Astronomy

Four: Regulus

    "Write me every day, Regulus," mother said. "And as soon as you are sorted."
    "Yes, mother," Regulus said. He stood on the platform, nervously waiting for the train to arrive. He looked over at Sirius, who was standing with some of his friends. Regulus sighed. Things hadn't been normal between the two of them all summer, and he didn't think going to Hogwarts would help, especially if he wasn't sorted in to the same house as Sirius.
    "Goodbye, son." Father gave him an awkward hug.
    Regulus waited for the train as his parents talked quietly behind him. He watched as the train pulled up, and gave one last look to his parents before walking towards it.
    He found an empty compartment and sat down. He watched as kids walked past him, laughing and talking with each other. He always thought that Sirius would be with him when he went to Hogwarts, but he was trying not to think about that.
    The train whistle blew, and Regulus watched the people on the platform wave. All of a sudden, a skinny, tall boy ran towards the train. He jumped on, and Regulus watched as his parents stood behind him, shaking their heads at their son.
Regulus stayed in the compartment, but wondered where the boy had gone, and why he was so late to catch the train. He looked at the window as the train started moving, and waved at his parents, who had already started to leave the platform. He watched the view from the window for a few minutes before a voice scared him.
    "Can I sit here?"
    Regulus recognized the him as the boy who jumped on the train. Now he was closer to him, he noticed that the boy was very tall for his age, with curly dark hair and warm brown skin.
    "Sure, sit." Regulus looked back out the window, not giving him much attention.
    "I'm Leo. Leo Miller."
    Regulus raised an eyebrow. "I'm Regulus Black."
    "Nice to meet you."
    Regulus nodded. He didn't feel like talking.
    "So... are you excited?"
    Sighing, Regulus realized that this boy was not going to be quiet. "Yes, I am. I've wanted to go to Hogwarts for a while now."
    Leo smiled. "Me too! What house do you think you'll be?"
    "Slytherin." Regulus excepted Leo to think that was weird, considering he knew that Slytherins weren't everyones favorite house, but instead he smiled.
    "Cool. I'm not sure what I'll be. I'm smart, I guess, but not very smart, and I'm not really brave, either. I don't really fit in anywhere."
    "The hat will sort you correctly."
    "I hope so."
    Regulus sat and listened to the boy talk for the rest of the train ride, nodding and commenting every once in a while. When the train finally pulled to a stop, Regulus figured that he had made his first friend.
    "Come on, Leo," he said as he got up. "We get to go on boats now!"
    "Boats?! How do you know?"
    "Well, my brother... I have an older brother, and he told me." Regulus held the compartment door open, and he and Leo walked side by side down and out the train.
    "Oh, cool! Where is your brother?"
    "I'm not sure. Probably with his friends," he said quietly.
    Leo didn't say anything for the first time since Regulus had met him. The boys followed the other kids on to a platform, this time with small boats.
    Regulus frowned. "Do you think those can sink?"
    "No. And even if they could, we could swim."
    "I wasn't planning on swimming tonight," he said as he ran his fingers through his hair.
    Kids were being placed on boats, while others were talking and laughing with each other. Regulus had never been around so many people.
    "You five on this boat."
    Regulus looked up to see an older boy pointing to a small boat in the water. He and Leo climbed on, and once everyone was sitting down, the boy pushed the boat, and it took off.
    Leo nervously tapped the side of the boat and waved to some of the kids on other boats. Regulus looked around and recognized one of the other boys on the boat.
    "Your James," he noticed. "Sirius' friend."
    The boy looked up in surprise. "Yeah, I'm James." He looked at Regulus for a second before nodding. "Oh, your Regulus."
    Regulus frowned. He could tell by James' reaction that Sirius' had said something about their fight to him. "Where is Sirius?"
    James made an annoyed face. "I'm not sure."
    "Aren't you guys best friends?"
    "Well, yeah, Sirius is my best friend," James said as he leaned over the edge of the boat and dipped his finger in the water.     "Do you think there are sharks in here?"
    "What?"
    "Sharks. They're a muggle animal."
    "Well, no, I don't think they'd be here."
    "Well, that's sad."
    "How is that sad?"
    "I wanted to meet one. Maybe scare some kids with it, I don't know. Show Remus. He'd be scared."
    Regulus tilted his head and frowned. It shouldn't have come as a surprise to him that this was his brothers best friend.
    "Do you think the water is cold?"
    Regulus dug his fingers in to the edge of the boat. "Yes, James. The water is probably very cold."
    James glanced up from looking in the water. "You want to know a secret?" He leaned closer to Regulus and whispered, "I'm not supposed to be here right now."
    Regulus leaned back. "What do you mean?"
    "Only first year students take the boats."
    "Then why are you here?"
    "I got separated from my friends, and then I just followed the crowd over here."
    Regulus couldn't help but laugh. "How do you loose your friends?"
    "It's easy actually. We have Peter, who was too busy eating candy to notice if I got lost, and then there was Remus and Sirius, who were having a conversation I was not a part of. So, yeah, me getting lost isn't very surprising."
    The boat came to a stop, and James jumped off. "I'll see you later, Reg! I've got to find my friends!"
    Regulus was about to tell James not to call him "Reg" when James ran off. He got of the boat, and Leo frowned.
    "Reg?"
    "Don't call me that," he said glaring.
    They followed the crowd up in to the castle, and walked to the Great Hall. A tall lady with brown and gray hair stood in front of the doors of the hall.
    "Welcome to Hogwarts! We are so excited that you have come to spend the year with us! You will need to be sorted in to your houses," she said. "Follow me."
    They went in to the hall, and Regulus looked around to see if he could find Sirius. He eventually found him sitting at the Gryffindor table with James and two other boys who he guessed were Remus and Peter. Sirius hadn't seen him, and Regulus waited for his name to be called so he could be sorted.
    "Leo Miller!"
    Leo gave Regulus a scared look before walking up to the hat. It sat on his head for about a minute before deciding.
    "Hufflepuff!"
    The Hufflepuff table clapped, and Regulus waved to Leo as he went over to the table.
    "Regulus Black!"
    The clapping stopped and Regulus walked up to the hat. He swallowed hard and felt his heart beat in his chest. He could either make his parents happy and be a Slytherin, or just be another disappointment and end up in a different house.
The hat was placed in his head, and it almost immediately yelled, "Slytherin!"