The Four Interchanging Lives of Regulus Black (Harry Potter Fanfic)

Courage

"I remember," Regulus thought to himself. "I remember James Potter telling me Sirius was lucky to have a little brother like me, but he was surprisingly kind to me, kind despite—well, my quirks."

Yet he still hid behind Orion, constantly uncomfortable meeting new people, although in the back of his head, there was a strange remembering of knowing the brown-haired older boy at the bookshop, of recognizing the nickname the older boy used, which a part of his brain said he shouldn't.

Sequestering himself in his room left him to his thoughts, and in his thoughts he thought he concluded. "If I'm brave enough to face the cave, am I brave enough to face Sirius' friends, to potentially be sorted into Gryffindor? James was rather accepting, although they did find what I said baffling at times, but who doesn't."

Thus, he pulled his trunk along, having escaped their mother, who didn't mince words regarding Sirius abandoning his younger brother just as she did in the previous life, always going on and on about the things Sirius did wrong, always using Regulus as an example of how she wanted Sirius to act.

"Even though deep down she really wouldn't want him having an episode like I did the other night," Regulus said, finally coming to the train, going right to where Sirius and his friends were rather than hunting his brother down, asking, perhaps even begging to know where Sirius had gone.

And then he stood there, raising his hand to knock, freezing.

He'd made up his decision the night before, or so he thought, but strangely, at that moment, he felt he'd come to some strange crossroads, an emotional one.

At this crossroads, Regulus told himself again, "You faced the cave with the Infiri; surely Sirius' friends can't be worse than that?" He knocked, then when enough time passed, opened the door to the carriage compartment.

He didn't expect someone to grab him under the arms and lift him, sitting him in a seat next to—

Regulus stared, recognizing the friend of Sirius, who became a Death Eater, and the second year made a face indicating some displeasure. Still, he also recognized Sirius was the one who'd lifted him and realized he'd let out quite the undignified squeal."

"Oh, Sirius," James said. "No wonder your brother acts strangely if you do things like that?"

"You told them I act strange?' Regulus blurted out."

"Uh, yeah. Sorry. Can we not talk about you being sorted into Slytherin or Pureblood stuff? How do you think..."

"That we're superior, Sirius," Regulus huffed.

"Read the room," the friend who became a Death Eater said.

Regulus frowned. Sirius cleared his throat. "He didn't say that."

"I said that," Regulus said. He tilted his head, frowning. "Not that you even know what that means?"

"I don't..." Sirius let out a sigh, flicking his forehead. "I don't, do I?"

"Given that you just picked on your inferior, no, you do not."

"Inferior—you mean you?" Sirius asked.

James laughed. "Your brother. He's an odd way with words, doesn't he?"

"Certainly," the werewolf friend said, though Regulus couldn't remember the name then. "So you consider yourself both superior and inferior?"

"Yes. Isn't everybody?" Regulus asked.

Sirius ruffled his hair. "Here you go with things everyone else doesn't understand, Regulus. This is what I meant about him saying weird things."

Regulus sighed, wondering if he'd made the right choice.