Hi, everyone!

One of the guests commented some time ago that Regulus seemed too childish for his age. I actually kind of agree with that comment, but it should be taken in consideration that the story is told mostly from Severus´s perspective and his beliefs and interpretations are not always correct. For example, Severus thought for sure that Regulus would not be interested in quidditch, because he is so unlike his older brother, but he turned out being really into it. (Also if Regulus is so simple, sweet and innocent, how did he end up in Slytherin? Makes one wonder, right?)

-EveryJohn

When Regulus returned to Slytherin common room after the Prefects meeting, which had taken place soon after the sorting ceremony, he spotted a tiny first year girl sitting perfectly still in the darkness of the room. She had curled on the dark green couch and was rigidly staring at the closed door.

"What are you doing awake? I bet that the other girls are already in their bedrooms sleeping, or at least pretending to do so", Regulus wondered aloud. He glimpsed the door himself. Nothing there. "Is something the matter?" he asked then gently, turning towards the girl.

She rose slowly her big blue eyes to him. She was a cute girl with softly curled blond hair and a small slightly up-turned nose. "Everything", she snorted, "This place is a madhouse."

Regulus needed to put in some effort to reign his surprise, but when he nodded at the girl urging her to tell more, his expression was already perfectly schooled and he was ready to hear her reasoning.

"My housemates decided to welcome me by leaving me stranded in the hallway. I must have looked like a complete fool while I was helplessly sitting there. Several people passed me by but no-one bothered to talk to me! Finally, one person was decent enough to help me, but then he was attacked by someone invisible just before we reached here. I came in and told what had happened and three thug-like older boys charged out swearing something along the lines: We will murder those Gryffindors!", the girl ranted, glaring at Regulus as if daring him to deny her earlier assessment.

"Oh...", Regulus mumbled, scratching his head. "You know... I won´t just pass you by if I see you in trouble. There are some bullies... I can talk to them if you wish? I am one of the prefects so they should listen to me", he assured. He sat down on the couch next to the girl.

After pondering for a moment, she shook her head. "Please, don´t bother. I don´t think that they would like very much about me snitching on them", she admitted in a small voice.

"You might be right... But I will help you. Does knowing that make you feel even a little better?"

"So, you won´t just turn blind eye?"

"Of course, not", Regulus confirmed convincingly, "You are one of our first-years."

"What about my blood?" the girl asked with suspicion.

"What about it?"

"Don´t you think that it is dirty because of my mother is not a witch?" The girl asked and gave Regulus an extremely sour look. She was quite cunning, after all, not swallowing his reassuring words so easily.

"It is not dirty. Your blood is fine."

"But the others think it is not. They say, that I am useless, because of my mother. According to them I will do horribly in the lessons. They said that I should never have even received the Hogwarts invitation!"

After the girl had burst this out they kept quiet for a while. The girl took calming breaths and Regulus tried to find a way to comfort and explain.

"What they said... It is not true", Regulus started. He altered his position to more comfortable and put a small silver-decorated pillow behind his back. "The history of wizarding world is... complicated. There are many reasons, why the old families are prejudiced towards the mixed heritage. Muggles have not always been well-meaning towards us. We needed to go hiding at some point in history. That was difficult to accept for many proud wizarding families and the bitterness has carried on to this day. Witches and wizards with mixed heritage have often also mixed loyalties. That doesn´t have to mean anything bad, but... well, there have been some instances, when muggleborns have endangered the magical society for the sake of their relationships in muggle world. This is part of the reason why most of the old families are so suspicious towards muggleborns and disagree on out-of-blood marriages. But you should know that all of that has nothing to do with actual magical ability! That is just an excuse. What comes to actual facts, well, there are some pure-bloods who are, arguably..." Regulus coughed and looked around. "...dull as trolls, as they say", he admitted. "Being from an old family line does not mean that you are automatically more capable of complicated magic. To put it plainly, many half-bloods and even muggleborns are extremely skilled. Did you know that the student, who had the best O.W.L. score in potions in more than 70 years is half-blood just like you?"

The girl shook her head. The blond curls swayed.

