Chapter 4
Regulus snuck off into the first horde of students leaving the train. He couldn’t be seen with Sirius and his friends, no matter how attractive they were. He had a reputation to uphold and now he bore the responsibility of being the heir.
If he put even a toe out of line, his parents would give him a fate worse than death. He wasn’t expendable, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t face punishment.
He held back his eye roll as he came up to Barty Crouch Jr and Evan Rosier. They were both stuck ups but they had no backbone. Regulus only kept them around for pretenses, he much preferred spending time with Pandora Malfoy, she wasn’t nearly as bad as her brother Lucius, he was a terror walking.
But, the fact that Lucius married Narcissa meant that Regulus got to spend time with Pandora and her boyfriend Xenophilia without his parents disapproval.
Barty immediately came up to Regulus and started kissing his ass, “how was your summer? I heard about Sirius about time! You were always meant to be heir.” Regulus simply nodded and continued walking to the great hall. Barty and Evan fell into step slightly behind him.
Everyone parted like the Red Sea as Regulus and his posse walked through and he hated it. The fear in the younger years eyes. People like his parents fed off it, but Regulus felt it like a gaping hole in his chest.
If Regulus had a choice, he wouldn’t have chosen to be born into a world where it was be mean or be beaten. He would’ve wanted to live in a world like James, where people respected him and came to him when they were in need of help.
James watched as Regulus left the compartment with a sense of disappointment. Now that they’d parted ways would everything go back to the way it was before? James hoped not. He’d rather like it if Regulus was around more.
James turned to Peter, Sirius and Remus and sent them a nod. He was going to go to the kitchen under the invisibility cloak while Remus cast an illusion to make it look like James was with them.
Sirius passed James the potion, it was polyjuice with Dumbledore’s hair that Peter had somehow snagged last term, so that James could pour it into the mix of pumpkin juice as the sorting ceremony was happening and hopefully he’d make it back in time to watch everyone’s transformation.
After splitting from the crowd, James tickled the pair in the portrait and cringed as it made a demented giggling noise before swinging open with a cloud of stream.
Once he was inside, James removed the cloak and went in search of Smithy, the head house elf in the kitchen, who had a soft spot for James.
“Hiya Smithy! Did you have a nice break?” James asked sliding up next to the stool where Smithy stood mixing some of the soup for the feast.
Smithy’s face lit up like a Christmas tree as he turned to look at James. “Mr James! Yes I did thank you! Tell your mother I really appreciated the recipes she sent! How can I help you?”
“Well, do you think you could pour this in with the pumpkin juice? I thought we could add some cheer to start off the year.” James suggest with a wink.
Smithy laughed slightly maniacally, “of course Mr James, Smithy would be happy to help.”
“Thanks Smithy, you’re the best!” James replied as he swung the cloak over his shoulders and ran to the great hall.
Seeing yourself talking and laughing isn’t something you’re ever prepared for and James tried not to feel self conscious as he looked at himself through the eyes of others.
Without thinking, his gaze shot to the Slytherin table to gauge Regulus’ reaction and was pleasantly surprised when he caught him gazing somewhat longingly at illusion James and corporal Lily. James tried to push those types of thoughts from his head, after all that was his best friend’s brother. Sirius would no doubt flip his shit if he ever even though James was pining after his brother, yet some things couldn’t be helped. And the attraction James felt for Regulus was on of those things.
James managed to slide into position without a hitch and managed to nod along with the conversation as he tried to figure out what the conversation eas actually about. Sirius shot him a questioning look and James replied with a nod and a smile.
Just before the fest commenced, Dumbledore silenced the hall for his opening speech.
“Welcome, welcome! I hope everyone had a lovely summer. I would like to begin this year with a small speech. Be prepared to learn and to grow. I truly believe that many new friendships will be made and that this year will be full of joy, laughter, and lots of fun.” Dumbledore took this moment to cast his gaze to the group of griffindors and winked. “Please, eat drink and enjoy!”
A clatter of cutlery and chatter followed the end of his speech and the four boys barely contained their excitement as they waited for the chaos to ensue. They didn’t have to wait long as a hufflepuff girl let out a shriek as her hair grey and lost its color and she gained a few extra inches and a beard.
The boys burst into fits of laughter as more and more Dumbledores appeared around the room. Everyone seemed to be panicking, firing spells at themselves to try and change themselves back.
“MR BLACK, MR POTTER, MR LUPIN AND MR PETTIGREW!” Echoed McGonagall’s angry bellow, which signaled the boy’s time to leave.
“Minnie’s on to us! Run!” Bellowed Sirius and then the boys were streaks of robes running from the hall. They skidded around corners and made mad dashes up stairs before swerving into the secret passage that lead straight to their dorms.
The boys fell into heaps of giggles as they fell backwards onto their beds. Adrenaline pumping like fire through their veins.
“That was quite a show.” Came a voice from the shadows.
All four of the boys screamed. Sirius jumped into Remus’ arms, wielding a scarf. Peter dove behind his bed. And James grabbed a lamp and held it like it was some kind of sword.
“Wow.” The voice revealed itself as none other than Regulus Black, “I’m truly quaking in my boots.” He looked at Sirius and Remus and rolled his eyes. “Oh love, you can do better than a lamp, your a wizard for Salazar’s sake.” He said to James, who’s knees almost gave out at being called love.
“Fucks sake Regulus! Almost gave me a fucking heart attack. And your oaf of a brother weighs a tone.” Remus complained as he dropped Sirius to the floor, but not before placing a soft kiss at his temple.
“Sorry, I just had to get away from the Slytherin’s and their plotting for revenge. I don’t know why they think they’re going to succeed, you’ve managed to avoid every attempt so far.” Regulus said with an eye roll, and James noted Regulus rolled his eyes a lot when he was annoyed, and couldn’t help but wonder if he rolled his eyes at any other time.
Sirius and Remus shared a look. They’d managed to avoid Slytherin like it was an art form. For the first couple of years they had Peeves help them, and then they made the map and managed to enlist Peeves to help them make the attacks backfire. It was a glorious game of cat and mouse, the Slytherin’s just didn’t realize they were the mice and not the cats they all thought they were.
They sat around and discussed everything under the sun, from ministry business and politics to the latest ghoul brotherhood album. It was comforting for Sirius to know that his friends could accept his brother and it made him happy how Reg let himself relax around his friends.
After a while, Reg announced it was time he got back and James volunteered to show him the quickest routes through the passageways. Goodbyes were passed around, along with promises to meet up again, and then they were off.