Chapter One: The Black Family.
It's a quiet, summer night in this street in London. The street itself is nothing special. It's dark and tucked away in a corner of the city. The streets lights flicker on and off, and except for the lights coming from the T.V, the houses are mostly dark. Although poor, the people of West Drudge Street would never forego their T.V. The inhabitants are mostly old pensioners who are convinced that their street is colder than the rest, and they always kept in after dark. Even the cats seem to be hiding from the cold.
But there is still a feeling that this is no ordinary street. Maybe it's the way the trees shook even when was no breeze, or the way the stars looked brighter. One curiosity of it was the fact that few people came to it. There were night clubs to the west of the street and north led to the city center. Yet no police ever patrolled here and cars rarely passed by. Even drunken party goers avoided West Drudge. There was an ancient and heavy feeling in this place. It was almost magical.
That could be blamed on Number 9, which held the Black family, one of wizarding most influential and wealthiest family. It may be strange to some that such a distinguished wizard family would live in the middle of a squalor Muggle neighborhood, but anyone who knows anything about wizard politics will know that the Blacks are anti-social, anti-ministry, anti-muggle, and even sometimes anti-wizard. They have always been the height of snobbery and moving into a muggle repellent home away from wizard communities made sense to most. The idea that they kept away to hide a secret never crossed people's minds.
That included their oldest son Sirius. He wished that they lived in the country side like most other wizards, where they would mix freely with others, he didn't agree with the snobbery that seemed to be inherited by all Blacks.
He was convinced since the age of nine that he didn't belong in his family and if it wasn't for the strong resemblance of looks he had with his parents he would think he was adopted. He wished he was. He was strongly aware that even for aristocrats his family was strange. His family on the other hand thought he was strange and couldn't understand him. Why on earth, they thought, would anyone want to mix with people like James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin? Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin both came from ordinary, middle class wizard families, with no wealth or lineage to distinguish them. And although the potters were influential in the ministry, they were still the biggest blood traitors around. His relatives, and that meant all aristocrats, viewed him suspiciously.
At school he had an infamous reputation as a trouble maker and rebel. Although he was a highly gifted and intelligent wizard, his teachers would still describe him mainly as "disruptive with an explosive temper and having a tendency to create havoc whenever possible". Most of his fellow students looked up to him with awe.
Now at age sixteen he was enjoying his reputation as a rebel and nonconformist. He didn't know what he wanted to do in the future but he was sure that the more different he was from his family the more he was going in a right direction.
Sitting at the dinner table and eating his dinner moodily, he listened vaguely to his parents' conversation.
"It's highly unlikely that Warne will agree to Percival's pitch. He'll listen like he always does-the stupid man, but he won't follow through with it" his father was saying. Mr. Black would always talk in a low, drawled out voice but you could still feel the intensity of his feelings from his hand movements. He was now stabbing pieces of lettuces, and shoving them in his mouth rapidly. Mrs. Black on the other hand was primly eating small pieces of chicken. Sirius often wondered how his parents got together. He heard it wasn't an arranged marriage like most aristocratic marriages but he found that impossible to believe. His mother probably forced or jinxed his father into the marriage-that was the only way it made sense.
His father was a handsome, good natured man, with pitch black hair and eyes, who looked years younger than his fifty six years of age. Whenever in public he would have a permanent smile on and it was only at home when he would relax a bit. Despite his youthful appearance he used a walking stick and wore a monocle. He had the manners of a gentleman and no one could meet him without feeling charmed.
His mother was a whole different story. She was strict, uptight and distant no matter where she was or with whom. She had a forbearing manner and no one could meet her without feeling inferior. Her auburn hair was pulled tight in a bun showing off elegant features. Her eyes were wide and clear brown. She should have been a stunning beauty but her expressions were too harsh and she had frown wrinkles etched on her face. She rarely smiled and everyone, including her family, knew her as a person you did not want to cross.
Yet they were a devoted couple and although Sirius could not understand it, he had never seen them argue about anything.
The dining room they were in was exactly like the rest of the house-richly and tastefully decorated. It was well-lit and beautiful. The inside of the house could not be more different from the outside, which had grubby and blackened walls.
At the moment Mr. Selfridge was outside and staring at it, wondering if it was really possible that the famous Blacks lived here. He had been to other aristocratic houses, and even the poorest of them had manicured lawns, intricate fountains, and of course heavy, protective and opulent gates. This was just a black, metal door with a small sign on it written "The Blacks No. 9". Perhaps they swindled away all their money like a few other pure bloods have done, thought Mr. Selfridge, as he hesitatingly knocked on the door.
Quiet. Always a nervous man, he bit on his nails.
He had a feeling they were going to be the mad, inbred type of pureblood families.
A cold wind blew and he pulled his light robes around him. He thought of the hot coffee that was always available in the lounge at work.
Finally the door opened by a teenage boy. He was a very good looking boy, with striking black eyes and hair. He had a bold, straight nose and his features were even and handsome. He stared at Mr. Selfridge in a lazy almost haughty way.
