First Star
Bellatrix had come home to number twelve, Grimmauld Place, for the Christmas holidays, and the younger Black children had never been so excited. They begged their sister and cousin for story after story about life as a first-year at Hogwarts, and occasionally – when she hadn't locked herself in her room to do Homework – she obliged.
Narcissa always wanted Bellatrix to tell about Transfiguration, but Sirius' and Regulus' favorite was Astronomy. Imagine staying up until midnight one day a week, and going to the top of the highest tower and looking through telescopes!
"Daddy!" shouted Sirius. "Can we have Astronomy?"
"May I, Sirius," said Mr Black from behind the Daily Prophet. "Ask your mother."
The boys ran out of the room. They found Mrs Black telling the house elf to wash the curtains.
"Mummy!" said Sirius. "Dad said we should ask you if we can, I mean may, have Astronomy just like Bellatrix."
As Kreacher scuttled off with his order, Mrs Black turned to her sons. "But you're not in Hogwarts yet."
"We could go on the roof!" Regulus suggested.
"We wouldn't have to go at midnight," said Sirius. "It's getting dark now."
"That's true," she acquiesced.
"Please!" the boys begged. "Just this once!"
"I'll think about it," she said. "Now run along; I'm busy."
This usually meant yes, so they did run, and jumped for joy.
"I'm going to tell Narcissa about the Stronomy!" said Regulus.
"She won't like it," said Sirius. "She only likes Transfiguration. Anyway, it's Astronomy, not Stronomy."
"Okay. Let's tell Bellatrix."
But Bellatrix's door was shut, and there was a sign on it.
"What's it say, Sirius?"
"Read it yourself!"
"Go... away... I am... doing... im..."
"Important."
"Hom?"
"Homework."
"Wow," said Regulus. "I can't wait till I have homework."
So they found their mother again and asked for some homework. She raised her eyebrows, and Accioed a book from the library. "Sirius, I want you to read this to Regulus; and Regulus, I want you to write down the names of all the stars you like best. Accio parchment! Accio ink! Accio child's quill!"
Their first task, of course, was to make a sign for the door: "GO AWA IMPROTAT HOMWORK!!!!"
Then they swept the Magic Bricks off Sirius' table and sat down.
Homework turned out to be less fun than expected. "I don't even know what 'conceptualized the ecliptic' means!" Sirius said angrily.
Regulus was bored. "You haven't even got to the stars yet. Can't you skip to them?"
"Okay." He riffled through the pages. "Aha! Pictures."
Regulus bent over the book. "Look, there's a bear!"
"Ursa Major," Sirius read.
On the opposite page was a picture of the stars forming Ursa Major, with lines joining them to outline the constellation.
"I can draw a better bear than that," Regulus scoffed.
Sirius was reading. "Look!" He pointed to a star in the bear's tail. "That one's called Alcor!"
"Alcor?"
"That's Daddy's name!"
Surprised, Regulus wrote ALCOR on his parchment, and the boys searched haphazardly through the book looking for other people's names. They found Bellatrix at the shoulder of Orion the hunter, Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali (which weren't the names of anyone they knew, but which were such wonderful tongue-twisters) in the Scales, their uncle Alphard in the Sea Serpent, and their mother Alcyone and their aunt Maia in the Pleiades near the Bull.
Andromeda had an entire constellation to herself. "That's not fair," said Regulus, but really Andromeda-who-had-an-entire-constellation was even cooler than Andromeda-the-seventh-year-who-was-staying-at-Hogwarts-to-study.
And then, in quick succession, they found themselves. Regulus, at the chest of the Lion; and Sirius, the Dog Star, in Canis Major.
"The Great Dog!" shouted Sirius. "I love dogs!"
"Lions are better, though," said Regulus. "Rrrraaarrrrr!"
"Ruff ruff!" barked Sirius, and, homework forgotten, they played at dogs and lions until Narcissa came to fetch them for tea.
When Regulus had shown his list of stars to his mother, the grown-ups were all very pleased. "It's a family tradition," said the boys' father. "All the Blacks have star names."
"What about Mum and Aunt Maia?" asked Bellatrix. "They didn't use to be Blacks."
The grown-ups all laughed. "Your mum's name is really Mary," said Mrs Black; "and mine is Allison. Your dad and uncle started calling us by the star names as a sort of joke, when we got married, and they stuck."
"I'm not on Regulus' list!" Narcissa complained.
"Sorry, we couldn't find you," said Sirius.
"Actually," said her mother, "your name isn't a star. When you were born, we knew that you weren't a star. You were a flower, the most beautiful one ever."
"Oh!" said Narcissa, mollified. "Good. I don't like stars much anyway."
"Sour grapes," muttered Bellatrix.
"Now, girls," warned Mr Black.
Regulus and Sirius were sitting on the flat roof of number twelve, Grimmauld Place, their astronomy book open before them. The sun was setting, but the sky was still dimly bright with the London fog and millions of Muggle lights.
