AN: This is a sort of teaser chapter. Depending on the response, I might write more or leave it as a one-shot. So it all depends on your reviews! I apologise for any spelling/grammar mistakes or continuity errors. Thankyou for reading, and I hope you enjoy. WARNING: This story will contain a romantic relationship between two males. If this offends you, please stop reading.
Disclaimer: I don't own any Harry Potter characters.
A different sort of saviour (a story in four parts)
Part One
Regulus should have known, from the moment he turned the corner that lead to the Charms corridor, that something unpleasant was about to occur. The sight of his brother Sirius made his stomach clench at the best of times. Recently, though, he had been even crueller than normal.
Regulus couldn't quite work out if the latest spat of bullying was a delayed reaction to him being sorted into Slytherin, if it was due to his recent admission to their Quidditch team as Seeker, or if Sirius had merely found another way to rebel against their parents. Whatever the reason for it, Regulus hoped Sirius became bored of it soon, because it was making his life miserable.
So when his eyes landed upon his brother's lean form, lounging against a windowsill with that knowing smirk plastered all over his face, Regulus contemplated turning around. Sirius was flanked by James Potter, his ever-adoring fan, and that skinny Lupin boy who always looked exhausted.
Still, though, Regulus was with Mulciber and Nott, who were both big enough to challenge the older boys if it came down to a fight. Plus, if he ran away now it would just give Sirius another excuse to torment him. Regulus swallowed, arranged his face in a carefully composed expression, and began walking down the corridor.
It didn't take long for the explosions to begin. Sirius looked up as the Slytherins approached, his dark eyes glinting with something malicious. His feral grin widened. "Hiding behind your bodyguards, precious Reggie?" he called, his voice loud and mocking.
Regulus' eyes narrowed at the nickname he'd always despised. On either side of him, Mulciber and Nott exchanged a glance. Don't go, Regulus begged them inside his head, Please don't leave me.
"Piss off," he said flatly to his brother. Sirius gave a barking chuckle and pushed himself off the wall, James Potter following suit.
"Ooh, language!" his brother taunted, "What would Mommy and Daddy say if they knew their little Reggie-kins had such a filthy mouth?" Regulus couldn't stop the flush that spread over his cheeks. Why did Sirius insist on jeering at him?
They'd never exactly been the best of friends, but he couldn't remember this level of derision happening before.
"I imagine nothing worse than the things they said in the latest Howler you received," Regulus spat back at him. He knew immediately that it hadn't been a wise move.
He'd picked up on their parent's disappointment, an issue that Sirius had no problem with (although it would have killed Regulus to receive even one of those letters). Sirius' eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Oh look, your little friends have gone and left you. I guess Slytherins' aren't known for being loyal." No, Regulus begged, Please let him be lying. One glance over his shoulder, however, confirmed his worst fears; Mulciber and Nott were both retreating down the corridor. Mulciber gave him an apologetic shrug when their eyes met, then disappeared around the corner.
Regulus turned back to his brother, the liquid dread in his stomach solidifying into something hard and horrible. He couldn't exactly blame his friends for leaving, not when he wanted nothing more than to turn around and run himself, but it still left him weak and helpless.
"They're known for being pure," Regulus snapped at his brother, "Unlike the company you're keeping at present." His eyes flickered over Lupin, who was watching the exchange with a guarded expression.
Sirius pulled back his top lip and sneered. "Ooh, posh words from the ickle firstie! Does it sting, Reggie-kins, knowing that Mommy and Daddy love me, the muggle-loving Gryffindor, more than they will ever love you? Does it break your weak little heart? Do you cry into your pillow every night, like the pathetic little girl you are?"
Regulus faltered. Sirius knew that he was insecure about their parents, desperate to please them, and he'd twisted that information into the words that would insult and hurt the younger boy more than any others could.
"They-they don't," he blurted out. His voice trembled, the statement pitiful even to his own ears. "You're lying," he whispered. Sirius loomed over him, at least a head taller and a good deal wider, his smirk feral as he taunted his brother.
"I'm their heir, Reggie-kins, their beloved first born son," he hissed, so quietly that only Regulus could hear him. The smaller boy stared up into his face, and wondered why on earth those foolish girls fawned over him. Sirius' angular features were twisted into something sharp and horrid, marred by hate.
"And you're just a slimy little runt," he whispered. A fleck of his spit landed on Regulus' cheek, and the younger Black couldn't take it any more.
"At least I don't surround myself with Mudbloods!" he shouted. There was a long, tense silence. James Potter glared at him, Lupin looked taken aback and Sirius - Sirius began to smile.
Regulus stood in the corridor, abandoned by his associates, feeling small and flustered and furious. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears. Funny, just that morning he had wondered whether Slytherins even possessed hearts, whether his housemates were capable of complex emotion.
Perhaps this intense marathon of fear and hate was life's way of reminding him that even snakes could feel.
He barely had time to reflect on that before a fist collided with his jaw. He had been distracted (although, when he analysed the situation later, he realised he should have expected it) and staggered backwards. Sirius flexed his fingers, eyes glinting, and stepped forward to repeat the gesture.
"I suggest you cease your childish violence, Black," a cool voice suddenly ordered, "Before I am forced to cease it myself." Lucius Malfoy regarded the situation through cold grey eyes that flickered between the brothers. His expression was a strange combination of bored and annoyed; the face of someone displeased with the current situation but confident that they could change it.
It was the face of someone whose mere presence commanded power. Regulus had never been more grateful to see a Slytherin in his life.
Sirius paused, obviously torn between his desire to break his brother's face and his reluctance to earn yet another detention. His eyes lingered on the gleaming Prefect badge pinned to Lucius' robes. Besides, Malfoy was older, and his family was just as renowned for Dark Magic as the Blacks.
Sirius sent Regulus one last scathing glare and slunk off down the corridor, muttering under his breath. His cronies, Potter and Lupin, trailed after him.
Lucius watched them go, then turned to glance at the younger student. "Come here," he commanded, and Regulus wordlessly replied. He felt his breathing quicken as cold fingers brushed against his chin, Lucius' face very close to his own. The older boy's expression was impassive. The perfect Slytherin poker face.
"The skin isn't broken," Malfoy told him, drawing back and breaking the electric contact. "Find some ointment to take care of the bruise. It's not… proper for a pure-blood to be walking around looking like they've been in some Muggle brawl."
He straightened up, nodded as if congratulating himself on a job well done, and strode off down the corridor. Regulus touched the sore skin of his jaw gently. Well, he had learnt a lesson today. Saviours didn't always dress in red and gold, with a Gryffindork grin plastered onto their faces. Sometimes they were tall and slender and hard, with cool fingers and a shiny green Prefect badge.
Regulus couldn't help but smile to himself.
Once again, whether I continue this or not depends entirely on your reviews. Please let me know what you think, whatever your opinion. I'm grateful for any kind of feedback, and I'll try to reply to every review.