"Sorry about the delay, the damn elf disappeared again" he said in a bored voice, "but I should tell you that it's pointless coming here, we don't allow salespeople."
"Er…" Mr. Selfridge was caught off guard. This was no inbred family. Every syllable the boy spoke screamed high class. From behind the boy he could see a magnificent hall and, except for the black furniture, it was complete in white marble. There were two grand stairs in the middle of the hall and there were at least five open doors in the hall leading to more luxury. He felt warmth coming from inside and thought that this was probably the most beautiful house he had ever seen.
He pulled himself together.
"No, I'm from the Ministry. My name is Edward Selfridge, from department of internal magical affairs. I'm here for the census."
"Who is it?" said a sharp woman's voice from inside.
"The Ministry" said the boy now looking at Mr. Selfridge with an almost wicked grin. He opened the door wider and Mr. Selfridge came in after him. He led him to the left, down a rounded hallway, and into a spacious, cream living room. There was a woman, a man who could only be the teenager's father as they had very similar looks, and another teenage boy. The woman glared at him. He hastily took off his bowler hat.
"This is Mr. Selfridge, he's here for the census." said the teenage boy before flopping down on the seat next to the other boy.
No one said anything. He looked from the woman's hostile face to the man's somewhat aggressive cheerful smile and momentarily forgot what he was here for. He felt his neck pricking and realized the other boy in the room was staring at him with the haughtiest look he had ever seen. He decided to get this over with quickly. He fumbled his briefcase open and took out some papers and a small object with buttons on it.
"Well, firstly let me thank you for letting me in. And now I need to know how many people are currently living in here" he played around with the object "I see, there are four people in here" he filled in his form.
The man, like an eager child, snatched the object and examined it. "If I'm not mistaken this is an ampliren. Aurors would use it before entering a dark wizard's house to know exactly how many people were in. It's quite expensive especially on a Ministry budget. You could have just asked us how many we are. Or does the Ministry think that we're dark wizards?" He gave a hearty laugh, put the object down and leaned back.
Mr. Selfridge also laughed, but very nervously, and said "Oh no, of course not. The ministry respects all its magical citizens; it's just to make sure. You know there have been cases where some families hide their squib children. Of course no one suspects the Black family of doing this but we have to be fair."
"Why don't we just get this over with" said Mrs. Black icily, now looking positively furious.
"Er…my thoughts exactly. If you could please tell me name, age and occupation…"
"I'm Orion Black, age fifty six and this is my wife Walburga Black, fifty two. We have two sons. Our eldest is Sirius" he motioned towards the teenage boy who opened the door for him, "aged sixteen and Hogwarts student. Our second son is Regulus, aged fifteen and also a Hogwarts student."
"And your occupations?"
"Both consultants to the Department of Advanced Magic and spell making, Ministry of Magic."
"Right, well I think that will be all".
"Don't you want to know about our house elf?" said Sirius.
"Yes, of course, thanks for reminding me. I'll need his license number along with other details. Also on any other owned magical creatures."
"We have a house elf and that is all" said Mrs. Black.
"Where is he?"
"At my aunt's manor. His name is Kreacher and he has been with us for over fifteen years. You can just check the previous census report for the details."
Feeling that they really wanted to get rid of him, Mr. Selfridge looked through the Black file for the report done ten years ago. He quickly filled in the license number of the house elf, and then something caught his eye.
"You have a daughter as well? Kathandra?" as soon as he said it, there was a change in the air. Gone was the smile from Mr. Black's face and Mrs. Black was trembling, perhaps from anger.
"I think you are mistaken, Mr. Selfridge" she said quietly. He peered at the paper again. "No I'm positive. There is a Kathandra Leesen Black here-"
"There is no daughter!" Mrs. Black screeched almost giving Mr. Selfridge a heart attack. "You got what you wanted; must you burden us with your incompetence as well?"
"Madam you have gone too far. As to this mistake the Ministry will contact you shorty with an explanation. Good night to you"
"Good night to you" imitated Mrs. Black sneeringly. Mr. Black was smiling again and the two boys were smirking.
He walked out stiffly and it was only after he had apparated back to the ministry that he left his breath out. "God, what a scary woman!" he thought before rushing towards the lounge room for some hot coffee.
Back in the Black house things got quiet again. The Blacks sipped their tea and nibbled on some desert while Mr. Black told one of his 'ministry people are stupid" stories to his sons. This one took place during his school days when the ministry accidently let loose a dragon on a muggle town. The boys laughed uproariously, not even giving a second thought to what just happened.
After their late tea the family separated to do their usual tasks. Mr. Black sat in the library and went back to reading his book "The werewolf insanity: the untold story of the 1994 Scrutz flu epidemic", while Mrs. Black was in the next room doing her research for the ministry. Sirius and Regulus were supposed to be in their respective bedrooms, quietly studying ministry law and pure blood genealogy. Although it was summer vacation Mrs. Black believed that teenagers should never have too much free time on their hands. She believed it would reduce their intelligence, make them lazy and give them a weak spine. The boys were made to finish all their homework in the first week and a half of the holiday, and now in the second week they were given more homework from Mrs. Black. And that was what Regulus was doing for the first five minutes until he got bored.
