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writing-makes-me-human · 2 years

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The First Death-Eaters Were Kids

Summary: The Slytherin’s from the marauders era meet up for their fourth year and find comfort with each other on the ride back home to school.

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A/N: LET ME KNOW IF YOU WOULD LIKE P2

Word count: 2857

Regulus stumbled into the compartment with Bee in his cage in one hand and his carry-on briefcase in the other. The hawk did not indicate fear as he settled it up into the overhead shelf with Regulus's bag beneath it. The area was barren of students so Regulus settled down into his seat by the window and let out a sigh he had been holding since he left his family home this morning.

He gazed onto the platform while leaning onto his hand, watching the parents kiss their kid's heads and he felt the pang of emotional shut-off he often had when there was meant to be anger, jealousy or sadness in its place. He raised his right arm in front of him and swivelled his head as he pulled his hand up to let his jacket sleeve sink back, showing the very top of the dark skull which was still red around the edges from the nerves irritation. He couldn't decide how to feel about seeing the mark but it would be gone soon, only to show itself when the dark lord called him and his followers forth which wouldn't be for a while now as he was busy with ministry matters.

He let go of his head and pulled the sleeve back up. He returned to staring out the window but the sound of the door peeling back caught his attention.

"Sitting all by your lonesome, Reggie baby?" Barty hadn't changed much from last year other than his height, he was now a few inches taller with darker bags under his eyes and deeper red rings around each nostril but Regulus didn't say what he knew Barty had been doing every night when his mother and father went away for work trips, instead, he gave a Regulus smile and watched Barty walk in with a box in his hands that had holes poked in the lid.

"I was, Barty Berry before you came along and disturbed me, please don't tell me those are what I think those are", Regulus recoiled in disgust with a grimace as Barty settled next to him, kicking the door closed behind him.

"Just for that lippy little name, yes, they are what you think", He edged himself on the edge of the seat and cracked the box which suddenly let out a choir of croaks as about ten or fifteen frogs sang out to the light.

"Those things need to be confiscated, they are a health violation", Regulus retreated further into his seat, his hands slinking into his thighs.

Barty closed the lid, silencing the room again. "I will have you know that these little angels are what pay for the nice little gifts I bring to our book club Reggie so it would do you well to be kinder to me".

"I'll sooner go swimming with the squid in the black lake than condone those things, you breed them like rodents", Regulus didn't mind them but he hated answering his door in his own time to little first and second years trying to find his roommate and his gang of slippery pets.

The door opened again and this time it was Evan who stepped into the room with his box in his hands, this box, however, was black with a sleek finish, the roof of the box could be pulled off which would reveal Evan's pet Python, Zainab.

"I'll buy one off you Barty, Zainab is hungry", he held up the box for comedic effect as he set the box up on the shelf opposite Bee so as not to create conflict.

"Come off it, Rosier", Barty held the box closer as Evan slumped down into his seat next to him and his box of wonders.

Bee gave a chitter as another boy entered the cabin, his long black hair had been cut shorter than ever. He had already put his robes on and looked over the other boys before he took a single stride into the room, closing the doors behind him and sitting next to Regulus, his hands empty of carry-ons.

"As long as Severus didn't bring those blasted pixies again I think it will all be smooth sailing this year", Evan folded his arms over his chest and spread his legs across the space between the two seats, raising his eyebrows in question.

"My creatures are silent and unbothersome, your bloody serpent on the other hand can't seem to keep herself to her enclosure, if I catch her out of her box this year I'll see what happens when I put a python against a cage of pixies", Severus had a way of delivering what he spoke that made him seem deadly serious but Regulus simply smirked, staring out the window again. Snape scowled but nodded in greeting Barty.

"Where is Emmeline?" Asked Snape, cutting Evan off before he protested with some pitiful excuse about how last year Severus had woken up to Zainab slithering across his legs, burrowing into his covers was all a mistake.

"She will be along shortly, she has been at her aunt's these holidays, apparently she is not much of a timekeeper", Regulus offered. He had been corresponding with her over the holidays and exchanging traumatic stories of family.

"Must run in the family", Snape muttered as he pulled a book from under his arm that he had taken on with him, flipping to a dog-eared page and racing off to finish.

"Now, now Severus, let's not start this year off so sulky, it's time for some self-improvement I say!" Evan smirked, biting Severus like nobody else dared to.

"If I was wanting to better myself Rosier I certainly wouldn't be taking advice from you!" Severus scowled to the boy as he turned back to his book.

