Stars Shine Darkly ★ Regulus Black

Chapter Nine: Who Will Protect Us?

Life at Grimmauld Place had somewhat returned to normal after Sirius begrudgingly accompanied their father to the Wizengamot. He had, somehow, been coerced into fulfilling all the duties of an heir and spent most of the rest of the school holidays ensconced in Orion's study, where he wasn't able to annoy Regulus by lurking and hovering.

So it was something of a relief when Sirius dashed away to join his friends as soon as they arrived at King's Cross to begin another year at Hogwarts, running across the platform like a hound let off its lead. It meant that Regulus had time to say a proper goodbye to Kreacher without being watched. It meant he had time to gather his thoughts and ready himself for the onslaught of faces and voices and people, to find out whether Evan had genuinely been busy during the school holidays or whether the tentative relationship they had begun to form had been dashed and broken and torn to pieces by the tides of the summer.

He needn't have worried. Kreacher had barely apparated back to Grimmauld Place before Evan found Regulus, pushing and shoving groups of people aside as he hurried across the platform towards him.

"Alright?" he asked, sounding a little out of breath as he finally reached him. "Where've you been hiding? Almost thought you weren't coming 'til I heard Sirius's big mouth. Come on, we've got a good spot."

Regulus didn't have much chance to acknowledge his friend (friend?) or respond to his torrent of questions before he was being pulled across the station platform and onto the Hogwarts Express and bundled into a small compartment.

The compartment would have been fairly pleasant, with its comfortable but well-worn cushioned benches and its hazy yellow lamps, if it hadn't already been occupied. Regulus glanced at Evan, unsure, but Evan was pushing his way past him and didn't seem surprised to see the others sitting there, so there wasn't much Regulus could do but follow him.

Iris Nott and Aurora Greengrass had made themselves comfortable on one of the benches. They were propped up against the cushions on each end, their legs crossed and facing each other, shoes abandoned on the floor. They were giggling about something or other and playing a complicated game with their hands that seemed to involve lots of clapping and slapping. Regulus hoped they weren't laughing at his expense.

"They've been like this all morning," Evan said, gesturing to them. "Pair of hags."

Regulus was forced to duck as Aurora threw a balled-up chocolate wrapper at Evan's head. Both girls burst into another peal of laughter and Regulus glanced between them, feeling quite dazed.

By the time he had managed to stow his small suitcase into the overhead storage space (Kreacher had taken his trunk to the luggage compartment when they'd arrived, and Regulus was very glad that he wouldn't be spending his journey there this year, even if it meant putting up with his noisy peers), the girls had managed to calm down and regain their composure enough for Aurora to ask about his summer.

"It was fine, thank you," he said, sitting down on the bench opposite her, next to the window. "Quite quiet."

"Quiet?" Evan repeated in a disbelieving tone. "A quiet summer, with your brother? Has he moved out or something?"

"Not yet," Regulus muttered, thinking about all the terrible things that Sirius had been saying - and if those were the sort of things that voiced out loud, what even more terrible things had he been thinking?

"Your brother?" Iris said, jerking her head up from the magazine she had been entertaining herself with in the absence of Aurora's attention. "Sirius? Where is he?"

Regulus blinked at her in surprise. He couldn't remember Iris ever speaking directly to him before, even though they were in the same year and the same house. She had certainly never spoken to him in that sharp, commanding tone that reminded him horribly of his mother.