Regulus of Hogwarts: Lord of the Stars

In the Great Hall of Hogwarts, Sirius Black sat in the middle of the Gryffindor table, with half a plate of uneaten roasted potatoes and a slice of steak in front of him.

But he wasn't eating; his knife and fork were placed on either side of the plate, the fork tines facing up, and the knife resting against the edge of the plate.

His right hand was resting on the table, while his left hand hung down below the table; it was unclear what he was doing.

His gaze fell on the rim of gravy around the edge of the plate, and he just stared at it.

James sat to his right, holding a fork with a potato stuck in it.

He didn't eat, and held it up for a long time, his gaze constantly drifting towards Sirius.

Lupin sat opposite James, holding a cup with the rim touching his lower lip. His gaze shifted from Sirius to James, then back again.

Peter Pettigrew sat next to Lupin, head down eating from his plate, occasionally glancing up before quickly looking down again.

All three of them saw Sirius and Regulus enter together through the entrance of the Great Hall and then separate at the door.

Regulus walked toward the Slytherin table, while Sirius walked toward Gryffindor.

The two didn't speak or even look at each other. One walked on the left and the other on the right, like two streams of water branching off from the same source, each going its own way.

James put down his fork, which clattered against the plate.

He looked at Lupin, raised an eyebrow, gestured with his mouth towards Sirius, and made a strange expression.

Lupin put down his cup, shrugged, and then shook his head slightly.

James frowned slightly and turned his gaze back to Sirius.

Sirius was still the same as always, sitting in the same posture as usual—casual, lazy, even a bit dashing—but James just felt something was off.

James wanted to speak several times, wanting to ask Sirius what was wrong, whether that little viper from Slytherin had said something to him again, or whether he had simply been bullied.

To James, Sirius's quiet demeanor appeared dejected, unlike himself, unlike the Sirius who seemed ready to fight anyone.

James waved his hand in front of Sirius, but Sirius didn't react. James waved it again, this time almost poking Sirius's nose.

Sirius blinked, his gaze shifting from the gravy around the edge of the plate to James.

James leaned forward, his chest almost touching the food on his plate, and winked, "What's wrong with you?"

Sirius looked at him for a while, shook his head, and then turned his gaze back.

James opened his mouth as if to speak, but Lupin coughed on the other side.

James turned his head and saw Lupin staring at him, his lips pursed and his head shaking slightly.

James swallowed back the words he was about to say, picked up his fork, and put the potato he had been poking at for so long into his mouth, chewing it a little too hard.

Lupin picked up his cup, took a sip, his gaze fell on Sirius Black, and then looked away.

The group finished their meal, and Sirius stood up, moving a little slower than usual, as if he was still thinking about something, and his body moved on its own.

He placed the napkin on the table and followed the flow of people out of the restaurant.

James and Lupin exchanged a glance and stood up at the same time.

Peter, still chewing, quickly stuffed the last piece of meat on the plate into his mouth, his cheeks bulging, and then stood up, almost tripping over the chair leg.

From the Great Hall to the Gryffindor Tower, they usually make quite a commotion along that stretch of road.

James would poke the portrait on the wall with his wand, Sirius would chime in, Lupin would laugh beside him, and Peter would run after him.

The atmosphere was somber today. James tried to speak several times, but after saying only half a sentence, he would glance at Sirius's retreating figure and swallow the rest of his words.

Lupin walked at the very back, his hands in his pockets, keeping a respectful distance.

Back in the Gryffindor tower, the portrait of the Fat Lady asked for the password; he answered and went inside.

There were quite a few people in the common room. The younger students were playing popping cards by the fireplace, while the older students were chatting on the sofas.

Sirius walked through the common room, pushed open the door to his dormitory, and went inside.

In the dormitory, four beds each occupied a corner. Sirius's bed was by the window, and the quilt was not folded but piled at the foot of the bed.

Two robes that had been taken off were lying on James's bed, and several books were stacked on Lupin's bedside table.

Peter's bed was the tidiest, with the pillows straight, the blankets folded, and the sheets without a single wrinkle.

There were shoes, socks, and several crumpled pieces of parchment on the floor, and a half-eaten chocolate frog on the desk.

The wrapper was torn open and thrown aside. The chocolate frog was no longer moving; it lay on the table, its limbs stiff.

Sirius walked to his bedside, kicked off his shoes, and without changing his pajamas, flopped onto the bed and leaned against the headboard.

He pushed the pillow aside, but didn't grab it. He just leaned against the wooden board, legs stretched out, ankles crossed, hands on his knees.

He looked at the Quidditch poster James had put up on the opposite wall, with Chadley Cannons flying around on it, one of them waving at the audience every few seconds.

James followed him in, stood by his bedside, and looked down at him. Lupin leaned against the doorframe and didn't come in.

Peter was the last to enter, standing behind Lupin and peeking half his head out.

James looked at Sirius for a moment, then turned to look at Lupin.

Lupin nodded his chin toward Sirius, letting James ask the question himself.

James turned back and looked at Sirius for a while, but didn't ask anything.

He walked to his bedside, pushed the two robes on the bed aside, sat down, rested his elbows on his knees, clasped his hands together, and stared at the ground.

The dormitory was quiet for a while. The fire in the fireplace was in the common room, but there was none here. Only the magic lamp on the wall cast a bright yellow glow and a shadow.

