September- 1973
Regulus wakes the morning of September 1st to find Walburga has left Grimmauld for the day. Orion is to bring the boys to Kings Cross on his own.
All three men remain silent as they make their way onto the platform. The second he passes the barrier, Sirius disappears into the crowd without a word. Regulus stands with his father for a minute, feeling like he has to say something before he leaves.
"Merci, Papa," he says. "Je t'écrirai."
Orion tilts his head in a small nod.
"Tu as un bon cœur, Regulus." He raises a hand to pet Theodore resting in Regulus's arms. "Éviter les ennuis, oui?"
He gives his son one last look before walking back towards the barrier.
Regulus finds his way onto the train and manages to grab an empty compartment. He shoves his trunk and broom up into the overhang and takes his seat, letting Theodore down to make himself comfortable.
There's still a bit of time before the train is scheduled to depart. Regulus looks out to the platform, watching the families bustle around each other. Siblings scampering off together, laughing and joking without a care in the world.
Part of him wishes Narcissa were still there, or that Sirius wasn't so ignorant all the time. Barty was fun, but Regulus never told him anything about his family in fear that he would scare him away. It would be nice to have someone who would listen and understand when he talked about how his mother took all her anger out on him.
The door to the compartment slides open with a bang, startling him.
"What a small world, Regulus Arcturus Black."
Pandora stands with her fists on her hips, wearing the strangest outfit Regulus has ever seen.
Her trousers are an incredibly pale blue. They hug her thighs and get wider as they go down, flaying out with frayed edges around her feet. She wears forest green trainers with a label on the side that reads "Chuck Taylor." Her shirt is billowy and has a strange, swirly, orange and red pattern.
Absolutely mental.
"Or, rather, what a small train." She walks in and makes herself at home on the opposite bench.
Regulus studies her as she takes an elastic off her wrist and pulls her shimmery blonde hair away from her face. He notices an obscene amount of rings on her fingers and a wide variety of bracelets, some metal and some plastic, that clatter when she moves.
"Apparently," Regulus murmurs. He looks her up and down. "As much as I love your company, I'm sure you have a sister or brother to look after, so unfortunately I think we shall have to say goodbye now."
She laughs, kicking her feet up to rest next to him.
"You're funny. Nice try, but I'm the only Lovegood there is."
Regulus sighs, scooting away from her legs. He presses himself right up to the window and does his best to ignore her.
Eventually, the trains whistle blows and the platform slowly starts to slide past them. Regulus wears a sour expression, turning instead to look out the window that opens up to the hallway of the unit. He leans forward a bit, trying to peek down one side.
"Expecting someone?," Pandora asks. She's got Theodore rubbing up next to her, demanding attention.
"I fail to see how that concerns you."
She smirks, then reaches up and grabs the shade for the window. She yanks it down, obscuring his view of the hall.
"Hey!"
"You're not a very good host, are you, Regulus Arcturus Black? I mean you haven't even offered me tea, and I'm feeling quite peckish—"
"I beg your pardon, but I don't recall ever inviting you in in the first place!," he yells.
He gets to his feet to walk out, but her legs are still in the way. He draws his wand, motioning for her to move.
"Get off."
"Or what?," she asks, still caressing Theodore lovingly. "I doubt you know any spells that could actually hurt me."
She's dead wrong— he knows at least a few curses that could do some damage— but she does see right through him. They both know he isn't going to cause her any harm and the fact that she calls him out on it only further aggravates him. Still, he wants to at least try and intimidate her. He raises his wand in an empty threat when someone appears in the doorway of the compartment.
Barty looks slightly confused at the scene he's just walked in on. His eyes land on Regulus, wand frozen in the air, then on Pandora snuggling up to the boys cat. He bounces back and forth between the two for some time before finally giving Regulus a sly grin.
"Am I interrupting something?"
"Hardly," Regulus responds. He gives Pandora's legs a small kick and immediately they thump to the ground.
Barty walks in and forces himself onto Regulus, surrounding him in a massive hug.
"Great to see you, mate " He squeezes Regulus hard enough to pop him. When he pulls back he holds him by his shoulders and just stares for a few seconds. "Merlin, it's been forever."
