Stars Shine Darkly ★ Regulus Black

Chapter Four: A Most Unwelcome Crown

After what felt like years (but also not nearly long enough), the Hogwarts Express finally began to slow down.

Regulus stayed very still. He had been wedged between two enormous trunks in a dark corner of the luggage carriage for about half the journey from London, since the train had reached the grey coastline of northern England - since Narcissa had suggested that he might prefer to sit with people his own age instead of hovering around the seventh-year girls like a particularly unpleasant smell.

She hadn't said that out loud, of course - she was far too polite - but Regulus knew that it had been implied. He was positive she had grown bored of accommodating her strange 'baby cousin' and would much rather talk about adult topics with her adult friends, without him lurking there and dragging the mood down.

And while he'd been mortally afraid of the thought of walking into random compartments and introducing himself to a bunch of absolute strangers in the hopes of finding some other pathetic first-years to befriend, he hadn't been so desperate as to beg Narcissa to accompany him in doing so. He didn't want people to think that he needed to be chaperoned everywhere by his cousin. That would look extremely pathetic; he knew that much, at least.

And he certainly wasn't desperate enough to have to resort to finding Sirius to sit with his friends.

Instead, Regulus had hidden in the luggage carriage, alone save for his liquorice wands, for the remainder of the journey.

The train came to a shuddering halt, almost dislodging an empty cage balanced precariously on top of a stack of trunks to Regulus's left. He could hear a hiss of steam, whistles blowing, a loud voice announcing "Hogsmeade Station!", doors slamming and other voices shouting, clamouring, sounding inexplicably excited to be finally arriving at Hogwarts.

He wondered if anyone would notice if he just stayed tucked away in his corner and rode the train all the way back to London.

He wondered if he would be able to withstand the fury that his mother would undoubtedly unleash upon him if he dared to do such a thing.

He thought not.

As the muffled shouting on the platform outside grew louder and the slamming of doors more frequent, Regulus realised that he needed to make a decision. Should he emerge now, when he might hope that his unusual hiding place would be hidden by the general hustle and bustle of everyone else disembarking the train? Or should he wait until everyone else had gone up to the castle, until there was no one left to witness his embarrassment?

If he went with the latter, he might end up getting stuck on the train and sent back to London, whether he wanted to or not. Or, worse, he might get lost trying to make his own way to the castle and be devoured by some dreadful wild Scottish beast that happened to be lurking about in the night-time, waiting to prey on a poor, defenceless pureblood—

Was it a full moon, tonight?

He quickly scrambled to his feet and picked his way through the maze of stacked trunks and suitcases and bags, towards the carriage door. He stared at it for a very long time, his heart thumping wildly, but could not for the life of him find any sort of door handle.

Was it enchanted, perhaps? Was this the first test - was this a part of the Sorting Ceremony that his parents and Sirius and everyone he knew had neglected to warn him about? Would any wizard too stupid to be able to escape the Hogwarts Express be immediately expelled and sent back home in shame?

He retrieved his wand and held it tightly in his trembling hand. He glanced between his wand and the door, wondering if a simple Alohomora would do the trick. He swallowed. The panic rose in him like a bout of seasickness and as he gingerly pressed his left hand against the door - to test it, he supposed, or to steady himself, perhaps - it swung open easily, unbalancing him and almost sending him toppling into a surprised house-elf standing on the other side of the door.