Smile When You Dive In

Chapter 3

Scrubbing cauldrons for Slughorn was one of the more tolerable detentions a student could have at Hogwarts, in Regulus' opinion. He had heard about students dragged into the forbidden forest to wrangle pixies, or have Binns dictate something to them and crawl back to their dorms after midnight. Regulus wasn't in the habit of getting detentions, either. Sirius said it was because he was too much of a people pleaser, and didn't like to disappoint the Professors.

In his opinion, it had more to do with the fact that he didn't galavant around the castle charming first years' robes pink like some people he could mention. However, on one of the few occasions that Regulus did land himself in detention, Sirius happened to be there too. He told Regulus that Slughorn only patrolled around the castle when he needed somebody to clean up his classroom. Given that he'd caught Regulus kissing Carmen in greenhouse number three (something they had both agreed never to mention again) and Sirius smoking in the owlery, that rang true. But on that occasion, Sirius had also let him in on a little secret. Slughorn always 'popped out' of detentions, without fail. And then Sirius would take the opportunity to scourgify the cauldrons and save his wrists the effort of scrubbing.

"You can't do that, he'll know!" Regulus had complained at the time, putting his arms in front of his own cauldron to stop Sirius finishing the job for him.

"How? I've been doing it since second year, and he's never noticed." That hadn't been enough to convince Regulus. He could have been lying, trying to trick Regulus to get him into even more trouble. At school, it wasn't as though the consequences were quite as dire as at home, and Regulus thought maybe Sirius would revel in getting his brother another detention. But lo and behold, Slughorn had returned an hour later and complimented Sirius on the gleaming cauldrons. Sirius always seemed to get away with things like that. He was far less cautious than his brother, but perhaps that was just because things had a way of working themselves out for Sirius. Or they had in the past, at least.

During his detention with Potter, Regulus didn't turn to magic the moment Slughorn left the room. Nor did his unwilling companion. They had both been given time to calm down after their slight altercation earlier that day, and Regulus made the conscious decision to push his wand across the desk before attempting conversation again, lest Potter get the wrong idea. With it out of arms' reach, Potter had no excuse for drawing his own wand.

"Look, I'm not going to tell anybody about Lupin."

"Right." Potter didn't seem very impressed by that statement. Regulus just wanted him to know that he wasn't a threat, if that was why he'd turned so hostile towards him. It was more likely to do with Regulus' out of control magic, but there wasn't very much he could do about that. All he could do in Potter's silence was talk.

"It's just... Sirius is stupid, and he talks without thinking." Regulus tried to keep the pleading out of his voice, though Potter obviously saw through it. He softened, putting down the cauldron he'd been working on and giving Regulus his attention once he fully realised his intentions.

"It's not my place to forgive him, Reg." Reg was even more irritating than Regulus, but he wouldn't comment on that.

"Yes, it is. Leave it between him and Lupin, if Lupin wants to stay mad." Potter shook his head.

"You don't get it. Remus could've killed Sni— Snape."

"I'm sure we'd have all enjoyed the peace." Regulus muttered, but Potter didn't find it funny. It was clear he wasn't going to budge. He wasn't going to forgive Sirius until Lupin had. And if he'd failed to get anywhere with Potter, he had no chance of getting through to Lupin. Finally using his wand to clean the cauldrons, Regulus kicked back from the desk and stood. Potter looked up at the screeching of the stool, but Regulus was no longer paying attention to him.