The following morning, at breakfast, he sat down next to Arnold. The little black box still weighed heavily on his mind and although the Peasegoods weren't his prime suspects, he knew they didn't shy away from theft either. So during breakfast he made sure to casually lean down towards Arnold's schoolbag on the floor behind them.

Arnold wasn't stupid, however, and swatted his and away just as he reached the bag. "What do you think you're doing?"

Regulus sat upright and flashed him an innocent smile. "Nothing."

"Stay out of my bag, then."

"Where's your sister?"

"Dunno. Somewhere, probably."

He hummed and finished the last of his buns, then made another go for the bag. Arnold yanked it away before he could get a hold of it, but he lunged forwards to get it. "I need to look inside it, let me see!"

Both of them tore at the bag until neither of them had a firm hold of it any more and the contents clattered from it. There were textbooks, an inkwell, a quill that was now in need of replacement and some scrolls of parchment. But more important was the black box that fell down with a muffled thud as it hit the stone floor.

"What's going on over there?" someone called from across the table. "Keep it down, will you?"

Regulus ignored it. He had knelt beside the box and was examining it, to make sure it wasn't broken. It wasn't, or at least he couldn't see any signs of it. He stood back up again, the box tightly cupped in his hands. "You stole this."

"I didn't."

"You did. It's mine."

"I didn't steal anything," Arnold maintained.

"Well, it can't have just appeared in your bag."

"I did not steal your little box. I have no use for it! I have no idea what it even is-"

"Then keep your hands off! It's mine, you hear? Mine!"

"Can you two stop your quarreling?!" the student ahead on the table asked again. "It's annoying."

"Of course, we-"

"No, we cannot," said Arnold. "Not until he admits I haven't stolen anything!"

The student closed her eyes and called across the table. "Can a Prefect please sort these two out? I can't be the only one bothered by it. Fucking Firsties..."

Regulus kept his mouth shut about how they were Second Years. The Prefect had already risen and was marching towards them both, and he didn't want to get in any more trouble by talking back.

"What's this all about, then?" asked the Prefect, crossing his arms.

"He stole-"

"No, I didn't-"

"He's just-"

"No, he-"

"Silence! You either come up with something coherent and let the other speak or you do not talk at all. Understand?"

They both nodded.

"Black, what happened?"

"He took something of mine."

"Did you indeed?" the Prefect asked Arnold.

"Why would I?"

"That's no answer."

"I didn't take anything."

"Well, you took my cheating supplies last year," Regulus argued. "Why not take this, too?"

"Because those supplies were actually useful!"

"So is this!"

"I have no idea what it is!" Arnold yelled again.

"You're lying, you're a liar—that's what you are! A liar! And I don't want to talk to you ever again!"

"Stop this! Don't make me deduct points, we're already behind on Hufflepuff. Or is that want you want? That we lose to Hufflepuff?"

Regulus bit his lip to stop himself from speaking again. He shook his head.

"Of course not," said Arnold.

"Then I think it's a good idea you both go to your dorms and stay there."

"But-"

"No, just go. Don't cause any more problems. We've got enough on our minds without you two fighting like toddlers. Stay there until it's time for class, and go straight back after. You understand?"

"Fine," mumbled Arnold.

"Black?" the Prefect prompted.

"Yes, sure, OK, I'll stay there. Happy now?"

"Good enough," the Prefect said, before walking away to sit back down at the table.

Arnold glared at him. Regulus put the black box inside his robes and slowly turned around, strolling leisurely from the Great Hall and leaving Arnold to clean up the mess he'd created. He had been instructed to leave, had he not? He wasn't doing anything wrong. He descended the stairs to the Dungeons and reached the Common Room. He passed Catharina on the way in.

"Good morning," she greeted him.

He gave her a small nod of acknowledgement and stepped inside. The door fell shut behind him and put her out of view. He looked around the Common Room. There were a few older students sitting by the fire, but Avery wasn't there. He checked the dormitory, but Avery wasn't there either.