"If this is how the trip is going to go I would like you to tell me now so I can go and sit with the first years for more maturity", Regulus groaned with a long sigh at the end of his sentence.

"Ohhh, looks like Reggie woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning huh?" Barty laughed, nudging Evan who grinned with his boyish smirk.

"Couldn't decide whether to order toast or porridge this morning prince Regulus?" Barty was constantly teasing Regulus as the boys had grown up together and practically become surrogate brothers.

"No I couldn't decide whether or not to bring a muzzle for you, I'm starting to think I should have picked one up" Regulus leaned his head against the glass, letting the buzz of noise outside fill him up.

"I can go pick one up for you yet!" Emmeline struggled to weasel her way into the door, pushing her cat carrier in first which was holding her ocelot Grape.

Regulus liked Grape, he was a slow-moving cat that was happy to sit on people's laps in the evening as long as he got put outside the dorm room every morning when Emmeline went to breakfast and was left to his wanderings.

With that, Evan stood up and helped her slip the carrier next to his snake on the case shelf and she sat by him, running a hand through her long blonde hair which had gotten darker than the last time she had been seen, her eyes, however, had gotten an even paler blue.

"Or I could shrink him down and put him in that carrier of yours, see how much he likes complaining then", Severus had tired himself out with that comment and gave final raise of his brow before he was silenced.

"Good holiday?" Asked Barty, leaning forward to talk to Emmeline who was now pulling her silk skirt down.

"Oh yes! My aunt has gotten a boar for herself, could you imagine? She lets it walk all through her house and everything! I had to shut my door every time I wasn't there to keep the damn thing out!" Emmeline was full of energy as she nearly bounced telling the story of her famed aunt who was an artist in her family home in Egypt.

"I daresay that's not the only creature your family allows inside", Evan laughed with Barty but Emmeline didn't seem to notice the cruel remark that was aimed toward her aunt's husband, who was a half-blood.

Regulus didn't say anything to the boys who had finished laughing and instead listened to Emmeline talk about the land her aunt owned and then what her house looked like. As she finished telling a story about her youngest cousin who had shown his first sign of magic by making his plate magically float on her first night there the train started rattling with increased intensity.

It was just a joke to them, they knew not about how those remarks were used to break the divide between the classes further and further apart, they thought it was just a harmless joke. Didn't they? Or perhaps, Regulus thought as he watched Barty out of the corner of his eye, perhaps he knew what he was doing and he was truly sold to this childish ideology that Regulus was now forever chained to. It felt strange hearing these little quips from the boys like nothing had changed from last year, but everything had changed. Regulus was a soldier now, a spy. His friends would no doubt start drooling if he told them about his new allegiance as they usually did when he spoke of his parent's indifference or perhaps favour towards Voldemort but the thought of Regulus pulling up his sleeve and triumphantly showing off his new dark mark like a pre-schooler at a show and tell made him sick.

The sound of kids screaming final goodbyes and farewells to family out the windows drowned out Emmeline who stopped speaking as the train lurched forwards and began chugging itself away from the station and towards Hogwarts.

The peace and tidiness within the small room were squashed quickly when Grape came out of his carrier and started batting Barty's box. Emmeline tried to pull Grape away but Regulus couldn't stop himself from quietly egging the small cat on while Barty screeched, leaving Evan in the middle who had raised his hand in surrender and flattened himself against the chair to move out of the way.

Severus had put down his book and was snickering at the sight of the fight until he felt something wet touch the back of his neck making him cry out with a squeal and jump up, turning to see Zainab who had tickled the back of his neck with her tongue. She had gotten out of her box, crawled over the luggage and slinked to the back of the seat, laying herself like a string on tinsel along the back of the chair.

"Rosier you're bloody beast needs to be put down! I won't have that thing crawling around like a criminal!" Severus had been clutching his book to his chest like a coward before he quickly got across that the snake had gotten the slip on him and pulled out his wand to subdue her.

"Touch her Snape and I will personally make sure that little experiment you have in that cage becomes public knowledge", Evans quickly shoved Emmeline towards her cat and pulled out his wand, pointing it at Severus's chest.

Regulus took the opportunity to turn and look at the snake behind him which had squired off the top part of the seat and was not slithering towards him, her tongue darting out while she tried to figure out where she was. If Severus was making a scene before, now he was having a coronary as she moved about.

