The Story of Regulus Black - Years 1-4

IX. The Act

The months at Hogwarts seemed to bleed together. Before they all knew it, Halloween had come and gone like just a normal day. After Halloween came Quidditch, which soon became the talk of the whole school. The first match was Gryffindor v. Slytherin, and - much to the disdain of the Slytherin's - Gryffindor won.

James Potter was the newest addition to the team, and he scored goals like it was the easiest thing in the world to him.

Regulus was quite enjoying his time at Hogwarts. He and Barty both managed to be tied for the best student in their whole year (followed very closely behind by Francesco Anderson, who never really shut up about it).

Potions had definitely turned out to be the most difficult class. Not because of the subject itself - which actually came quite easily to Regulus - but because of the competition of it all.

Barty and Regulus still had to share a table with Francesco and Deacon which, following the incident in Defense, became quite a hostile environment; even Slughorn seemed to avoid their table if he could.

After Regulus and Francesco learned about their natural talent for potion-making, every single potion became like a competition between the two of them. For solo potions, they would both get through the steps as quickly (while still being accurate and precise) as they could. Partner potions were an absolute nightmare for both Barty and Deacon, who didn't really care for or understand the feud between the two boys.

Barty didn't understand why Francesco was so mad about what had happened in Defense. "I mean, he is a mudblood," Barty had said shortly after it had happened. "And besides, not like you said it to him. Why is he so mad about it?"

Regulus thought that he knew exactly why Francesco was so mad about the whole thing; he wanted to protect Deacon.

Deacon, on the other hand, was practically begging Francesco to let the whole thing go. "Fran, please, just let it go," Deacon pleaded after three whole weeks had passed and the hostility between the two boys had only grown stronger.

"No, Dea, I'm not going to let it go! You heard what he called you!" Francesco was pacing back and forth between the two boys's beds.

"Exactly, Fran, he said it to me! He called me a mudblood or whatever that stupid word is! Not you! So just let it go!"

"He's right," Benjamin Stone muttered from his bed, not looking up from his History of Magic homework.

"I don't care! It's-"

"Just STOP!" Deacon shouted. Fran and Benjamin both looked up from where they were in shock; Deacon had never really raised his voice before. "LET. IT. GO."

Since then, the hatred that Francesco felt for Regulus only intensified, and Deacon got progressively more annoyed.

By mid-November, Regulus noticed that the two boys were spending more and more time apart. Deacon would always try to separate himself from Francesco at meals, and they rarely ever talked in class.

I wonder what's going on with them, Regulus thought to himself during breakfast on Tuesday, 21 November.

No, stop thinking about them.

But they've been practically inseparable since the start of term.

Don't know why. Honestly, a pure-blood being best mates with a mudblood? Disgusting.

Regulus heaved a sigh and his eyes roved over the Gryffindor table, until they landed on the back of Sirius Black's head. He was pushing his food around his plate, but not really eating any of it.