3rd November 1970
Consequences
"Has it arrived yet? Wake up, Sirius! It could arrive any minute."
"Bog off, Reg," Sirius groaned, pulling one of the many pillows on his bed over his face.
The younger boy wasn't deterred in the slightest though and continued trying to shake his older brother awake. "You've got to wake up and be excited. It's your 11th birthday! You get presents and the party and your letters going to arrive."
"The best present I could have right now is another hour of sleep. The sun isn't even up yet! What time is it anyway?" Sirius fumbled blindly for the clock on his bedside table.
"6:30!" Regulus chirped cheerily. "The owl could be here any minute I mean…" He was interrupted by a tapping on the window which caused Sirius to bolt upright, knocking Regulus onto the floor. Sirius rushed to the window to let the owl in and untied the letter on its leg. The bird didn't wait before flying off again into the darkness.
Sirius tore through the envelope and quickly scanned the letter inside.
"Is it it?" Regulus asked excitedly.
"Of course it is," Sirius passed off the comment with a shrug. "I don't know what you're so surprised about. Did you think I was going to be a squib?"
"Of course not!" the younger brother defended. "But it's official now. You officially have magic!"
"Of course I do," Sirius snapped back. "I'm a Black, we all have it and that will never change. It's not like I need a piece of paper to confirm what's in my blood." He folded the letter back up neatly and placed it in a drawer of his desk. " Now if you don't mind, I'm going downstairs to see mother and father." And with that, he strode out of the room, leaving a rather disappointed younger brother behind him.
In truth, Sirius was bursting with excitement. He'd heard so many stories about Hogwarts and had spent the last 11 years waiting for the day when he could see it for himself. The problem was, he was nervous. As he'd gotten older, Sirius had started to form his own opinions of the world — different opinions from the ones his parents had tried to force down his throat. He was beginning to realise that he was different from the other members of his family, he just didn't quite fit in. A part of him had been worried that maybe this difference would mean he didn't end up receiving a Hogwarts letter — at least that fear had now been quenched. But now that he knew he was going to Hogwarts, he was starting to worry about what the wider world would be like. Pure-blood circles were small and Sirius had not been allowed to leave them. He had never properly met any half-bloods or mud-bloods and was beginning to wonder how he would fit in in a society with more diverse blood. He didn't want to spend the next 7 years with a bunch of pure-blood blood supremacists but what if the half-bloods and mud-bloods were just as prejudiced against the pure-bloods as the pure-bloods were against them?
"I see you've finally learnt to wake up at an appropriate hour," Orion's gruff voice snapped Sirius out of his thoughts.
"Yes, if you can call this an appropriate hour. Personally, I'd call it a ghastly one." His father gave Sirius a disapproving stare, signalling that, even though it was his birthday, there was no extra leeway on talking back and flippant sarcasm. "My Hogwarts letter arrived." Sirius amended, trying to change the subject.
"And that is news because?" Walburga asked. "The inevitable is not a topic for interesting conversation, Sirius, and I will not have a dull conversationalist for a son."
"I just thought you'd like to know," Sirius muttered, starting to regret his decision to get out of bed at all.
"Want to know what?" Orion snapped. "That our son has magic? That he's been invited to study under an incompetent muggle loving fool? Do you expect praise for the magic in your blood, boy? No achievements of your own but you still want a pat on the back. How very Hufflepuff of you!"
"I am not a Hufflepuff!" Sirius shouted.
"I should hope not," Walburga said sternly. "As the heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, you know that anything other than Slytherin would be an abomination. I hope you have checked your mood by this evening. I will not have Cygnus and Druella thinking that you are incapable of hosting your cousins." Sirius scowled. "You may leave now."
Sirius didn't need to be told twice, he left the room without a second glance. He didn't know what he'd expected differently: A 'Happy Birthday Sirius' perhaps? No: birthdays had never been celebrated normally in the Black house. They just provided another excuse to have everyone over and show off the house.
The reaction to the Hogwarts letter was no different from what he'd expected either but there was still a part of him which wished his parents had congratulated him and let him have his own celebration.
Whoever invented dress robes, Sirius decided, deserved to be killed slowly and horribly. In fact, they should probably be strangled with a set of the infernal things. There was lace everywhere and it honestly made Sirius feel like a toy doll. He'd tried to brush his hair into some semblance of neatness but it hadn't particularly worked. He looked presentable, though. Not perfect, but good enough to avoid any major arguments.
Sirius had decided that, for once, he wanted to get through a family dinner without starting an argument. It was his birthday, after all, and he thought that the only present he'd be able to give himself would be to get through the evening without any punishments being thrown his way. That meant no teasing cousin Bella; no talking back; no sarcastic comments and no mention of disagreeing with any muggle-hating ideas. Sadly, that banned about half of Sirius' personality but he'd give it a shot anyway. Reciting that mantra to himself, Sirius made his way downstairs.
