Adjectives ~ REGULUS BLACK

6

Delilah was sitting at the Hufflepuff table with Monica by her side as the two girls waited for the hat to sort the transfer student into a house. The transfer was a boy by the name of Leonard Nott.

"SLYTHERIN," shouted the hat the moment it touched his head. Monica looked at Delilah with a confused glance when she didn't hear her clap along with the rest of the students but she found her gazing at the ceiling, which was bewitched to look like the night sky, lost in her thoughts.

"Helloooo, earth to Lilah, you there?" She asked moving her hand in front of Delilah's face.

At the sound of someone's voice, she snapped out of her thoughts, "what happened?!" Delilah asked moving her head from side to side in panic.

"You zoned out completely...are you okay? You seem to be doing that a lot lately," the worried tone in her voice was evident as she stared at Delilah with her eyebrows furrowed.

"No, no I am fine," she answered quickly, "what happened with the sorting?"

"The new student was sorted into Slytherin, he is sitting there with Black and Rosier," said Monica pointing at the three Slytherin boys who were talking together at the other side of the hall.

After eating and joking around with Monica and some Hufflepuffs, the dinner came to an end. Everyone got up from their sits and exited the hall, while Delilah and the other Prefects put the 1st Years in lines and left last to not lose any of the younger students.

"The Hufflepuff common room is in the basement of the castle near the kitchens," said Delilah to the younger students.

"The founder of our house is Helga Hufflepuff. Our house most values loyalty, kindness, equality, fair play, patience, and dedication but if you don't suit those things don't think that you belong here, the sorting hat put you here for a reason, and the whole house will make you feel welcome," William continued from where Delilah had left off.

They arrived at the right-hand side corridor near the kitchens and came face to face with a large pile of barrels stacked in a shadowy stone recess.

"To get into the common room you have to tap to the rhythm of "Helga Hufflepuff" to the barrel, two from the bottom, middle of the second row," said William while Delilah demonstrated.

"If you tap the wrong barrel one of the other lids will burst off and you will be drenched in vinegar." He added as the young students walked past the small opening and into the common room and looked at him scared but he just shook his head with a laugh.

"Are there any questions?" asked Delilah the small group of new Hufflepuffs. Everyone shook their heads except a small boy at the back who had his head down and was looking at his shoes.

William and Delilah dismissed the students and told them to either stay in the common room till the curfew hour or just go to the dormitories to find out who they will be sharing a dorm with. Most students went to the dorms while the other three that were down sat near the fire and talked about how amazing the next day will be.

The little boy from earlier was now sitting in the armchair alone playing with his hands. Delilah shook William's shoulder and brought his attention to the young Hufflepuff.

"We should go talk to him, he seems sad," said Delilah with a frown. William nodded his head and both of them walked toward the little boy.

"Hello!" William greeted the small boy, kneeling in front of the chair to match his height.

"What's your name?" asked Delilah, her voice welcoming and sweet.

"Austin," said the boy in a voice barely above a whisper, his little hands were trembling as he stared down at his shoes.

"Well Austin why are you sitting here alone and you don't go upstairs to find your new dorm mates and make friends?" asked William in a gentle voice, sitting at the armrest of the chair.

"I don't know, I don't think I belong here, in this house I mean," stuttered the boy as he tried to explain. Some tears spilled from his eyes making Delilah heartbreak.

William and Delilah looked at the small boy confused. "Why do you believe that?" asked Delilah a frown plastered on her face.

"I don't belong in Hufflepuff, my whole family is Slytherin and even though I don't mind, I know my parents will be very mad, " he rambled as he started to cry harder, even speaking seemed to be a difficult task for him.

"I should be in Slytherin, I don't belong here. I am lazy, not particularly kind, very impatient," he rambled on and on but William placed a hand on his shoulder softly, stopping him from continuing.

"Listen to me carefully Austin, there is a reason the Sorting Hat sorted you into Hufflepuff, the hat can look into your mind and see parts of your character and mind that you haven't discovered yet," he said looking at the small boy in the eyes, kneeling in front of him and giving him a very much needed hug.

"For example, I'm lazy and sarcastic myself, I don't care if I cheat, for instance, in a board game to win the round. That doesn't mean though that I don't belong in this house. Through my years as a Hufflepuff, I realized that I am loyal to my friends and family, I also help people whenever I can and I am a very trustworthy person," he did his best to console the youngster, gesturing for Delilah to take over.

"Every day you will learn one more thing about yourself and you will understand that all the Hufflepuff traits you have in you need a little bit of your help to come to the surface, okay? You don't need to worry about anything, I'm also the only Hufflepuff in a line full of Gryffindors, if you need anything at all you can always come to us," she said, wiping his tears from his cheeks and helping him up.

"Thank you," he said and hugged the two Prefects each as they patted him affectionally on the back.

"How about you go upstairs now and make some new friends, huh?" asked Delilah, and Austin, with a nod towards her, rushed up the stairs to the boy dormitories.

"That was inspirational," commented William before completely freaking out as he checked the watch on his wrist, "do we have to patrol the corridors tonight?!"

"No don't worry, tonight the teacher's patrol, tomorrow though we have a meeting at the transfiguration classroom to decide the pairs," Answered Delilah laughing, clearly amused by his behavior.

"Thank Merlin," murmured William under his breath but she heard him and looked up at him curiously.

"Why are you thanking Merlin, if you don't mind me asking?"

"You remember that boy I was telling you about last year in the library?" He asked her and she nodded, she could remember him coming into the library last May and sitting next to her his face as red as a tomato, she had asked him what happened and he told her about this boy in Ravenclaw that had asked him to go on a date.

"Well we wrote to each other the whole summer and hang out a couple of times and now he asked me to meet him at the Room of Requirement at half past eleven and if we had patrolling I would have to cancel it," he explained briefly, running a hand through his long blonde hair.

"Well don't forget to tell me how it goes, I have been rooting for you two since last May," she said and bid him goodnight before going into her dorm.

She found all her dorm mates sleeping soundlessly in their beds, she went to the bathroom, wiped off her makeup, and showered. She grabbed a pair of pajamas quickly from her trunk and put them on before lying in bed and falling asleep to yet another hunting vision.

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Hello, y'all,

ONE MORE CHAPTER TILL WE MEET REGULUS AND THE REAL STORY BEGINS.

Times now with COVID and everything happening is difficult and I hope you are all staying safe💛

Please vote and comment, if you would like, it motivates me to write more.