Jegulus: the escaping of a broken home

Flashing lights

I allowed myself to be dragged along the train corridor by Barty, barely paying attention to the path I was on. I was busy trying to think of the best way to explain this.

I was sitting there and they just came and sat next to me. I didn't even really acknowledge their presence.

That would work, right? I winced as Barty tightened his grip on my wrist and we stepped out into the cool night air, voices of students milling about carrying to my trained ears. He stumbled slightly on the last step and tripped, making me stumble with him as he grabbed my waist to steady himself.

I hissed in pain through gritted teeth, he had hit one of my bruises. He seemed to realize and let go, switching his loosened grip to my wrist again and giving me an apologetic glance.

While he agreed with my mother and father's principles, he hated my parents, having grown up in an aristocratic household himself and finding it unlikeable. Revolting would probably be his choice word. Actually some sort of profanity would be his choice word, but revolting will do.

He was like Sirius, in the sense that he went against his father and the path set out for him. But only in that sense. In every other aspect, they were polar opposites.

Oh, wait. No, they're also both loud. Loud and physical. The kind of people who won't hold back in an argument, and will grow tired of bickering quickly, resorting to punches to settle it. The people who won't think before they leap, making me the ideal person to be around.

Because I'm the one to think before jumping, the one to hold Barty back from doing something stupid. Granted, I failed most of the time and Barty would carry out the stupid action anyways, sometimes dragging me into his shit, but I tried to be the responsible one.

So you know, the pair of best friends that everyone questions because you couldn't find two more different people. But that's what made us good for each other, I guess.

He was also the only one who knew about the abuse, besides those too-nosy-for-their-own-good dimwits back in the compartment. Another reason Barty hated my parents. He couldn't get me out, as his dad despised my parents and his dad would rather I die with them then ruin his perfect record of not interacting with one of us. The Sacred 28. So Barty simply wrote to me a lot and helped heal any injuries, which he had gotten very good at over the years. He had sworn not to tell anyone, of course, to keep it a secret, but all that had just gone down the drain when that moronic group of Gryffindors had found out.

God, it was so much easier to hate them when you weren't around them. They had seemed comforting and easy to be around, but what's stopping them from telling the other empty-headed Gryffindors at Hogwarts? And the story? Way to go, Reg. You just told them something you haven't even told Barty.

I hadn't realized Barty had continued walking with me by his side until his deep voice broke me out of my worrisome thoughts, muffled slightly as though coming from a distance.

"Hey! Reg!" He snapped his fingers in front of my face, glaring at me.

"Yeah, sorry." I mumbled, a embarrassed blush tinting my cheeks.

"Which carriage?" He asked, rolling his eyes and gesturing to all the ones in front of us. I was surprised he gave me the choice instead of picking for us as usual. I pointed to an empty one, muttering something like, "That one."

"Okay, then." He said, dragging me along. I tried to resist for the fun of it (and maybe to put off the inevitable confrontation conversation), but quickly realized he was twelve times stronger than last year. Or I was twelve times weaker. I would have to try to gain that strength back or Warrington would have my head. At least Quidditch will remain the same for me, until the holidays. I wasn't sure if the thought was comforting or terrifying.

Either way, I was forced into the carriage, Barty sitting across from me. He opened his mouth to say something, but I didn't hear anything, his voice drowning out to an indistinguishable mumble in my ears. I was busy staring at the creature behind him.

The skeletal black horse looked almost as starved and gaunt as I was sure I appeared to others, its ribs showing through its stretched skin. Its bony body somehow still looked sturdy though, sturdy enough to hold up its thin wings that I knew were almost as strong as a dragon's.

I would have worried it was malnourished if I hadn't studied about them in my own time. That was simply the way they were built.

The creature turned its head to stare at me with blank white eyes that were glowing slightly. Something about it was magnificent in an eerie way. It turned back around, its silky black mane flowing freely around its slim face.

A thestral.

I had come across the term in Hogwarts: A History. Trained to pull the school carriages, they were carnivorous creatures, and only ate meat. They were attracted to the scent of blood, blood of any sort.

And they were only visible to the human eye that has witnessed and accepted death.

I blinked stupidly. Witnessed, sure. Accepted, well, I had been hoping it was a dream.

"Reg! Are you listening?" Barty clapped his hands in front of my face. I jumped. He lowered his hands and asked quietly, "Are you ok?" He didn't drop his cold exterior though, and I didn't expect him to.

"I'm fine." I answered plainly, knowing he wouldn't know what thestrals were. He hated reading.

"Ok. Then would you care to explain why you were sitting with them on the train?" He hissed, spitting out them as though it was dirt on his tongue.

"I was just sitting there and they just came and sat next to me. I didn't even really acknowledge their presence." I recited my story automatically, willing my face to stay straight.

Please accept it, please accept it, don't question it.

I was chanting this in my head, my foot tapping anxiously. Luckily, the wind seemed to provide enough noise and he didn't notice this nervous habit of mine. Unluckily, Barty wasn't daft, and he eyed me suspiciously.

"But I offered you a seat with us. Why didn't you come sit there? You prefer their company or something?"

"No, no, not at all. I just had to finish the book my mother assigned me, remember?"

"You think she would have preferred you sit and read with the mudblood and blood traitors, or sit and read with us?"

"You." I mumbled quietly, no longer meeting his eye. I felt rather like a 5-year-old child being scolded for eating too many sweets.

"Then why did you sit with them?" He hissed angrily.

"I- I don't know. It won't happen again, okay?" I sighed, unable to come up with anything better.

"It better not. You can do whatever you want, but if you do that..." he trailed off warningly, and I knew who he was warning me about.

Walburga and Orion Black.

Well, that was dramatic. And yeah, they're finally off the train, yay! *jazz hands*

Jegulus moment in a few chapters 🥳

Anyways, thanks for reading, have a good day/afternoon/night, love you all! 💕