Chapter Text
Regulus sighs, removes his airpods, and grabs his luggage from the overhead bin.
The plane ride from California to the suburbs of Connecticut was almost torturous, but not because of how many hours it took. It was the anticipation of moving his entire life across the country to attend college with his brother. Not that he really had a choice in the matter, given his unique circumstances…
He snags the rest of his luggage fairly quickly from baggage claim, and by the time he reaches the exit doors of the airport, Sirius is already parked right outside the terminal. The older boy jolts out of the passenger seat and hugs his brother.
“Reggie! I’ve missed you so much,” Sirius ruffles Regulus’ hair.
“Sirius, it’s been like 2 weeks since I last saw you.”
“That’s two weeks too long! How was vacation with the Rosiers, anyway?”
“It was good, actually. Evan and Pandora are always dragging me along on their crazy side quests, and Mrs. Rosier is a sweetheart, as usual,” Regulus’ mouth instinctively forms into a smile at the thought of his second family.
“I’m so happy to hear that. They’ve been such a great resource for you since…,” Sirius starts, a slight frown appearing on his face, but is interrupted by the slamming of a car door.
“So this is the famous Regulus Black,” James (Regulus deduces) beams and offers his arm out for a handshake, “Pleasure to meet you. I’m James Potter, but you can just call me James.”
“Potter it is,” Regulus replies smugly, but he shakes James’ hand nonetheless.
James snorts slightly, clearly amused by Regulus’ humor. “Here, let me grab those for you,” James picks up Regulus’ large bag in his right arm and the carry-on in his left. Regulus can’t help but roll his eyes as James purposely flexes his biceps while placing the suitcases in the trunk. He is not impressed with James Potter’s strength, nor his perfect smile. In fact, Regulus is ecstatic at the idea of arriving at Hogwarts University, locking himself in his dorm, and getting far, far away from James. He didn’t like obnoxious rich boys in high school, and he won’t like them in college either.
“Ignore him,” Sirius says, snapping Regulus out of his daze. “James is a man-whore who won’t stop until every person at Hogwarts is in love with him. Don’t fall for his stupid charm.”
“Firstly, I already figured that out from the minute I laid eyes on him. Second, that’s some way to talk about your ‘best friend,’ don’t you think?” Regulus cocks an eyebrow.
“Oh, don’t worry. James is fully aware of what I think of his dating tendencies. Actually, I should say ‘hook-up tendencies.’ James doesn’t date,” Sirius scoffs, but it’s clear there’s admiration and amusement in his eyes. “He is a great friend, though. I don’t think I would’ve survived my first year without him,” he smiles softly.
“Hop in, boys!” James calls from the driver’s seat, and the Black brothers comply.
“Here we go,” Sirius pats his brother on the shoulder and winks.
The entire car ride, Regulus’ mind races with possibilities of what might happen when he arrives at his new school. Who will he meet? What will his dorm building look like? What will his roommate look like? Regulus tried to search for the instagram of “Bartemius Crouch” the minute they were assigned to room together, but he couldn’t find a single account. If he’s honest with himself, Regulus is nervous about making friends. He didn’t have many back home, just Pandora and Evan, really, and they decided to take Regulus in as essentially their third sibling the minute they saw the frail boy sitting alone at lunch on the first day of middle school. Before Regulus’ brain arrives at the worst possible outcomes (which happens far too often to be considered normal), the car comes to an abrupt stop.
“Here we are. I can help you bring your stuff up to your dorm, if you’d like,” James offers.
“I got it, thanks,” Regulus replies coldly.
“I’ll be over later to help you unpack everything from the mailroom,” Sirius says from the front seat. “Love you, Reggie.”
“Bye, Sirius.” He doesn’t even bother saying goodbye to James, just grabs his bags from the trunk and heads to the little table stationed in front of the dorm buildings. He takes a minute to take everything in before lining up to get his orientation packet. The architecture of the buildings is visually phenomenal. One of the perks of going to a New England college established in the 1800s, Regulus supposes. The air is more humid than he would have expected for Connecticut, but it is the end of August, to be fair. He takes a deep breath and approaches the red-haired girl sitting next to a sign that reads “Welcome First-years!”
“Hi!” the girl exclaims, far too energetic for how early in the morning it is, in Regulus’ opinion. “First and last name?”
