Crystal Clear | REGULUS BLACK //

2.10 Stargazer

"May the stars guide our paths with wisdom."

Sirius was sure he saw a human silhouette within the forest, but ignored it. This was his time to try and let it go of his built up anger. The person he might have seen would have to fend for themselves alone. He tried to ignore the expression Regulus made at him and the words he said, he wanted to ignore what he said to him, too. Even after all this time they could not interact properly.

"Well, screw him!"

He thought, as he stopped his frantic run by a peaceful lake. He approached it, drinking sone water, as he was in his animagus form. Once the water became still, it looked like a mirror, at which he stared. He turned to his human form and kept gazing at his reflection, a frown gradually building up space on his face.

"We're nothing like each other."

Yes. They were very different.

Still he had a thread of affection for his brother, a string attached to his heart from the bad and good times they had together, when they were young and naïve, when he was his little brother.

But they grew up. Grew apart. What Regulus could stand was something he couldn't comply with. He wanted to be free from the chains of his parents' prejudice. Even if he thought deeply about it, he never understood Regulus.

When they argued about Sirius' friends in Hogwarts, he felt cold and unaffected, but he also had friends like that too. Maybe Regulus was just better at playing the social games they were involved in. He had seen him being polite and even kind to a lot of people their parents would disapprove of.

Sirius looket at the water, like a mirror, so still. It was such a view coming from this dark place.

It was crystal clear.

Crystal.

"Crap!"

He remembered he ran away as fast as possible after they arrived in Hogwarts. He just felt so angry at Regulus that he wanted to calm himself down. He didn't remember talking to Crystal, or even Remus, who constantly asked what happened. He sighed as he frowned, because he still didn't want to leave the forest.

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Crystal took some time until she finally left the Forbidden Forest. She had been talking to her new acquaintance: Hyperion. They both agreed they could learn a great deal with each other, even if they were from different species and his colony was really weary of humans. Hyperion insisted on accompanying Crystal as close to the castle grounds as possible, since she was deep inside the Forbidden Forest and could easily get lost. Both agreed on having some tasks before meeting again to discuss about what they learnt: Crystal was to learn more Astronomy and take notes about constellations and the night sky in general, while Hyperion was tasked on reading the stars throughout the week and gathering information about seers with his people.

She was feeling hopeful as she trotted her way to the castle. She didn't realize she had spent so much time inside the forest, as she could see the sun starting to go down, in a few hours it would set, but she still had enough daylight to warm her.

She thought about what she wanted to do now. She should try to talk to John as she had planned, but, maybe, not today. She remembered the pat Regulus gave her, almost like it was a phantom limb. She wondered if he wanted to talk about Sirius, or Alice, or something else; she was just happy they were on good terms again, that they could talk again, finally leaving behind the cold treatment they gave each other.

She had missed talking to him.

It was always a bummer in that regard when vacation started. The first year they met, she sent Regulus an innocent letter, asking about his vacation. She was overjoyed when, on a sunday evening, Demetria called her to ger a letter addressed to her. She remembered the face her father made and the amusing expression her mother had, laughibg heartily at him.
They exchanged letters for a while, when it suddenly stopped arriving. She felt sad, but was comforted by Demetria and went on to spend her time with James and to write many times to Remus. When their second year started, she asked if he was alright, he got distressed as he told her his parents got the last letter she sent him and that they were mad. He said that when he tried arguing with them about Sirius having letters from his friends, he was excused because 'that's just how he is'. He was forbidden to talk and interact with her and other mixed blood and muggle born by his parents.