Chapter 5
Regulus walked swiftly off the train, picking his way through the throngs of people with Evan and Barty, ignoring studiously the curious looks from various houses that looked at him. He was now the Heir, he had prepared for this sort of reception. It was not as though he had expected anything else, although he had to admit it was rather...agitating. He had never really been one for throngs of people. He hated it at the best of time, and despised it at the worst. Something I am bound to be forced to get used to now. He thought to himself with a sigh, plucking a piece of pine from the shoulder of his robes as he stepped into an empty carriage, Barty and Evan following him. They would likely get a person or two to sit with them, perhaps, but it was most likely to be Lucius and his betrothed, or perhaps Bella would decide to have a conversation for once. Not that Regulus regularly talked to Bellatrix, but they were cousins, and Regulus enjoyed her company enough. She was quite intelligent, after all, though perhaps a bit mad, but that was thick within the Black line. Even Regulus was a bit mad. There were some things he would do or say that would leave many slytherins staring at him in discomfort.
"Are you ready for yet another year?" Came the voice, and Regulus huffed, rolling his eyes as Nott clambered into the carriage. He had not expected him, but he supposed one could not be picky. At least it was not Sirius. He was not able to afford to be picky when it came to that. Sirius had a bad habit of entering places he shouldn't be at times that were highly inconvenient. It was annoying, and frustrating at best. Still, he could not be angry entirely with Nott, he was a pleasant enough person to have around, and since Regulus' sudden change in status, a lot more people were paying attention to him than before, which was strange enough...and discomforting. He had already been getting a lot of attention even before he was made the Heir. The sudden change in his status promotion would undoubtedly attract a lot more unsavory attention.
"Never am, yet here it comes." Regulus replied with a heave of his lungs. Nott smiled at him, and Regulus gave a slightly tense one in return. It was not that he disliked Nott, persay, he just...did not care for him. Then again, he did not truly care for many, focusing mainly on protecting himself, and keeping himself from the violence of his Mother and the lashings of his father, it was not that easy to give a shit about anything. Especially when it could mean the downfall of the ones he did bother to try and protect. Luckily, Barty and Evan were more than capable of handling themselves. He did not have to worry about them. At least, not for the most part.
The rest of the ride was silent, thank goddess, because Regulus was not sure that he wanted, or had the strength, to deal with talking to Nott. He did not want to deal with Hogwarts, let alone have to deal with the incessant conversations he was likely to be forced into now that things...had gone the way that they had. Despite not wanting it, it was bound to happen, and Regulus would have to start those immediately, he knew, if he wanted to get any sort of decent sleep tonight. It was annoying, but so many things had been annoying as of late Regulus was not sure he had the energy to deal with caring about the annoyances.
Soon, he knew, he was going to break, and it would be jurys out as to whether that would be bad for him, or bad for everyone around him when it happened. He really hoped it was the latter, but he had no idea how things would progress. He would not be surprised if it was Sirius who brought it out. Sirius was unlikely to leave him alone. The stunt on the train made that clear enough. Having to dodge his brother was not something he would like to do, but it was unavoidable. It was not even just because his mother had warned him against interacting with him, but Regulus alone did not want anything to do with Sirius.
He had no idea why it was that now Sirius decided to play savior. After all, he had been slowly but steadily pulling away from Regulus for ages now, and it was not as though he even bothered trying to stop antagonizing their mother and father, despite knowing what it did to their temperament. He honestly did not understand why it was that he seemed to want to finally have a conversation. Regulus remembered when he first got to Hogwarts seeing his brother surrounded by friends, laughing, just generally enjoying himself, and the next thing he knew his brother was ignoring him, not looking at him, barely talking to him. It was hurtful, but had given him a valuable lesson at eleven-Sirius didn't care. Perhaps he never had cared, but it was that first year that made everything even more obvious for him. Sirius had never truly gave a shit about what happened to Regulus, and a part of him suspected it, but it still hurt to have that confirmed so suddenly. Then through the entire year Sirius snubbed his efforts to try and talk to him. It was annoying, but Regulus had accepted pretty quickly that Sirius disliked him, wanted nothing to do with him, and basically saw him as a miniature version of their parents. He remembered wondering when that had happened, and crying about it in the secret solitude of night. He was not eleven anymore, though, and Sirius was not going to trick him into thinking he cared...not again.
Regulus hung back to walk with Barty and Evan as they entered the Great Hall. it was unfortunate that Barty would be unable to sit with them the first night, being in ravenclaw, but he also knew that it would be better, at least this year, unlike in former years. Regulus would have to deal with a swell of questions during dinner, and he did not really want Barty to overhear them, though he figured Evan would likely inform him of everything that happened regardless.
He took his spot next to Lucius, who sat across from Narcissa, his betrothed, while Bella sat next to her sister, and Rosier sat besides Regulus on the left side. In a way, he was glad for Lucius. At least Narcissa liked Lucius, though he was unsure what Lucius thought, it was clear that he genuinely liked her as a person, which was more than what many got.