Chapter Text
Regulus had never hated the amount of clothes in his closet so much before.
He's been folding and packing for what seemed like days. Grab a shirt, fold it, put it in a suit case, repeat until his arms fell off. He used to adore organizing, folding, sorting by color or alphabetical order. However this is heavily turning him off from the habit. But at least he still had one enjoyable thing.
Bitching.
"I still don't understand why i have to move." He uttered for the sixth time that hour. "I have no qualms with sending Sirius off, but this group punishment seems utterly unnecessary." All of this, just because Sirius can't keep it in his pants. Sirius was always a troubling child, causing chaos wherever he went, caused one of their academy's professors to quit even.
But this past week he had pushed Mother over the edge, skipping an entire day of school to hang around some french woman. Key word, woman. Mother was furious when she found out, and not 24 hours later were they told that they would be staying with their uncle for the foreseeable future.
In the countryside. Regulus tried not to think about that fact much.
He set a shirt into his suitcase, looking up at his older cousin.
Narcissa has been 'helping' him pack, because she can do so very much perched on his bed. But he didn't mind, she listened to him rant, that was all he expected her to do anyway.
"Is moving truly that terrible?" Narcissa asked. "You don't have much tying you here. It could be good for you, new faces and such." She tried to reason. Regulus replied with a deadpan glance.
He closed his suitcase, standing up. "If i am going to be forced to move, i would expect to at least be helped." He huffed, for no real reason, and to no one in particular, grabbing another suitcase.
This was his fifth.
"Honestly? I'm not certain this is even a punishment for Sirius. Less options, sure, but closer proximity." He started taking down his dress shirts. "I have no doubt he will start humping the leg of every bird he sees the moment the car is parked." He dropped the shirts on the bed next to Narcissa. "Would that blonde man of yours like any of these? i doubt i'll be needing any in the slums of Britain."
"I can certainly ask," she nodded. "But you should keep at least one. Just in cause."
"There won't be a reason for any." He grabbed one anyway.
___
"Help, sir?" Kreacher, the butler, asked. Regulus had been struggling to even lift this suitcase off the ground.
If it were anyone else, he would've refused. His ego liked to get in the way of him escaping weight lifting related injuries. But this was Kreacher. He worked for his Father when he was younger, was in the room no less than twenty minutes after Regulus was born, he probably changed more of his diapers than his Mother had. Regulus even coined the name Kreacher, due to a description of an unknown creature in a book his nanny read him once matching the butler's look nearly one to one.
He nodded and set the case down, letting Kreacher take over.
Regulus stepped to the side, looking over the house.
He would never see it again after today. Regulus wasn't the most sentimental person, but this was his home. He'd watched Sirius break four teeth running up those stone steps, he's finished six books sitting on that porch, his oldest cousin threatened to throw him out of that very window every time she would visit.
All of those memories, just that. Memories of the place he grew up.
Well, maybe that was a bit dramatic, this living situation has never been implied to be permanent, and holiday's would still be held here, but it was still sad.
Before he had any more time to reminisce, Mother stepped out, two workers following behind her. She looked as elegant as ever, in an ankle length white dress, her curls pinned in a bun, grey eyes scanning the car.
Everyone always told him he got his looks from his mother.
He took a step closer, bowing his head. "Good morning, Mother," He greeted. Regulus wasn't expecting her to see them off.
"Do you have everything?" Walburga asked, skipping any unnecessary pleasantries.
"Yes, ma'am." He nodded once, keeping his eyes angled down.
Walburga hummed shortly in acknowledgment, looking past Regulus. "Where is your brother?"
"I'm not certain. I believe he's still packing." Regulus had no idea what Sirius was doing right now, he wasn't even sure he'd packed at all yet.
She sighed, turning her gaze to Kreacher. "Kreacher, fetch Sirius."
Kreacher stepped back from the boot. "Yes, madam."
____________
Regulus leaned against the door, his cheek pressing into his fist, watching as the buildings got sparser and the plants got closer. Sirius has made a game out of calling out every stile he saw, which was annoying when he started it, but was even more so two and a half hours later.
"Stile." Sirius mumbled, his forehead pressed to the glass of the window, no doubt leaving a nasty red mark. Regulus was about turn around and strangle him, maybe throw him out of the car so he could go be with the fucking stile's if he liked them so much.
But, luckily, right before he could the car stopped, Kreacher announced that they'd arrived.
Sirius was already rushing inside before Regulus could even get his suitcase, yelling something about having to piss. Classy.
The house wasn't... horrible. It was small, probably only two and a half bathrooms, moss crawling up the pale stone, the walk way cracked and grassy, and the door handle looked like it would give him a disease if he held onto it for a little too long.
He already missed London.
