Boulevard Of Broken Dreams,
Chapter 27, Heathens
As soon as the group of five entered The Three Broomsticks a female voice called out from a corner table near the back. "Regi and Kreacher! What are the two of you doing here?"
"Don't call me Regi," Regulus groaned through gritted teeth without even turning to look in the direction of the voice. "Never mind," the voice continued. "I don't care. You and your little friends should come sit with us, though. We haven't seen you in months."
"Little friends," Heather huffed under her breath.
"Sorry," Regulus muttered. "She's one of the good ones, though. My favorite cousin Bellatrix. She's a bit older but you know, she doesn't treat me like a baby. Neither do Rodolphus or Rabastan. They just insist on calling me Regi, which I hate." He made a face as though he'd just bitten down hard on a lemon.
At the name Rabastan, Severus turned to peer over at the table from where the voice had come. He recognized the Slytherin Head Boy seated with four other people in the far corner of the room. Two young women and two young men. One of the men, the blond one, looked familiar. It was then that Severus recalled him from his own first day at Hogwarts.
Lucius Malfoy was his name, and he'd been very kind to Severus, offering to help if he needed anything. Back then, Lucius had either been in his sixth or seventh year. Severus didn't recall. The two never shared classes, being so many years apart. Because Severus spent all his spare time with Heather and Raislen, he never had cause to mingle with other students so many years ahead of him. He didn't even mingle with those Slytherins in Heather and Raislen's year. While there were a few that both Heather and Raislen called friends, they weren't close friends and never spent time with them after classes, so Severus considered them unimportant. Heather also hung with a group of girls comprised of a few Slytherins, Ravenclaws and even Hufflepuffs, but they never came around Severus and Raislen, which was fine. Heather had her girl friends for boring girly things, and Severus and Raislen for the smart stuff.
"I guess we'd better go sit with them, then," Regulus said. "They're great, you'll like them. It's alright, isn't it?" As he spoke, his glance passed swiftly between the group of school friends with whom he stood and the table in the far corner where his cousin sat.
"Sure," Raislen said. His tone sounded calm and mild, but Severus knew him well enough to hear the doubt it held as well. Regulus didn't notice it, though, and literally bounced across the room to the table with Kreacher hurrying along at his side. "Yo Kreach," Rabastan said, giving the elf a friendly casual grin. "Why don't you drag that other table there over to combine with this one, then we can all sit together and still spread out. I don't want to be too close to Lucy, after all, lest he get the wrong idea." He winked cheekily at the elf, and Lucius Malfoy shot him a peeved pinched frown.
"Rabastan mistakenly believes himself to be quite the amusing one," he drawled.
"No, he is amusing. Bella and I were quite amused." That had come from the other man at the table, who Severus assumed by process of elimination to be Rodolphus. He was built like a brick wall, wide and strong with short black hair. He sported a hard jaw and a cold nearly blank stare that frankly made Severus uneasy, because it wasn't normal. A peeved or angry expression he could understand and relate to. It conveyed emotion. But that cold blank look just felt disconcertingly dangerous somehow. Kreacher gestured to the nearby empty table that Rabastan had indicated, and it floated over to line up flush along side the one at which everyone sat. "There," Rabastan said happily, smiling at the elf. "Thanks, Kreach. You're the best. Now you lot can sit without making us all need to squish together to make room."
Kreacher smiled back as their little group seated themselves. "Kreacher knows. He is far better of an elf than stupid Dobby," he said proudly.
"Bloody right," Rabastan agreed.
"Most elves are better elves than Dobby, I would wager," Lucius said. His upper lip curled in open disgust.
"Dobby is the Malfoy family house elf," Regulus explained helpfully to Severus, Raislen and Heather who were clearly confused. "Everyone, this is my cousin Bellatrix," he continued, nodding at the thin woman with long dark hair wearing a form fitting long black corseted dress who sat close beside Rodolphus. "This is my other cousin Narcissa." He nodded to the other woman, an ethereal looking blonde who sat leaning into Lucius's arm. She looked up into his eyes with a devoted smile curving her lips.
"Perhaps we can train Dobby to be better once we're married," she murmured soothingly before smiling and nodding at Regulus's group of friends. "It is wonderful to meet all of you, I'm sure."
"Kreacher would not count on Dobby's potential to improve," Kreacher muttered darkly. Narcissa's lips twitched, but she politely made no comment.
"This is Rodolphus," Regulus continued his introductions, nodding at the strongly built man with the terrifying lack of expression and the intense stair. "And this is Lucius Malfoy and of course you all know Rabastan."
"Yeah, Heather is a fellow Prefect," Rabastan said, nodding at Heather. "Sorry I am no good with names," he added to Raislen and Severus apologetically.
"It's alright, this is Raislen WestCraven and Severus Snape," Regulus enthused. "And for those of you here who are not currently at Hogwarts this is Heather Knight."
"Well if they aren't currently at Hogwarts, they hardly count," Rabastan teased, causing Heather to smile.
"All of my friends hate Sirius as much as we do," Regulus told Bellatrix and Rodolphus happily. At this Rodolphus's expression warmed again for an instant as he gave their group a friendly smile.
"Right on," he said. Bellatrix simply nodded, but the look she gave them was one of approval.
"I shall order the next round of Butterbeer for everyone," Regulus said, rising from his seat. At once Kreacher sprang up to follow him.
"Shit," Rabastan laughed.
"We're all drinking something harder, but thanks for the offer, is what he means," Rodolphus explained. His expression cracked again, lips twitching slightly as he regarded Regulus with an amused glance. Just when Severus thought that perhaps he might be human after all, the look quickly faded, the hard blank stair taking its place once again.