“Regulus Black.”
“I knew you looked familiar! Sirius’ brother, right?” Lily asks to be certain.
He knows Sirius has a reputation at this school, and he’s dreaded this exact scenario since he received his acceptance letter, but he nods in confirmation. “That’s the one.”
“I’ve taken a few music classes with him. He’s really talented, but he always raves about how his younger brother is the real musical prodigy. I’m Lily, by the way! Lily Evans.” Lily has dark red hair, bright green eyes, and freckles covering her entire body. Despite her overly-bubbly energy, Regulus has a good feeling about her. She reminds him a bit of Pandora right off the bat.
“It’s nice to meet you, Lily,” Regulus forces a small smile.
“So, what instrument do you play?” she asks eagerly.
“Pardon?”
“Well since Sirius talked so much about how musically talented you are, I assume you play an instrument? Unless you sing, which is totally impressive as well!”
“Oh, right,” Regulus blushes slightly at the praise, “Well I actually play the violin, viola, piano, guitar, ukulele, and classical bass, but the violin is my main instrument. I also sing and do a bit of songwriting.”
“Wow!” Lily’s eyes begin to sparkle. “Six instruments and you can sing? I can see why Sirius talked about you so much. I know it’s early in the year for this, but have you considered joining orchestra? I actually help run the club and would love to send over some more information if you’re interested!”
“Actually, that would be great. I was planning to sign up during the club fair, but the sooner I can start working on an audition piece, the better,” Regulus says, relieved. Now he at least has one acquaintance in the club he’ll be devoting most of his time too.
“Here, let me give you my contact information and we can chat about it more!” After she finishes writing out her phone number on a piece of paper and handing it to Regulus, Lily gasps. “Oh! I almost forgot, here’s your orientation packet and room key,” she slides the materials over the table, “You’re on the 4th floor. I’ll see you around, Regulus!”
“Thank you, Lily,” Regulus doesn’t have to force his smile this time. He puts the items in his tote bag and heads to the elevator. Except there is no elevator. That’s the other thing about old ass buildings—they lack modern technology. “Fuck my life,” Regulus sighs and heads to the stairs. He takes one luggage at a time up all four flights of stairs. He briefly thinks that things would be easier if James were here with his stupidly strong arms, but he quickly dismisses that thought. He’s an adult now, and adults deal with their own baggage.
After he finally brings his stuff upstairs, he goes to unlock his room, but the door is already cracked open. He walks in and immediately gets a whiff of marijuana. There’s a boy with dyed jet black hair sitting by the window holding a cart.
The boy takes a deep hit from his cart and then exhales toward Regulus. His face is covered with piercings and his arms each have a few tattoos. “You must be Regulus,” he grins. “Sorry about the smoke. I tried to keep it outside of the window, but you startled me,” the boy says, but he doesn’t look very apologetic at all. “I’m Barty,” he doesn’t let Regulus reply before he starts speaking again. “This room is pretty big, huh. Can’t help but think we should get a couch or something to fill the space.”
“I’m…Regulus,” he replies hesitantly. Barty is right, their double is huge, but that’s the least of Regulus’ concerns at the moment. There’s an awkward silence, and then Regulus asks, “Are you going to the first orientation event tonight?”
“Fuck no,” Barty replies. “I personally won’t be going to any of the orientation events. But feel free to go without me, I could make good use of an empty room this big,” he grins in the same uncanny manner as before.
“Figures,” Regulus mumbles. He’s on his own, once again. “My brother is coming over in a bit to help me unpack, just a heads up.”
“Well, if he looks anything like you, I’ll be more than happy just sitting here and observing,” Barty winks.
Barty Crouch Jr. is a menace, Regulus concludes.
—————
“Aaand,” Sirius pauses as he closes the final desk drawer, “Ta-da! All finished.”
“Thanks again for helping me with this,” Regulus says.
“Of course! I actually enjoy cleaning and organizing when Walburga isn’t forcing me to do it,” Sirius dusts off his hands. Regulus doesn’t understand how Sirius can joke so casually about their parents at a time like this, but he decides not to say anything. “You ready for your first assembly?”
