Stargazing
The rest of the trip was manageable enough as James was constantly out patrolling seeing as he was prefect, and Regulus took a liking to the rest of Sirius’s friends. Lupin was sarcastic and funny, and Peter got startled at everything, like when the train went over a bump.
It was getting to the end of the travelling when they found themselves in a conversation about everyone’s holiday experiences, Remus’s was completely bland though Regulus could feel he was holding back, and Peter was pleased to announce he had gone on a date. No one had asked Sirius or Regulus about their situation, as they clearly had the intelligence to suspect that was a bad idea, though Peter did ask jokingly “ so Regulus, how’s living with Prongs? “
Regulus raised an eyebrow at James as Prongs was perhaps the most ridiculous nickname behind Wormtail, and James simply smiled at him. Regulus didn’t know how to feel about that.
“ He was fine, I guess, “ Regulus replied blandly, hoping that would be the end of it and he wouldn’t have to explain they hadn’t talked once.
“ Oh no Regulus, don’t flatter him too much “ Remus chuckled followed by Sirius naturally.
“ Oh yes Reg, please do “ James bumped his knee against Regulus’s, which made him freeze.
“ Regulus “ He corrected James quickly, before moving his knee away casually, James needed to stop acting like they were friends because they definitely were not.
Finally the Hogwarts Express arrived at Hogwarts and Regulus heard compartments fly open and students, most likely first years, scrambling to get out; and he felt like doing that himself. The five of them made their way off the train and were escorted by Mcgonagall into the school grounds and to the great hall, where Regulus quickly spotted Pandora bolting at him. He quickly turned around to his brother to say goodbye, though of course he had already ran to the Gryffindor table to eat.
“ REGULUS ARCTURUS BLACK! “
“ Hey, Pandora “.
The blonde girl hugged him tightly, which hurt slightly as all her chunky necklaces dug into his skin. “ Ok, ok- “ “ Where were you on the train? I thought you hadn’t come back? “ Pandora let go to look at him, trying and failing to appear angry. “ Oh, I sat with Sirius’s friends as a sort of peace treaty , “ Regulus grimaced. Pandora smiled and nodded, clearly content with the brothers reuniting, and led him to the Slytherin table.
Pandora was a Ravenclaw but also an honorary Slytherin seeing as their entire friend group besides her was one, and as long as she left at curfew she spent most of her free time lounging around in the Slytherin common room with Dorcas and Evans. Dorcas Meadows was almost a Ravenclaw as well but she started swearing at the hat mentally which seemed to have a large effect on her Slytherin sorting. Evan Rosier was a Slytherin through and through, he was smart, cunning, determined and ambitious, as well as a complete goof when he wanted to be. Their other friend, Barty Crouch, was neither a shock nor an obvious pick, seeing as he had the personality of a Slytherin but he was just as brave and chivalrous as any other Gryffindor.
Regulus of course was not a shock, him being a Black made his fate of joining Slytherin pretty much pre-determined. Though of course his cousin, Narcissa Black, was on the edge of her seat during his sorting after Sirius got put into Gryffindor. His mother simply said it was because Sirius never even acted as part of the family, he was a disgrace so of course he’d be put into Gryffindor with all the half-breeds and mudbloods. Her words, not Regulus’s.
— - - - - - - - –
It was well after curfew and Regulus was out walking on the quidditch field. Regulus had always loved quidditch which his Mother never agreed with, but Regulus behaved well enough for her to let it slide. He quickly became a seeker and he was a good one at that, he loved having full control of something in his life even if it was something as simple as a broom.
His friends had been over protective of him all night as they had known he’d been kicked out over the holidays, though he hadn’t told them why. Even if Regulus hadn’t sent them all letters informing them of his situation, they would’ve heard as it’d been highly discussed in the pureblood community. The second heir of the Noble House of Black had been burnt off the family tapestry, and forever known as an embarrassment within the Sacred 28. To put it lightly, Regulus needed a breath away from the constant apologies and overly thought out conversations to spare his feelings, he felt as if he was a baby who might break down over a wrong word. Of course he appreciated his friends but he barely ventured into his own emotions so he’d only been on the verge of tears twice in his life, the night Sirius ran away and the night he was disowned.
Regulus breathed in the cold night air and looked up at the sky hoping to find his star but instead he found Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. It was the brightest thing he could see in the pitch black night, until of course a whispered ‘ lumos ‘ sent a bright light to flood his senses.
“ A little late for walks, don’t you think? “
You’ve got to be joking.
“ No, it was actually quite nice until you interrupted me “ Regulus replied coldly, he kept his back to James and kept looking up at the sky. “ Would you turn off that light, it’s distracting “.
He rolled his eyes as he heard James laugh, his goal definitely wasn’t to entertain James but that seemed to be happening to him, and he turned around to meet his gaze. James simply crossed his arms and smiled at Regulus making him scowl, which was met by another annoying laugh. His laugh wasn’t actually that annoying, Regulus kind of liked it, but it was that James was laughing at him when he didn’t make a joke.
“ Alright, because you’re Sirius’s brother I won’t dock points if you go back inside now. “ James declared as if he had just proposed the deal of a lifetime. Regulus simply narrowed his eyes and pushed past James to head back inside, he was too annoyed now to stargaze, he’d take pampering over mockery.
“ Nice seeing you too Reg! “ James called out behind him.