Astronomy

Five: Regulus

    The next few weeks were incredibly busy. Regulus had started school, and was determined to pass all his classes. He would stay up late and read in the Slytherin common room, then go to bed just to wake up early and read some more.
    "Regulus, are you listening?"
    Regulus looked up from his book. He and Leo were walking around Hogwarts to see if they could find anything interesting. He hadn't really made any friends in his own house, but he thought Leo would do. Even though he was a Hufflepuff, he was also a pure blood.
    "Sorry, what did you say?"
    "I said, 'that boy is looking at you.'"
    "What boy?"
    "That boy." Leo glanced over to a tall tree, and Regulus looked over and saw James sitting under it with one of his friends.
    "Oh," he mumbled. He grabbed his book and countinued reading. "I should probably get back to my dorm. My house is having a party tonight."
    Leo smiled. "Okay. Are we still walking to class tomorrow?"
    "Yes. And if you want, I'll be in the library reading in the morning."
    "I think I'm okay."
    Regulus nodded and placed his book in his bag. He said goodbye to Leo one more time before heading upstairs to his dorm room. He walked down to the dungeons, said the password, and found himself in the common room. People were getting ready for the party that night, and he quickly walked to his room.
    "Hey, Regulus," one of his roommates said. "You got a letter." He pointed to a desk, where a thick letter in a cream colored envelope sat.
    "Thanks," Regulus said. He was a tiny bit embarrassed, because he didn't remember the boys name. He quickly grabbed the letter and sat on his bed.

    Regulus,
    Congratulations on making Slytherin! We knew you had what it takes. We know you'll make a very good Slytherin, and make us proud. We were wondering, however, what is going on with Sirius? Has he gotten in any trouble yet?
    Write soon.
    Mother and Father

    Regulus set the letter down and frowned. He had written his parents a two page letter saying how much he loves and missed them, and they could barely be bothered to write five sentences. He didn't even know what he was going to write them back, because he actually had no idea what was going on with Sirius. The last time they had seen each other was when Regulus was outside drawing and Sirius had run in to him while trying to get away from a teacher. Regulus had asssumed Sirius was in this position because he probably pranked someone, or did something. It made him sad that he didn't even know what was going on with his own brother. He stuffed the letter in his dresser drawer, pushing that thought aside, and decided to get ready for the party.
***
    "Regulus, come here!"
    Regulus looked up from his bed and saw his room mate run in the room. "One of the boys cats had kittens, and he's giving them away!"
    Reggie jumped up and followed the boy, who's name he learned was Constantine. They ran a couple doors down, to a room full with about thirty boys.
    "Move! I want one!"
    "No way, my girlfriend will kill me if I don't get her one!"
    "I was here first!"
    Reggie looked around, and saw there was only six kittens. He didn't know how six cats would be distributed between thirty people, so he walked around the crowd to find an opening. Quickly slipping in between some boys, he found himself standing next to the cats owner.
    "Could I have one?"
    The boy looked up and frowned. He had long, pale blonde hair, and light grey eyes. "I don't think so."
    Reggie didn't move. There was too many people, and he liked looking at the baby cats. Before he could try to leave, he saw someone he didn't except to see.
    "Narcissa?"
    His cousin smiled at him from across the room, then quickly walked over. "Hello, Reggie."
    Reggie smiled. Narcissa was, in his opinion, his best cousin. He knew that she was in her seventh year at Hogwarts, but he didn't think he would see her.
    "Cissy?" The boy looked up. "What are you doing here?"
    "I heard something interesting happened in Lucius Malfoys dorm. I wanted to come see for myself what everyone was talking about."
    "His cat had kittens," Reggie said, motioning towards them.
    She sat down and gently pet one of the cats. "Can I keep one, Lucius?"
    Reggie watched as his face turned from scornful to a large smile. "Of course, Cissy."
    She pet the kittens, then pointed to a small black and white one. "I choose her." Narcissa looked up at Reggie. "Do you want to see them?"
    "Yes."
    He sat on the floor next to her and looked down at the kittens. Everyone else around him was still fighting. He looked at each of them until he saw one that was extremely small, squished under two other ones. It was all white, and meowing a lot.
    "Look, Narcissa. Look how small it is," he whispered. "It's so tiny."
    Narcissa looked up at Lucius, who frowned, but nodded after she smiled.
    "She's the runt," Lucius mumbled. "You can have her if you want."
    "Really? Thank you!"
    "Come get her in about two months. She needs to stay with the others until she's old enough to leave," Narcissa said.
    "Okay." Reggie smiled and thought about what he would name her.
    "Students!"
    Everyone looked up, and Reggie saw a teacher, who's he didn't know the name of, had come to the dorm. "Go back to your rooms!"
    He quickly jumped up. "Bye, Narcissa. And thank you, Lucius."
    He followed the rest of the boys out, and walked back to his dorm. Constantine sat on his bed, frowning. "Did you get one?"
    "Yeah, I did."
    "How?! There was so many people there."
    "The boy who's cat had the kittens, Lucius, fancies my cousin Narcissa. So he gave me one."
    "Lucky," Constantine complained. "I barely even saw them."
***
    It was the end of October, and Reggie had just gotten his kitten, which he decided to name Neige, which meant snow in French. His house was throwing another party, something that seemed to have become a monthly, if not weekly, event. Reggie sat in his dorm, trying to play with Neige and read, but it was hard when he could hear everyone in the common room.
    "They're annoying, aren't they?"
    Neige meowed, making Reggie close his book.
    "I say we go walk around outside."
    Neige meowed again, so Reggie grabbed her carefully, wrapped her in her tiny blanket, and walked outside.
    "You want to know something, Neige? I haven't talked to Sirius in a month."
    She buried her head in the blanket and put her paw on her face.
    "Yes, I know he's my brother." Reggie saw a big tree and sat under it. "But that doesn't change the fact he doesn't like me."
    "Who doesn't like you?"
    Reggie jumped up and looked around, just to see James standing near him. He sat back down again. "No one."
    "Oh." James walked over and sat next to him. "What's that?"
    Neige poked her head through the blanket. "My cat, Neige."
    "Hi, Neige," James said, petting her head.
    "What are you doing here?"
    "I can't sleep. But Peter is snoring already, Remus is studying, and Sirius is trying to help Remus study." He paused. "What are you doing out here?"
    "There's a party in my common room, and I don't want to go."
    James nodded. "I can't imagine Slytherin parties would be much fun."
    "They can be."
    James reached in to his pocket. "Want some chocolate? Remus gave it to me."
    "Sure."
    They sat for a few minutes, before James stood up. "I've got to go, Sirius is probably wondering where I am. Goodnight, Reg."
    "Goodnight," Reggie said. He watched James walk off, and decided that he wasn't that bad.