#regulus trauma

"the heir, the spare, and the ghost in the mirror"

a headcanon-heavy character breakdown of sirius + regulus black and how being raised apart still broke them both exactly the same.

a deep-dive into my personal headcanons for the black brothers, especially regulus—exploring how cultural displacement, toxic favoritism, trans identity suppression, and fractured family legacy shaped them. this includes personal interpretations and worldbuilding, not strict canon (but let’s be real, the marauders fandom is built on headcanons and heartbreak anyway). this one’s for the trans kids, the forgotten children, and anyone who grew up learning that love had conditions.

Content Warnings:

heavy family trauma / child neglect

emotional & verbal abuse

gender dysphoria / transphobia (non-graphic, implied through environment & restriction)

toxic parenting / mother-son enmeshment

trans headcanon (regulus)

mentions of cultural displacement / identity conflict

comparison, parentification, internalised guilt

not canon-compliant / fully headcanon-based

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"the heir, the spare, and the ghost in the mirror" a marauders era headcanon spiral 🖤 by astrarium-angel

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Regulus Arcturus Black was born in London. But he was not raised there. The Blacks only wanted one son. Sirius was the heir—golden, loud, adored by their mother in that toxic, choking way some women adore the children they project onto. Walburga was a boy mom—in the worst possible way. And Sirius, though smothered in expectation and control, was still the child who was wanted.

Regulus wasn’t. He was the spare. And worse: in her eyes, he was a girl.

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So they sent him away. To relatives in Korea. Far enough to forget, close enough to still claim. He was raised there under a pureblood ideal of “womanhood” that was even stricter, even colder. He was taught silence, obedience, posture, poise. No brooms. No loud voices. No wandering into shadows. He was dressed up in silks and restraints, taught to be a mirror and not a person.

But he knew. Even before he had a name for it—he knew.

And he never told anyone.

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Walburga hated him. Because mothers like her hate daughters for everything. For stealing youth. For disobedience. For existing as living proof that womanhood is a cage. Maybe she hated how quiet Regulus was. Maybe she hated how easily he disappeared. Maybe she hated him because he looked like her. Or because he didn’t. Or because he saw her clearly—and didn’t flinch.

Or maybe she just needed someone to blame for everything she couldn’t control in Sirius.

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When Regulus came home at 11, Grimmauld Place was a mausoleum. He was a stranger in a country he was born in. He met Sirius properly for the first time. They weren't brothers. Not yet. Just echoes of what could’ve been. Sirius was magnetic and loud and hated everything Regulus had been taught to worship.

But Regulus adored him anyway. Instantly.

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Then Sirius ran. And Walburga broke. But not in grief.

In obsession. She mourned him like a dead saint and cursed Regulus for not being his ghost. Everything Regulus did was compared to Sirius. Every mistake punished harsher because she’d “already lost one son.” She let Regulus come out as a boy only after deciding he would replace the heir she lost. She didn't accept him. She repurposed him.

And when he wasn’t Sirius enough— she hated him for that, too.

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So Regulus became everything they wanted. He kept his voice steady. He obeyed the rules. He carried the legacy. He bled for the family name. And it still wasn’t enough.

It never would be.

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They were raised apart. But both Black brothers grew up being told they weren’t allowed to exist on their own terms. Sirius was loved as long as he obeyed. Regulus was ignored until he obeyed. And in the end—both of them were punished for trying to be free.

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