Note: This particular set of scenes is written by "tonberrys"

This is an ongoing series of snippets occurring throughout Regulus Black's childhood and adolescence, compliant with the Renascentia series I'm writing with kuchikopi, but although certain events (such as Sirius running away) are fully detailed in other one-shots, this does not explicitly require knowledge of the full series to make sense. This particular mini-series specifically focuses a lot on Regulus's developing friendships with the other young pure-bloods/Death Eaters.

Because certain scenes may be written as they become relevant to the story in Renascentia (which is an AU set during OotP), these snippets are going to be written out of order, to some degree. However, I will label each chapter with the date and a content label to try and help with tracking. I apologize in advance if any confusion occurs!

1st September 1972: The Sorting

When Regulus had dreamt of his first glimpse of the grand castle of Hogwarts, he had not expected a constricting thread of dread to suffocate him so, splitting cracks in the comfortable certainty of a Black's place in these ancient halls. (His brother, the Gryffindor-)

From the time he had woken that morning, he had not looked at Sirius even once.

A year ago, on this day, he would have done near anything to climb into a train compartment with his brother and speculate about the forthcoming adventures, but Regulus had sat with Narcissa on the Hogwarts Express, passing the hours in a blur of silent stares at the passing scenery and lost in the pages of the book he had brought along, only vaguely aware of her friends doting in a manner that would have been far more embarrassing if he had been paying much attention at all. The thrill was tainted, and all he could think about was how badly he wanted the following morning to come, wanted to wake up in a dungeon dorm swathed in green and silver.

Narcissa had bought him a pumpkin pasty, told him he had nothing to worry about, that he would wear their colors well and set everything to rights again. He clutched the pasty for the remaining hour until at last the train slowed to stop, and he carefully wrapped it in his luggage without so much as a nibble (save for the small bit he fed to Canopus, his new owl, who was rather less anxious about it all.)

Cutting a shadow against the moonlit sky, the castle loomed ahead, a place of learning and legacy, a place that was going to teach him to be a great wizard. Crossing the dark waters ought to have felt like a grand adventure, but like a germaphobe in fear of contagion, his eyes had scanned the faces of his fellow first years, finding that only a handful were recognizable at all. Hogwarts would be full of faces he didn't know, people he knew nothing about. They were the minority here, surrounded by mudbloods and their sympathizers, as his parents had emphasized all too thoroughly.

It was upon entering the Great Hall that Regulus felt the first true flutter in his chest. Silently he took in the overwhelming stretch of students beneath their vivid banners of their Houses, huddled pockets of green and red and blue and yellow, and he felt a small measure of relief that there were no more than a few first years in front of him.

There were more important reasons to feel delighted to be a Black, but he could think of no other time when he had felt quite so relieved to be so close to the beginning of the alphabet.

Slytherin, please, Slytherin, ran the mantra in his head - yet as the ill-mannered hat asked if he might like the high-flying House of wit and learning just as well, remarking that his brother seemed quite pleased with the change in pace, Regulus's eyes found Sirius's amongst a sea of red and gold, locking eyes for the first time that day. Beside Sirius was a bespeckled boy - Potter - muggle-loving, drawing Sirius further and further from his family and his responsibilities, like poison disguised as perfume. With a fresh wave of conviction, Regulus steeled against his nerves, tearing his eyes from his brother's. His voice quiet and firm, when at last he spoke: "Slytherin."

"SLYTHERIN!"

Roaring cheers erupted from the Slytherin table, filling the chilling silence with a welcome that wrapped around his shoulders like a warm blanket. It was then that Regulus let his eyes fall over the stretch of fellow serpents lining the table, far more familiar than not. He could not say what exactly his face was doing as he approached the table, but he felt a friendly shoulder squeeze from Rabastan Lestrange, saw an affectionate smile from Narcissa, and as he approached Evan Rosier and the group of boys huddled with him, the older boy scooted over to offer him a seat.

"I've been saving it for you," Evan said with a grin.

Meeting Evan's eyes, a smile cracked at the corners of his mouth for the first time that day. Like shedding skin, anxiety fell fast from his shoulders, and as he settled into his seat, Regulus Arcturus Black took his proper place in more ways that one.