“Oh, you’re no fun.”
He gives a breathy laugh through his nose.
Gods, he loves Pandora. She’s been his best friend since first year when they met on the train ride to Hogwarts.
Sirius and his friends had been much too loud for his liking so Regulus went and sat by himself in an empty compartment. That was until a tall, blonde girl about his age, burst through the door (much like she had just done) and collapsed against him sobbing. No, Regulus did not know who she was. And no, he didn’t (and still doesn’t) know what to do when someone cried. So, naturally, he pushed her off of him and started asking questions. After a round of investigation he concluded that her name was Pandora, and she had just walked into a compartment of fourth years who, much to her dismay, did not want her to join them. So, she apparently ran off crying and burst into the first empty compartment, where Regulus was.
They have somehow been inseparable ever since, even with being sorted into different houses.
Regulus rolls his eyes, “My summer was painfully uneventful, but we’ve been owling each other for the past two months so I'm not sure why you’re even asking.”
As he’s speaking he lets his head lean against the train's window and his eyes involuntarily look out onto the platform. He spots Sirius and his group of buffoons loading their luggage onto the train. Regulus hasn’t spoken to Sirius in 6 months and 4 days, or if you don't include them running into each other on the stairs at school and quickly mumbling apologies, then it'll be one year and 2 weeks.
At least that’s Regulus’ guess, not like he’s counting.
Contrary to popular belief, he does not miss Sirius. How could he when any time he looks up from a book at Hogwarts he sees something that reminds him of his brother. Whether it be burn marks on walls from incompetent pranks, or one of his said buffoons, or sometimes even his brother himself. Regulus doesn’t even have a chance to miss him because he is still always there. Yes, maybe this summer was quite boring without him at home, but he just missed having company, not Sirius. Yes, he wished Sirius would write to him just to tell him where he is living, but that’s only because Regulus likes receiving mail and Pandora does not answer him fast enough.
So no, he does not miss Sirius, he has better things to take up time in his mind. Much like the two boys who just opened the door to their compartment.
“Reggie, Reggie-boo-boo. How are you-you?” Evan and Barty sing in unison.
Nevermind, Regulus hates them as well.
Regulus decides to never look at the two boys again as Pandora absolutely lights up.
She gasps and claps her hands, “Oh how I love this song!” Her eyes reek of mirth as she looks at Regulus who, probably, looks like he is trying not to hex the boys into a universe full entirely of spiders. Which, to be fair, that is what he’s trying to do.
“I hate everyone in this room and I cannot wait to watch you all suffer horrific deaths.” He scowls, his mouth scrunching in effort to stop laughing.
Look, objectively, the song is funny, just not when it’s happening to him.
This only encourages Evan, Barty and now Pandora, as they continue to sing the lyric over and over but now they just get louder and uncomfortably close to Regulus’ face. He is fully scrunched shut now as he leans back into the wall of the compartment as an attempt to escape.
This has been happening since second year when Sirius, the idiot, decided to sing this atrocious lyric at Regulus to get his attention from across the hall while he was with Pandora. She then decided to tell everyone and their mother about it so now Regulus can’t escape it. It started as just some stupid thing him and his brother did when they were little and Regulus was sad, it always made him cheer up. Now it’s his worst nightmare. His friends love to do it just once every few months so he gets lulled into a false sense of security thinking they forgot about it, but that never happens. It also happens that there is only one way they will stop, and it is the most humiliating part of Regulus’ life every time he has to do it.
He smiles.
Big and wide.
“I’m great.” Even he can hear the tension in his own voice as his vocal chords fight to stop him from saying it.
“How great?” Barty, Evan, and Pandora all ask, their faces could be counted as the definition of a shit-eating grin.
Why is he friends with these people?
“So great!” He shouts, as they laugh and start to finally move away from him. His face instantly drops back into its resting scowl, with just a touch of heat he can feel in his cheeks. “I genuinely, seriously, hate you guys.”
Barty pats him on the head as he sits next to Regulus on the bench, “Oh please, we make your life so much better.”
Regulus bats his hand, his face staying in a scowl as he sarcastically replies “Yeah, sure.”