Regulus Black - The marauders era

Chapter 3 - If Regulus was a Gryffindor

Regulus Black was a mess of shaky nerves and his head kept darting nervously from the Slytherin table to the Gryffindor table. He wanted to make his brother proud but then again he also wanted to please his parents and not get disowned. Walking through the great hall was nerve wracking and Regulus felt as if all eyes fell upon him as he really did look very much like his brother. Sirius was staring at him an encouraging smile on his face and that was enough to make Regulus forget about his nerves and hold his head up proudly. With Sirius beaming at him he felt as if he could do anything but then Sirius looked away and Regulus found himself looking over at the Slytherin table and saw his cousins staring at him but not with smiles on their faces it was sneers. Regulus cowered under their gazes and any motivation he had from Sirius had faded into the back of his mind. Regulus snapped out of his trance to hear the first person, Applewood, Martin. He was pronounced a hufflepuff and Regulus prayed his name wasn't next but as luck would have it, it was.
"Black, Regulus." Minerva Mcgonagall called and it seemed as if everyone had their eye on him seeing if he would follow in his slytherin pure blood orientated families way or if he would follow his gryffindor brothers way. Even the teachers leaned forward in anticipation of what was to come. Regulus tried not to show that he was nervous but his legs shook and he nervously made his way up the stairs and sat down almost elegantly on the stool. His face was engulfed in blackness and he almost panicked but somehow felt better when the hat started talking to him. Of course that must of sounded crazy but oh well.
"Another Black eh your brother made quite the scandal 2 years ago," the hat spoke in his head and Regulus found himself praying that he wasn't in Slytherin.
I mean of course his parents would be mad but the Potters, whenever Sirius spoke of them in his letters, seemed nice enough so I'm sure they would take him in if anything were to happen.
"Not Slytherin you truly are related to your brother," The hat spoke before hopefully coming to a conclusion.
"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat screamed and for a moment the entire hall was silent as Regulus slowly made his way over to the table but then Sirius stood on the table and whooped jumping for joy and clapping loudly and soon his friends had joined him and then it was the whole table.
Regulus had a small, shy smile on his face as he sat down next to Sirius and got slapped in the back so hard by his bother he thought he would off the bench.
"Oh Reggie I'm so proud of you I knew it," Sirius cried beaming down at his younger brother and Regulus just moved closer to him and looked round at all Sirius' friends.
"James Potter," A boy announced, who had jet black messy hair and hazel eyes, and stuck his hand while Regulus nervously shaking his offering him a small smile.
"Well Sirius he's definitely not as bold and annoying as you or James," Lily Evans, a pretty ginger girl, spoke up and James stared at her holding his hand to his chest in offence while Sirius scoffed ruffling Regulus' hair.
"OI geroff," Regulus pouted desperately trying to slap Sirius' hand away from his hair that had once been neat and hear someone laugh.
Regulus turned to the boy who laughed and found Remus Lupin, more commonly know as Moony by Sirius, chuckling and rolling his eyes.
"I wouldn't be so sure Lily he still seems awfully proud of his hair," Remus spoke up and Sirius scoffed bringing one had up to gingerly touch his own hair.
"Must be a black family trait," A small mousy boy, Peter Pettigrew, spoke up and Sirius barked out a laugh.
"Are you sure Wormtail have you seen Bellatrixs mop of hair," Sirius said looking over at the Slytherin table and Regulus chuckled at this very accurate description of their cousin.
The rest of the night consisted of The Marauders cracking jokes Regulus laughing and even Lily pitched in at different points of times. Regulus was happy that he decided Slytherin wasn't the place for him because now he was chatting and laughing along with his brother, which was something he hadn't done since Sirius had started hogwarts. Their relationship had been strained as they had been parted and Sirius had shared different views than what he was being fed by the rest of his family but now he felt at peace with his brother again. In a moment of utter brotherly love Sirius had leaned closer to his brother re-wrapped an arm round his shoulders and whispered that he was glad that Regulus was her and Regulus had leaned closer to him and admitted that he never really felt like being in Slytherin anyway and this made Sirius cackle and beam at him. By the time dinner was over Regulus was feeling his eyes droop with tiredness and overdoing to with nice food so Sirius hand gently tried to guide him up the stairs but did not stop him from accidentally bumping into a moving banister multiple times, to which Regulus had glared and Sirius had muttered an apology. Getting to the common room had been a bit of a challenge as Regulus had to try and find everything and remember what staircases moved and which ones didn't and it was all a bit disorientating but Regulus managed and stepping into the common room was like a breath of fresh air. Regulus was glad it was red and gold that was everywhere apart from the dingy silver and green. The Gryffindor common room had an air of warmth about whereas Regulus thought the Slytherin common room would be cold but he needn't dwell on that as he was here now. He was a bit apprehensive about the howler he was sure to receive as he had heard his mother screaming to his father about it when Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor but he couldn't bring himself to care at that point in time and just embraced the fact that he able to stand up to his parents for once in his life. Regulus faintly heard Sirius tell his friends that he'd be up in the dormitory in a minute and snapped out of his thoughts to find Sirius standing in front of him.
"I'm proud of you Reggie god I am I know mum won't be happy god forbid she's never happy but remember you'll always have me," Sirius said and Regulus' eyes filled with tears and he rushed at his brother flinging his arms around the older boys frame and for the first time in years he let some tears leak out of his eyes in utter happiness.
"Oh Sirius I'm so glad I'm here," Regulus muttered and Sirius just gently stroked his muttering an I know and holding the younger boy close.
"Are mother and father going to be really annoyed Sirius?" Regulus questioned pulling himself out of the embrace.
"You know what I won't lie to you of course they will but no matter what I'll always be here for you and so will the marauders and Lily and everyone," Sirius murmured looking into the younger boys eyes and Regulus nodded in response.
In the morning Lily found the 2 Black brothers asleep on the sofa with Regulus having most of the blanket but being half off the sofa and Sirius had very little blanket but was content curled up by the armrest of the sofa. Lily waved her wand creating a picture of the 2 and chuckled then went to wake up the rest of the marauders for the rest day.
Regulus awoke to a shout of "SIRIUS OH MY GOD HE'S MISSING NOBODY STOP UNTIL YOU FIND HIM!" The noise was unmistakably coming from James and Sirius must of heard it as well as he stirred just as James came tumbling down the stairs to find the 2 black brothers groggy from sleep but otherwise unharmed.
"Right you two don't do that I thought Sirius had gone missing," James said folding his arms and sounding rather like a mother.
"Alright mum," Sirius said also crossing his arms but sounding like a bratty teenager and Regulus snorted.
If time could freeze you would find a happy shot of an 11 year old boy laughing and two 13 year old boys standing near each other with their arms crossed but 2 different expressions playing on both of their faces. It was a beautiful picture and an even happier memory.
Wow 2 chapters in 1 day didn't expect that but I guess I had lots of time on my hands and enjoy.
~ Hazel