GRYFFINDOR

Regulus was sitting in his room reading "The Tales Of Beedle The Bard" when Sirius came bursting in.

"Hey, Reg! Look what I got!",he said while waving a piece of parchment in air. And to his surprise Regulus was not interested. This would be the fourth time in last one week when Sirius had come bursting into his room with a letter from Lucius Malfoy to Cissy. Regulus didn't understand the fun Sirius got by torturing her. Sure she was vain but still that did not mean that he should read out loud the letter from the pretty boy (a nickname that Sirius had come up with and Narcissa had snapped at him everytime he called Lucius that, saying Lucius was handsome and not pretty) to everyone in the household.

"Siri, You can go and read that letter to Andy, I am not in the mood for hearing what pretty boy has to say to his dear Narcissa, now", he said. Regulus really hated when someone interrupted him from his reading.

"No! You have to see this. It is not from Lucius, this letter is from Hogwarts. This is my Hogwart's letter Reg, I am going to …Ow!"

Regulus did not let Sirius finish because as soon as he had heard 'Hogwarts letter', he had left his bed and had jumped on Sirius. He snatched the letter from Sirius to read. As he finished reading it he chanced a glance at Sirius, he thought that Sirius might be cross because he had snatched the letter but to his amusement Sirius had a large grin splitting his face.

Soon everyone in the family had heard the news, and a dinner party was organized in honor of Sirius. The Black heir beginning his formal education was obviously a great event. Sirius was the star of the evening and he simply loved being the center of attention. Although he pretended that he was bored of all the attention, twinkle in his eyes gave him away.

Bella had already graduated from Hogwarts. She was given the responsibility of showing Sirius around Diagon Alley so that next term onwards he would be able to shop on his own. Moreover, Sirius needed a practical lesson in recognizing mudbloods and since Bella was renowned in the family for her just and appropriate treatment of mudbloods she was established as a good choice.

Regulus had secretly hoped that Sirius or someone else might suggest that he must also be taken to Diagon Alley to accompany Sirius but to his disappointment, no one was even thinking of him. Regulus was always a shadow compared to Sirius. Sirius was energetic and fun whereas Regulus loved quiet and peace. Sirius spent his pocket money buying dungbombs and other pranking material whereas Regulus spent his money on new books. Even though the two brothers were so different, yet they loved and cared for each other a lot. But now that Sirius had received his Hogwarts letter, Regulus could feel traces of jealousy developing in his heart.

Regulus was in a very bad mood and was sulking in his room when the door to his room opened. Regulus looked up from the bed he was lying on and was pleased to see the face of his favorite cousin. His aunt and uncle were gone to France on some business trip so his cousins were staying at Grimmauld Place.

"Hey, Reg!" Andromeda said, "I could not help but notice that you seemed quite grumpy today."

"It's nothing like that, I am fine", Regulus shook his head vehemently so as to prove his point.

"And I am a squib!" countered Andromeda with a raised eyebrow. Andromeda was as far from being a squib as was the chance of a Black being sorted into Gryffindor. She was an extremely talented and intelligent witch who had received twelve owls and was currently pursuing seven newts. She would be beginning her seventh year this September and had been named the head girl. She was an excellent example of what it meant to be a Black. Both Regulus and Sirius favored her over any other of their cousins. Bellatrix was short tempered and controlling whereas all that Narcissa cared about was her looks and gossip.

"The thing actually is…", began Regulus but then stopped. He folded his hand in his lap and looked uncertainly at her. Andromeda nodded her head in encouragement. "The thing actually is that everyone likes Sirius a lot and they don't care about me much. He is Sirius Black and I am just his younger brother. He gets so many advantages just because he is elder to me. Now he is going to Hogwarts and I will be all alone. He will make new friends there and will forget me and will never talk to me again and I will be alone forever."

Andromeda took his hand from his lap and squeezed them reassuringly. She said, "That is nothing to worry about Reg, even I felt the same thing when Bella was going to Hogwarts. Even I felt jealous of Bella and all the attention she received. I was afraid that once she will go to Hogwarts I will lose her, but that did not happen. She was my best friend at Hogwarts until my fifth year after which she graduated, and as far as liking is concerned we all like you Reg as much as we like Sirius. You will understand that when you grow up and as for being alone forever is concerned, remember we are Blacks, we are in the uppermost strata of the society and people are always going to look up to us and follow us and try to be our friends, none of us are ever going to be alone."

"You think so?" asked Reg hopefully.

"Yes I think so", said Andromeda and before she could say anything else there was the sound of footsteps rushing upstairs followed by sharp "Behave, Sirius!" from his mother, which wasn't paid any heed to, and soon Sirius was in the room with Andromeda and Regulus.

Sirius rushed to the bed and emptied his pocket on it. Around a dozen of sweets fell on the bed. He then turned to Regulus and said, "Hey, Reg! These are for you."

"Thank you Siri," Regulus replied with an elated smile.

Sirius then turned to Andromeda. "Andy, have you seen a mudblood?" Andromeda paled a little and used her wand to shut the door of the room so that no one could overhear her. She then said, "Yes, I go to school with them, so I have obviously seen them, and mudblood is a rude word. You should not use it in presence of teachers at Hogwarts or you will be given detention. If you want to refer to them you can call them muggleborn. But why do you ask?"

"Oh, nothing, just that Bella pointed to some mudbloods and I thought they looked like normal witches and wizards only."

"Yes they look and behave like normal witches and wizards only and in some case are as intelligent as us. I have a friend, no not a friend, you know, just an acquaintance, he was my partner for the transfiguration project last year and he is a muggleborn, but he is brilliant. He is also a prefect and a quidditch captain for his house."

