The Four Interchanging Lives of Regulus Black (Harry Potter Fanfic)

Hufflepuff

"Hufflepuff!"

Pumpkin juice came out of Sirius' nose, his fist going and pounding on his chest as he tried not to kill himself on his drink. "Bloody Merlin!"

"What is..."

Sirius shook his head at Remus, choking while a hand touched his forehead. "Reggie. Really?" He took a deep breath. "Mother's really going to kill him. I mean, me getting sorted into Gryffindor was bad enough."

"Your brother had to end up being a loser Hufflepuff?"

Sirius stiffened, swallowing, watching Peter Pettigrew laugh. He took a deep breath, remembering how Peter would, sometime in their future, betray James and Lily, leaving their son an orphan. He took a deep breath, throwing a piece of bread at Peter, wishing he'd grabbed a handful of potatoes instead.

Remus' jaw dropped, while Peter let out a cry and whimper while James—

James watched Peter, then quickly grabbed onto Peter's arm as the more petite boy reached for something that would make an actual mess if thrown. "Don't."

"But he..."

"You just said something nasty about his little brother. Of course, he's going to be miffed," James said.

"You're lucky he didn't fly across the table and slug you, Peter," Remus said quietly.

"That," Sirius said. "I wouldn't do that!" Remus continued looking at the ground while Peter looked at him with a look, saying he certainly thought Sirius might, and James sighed.

"Don't worry. We'll target anybody who dares to pick on him," James said firmly, smiling, giving him a thumbs up. "He'll be safe."

"Lots of work," Peter muttered, looking away.

"Yeah. Because you hung out with us because you saw us as your safety net," Sirius thought. "There is absolutely no way you'd keep him safe. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised..." Sirius' eyes blinked, his head swinging around, looking right at Regulus. "Wait? Did Peter pick on Regulus when we were younger? I mean, he always did give Peter funny looks, always looking at him disgusted..." Sirius closed his eyes. "Never mind. Never mind. I'm overthinking about things."

He opened his eyes, confused at hearing laughter. His breath sucked in, confusion setting in. "Regulus, what..."

"He's walking funny," Peter piped up.

Sirius turned, sending a glare Peter's way, watching the more petite boy wither under his gaze before turning back to Regulus, watching his younger brother try not to make a scene with the way he walked only to very much make a scene. "Reg." He shook his head, then quickly stuck up his thumb, hoping Regulus might notice him. He watched his younger brother look up in time—

Sirius' eyes closed, watching Regulus trip over his own two feet and hit the ground hard. He kept his thumb up, taking a deep breath. "Bloody Merlin. Our mother is seriously going to kill that boy the moment she finds out how much of a fool he managed to make of himself. How? He's trained from a young age like me to walk with the grace and poise of a Black, but he didn't..."

Sirius opened his eyes, swallowing.

"I was sure Regulus ended up sorted into Gryffindor this time. What is going on?" He wanted to get up, to go to him, only for—

A look from Professor McGonagall sent his way, which resulted in him not getting up.

"Yeah. The head of our house will kill me if I make a scene, but she's likely thinking I'll just make his embarrassment worse." An idea popped into his head, and he turned to look at his best friend. "Hey, James."

"No."

"You didn't let me finish."

"We're not making your younger brother's embarrassment worse, Sirius."

"No. We're distracting everyone from him."

"And that, in turn, would make his embarrassment worse," James hissed, leaning in close. "McGonagall's already got her eyes on us."

"Yeah. I agree with James. It would simply..."

Peter interrupted Remus by letting out a rather large burp, resulting in a yelp from Sirius' younger brother, who hurried to his seat, moving as he usually did finally, but...

Sirius took a deep breath. "You did that on purpose."

"Did not."

"Did to."

"We don't even have food yet, just drink," Sirius muttered.

"Yeah, whatever," Peter said. "I had a lot of sweets on the train, remember?'

"I don't," Sirius said. His eyes blinked. "I don't. Regulus was with us, but he wasn't? What's going on? It's like how I thought..." Sirius turned his head and looked at Regulus as Regulus sat at the Hufflepuff table. "I thought he'd been sorted into Gryffindor with me, but now he's a Hufflepuff? What gives?"

He let out a deep breath, trying to look away, trying not to stare, but...

"I can't help but worry about the little brat." This was when Sirius noticed Regulus react to someone's name being called, but as a little girl walked with a skip to her step to the front.

Sirius' eyes blinked. He turned to look at James. "Hey. Does it look like my brother's going to cry?"

"Well, he did just embarrass himself. Bad," James said.

"No, I mean..."

"And he's a little firstie," Peter piped up.

"You're just being mean," Remus said, reaching out to thump Peter on the head. "We've already agreed we're being nice to Sirius' little brother?"

"It's just light teasing."

"Don't," Sirius muttered. "He won't get being teased. But..." He looked back, watching the girl be sorted into Ravenclaw. "Yeah. That's not what I was talking about." He pointed at the girl. "Her."

"Uh, no?" James said. "I'm not sure what you're asking.

"Her. That girl," Sirius turned, watching his brother watch the girl head to the Ravenclaw table.

"If you're asking whether something is happening between that girl and your brother..."

Sirius startled, turning to look at the redhead. "Lily?"

"You're right. She's a Muggleborn like me, by the way."

"What?" Sirius turned his head. "Geez. He didn't call her a Mudblood, did he?"

"I doubt it," Lily said.

"You can't be sure," Peter said.

"She doesn't seem hurt by what he said, but whatever happened."

"We could..."

"Don't you dare, James Potter," Lily said, clicking her tongue. "Picking on a girl."

"But she picked on..."

"You don't know what happened, but maybe Regulus can work it out?"

"This is my brother, Lily," Sirius said, surprised to be conversing with her. "He's not exactly..."

"Come on. Give him a chance. Hufflepuffs are hard workers, right?"

"Doesn't stop me from worrying about him, and that girl..." Sirius turned to look at her, only--