Bonding

The remainder of the summer holidays went by rapidly with the Black Brothers. There was never a day without something to do. One warm day, Sirius nearly drowned in the deep end of the creek thinking it was a good idea to jump in. It was not…Thankfully, Severus and Rowan were able to pull out of the deep end of the creek. Though there were some very suspicious bruises around his ankles as if something had been pulling Sirius to the bottom of the creek. That thoroughly cured Sirius from jumping into the deep end of the creek.

Thankfully not all days were quite as adventurous or as dangerous. Rowan and Regulus quite often read a book on the grounds under the shade of the trees. They tended to leave Sirius and Severus to their own devices which generally involved a lot of running and shouting.

It is amazing how much sheer energy a pair of boys can produce. Unfortunately, Fidel took most of the brunt of the two boys being chased by them across the grounds and through the enchanted maze. The poor peacock even lost a couple of tail feathers to them! Ultimately, Fidel resorted to hiding out in the barn loft out of their nefarious reach.

Upon losing one form of entertainment, Sirius became fascinated with another. He was not the only one as did Regulus. They found Sir Knight Prince incredible! They liked to chat with Sir Knight Prince and listen to him regaling them with tales of his exploits as a knight in the service of the crown.

Not to mention, Sir Knight Prince liked playing wizard chess against Sirius. Sirius is a rather good wizard chess player even better than Regulus. Why even Sirius could give Terry a run for his money! Terry would often be heard muttering under his breath after, "A devious brute, who uses his foolishness to hide his deep-natured viciousness (like that of a lion)."

Not that Rowan could exactly argue with that. Sirius could be a boisterous, good friend to his friends, but downright malicious to those he disliked. He had acted as much under the guise of a good-natured prankster to hide his deliberate bullying against Severus Snape. Sirius may be cheerful like a dog only focusing on one thing at a time, but even a well-trained dog always bites those it considers an enemy.

Sirius wasn't the only one enjoying himself as was Regulus. Having finished learning Occlumency, she gifted Regulus the beginner's volume on how to master. It wasn't that she was passing over Severus, but Severus is a freak of nature, a natural-born Occlumens! Severus had gained a basic grasp of the subject in a matter of days, whereas it had taken her months to achieve the same result! Nonetheless, Regulus was thrilled and happily accepted the gift promising to begin working on the subject immediately.

Soon enough the evening before departure on the Hogwarts Express arrived. They all commenced packing their things for departure on the morrow. Rowan carefully hid Salazar Slytherin's book in a secret compartment inside her desk. She would not have time to read them all and she could always return during the winter holidays to return the already read volume and exchange it for an unread volume.

Rowan had made good progress during the summer holidays and had finished one entire volume. She had plenty more to go. Still, she was somewhat disappointed as she had not learned much from the tome she had read. The tome was more of a historical record of the world at that time recording powerful characters of ages past. The only interesting tidbit to note is that were several previously unknown recorded historical details on Herpo, The Foul. It is obvious Salazar Slytherin would have some measure of interest in Herpo, the Foul since Slytherin created a basilisk and left it inside the Chamber of Secrets.

A soft know at the open doorway pulls Rowan out of her thoughts. "Rowan, can I come in?" The soft voice of Regulus could be heard asking.

"Of course," Rowan responded closing her school trunk and rising to her feet. "Are you already done packing?" She kindly reminded the younger boy.

"Mm, it's Sirius, who always packs at the last minute except for this time around," Regulus answered with a chuckle as he stepped into her room. "I'm all done!" He proudly puffed out his chest.

"Have a seat," Rowan said as she climbed onto her bed and motioned for him to join her.

Regulus studied the elegant room as his eyes stared at the star-painted ceiling. "It's a lovely room," Regulus thoughtfully observed.

"So, you've said, before," Rowan said with a chuckle. "Is there anything wrong?"

"Mm, just excited, I guess," Regulus sheepishly admitted.

"Well, I'm sure that everything will go just fine tomorrow," Rowan comfortingly said.