"You won't be able to see any stars with all this," said Mrs Black, who was sitting in a chair close by, reading a book and making sure the boys didn't fall off the roof. She took out her wand. "Obstruo lucernas nebulamque!" Instantly, the city lights went out and the sky became as clear as if there were nothing but ocean beneath it.
"Wow!" said Regulus.
"Did you just turn out all those lights?" gasped Sirius.
"No, the Ministry wouldn't be too happy about that," said Mrs Black. "I just blocked them from this area."
The boys waited for night to fall.
"I know a spell," whispered Sirius.
"What is it?"
"It's for wishing. Andromeda told it to me. You wait for the first star to appear, and then you say, Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, wish I may, wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight. And then you make your wish."
"Cool," said Regulus fervently. "Let's try it."
"Okay," replied Sirius. "But you can't say your wish out loud, or it won't come true."
"I knew that," said Regulus.
They waited some more. The sky grew darker.
"Look!" shouted Regulus, jumping up. "The first star!"
"That's a weird star," said Sirius.
"Quick, say it!"
"You have to say it too."
Very quietly, they recited the spell.
"Now shut your eyes," said Sirus, "and make a wish."
They did.
Regulus opened his eyes first. "Hey! It moved!"
Sure enough, the red, twinkling star was slowly crossing the sky.
"Mummy!" cried Regulus. "What's the matter with that star?"
Mrs Black shut her book and said "Nox." The light by which she had been reading vanished. "What is it?"
Sirius pointed at the moving light. "Is that a shooting star? Is it magic?"
When her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, Mrs Black understood. "That's not a star," she said. "That's a Muggle machine."
"Muggles make stars?" asked Sirius, confused.
She snorted. "Of course not. They can't Apparate or Floo or fly like we do, so they build great clumsy contraptions to transport them instead."
Regulus gazed after the light as it disappeared over the horizon. "Mummy," he said in shock, "I wished on a Muggle thing! And it's gone!"
She sighed. "That's what happens when Muggles have overrun the world. They invade the sky and steal little boys' wishes. Come here, ducky."
Regulus, worried, climbed on to her lap. "What did you wish for?" she asked.
"I can't tell you! It won't come true then," said Regulus. "Sirius said so." He thought a moment. "But if the Muggles took it," he added slowly, "it won't come true anyway. Let me whisper."
Mrs Black inclined her head, and Regulus cupped his hands around her ear and whispered into it.
"Ah," she said. "I think that might be ... possible. Wait and see."
Regulus gave her a hug. "Will you tell me about the stars, Mummy?" he asked. Some of them had appeared while they were talking, and every second he could see more and more.
"Of course," she said. "Bring me your book."
He jumped down from her lap. Sirius had the astronomy book, and was staring at the horizon where the red Muggle light had disappeared. "Come on," said Regulus; "Mummy's going to show us the consterations."
"Constellations," corrected Sirius, and he went to stand by Mrs Black's chair.
Regulus resumed his place on her lap and opened the book. "What do you want to see first?" she asked.
"Us," Regulus replied promptly. "Regulus and Sirius."
"Do you remember what constellations they're in?"
"Regulus is in Leo," said Sirius; "and I'm in Canis Major."
"I'm going to light up the book," Mrs Black told them, "so keep one eye shut so you can still see the stars afterwards. Lumos. Right, here's what Leo looks like. Do you have it?"
They nodded, hands clapped over one eye.
"Nox!" She pointed to the east. "Leo is there, down by the skyline. I can just see it above a building."
"I see it!" said Regulus.
"So do I!" said Sirius. "Cool!"
"And the brightest star of that constellation is Regulus. Do you know what your name means, Regulus?"
"Erm, star?" he guessed.
"It means little king."
"Really?"
"Yes. Because when you were born your Daddy and I knew you were going to be our little king."
Regulus laughed. "Sirius, I'm the king! And you have to be my dog!"
"But I'm older than you," said Sirius.
"Youngest first!" said Regulus. "I don't want any more Astronomy, Mummy, I'm going to be a king now."
She laughed, and he slid down from her lap. "Come inside, Sirius, and be a dog!"
"But I want to find Canis Major," Sirius objected.
"No, you've got to be a dog. I say so, and I'm king!" Regulus said, lifting his chin royally.
"I want to see my constellation!"
"Sirius," Mrs Black said warningly. "No bickering. Go inside, now."
He flung one grumpy glance at the stars, and stomped downstairs. Regulus followed him.
Mrs Black shut the roof door behind her sons and left them to play by themselves.
"Mum always treats you better," Sirius sulked.
Regulus thought about this. "That's because I'm her little king. So she has to."
"That's not fair," said Sirius. "And I'm not going to be your dog. I'm going to go play by myself." He stalked off.
Regulus shrugged, and went to his bedroom to make a paper crown and find his toy dog.
fin
A/N: To readers of "Cruel Sisters," I have changed Regulus' age (though it is not stated here) to two years, rather than four, younger than Sirius, as I realized that otherwise, he would have to have joined the Death Eaters when he was younger than seventeen. In this story, they are intended to be seven and five years old (although I am not expert in the behavior of small boys).