James stood up, walked to Sirius's bedside, and plopped down on the edge of the bed, causing the mattress to sink slightly.

He reached out and poked Sirius's arm once, then again.

"What's wrong?" James tried to lower his voice, but couldn't quite manage it. "You've been like this ever since we entered the restaurant. You ignore me when I talk to you, and you won't answer when I ask you anything. You're just sitting here in a daze. Who are you trying to scare?"

Sirius's gaze shifted from the poster, glanced at James, and then looked away again.

James leaned forward, getting closer, and asked urgently, "Did they send you home again? Did your mother write again? Is it that one again—"

He paused, gritted his teeth, as if considering his words, but couldn't quite find the right one.

"Is it your younger brother again? What did he say to you this time? I knew it, that little viper—"

James raised his voice a little: "You always act strange when he talks to you, last semester and this semester too."

What exactly did he say to you? Did he try to pressure you with his family's influence again? Or did he bully you? Tell me, I'll go—"

Lupin walked over from the doorway and patted James on the shoulder. James's shoulder twitched, but he ignored him.

"You don't need to worry about having nowhere to go during the holidays. You can stay at my house as long as you want. My parents said you can come anytime you want and stay as long as you like. They miss you."

James spoke earnestly, patting his chest and slapping his robes with a dull thud: "The Potter door will always be open for you!"

Sirius's lips twitched slightly; it wasn't exactly a smile, just a slight movement of his muscles.

James continued, his tone even harsher: "You should have thrown away that Black family stuff a long time ago. Your brother's associating with those people will lead to—"

Anyway, you're not on his side, you made the right choice a long time ago. If he wants to be his pure-blooded young master, let him be. Don't let him lead you back.

Sirius frowned slightly upon hearing this: "He didn't bully me."

James paused for a moment, leaned back, and stared at him for a few moments: "Didn't I bully you? Then why were you so quiet the whole way, like you'd lost your soul?"

Sirius didn't respond.

James stared at him for a while, then leaned closer, lowering his voice. This time his tone wasn't as urgent, but it was more serious: "What's wrong? Tell me, we're like family."

Sirius was silent for a moment, then said, "Nothing, just thinking about something."

James stared at him for a few moments, then leaned back onto Sirius's bed, put his arm behind his head, and looked at the ceiling.

"What are you thinking about like that?" James's tone returned to its usual casual tone, with a hint of frivolity: "I thought you'd been put under a death curse."

Sirius didn't respond.

James turned to look at him: "Are you really okay?"

"It's really nothing."

James stared at him for a while, then jumped out of bed, went to his desk, opened a drawer, and rummaged through it for a while.

He pulled out a glass bottle containing a large spider, its legs spread almost as wide as a palm, its body dark brown and hairy, crawling back and forth inside the bottle.

Several small holes were poked in the bottle cap, and the spider's legs extended out of the holes and then retracted.

James climbed back onto Sirius's bed with the bottle in his hand, shoved it in front of him, and shook it.

The spider tumbled inside the bottle, its eight legs kicking wildly.

"Look at this," James said excitedly, "caught on the edge of the Forbidden Forest the night before last."

Hagrid let slip last time that there's a spider clan deep in the Forbidden Forest, and their leader is a talking spider.

Lupin walked over from the side, stood by the bed, looked down at the bottle, and frowned.

"You believe what Hagrid says?" Lupin's voice wasn't loud, but his tone was serious. "What he's said that isn't dangerous?"

"That's what makes it interesting," James said matter-of-factly. "It's not like we haven't been into the Forbidden Forest before. What's wrong with the spider clan? They just looked from the side and didn't go in."

Lupin shook his head: "You said the same thing last time, and Hagrid ended up coming to our rescue."

James waved his hand: "That was an accident. This time it's different. This time we're prepared."

Lupin looked at him, then at Sirius, and sighed: "You always say you're prepared."

James ignored him and turned to Sirius: "Are you going or not?"

As Sirius listened to their bickering, the tension in his mind slowly eased.

He reached for the glass bottle, looked at the spider inside, and put it back: "Go ahead."

James grinned, jumped off the bed, stepped on his shoes, and haphazardly put them on.

He stuffed the bottle into his robe pocket, patted it, then pulled it out to check, making sure the cap was on, before putting it back in.

Lupin sighed again, leaning against the bedpost with his arms crossed. "When?"

"Tonight," James said, "after curfew."

Peter peeked out from the doorway, his face a little pale.

He looked at the bottle in James's pocket; a spider leg was sticking out of the small hole in the cap and moving.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and his lips moved, but he didn't make a sound.

Lupin glanced at him, then looked back at James: "Too hasty, nothing prepared."

"What do you need? Just bring your wand." James pulled his wand from his pocket, twirled it in his hand, and then put it back in.

Lupin was silent for a moment, then finally nodded: "Okay, but don't go inside, just look from the side."

James didn't reply, but his face said, "We'll see."

James returned to his bed, fluffed up the pillows, leaned against it, and took out his wand, twirling it in his hand.

Lupin sat back down on his bed, picked up a book, opened it, but closed it after reading only a few pages.

Peter huddled in the corner of his bed, hugging his knees, his eyes fixed on the direction of James's pocket.

Sirius was still sitting on the headboard, thinking about what Regulus had said.