"Oh! And do you think..", but before Sirius could complete his question Andromeda shushed him. "We cannot discuss muggleborns here, Sirius. If you want to know something more about them find me on the train or at Hogwarts and I will tell you as much as I know. And a warning, don't go about telling what you think about muggleborns looking normal in this household if you don't want a fight and another word of caution, always call them mudbloods in the presence of family."

"Okay, Andy!"

"Good! Now I am going back to my room to pack my things. You should pack too. Bye Siri, Bye Reg."

Sirius replied a quiet goodbye but Regulus didn't seem to hear. He was in awe of everything he had heard and wanted to form his own opinion on themudbloods. He also did not notice Sirius leaving his room.

It was the first of September. His cousins were back in their own Manor. Sirius, Regulus and their mother were going to take a portkey to the platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Before leaving, Walburga had warned her sons to behave like a Black and to keep as much distance as possible from the mudbloods.

Before leaving for the platform, Sirius had to attend a one to one meeting with his father inside his study. Sirius was there for about fifteen minutes and came out looking quite grumpy.

Regulus was waiting for him outside the study. He had asked what was the matter, to which Sirius mumbled something about pureblood friends and slytherin. Although Regulus did not get a clear picture of what he said, he decided not to press the matter.

Soon it was time for them to take the portkey. They arrived at the platform at ten fifty. Still, a plenty of time left.

Both Sirius and Regulus were in awe of the red steam engine that was to take the students to Hogwarts. Sirius rushed to the train to find himself a compartment and returned soon enough. Meanwhile, Regulus was looking around the platform for Andromeda and Narcissa. They had promised to meet him here. Soon he noticed them coming. Andromeda had pinned her shiny batch on her uniform and was walking very swiftly towards him and Narcissa was accompanied by Lucius Malfoy who had a prefect batch pinned to his uniform. Narcissa quickly wished her aunt and cousin a quick goodbye and then took hold of Lucius Malfoy's arm and went away in search of her other friends. But Andromeda stayed with them and was telling them about some prank that Prewett twins had done on the previous sorting.

Andromeda checked her watch. It was ten fifty-eight. She wished them a goodbye and hurried off to the prefect's compartment.

Walburga Black looked at Sirius and told him, "As soon as you reach the Slytherin common room, ask your dorm mates for their names and blood status and report to me the very next day. Slytherin standards have been lowered since my days. Lots of halfbloods are also sorted in there. I will choose your friends for you after finding their family history. You are not to talk to anyone else other than the people I approve of. I hope you have a good term ahead and I will be seeing you at Christmas."

Sirius nodded at her and then turned his attention to Regulus. "Hey, Reggy! I am going to miss you so much. Don't get into trouble and give Kreacher a good kick from me. I will see you soon brother. It is just a few months and then we will be together again."

Regulus nodded silently. He wanted to hug Sirius but knew that his mother would punish both of them for showing affection in public so instead, he shook hands with his brother and let go quickly.

The train had already blown its whistle. All students were hurrying towards it. Sirius said a quick goodbye and rushed towards the train.

Regulus was holding his mother's hand. As soon as Sirius climbed on the train Regulus felt a squeezing sensation and blackness and after a moment he was back at the gate of Grimmauld Place.

That day Regulus kept to his room leaving it only for the meals. He was waiting for the next day when he would get a letter from Sirius describing Hogwarts. He went to bed early in anticipation of the next day.

He knew Grimmauld Place was far from Hogwarts. Even if Sirius wrote the letter early morning it would be at least afternoon till it reached Grimmauld Place. He was in his room reading the sports section of Daily Prophet when he heard an angry voice from the living room calling his mother and father. He rushed downstairs to the living room just in time to see Bellatrix holding a piece of parchment in her hand and showing it to his father who looked red in fury.

Walburga came down and was shocked to see both Bellatrix and Orion so furious. She asked Bellatrix "what is the matter?"

"What is the matter? What is the matter, you ask me? The matter is that your good for nothing son has brought a huge shame on the Black family. One day out of the sight of the family and he has made himself home amongst mudbloods and filth. He has been sorted into Gryffindor. He is sharing his common room maybe even his dormitory with mudbloods", snapped Bellatrix.

"How dare he? This must not be true", Orion bellowed. For the first time in her life, Walburga was speechless.

"This is true. Narcissa wrote the letter as soon as sorting was finished and you better take proper action against your wayward son or else it is going to affect the future of other Blacks and I don't think any of us three sisters are going to forgive him if our betrothed cancel our engagements." Walburga was enraged at the implication that Bellatrix made of her not caring about the reputation of Blacks.

"Don't you dare speak to me like that Bellatrix. I have been a Black longer than what you ever will be. I care for the reputation of Blacks much more than you. I will be doing everything possible to transfer him back to Slytherin. If that does not happen I will ensure he stays away from mudbloods. If any problem persists we can easily blast that ungrateful brat off the tapestry", snapped Walburga

"You better try contacting Dumbledore as soon as possible, and if I were you I would keep a firm eye on Regulus."

At Bellatrix's last sentence everyone's attention turned to Regulus who had been standing in the middle of the living room.

Orion, who had been quiet whole time, ordered Kreacher (who appeared with a crack) to pack Regulus's clothes and other belongings and place it near the fireplace.

He then said to Bellatrix, "Since both me and Walburga have to go to Egypt to attend some urgent business matter we will not be able to keep an eye on him, so take him with you to the Black Manor, introduce him to the right kind of people and do whatever may be necessary so that next year he is sorted in slytherin."

Bellatrix nodded and ordered Regulus to follow her to the fireplace from where they would floo to the Black Manor.

A.N: - So what do you think? Like it? Hate it? Please let me know through reviews.

Next Chapter: - Christmas and Easter holidays. Andromeda will be blasted off the family tree.