((AN about Chapter 2 and 3: I know that at Lexicon, it says that Regulus Black died in 80, the year before this story takes place, but as I've said in previous chapters, I do not own Harry Potter, and this is my own plot. So, for my own plot, Regulus is alive and in his 7th year at Hogwarts. If you have a problem with me straying from that small bit of plotline, then, please – rant your heart out.))
Chapter 3: RegulusJakob and Selene appeared into the Talcrom family living room with a dramatic entrance – Jakob landing perfectly on his feet, and Selene rolling across the floor. After Jakob helped her to her feet, her gaze traveled around the room. It was a bit larger than the living room that she'd had at Magic's Hollow, but it was still quite homey. There were two couches along each wall with a long coffee table in front of each pair, and a chair in each corner next to the fireplace. The thing she didn't see at first was the young man sitting in the chair in the left corner. After scanning the room again, her eyes caught on him. His face was covered partially in shadow, but he seemed familiar. As he stood, it clicked. He looked almost exactly like an older Sirius Black, the boy she had just met under an hour ago. This must be Regulus Black.
As he approached the two, Selene glanced over at her brother. His relaxed appearance had turned stiff – his hands clenched so tight his knuckles were white, his back straight as he looked straight ahead at Regulus. He seemed so tense – so afraid. It was almost terrifying. So, with a calm but cool smile, she looked up at Regulus, the corners of her mouth curling up in a smirk.
"Good evening, Jakob." came the voice of the man in front of her, the tone cold and distant.
Regulus' eyes flicked to Selene, scanning her quickly, and then back to Jakob.
"Evening, Regulus. What can I help you with?"
Regulus looked back at Selene, this time pointing out that he was looking at her. Selene looked up into his cold, grey eyes, and smirked.
"Can I help you with something? If you take a picture, it will last longer."
Regulus' expressionless face slowly turned into a slight smirk.
"This one's got mouth, Jakob. Where'd you find her? She's a Slytherin, right?"
Selene almost broke out laughing. His reaction was obvious; she could read it in his eyes. How he would react to the next part would be even better. Looking over at Jakob, she gave him a small smile to let him know that she would answer Regulus' question.
"I'm his sister, and if you're in Slytherin, I hope to God that I won't be."
Regulus frowned, looking at her, then back up at Jakob with a raised eyebrow.
"I didn't know you had a sister."
Jakob's tenseness faded as he broke into a grin.
"I didn't either, until a few days ago. But she's not half bad, is she?"
Regulus shook his head, with a small hint of a smile. He looked down at her, offering her his hand.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Regulus Black."
Selene smirked, just looking down at her hand. Well, if he was a friend of her brother – or she figured he was, otherwise Jakob would have told him to get out – then he must have been okay. She reached out her hand, and placed it in his. The second she had placed her hand in his; he raised her hand to his lips and placed a soft kiss on the back of her palm.
"I know who you are. Pleased to meet your acquaintance, Regulus, my name is Selene Talcrom."
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Jakob's proud grin. She knew what he was thinking – that Selene had already adopted the family name, and now he wouldn't be afraid of introducing her as his sister. But then what she really said clicked in his mind, and he looked down at her with a confused look.
"I met his brother," she explained, looking up at her brother.
The silence was almost deadly. Regulus' expression turned almost cold, and Jakob looked down at her in shock. Apparently, she wasn't supposed to mention Sirius in front of them. She mentally noted this.
"No wonder." came the cold voice of Regulus, whose tone had turned noticeably colder.
Regulus dropped Selene's hand like it burnt him, and moved past them to face the fireplace.
"Jakob, there's a meeting soon, so don't be surprised. I'll see you at school."
With that, he reached into his pocket, pulling out a handful of Floo powder, and tossed it into the fireplace after stepping inside.
"Grimmauld Place." he called, and then disappeared.
The instant Regulus was gone, Jakob relaxed. He smiled down at her, placing a hand on her back, pushing her out of the living room.
"For future reference, don't talk to Regulus about Sirius. He doesn't like his younger brother much."
Selene nodded, with a small grin.
"Figured that one out."
The next month flew by like a mere second, and before she knew it, she found herself standing next to Jakob at King's Cross. Today was September 1, her first day of school at Hogwarts. Jakob had taken the liberty of telling her everything he knew about the wizarding world, so she'd have something to start with, and make friendships from there. Of course, the only person she could sit with without being laughed at was Sirius – and she didn't know where she could find him. Of course, Jakob was Head Boy this year, so he had to be on the train early – too early. Nearly an hour before the train took off; they were already preparing to get onto the platform. Jakob nodded at her, motioning for her to go before him. With a sigh, she walked towards the solid-looking wall leading to Platform 9 ¾, stepping through the barrier with a large smile. The sight of the scarlet train was strangely comforting, noticing it as she stepped out of her brother's way, who came right behind her seconds later. He pushed slightly on her back, moving her to the closest entrance of the train after pushing her away from her trolley.