“I guess,” Regulus shrugs. He looks across the room to find his roommate passed out on a twin sized bed. Barty’s side of the room is completely undecorated apart from the black sheets on his bed and a few cigarette packs on his desk. Living with a difficult roommate is a classic college lesson most people have to learn, he supposes. He turns back to Sirius, who is still beaming and admiring the decorations. “I never thought I’d see you so excited about school starting.”
“Hogwarts is different from high school,” Sirius insists. “You’ll see. Plus, I’m happy I have you here to experience it with me. It just isn’t the same over the phone.”
He has a point, two years of texting and calling while they’ve been physically thousands of miles apart has been beyond difficult. Regulus understands why Sirius wanted to get as far away from home as possible once he turned 18, but it still stings sometimes. His brother was busy growing up and experiencing life for the first time while Regulus was a sheltered and abandoned 16 year old. He would stay up late to hear all about Sirius’ stories and adventures with his group of friends (the so called ‘Marauders’, which Regulus thinks is ridiculous), seething with envy as new characters replaced his role in his brother’s life.
Now, he’s the adult with a fresh start and a million stories to create.
“We should go,” Regulus decides, picking up his orientation tote bag and placing it on his shoulder.
Sirius walks him across campus and into the auditorium, but pauses before they can sit down. “Well, this is where we part. I’ve gotta run to dinner with Moony, but I’ll text you later, okay? Just…try to make a friend.”
Easy for you to say. Regulus isn’t like his brother at all. He can’t charm a room with one sentence, and he certainly doesn’t go out of his way to talk to new people if he isn’t forced to. Sirius knows exactly what he’s doing: throwing his brother in the deep end and hoping he can swim. Shit.
“I’ll try…”
“You’ve got this,” Sirius pats his shoulders in reassurance. “Love you, Reggie.”
“Bye,” he mumbles, walking down the aisle of the auditorium to find an empty seat. The room is filled with first years and their parents, which makes his heart ache a little. He finally finds an empty section and sits, trying his best not to look around and make eye contact with anyone. He wishes Pandora or Evan were here. They would know exactly what to do in a situation like this. Pandora would probably make friends with the entire section.
His spiraling thoughts are interrupted by a voice beside him.
“Nervous?”
Startled, Regulus jumps a bit, and the girl laughs in response. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just noticed that you were here alone,” she fidgets with a braid in her hair. “I’m Dorcas.”
It takes Regulus a minute to compute the fact that a stranger is speaking to him. “Oh, um, I’m Regulus. Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” she smiles. There’s an empty seat in between them, so Dorcas gets up and moves into it to close the space between them and continue the conversation. “What dorm building are you in? Is it close to here?”
“I’m in Salazar, so it’s pretty central, which is nice,” he replies.
Dorcas gasps, “No way, I’m in Salazar too! Very few first years are put there because the big rooms are so sought after.”
“Guess we got lucky, then.”
“Totally,” she agrees. “I’m so glad I get to live on campus, though. I’m actually from the area, so I could technically commute, but my parents wanted me to have the full ‘college experience’ and live in a dorm, you know?” Regulus nods and Dorcas continues, “I practically kicked them out after we were finished moving in earlier. No reason to make them sit through this boring ass presentation when they’ve heard everything a million times, so they’re already back home by now. Did your parents help you move in?”
Regulus’ heart drops. He knew he’d have to answer a question like this at some point, but he wasn’t expecting it so soon.
“My parents are dead.”
“Oh,” Dorcas frowns, going quiet. “I’m sorry.”
It’s a natural and expected response, the one he normally gets when he drops the bomb, so he continues with a practiced line. “It’s fine. It happened over a year ago, so…”
The truth is, it’s not fine. Orion was an absent father who didn’t particularly care about the lives of his children at all, and Walburga was a monster when she was drunk (which was more often than not), but having half-shitty parents is better than having no parents at all. Every day since the accident, Regulus has ached for the family he once had, wishing he could turn back the clock and stop it all from collapsing.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to disrupt the mood,” Regulus frowns, realizing the terrible first impression he’s creating.
“You aren’t,” Dorcas promises. She pauses, “I bet they’d be proud of you. For doing it all on your own.”
They probably would; Hogwarts is a prestigious institution, and he knows his parents would have sent him there without hesitation despite the distance from home, just like they did with Sirius. They didn’t even live to see Regulus’ acceptance letter, but they would have been happy, he thinks. It’s a comforting thought.
