Welcome back to Hogwarts
September
Today was the day they were going back to Hogwarts. When they would get on the train, the prefects and the Head boy or Head girl had to have a meeting to organise the partols. Regulus was one of the prefects and because he lived at the Potters he knew James had been chosen as Head boy this year. James being the Head Boy meant he was the one choosing the pairs doing patrols.
When they got to the station, Regulus left Sirius and James to go join Pandora and the others before going to the prefect’s car. He went there with Pandora because she also was a Prefect. They were the first to get there so they could take their usual seat. Potter was the next to arrive. It was quite normal according to the fact that Regulus and him got to the station at the time.
Of course James would choose the spot right next to Regulus when all the other seats were available. Regulus shot a desperate look at Pandora and the only reaction she had was to laugh at him.
James and Pandora spoke together while they waited for the room to fill. Regulus only joined the conversation once or twice to add details before the meeting started. James stood up and said.
“Hello everyone, and welcome to this new year at Hogwarts. My name is James Potter…” Regulus interrupted him and whispered to him.
“I think they are aware of that. You literally are the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and the most popular kid of the school.”
“Thanks Reggie” This owed him a punch in the feet under the table. “So as I was saying…” James continued his welcoming speech even though he knew Regulus was mocking him in his back. He somehow knew Regulus had stopped when James began to say the pairing.
“And for the last pair who will do the patrols on fridays it will be me and Regulus. Okay that’s it for today you can all go change in your robes before we arrive.” Everyone left the room while James was still picking his stuff from the table. Everyone except for Regulus.
“I don’t know what went through your head when pairing us. I just want you to know it will probably end with a murder if you are insufferable during our rounds.”
“Oh you are so cute Reggie. Don’t worry I will only be doing my role while socialising with you. Since you live at my house from now on, I think we should learn facts about each other.”
“I don’t want to get to know you Potter.”
“That’s what you tell yourself for now little Reggie.” When he finished his sentence he received a slap on his face. “Uhm I guess I deserved that. See you later Regulus.” and with that he left the room and Regulus was left alone.
~
When Regulus got back to his car he sprawled himself across Evan and Barty's legs and screamed into the pillow that Dorcas threw at him.
“Oh Regulus you are so gone”
”Why the fuck did he pair us together.”
”We thought you would be more upset about you and James flirting”
”What do you mean by flirting? We didn’t flirt”
“Sure you didn’t. But that’s not what Pandora told us when she got back. And we trust her because she can’t lie.”
“She clearly told us that you were being mean to Potter in a sort of cute and nice way.”
“And everyone in this room knows that this is your strange way of flirting with somebody.”
“UuHHHHH I really can’t lie to you and I hate it.”
”So now, tell us what happened before you came back to us. Did you confess your feelings to Potter then kiss him with passion followed by quick but wonderful and magical sex before leaving him to come back to us before we noticed a too long and suspicious absence.”
“ WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU BARTY. No that didn’t happen. Even if I told him I liked him the rest of the equation would have never happened because he doesn’t like me back. So no, that’s not what happened. I just told him I didn’t like the choice he made with the pairing. Oh and I slapped him because he was being insufferable and he deserved it. Then he left and I came here. ”
“We totally could have guessed that coming from Reg. So when are you meeting James?”
“ I guess tonight at 8 in front of the Great Hall. Because of course the first day at Hogwarts had to be a Friday. Can we talk about something else? I don’t want to talk about James anymore.”
So they changed the subject until they got to the castle
~
James entered the car and couldn’t help himself from spinning like a ballerina and couldn’t hold the smile that grew to his ears.
”And here comes the lovesick loverboy. So James, what happened at the meeting?”
“Oh well Regulus smashed my feet. I paired us together for the Fridays patrols, which means I have patrol with him tonight. Oh and he slapped me.” James said with a loving voice.
“ He slapped you and you are happy about it? I really don’t get you Prongs. And what was the reason for the slap cause there must be one knowing.”
“You're wrong, love. Your brother would definitely slap James in the face without any reason.”
“You are totally right, Moony. But I actually deserved the slap.”
“What did you do or say this time Prongs”
“Well first I paired us together, Pete. And then I called him Reggie and I might also have called him little.”
“Oh yeah, the slap was totally deserved. You know how he gets when you mention his height.”
“Yeah I know but it doesn't matter because I get to see him again tonight and I think I am going to pick him up in front of the great hall at 8. I will probably be back at midnight. So it's best if you don't wait for me to go to the dorm. And Padfoot and Moony, Pete and I love you both, but please don't forget the silencing spell this time.”