"Yeah, and they won't let you buy what we're drinking, cause it's age restricted," Rabastan added.
Regulus shrugged, making a face. "Very well then. Butterbeer for me and my lot then. I'll be right back."
"Hey thanks," Heather called.
"Yeah, thanks a ton," Raislen added.
"Yes, thanks," Severus echoed. He'd likely be expected to repay the favor some day, and with his lack of funds, the concern made his stomach knot in anxiety.
"That's right, get your baby drinks," Bellatrix cackled.
"Ours taste better anyway," Regulus shot back over his shoulder as he headed away.
"Kreacher agrees," the elf could be heard telling him fervently as they crossed the room.
"That little fucker's voice carries like nothing else," Rabastan said happily and Bellatrix laughed.
"True." Though she'd needled her little cousin, her dark gaze was fond as it rested on Regulus and Kreacher as they ordered five Butterbeers. "It's good of you lot to protect Regi from that bullying prat Sirius," she added, her piercing gaze suddenly on Raislen, Heather and Severus.
"Sure," Raislen said, shifting in his chair in sudden embarrassment. "The way he and his friends gang up on Regulus and The Kid here, it's the least we can do."
"Some day, there shan't be a place for worthless wizarding trash like him and his friends when The Dark Lord has properly cleaned things up," Lucius drawled.
Severus felt himself freeze in place at the unexpected mention of Voldemort. Then he felt like a complete idiot for not expecting as much. Somehow he'd begun to like Regulus and in doing so, he'd forgotten how mucked up the younger boy's head was over Voldemort. Clearly his family were just as bad, and it was a bit of a disappointment. but he pressed his lips together without a word. He had a difficult time believing that someone like Voldemort, who could just kill an innocent man for being in a shop, could truly clean up anything. Perhaps if he got rid of Sirius and his lot, though, it would at least be something. It would never make up for the loss of Tobias Snape, and Voldemort still had to die, but if he could just be useful for a moment first, that could be just grand.
"We're good at helping him to clean up the trash too," Bellatrix said. "It's quite satisfying."
"It really is," Rodolphus added without that cold expression wavering in the least.
"You lot could help if you liked," Rabastan offered. His tone was cheerful and friendly, as if inviting them to build a snowman with his friends or something. "We can always use more wizards and witches with proper values to help to rebuild the world so that it serves wizards and not Muggles. It's how things were always intended to be." Lucius, Narcissa, Bellatrix and Rodolphus all nodded in grave agreement as if this were the most obvious and true statement in the world with no holes what-so-ever in the reasoning and logic on which such a statement was built.
Thankfully Regulus and Kreacher returned then with a tray holding five bottles of frosty Butterbeer floating ahead of them. As Kreacher and Regulus resumed their seats, Regulus began to chatter about Hogwarts which drew Rodolphus, Bellatrix, Narcissa and Lucius into reminiscing about their own school days there. Thankfully this kept the conversation light and away from Voldemort. As Regulus's people had more drinks, Bellatrix and Rodolphus became increasingly inappropriate, kissing frequently with her practically in his lap. Though he didn't miss Raislen's envious expression as he surely thought of Heather Toy, Severus found himself glancing away from the couple often, wondering why Pure-blood wizards who thought themselves so much better could so easily forget how to behave in public. Then again, what did he truly know of what any of them thought? Narcissa and Lucius conducted themselves far differently, only holding hands and exchanging fond glances as they spoke of shared times at Hogwarts.
"So are the two of you an item, then," Narcissa asked Heather and Raislen during a lull in the conversation.
"NO," Heather practically shouted.
"Fine," Raislen said. "In that case, how about I ask out one of your friends?"
Heather glared. "We're all too young to date, Raislen. Besides, I can't allow you to inflict yourself upon them. I'll get the next round," she added, snatching up the empty tray and stalking off.
"Why did she not just use magic to float it," Regulus wondered, bemused.
"I think she likes you," Narcissa told Raislen, giving him an encouraging smile.
This caused Raislen's angry scowl to slip. "Do you think?"
Narcissa chuckled. "I heard what she did not say. She did not say that she was uninterested in you," she pointed out. She made a point to keep her voice quiet enough not to carry to Heather where she stood across the room waiting to order more drinks. Severus decided that he may not like any of Regulus's people that much because they were devoted to Voldemort, but he still thought Narcissa may be the best of the bunch.
"What's that about being too young to date anyway," Rabastan wondered. "You two are fifth years, yeah?"
Raislen nodded. "That was weird of her," he agreed.
"Right, me and Bella were shagging in our fifth year," Rodolphus bragged.
"Sixth, idiot," Bellatrix said sharply, and he grinned at her.
"Same difference. We were snogging at fourteen, so I think by our fifth year we considered ourselves dating."
"Well that's true," Bellatrix agreed. "It is not the same difference, though," she added with a half drunken laugh. She gave him a fond smile, then glanced at Raislen. "Roddy was beating the hell out of a Hufflepuff one day and it was so hot I just had to grab him and snog him. Perhaps if you pummel Sirius and his lot into the ground more often, Heather will at last find you irresistible."
"I'd rather not touch them, but I get the idea," Raislen said with an amused chuckle. By the time the five left The Three Broomsticks, they had to hurry to the shops they wanted to visit, because their time in town was nearly over. They hadn't expected to run into Regulus's people and visit with them for so long, so the entire schedule was thrown off, which Severus found rather disappointing. While he supposed the encounter interesting in its odd way, he would've enjoyed spending more time in the potions shop. When it came down to it, most potions were far more interesting than most people.