Penultimate:
adjective
Last but one in a series; second to last
He was the blessed son, the favored son, the heir to the most of his family's fortune, and yet his brother was the only one whom he bested. Any number of his cousins - all were preferred over him. Even Andromeda, the one on her way to being a traitor would be chosen before him, because she could turn to either side, and if she chose theirs, they would be invincible. So they chose her to make her choose them.
He was perfect compared to his brother, but then, anyone would be. His brother was the lowest of the low, and he was slightly higher.
This thought did not comfort him on the evenings that his parents praised him as the model son and heir.
He was perfect in a way, and yet he would never amount to much. He would succeed, but he would never be extraordinary, because he was perfect in a way - a model of what to do and how to behave and nothing more. Even his name told him that. It was a good name, and that was all it would ever be. Not strong or sleek or determined or rebellious like his brother's. It was good; all around good, but it did not stand out. It was not special, and it never would be.
He was like a mirror image of his brother, or maybe a shadow, or a rippling, uneven reflection in water. If water were dripped slowly onto a paper photo of his brother, that would be him - blurred and uneven throughout.
He was like his brother, but less. Less smart, less handsome, less athletic, less elegant, less funny, less popular, less attractive, less loyal to his cause, less charismatic, less rebellious, less sure of himself, less, less, less. Less everything. And yet he was better than his brother, because his brother had defected and he had not.
His cousins were special and different and important because of one quality that made them that way. They believed. They believed so strongly in their cause that it made them worthy. Their belief and blind faith carried them.
His did not carry him, because he had none.
He was Regulus Black, and he was penultimate.