The Story of Regulus Black - Years 1-4

LVIII. Friends with a Mudblood

CW: child abuse

Regulus Black awoke on the morning of 21 December with a terrible headache. Where it had come from, Regulus didn't know. All he knew was that it felt like his brain had doubled in size and was pounding on his skull, trying desperately to grow the space.

He groaned and buried his face into his pillows, squeezing his eyes tightly shut to keep the darkness there. However, when the blanket of darkness brought no relief, he rolled over onto his back and slapped a palm over his eyes. He swallowed, and was rather grateful to discover that his throat wasn't sore; at least he didn't have a cold or something of that sort.

For not the first time since he had returned home the day before, he found himself wishing he had stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas. If he was at the school, he could just run to Madam Pomfrey's, and she could give him a potion to be rid of his headache. However, neither of his parents were the best at potions, and therefore, probably wouldn't make him one.

"Kreacher!" Regulus called, and the old house elf appeared on the end of his bed with a crack.

"Good morning, Master Regulus! What can Kreacher be doing for you?" Kreacher asked, flapping his ears in excitement.

Regulus sat up, keeping his palms pressed firmly against his eyes. "Can you get me some water, please?" He asked, his voice hoarse and deep from sleep.

"Yes, of course, Master Regulus! Kreacher will be getting you water!" And he disappeared.

Regulus sat on his bed, palms pressed so firmly against his eyelids that he could see small white speckles in the blanket of darkness. However, when he heard the tapping of a beak on his window, he knew that he had to get up. He removed his hands from his face and opened his eyes, squinting at the light that was pouring in through the gap between the curtains that surrounded his four poster.

When he tore open the curtains, he had to shield his eyes from the sunlight that immediately overtook his vision and made the pain in his head multiply. With a groan of uncomfort and exhaustion, Regulus stood from his bed and walked over to his window. When he slid it open, a tawny owl came swooping in, a letter in her beak.

"Hullo, Artemis," he said, giving the owl a small smile and holding out his right forearm for her to perch on, which she did happily. He took the letter from her beak and read over the front of the envelope.

Regulus Black
12 Grimmauld Place
London Borough of Islington

"Who's this from," he muttered, more to himself than anything. He tossed the envelope onto his bed and turned back to his owl, reaching out his bent index finger. Artemis nibbled on his finger, and Regulus chuckled lowly. "I'm sure you're hungry, huh?"

Artemis hooted in response, and Regulus walked over to the corner of his room. In this corner, Artemis's cage was resting on the top of his desk, and her food was laying in a small bag on the ground beside it. He held out his arm so that the owl could hop into her cage, and then gave her some food.

When he sat back down on the edge of his bed to read his letter, Kreacher appeared back on the foot. He held a glass that was filled to the brim with water in his hand, and he thrust it in the direction of Regulus.

"Here you are, Master Regulus!" He said.

Regulus took the glass with a smile and gulped half of it down in seconds. "Thank you, Kreacher," he replied, placing what was left onto his bedside table.

"Master Regulus is welcome!" Kreacher announced.

The old elf disappeared rather suddenly, and Regulus assumed that he must have been called by one of his parents. He grabbed the letter from where it was rested beside him on the bed, and he ripped it open to take out the folded parchment from within.