He put the box beneath his pillow for safekeeping and looked at his watch. He still had half an hour before the first lesson of the day. Half an hour of sitting on a bed doing nothing, all because Arnold couldn't keep his hands to himself and had to steal that little black box. It was stupid, really. And he even lied about it!

The half hour went by slowly, but it did pass and Regulus rushed from his bed when he heard the bell. Their first class was Potions, which was delightfully close to the Slytherin Common Room. When he reached the classroom, the teacher hadn't even arrived yet. He wasn't sure if they had Cres or Slughorn or both.

He sat down at the front, being one of the few students already there. The door had been open. Avery wasn't there yet, but he hoped that he'd join him at the front.

The Peasegoods entered the classroom and sat down in the back. They didn't look up at him at all. Was it guilt? Shame? It served them right, stealing his goods. The twins pulled out their books and wands and whispered things to each other.

A group of boys entered the room at the same time and scattered across the desks. One of them was Padgett, and he walked all the way towards the front until he reached Regulus and promptly sat down beside him.

"That's for Avery," he said.

"Tough."

"I'm serious, I'm saving him a seat. So if you'll just-"

"I won't move, if that's what you mean. This is a nice spot."

"Then I will."

Padgett didn't move so Regulus had no other choice but to pack his things and move to the next desk. Avery entered not long after and sat down next to him.

Regulus leaned over. "I've got the box," he whispered into his ear.

"Do you?"

"Well, I haven't got it on me, no. It's in our dorm."

Avery raised an eyebrow. "Like it was last time?"

"No, I'm sure of it this time."

Slughorn entered the classroom and had them open their books to brew a Swelling Solution, a potion that instantly caused whatever it hit to swell up. It made him regret his decision to sit next to Avery; would he leave this class as round as a puffskein, unable to move his limbs due to the swelling? It was precisely this sort of thing that would send Avery into another one of his laughing fits, he was sure of it.

It was, therefore, all the more surprising when the lesson passed without incident. They simply followed the instructions from the book and produced a good potion, and that was that. It had been a double class which meant it was time for lunch now, but instead of up to the Great Hall, Regulus pulled Avery along to their dorm.

"See? There it is. Safe and sound," he said as he lifted up his pillow to show.

"Where did you find it?"

"The Peasegood twins had it."

"They did?" asked Avery. "Interesting. Did you give it to them?"

"Of course not!"

Avery laughed. "No need to get so defensive. I just ask because I know you're close."

"We are not close."

"Well, close enough. You trust them. You hang out all the time."

Regulus really wanted to say that he hung out with Avery as well, and that that hardly meant he trusted him—if he had to choose, he'd even trust the Peasegoods more, despite them stealing this box! At least they had never set him on fire, or teased him, or did other such apparently hilarious things Avery had subjected him to. But he didn't. "You hang out with halfbloods. You're one to talk," he said instead.

Avery snorted. "You're right. I'm glad you found it, anyway."

"Why do you hang out with them?"

"You know what they say: Keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer."

There was no arguing with that logic. Was that why he still spent time with Avery? But calling him his enemy went a bit far. There was one person immediately on his mind when hearing this, however, and that was Sirius. In particular his letters to and from a certain former Black married to a Mudblood. Was Sirius keeping his enemies closer than he kept his friends? He certainly kept them closer than his family, but that wasn't quite the same, was it?

The rest of the day passed as usual, aside from having to spend the whole afternoon in his dorm. He did his homework in those lost hours, so it wouldn't be fair to say he had wasted time because of it, but it felt as if he had. Cooped up in his dorm... yes, he could technically leave, but still it reminded him too much of being locked into his room at home to be comfortable leaving without permission.

After supper he returned to his dorm once more and he finished up his essay before getting ready for bed. He expected Avery to wake him past midnight, but the interrogation that night didn't happen. There was no nightly questioning the day after either, nor the day after that. A whole week passed and not once did he ask about the box. Not once did he express any interest in it at all.

Before he knew it, the Christmas holidays arrived and he was back on the train. He sat opposite Avery and it was deliberate; he still had the box in his possession now, but he wanted to be rid of it before they arrived in London. He'd had enough of safekeeping it. He sat removed the box from the inside of his robes right as the train started moving.

