Written for the Quidditch League Round Four – must start and end with a conjunction – and the One-Stop One-Shot challenge on HPFC – they'd tossed it away as if it were junk, but he reached for it as though it were treasure.
...but he reached for it as though it were treasure.
Small hands reached out to grab onto the mangled teddy bear, quickly drawing it to a fast-moving chest before anyone could see and clutching it protectively. He hid it in the olds of his cloak, walking awkwardly behind his mother with his hands hidden and a slightly stooped posture to keep the bear in place.
"Regulus, do keep up," his mother scorned.
"Yes mother," the child whispered as he quickened his pace, stumbling once on a crack in the pavement. His brother smirked over his shoulder, before hurrying to keep pace with their mother. Regulus kept a step behind them the entire journey home.
While his mother was busy and his brother was busy ignoring him, Regulus snuck up the stairs still wearing his cloak and shoes with the stuffed bear still hidden against his chest. He entered his bedroom as quickly and quietly as he could and got down onto his hands and knees on the hard floor.
He pushed the bear under the bed, carefully making sure that it was completely obscured by a stack of books. He didn't want to risk anyone finding it.
As soon as he was sure it was well hidden, he crept down the stairs – careful to avoid the creaky step – and put his cloak and shoes away before anyone would realise.
He was back in his room and reading a book on Astronomy before anyone came to check on him, and lying was a skill that he found came naturally.
Only when he was sure that everyone was asleep did he kick aside the covers and stand up on cold bare feet. He stood still for a few minutes, not daring to move a muscle, as if the quiet sound of sheets rustling might have woken the entire house.
The oppressive stillness remained.
He relaxed slightly, but – just to be sure – waited a few minutes longer before stooping and pushing aside the pile of books.
His bear sat exactly where he had left it. Covered in dirt; stuffing sticking out in several places and large patches of fur missing; both ears looked slightly chewed – by what, he didn't know – and one eye was missing, the other hanging on by barely a thread. Still, he pulled out the battered toy as if it were the most precious thing in the world.
He climbed back into bed with it cradled to his chest, and he couldn't remember a time when he'd had a better night's sleep.
He'd managed to keep the bear hidden for weeks before anyone found it. It could have been worse, he supposed. If his mother found it he would surely have been punished. So he was lucky that it was the House Elf who discovered it as he was cleaning his room.
"Master Regulus?" The house elf held up the mangled toy by one leg, careful to touch as little of it as possible.
"Please, Kreacher! Please don't tell Mother! Please! I'll... I... It's..." He broke off into hiccoughing sobs.
The old House Elf looked back and forth between the boy and the bear for a while, and – as if he had come to a decision – Apparated away without another word.
That night, Regulus lay curled up in his bed. Cocooned in a thick duvet and with his pillow clutched to his chest with desperate hands, he still felt cold and alone. He curled into a tighter ball, but still the emptiness of the large bed was stifling and he could feel the tears burning behind his eyes.
The sound of a House Elf Apparating into the room startled him, and – even though he really wanted to see what Kreacher was doing – he couldn't forget that he was mad at the House elf. He rolled over so that his back was facing Kreacher and continued to pretend to sleep.
After what felt like hours of silence, but in reality was only about twenty minutes, he rolled back over to see what Kreacher was doing.
The House Elf was gone.
In his place was the stuffed bear, cleaned and fixed up until it looked almost as good as new.
Regulus made sure that he was always especially nice to Kreacher after that.
It was worse the next time someone found his bear.
"What's this?" he heard the delighted call from down the hall. He ran back to his bedroom and stood panting in the door way, eyes wide with terror as his brother held up his bear.
"That's mine," he whispered, hating himself even more when he felt tears prickling behind his eyes.
"Only babies need teddy bears," his brother taunted, holding the toy high above his head so that Regulus had no chance of reaching it.
"Sirius, give it back!" and the tears were starting to fall now, making his brother laugh even harder.
"Make me!"
"Sirius! It's mine!" He could hear the angry footsteps on the stairs and knew that he had to get his bear back quickly, but Sirius seemed completely oblivious.
"C'mon, Regs, you-"
"What's going on in here?" their mother said dangerously quietly, surveying the scene with no small amount of annoyance. "Sirius?" she turned to her eldest first, "Regulus?" She waited a few beats, but still they both stood with their heads down, stubbornly silent. "What it that thing?" She indicated towards the bear still in Sirius' grasp.
There was a pause where neither of them said anything, but they both knew that they'd have to answer soon. Regulus stood shaking.
"I found it. It's mine." Sirius spoke up defiantly.
"You're far too old for those things," she hissed, glaring down at them both.
She grabbed the bear from Sirius' hands and marched down the stairs with it, both boys trailing behind her. She opened the front door and threw the toy out into the street, before turning to her children.
"If I ever see that thing, or anything even remotely like it, you will both be in serious trouble." She hissed, ignoring Sirius' smirk as she slammed the door and disappeared into the study.
Regulus ran to his room as soon as she left, curled up under his bed and cried.
They'd tossed it away as if it were junk, but...