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Regulus and his mother were waiting at platform for the Hogwarts Express. Sirius had blurted out something about needing a restroom and was nowhere to be seen, probably off with his gryffindor friends. Since the news of his sorting arrived at the Grimmauld Place, Regulus had been promoted to the family's new hope. He was to be in Slytherin, almost as a safeguard in case Sirius strayed even further off track.
“There you go, my son” says his mother as the train drew closer “Don't do anything foolish, keep an eye on your brother, and I will be waiting to hear good things from you” she gave him a quick hug and a kiss in the forehead.
“Yes, mother” Regulus replies trying to look brave, even if he was a little nauseous at the thought of leaving to school.
The crowd around the train only seemed to get bigger, so Regulus began weaving his way through, hoping to find a cabin, he wanted to sit with Sirius but his brother likely wouldn't want him near to his friends.
When he finally made it onto the train, he miraculously found an empty cabin. Such good luck so far, maybe he could make it to the end of the year without getting in trouble after all.
“Can I stay here too, mate?”
I jinxed myself, thought Regulus, when he heard a masculine voice, sounding like it came from someone around his age.
He agrees without even glancing toward the door, too busy struggling to get his trunk up onto the luggage rack. Suddenly, a pair of hands appeared in his line of vision, pushing the trunk up alongside him.
“Oh I didn't mean to scare you, sorry!” Says a tall black girl with blonde braids and the lightest grey eyes Regulus have ever seen. She was smiling sheepishly, looking rather proud of herself for helping him get his trunk into place.
“It's alright, I just thought I heard a boy asking if he could come in” Regulus explained while sitting down. So much for trying to appear strong on my first day.
“That would be me” said the boy, entering the cabin with two trunks “Pandora, shouldn't you be helping me instead of running off and leaving me to carry everything?”
He stacked their luggage with ease. He was also taller than Regulus. In fact, now that Regulus looked at them both, they almost looked like gender-swapped versions of each other, except for the braids length.
“Well, I came to help… sorry, I didn't catch your name” She said, looking at me with bright eyes and a smile, still standing in the middle of the cabin.
“I'm Regulus. Regulus Black. And you are?” He tries to appear proper, just as his mother always told them to do.
“I'm Pandora Rosier, and that's my brother, Evan. We're twins!” Pandora, exclaims as she finally sat down next to her brother, across from Regulus.
“I think he can tell” Evan muttered, already seeming bored with the conversation.
“Well, it's a pleasure to meet you. Your surname sounds familiar, how come we've never met before?” He regretted the words as soon as they're out of his mouth. He wasn't the type to go looking for conversation, but there was just something about this Pandora girl that made him feel comfortable.
“We just arrived from Belgium this morning, our folks been there for the past 20 years” replies Evan “your name ain't strange too, the noble House of Black.”
Regulus tried not to cringe at the comment, Evan didn't even seem to be implying anything by it.
Suddenly the door slid open and a boy peeked in. It was Barty. Regulus has known him since they were in diapers because their families are friends. They aren’t friends themselves, per se, but they always end up in the same rooms at all kinds of gatherings. Sirius always nowhere to be found, off with their older cousins.
“Do you guys mind me crashing the party?” He asks as he enters without waiting for response, puts his things away and sits at Regulus side.
“Hello! I'm Pandora and these are Evan and Regulus” says the girl smiling, does she ever stops?
“Hi, I know Regulus actually, my name is Bartholomew Crouch jr. but everyone just calls me Barty” he says, souding much more interested than Regulus expected “you two must be the Rosier twins. Reg do you remember Narcissa telling us the Rosier family was back for the time being?” He adds, turning to me.
“Great, we just got here and the Sacred Twenty-eight gossip mill is already rolling” Evan mutters.
“That's right!” Pandora chimes in loudly over her brother “So are you two friends?” She asks, stretching her legs.
No “Something like that” Regulus says trying keep his expression blank. “We've known each other for a long time.”
“Our mothers like to think we're best mates” Barty says with a smirk. “They're probably expecting us to have each other's backs in slytherin”.
Regulus resisted the urge to groan. He could already hear his mother’s voice in his head: Be polite, don’t sulk, and for Merlin’s sake, don’t embarrass the family. But Barty did know how to be a pain in one's foot.
“That's cute” Evan says, looking amused “So how exactly does one get sorted?
“Yeah!” Pandora claps her hands together “Is it really a talking hat?”
“There is, actually” Barty explains. “The hat sorts us based on our personalities and values. Slytherin to the ambitious and goal driven, Ravenclaw for the smart and curious, Hufflepuff for the leal and fair.
The boy looks quite pleased to be the smartest in the room, counting the houses off on his fingers “and last, and least, gryffindor. They say it's for the brave but they're all just reckless and self-absorbed.” He makes a face. “Sorry Reg”
You don't seem very sorry. Regulus thinks bitterly
“What was that? Why are you apologizing to Reg?” Pandora eyes the boys curiously.
“Please don't call me that” Regulus says, then turns to stare at Barty, who puts on an innocent face that doesn't fool anyone. “My older brother was sorted into gryffindor last year. He was the first Black there since… Well, since the begging of the Blacks, I think” He wipes his sweaty palms in his trousers.
“You don't seem very excited to follow his footsteps” Evan remarks.
“He better not be, or else Madam Black might actually die” Barty adds, smirking.
“I can see why Regulus ain't your friend after all” Evan says, voice sharp whith poison.
“Excuse me?” Barty looks offended. What on earth is happening right now?
