OOC
GAME: Scotopia
DESCRIPTION:
DATE:
PB: Kevin Zegers
JOURNAL: regs & reg
IC
BASICS
name Regulus Arcturus Black
nickname Reg, R.A.B.
occupation Student, sixth year.
house Slytherin
things of note Seeker on the Quidditch team.
bloodline As close to pureblood as possible.
current residence 12 Grimmauld Place, London, England.
PHYSICAL
birthdate July 13th, 1961
age Sixteen
appearance Regulus is tall and slight of build, with the dark hair and grey-blue eyes so characteristic amongst the Black family. He's smaller than his older brother, his body slightly more fragile and his looks not quite as handsome, but the family resemblance is obvious. He carries himself with the same swaggering arrogance. It just so happens that this boy wears emerald and silver instead.
wand Willow, eight and one-half inches long, hippogriff heartstring core.
RELATIONSHIPS
father Orion Black
mother Walburga Black
siblings Sirius Black
romance Had a bit of a crush on Melania Montgomery.
friends Evan and Rupert, mainly.
pets A black cat named Phineas. Yes, Sirius has teased it on more than one occasion.
BACKGROUND
history Little did the Blacks realise the uncanny accuracy they employed in naming their sons. There was a certain lack of creativity in the names of the Black brothers — there had, after all, been several Siriuses and Reguluses in the history of the family. But Sirius, the dog star, one of the brightest stars in the sky, has constantly outshined the smaller and more demure Regulus. Ever since birth, Reg was innately aware of his position as second-born. He was not the heir. He had no right to the family lands or possessions. And even so, the Blacks meant everything to Regulus — to a boy raised in such a stifled, loveless environment, his greatest desire was to fit in as well as possible and become one of them. And fit in he did, becoming the polite and well-bred son of nobility that Orion and Walburga always taught him they were. "To be Black is practically considered to be royal." Toujours purs they have been, and so they have always tried to remain.
In ways, Regulus' life has always revolved around his older brother — in their childhood, Reg looked up to his brother almost as if to a god, and tagged along with his daily misdemeanours. If Sirius committed an atrocity around Grimmauld Place, the younger boy was quick to step in and claim responsibility for the deed — nothing hurt him more than seeing Walburga in one of her hysterical fits, let alone when her mad caterwauling was directed at Sirius himself. Regulus took on the role of martyr, of peace-maker, of the quiet boy in the corner who came up with innovative (though futile) ideas to mend everything within the family.
That is, until Sirius went to Hogwarts and committed the greatest crime of all: Being sorted into Gryffindor. This was something Regulus could not blame himself for, and was instead the event that tore the already-distant family apart. Even four regular months without Sirius would have broken Reg's heart, so used to spending every waking moment in his brother's shadow. But here were four months that he spent alone at home, with only darkness and the colour black: His mother's poison, his father's frostiness. They bombarded him with tirades of how Sirius had disgraced them, of how the heirship was called into question.
When Sirius returned, Regulus had turned cold and distant.
One year later, Regulus had finally joined his brother at Hogwarts, but despite his secret hopes that this might fix the breach between them, the school simply made it worse. The Sorting Hat gave Regulus the option to join his brother amongst lions, and the boy, stricken, refused. From that day forth, the distance grew. Slytherin and Gryffindor were constantly at odds with each other, and if Regulus had any expectation to fit in with his peers at all, he had to hate the lion-hearted house with every fibre of his being. Which he did, eventually. Not so much for any aspect of the house itself, but for the people within it who had changed his brother so, who had torn him away from the Blacks. Regulus developed an intense hatred of James Potter, which only darkened when Sirius ran away from home in his fifth year… never mind the fact that Sirius had invited his younger brother to come along; and torn in half, Regulus declined, helplessly defending a family that lacked in love and was filled only with hatred. Neither of the boys truly belonged in Grimmauld, but Sirius was the only one brave enough to do something about it.
Any semblance of normalcy that the brothers had managed to maintain up until that point (a surprising amount, in fact — it consisted of light-hearted teasing at school, of long and serious conversations, of good-natured pranks against each other, of messy limericks written on spare parchment) was shattered.
Reg spent the next two years alone, determined not to speak to Sirius and determined to ignore him in the hallways. Now he is in his last year at Hogwarts, attempting to keep his gaze and attention trained upon the school, but he finds himself drawn outside it. He is growing increasingly aware of the escalating war, and though he hardly ever shows it, he wonders what in the world will happen the moment the safety of Hogwarts is revoked from him.
personality Regulus' zodiac is Cancer, and it shows. After years of the cold and hostile purist environment, Regulus has crafted a shell for himself that consists of sarcasm, heartless behaviour, and a cool, flippant exterior. He surrounds himself with the opinions of his family and peers, and uses it as a sort of armour: As long as he has the typical purebloodist facade to lurk behind, his own heart can remain secret. His standard defense mechanism to most uncomfortable situations is caustic words, striving to dig and hurt and wound as much as possible. In fact, most of the time Regulus understands others more than he understands himself — if anything, Sirius taught him to be human, and he has grown skilled at pinpointing the weaknesses in others.
Yet underneath his shell, Regulus is a giant gaping mass of weakness. He has been poisoned — psychologically and emotionally — by Grimmauld Place, and more specifically, his mother. She's more than a bit on the insane side, and this has bled over into Regulus in a bad way. He possesses horrifically low self-esteem, but compensates for it with an iron-clad surface of arrogant narcissism. He has learnt from his female cousins precisely the type of arrogance to wield in purebloodist society, and he has learnt from Sirius exactly how to carry himself with confidence and panache.
All a lie, of course.
It's more than convenient that his namesake is the cori leonis. The star named the lion's heart. Regulus is brave, so very brave it hurts (how in the world did he work up the courage to say goodbye to the very brother he loved more than anything else?). A lion trapped in the serpent's house, he simply does everything he can to adjust, while secretly thinking to himself that perhaps his brother had a point all along.
Regulus constantly reins in his temper and reins in his true opinions. For the sake of keeping up appearances, the phrase "mudblood" might casually fall past his lips every so often amongst the right society. Yet you'll never catch him saying it in mixed company. For the sake of diplomacy, Regulus cultivates conversations with half-bloods and yes, even Muggleborns. Regulus can be surprisingly kind when he allows himself to be, and there's a soft, caring streak there that runs very, very deep. So deep, in fact, that Regulus is wholly incapable of suppressing it entirely. Occasionally, ever so occasionally, Regulus falls into the trap of letting that kind streak win out.
ZODIAC
Cancer: Potions, potions, and more potions. Any Slytherin born under a water sign will excel at potions, and the Cancer Slytherin is no exception. The leadership ability and the lofty dreams of Cancer will also be emphasized; as will loyalty (directed for the most part to one's House). Slytherins born under the sign of Cancer will be more hard-shelled and less sentimental than other Cancers, but don't be fooled by their bossy, efficient exteriors. On the inside they are soft and needy, and they learn from a young age to hide this well. Slytherins born under water signs have another thing in common with each other: keen insight into what makes other people tick. These Slytherins are good at manipulating other people's emotions, and good as well at quickly learning the hidden stories behind the otherwise inexplicable actions of acquaintances. They never forget a cut or a kindness, so it is best to stay on their good side unless you want an obsessive, vindictive enemy.
SOUNDTRACK
See here!
LOGS
Summer 1975: The worst fight
AU: The betrayal (narrative)
AU: The escape
AU: Beyond the veil
The end: Drink the water