Although the boys' bedrooms were on the top floor, he still quietly opened his door and tiptoed out so that his mother wouldn't hear him. The first floor of the house had the library, kitchen, living and dining rooms, parents' bedroom, and the studies. The Blacks spent most of their time there, and it was where the parents currently were. The second floor had a huge ball room, various guest lounges, and a swimming pool. The third had guest bedrooms. The fourth and the final was a narrow landing consisting of only the boys' bedrooms and a bathroom. There were very few windows and they were all blackened from the outside; overall there was a feeling of great privacy.
Sirius was busy writing a letter his friend James. James was his best friend and they corresponded frequently by owls, of course Sirius had to be very discreet about it as Mrs. Black severely disapproved of him. James was everything different from the people he knew before Hogwarts. He came from a liberal, carefree and happily balanced background, and Sirius loved how unsnobby he was. Sirius on the other hand was the perfect partner in crime for James, someone cool and rebellious, and that he could look up to, to bring the fun. Sirius and James became best friends from their first train ride together, and together with Peter and Remus, they formed a group called the Marauders whose main mission seemed to be pranking. Between them was a strong bond of friendship and Sirius would always tell them how he considered them as real family.
Regulus sauntered into his room and sat on his bed cross legged. He took one of the magazines tossed in the bed, this one was a muggle motorcycle one, and read it with furrowed brows. Sirius sent the letter, and watched his brother read.
To most people, the brothers were as different as night and day, and to most people they seemed like the biggest enemies to each other. The first part was true. Most people saw Regulus as a cold, unfeeling, pure-blood snob. Despite his impressive magical talent and abilities, and his high grades he wasn't a favorite with any of the teachers. He was the king of a clique of other spoilt, popular, rich pure bloods, but apart from that wasn't very social. Everyone was convinced of him being a dark wizard in the making, or at least a very scary politician and even the bravest Gryffindor didn't like to get on his bad side, as he was both an excellent dueler and a very sarcastic person. He took his parents words very seriously and followed all the etiquettes of pure blood and was well aware of how old and special his family name was. Everyone in Hogwarts knew the Black brothers and how incredibly different the two could be.
Apart from the very black wavy hair, he inherited his looks from his mother. He had the same brown eyes, but specked with black, with the same aquiline nose. He was very attractive and would always stand out from the crowd, but he never enjoyed the same level of popularity as his brother did with girls due to the fact that he rarely smiled.
He was a reserved person and Sirius prided himself on the fact that he was one of the very few people who knew who Regulus really was, and that from them he knew him best.
"Sirius, don't you think it was weird about the ministry guy saying we have a sister?"
"What? No of course not. He must have confused us with the other Blacks. Besides, haven't you learned anything from those pure blood books you read every night? The British line of the Blacks stopped giving females decades ago. The French side supplies them instead."
"Mom's French, you know."
"Really? That explains her romantic side."
"And Nana Black was French too."
"Oh come on, Regulus, how bored are you? Yes, in fact, we do have a sister, a squib sister, and the Blacks were so outraged by it that they turned her into Kreacher."
"The weird thing is that in the Malfoy's garden party last Tuesday, I heard Walris tell Malfoy sr. something like Mom was a happier mother when there was a girl in the house." Regulus said frowning, then added reproachfully "That was when you had levitated Narcissa into the fountain, and Mom had to scream at you in front of all the pure blood society of London, and threaten you with disownment, disembowelment, and of course no supper."
"She asked for it. Who the hell thinks that Lucius Malfoy is going to be the next minister of Magic because, and I quote, he's the smartest and most selfless person ever. This is the same guy who has a hearing next week because he was caught feeding his house elf hair gel daily because he wanted to see if that worked better than applying it directly to the hair. The poor elf has got no bones now. Even Kreacher doesn't deserve that."
Regulus snorted.
"But going back to what you said, you shouldn't take uncle Walris seriously. That guy is seriously lost. And I think our family is clichéd enough without having to have a hidden squib sister."
"Yeah, I guess you're right, he told me the other night that he thinks he's being stalked by a beautiful woman-"
Something in the air made them freeze, then turn around very slowly. There was Mrs. Black, nose flaring, lips thin and chest heaving. The boys had goose bumps even before she opened her mouth and screamed "You either study or sleep! Go to bed! And don't ever let me hear you talk about such rubbish again! Such nonsense and time wasting will not be tolerated!" then in a more normal tone of voice said, "Tomorrow you boys need to wake up early, we've got a dinner party, just the close family members and I want you two to decorate the main hall."
"What's the occasion, mom?" said Regulus while Sirius groaned.
"It's a surprise", she said with an almost smile, "If you make a good job at decorating there might be cheese cake for you two later. The theme is romantic moonlight."
"Uncle Walris is coming isn't he?" said Regulus as he got up from the bed. He deftly slid the muggle magazine under the bed, and walked out.
