Cruel Summer - A Regulus Arcturus Black Story

Distraction

Eleanor had dreamed about this day since she was a young girl.

Beauxbatons had become her life as soon as she turned 11, but Hogwarts? Hogwarts had been her dream since she was old enough to remember.

Her papá used to tell both her and James bed times stories about his life at the renowned and beloved Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The whispers the Sorting Hat had ghosted into his ear. The bubbling excitement that'd overtaken him when he was put into Gryffindor. The pair would be sent into a fit of giggles, with such broad smiles on their faces that it physically hurt every time their father had mentioned the pretty girl he had hoped to be sorted with. A delightful witch the professor called, 'Euphemia.'

And when her mother would bake and put on the kettle, she would recall the lessons she'd learned and spells she'd cast back in her day with a soft, nostalgic voice. Paint a picture for a young Eleanor of the creatures she'd met in Care of Magical Creatures and the marvelous potions she'd brewed with her school sweetheart, a boy everyone knew as "Monty."

It was sickeningly sweet how every story they whispered to their children had each other laced between the lines, like how every love song had a description of their lover intertwined in each verse. Every extravagant rendition and tale full of bliss and reminiscence would make Eleanor hungry for a life just like that, starving for a future even more lavish than the past her parents had described.

Perhaps that was why she decided to dedicate years of her life in France. As much as she loved her family, Eleanor always chased the high of truly feeling alive. She wanted intangible experiences and her own history that she could tell others. And Beauxbatons Academy of Magic gave her just that, a chance to live out of the norm of her life.

But walking into Hogwarts for the first time was something else, bringing her a feeling she'd never felt before.

Being in one of the boats floating in the dark, clear lake that led to the enormous castle was something she could never even begin to describe. The structure was straight out of a fairytale, something only the imagination could conjure up. She barely heard the echoing sound of her loafers hitting the castle's stone floor, too focused on soaking every detail in.

After the festivities of September first, with the Sorting Ceremony and the Welcoming Feast, Eleanor was practically buzzing at breakfast the next day.

She'd already met most of the people surrounding her that morning - James and Sirius had practically begged her to eat with them that meal. She complained about them being needy and how she'd already made friends she'd rather hang out with, but eventually complied as she always planned on doing.

Across the table sat a loud James - obnoxiously telling renditions of his break in a way so ridiculous the redhead sitting to his right had to laugh - and a bemused Peter, who cringed away from the boy in glasses every time his spoke a bit too loud for how early in the morning it was.

Eleanor sat squished between Sirius and Remus, smiling at her brother's antics. He was honestly making a fool out of himself, and she couldn't understand why. From the short time she spent observing the couple over break, he didn't have to try that hard to please the girl; a smile was always in her eyes whenever he was within her vicinity.

Next to her, Sirius hummed in agreement, adding a few things here and there to really paint a picture on how the two buffoons spent their summer when it was only them. Eleanor leaned against the shoulder to her right, melting into Remus' arm, as his limbs relaxed in the presence of his best friends. The Hufflepuff watched as he engaged in a much quieter conversation with Peter, stealing a few sips from his coffee while pressing a content smile to the rim of the stolen mug.