Title: Alphard's Regret
Rating: T
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Alphard, Sirius
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em - not making any money off 'em. Dern it.
Word Count: 764
Summary: Alphard tells Sirius about his biggest regret.
Notes:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry: History of Magic - For this task, I would like you to write about any member of the Black family.

365 Days of Drabbles Challenge: Prompt Used - Sly

Alphard watched with a sly smile. He saw Sirius and Regulus play together and envied the two of them for their close relationship.

He hadn't even been close to either of his siblings, too different from them. Sirius and Regulus didn't seem to share that problem and Alphard sincerely hoped that it stayed like that. You needed your brother to get through life.

Regulus started looking at his book, and Sirius, who hated books with a passion, grew bored and started looking for something else to do.

Noticing he had Alphard's attention, Sirius smiled widely. "Hi, Uncle Alp."

"Hello, my little star."

They hugged each other, Alphard caring nothing for pure-blood decorum.

"How are you doing?"

Sirius frowned. "We had another pure-blood lesson yesterday."

Alphard rolled his eyes at Walburga and Orion's parenting. "What was it about?"

"Families?"

Alphard furrowed his brow. "Are you okay? That sounds like a relatively easy one."

"Can I ask you something? I think it might be a bit personal."

Alphard took Sirius's hand and led him to the other side of the room, away from Regulus's curious ears.

They sat at the table, and he watched Sirius fidget. He knew Sirius would have to learn to hide his nervousness. It was probably a lesson Walburga was planning to give him soon. After all, proper pure-bloods never showed their unease.

"Sirius, talk to me. You can ask me anything. I can't promise to answer, but you can ask."

Sirius bit his bottom lip before he sat up straighter, readying himself. "Why didn't you ever marry and have kids?"

His heart clenched at the reminder of his one regret. "I guess your mother probably made her disgust known yesterday."

Sirius nodded. "She said all proper pure-bloods marry and have at least one child in order to further the line. She talked about you and what a disappointment you had been."

Alphard nodded, not surprised. Walburga had never been able to understand that his being without a family wasn't his fault. Somehow, he did it to himself even though he yearned for a wife and child.

He wondered if Sirius was too young to understand it, but despite his playful and sometimes ignorance, Alphard believed Sirius could handle the truth.

"Sirius, this might be hard for you to understand."

"What is it, Uncle Alp?"

"Sometimes, people can't have children. It's not really their fault. It's just that something in their bodies doesn't make it possible."

"There's no magic to fix it?" Sirius inquired, innocence shining in his eyes.

"Not yet. The best of the best still can't figure why some witches and wizards are born with the inability to have children."

"So, it happens to both of them. Not just one."

"Right." Alphard nodded. "And unfortunately, I'm one of the unlucky wizards who can't have children. I was set to marry a lovely witch, a girl who I thought I might even be able to love one day. I had to go to the doctor and they discovered that my body was incapable of creating a baby. Because of that, the witch and her family annulled the contract since no children could come of the joining."

"She didn't want to marry you anyways?" Sirius asked in disbelief.

"Without children, most marriages wouldn't happen, at least in pure-blood society. There needs to be children to continue family lines. It was perfectly understandable the Celeste no longer wanted to marry. And the fact is that my inability to have children made me unattractive to all Pure-bloods."

"And you couldn't marry a half-blood."

It wasn't a question. Both of them knew the answer, but Alphard still replied. "I was already in trouble for something I couldn't control. Do you really think me marrying a half-blood would have been accepted?"

"Do you wish you could have been a father?"

"More than anything," Alphard admitted.

He didn't say it, but that wish was one of the reasons he spent so much time at 12 Grimmauld Place. It definitely wasn't for Walburga's company; it was so he could spend time with Sirius and Regulus since he'd never have sons of his own.

And he knew he'd do everything he could to look after both Sirius and Regulus. He had a feeling Regulus wouldn't need Alphard's interference, but Sirius tended to see how far he could go against Walburga, and sooner or later, Walburga would retaliate in a way that couldn't be taken back. That was when Alphard would step in and do his best to shield Sirius. He would have done the same for his own son.