Walburga and Orion Black were never warm, loving parents. They never wanted children, they wanted heirs. Regulus Black despised this, but he bit his tongue and swallowed his words, Sirius Black however, could not. The arguments started with Orion mentioning the Dark Lord and usually ended with Sirius storming out of the house and returning in the early hours of the morning but this time was different.
"If you walk out that door, you are no longer welcome in this house." Sirius halted and his back stiffened. The tension hung in the air. He turned to look at Regulus. He gave him a pleading look as if he was asking him to come with, but Regulus broke the stare and looked down at his shoes. Sirius left.
Regulus despised Sirius. How could he leave him? He knew how they treated him. He left him for bloody James Potter. The overzealous arrogant Gryffindor. While Regulus knew deep down that Sirius was only doing what he had to. Their parents despised Regulus. He would never live up to be the perfect Black heir. Regulus understood it, but it still hurt. He felt left, abandoned, and alone. The new weight of being the sole heir of the Black family was crushing him. The expectations were always high for the Black brothers, but now, Regulus had no room for mistakes. He would be expected to marry a pure blooded girl he was probably related to in one way or another, carry on the blood line, and become a Death Eater. Regulus wanted none of this, but he never said anything. Despite his parents putting theses extraneous expectations upon him, he still found himself loyal to them. After Sirius left, they were the only constants in his life and even though he knew he would be unhappy, he was comfortable. There was never any unknowns, everything has been planned for him from the moment he was born.
September first had finally arrived and Regulus dreaded returning to school because returning to Hogwarts meant seeing his brother, and he didn't think he could handle it. The anger had morphed into hurt and Regulus felt replaced. When he arrived on the platform, he had spotted James Potter and his brother. Their smiles were bright and their laughing could be heard from across the platform. Sirius chose James over him. Regulus could feel the tears welling in his eyes, but he straightened his shoulder and held his head high. The noble house of Black does not show weakness, ever.
As Regulus made his way onto the train, he searched for an empty compartment, but he had arrived a few minutes too late and all the compartments were nearly filled. Regulus never had any friends. His parents usually forced his to attend events with other pureblood families and to mingle with the children his age, but he preferred to spend his time by himself. He usually avoided people at all costs, usually hiding in the library or sneaking off to the astronomy tower late at night. The compartment he settled on had a boy he knew as Remus Lupin sitting in the far corner looking out the window. He knew that Lupin was friends with Sirius and Potter but he was usually kind to him and never went out of the way to bother him. All he could do was hope that Lupin's other friends decided to sit somewhere else. Sliding open the door, Regulus make eye contact with Lupin, giving him a curt nod which he returned. He sat down in the opposite corner from him and pulled out a book he had bought recently in Diagon Alley about transfiguration, the only subject he had anything less than an exceeds expectations in.
After a few minutes, James and Sirius piled into the compartment, James gushing over Evans and Sirius creating an elaborate plan to get them together. Once they noticed Regulus, the laughing stopped, as if he had sucked all the joy from the compartment. Sirius was the first to speak.
"Uh.. Hey Reg..." He seemed to be confused as to why Regulus was there. They hadn't spoken once since Sirius left. Sirius felt bad, he did. He wished Regulus had come with him, but Regulus didn't. Regulus grew more uncomfortable. He could feel his heart begin to pound. He thought he could handle this, but Merlin, he was wrong. The compartment suddenly felt suffocating and he had to get out. He abruptly stood up, panting, and raced out towards the back of the train. James and Sirius exchanged a look. Sirius turned to race after Regulus but James grabbed his wrist.
"Padfoot, wait, I'll go. I don't think he's ready to talk to you." James said in a soft tone. Sirius took a deep breath and agreed with James. James left the compartment and began searching for Regulus. Once James had reached the back of the train, he spotted . He was sitting in the hall crying. James crouched down next to him and attempted to calm him down. His heart ached for the boy. Sirius had told him about the wretched things his parents had done to him and Regulus. He could not fathom how he was feeling.
"Regulus? Hey, Regulus?" James spoke quietly. Regulus flinched.
"Please, just leave me alone." James grabbed Regulus's shoulder.
"You know I can't do that." James replied with a lopsided grin on his face.
"You are a bloody prat Potter. I asked you to leave me alone. Go back to my brother and your stupid friends." Regulus hated people seeing him cry. He was always taught to keep a mask on, to hide his emotions. Emotions are weakness. He felt weak. He just didn't want everyone else to know too. He shook James's hand off his shoulder and stood up.
"I don't need your help and I certainly don't need your pity." and with that, he left James sitting on the floor of the train, unsure of how to feel about what had just happened.
