Chapter Text
Regulus Black groaned at his desk, feeling all the annoyance from that afternoon flood into his skull and patter at the insides.
He sullenly scribbled in his diary and blew tiredly up at the hair that lay across his forehead. It blew up for a moment only for it to fall back down, Regulus felt as if that suited his emotional state at the current moment.
His voice was soft as he spoke to himself, pen dragging across the page as he went, “Bellatrix told me she teaches people real life.” He groaned and threw his pen at the page, watching it screw across the page.
He cringed and slammed the diary shut, falling into his bed. He didn’t want to think about anything. And yet he did, all his thoughts circled in his head but he didn’t want to take the time to write them down.
Bellatrix had told him time and time again that ‘Real Life’ sucked losers dry and that if he wanted to fuck with the eagles, he had to learn to fly.
He could imagine her saying it again, in her haughty high pitched voice with an exasperated look on her face and a pointed expression clear in her eyes.
It made Regulus want to throw up but he ignored it and he coaxed his mind away from her and to the lull and lovely distraction of sleep.
The following day saw Regulus leaned against a hallway wall, sitting, diary in his lap. He tapped his head repeatedly against the wall as he tried to recall what he had been thinking about the previous night.
His pen scratched the paper but it wasn’t heard over the bustle of students running between classes and the loud conversations being held right near him.
They were out for their lunch period and Regulus was avidly avoiding going anywhere near people as he wrote.
His train of thought returned to him and he penned it down. I said, So you teach people how to spread their wings and fly? Bellatrix said Yes. Regulus’s pen swayed with messy handwriting over the paper. I said You’re beautiful .
Regulus jumped and his pen jerked to draw a line across the page and he rolled his eyes. He looked up to see Andromeda giving him a look of exasperation and sighed, recovering from being startled.
Andromeda’s voice was impatient and grating in Regulus’s skull and he looked up at her as she spoke, “God, come on , Regulus!”
She tapped her foot on the floor in her small heels and Regulus couldn’t help but sigh. Regulus scoffed and shut his diary, shoving it in his shoulder bag in a clearly pissed off fashion.
Regulus’s voice came out with a hint of anger, “What’s your damage, Andromeda?” he demanded to know, “You ruined my…”
“God, I'm so sure,” Andromeda cut him off, with false sympathy, rolling her eyes as she gripped his hand and pulled him up, “Don't blame me, blame Bellatrix. She told me to haul your ass into the caf pronto,” she smoothed her skirt and flicked her hair back behind her ear.
Her eyes flicked behind her and she motioned, “Back me up, Narcissa.”
The final member emerged from where she had seemingly hidden behind Andromeda. She bit her lip and her eyes flicked from Andromeda to Regulus.
She tapped her fingernails on the copy of Catcher in the Rye that she held like a lifeline. Regulus merely sighed.
“Yeah, she really wants to talk to you,” she confirmed, shrugging.
“Okay, I’m going, I’m going,” Regulus ran his fingers through his curls and made a gesture for one of them to lead the way. “Jesus,” he murmured under his breath.
The trio made their way to the cafeteria. The girls flanked Regulus on each side and linked their arms with his. He zoned out, staring at the hallway wall and the line it continued through the entire walkway.
They talked over him, small talk which meant little to nothing to Regulus at that moment. He wondered what Bellatrix wanted with him. They entered the lunch room and Regulus cringed at the smell of the food.
The trio made their way through the crowd which easily parted for them. Regulus’s eyes landed on Bellatrix who stood with her arms crossed and a smirk permanently present on her lips.
She ran her hands lightly along her top of her pulled back hair and tilted her head at the group approaching.
Regulus’s eyes did not meet hers as the other girls unlinked their arms and he looked toward the cafeteria table and murmured, “Hello, Bellatrix.”
Bellatrix made a high pitched hum in the back of her throat in response to him and pulled a slip of crumbled paper from her bag.
“Regulus, finally,” she looked at him pointedly, “Got a paper of Rodolphus Lestrange’s,” she held the slip between her pointer and middle finger, waving it in the air, grinning, “I need you to forge a hot and horny but realistically low-key note in Rod’s handwriting and we’ll slip it into Alice Prettywet’s lunch tray.”
She hummed out a laugh and the other girls seemed to fake a laugh along with her.
Regulus groaned and his voice came out full of boredom, “Shit, Bella, I don’t have anything against Alice Prewett ,” he emphasized the use of her proper name.
His eyes flicked over to where she stood in the lunch line, putting two containers of jello onto her tray. She moved forward in the line and Regulus snapped back to hear Bellatrix talking.
Bellatrix scoffed mirthfully, “You don’t have anything for her either. Come on, it’ll be Very,” she ran a finger along the side of Regulus’s face and smirked, “The note’ll give her shower nozzle masturbation material for weeks .”
Narcissa gasped and let out a squeak. Andromeda looked at Regulus expectantly.
Regulus sighed and his eyes met Bellatrix’s, “I’ll think about it,” he conceded. Bellatrix’s grin turned cold and she clicked her tongue.
“Don’t think,” she snapped, finger scratching the side of his face. She seemed to dangle the pen in front of him and Regulus took it, clearly reluctant.
The condescending smile returned to Bellatrix’s face and she laughed, dersion evident in her tone, “Splendid. I’ll dictate,” she paused and pretended to scan the nearby area, she frowned, “Regulus needs something to write on. Black, bend over.”
