Jegulus: the escaping of a broken home

Pride and Prejudice

Regulus Black's POV

I stayed tucked in the corner. The train ride had quickly become awkward. I had promised that no one would find out about my home life, but here they all were, staring at me like I was an attraction at a museum.

The smell of Pumpkin Pasties was quickly getting to me, and the tucked position I was in was no longer helping. The way my stomach was squished against my knees was simply bringing up the nausea.

I sat up straight, cupping my hands over my face and looking out the window. This time they had the decency to not stare and engage in their own conversation, but it was obvious the attention was still on me. Even the Scottish girl had woken up to watch the fight.

Shit, the smell is still in here.

I got up and headed to the bathroom. I could feel eyes on my back as I headed out. I slipped into the small bathroom they had on the train. I gripped the edges of the sink tightly, worried I would fall over. My own stark-white reflection stared back painfully, looking like it hurt to breathe. In a way, it did.

The smell of food had awoken the hunger, but at the same time I couldn't eat anything. I let go of one hand to splash my face with water. The nausea disappeared almost immediately. I squinted through my eyes for the paper towels, finding them and dabbing my face. I looked at my now somewhat colored reflection, the pale look going away with the nausea. A steady blush was creeping up my cheeks, the way it always did after washing my face.

I walked out, my mind wandering to how nice - or maybe decent was a better word - their friend group had been. If it weren't for my stupid brother, I might have had a good time. It was much better than mine anyhow. Mine was only being held together by the common goal of serving the Dark Lord. This was common knowledge. And this evaluation of Sirius' friend group was from an outsider's viewpoint, one who had only been around them for an hour. That said a lot about their dynamic.

"Regulus!" A voice wrenched me out of my thoughts. I turned to my right. The Slytherin compartment.

Barty Crouch Jr. ran up. He was my best friend, but last year we had slightly drifted apart. He got in touch again over the summer though, and now I was sure he was here to stay. He was the only one I would feel guilty about leaving behind. This would be hard. He was a bad person, but a good friend. And it's not like I was a saint either.

"Why aren't you sitting with us this time?"

I thought fast, trying to come up with something. "My mother said I have to complete the book I've been assigned on my own before I get to Hogwarts."

"What book? And your mother is an hour and a half behind us, what is she gonna do, send the Dark Lord to check on you?"

I half-laughed. "I wouldn't put it past her. See you Barty."

"Alright, but you better sit with us tonight." He said, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Yeah, for sure." I said smiling. Thankfully, none of the Slytherins noticed me, apart from Barty of course. I headed back to the compartment, where things seemed to have gone back to normal. Everyone was invested in their own business and were talking at a normal volume. Longbottom and Evans were watching Pettigrew and the werewolf - oh, wait, I remember again, his name is Lupin - face each other in a game of chess. McKinnon was French braiding Fortescue's hair, who was doing the same thing with the Scottish girl's small braids. They had put away the pumpkin pasties. I turned to my corner, grabbed my wand and summoned my copy of Pride and Prejudice out of my trunk.

Suddenly Lupin let out some kind of battle cry, and Pettigrew pumped his fist in the air. I jumped. Shaking my head slightly, I laughed with the others at how serious they took this game. I shifted my position and propped my book against my knees so I could read hands-free.