AN: This is the second installment of the Zodiac Challenge from Aldira, mine is Pride. I named this story Parallel Lines because they are two lines that never intersect. Hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, that's all J.K. Rowling.
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He was only 18, yet it felt like he had lived such a long life, or so he tried to tell himself as he fearfully stared death in the face. And Regulus was - fearful that is.
Truly, he'd believed his family's words, Toujours Pur, Always Pure, and upheld his blood and heritage with pride that could only come from belonging to something bigger than oneself. So, with that pride, he let himself fall into line with many other purebloods of higher society, followed a madman that had plans to keep their wizarding world forever pure.
Then, unsuspectingly, he'd stumbled into the knowledge that his Lord was a half-blood, a hypocrite that hated his father and those who had wronged him as a child so much so, that he wanted to eradicate them all. He cared not for magical blood, of old traditions kept, only revenge. As fate would have it, the grey eyed young man had also found where the famed immortality of his Lord was kept - a ring that he was entrusted with keeping.
His fate was sealed once the knowledge was with him. Regulus may not have been in Gryffindor like his older brother, but he knew how to do right by himself and others.
Death took him mercifully, quickly - he almost didn't feel the life leave him before darkness took him.
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Orion Black died of a broken heart - his youngest son, buried before him, and his eldest refusing to be a part of his own family, going so far as to send the letter of his brothers demise back, sealed and unread. All he had done was uphold the Black family views as well as he could, carrying the Lordship with pride in his name and family's accomplishments.
Yet, it was only with his wife of 50 years by his side, that he passed away, chasing his Regulus into death only a short month after burying the 18 year old, (if only metaphorically, seeing as his body could not be found - they only knew of his death because the Family Tapestry listed him as deceased).
The 70 year old could only think, 'Perhaps pride of my family is what broke it so fantastically', as he passed on from his mortal shell.
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It was six years later that Walburga, Lady Black, passed as well. Alone in the house that echoed with old memories. She died in her sleep, never waking up to the wails of her distressed house elf, Kreacher, nor to the Medi-witch that was called to pronounce her dead.
It was better that way.
In a final act of stubborn pride, she still had Sirius as the one to inherit the Black Lordship and all the family's worldly positions. And she'd had it sealed until a time in which he was no longer in Azkaban. The wizarding world was blind, deaf, and dumb to think her son would kill the young man that had been his brother since he'd joined bloody Gryffindor house.
Her passing was marked only by a small, familial burial in the Black cemetery, and a notice in the obituary section of the Daily Prophet.
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Sirius didn't have in last moment thoughts - hadn't known he'd died. He just tripped backwards and then, nothing.
Never, had he felt pride at being a Black. No, that rushing feeling could only be related to a few times in his life. When Gryffindor had been called out as he sat under the Sorting Hat. Accomplishing the animagus successfully at 15. And, of course, holding his godson for the first time, only minutes old, as James and Lily gave him the surprise of naming him godfather - which turned into a not so proud moment of bursting into near hysteric sobs of joy.
His death was mourned by his godson and those who had known of his innocence, and the world went on thinking the crazed criminal had it coming since he escaped Azkaban.
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Harry was 20 before he thought to look into his inheritance of the Black family. And, since Sirius had been named as Lord, his will was read in private when the green eyed man asked for the goblins to do so. In the end, everything was given to Harry, as he'd already suspected.
Then, the goblin Coldstone informed him that, before Harry could have the family ring and legally take the title of Lord Black, he had to listen to the last will and testament of the late Lady Walburga Black. It had been meant for Sirius, so he could already hear her horrible shrieking voice echoing in his ears. With a nod of consent, the will was opened and the message turned into a woman that looked to be in her 50's, sitting in her bed propped up - the will was made a few weeks before the Dragon Pox had hit her with its full brunt.
She looked like the whole of the Black family ; with her black hair, grey eyes, the sturdy set of her shoulders, and the stubborn chin that Sirius had once had. Upon opening her mouth, Harry cringed as he wait for her unpleasant voice to bellow out at him. Instead, he was stunned as a high but quietly cultured voice came from the woman.
"This is the last Will and Testament of Lady Walburga Elladora Black. I make this document with no coercion, under no duress, and of my own free will," here there was a small pause before she seemingly centered herself before continuing. "Truly, this letter is for only one person - my eldest, and only living, son, Sirius Orion Black. I deem you worthy of the Black Lordship and all the responsibilities that come with said title. So I say it, so mote it be. Once you are out of Azkaban - don't look at me so surprised, young man. You may not like it, but I am your mother, and have spent years learning about you everyday as such. I have learned that you may be a Black in name and blood, but your heart is of Gryffindor - you would never betray one you saw as your own brother in all but name. One would have to be touched to think so, and that tells you how doomed we are, what with how long you have been locked away." At her dryly spoken words, Harry couldn't help but snort in amusement. Now he knew where Sirius got his dark humor from.
"Now, you may not want this Lordship," Lady Walburga continued, "but that is too bad. It is yours and will not pass on until you die. You can change the family to how you see fit - change political sides to the more Light oriented families, break all ties with the darker families, denounce blood purity. I don't care, it is your choices to make. Just - just, take pride in the family you form, in all that you do to achieve it. You were never proud to be apart of this family, not like little Reggie. Your father died wishing you were by his side at his deathbed, felt ashamed that he ran you away with our beliefs. And, and so am I. Please, be happy with the life you live, from now until forever. Your brother and father loved you, and I love you as well," her voice broke a little and she turned her face away from the recording device, and discreetly wiped the tears from her face, before turning back forward, her eyes a little puffier and red than a moment before. "As my last act as the Lady Black, I hereby change the family motto from Toujours Pur, always pure, to Toujours Famille, always family. So I say it, so mote it be. This is the end of the will, to be handed to the head accountant of the Black family, Coldstone. Farewell." And then a house elf's hand came over the screens surface, more than likely Kreacher's, before the recording stopped and turned back into a scroll to be filed away in the Black Main Vault.
That day, Harry went home as Lord Potter-Black, a little less jaded, more thoughtful than usual, a sudden understanding of what Kreacher had meant when he said Sirius had broken his mother's heart. And, maybe, eyes a little pinker and face a little more wan than he' ever care to admit.