Chapter Text
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September 2nd, 1972 (The day after Sirius was sorted)
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3rd Person POV
Walburga and Regulus were eating breakfast silently.
“Mother, where is father? I haven’t seen him all day,” Regulus asks, breaking the silence.
“There was an incident at the Minister of Magic, so he had to assist,” Walburga responded sharply.
They went back to silently eating for a couple of minutes when an owl flew in through an open window into the dining room. It was Sirius’ owl.
Regulus tenses at the look Walburga was giving the owl. Her long black hair was tied back in a tight bun on the top of her head. She has a natural scowl on her face, but at this moment her face was now an angry scowl. Her black eyes showed one thing and one thing alone, as if she was saying to the world, ‘He better not let the family's reputation down... Or else.’ There were two letters tied to the owl’s leg, and the owl flew over to Regulus. Regulus hastily unties the letters, giving the letter addressed to his mother and father to his mother. Walburga opens the letter, clearly disregarding things it says, her eyes scanning for a certain statement or thing.
She finds what she is looking for but doesn't like what it says. Her expression turned into even more anger than in the beginning. Her face turned red, showing Regulus that she was ready to blow at the tiniest thing that could get in her way. She looks at Regulus, her eyes showing flames. Regulus fears for a beat that she is going to take out her anger on him from the way she is looking at him.
“I need to tell your father... this,” Walburga says, gesturing to the letter that is in a firm grip in her hand, looking like it could rip any second from the way and how hard she is holding it. She gets up stiffly and walks to the fireplace in the living room to tell Orion, Regulus, and Sirius’ father about whatever she found.
Regulus waits a moment before getting up as quietly as he could and running up the stairs into his room. . .
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Regulus POV
‘Oh Sirius, what in Merlin's name did you do?’ I think as I go up to my bedroom to read the letter my brother sent me. I got into my bedroom. My bedroom has floor-to-ceiling bookshelves with books on every single shelf. One of the few places where there were no bookshelves is where my desk is, right at the foot of his bed with an enormous window with the bed flush up against the window.
The morning sun, in all of his glory, shone everywhere that it could touch. High and mighty in the sky, with nothing but his beauty shining through. I go onto my bed to sit down when I hear my mother lying to my father, though I can’t hear the words since I closed the door. I opened the letter. . .
Dear tiny star,
How are you doing? I hope Mom didn’t take her anger out on you over me being in Gryffindor. Oh yeah! I am in Gryffindor, by the way. I miss you tons. Can't wait for you to get here so we can spend time together.
Love you, tiny star,
Your amazing bigger brother and better brother Sirius
P.S. I made some fantastic friends and I can’t wait for you to meet them. They are tons of fun.
Right before I could think about what I just read or processed, my mother came into the room, throwing the door open. She walks in to face me.
“I see you know about what your brother is. It is extremely disrespectful towards us, our family name, and our history. Breaking years of the family tradition of being in Slytherin. So I am going to be even clearer with you to make sure you don’t make the same mistakes he did. Because it is crystal clear now that I didn’t do a good enough job of explaining it. You will NOT be in Gryffindor and destroy the family name even worse. You will NOT associate with ANYONE Gryffindor, including your brother in public. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, mother.”