“Thank you,” he says sincerely. “I’m not completely alone, though. My older brother is a junior here, so he’s been helping me a lot.”
“Good,” Dorcas nods, then there’s silence between them. Dorcas continues to fidget with her braids, “I don’t mean to sound juvenile, but…would you like to be friends? I don’t really know anyone here, and you’re the first person I’ve talked to where I haven’t gotten completely irritated.”
Friends. The only ‘friends’ Regulus has had before this are Pandora and Evan, and they’re more like family at this point. He chuckles, “Yeah, ‘friends’ sounds nice.”
Before she can reply, a woman walks onto the stage and the audience goes quiet, applauding in place of the chatter. She’s an older woman with sunken eyes and a sweet smile, adjusting the papers on the podium.
“Good evening students, family, and friends, and welcome to Hogwarts University,” the audience cheers once again, “I’m Minerva McGonagall, and I am the class dean for first year students. I hope that we will all be able to foster close relationships as this year continues, and that each and every one of you can use me as a resource for whatever struggles you may face as you transition into adulthood.” She transitions into talking about Hogwarts as an institution: its history, resources, opportunities, and traditions.
“Here at Hogwarts, we value our traditions greatly, and I’ll let you in on the first one today. Each year, grades are assigned a rotating class color and animal as a way to connect with your classmates and foster school spirit. This year, you have been given the Green Snakes, and in four years, once you’ve all graduated, the next freshman class will carry on your legacy and take on the same symbol and color,” she explains. “Find community in this distinction, and cherish the years you have in these sacred halls. I look forward to seeing what this class can achieve.”
The assembly ends shortly after that, and Dorcas and Regulus walk back to their dorms side by side.
“I’m glad we didn’t get a stupid color like orange,” Dorcas remarks.
“Orange isn’t even an option out of the four colors,” Regulus chuckles.
“I know but imagine if it was,” she shudders. “All I’m saying is I’m very happy with green.”
“Me too,” Regulus admits. “My brother’s class color is red.”
“Oh, I would have died,” Dorcas emphasizes dramatically. “I look terrible in red.”
“I’m sure you look great in everything,” he rolls his eyes with a smile, opening the door to their building and gesturing for her to walk inside.
“Such a gentleman,” she leads them inside and up the stairs, stopping at the second floor. “This is me.”
“You’re so lucky you only have to walk up two flights,” Regulus sighs, peering over to what seems like an endless staircase.
“At least you won’t have to worry about the freshman 15,” she jokes. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”
And just like that, Regulus has made a friend without anyone’s help. Maybe he can survive college after all.
—————
Regulus closes out the message and continues jotting down notes on his iPad before he gets caught slacking off. It’s a huge lecture class, so the professor probably isn’t paying that much attention, but he’d rather be safe than sorry and embarrassed.
He checks the clock every minute, patiently waiting for the hour and fifteen minutes to be over so he can go home and rot. He’s really regretting his life choices right about now.
“Psst.”
Huh?
“Psssst.”
Regulus turns toward the source of the noise, which happens to be the boy seated next to him.
“Did you get that last part? I totally zoned out,” the boy whispers.
“Oh, uh…” he looks down at his notes, which are practically gibberish in this state of exhaustion. “Not really. Sorry.”
“It’s okay, it probably wasn’t important,” the boy shrugs. “You know, you look oddly familiar…what’s your name?”
It’s an interesting thing to say, especially because Regulus had been thinking the same exact thing about him.
“Regulus.”
The boy gasps, as if the synapses in his brain are firing, “You’re Padfoot’s brother!”
“Padfoot?”
“Okay, guys,” the professor exits his slideshow presentation, “that’s all for today. My office hours this week will be on Wednesday afternoon, so shoot me an email if you’d like to stop by. There’s a short worksheet on Canvas that you’ll need to complete by next class. See you all then.”
Regulus starts to pack up, but the boy next to him interrupts again.
“Do you have a class now?”
“Uh, no. This is my only class today,” Regulus explains trepidatiously. “Why?”
“Come with me,” he packs up his belongings and gestures for Regulus to follow suit. He doesn’t know why he’s compelled to listen to a stranger (let alone one of Sirius’ friends), but he does, following the boy out of the classroom and into a different part of the science building.