Before Regulus can reply, Severus and Sirius burst in as they sing, "Here comes the sun-!"

Rowan instantly retaliates with a thrown pillow at Severus as Regulus quickly follows suit with his own pillow at Sirius. "I should have never given you that cassette player," Rowan huffed as Severus rubbed his face, where the pillow had hit him.

"But they're really good!" Sirius beamed with pride having dodged his brother's pillow. "How come I've never heard of them?"

"Because they're muggle singers," Rowan deadpanned as Regulus rolled his eyes.

"I know, but still, I would have liked to know," Sirius huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest with a sulky pout.

Sighing, Rowan gets up and walks over to her desk to grab a pack of batteries, two cassette tapes, and her cassette player with headphones. "Do you know how to use this?" Rowan asked with an arched eyebrow.

"He's been using mine all week long," Severus grumbled at having to share the gift his sister had given him. He rather secretly enjoyed listing to the music, but not that he'd ever admit that to his twin.

"Here," Rowan said as she shoved the items into his chest. Surprised Sirius blinks at her in confusion as she says, "You can have them. I won't likely use them again until next summer. And I can always buy them again. You on the other hand, it won't be so easy for you. So, consider it a very belated birthday gift."

"I always knew you liked me!" Sirius said with a beaming smile causing Rowan to roll her eyes at his remark.

"I like Regulus much more than you, Sirius," Rowan sincerely confessed as she flashed the blushing Regulus a wide grin.

"Well, I know plenty of girls who like me!" Sirius huffed as he gleefully clutched the precious gift to his chest.

Rowan doesn't reply as she instead says, "Hurry up and put it away! Then we'll tell each other ghost stories."

"Ghost stories?" Severus suddenly gulped.

"It'll be fun, Severus," Rowan said with a light smile.

Sirius innocently says, "Okay, I'll be right back," before rushing away.

Regulus being the smarter of the two immediately catches the abrupt pallor on Severus's face and hastily says, "Maybe, this isn't such a good idea."

"Nonsense, it will help us bond closer together," Rowan persuasively whispered not comforting Regulus whatsoever.

Sirius turns and happily jumps onto the bed pulling the pale Severus to sit next to him. "Okay, who goes first?"

"I will," Rowan said with a sinister purr as Regulus reached to hug a pillow to his chest.

"There once was a father, who was putting his little boy to bed. He heard something outside in the hallway and left just a minute, before coming back. Strangely enough, his little boy was climbing back onto the bed, but the father thought nothing of it as he thought his little boy might have dropped something and had gotten out of bed to pick it up." Severus shivers as Sirius eagerly leans forward, while Regulus hugs the pillow tighter to his chest.

"The father then proceeds to tuck his little boy back into bed and tells him a story. Once the story is over, the little boy asks him to check under the bed for monsters. Chuckling good-natured the father does," Rowan dramatically paused as they all take a deep breath.

"But instead, he sees another tear-stained version of his son under the bed. The tearfully little boy whispers, "Daddy, there's somebody on my bed."

Sirius falls off the bed and lets out a high-pitched shriek at suddenly finding himself staring into the blank abyss under Rowan's bed. Scrambling back onto the bed, he clutches the bed covers in panic as he gasps in fear, while Regulus also terrified clutches his pillow with all his might. Severus had expected some sort of twisted ending merely edges away from the edge of the bed and scoots closer to the center of the bed.

"Who wants to go next?" Rowan cheerfully asked. "Or should I go again?"

"NO!" All three boys cried out as Rowan said, "Okay, well, hurry up then" Needless to say, the rest of the scary stories were rather lame. And a bit of a letdown as everyone quickly went to bed afterward.

Later that night, Sirius crawled into bed with Regulus. And neither breathed a word as to the reason why. Sirius wasn't the only one as Rowan found Severus huddling at the end of her bed as well. She found it rather cute and endearing, while Severus cursed his twin sister under his breath. Oddly enough, Rowan slept rather well, while the boy's night was full of turbulent dreams.