The Story of Regulus Black - Years 5-7

XC. Permanence Unnoticed

Chapter Notes: all italicized dialogue is being spoken in french

Once the first week at the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic had come to a close, certain guidelines and expectations were set into place. These new additions, evidently, meant that Regulus Black had barely seen Barty Crouch Jr. at all in over five days. And what was worse: the ball that the Beauxbatons was hosting was coming up in two day's time, and Regulus had yet to acquire a date whom he really did not want to acquire.

On Saturday, everything had really started up. Quidditch practices were held not once, but twice a day on weekends, they were held once a day on weekdays, and there was at least one meeting every single day that Regulus needed to attend. So, that already left him not much time at all to do other things. However, with the addition of their daily practices, there had come other specifications to their time at the Beauxbatons that none of the students had known about beforehand.

Prefects had to help the Prefects of the Beauxbatons with patrol rounds. Regulus wasn't sure why, whether it was supposed to be a bonding experience for the students or if it was just supposed to give them something to do. So, Hogwarts students were paired with Beauxbatons students every night for their rounds of making sure that the school was secure and that the students stayed where they were supposed to. With that addition, it meant that more often than not Barty and Regulus wouldn't see each other at night at all. Regulus was always either at practice or patrolling with people whom he very much did not want to patrol with. And then there was always homework, the piles and piles of it that had been neglected up until the point where Regulus didn't know just where his mind would wander if he didn't simply do it. It was a distraction, and it was certainly a much healthier one than what he had taken up in the past.

Those additions alone were enough to make Regulus and Barty's time extremely limited. So limited, in fact, that they had hardly spoken since Friday night. And when Wednesday came along, it certainly didn't come without a few problems of its own.

Regulus was up and ready. He was dressed in the robes that him and James had been given for Quidditch, broom waiting back in the dorm that him and Sirius had been sharing the past few days. He had been up since half past two from a rather horrid nightmare, and from there he had simply gone to the Dining Hall (which was surprisingly open during all hours of the night for students who might want to sit inside) and read a book that he had found in the library during his few minutes of free time the day before. He had sipped at cup after cup of coffee, consuming so much caffein that he was practically trembling by the time the first student arrived to sit at a table and have their breakfast. So, needless to say, Regulus was rather hyper compared to everyone else by the time everyone had trickled in and the tables were full.

Barty was sitting beside Regulus, eyes barely open as he sipped away at his mug of tea and ate his breakfast slowly. They weren't speaking, were barely even looking at one another. However, that was simply them - it was something that they had both grown rather accustomed to during the past four days. They were both busy, they both had things to do, they didn't necessarily have the time to spend much quality time together. And perhaps it was Regulus ignoring him, maybe what the Dark Lord had said had gotten to him on a level so deep that he couldn't even quite sense it. Perhaps it had something to do with the pity that had yet to leave Barty's eyes, that seemed to be growing by the day. Or maybe it didn't have anything to do with those at all, maybe Regulus truly was too busy to spend time with Barty and it didn't have anything to do with avoiding him at all. Either way, the silence and lack of time together was something that neither boy gave enough thought to to care very much at all. Or, at least, Regulus didn't.

Perhaps it was that sense of normality that made Regulus comfortable enough to simply stand up and leave the table with nothing but a simple nod toward Barty that Barty didn't even see. He walked with a certain bounce in his step, one not associated with happiness at all and instead with the sheer amount of caffeine that was coursing through every single one of his veins. He walked through the halls, making his way to the dorms much more easily than he had for the past few days. He assumed that the constant back and forth between dorm and library and Quidditch Pitch and Dining Hall mixed with the patrolling of the halls were quite well for his navigation skills, and they benefited him quite greatly.