"You still have it, then?" Avery noted.

"Of course I do," he said, turning it over in his hands. "What's your plan with this?"

"You'll see."

"I don't want it on me during the holidays. Imagine if Sirius finds it."

"Wasn't your brother staying at Hogwarts?"

"He was, yes. Change of plans."

There was no change of plans. Sirius, as always, preferred the cold castle to home. He even preferred it to Malfoy manor. Regulus was starting to think Sirius would've preferred to live at Hogwarts during the summer as well—that was a silly thought, of course. It was impossible to stay at Hogwarts over the summer.

"Very well," said Avery. "I'll take it for Christmas."

Regulus handed it over to him. "Why does it need safekeeping at all?"

"In the wrong hands... BOOM!" Avery illustrated with his hands.

"And in the right hands?"

Avery smirked. "BOOM!" he went again.

He sighed. But what did it matter? He no longer had the box. Whatever Avery and those other boys were planning was none of his concern until at least after the holidays, at which point he could always just refuse to take it back if they still wouldn't tell him what it was for.

He leaned his head back against the window and closed his eyes, hoping to catch some sleep so the train ride would go by faster, but Avery wouldn't let him.

"You're not sleeping, are you?" he asked. "That would be so incredibly boring."

"I'm not sleeping."

"Then what are you lying there for?"

"I'm resting my head."

"Is it that heavy? Merlin, what did you put in there?"

Regulus glared at him, but obviously it didn't affect Avery. It was tempting to just leave him, now. It really was. He'd given him the box. He'd done all he needed to do. What was he still here for? He could be away from Avery and his dumb comments... And why shouldn't he?

So he got to his feet.

"Where are you going?"

"Away," he said, and he slid the door open. He heard Avery asking whereto, but he didn't answer.

He left the compartment.

"Your trunk's here!" Avery called out from the other side, but Regulus kept on walking. He just needed to find a better compartment than the one with Avery in it, that shouldn't be too much asked, right? The Peasegoods were good enough.

He found them in a compartment at the other end of the train, about as far away from Avery as possible. He slid open the door without knocking and the scene inside was rather quiet; Arnold lay on one side, possibly asleep, with Catharina reading a book on the other.

"May I sit here?" he asked.

"Sure," said Catharina, not looking up from her book.

Regulus sat down next to her. It was the only empty spot, as Arnold took up the whole bench opposite them. "Is he asleep?"

Catharina hummed. "That, or he's ill. I offered him chocolate just now and he didn't react."

"You've chocolate on you?"

"No. But I offered some."

"Well then of course he won't react. You can't give away what you don't have."

Catharina didn't answer. She turned a page and read on.

"What are you reading?"

She held up the book so he could see the cover. Quidditch Through the Ages it said in bright gold lettering.

"Is it any good?"

"It's interesting enough."

"What all does it say?" He leaned over to read along with her but she pulled the book from his view, pressing it flat against her chest.

"It's about Quidditch," she said stiffly.

"Well, yeah, but what does it say?"

"You'll have to get the book yourself if you're so desperate to find out."

"Well that's not fair, you've got it right here, and-"

"And that's exactly why! I bought it with my own money, so that makes it mine."

"You tried to get my cheating supplies last year, so now I-"

"We asked, you said no, so we left them with you. Now you ask, I say no, so leave the book alone!"

"But your brother stole from me just a week ago! You haven't changed!"

"I didn't steal anything," said Arnold.

"I thought you were asleep," said Regulus.

Arnold sat upright and had his arms crossed, wide awake. "Not any more. It's hard to sleep with the two of you arguing."

"Well, I just wanted-"

"I don't care what you want," said Arnold. "You never care about what we want, so why should we care about you?"

Catharina buried her face in the book again. "I think you should leave."

Regulus waited for Arnold to get up and leave, but Arnold stayed put. "You heard her," he said.

"I meant you, Regulus. Leave," she clarified, still not looking up from the book.

"Me?! Why do I have to leave?!"