Upon these words, both Narcissa and Andromeda bent over, the girls shared a last name. Regulus looked uncomfortable. Bellatrix gasped out in violent, condescending laughter.
“How nice,” she purred, cruelly, “Two assholes: no waiting.”
Both of the girls who were bent over straightened back up, embarrassment staining their cheeks with red.
Bellatrix scoffed, “ Narcissa Black, back down,” she ordered.
Regulus quickly stepped toward Narcissa, pitying the way she contorted and appeared uncomfortable.
He stepped behind her to cover where someone could potentially be flashed and see under her skirt. He had at least that much respect for her.
Bellatrix hummed, taking her time, “Dear Alice, you’re so sweet,” she dictated.
Regulus jotted her words down, careful to correctly imitate Rodolphus’s handwriting. He had always had a knack for that and Bellatrix had much fun playing with that skill.
Lucius Malfoy and Rodolphus Lestrange sat at a table halfway across the cafeteria from where the group was.
They were surrounded by their fellow football players and those on the basketball team that they considered worthy enough. They typically made them fetch them lunch.
Lucius was the high school’s coveted linebacker and his friend, Rodolphus was their quarterback.
The two boys were conventionally attractive and built like athletes but were not known for good personalities. Their looks and talent made up for that, was the unspoken thought around the campus.
The table was turned to stare at the four that stood in the middle of the cafeteria, one bent over.
Rodolphus’s voice was loud and obnoxious, “It’d be so righteous to be in a Bellatrix-Narcissa sandwich,” there was a shouted unanimous agreement to his statement and he grinned at Lucius, “Punch it in, Luce.”
The two boys raised their right arms and slammed their fists together in a fistbump gesture. There was absolutely zero meaning behind it.
“Hell yes,” Lucius agreed, eyebrow raised in a creepy fashion, “I wanna set a Black on my Johnson and just start spinning her like a fucking pinwheel,” he swirled his tongue and made a grotesque gesture with his hands.
Regulus sighed as he finished his forged note and straightened up to his full height. Narcissa snapped back up, cringing at the way her back felt.
Andromeda’s eyes flicked to the lunch line and they seemed to zero in like a hawk. Regulus shot her a look but she ignored him. Regulus watched Alice pay for her lunch and begin to walk. She neared the group and Regulus didn’t want to look.
Andromeda excitedly tugged on Bellatrix’s arm and nodded toward the girl approaching. Bellatrix gave the girl at her side an oddly tranquil and smug smile, passing over the note.
Andromeda approached silkily and slipped her arm to subtly place the note on Alice’s tray between slipping back to join her friends. She flicked her hair in with a prideful grin.
Regulus watched Bellatrix’s eyes flick to something behind him and he turned to see the volunteer stand filled with two what Bellatrix would call “geeks”.
They had a cash box labeled “The Foodless Fund” and phrases that could put the cheerleaders to shame. And by that Regulus meant they were awful.
Frank Longbottom’s voice echoed through the cafeteria, “Come on people, let's give that leftover lunch money to people without lunches! Those tater tots you threw away today are a delicacy in Africa! They're Thanksgiving dinner!” He preached in a manner that made him seem like a saint.
Bellatrix hummed in false sympathy at the stand as the four sat down at an empty –read: reserved– lunch table.
Andromeda’s eyes reached where Regulus’s and Bellatrix’s were. She scoffed, “God, aren’t they fed yet? Do they even have Thanksgiving in Africa?”
Regulus couldn’t help the laugh that made her cough in his throat, “Oh sure,” he elongated his words, speaking sarcastically, “Pilgrims, Indians, tater tots; it's a real party continent.”
Andromeda nodded sagely and Regulus raised an eyebrow at her inability to catch his tone of voice.
Bellatrix huffed and drew everyone’s attention back to her in a moment, “Reg,” she prompted, “Guess what today is?” She tapped her long fingernails on the clipboard she held in her hands.
Regulus fake gagged, “Ouch… the lunchtime poll,” he hummed in thought, “So what’s the question?” he asked.
“Yeah, so what’s the question?” Narcissa jumped in after time, tucking her hair behind her ears.
Bellatrix’s eyes snapped to her and she scoffed at her disapprovingly, “Goddamn Narcissa,” she snapped, “You were with me in Study Hall when I thought of it,” she paused and clicked her tongue in annoyance, “Such a pillowcase,” she said to herself but it was made loud enough so they could all hear it as she widened her eyes with irritation.
Narcissa bit her lip and her gaze dropped to her hands, “I forgot,” she whispered pathetically.
Bellatrix snapped up from her seat and pulled Regulus with her. They left Andromeda to pick at her food and Regulus noticed Narcissa return to her book, like a wounded lamb.
Regulus kept in pace with Bellatrix and spoke to her, “Hey, this question wouldn't be that bizarro thing you were babbling about over the phone last......” he started, remembering their phone call the previous evening. Bellatrix cut him off.
“Shut up,” she snapped, but there seemed to be a touch of playfulness in her voice, “It is,” she admitted, “I told Frank if he gave me another topic that was… political,” she false gagged after the word, “I’d spew burrito chunks.” Regulus laughed under his breath at the thought.
He shook his head, rolling his eyes in amusement and looked off.