“I never caught your name,” Regulus reminds him.
“Oh, that’s right! I’m Peter,” he introduces himself, “I’m sure you’ve heard all about me.” Regulus has heard all about Peter and his genius prank ideas, fearless personality, and incredible wit. Peter opens the door to a room Regulus has never been in, “And this is the STEM student lounge.”
The room is beautifully lit with windows from floor to ceiling, plush couches and nooks with scattered notes and pens decorate each corner. It’s empty at this time of day aside from a few quiet students scribbling in their journals. The space is more modern than anything else on campus, but it’s stunning nonetheless.
“This is…really nice,” Regulus looks around in awe.
“Isn’t it?” Peter grins. “Have you decided on a major yet? Because STEM students get lots of great perks at this school.”
“Uh, not yet, no,” Regulus admits. They walk further into the room and settle into a small booth away from any people. “I’m assuming you’re a STEM major, then?”
“Yup,” Peter nods, unzipping his backpack and pulling out a bag of peanut M&Ms. “Want some?”
“Sure, thanks,” Regulus smiles at the boy’s generosity, holding out his hand for a few pieces.
“Anyway,” Peter continues after he’s distributed them, “I started out thinking I was gonna be a Psychology major, which is where I met Sirius in first year. Then, I realized that wasn’t for me and switched to Environmental Science. That got pretty boring for me, so I switched to Physics as my final major. And this year, my advisor told me I should consider minoring in something else since I’ve finished most of my major credits, so I took up organic chemistry.”
“Willingly?”
Peter laughs, “It appears so. I just really love anything science related, I guess. Which is why I’m one of the only third years in a class full of first and second years.”
Regulus hums, “That makes sense.”
“So, why are you forcing yourself into orgo as an undecided freshman?” he asks curiously.
“It’s sort of hard to explain, but I made a promise to someone that I would study medicine. Or, at least try to…” Regulus thinks back to that day, pieces of an old guitar scattered across his bedroom floor. The memory distorts his face into an involuntary scowl.
“I see,” Peter squints, trying to place the pieces together. “Is that what you want to do? Medicine?”
“I’m really good at it,” Regulus explains, as if that’s an answer.
“That’s not what I asked,” Peter smiles softly, trying to coax Regulus’ true response out gently. Maybe he should have stuck with Psychology, because Regulus feels like he’s at therapy right now.
“I don’t know what I want yet.” It’s a lie, it always has been. “Which is why I’m trying out different classes to see what works best.”
“Hm,” Peter plops another piece of candy in his mouth. “You remind me a lot of your brother.”
That shocks him, because he and Sirius are polar opposites and everyone knows it. He’s only ever been compared to his brother physically, people saying they look like twins. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know, you just seem…stubborn.”
Regulus laughs, in shock at the boy’s audacity, “I guess Sirius and I do have that in common, yeah.”
“I think you’d get along well with our friend, Remus,” Peter remarks. It makes Regulus a little uncomfortable being perceived like this in such a short amount of time, but Peter is so intuitive and observant that it’s almost admirable.
Speaking of Remus, Regulus has heard more about him than any of Sirius’ friends, even James. Every time he would talk to Sirius it was always ‘Moony this’ or ‘Moony that’. He’s half convinced Sirius is in love with this man from the sheer amount of times he’s been brought up.
“I have an idea and you might hate it,” Peter says, switching the subject.
“Yes?”
“You come to the Marauders’ apartment for dinner this Friday,” he suggests. “It’s just past the quad, and that way, you can spend time with all of Sirius’ closest friends. We’d all be more than happy to host you and help you out with your college transition. Lord knows how much we would have appreciated having upperclassmen friends in our first year. What do you say?”
“I don’t know…” He came to Hogwarts to be close with his brother, but he also wants to establish his own personhood that isn’t automatically tied to Sirius. He wants to shine on his own, not be in the shadows of the brightest star like he has his entire life. It’s conflicting as hell.
“I promise you’ll appreciate a home cooked meal after a week of dining hall food,” he adds.
That’s true…
“Okay, I guess I could stop by for a bit,” Regulus decides. Peter is oddly convincing when he wants to be.
“Awesome,” Peter grins. “Everyone is gonna be so happy. I can already see you as an honorary member of the group.”
So much for a clean slate.