She slammed her book shut. "We have tried, and tried, and tried—time and time again we have been nothing but kind, we try to be nice to you but you just keep acting like this."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yes! You falsely accuse-"

"He stole it! It was in his bag, it didn't just Apparate there!"

"Didn't it?! It could've ended up in his bag through any number of ways but you don't even wait long enough to hear him out! You assume the worst-"

"Well, he was lying!"

"I wasn't!"

"Ignore him, Arnie. He's too thick to understand." She looked back at Regulus and sighed. "This is why you have no friends."

Nearly eight hours later, the train pulled up on Platform 9. Regulus had spent the rest of the train ride in a compartment by himself and waited patiently for the masses to leave before retrieving his trunk. Avery had already left, thank God.

He pulled his trunk along onto the platform and looked around in search of someone he recognised. Mother and Father wouldn't be here, they wouldn't come pick him up to take him to Malfoy Manor. Not after last summer. He made a mental note to Floo home and seek them out to ask if everything was OK—then scratched that, because it had been too long, and asking now would only make everything more awkward than anything. They'd be fine without him. They had to be. They always were.

Narcissa was the one who'd come for him. She stood by the fireplaces, yet when he got there, she pulled him along to Disapparate. He made sure to hold onto his trunk as they spun and landed on an unfamiliar street. She still didn't speak as she nudged him towards the manor.

A young house elf with bright green eyes opened the door before Narcissa could even knock or otherwise make their presence known. He passed his cloak and trunk on to the elf; Narcissa followed his lead with her own cloak and hat. "That's Dobby," she said. "Abraxas' idea of a wedding gift. I can't say I haven't been pleased with his work, but I'm still getting used to having one around."

He watched the elf leave the hallway, his trunk following him on its own. He wondered if it was odd to Narcissa—she hadn't had a house elf at home, after all, seeing Kreacher was one of a kind; he had no siblings and his ancestors were long gone. Aunt Druella hadn't brought a house elf along either, when she had married Uncle Cygnus, and they had never sought one out together. So that meant Narcissa had grown up having to do everything by herself.

Hogwarts' detentions faded in comparison.

He scanned the hallway, and tried to picture himself cleaning it. He tried to imagine sweeping the floors and dusting the paintings... the horror of it all had him stop dead in his tracks and he barely noticed Narcissa standing by a door on the other side, beckoning him to move closer to her.

"What's the matter?" she asked, pulling him from his thoughts.

He shook his head. It was silly to talk about now, so he simply followed her through the door into the drawing room. Lucius sat on one of the black velvet sofas and looked up to the sound of the door opening.

Regulus remembered this room. He remembered this scene, with a bored Lucius sitting on the sofa, Narcissa by his side... last time he set foot in this room he'd been in great distress. Now everyone was older and so much had changed, but just as much remained the same; Sirius still hadn't come home. How long had they not spoken for? It had to be more than a month.

They exited the drawing room through a door in the back that led them to a small dining area. Lucius followed them. The table was already set and resembled a miniature Hogwarts feast with an abundance of foods spread out across it.

Lucius and Narcissa sat down opposite him and filled their plates, so Regulus helped himself to some mashed potatoes and carrots. He only realised the full extent of his hunger when he took the first bite. He hadn't eaten since breakfast that morning, after all. He hadn't even eaten any sweets on the train.

"So. How's school?" asked Lucius.

He shrugged and quickly emptied his mouth before speaking. "It's all right. It's just not very fun. And Avery-"

Lucius looked alarmed. "Who?"

"Hektor Avery, he's a boy in my year. We share a dorm together."

"Ah, yes. Go on. What about this Avery?"

"He's just... weird. You know he set me on fire once? And just last month he pushed me out of a window—it was all right," he hastened to add when he saw Lucius and Narcissa's concerned faces, "because he had a broom, so I didn't die, but he just pushed me from the Owlery! But then we also went to the Forbidden Forest, but that's not really Avery's fault because we were just following Sirius... he hasn't spoken to me since..."

"Avery?"

