Only the Brave

Chapter 1: The Beginning

The day Sirius Black ran away from their family was the day his younger brother, Regulus, learned what true hatred felt like.

It was ice cold and overwhelming. It spread over every inch of who he was, coating everything he'd be from that day on. It consumed him, clawing at his heart and squeezing until it stopped beating. A dead, frozen thing in a cage of bones.

The day Sirius Black ran away from him, Regulus swore to himself he'd get revenge. He would go to any lengths necessary. He'd do whatever it took. No line was too holy, no limit too hard. He'd blast through them all if it got him what he wanted.

Vengeance.

"You're not listening, are you?" Dorcas says, visibly annoyed. She waves a perfectly manicured hand in front of his face.

Regulus pulls himself out of his own head and scowls at his friend. The train compartment is too crowded for his liking, but there's little he can do about it. These people refuse to leave him alone even for a minute. It's what friends do, they tell him. Yeah well, when he wants to be alone with his demons, what it is is annoying. 

"No," he says, because he doesn't like lying.

Evan chuckles, shakes his head. Barty smirks at Dorcas. "Told you."

Dorcas rolls her eyes dramatically. "I was asking if you don't have prefect patrols to do, now that you are an authority figure."

Oh, crap. She's right. Groaning, Regulus lets his head fall back against the seat with a soft thud. Shit. He had forgotten, possibly because he has zero interest in the position. He didn't want to be a prefect, but it turns out you can't simply return the badge in the post.

"It can't be that bad," Barty says when he gets a glimpse of Regulus' face. "You get to knock points off of people at your leisure."

Evan nods enthusiastically. Dorcas shrugs, leaning back and closing her eyes. Now that she's done her duty and reminded Regulus of his misery, she'll sleep for the rest of the journey.

Regulus stands. Adjusts his robes. His green tie. "Not on the train."

"How long does the patrol take?" Evan asks casually.

Regulus could point out to him that attempting subterfuge is futile. Everyone in this carriage knows how he feels about Barty except for Barty himself. But Regulus doesn't, because someone in this dysfunctional friend group should get to be a normal teenager. He's decided it'll be Evan. So, Regulus keeps his answer vague. 

"I'll be back right before we reach Hogsmeade. See if you can find Pandora in the meantime."

With that, he leaves the compartment.

The soft swaying of the train forces him to focus on his steps, so his mind can't wander. A few students hurry past him in the corridors, close enough that his robes rustle at the contact. Regulus does his best not to flinch.

Annoyingly, the prefect meeting is already underway when he arrives. He's the last one in, and everyone turns to stare at him when he slips inside the carriage. Regulus endures the unwanted attention like he does everything else. Stoically. Quietly.

His stomach is churning something fierce, but his face is made of stone.

"There you are Black," the Head Boy, some seventh year Hufflepuff says. "Punctuality is important. See that you don't show up late for patrols again."

Severus' dark eyes find his across the space. Regulus holds his stare even as he gives the Head Boy a curt nod of acknowledgement. The Hufflepuff doesn't push, going back to assigning sections of the train to people in pairs. Regulus' fingers twitch inside his robes as he waits, silently willing the boy to not pair him with Severus.