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September 2nd, 1978, Monday (Present Day)
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Ugh, every year on this date, I flash back to it. Why am I thinking about it so much?! I go back to eating my breakfast and after I finish; I look at my schedule:
Monday
6am am - 7am: Breakfast
7:10am - 8am: 6th year Potions with the Gryffindor
8:10am - 9am: 6th year Potions with the Gryffindor
9:10am - 10am: Free Period
10:10am - 11am: 6th year Herbology with the Hufflepuff
11:10am - 12pm: Lunch
12:10pm - 1pm: 6th year Study of Ancient Ruins
1:10pm - 2pm: 6th & 7th years Arithmancy
2pm - 3pm: Free Period
3:10pm - 4pm: Dinner
10pm - 11pm: Arstomy with Ravenclaws
Tuesday
6am - 7am: Breakfast
7:10am - 8am: 6th Transfiguration
8:10am - 9am: 6th year Transfiguration
9:10am - 10am: 6th year Herbology with the Hufflepuff
10:10am - 11am: Free Period
11:10am - 12pm: Lunch
12:10pm - 1pm: 6th year Study Ancient Ruins
1:10pm - 2pm: 6th year & 7th year Arithmancy
2pm - 3pm: Free Period
3:10pm - 4pm: Dinner
10pm - 11pm: Arstomy with Ravenclaws
Wednesday
6am - 7am: Breakfast
7:10am - 8am: 6th year Defense Against The Dark Arts
8:10am - 9am: 6th year Charms
9:10am - 10am: 6th year Charms
10:10am - 11am: Free Period
11:10am - 12pm: Lunch
12:10pm - 1pm: 6th year Study Ancient Ruins
1:10pm - 2pm: 6th year & 7th year Arithmancy
2pm - 3pm: Free Period
3:10pm - 4pm: Dinner
Thursday
6am - 7am: Breakfast
7:10am - 8am: 6th year Defense Against
8:10am - 9am: 6th year Transfiguration
9:10am - 10am: 6th year History of Magic
10:10am - 11am: Free Period
11:10am - 12pm: Lunch
12:10pm - 1pm: 6th year Study Ancient Ruins
1:10pm - 2pm: 6th year & 7th year Arithmancy
2pm - 3pm: Free Period
3:10pm - 4pm: Dinner
Friday
6am - 7am: Breakfast
7:10am - 8am: 6th year History Of Magic
8:10am - 9am: 6th year Transfiguration
9:10am - 10am: 6th year Charms
10:10am - 11am: Free Period
11:10pm - 12pm: Lunch
12:10 - 1pm: 6th year Study Ancient Ruins
1:10pm - 2pm: 6th year & 7th year Arithmancy
2pm - 3pm: Free Period
3:10pm - 4pm: Dinner
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Huh, I have Arithmancy with the 7th years. I didn’t know they did that. Well, better get going to potions.
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I am exhausted. All these tests, seeing what we know and what we don’t, are probably going to fucking kill me. At least with Arithmancy, it is pretty easy, especially since it is going to be easier than the end-of-the-year test last year.
I am walking down the ridiculously long hall where the Arithmancy door is at the very end. ‘Is it worth it to walk down this hall that is always hot/cold where you can't take/put on your robe to help it? And it will annoy you for no end? Well, Professor Delta is my favorite teacher, so maybe. And doing math is satisfying to just have this problem at the top of the page and then by like midway down the page, there is just X= Like 5 or something. It is the most amazing thing to do and then look at.’ Once I got out of my thoughts, I reached the door. I opened it to see a handful of my classmates talking and hanging around on the left side of the room, since Professor Delta was going to give us assigned seats for this school year.
I went over to an empty desk with no chair near where everyone was and got to sit on the desk. Once I am seated, I place my bag with me and open it to grab my copy of ‘Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.’ Sirius gave me it for my 13th birthday. It is the only muggle book I have, though I have to hide it when I am at home. I love it so much. I read because I have nothing else to do while I wait to get my seat.
I read for a while till Professor Delta says.
“Alright, class, good to see all of you guys are here again for another year. You guys know the drill. I am going to call your name and tell you where you sit this year. Okay?”
“Yes, Professor,” the entire class says in unison.
I went back to reading my book and was listening for when they called my name.
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They finally call my name and I go up to where they are standing.
“Okay Regulus, you are going to be. . . right over there!” Professor Delta says, pointing to a desk that is closest to the door.
“Thank you, Professor Delta,” I say, walking over to the desk. I picked one of the two chairs and hung my bag on the back of the chair after I took out a scroll and a quill. I open ‘Little Women’ and start reading again. ‘Wonder who is going to be my partner for the year?’ I think, but that thought shoved away choosing my book and then wondering.
A couple of minutes later, many names as well later, and one catches me by the throat.
“James Potter!”
Those 2 brief words should be insignificant. If they were swapped, it wouldn’t have felt as though they were choking me. I feel as though I can’t breathe; the fear creeping from my back like a spider. ‘Why is he here!? Sirius never mentioned this? He would have told me when we talked if he took another class than him, right? Okay, okay, calm down. There is no way he will sit with m-’
“. . .ah! There you are. Sorry dear, I couldn’t find your name for a second. You are going to be sitting. . .” They look around the room. ‘Please don’t look at m- AND SHE IS LOOKING AT ME OH DEAR MOTHER FUCKING MERLIN!!’
“You are going to sit with Regulus Black.”
“Thank you, Professor Delta!”
James looks at me and smiles, as if he is seeing the sun for the first time.
‘FUCK!’