"No, Sirius. We had a fight, and he... Well, he said he didn't want to see me any more. And that was that."

Narcissa and Lucius exchanged a look Regulus didn't understand the meaning of. "Is Sirius staying at Hogwarts?" asked Narcissa.

"Yeah," he said, playing around with the carrots on his plate. "He never wants to come, you know that."

"But is he at Hogwarts, or elsewhere that isn't with us?"

"Oh. I don't know. I didn't ask. And I don't think he'd tell me if I did, after last Easter..."

They exchanged another glance, nodded at one another, and rose to their feet simultaneously; Lucius striding out the same door he had entered through, Narcissa remaining behind her seat.

"Where is he going?" Regulus asked her.

"Away."

"Away where?"

"It doesn't matter. Finish your dinner."

He took another bite of his carrots. He tried his best to focus on something else, but he could feel Narcissa's eyes burning into his head. "Do you mind?"

"I'm not making you nervous, am I?" she said, and she glanced at her watch. "We just haven't much time. It's getting late. Come to think of it, I better show you your room."

"But I haven't even finished eating yet!"

"I'll take—I'll have Dobby take this up to your room. You can finish there."

He slowly got to his feet, knowing he'd never win this battle. He had no excuses left, so he followed her through the drawing room and into the hallway. They went up to his room on the first floor.

It was the first door to the left, and his supper was already stalled out on his desk.

"Dobby works fast," Narcissa said with a smile. "Your trunk should be in here somewhere as well."

"Thank you."

She nodded. "Goodnight, Regulus," she said, and she closed the door before he could answer.

He waited until her footsteps died out. He hesitated; what if all of this was a trap, and Narcissa had invited him just to lock him away? It wouldn't be the first holiday spent in imprisonment. What was Lucius up to? Was it to do with his parents? Was that why he was here at all? He tried the handle—it wasn't locked. The door opened with ease and the upstairs landing was completely deserted.

He tiptoed onto the landing and made sure to keep the door wide open in case it were to fall shut and lock itself. He was nearly at the railing, where he could look down at the hallway below, when his stomach rumbled and begged him to go back. He cast a look over his shoulder and caught his plate of carrots and potatoes waiting for him. He gave in. He could go exploring afterwards, he decided, and he crept back to the room as silently as he could.

He left the door ajar and it remained so throughout the meal and afterwards, when he left his room and made sure to be very quiet as he tiptoed towards the railing once more.

The hallway was as deserted as the landing he stood on. Only the paintings moved, no doubt gossiping about him. But there were none of them upstairs, so there was nothing to fear. They couldn't blab and say he left his room, they couldn't betray him even if they wanted to.

There was a bang and the front door opened, crashing into Dobby who flew several feet to the side by the force of the collision. He put both hands over his mouth to stifle a scream and leaned over the railing to get a better view; Lucius had entered and was pacing up and down the hallway, looking nervously to each side. Dobby rose and staggered towards the door, closing it, but Lucius didn't even seem to notice.

Nothing changed in the scene for several moments, then Lucius called out, "Cissa!" and he sounded quite startled. "He's not there."

"He's at school, then?" came Narcissa's reply.

"He must be. There's-"

"Does Bella know? Tell her."

A short but tense silence followed. Even the portraits below stopped moving.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Narcissa asked, less patience and warmth in her voice than before.

"Are you sure you want him to...?"

"Yes, I am sure."

"He's only twelve."

Another tense silence came, and Regulus tried his best to stop breathing, to stop his heart from beating (he was sure they could hear it downstairs, it was racing in his chest as if trying to escape through his ribcase) but to no avail. He was so sure that Lucius and Narcissa heard him, so sure that he was the reason for these silences...

"I'll alert your sister."

Lucius marched back to the door, slamming it shut behind him as he left. For a moment, the whole house seemed to shake, then everything went quiet again. He hastened towards his room again, still desperately trying to silence his loud breaths and his screaming heart. He shut the door as quietly as he could and dived into the bed without undressing. He pulled the covers over his head and lay there, in the darkness, until the morning lights awoke him.