"Do you really mean it, Alice?"
"I do, seriously! He was staring at you the whole way through the lesson!"
"Oh!"
"He must like you back. He must."
"Ohmigod, so do you think I should ask him?"
"Well, I don't know, d'you want to?"
"Well, obviously! He's gorgeous, and he isn't even going out with anyone at the moment – "
"Then go on, Julia, ask him!"
"Ohmigod, I can't believe it!"
"I know!"
"I mean, everyone likes him! I can't believe it! Sirius Black!"
That was it – the breaking point. Regulus slammed the book closed on the desk in front of him, flung it back into his bag with a flourish, rose to his feet and swept past the squealing girls' table.
"Oh, please," he snarled thinly, rolling his eyes at the hyper blonde, "he only wants the mudblood, that Lily Evans, same as all his pathetic little cronies. I wouldn't waste your time."
Then, leaving both females open-mouthed and scowling, he stormed out of the Hogwarts library, letting the door slam behind him on his exit – no doubt the librarian would be on his case about it as soon as she caught up with him, but for once he didn't care. It was insane, completely insane. Did the whole school have one huge crush on his older brother? Was he really the only one who could see through Sirius's arrogance; see the vile, big-headed idiot underneath?
At least his fellow Slytherins could be counted upon to look down on the antics of Potter and his idiotic gang. By all rights, Slytherin ought to have been Sirius's house as well as his brother's – but, of course, the filthy blood-traitor had just had to be different. Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart…it was enough to make one sick. They were all a bunch of morons in Gryffindor House – blood-traitors and mudbloods who wanted to be big and brave and rebellious.
But, Regulus found himself thinking with a smirk, they would all pay for it one day. Their bravery would be no match for the Dark Lord's powers.
It had been several weeks now – twenty-three days, if one wanted to be precise – since Regulus's first encounter with his supporters: the Death Eaters, as they styled themselves. Men, mostly – some older, but some close to his own age; it was difficult to tell behind those masks… United, all of them, by a common aim, and a common thirst for glory. A common passion; a passion that Regulus too longed to realize.
He wanted to join them. And he would. Soon.
He couldn't suppress a shudder as the thought flooded through him. He had days to go. Days. Then, nothing would ever be the same.
It was what he wanted, wasn't it? It was his greatest desire, his shared passion, his common aim. His parents had always taught him about blood purity, about filth that was beneath him – halfbreeds, halfbloods, muggles, squibs, mudbloods. They tainted bloodlines; ruined plans; lived disgusting little lives. The world would be a better place without them. And that was the Dark Lord's aim.
Regulus had not yet met him – the Dark Lord. Few had. But he would, before long. The thought of it stood out prominently in his mind – an ever approaching stormcloud, looming over him. He was tired, sulky and irritable…but soon, as he told himself, it would all be over. His new life would begin. No longer would he be nerdy, pasty Regulus Black, the wimpy brother no one could believe was related to suave Sirius; he would be the powerful one, the one whose name people remembered.
Regulus Black.
His parents would be so proud.
"Oi!"
"Ow!"
His stupor shattering, the world was suddenly a blur of confusion; he fell backwards, reeling from the impact of the collision with the larger, ominous figure before him.
"Watch where you're going!"
"It was you who ran into me!"
"You weren't even looking, mate, you were just wondering along with your head in the – oh-ho!"
Regulus blinked, staggered to his feet, glanced up – and felt suddenly queasy. Of all the students in all the corridors in the whole school, it just had to be him.
"Reggie!" Sirius boomed, his voice flooding the corridor like acid splashing into a cauldron. "Long time no see, little bro. Anyone would think you'd been avoiding me!"
Regulus scowled, painfully aware of the passers-by craning their necks to stare at the unfolding scene. "Look, Sirius, I'm not in the mood. Just get out of my way."
"That's not a nice way to greet your brother!" another voice crowed – naturally, Sirius never went anywhere without his friends, in particular James Potter. James, handsome James, perfect James. Regulus's skin began to crawl. "'specially when you haven't seen him in a while. What's up, Reggie?"
"Look, I'm trying to – "
"Yeah, Reg!" Sirius grinned, reaching down a hand to ruffle Regulus's hair; Regulus glared and attempted to flatten it again. "Where've you been all this time? We were starting to think you must've fallen into the Lake – "
"Or slipped down a toilet – " That was Potter, still sneering.
