This Trying Affair • Jegulus •

III. Keep Your Eyes Down

The air was chilly the morning of the train ride. It was calm, but there was a bite to it. Regulus had noticed this as he walked away from his parents and felt the tip of his nose sting from the calm breeze grazing it. 

Regulus entered a compartment and carefully placed his luggage. He kept the door open looking lazily for one person. The excitement and energy of the train the first day back always exhausted him. 

A sigh escaped his lips as he reflected on how his happiness had appeared to have left him since that one singular day this summer. He glanced at the ring on his hand. The ring that he should have never been wearing. It felt cold against his skin no longer how long he wore it. It seemed to know that he was not the real owner and merely a back up. It caught light from the window and gleamed back at the boy's thoughts. 

The Black family ring. 

It didn't belong to him. Not really. It was clearly meant for his older more confident brother. After Sirius's disappearance, his parents had decided that Regulus needed to begin wearing the ring to show that Sirius was no longer the Black heir. They even had gone as far as requesting he wear it at Hogwarts. 

Regulus slouched in his seat. Tears pricked at his eyes as he considered the hurt Sirius might feel at seeing him wear the ridiculous thing. His brother and him already had a strained relationship and with the secret that they shared this summer of Sirius's disappearance, Regulus had hoped that they might be able to heal that distance privately. He feared that this stupid ring could push Sirius away, possibly make the boy feel Regulus had already forgotten about his older brother. 

Coughing, Regulus adjusted his posture in the seat and stopped looking at the damn ring. He took a deep breath before raising his eyes to the train corridor once more. 

He just needed to stay in the background as he had always done as Hogwarts. Keep your eyes down, he reminded himself. He did not mean it literally as looking down would be a sign of weakness and bad for the Black family name. He merely meant to not get involved in any drama at Hogwarts by avoiding known Order and Death Eater potentials alike. 

His view of the train was blocked by a body in the door and he adjusted to glance at the face. 

"Well, if it isn't my favorite pouter, Regulus," said the tall lanky brunette. "Did you miss me?"

She walked into the compartment and closed the door behind her. 

"Just sit down, Em," Regulus said with an eye roll. 

Emily Diggory fell dramatically into her seat across from Regulus. Her eye caught something on Regulus's robes. 

"You're Prefect!" Her hands hurried into her luggage where she pulled out her Ravenclaw robe that showed a similar badge. "I was made Prefect too!" 

Regulus smiled at her excitement. They were easily the best behaved in their year, it was no shock they had been made prefects, but he didn't want to ruin her mood. 

"Congratulations. I guess that means we can head to the meeting together later." 

Emily pushed her robes back into the luggage. 

"So, how was your summer?" 

Regulus squinted his eyes in pain and lifted his hand into her line of sight. The gasp of horror was enough to tell him that she understood. 

"Oh, Regulus. I am so sorry. ... Is Sirius okay?" her playful tone from earlier had changed quickly. It was the reason Regulus spent time with her. She appeared to be the only other child in all of Hogwarts who understood the importance of being serious.