All 4 Blacks waited in the drawing room for the guests to arrive. No one spoke. The clock chimed 7 as the first knock rang through the house. Purebloods never ran late. Immediately, Kreacher opened the door, bowing low to the guests. Cygnus and Druella Black didn't so much as look at the house elf as they strode through the door, their three children following closely behind.
"Pleasure to see you, sister. So kind of you to have us." Cygnus' voice was a silk purse full of charm as he bowed to kiss Walburga's hand.
"The pleasure is ours, Cygnus." They were interrupted by another knock on the door. "And that should be Abraxos."
"Cousin," Orion nodded towards Abraxos as the white haired man entered, followed by his wife and son.
"Dinner will be served at 8:00," Walburga informed crisply. "So if the children would like to go off together then the adults can catch up in private."
Sirius started leading the way through a door and the others followed. "That includes you, Bellatrix." Druella insisted. The oldest of the cousins scowled but followed anyway.
Sirius felt rather silly as host. He was only just about to start his first year and he was somehow meant to be hosting Bellatrix who had left Hogwarts 3 years ago. The conversation was awkward and stunted. Bellatrix was still frustrated at being classed as a child; Narcissa was quiet and hardly spoke; Lucius was a stuck up prat. Andromeda tried to be polite and talk: asking about whether Sirius was looking forward to Hogwarts but it still sounded forced. Sirius was very relieved when he saw that it was almost 8:00 and was able to lead people to the dining room.
Dinner was going about as well as Sirius could hope. Conversation had stayed away from him and he'd been allowed to just sit and listen to the others talking. He wished that it would just remain that way until the end of supper.
"I would assume you received your letter today?" Abraxos asked as the main course cleared itself.
"Yes, sir," Sirius nodded.
"Looking forward to having Lucius as your head of house, hey?"
Sirius knew he should just give the same answer again but he couldn't help himself: "And how do you know that Lucius will be head of Slytherin?"
Walburga gave him a pointed look but Abraxos just laughed: "You have a lot to learn, boy. Even if he isn't elected straight away, as he should be, a few galleons in the right pockets can get you anything from a seat on the Wizard Gamot right down to a prefect badge."
"Really?" Sirius feigned interest. "I'd heard the Dumbledore was above that. I assumed that meant he'd actually decide to choose someone decent. If he can find someone decent in Slytherin that is."
Lucius choked into his champagne and Walburga looked murderous: "How dare you speak to your elders like that! How dare you speak about your blood like that! How dare you speak about your house like that!"
"My house?" Sirius asked with a smug grin - oh he was in such deep shit now - "Who says I'm going to be Slytherin. Father was just saying this morning that he thought I'd be a Hufflepuff. Or did I mishear?"
There was a shocked silence around the table and Sirius thought for a moment that his mother might explode but before she could do anything, Orion stood up, calmly putting a hand on her shoulder. "If you will all excuse me, I am just going to have a word with my eldest son. I shall return in a moment so do please enjoy pudding and I will join you for after dinner drinks. Sirius, come with me." There was nothing Sirius could do but to follow.
Orion lead the way up to Sirius' bedroom and held the door open for his son to enter before him. When they were both inside, Orion locked the door and cast a silencing charm around the whole room. "Do you have anything you want to say?" Orion asked sternly.
"Oh, many things," Sirius smirked. "Most of them would make you rather glad that you cast that silencing charm as it would be awful if sweet, innocent Regulus were to learn such profanities." The smack of flesh on flesh was heard before Sirius registered the pain of the slap.
"You think you're funny, do you? You think you can sit at my table and disobey me? Do you know what example you are showing to your cousins? What my cousin must think of how I raise my children? You disgust me. Thinking you're all grown up now, thinking you can say whatever you like and face whatever happens. If you can't defend against the consequences then keep your damned mouth shut!"
Everything in the rational part of his mind was screaming at Sirius to shut up: to simply say 'I'm sorry' and return to dinner with his father. But no matter what he'd vowed to himself earlier, he couldn't back down from this. In every journey there is a turning point, a place where you break away from the old path and forge a new one. Sirius had known for a long time that his parents' way of thinking was wrong but he hadn't done anything about it: too afraid to make a stand. That changed now, he wouldn't just back down. "And who says I can't defend against the consequences?"
Orion raised an eyebrow. "If you're so smart then defend yourself against this. Crucio."
Sirius barely had a second to register his father's wand flicking out of its holster. He certainly didn't have time to dodge the streak of red light that rushed towards him before it hit him.
Sirius was vaguely aware of screaming. Every nerve in his body was on fire. His blood was boiling. All his bones were breaking at once. His head was going to explode with the pain. It was never ending and eternal and then suddenly, as soon as it had started, it stopped.
Orion looked down at the shaking figure which was his son and turned towards the door. Just before he left he looked back over his shoulder: "Next time you feel like opposing me, boy, just remember that I barely put half of my power into that spell. You just proved to the both of us that you can't defend against the consequences and so you should have kept your damned mouth shut." And with that, he strode out of the door.
Sirius didn't move for a long time. He simply sat, shaking on the floor and allowed the tears to fall, wondering what it'd be like to have parents who loved you.