Diptych

Chapter 2

In the five days that passed between Regulus' sixteenth birthday and his return to Hogwarts, he could count on one hand the conversations he had with his parents. His father came to him once while he was packing his trunk and told him that he ought to spend more time with Selwyn in the upcoming term, because he planned on doing business with his father in the near future and would like an excuse to write to him. That didn't sound like a difficult thing to do considering their beds were four feet apart in the dorm, but equally wasn't something Regulus would usually volunteer to do. His mother told him over breakfast that he'd have to stay at the castle over Christmas, that they'd be much too busy to 'give him the attention he'd demand', whatever that meant. She'd also pounced on the opportunity to complain to him about his father as he sat out in the cramped back garden of Grimmauld Place, having planned on taking advantage of the hot sun. That was a mistake he didn't bother making again. Instead, he spent most of his time up in his bedroom, window flung open to let in the breeze and the birdsong and occasionally his owl when he actually responded to letters from friends. That didn't happen often though, and he felt slightly guilty once he noticed the thin film of dust beginning to form on top of the envelopes.

In lieu of other conversational partners at home, Regulus found himself turning often to the diary that Lucius and Narcissa had given him and the mysterious boy it tethered him to. He hadn't found out much about Tom since their first conversation, only that he was sixteen like Regulus and had been in Slytherin too. When he attended Hogwarts, and what kind of magic was allowing them to converse, those were the questions that he desperately wanted answers to, but which Tom hadn't given him yet. Whether he didn't know the answers, or was just keeping them to himself for some reason, Regulus wasn't sure. When he asked,

Do you know Professor Slughorn? Tom said yes. But when he asked about Professor Dumbledore, Tom changed the subject and asked some more about Sirius. Regulus didn't mind that. It made a change from everybody pretending that his brother didn't exist, or complaining about the things he got up to like some of Regulus' dorm mates did. Tom asked why Sirius had left home, and Regulus explained everything. It was nice, being able to tell somebody about it and knowing that they weren't going to tell anybody about the way he felt, the fact that he still missed Sirius even though he knew he wasn't supposed to, and even though he knew Sirius didn't miss him. During their first few conversations, Regulus still worried that Lucius was somehow behind the magic, and that he'd find out exactly what Regulus had said to Tom, that perhaps the inky messages were seeping from his own pages to another diary in Lucius' possession. But when he asked, he said that he didn't know Lucius, and Regulus believed him.

After what felt like an endless summer dragging on around him, September 1st rolled around as it always did, and Regulus stood alone on the platform. Well, he wasn't really alone. The diary was tucked underneath his arm. He'd wanted to put it into his trunk so that he didn't have to worry about dropping it, or about some nosy student grabbing it from him, but if he'd done that he knew he'd only worry that it wouldn't be there when he opened the trunk again. So he kept it beneath his arm and watched as tearful first years said their goodbyes, bored third and fourth years clambered onto the train to claim their preferred compartments before the seventh years, who were mostly loitering around on the platform, ascended. Regulus wondered if Tom felt the same way he did on those days, the same sinking feeling, or if he was the kind of person to immediately fold himself into an inseparable group the way Sirius did. He hated himself for looking out in the crowds for his brother, but at the same time couldn't seem to bring himself to board until he'd seen him.

When he did see Sirius, it was only a brief flash of dark hair and those ridiculous muggle trousers he wore with them, nothing more because he was tucked back between Lupin and Pettigrew and all of their luggage. Up ahead of them was Potter. He hated all of Sirius' friends, but he especially hated James Potter. The new Head Boy bashed right into some Ravenclaw girl as he backed onto the train, not looking where he was going, as usual. Then he shot her a ridiculous grin and she smiled back, jumping out of his way so that he and his friends could pass. Regulus saw that they turned right and allowed that to inform his own decision to turn left once he'd boarded.