THE HEIR AND THE BADGER

The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black had only one rule that truly mattered.

Perfection.

Perfection in blood. Perfection in manners. Perfection in reputation. Weakness was unacceptable, and love was earned through obedience.

Regulus Arcturus Black had learned that lesson long before he understood what it truly meant.

He was the perfect son.

Quiet. Polite. Brilliant. Everything the House of Black expected him to be.

To Walburga Black, he was everything Sirius had failed to become.

Her only son.

No one noticed the loneliness hidden behind careful grey eyes or the pressure that came with carrying the Black name. Because perfection was only another kind of prison.

Then came Hogwarts.

For the first time, Regulus found himself surrounded by people who didn't know who he was supposed to be. Among them was one boy-a classmate he first approached because they were paired together in lessons.

It was never meant to become anything more.

But conversations turned into laughter, awkward silences became comfortable ones, and the walls Regulus had spent years building slowly began to crack.

For the first time, someone saw him-not the perfect heir, not the pure-blood son, but simply Regulus.

Perhaps there was more to life than duty.

Perhaps the darkness surrounding him wasn't endless.

And perhaps, even in the darkest corners of the House of Black...

...a single star could still find its light.