"He is pretty much a genius. He also works harder than anyone. And he is in Slytherin, too. He has got a bit bad temper, though..." Regulus smiled sadly. "He can be harsh. I got him really mad and I am not sure if he forgives me, this time."

"Are you talking about Mr. Spitfire, Reg?"

A bulky Slytherin in very dirty clothes had just opened the door to the common room. The boy took of his mud-soaked boots and gloves and threw himself on a huge armchair next to the fireplace. The weight of his massive body caused the the chair to rock back and forth and give out pained croaks.

The first-year-girl curled against the back rest of the couch almost as if trying to hide inside the soft padding whereas Regulus stretched his neck and leaned forward from the depths of the couch to see the other boy better. He frowned. "Tibeerius... You are dripping mud on furniture!"

The other boy opened lazily a single strikingly green cat-like eye. He shrugged his shoulders and then studied the girl with unconstrained curiosity. His eye looked even brighter in the middle of the dark brown face where you could hardly distinguish filth from actual tan. "I don´t get what are whining about, Reg, when a single scourgify is enough to deal with it afterwards", he explained nonchalantly.

Regulus rolled his eyes. "What I don´t understand is: Why can´t you do that single scourgify on yourself before stepping in our common room, Tiber!"

The bulky boy shrugged again. Then he grinned widely flashing his white teeth and opening both mischievous eyes.

"But tell me about your dear Head-biting big-nosed Half-blood. What has he done this time to make you so miserable, Lil King?"

Regulus sighed. "Tiber. It was not his fault. To make it clear, it was me and my family in the wrong, this time."

"It´s never his fault, if I ask you, Reg. If I ask anyone else though, they say that he´s got an attitude problem."

Regulus sighed. "Were you practicing quidditch or where did you find that amount of mud?" he changed the subject.

Tiberius shrugged. "Well, yeah. Not everyone has a place to practice at home. But who´s the tiny little snakelet, you´ve picked up?" he asked pointing towards the first-year-girl.

"Ah. I don´t actually know", Regulus admitted, "We didn´t get to the phase of introductions before you came."

After hearing this, the other boy stretched his massive body. He rose to his feet and held his big trunk-like arm towards the tiny girl.

"Tiberius Stripes", Regulus explained. "Obeys the name Tiber Stripes too. He is big and looks just like a gorilla but don´t let him fool you. He is actually more like a teddy bear. Well, everywhere else but in quidditch pitch... There he is pretty much a ferocious Hairy MacBoon... He is one of the two beaters of our quidditch team and also our captain this year. Sixth-year-student, same as me."

Tiberius Sripes rose his eyebrows to Regulus´s description. "And this scrawny, girly-looking little lord here is, unbelievably, our secret weapon against Gryffindor", he introduced Regulus on his turn, after having shaken carefully girl´s delicate hand, "His name is Regulus Black. According to some, he is the sole sane member of the influential and infamous Black family. His eyesight is so good that he is able to spot an escaped golden snitch hiding behind Professor McGonagall´s tight bun. And he is goofy enough to try to catch it", Tiberius told the girl and smirked for the private joke. The girl looked confused.

It was Regulus´s turn to shake her hand.

"Lucinda. Lucinda Talkalot", the girl told, finally giving out a small smile. "You both play quidditch?"

Both boys nodded simultaneously. "Yes, have you ever seen a match?"

"Never! My father had some newspaper articles. It seemed so interesting, but our family lives in muggle area, so..."

Tiberius nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, I know. I know exactly what you mean. But I bet you want to try it! The flying lessons for the first-years will not begin before the next week, but if you want to get a head start you could join me and Regulus on Wednesday when we have practice."

The girl nodded and smiled properly at last. Her tiny face brightened. "Could I really? Someone told me that I should try it." Then her smile dimmed. "I hope, he is okay..."

"He will be", Regulus reassured. Of course, he could not be sure of that, but at least no-one had died on the castle grounds since Dumbledore became the headmaster almost half an decade ago. "There is always some animosity between Gryffindor and Slytherin, but at worst, if they get caught by teachers, there will be some house point loss and detention. And madam Pomfrey, our healer here in Hogwarts, knows how to fix things quickly if there is any damage."