Walburga Black was a woman used to having her own way.
Growing up in a rich and powerful Wizarding household meant she had servants and house elves at her every beck and call. Her father, distant but determined to put on the correct front, had indulged her every whim and fancy. Hogwarts had passed by, seven years spent usefully making connections to forever secure her successful future.
Marriage was easy. Orion was a brilliantly respectable match, and while neither were sure theirs was a marriage built on love, they had a mutual respect and admiration of each other that made it comfortably tolerable.
Every aspect of her life was in her control. Excellent status in the Wizarding world, money, suitable husband and at least one son that seemed set to make them proud. Regulus was only fourteen, and he was the apple of her eye. Always well behaved, always proud of his pure blood status and being part of the Black family. Yes, Regulus was going to go far. Orion had hopes for Minister one day.
There was just one pull in the thread of Walburga's otherwise perfect life. Sirius.
When he had been a little boy, Sirius had been very easy for Walburga to love. He was a bright child, who soaked in every story he was told about the Blacks and how they were better than everyone else. He could recite the entire list of the Sacred Twenty Eight and his impeccable manners at parties showed her in the best light. But as Sirius grew he began to question everything.
"But Mother, the Muggles don't look any different to me…"
"Why does being Pureblood make me better than him? He's still a wizard"
"I'm not coming to the party. No way. This whole family is creepy…"
And then, as Sirius had entered Hogwarts and been sorted into Gryffindor she had lost him forever. The shame of a son who mingled with blood traitors like James Potter and a half breed werewolf was almost too much for Walburga to bear. While her husband wanted to refuse "the little bastard" house room, she had permitted the boy to stay. A small part of her believed she might still get her son back.
That belief had shattered long ago, and now, as she stared into the handsome, angry face of her sixteen year old son Walburga didn't know where they had gone so wrong.
"You want me to what?" he snarled, lip curling.
Despite herself, she was a little afraid. Her son was no longer a boy, no longer scared of what she would do. He was a powerful young man with nothing left to lose. And that, for the first time ever, meant that Sirius was dangerous to his mother.
"I want you to take your rightful place in the new Wizarding order" she replied smoothly, trying not to show how her heart was banging. "To forget all the nonsense of the last few years and finally make your family proud."
If possible, Sirius looked even more contemptuous and if Walburga had truly had a heart it would have broken at the realisation that her son hated her. Not just hated, despised with every fibre of his being, every spark of his magic. That magical temper of his was flaring now, his wand twitched unconsciously in his hand.
He took a step forward, and leaned closer so she could see the fire in those grey eyes that were so like his fathers. "I" he began, speaking loudly and clearly to ensure no confusion "will. never. join. Voldermort." Every word was spat out viciously, punctuated by a step closer to his mother, until he was mere inches away from her face. "Do you hear me? Never. You could do anything you like to me, throw any of your famous curses my way and you wouldn't change my mind. Because I've seen a life that's better than this bigoted, incestuous, absolutely fucking mental family and there's no way I want any more to do with it. Understand?"
The calm façade Walburga had tried to maintain had snapped and ,forgetting the wand in her pocket she raised her hand and gave her son a hard slap across the face. A small part of her was impressed at how he barely flinched. He simply stared at her. The ring on her finger had obviously caught his mouth because a thin trickle of blood came from it, which he to ignored. For several moments there was a very heavy silence with mother and son watching each other as though through new eyes.
Then, face as calm as stone, Sirius gave a short nod of the head and raised his wand towards the stairs, eyes never leaving Walburga. A backpack and broomstick came hurtling towards him before stopping suddenly in mid -air. Sirius slung the bag onto his shoulders and seized the broomstick in one swift movement. Before Walburga could register what was about to happen he had marched to the back door, which magically burst open in front of him, mounted the broomstick and kicked off into the air.
She watched as he swung the broom around , expression completely unreadable.
"You come back here you insolent-" she began to shout, only to be cut off by a tightening sensation in her throat. It lasted only a second, but coupled with the raised wand in Sirius' hand it was enough to let Walburga know that her right to speak had ended.
Sirius raised his eyes to look directly at her. "You'll get what you deserve one day" he said matter of factly, "Death Eater scum like you always do. Goodbye Walburga." And with that, the man who had once been her son took off into the night sky.