Kreacher was busy looking inside the home, tidying up the place. It was their uncle Alphard's home, and he wasn't known to be the cleanest. Kreacher being gone left Regulus to his own devises. He'd successfully gotten one suitcase out, but the second one was being more difficult. It was sandwiched between the wall of the boot, and another, much heavier, suitcase. It wasn't his, so he wasn't trying to do unnecessary labor, but he couldn't really get the other one out from underneath it.
He had started to make some progress, when he heard a voice from behind him. Regulus startled, turning around to see who the fuck that was. It was a boy, tall, glasses that looked like they'd seen better days, brunette curls in his eyes, slightly sweaty.
"Sorry, i didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to ask if you needed any help." He said with a sheepish grin.
Beside him was a shorter boy, mousey brown hair, looked nervous.
"I don't." He did. Regulus turned back to the car.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"...okay." The boy said reluctantly, before adding. "If you change your mind, I'm James Potter, I live right there." James nodded his head to the home across the street.
Regulus was not planning on changing his mind. After a very awkward few seconds, the two went back to their own house.
He didn't want to have any more unwanted visitors to sneak up on him, so after that Regulus decided to just take the suitcase he did have and find his room, he would have Kreacher gather the rest when he wasn't as busy.
The house smelled like an old woman, not a particularly clean old woman at that.
Regulus hauled his suitcase upstairs, looking around. There was a room directly in front of the stairs, sunlight pouring through the open door. He stepped inside, examining it. There was one window, showing the view behind the house. A Tree, a hill, a fence in the distance. A closet on the left wall, a bed to the left of the window, a small rug his uncle added for some reason. Regulus didn't like it.
It wasn't bad, necessarily, but it wasn't good either. It was too close to the stairs, immediate access. He stepped out, and walked down the hall. There was a bathroom to his left, then two doors on opposite sides of the hallway. The one to his right was presumably the master bedroom, the door cracked open, which let Regulus note that it was the only one actually decorated. It had obvious french influence, a testament to Alphard's liking of the country.
He walked into the one on his left. It was bigger than the first, a window across from him, a closet on the same wall the door was on, a dresser in the left corner, what looked like a dead beetle on the windowsill. It was nowhere near perfect, but it was the best he would get.
Regulus set his suitcase down on the bed, looking out the window. He had a good view of the front, he could see most of the homes in the distance, and the house directly in front of them.
Sirius was out there, talking to the guys from earlier. They seemed like the type Sirius would be friends with, James looked loud and annoying, and the shorter one just looked like he clung onto James.
_____________
Regulus barely slept that night.
He was a creature of habit, and nearly every single thing that night was different than usual. The noise of late night London was gone, there was no light peeking under his curtains, his bed was hard and the duvet was scratchy.
Nearly everything.
He had one thing that was the same, his stuffed lamb, Mére. He got her when he was two, used to carry her around with him wherever he went. However now she remains in a more dignified spot.
His bed.
Regulus doesn't cuddle with her or anything childish like that, she simply sits by his pillows and watches for anything that may materialize in the dark. Adult stuff.
When he had actually fallen asleep, Alphard had gotten home. He'd seemingly forgotten Regulus and Sirius were arriving that day, because he was as loud as you'd expect a man who lives alone would be. Which is very.
Regulus attempted to fall asleep for a few more hours after that, but ultimately it was fruitless. He decided to just get up around five, he wasn't fully certain what time exactly. Which reminded him he needed a new clock.
He spent the first early morning hours unpacking, organizing the closet, dusting as best he could, and by the time he heard some movement in the house he was mostly finished.
He made his way downstairs where Kreacher was preparing breakfast. Alphard was sitting at the island, reading the paper. Regulus didn't know the paper made it all the way out here. He glanced up, meeting Regulus' eye. He paused, narrowing his eyes. "Oh, don't tell me..." He sucked in a breath through his teeth, his eyes scanning over him. "Regulus?"
The last time Regulus saw his uncle was when he was a toddler, that was also the last time Sirius had seen him. And their Mother wasn't the type to send family members progress pictures. Regulus liked to think him and his brother looked very different, but unfortunately, most members of the Black family look relatively the same, especially if all you have to go off on is a memory of a three year old.
Stepping fully into the kitchen, he nodded. "Sirius wouldn't be up this early." He stated. Sirius' sleep schedule was about the opposite of Regulus', while Regulus tended to get three hours of sleep on a good night, Sirius averaged thirteen.
"Good to know." Alphard folded the paper, setting it down. "Your mother didn't give me much background on either of you when she asked if you two could stay." He stood, snagging a piece of bacon from the plate Kreacher had placed them on. "Didn't mention she'd be sending your butler with you, either."
Regulus was mid opening the fridge when Alphard stood up, scanning for a pitcher. "You didn't seem to have any, and we have many." He explained, finding a container with water finally and taking it out. Kreacher had noticed what he was doing, and already placed a cup on the counter. "It certainly is convenient." Alphard commented.