“Yes please it was the worst night of my life last time. Sirius I didn't know and I didn't want to know you could get this loud”
Sirius had turned as red as a tomato and Remus was laughing at him. The train stopped and they were here
“I think we arrived. I can't believe it will be our last year at Hogwarts. I'm going to miss it so much.”
“I can't wait to plan new pranks on the Slytherin.”
“Yeah, we have to do better than ourselves from last year. Oh and I want to discover who the new DADA teacher is going to be.”
“That's really the best thing of every year.”
“I'm kind of sad but glad I'll never get to see what a Thestral looks like. I wonder if anyone we know could see them.”
They got to the castle and directly went to the Great Hall. They sat with the girls at the table and played their usual game which was “Guess which house the first year was going to be in”. As always Lily and Remus and as always James lost. James didn't get how Lily and Remus were so good at this game. Well it didn't really matter because now was time to eat.
James has always loved the banquet at the beginning of the year. They would all just share what they did over the holidays while eating their favourite food. Even though they had just seen each other two weeks ago they had a lot to share.
“Can we talk about the new DADA teacher for a minute.”
“He seems mysterious and evil with those dark robes and his curly black hair falling on his face.”
James thought for a minute that the description he just did kind of looked like Regulus. But no this man didn't look like Regulus at all even if had pale skin, and jet black hair. No, this man called Tom Riddle had brown eyes that looked a bit like a snake. James didn't really trust this man to be a good teacher like Minnie or Slughorn were. He didn't trust this man to be good at all.
James noticed that Regulus and his friends had left the dinner early but didn't worry about it because he was seeing Regulus later.
At the end of dinner James got back to the dorm to take the map before going back down to start his patrol.
~
Regulus has been able to see the Thestral since the year Sirius left. He had never seen death but he had seen his brother being beaten to a near death state. Regulus didn't really like the first night banquet; it reminded him of his life at Grimmauld Place. They would have dinner with all the most wealthy wizard families. They were the Yaxley, the Mulciber and other families from the sacred twenty eight. His parents' favourite person was a man named Tom Riddle. His parents had chosen him to be Regulus' husband. Yes husband. They had found out his preferences and still tried to set him up into a wealthy marriage.
He was a horrible person who only wanted power and money. That's why he had accepted the engagement. The world didn't spread because Regulus was still a minor and couldn't legally be engaged. But that didn't stop his parents from forcing him to spend time with the horrible man.
One day, the man had wanted to spend a night with Regulus and his parents had accepted. Regulus had always been a shy and easily manipulated kid but that didn't justify the fact that a man who was 34 years older than him wanted to have sex with him. Regulus had resisted entering the room. He knew what was going to happen to him.
He was 15, his brother had left in December, and he was under the Imperius curse. His voice had been taken so his parents wouldn't hear him scream. Regulus had never told anyone what happened during the Easter holiday of his 5th year. Not even Barty who was his boyfriend at the time he just broke up with him and stayed his best friend. He would never tell a soul but his mind and his body will always remember the touch of the man’s hand on his skin and the man's satisfied face while seeing Regulus in the state he was, crying and trying to scream to escape the hell he was in.
When they arrived at Hogwarts, Regulus sat in between Barty and Evan because they knew how much he hated this moment of the year. Regulus only focused on his plate and didn't look at the teacher’s table. When he started to eat he decided to finally look to see who the new DADA teacher Barty and Evan were talking about.
When Regulus lifted his gaze he couldn't breathe anymore. He was going to throw up. This couldn't be real. The man who had assaulted him and tortured him was going to be his teacher. This couldn't happen. Regulus had left this house to escape this man's grip but he somehow found a way to follow him. Regulus needed to leave right now. He got up and somehow his friends followed. When he got to the dorm he directly went to the bathroom and threw up everything he had eaten. He was now crying on the floor of the bathroom. It can't be real. It can’t be real. It can't be real.
“Hey Regulus, are you okay?” It was Barty asking through the door. It stopped Regulus’ panic. Now was not the time to react like that. He had left the house. The man couldn't do him any more harm.
“yeah everything alright. Just, you know how I can get when there's a huge diner.”
“Okay. Don't forget you have patrol with Potter in less than an hour. You should patch yourself up and if you want we can escort you to the Great Hall if you don't want to go alone.”
“Thanks Barty.” said Regulus, coming out of the bathroom. “I think I would like both of you to come with me to the Great Hall.”
So 40 minutes later they all went to the Great Hall. Regulus knew that James would already be here and would be with him the entire patrol so Regulus was reassured because he would not be left alone in the corridors of the castle where he could bump into his rapist anytime. Regulus knew that by the end of the round he would not be able to ask James to bring him back to his House. But he dipped down, hopped and knew that James would do it without Regulus even asking. James had the kindest soul and would never let Regulus go back to his room alone.