“You don't seem very nice” Evan replies, staring Barty down. “Which house do you think you'll be in? So I can be sure to get sorted into a different one”
Barty scoffs. “I don't particularly want to be close to you either” He glances at Pandora, softening slightly before continuing, “Since we're all pure-bloods is highly likely we'll all end up in Slytherin. But I don't think Ravenclaw is too bad”
He must like her too. Regulus is shocked Evan just called Barty out like that. He really could be inconvenient at times but not always with ill intend. Still it felt kind of nice to be defended. And even more shocking, Barty didn't seem to take it personally.
“Obsessed with bloodlines much, ain't you?” Evan grins mockingly. “Daddy must be proud, huh?”
Oh that's not good. Regulus thinks. Barty and his father, Barty Sr., were never really seen together, and he never, ever talked about his father, much like Sirius and their mother.
Barty shoots to his feet. “What are on about, mate?” He spits angrily.
“Come on now, boys!” Pandora is suddenly at her feet too, stepping right between the boys. Evan looks surprised, probably didn't expect the comment to hit a sore spot. “Let's all calm down, alright? We can at least wait until the sorting before fighting. What if you all end up sharing a room?” She speaks fast, her accent thickening a little, and louder than before, gently pushing Barty back into his seat.
“You're probably right, Dora” Evan looking a bit embarrassed “Look, Barty, I didn't mean to hit a nerve. Sorry about that. But you were really being a dick to Reg”.
Why is everyone calling me that now? Regulus wonders, but it doesn't seem like the right time to point it out
Everyone was looking at Barty now. He seems to have calmed down “Okay okay, Rosier. I shouldn't have gotten worked up. You don't know anything about it. I'm sorry too, Reg, that was uncalled for” He adds more quietly, turning to him.
“Well, well, that's nice” Pandora says as she flops back into her seat. “Now all of you, shut it! I'm going to sleep” She curls up, laying her head on her brother’s lap.
She really is something else. Regulus think, amused, and turns to the window as silence falls on their cabin.
“SLYTHERIN” The hat screamed into the Great Hall.
All of sudden, Regulus felt a weight lift from his shoulders. He hadn't messed up, his parents would be proud.
Regulus glanced at the gryffindor table trying to catch Sirius's reaction. But he couldn't find him, maybe Sirius didn't want to see his brother getting sorted into the family house.
He was quite curious to know where his companions from the train would be placed. It would be nice to have Barty with him, even if it was just convenience.
His hopes were short-lived, as Barty was sorted into Ravenclaw after a bit of a Hatstall. He walked to his table looking anything but disappointed, he even looked a little smug.
Regulus watched as some other pure-blood kids were sorted into slytherin, but he wasn't close to any of them. They didn't try to talk to him, and he didn't neither.
He was glad not to have disappointed his parents, but he couldn't help but wondering if Sirius might have taken him under his wing if they were both in Gryffindor. And now, without Barty too, he was starting to fear he'd end up alone.
He found himself waiting impatiently to see where the twins would be placed. They weren't much alike, but maybe they would end up in the same house since they're siblings. Not that it really matters. He thought a little bitterly.
Lost in his thoughts, he only realized Pandora was already seated on the stool when it was too late. He had missed Evan's sorting.
“Mind if i join you, mate?” Evan said, sitting next to him. Regulus startled but tried to brush it off.
“Don't look so excited, Reg. I might start thinking you missed me” Evan aded, laughing.
“Sorry, I didn't see you coming” He says blushing slightly. What is that now? He thinks angrily, trying to get his act together. “Do you think Pandora will join us?” He asks as he notices she is also a hatstall.
“No. I think we're gonna lose her to that smartass” He says pointing at Barty at the Ravenclaw table. “All that talking, and in the end, he was the first to get out of the pure house” He said without any real bite.
The hat suddenly shouted, “RAVENCLAW!”
She looked so happy Regulus almost couldn't bring himself to feel bad for not having her in his house, almost.
As she walked to her table, she caught Regulus watching and winked at him. She plopped beside Barty, and they started snickering, already far too comfortable. Regulus kind of envied them.
Evan made a sound with his throat, and Regulus finally turns to him.
“She's always been the witty one. But you'll have to satisfied with just me. Good thing I'm away too cool, right?” He says with an half smile. “Is it true that the food in the UK is as grimy as the weather?” He added already filling his plate.
Despite himself, Regulus smiled, a real one.
Later that night, the prefects led them to their dorms. They walked through endeless stairs into the dungeons.
Finally, they reached their common room. A luxurious space filled with ancient artefacts and old magic. A massive window took nearly the entire wall, showing the lake outside, casting a faint green glow over the room.
The dorm had four beds. Evan threw his trunk onto the one closest to the bathroom and started undressing.
Regulus hesitated, suddenly unsure of himself.
“You're alright, Reg?” Evan asked, running a hand through his braids.
“Yeah” Regulus said after a little hesitation, making his way to the bed under the window. “I'll get the view to the lake if that's alright”.
“Suit yourself” Evan replied, rummaging through his things. Then in a softer voice “You didn't messed up, you know?”
“What?” Regulus asked just a little too fast.
“You just… looked like you were waiting for someone to tell you you'd failed some kind of test.” Evan said, looking over at Regulus.
“I just thought things might go wrong” Regulus mutters looking anywhere but Evan.
“Well, we've still got 6 years to do all the wrong things, Reg” He half smiles.
“I guess you're right” Regulus conceded. Then, after a beat, “and can you stop calling me Reg, no one really calls me that”.
“Won't do, Reg. I already got used. And it suits you.” Evan grinned and ducked into the bathroom, finishing the discussion before it even begins.
Regulus groaned and flopped onto his bed. That's no way to behave, said a voice in his head that sounds suspiciously like his mother. But despite everything, Regulus was glad that at least he got Evan with him.
He thinks of Barty and Pandora, of Sirius and his Gryffindor friends. And surprisingly, he thought about Evan again. And for the first time since stepping onto the train platform, he felt something close to hope.