Little King | Regulus Black

The Mouse

Regulus loved animals. He longed for his own pet, but he was quite afraid of Lucille after she had scratched him, and his attempts to befriend the pigeons had been unsuccessful. After reading an old children's book about a dog named Lucky, he begged his mother, who was more fond of him than his father, for a puppy. She flatly refused. "A dog!" She shuddered. "Don't be ridiculous! It would chew the furniture and chase my poor Lucille around the house."

Lucille, a bloated black cat even more overweight than her owner, glared at him from Walburga's lap. His similar pleas for a rabbit, a pet canary or a fish were rejected, although he protested that his fish would be quiet and docile in its own little bowl. Even his request for a cat of his own was denied, with Walburga shrieking that it would bully her poor baby Lucille.

"Not a kitten, Mother," he protested. "It would stay in my room, and I could teach it tricks and look after it, and Lucille might even make friends –"

"Regulus! That's enough," her mother used the tone of voice that meant "Any more and your father will cane you."

Regulus was terrified of his father's canes. Though they were seldom used on him, and certainly not as much than on his older brother Sirius, the threat of them was enough to make him shiver. After the threat from his mother, he gave up on his pleading for a pet.

Regulus was a lonely little boy, with only his brother for company, though Sirius was getting older and would be going to school next September. When he had been younger he had gone for playdates with the children of his parent's friends, but nowadays, he was kept indoors almost constantly. He had no friends except his brother, though Sirius was growing tired of him.

One wet November afternoon, Regulus begged him to play with him, but his older brother shook him off irritably. "You only want to play baby games, Reg. I'm sick of them. Go and find something else to do."

He closed his bedroom door, and Regulus drifted down the hallways alone. Sirius liked getting older, but Regulus didn't see what was so great about it. Now that he was nine, his brother wouldn't play with him anymore, and their mother hardly ever cuddled him these days, preoccupied with her cat. Speaking of Lucille, he spotted her around the corner, sitting shock still and staring at the skirting board. Quick as a flash, she darted forward, but it seemed she was too late for whatever she was chasing – she yowled, batting at the wooden skirting board irritably with her paw.

Regulus moved forward nervously, not wanting to get too close go Lucille. After a few minutes of staring, Lucille seemed to grow bored, and turned, hissing at him before she went slowly down the hallway. Curious, Regulus bent down, and peered at the small hole she had been so preoccupied with. It was only a moment later that a small twitchy nose poked out, sniffing the air with long whiskers. Two small beady eyes followed, staring right at him. It was clearly a tiny mouse, possibly no more than a baby.

"Oooh," said Regulus in delight, but the tiny face darted back into the hole.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said. "Mouse?"

There was no reply. Regulus reached into his pocket, and withdrew some cake. Keeping food from meals was a habit he and Sirius were in: you never knew when you would be forbidden dinner at Grimmauld Place. Carefully, Regulus scattered several crumbs in front of the small hole, and waited. He did not have to wait long before the nose emerged again, whiskers quivering. This time, the mouse emerged fully, quickly gathering the crumbs before running back into its hole.

Regulus did the same again, and again after that, but left some crumbs in the palm of his hand. This time, the mouse drew closer to him. It stared at him, apparently considering its options, then scampered onto Regulus' palm. Its tiny paws tickled, but Regulus sat still as a statue, knowing that a movement could unsettle the little creature. Now that he could see it properly, he saw that the mouse was a beautiful dark brown, with soft little ears, bright beady eyes and a long tail. When it was finished its meal, it did not dart away, but stared right at him, paws clutched close to its chest. Slowly, his hands shaking a little, Regulus stroked its back with a finger. The mouse shivered gently, but did not move, and he smiled.

"Robert," he whispered. "I'm going to call you Robert."

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Robert went everywhere with Regulus at first. He kept him in his pocket, carefully cleaning out his little droppings. He fed him scraps from his own meals and used a little bowl for his water, trained him with food to do little tricks like going up his sleeve and walking the "tightrope" that was really a piece of string. Finally feeling he had a proper friend, Regulus talked to Robert, and told him everything, stroked his little furry head and put him to bed at night in a few scraps of cloth scavenged from the house elves' workbasket in the kitchens. However, he couldn't keep Robert a secret for long. It was another wet evening close to Christmas, and Sirius, in an unusually good mood, asked if he wanted to play cards. They were sitting in the library, watching the rain outside as it slid down the glass.

"No thanks," Regulus said primly, and Sirius narrowed his eyes. "What's that in your pocket?"

"My pocket?" He said quickly. "Nothing."

"Yes there is, you're always muttering away to your pocket like a lunatic. What is it, then? Did Mother buy you a toy?"

His voice was a little envious. Walburga never bought him toys, though she sometimes brought little treats for Regulus.

"No, I said, it's nothing –"

Sirius' hard fingers scrabbled at his chest. "Get off!" Regulus screamed, trying desperately to protect Robert as he felt his claws scrabbling. "You'll hurt him! Get off-"

Sirius cried out as sharp little teeth closed around his finger, and he quickly withdrew them, staring at the tiny drops of blood. "What the-" he started, breathing hard, but there was a high voice from the door of the library. "What is that racket? Sirius! Have you been bullying your little brother?"

It was Walburga, her massive frame squeezed into the doorway, watery blue eyes fixed coldly on her eldest son. Both brothers, without talking about it, knew there was a code: it was the two of them against their parents, always, and they always protected each other.

"Of course not, Mother," Sirius curled his bleeding fingers behind his back.

"Regulus?"

"No, Mother. We were just....playing."

"Hm," she looked suspicious. "Well, kindly cease at once. You know Mother must take her nap at noon. Good children are seen and not heard."

"Yes Mother," they said together, and as Walburga moved away down the hallway, they both breathed a sigh of relief. Sirius scowled at his bleeding fingers. "What on earth was that?"

"You have to promise you won't tell."

"Of course I won't. I'm not stupid. Show me, then."

Slowly, Regulus lowered his pocket. Two little bright eyes stared at Sirius, whose own eyes went wide. "That's a – that's a mouse!" He whistled slowly. "Wow. You're absolutely dead if Mother or Father catch you. The mouse even more."

"I know," he said miserably. "That's why you can't ever tell, Sirius, not ever. His name is Robert. You can stroke him if you like. He only bit because he was scared."

Sirius slowly lowered a finger and stroked Robert's head. Well used to humans by now, the little mouse simply sniffed his finger.

"We've got to hide him," Sirius said at last. "He isn't safe in your pocket."

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Sirius helped Regulus craft a makeshift cage. He thieved some wire from the garden shed, along with some more scraps of clothes and food and water bowls. In the end Robert had a perfectly good home at the back of Regulus' wardrobe. He let Robert into this new playground, where he happily began sniffing, and bit his lip. "What if the house elves see?"

"Simple. We'll tell them to stop opening your wardrobe. They have to obey us as well as Mother and Father."

"But what if Mother and Father ask them?"

"They won't," he said confidently. "Stop worrying so much, Reg. Relax. They never will."

Regulus supposed he was right.