For once in her life Walburga was speechless; her son a Gryffindor. She was nearly gasping, clutching the parchment in her iron clad grip. Her eldest son had written home, smugly reporting his acceptance into the blood traitor house. A snub towards his parents and he had most definitely succeeded in rubbing salt into old wounds. And it was all her fault, she did this to this family!
Regulus stood watching his mother's resolve quickly crumble. Her neatly coifed hair slipping as she furiously shook her head in anger. He knew the letter had to do something with his brother, Sirius, was the only one with the ability to upset their mother so greatly.
Soon, he surmised, she would pour herself a rather large glass of firewhiskey and her rage would consume her. Hopefully she would skip the family library this time, his father could not replace such books a third time. So many those relics were outlawed, only the sketchy and callous of collectors could solicit items of such value.
"Mother?" He whispered, instantly regretting bothering her.
Her red rimmed eyes, swimming with rage and bleeding the black of her makeup rolled over his scared form. Her glare chilled him, his spine tingling under her gaze. His mother was in the middle of one of her fits, he gulped. Her true son, her behaved son, her Regulus, caught her in her moment of weakness. His innocent eyes staring so helplessly back at her. He was the good Black, the pure Black. Her and Orion's son, while Sirius, she choked on a cry. He was her fault!
"Get out!" She snapped, Regulus only had taken a step back in surprise. His mother rarely spoke to him in that manner. She stared dead on at her ten-year-old son. Did he not understand an order? Did that little bastard Sirius- "GET OUT!" She shrieked, sending a vase crashing in his direction. "GET OUT OF HERE!"
Her harpy screeching brought her disgruntled husband down the hallway, Orion corralled his weeping son. He pushed the boy behind him, while shaking his head disapprovingly at his wife. She wasn't taking the news well, as expected. Anything to do with their eldest always sent his wife on a binder. He closed the door to the study, letting her wallow in her pain alone. If she were to continue to act that way in front of Regulus she was going to push away another son as she was doing currently doing to the former.
She dropped to her knees and shrieked once again when the doors closed. If only she would have waited, if only she would have trusted the healers, Sirius would also be her husband's son. She betrayed her husband, just as Sirius betrayed his family. Her saving grace was slowly ruining this family.
She laid her head against the coolness of the stone desk, she had to prevent this from going any further, but she had to do it in a way that no one would ever find out. She would keep it a secret until the end of time, Sirius, her eldest son, was only a Black through her line. Orion was not his father.