"I know, a whole two months," Regulus exaggerates.
Barty chuckles and lets him go. He catches Pandora's eye again, then wiggles his shoulders playfully.
"You didn't tell me you made the shadow your girlfriend, Reg!" He plops down next to her, throwing his hands over his heart dramatically. "Baby Black's all grown up!"
Regulus feels his face heat up. He returns to his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. "She's not my girlfriend."
"No, of course not. You just threaten to hex every girl you come across." Barty holds out a hand for her to shake. "Barty Crouch, Junior."
"Pandora Lovegood. And I know who you are. I'd be surprised if the whole school didn't know your name by now."
Barty laughs as Regulus rolls his eyes, still unimpressed by their guest.
"Well that's it then, yeah?," Barty says. He lifts his legs onto the seat and crosses them underneath him, smiling at the other two. "Good things come in threes."
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Monday, 10th September, 1973
The first week of classes were rather uneventful. Regulus breezed through all of his lessons, most of which barely even taught anything. Though easy, the classes were drawn out and frankly redundant.
He no longer had potions with the marauders and thus needed a new partner. Just his luck, Slughorn had paired him up with the Lovegood girl. Barty, of course, found this incredibly funny.
This wasn't the only instance he was forced to work with her, either.
The Slytherins held tryouts for quidditch all in one day. About fifteen different people showed up to fill the two available positions. Regulus had only been the slightest bit nervous when they started. At least, that was what he told himself before kicking off the ground and loosing his grip, falling straight back into the grass.
Regulus thought that was it— he was done for and might as well walk away now before he made an even bigger fool of himself.
But then he heard one single person screaming at the top of their lungs and looked up to see Barty in the stands, cheering him on like a mad man.
After that, he felt himself loosen up quite a bit. He got back in the air and everything was smooth sailing. Regulus pushed himself harder than he had all summer, flying higher, further, and faster than any of the competition. He made a mockery of the exercises given to them to test their skills, and when the recruits were pitched against each other in a small scale game, he caught the snitch almost immediately, showing it off for everyone to see. Once tryouts were over, Regulus found himself getting pulled aside by the team captain, telling him right then and there that she wanted Regulus as the new seeker.
Needless to say, he and Barty had a field day back in their dorm.
The next two days before practice began, Regulus felt like he was on top of the world. Barty served as an excellent hype-man, making sure that wherever they went, everyone knew who the next star of the Slytherin team would be.
Walking onto the pitch again, he had high hopes. Until he caught sight of the person chosen to be beater and nearly threw his broom down and left.
"Non," he sighs.
"Yes!" Pandora squeals and runs forward.
Regulus cringes as she wraps her arms around him, refusing to return the gesture. Somehow she manages to lift him up off his feet and shake him around.
"Isn't this wonderful? We're teammates now! We get to train with each other and play games together—”
"Merlin, put me down," he groans.
She complies, immediately letting him go. Caught off guard, his legs fail and he falls to the ground.
"Bloody hell."
Suddenly, a whistle pierces the air. The teams captain, seventh-year Emma Vanity, walks up from the locker rooms.
"Rise and shine, Black. Not paying you to lay around and do nothing."
He props himself up on his arms. "You're not paying me at all."
"Even better," Emma replies. She takes his hand and yanks him up to his feet. Pandora picks his broom up from the ground for him and he snatches it back. The other Slytherin players float closer.
"Alright lads— and ladies— gather round. We've got a lot of work to do so let's not waste any time. Pandora, I want to work with you and Davids first. The rest of you start up on our usual runs."
With a nod of approval, the rest of the team is off. Emma speaks to Regulus directly now.
"Don't worry too much about keeping up, just do your best. I'll get to you in a minute."
She stalks off towards the Davids boy and beckons Pandora over. Pandora gives Regulus a cute smile and shrugs.
"Guess it's my time to shine!" Her pigtails whip around as she skips away.
Regulus shakes his head as he mounts his broom. Kicking off into the air, he wonders if it's too early to quit.
Absolutely mental.