Emmeline gave a victorious yell as Grape finally let his claws out of the box and fell back with her, settling down into her lap while eyeing the box with a wiggle of his ears. Now all that had to be dealt with was Evan, Severus and Zainab.

"Even think about it Rosier and I'll cut out your tongue and feed it to your beast, then we will see if it affords you the same loyalty!" Severus pointed his wand towards the blonde boy who was speaking in a lower tone.

Barty had finished checking on his frogs' condition and now stood up, he eyed Grape who was swatting his tail in Emmeline's lap for a moment before instead turning and thrusting the box into Regulus's lap with a plop. Regulus questioned him but he was ignored as Barty gently picked up the python from the chair and gently stood to his full height to replace her in the box, tightly closing the lid so she wouldn't escape again for the rest of the trip. This act of kindness went unnoticed by the two standing boys until the door opened one last time and Lucius walked in.

Lucius's long blonde hair was now just below his shoulders, neatly brushed out in soft sections, all equally parted precisely so you could see the gleaming badge on his chest that read out the words Lucius Malfoy, Prefect.

"My, my, I hope I don't have to give out punishments before the year even starts", his smirk was warm to the boys and Emmeline but Regulus could feel his face falling to its neutral state that it would often stay in for most of his life.

"Perfect Malfoy? Try not to get an even bigger head", Evan quickly equipped his wand back to his waistband as he knew that while the blonde was joking, he was also formidable for being a terrible snitch.

"Yes, congratulations Malfoy", Snape slipped his wand into his pocket and looked over the badge with a hint of jealousy.

Regulus had no idea why he looked so sullen, nobody in their right mind would make him prefect, he was known for his cruelty towards first-year muggle-borns and his attack on that girl a while ago would have put a marathon between Severus and the title of prefect."Thank you, yes, I think this year I will have great pleasure in showing a few mudbloods what's expected of them from their superiors", A few polite laughs fell from Barty and Evan but when nobody else even smirked Malfoy quickly nodded to them and closed the door again. They watched him strut off down the corridor before Evan turned with a posh lower English accent on, covering his french tinge.

"Oh yes peasants, as I! You're most noble king Malfoy, notice anything different about me?" He stumbled up and down the small aisle which he made his runway as he puffed his chest out, showing the left-hand side of himself where Malfoy had been keeping his badge. Emmeline laughed loudly, trying to keep herself together while Barty picked the box off from Regulus and returned to his seat with a shake of his head.

Snape had sat down as soon as Malfoy had closed the door, obviously aware the snake was now gone or had forgotten all about it.

"You laugh now, but he may do something against those stupid marauders", Snape hated the band of boys he was referencing so much that the book in his hands seemed to shake with rage. "Those lot of mosstroppers are becoming quite annoying, aren't they? Blood traitors and half-breeds the lot of them but that's to be expected" Barty barely even blinked as he sat the box between his feet, looking back to his friends.

"I hear that Potter boy and Evans girl are together", Regulus said, looking down at Snape to see his reaction. If it was news to him he didn't show it.

"Mudblood and blood-traitor, they are perfect for one another", Evan stated lazily as he shuffled around in his pockets and pulled out his cigarettes which he quickly fit into his mouth and lit with his wand. Emmeline flicked her wand at the shutters on the door and as they came down she took a cigarette from his pack and lit herself one.

Snape said nothing but stared at the floor. Regulus knew he felt something towards the girl, he wouldn't be surprised if he was in love with her but he wouldn't suggest it out of fear of Severus losing his composure or that his friends wouldn't leave it and shun him for it.

"Want one?" Evan offered to Barty who shocked the group by shaking his head.

"Cutting back on everything, my dad is getting a bit too wise to my--"

"Alcoholic tendencies?" Asked Evan who took a long drag and blew it in his friend's face which made Barty turn his nose up with a clenched cheek.

"No--"

"Troubling cocaine intake?" Regulus asked as he held out his hand to take an offering from Evan.

"No!"

"Coitus obsession?" Snape scoffed as he once again returned to his book so he could avoid Evan not offering him one of his precious contraband sticks out of spite.

"No! I was just going to say my cigarette addiction!" Barty finally got out with an exasperated tone.

"Perhaps self-improvement is in the cards this year", Evan smiled as he offered his lit wand to Regulus who leaned forward and took small, quick in and out breaths to light the cig. There was laughter as everyone agreed that it was impossible. Nothing would change. Not Snape's cruelty, not Emmeline's stories, not Evan's contentious attitude, not Regulus's place in society and certainly not Barty's addictions or at the least bad habits.

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