"Or been eaten by a House Elf – " Lupin, soft-voiced and exhausted-looking, as always.
"Or choked on an Every Flavour Bean!" Pettigrew put in, as desperate to be included as ever.
"Or, y'know," Sirius added languidly, flicking Regulus's shoulder, "maybe just realised how pathetic you were, and crawled into a hole and died somewhere. But I didn't like to get my hopes up."
The cronies laughed; Regulus glared coldly. "Where have you been, then, Sirius? Off counting your fangirls and combing your hair?"
"At least I've got fangirls, Reg," the elder siblings announced, his playful grin never fading, "which is more than can be said for you. And you might want to try combing your hair once in a while, or not sleeping in your robes…it brings the family name down, having one of us wandering around looking like Kreacher on a bad day."
"Shut your face!"
"What, can't a big sibling look out for his kid brother every now and then? And, speaking of that – there's this new this, Reg, called sleep. Ever tried it?"
"Tell him that!" Regulus's hand shot towards Lupin, whose eyes widened slightly – more in amusement than anything else.
"Ah, but Moony's big and bad enough to care for himself, see," Sirius explained. "You're just a kid, Regulus. Mummy and Daddy wouldn't be happy if they could see you now, would they? Not their good little pureblood son – "
"You shut the hell up about them!"
"No, why should I? They're bastards, Reg. Surely even a little dragon-bogey like you can see that?"
"You – you filthy blood-traitor!"
This brought only a unison roar of laughter from the group: Potter, Pettigrew, Lupin, Sirius, and even those around them; everyone was staring, jeering, laughing at the pathetic little boy challenging his betters.
Regulus reached for his wand.
"Oh, that's a good one, that is, Reggie!" Tears began to stream from Sirius's eyes as he gasped for breath between his harsh barks of laughter. "That is absolutely brilliant, you sound just like Dad! That's absolutely – hey!"
He had spotted the wand, and was reaching for his own; Regulus drew his high, the shrieks from behind him only cheering him on, making him more determined – a blinding flash of colour; another; another; he felt pain but didn't let it bother him, as long as Sirius was feeling twice as much –
– and then, in a blur, it was all too intense. He felt his head strike something hard…his wand was no longer in his fingertips, and he was slumped halfway down the wall of the corridor – with Sirius right in front of him, his face a perfect mask of livid fury.
"Now, you little hangnail." Regulus felt each of his brother's syllables, each a breath of warm loathing. "Now, what do you say?"
Regulus swallowed, his mind wiping clear, his eyes never blinking.
"What do you say?"
Silence had fallen. Hushed horror dominated the corridor. Sirius's hoarse hisses echoed, heard by everyone. Each second dragged on forever; Regulus's eyes remained open, seeing only Sirius; his heart pounded so fiercely against his robes that he was sure his brother could hear it, that they all could. Whatever jinx his brother had cast had left him feeling limp, concussed, aching – or had that just been the impact with the wall? He didn't know; couldn't think through the haze.
"I'll give you five seconds to say you're sorry – five seconds."
Never. Regulus waited.
"One." One of Sirius's hand held his wand, which was pointed at Regulus's throat (he wouldn't use it, would he? Not that like?); the other flicked up fingers, denoting each number as it was spoken. "Two." A pause. "I'm waiting, Regulus. No? Okay. Three."
A snigger from behind – probably Potter. Regulus allowed himself to close his eyes, bracing himself, and Sirius, smirking, continued, a grin snaking across his lips as he prepared for the big word. "Four. F– "
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Noise burst through the scene; suddenly, Regulus was free, but for half a second did not realise why…and then he saw them, the two figure. One, his brother, lying stiff at his feet – the other a scrawny, blonde-haired boy standing a short way off, his wand still pointed at the place Sirius had been moments ago. Regulus's lips parted in silent surprise.
"What on earth is all this?"
"Black! Crouch! Black! My office, now!"
Two teachers, screaming over the hubbub of confusion from the watching crowd; Regulus stepped aside, suddenly free of the strange sensation – allowing his brother to be revived, and picking up his wand.
Shepherded fiercely by Slughorn, he found himself ushered into step along his brother and the other figure. Sirius glared; Barty, however, seemed unfazed.
Regulus felt the soft ghost of a smile fade over him, and continued on his path to Slughorn's office.