He sighed as he woke up, staring at the ceiling thrigh a gap in in the curtains. Sweeping his soft dark hair out of his eyes and got up. Only then did he realize what day it was. Regulus Black was going back to Hogwarts at last! This summer had seemed to last forever. As he dressed and went to run downstairs, Sirius came out, pushed him back into the door and went first, laughing. Regulus went after him, pushing him a bit on the stairs. When they got down to breakfast, Sirius stole a bit of bacon from his plate and laughed as Regulus shouted for it back, even as Sirius put the last piece in his mouth.
"Sirius, give him two pieces of yours now," his mother snapped. He pouted and kind of tossed two pieces onto Regulus' plate.
A few minutes later, Regulus reached over and stole a piece of toast off of Sirius' plate. "Hey!" Sirius said, but Mrs. Black seemed not to have noticed, or was too interested in her food to pay them any mind. Sirius scowled and went back to his food.
An hour later they were at the door, ready to go. Regulus had his trunk and owl at the door and was talking to Kreacher about how to clean his room whilst he was away at school. Kreacher, who loved his Master Regulus very much, was nodding as he avidly listened to the boy go on about what went where and how others were organized.
"Kreacher, go away, you filthy beast!" Sirius said as he came down the stairs. "And go get my trunk." He crossed his arms and smirked as the house elf bowed, said "Yes Master Sirius," and, with a crack disapparated to do his bidding. When Kreacher reappeared moments later, he was holding onto Sirius' trunk. "Give me that, you disgusting thing," he scowled. "Now get out of my sight." The house elf then stalked away, grumbling all the while.
"That was mean," Regulus said quietly. Sirius laughed.
"Coming from my ssssslytherin brother?" He hissed quietly enough so taht his parents couldn't hear the remark. Although his cheeks turned a little pink, he retorted, "At least Mum and Dad love me more." It was just loud enough. Mr. Black ruffled the younger boy's hair. "Of course we do, son. Now lets be going, it's time to go off to school." They followed behind Mr. And Mrs. Black and as they head toward the apparating point, Sirius pushed Regulus to the side, showing his frustration.
As they reached the curb, they Disapparated, Sirius holding unnessecarily tight to Regulus' arm. They landed in King's Cross Station, next to the Hogwarts Express on platform 9 3/4.
Regulus let his mother kiss him goobye and his father ruffled his hair.
"Off you go, sweetie, we'll send you letters everyday." He smiled at them and then ran of while Sirius slumped off with his stuff and his parents put Regulus' things in the compartment.
Regulus sat in his compartment and looked out at all of the kids getting on the train. There were so many different ages. He was going into his fifth year, while Sirius was starting his sixth. They were both dreading this year, as Regulus was starting OWL's and Sirius was going into NEWT level classes.
Trent Sithgrim knocked once on the window as he stepped inside of the compartment, tossing himself down on the seat opposite Regulus.
Good summer?" He said, drawling slightly. Regulus shrugged.
"It was alright," he said, smirking slightly. "Yours?" Trent shrugged as well.
"Not bad. Got a new broom," he said offhandedly, as if this was not an unlikely thing to happen. Indeed, Regulus doubted it would be hard for Trent to convince his parents to get him whatever he wanted. Trent's family was almost more wealthy than Regulus'.
"I got a new watch and a new broom," Regulus said with a smirk. Trent scoffed but with a laugh. For a moment, Regulus frowned. "Sirius didn't get anything over break... He was really mad," he said, almost to himself. He could remember Sirius' face clearly in his mind. His gaze was stone cold and far away as Regulus opened his presents. Sirius' knuckles were white on the arms of the chair as the older boy watched Regulus get praise from their parents, listening to them tell the younger boy how much they loved him. He hadn't said a word... but his message couldn't have been more clear: He hatd the lot of them.
Sirius didn't know it, but Regulus very much looked up to his brother, loved him, in fact. He didn't think there was any greater person in the world to have as a brother. Sure, they fought, but until this summer he was sure it was just in good fun. Now he was sure it was more, and inside it felt like his stomach was being twisted over and over.
"Regulus!" Trent was saying, waving his hand in front of the other's glazed green eyes. Regulus started with a, "huh?" and sat up. "I said, 'so what?'" Trent repeated impatiently. Regulus swallowed once to stop the lump in his throat from choking him.
"I mean he's still my brother," Regulus said, shrugging. "They could have gotten him something. Like last year they got him a new wand... But that's because his broke..." He shook his head. "Nevermind," he said, seeing that Trent was no longer interested. He usually wasn't unless it included a competition of some sort. As the train began to move, the door to their compartment slid open and Severus Snape stepped in. Regulus waved vaguely at him as sat back. Severus was in Sirius' year, but they were in different houses and definitely didn't get along. Severus sat down and took out a book with a tattered cover. It was obviously a second-hand book, but neither boy said anything. He might not be wealthy, but Severus had great ideas, almost a genius, really. Sometimes they teased him about whether the Sorting Hat made a mistake and should have put him in Ravenclaw, but Severus would just laugh and shrug it off. Regulus didn't ask how Severus' summer was. He knew his home life was rubbish as far as you could see, so they never talked about it.
The train was soon zipping past fields of green and little towns here and there. The trolley came around and Regulus brought them all a round of sweets to eat for the rest of the ride.
Sooner than if felt, they arrived at Hogwarts. As they neared the castle, Regulus remembered his first year with fond memories. How he'd felt when the Hat had put him in Slytherin. Tainting this particular memory was Sirius' face, the look of disdain, the way he'd turned away from him. But still he had loved his brother, not understanding the things that seperated them. He smiled now as he remembered seeing the Slytherin dormitory for the first time. Greenish lamps gave the room the feel of being underwater. Ahead of them was a great fireplace in which a fire was roaring. Above it was a crest of the Slytherin snake.
Regulus had met Trent that very day, their beds were right next to each other. They'd hit it off right away. After that they were inseprable as two young boys could be.
They hustled to the carriages, as it had begun to rain. Once inside, Regulus shook his hair out, Severus scowling as the water splattered onto his book. Regulus just laughed as Severus tried to dry it with magic.
It wasn't long before they got into the castle, and seated at their house tables. Severus sat with his book open on the table, reading, while Regulus and Trent watched the first years getting sorted into the four houses.
Too soon, the feast came and went, and afterward Regulus was thoroughly stuffed with all of his favorite foods and desserts.
Dumbledore soon sent them off to their dormitories with his usual strange speech, and Regulus was relieved. He was suddenly very sleepy, and was eager to get into his warm bed. When they got there, his things had already brought up and he quickly changed into his pajamas.
He curled up under his green covers, letting his weary eyes shut. His hand rested under his pillow atop his very old and battered copy of Tales of Beedle the Bard... On the inside cover w as the inscription, In the hopes that you will always seek to do what is right. -Love, your big brother, Sirius.
Author's Note: Okay, I know that the text is a little messed up, but believe me, I'm working on it. Anyway, I hope you all like this. It's been quite the hassle getting it up finally. Please read and give me some feedback by reviewing, that would be fantastic.
If you are waiting for the next chapter, I advise going to my best friend, A-Girl-Named-Billy's page and reading Light. It's a fanfiction written in somewhat same style. It is about Draco in his 6th and 7th years at Hogwarts, and an OC that will appear later in my own fan fiction. As I said, if you are waiting for a chapter to be added to this, go read hers. Reviews greatly appreciated by both of us!