"Go get yourself a seat somewhere near the back – it gets filled last, and you might be able to meet people you know." he spoke softly, with a wink. She knew he was talking about Sirius.
Selene's small, anxious smile turned into a grin as she basically ran onto the train, rushing to the back. A few compartments from the very back, she slid open the glass door to greet an empty compartment. Just the way she liked it. The compartment wasn't anything fancy – rather large for a train, but the seats were maroon with a small glass mirror above the left seat. Of course, being the type of girl that she was, she took a glance in the mirror. Her fluffed blonde hair was almost platinum; falling just at mid-back with orange-copper highlights every few inches. Her eyes sparkled a vivid green above a deep purple scar running from the bridge of her nose across her cheekbone underneath her left eye. She wasn't perfect – she most likely wouldn't be, without the scar – and she didn't claim to be. Her moonstone skin shined with the brilliance of one who had just stepped out of the morning sun. She grinned at her appearance, seating herself down on the right seat near the compartment's window. She spent over half an hour staring out the window, thinking, when the first wave of students arrived. She grinned at the first pair that she knew by appearance – Sirius and Regulus, both looking extremely grumpy about being together even for the slightest bit of time. Regulus caught her eye with a small smirk, and a nod. Within moments, Selene heard Sirius' voice ringing down the passageway.
"You don't realize, James, that Regulus doesn't deserve to be at Hogwarts." his voice was loud and cheerful, and within moments she saw him outside of her compartment, "In here, mate."
The door of her compartment opened, and Selene turned her head to smile at Sirius. His grin was large, and the boy's next to him was as well. The boy – whose name was most likely James – had unruly jet-black hair and bright blue eyes, having a slight jock look to him. He was skinny, sure, but he still had a little bit of muscle for someone his age. Selene gave Sirius a grin, and James a nod.
"D'you mind if we sit here – Selene, right?" Sirius asked, a rather large strand of black hair falling in his face.
Selene shook her head, moving over slightly so that Sirius could sit next to her if he so chose. If he were as popular as she thought he was, there would need to be more room in the compartment. As expected, Sirius sat next to her, while James sat across from him. Silence fell on the compartment for a moment, and then Sirius spoke.
"Selene, meet James Potter. James, meet Selene Talcrom."
James' reaction to her name was almost priceless. His eyes grew slightly wider, and he raised an eyebrow. When he opened his mouth to speak, she spoke instead.
"Yes, my brother is Jakob Talcrom."
James snorted, with a small grin. Sirius gave him a wink.
"This is the girl I was telling you about, mate."
Selene's eyebrows almost rose to the roof. He had talked about her to his friend? Why had he done that? It wasn't like he actually knew her or anything, had anything to tell James about her. He'd only talked to her for the slightest second. As James caught her expression, he broke out laughing.
Within moments, they were talking like they had been lifelong friends.
Once the train had started moving, a shorter-than-James boy walked up to the door, which Sirius had forgotten to close. His light brown hair fell like a cloud just above his shoulders, and his eyes were a pale blue color. If he had been a year or two older, he would have been described as Hitler's next blonde-hair-blue-eyes model. Selene gave him a smile as Sirius and James stopped talking about Quidditch for a small second.
"May I sit here?" the boy asked shyly, motioning to the spot across from Selene and next to James.
Selene smiled at him with a nod, as James scooted over slightly – he had been hogging the whole spot. The boy sat down, and looked up at Selene with a kind smile – one she hadn't gotten from anyone once explaining whom her brother was.
"My name is Selene Talcrom." she said softly, "What's yours?"
"Remus Lupin."
Selene smiled weakly. She'd always loved the name Remus – it wasn't too common.
"Well, Remus, this is Sirius Black and James Potter." she said, motioning to them both in turn.
Remus nodded at them, and Sirius and James continued their conversation. Meeting new people was fun, but listening into their conversations was more fun.
A/N: My god, I'm sorry for two things. One, that this is so horribly short (I do have more ideas for the next chapter, but I didn't want to start on Hogwarts yet) and two, that it took so long. I had ideas for the Regulus part – who will take a larger part in the next chapters, and I couldn't get them out. Oh, yeah, review notes.
The Egyptian Sand Quill – I hope you like this chapter as well, although it really only hit 5 pages in Word – I promise, because the next chapter has SO much more to do that it'll be longer and better. I'm glad you like it so far, though.
Padfoot's love – LEIKOMGCOOKIES! I love cookies! I'm glad you like the story so much, and I'm sorry if this chapter is a little –sob- sad… I mean it's bloody hilarious at the beginning.. Okay, I'm shutting up –munches on a cookie-
NEXT CHAPTER:
- Sorting!