"SIRIUS ORION BLACK!" came Walburga's ear-splitting screech from upstairs. Sirius grinned. She must have seen his newly decorated bedroom. This was going to be an entertaining conversation.

"What is it, Mother dearest?" he trilled as he climbed the stairs up to his room to meet her. He wasn't going to lie: his favourite way to pass time during the summer was to irritate his mother. He was a teenage boy, after all. And she was very amusing when she got angry.

"Stop mocking me," she snapped. "WHAT is the meaning of this?" she demanded, gesticulating around his room. He had draped the walls with scarlet and gold banners and plastered the remaining space with Wizarding photos of him and his friends, pictures of various Muggle motorbikes, and just to really annoy her, he had included some pictures of Muggle girls on the beach in bikinis.

Sirius had to struggle very hard not to laugh out loud at her expression. "I don't know what you mean, Mother," he said, just about managing to keep a straight face.

"You have DEFACED these walls!" she exploded, and Sirius almost let out a splutter. "Take it down, immediately!"

"Can't," Sirius told her gleefully. "Permanent Sticking Charms."

Walburga's eyes flashed. "What? That is completely unacceptable, Sirius! What will happen in the future when you move out and we want to use this room for something else? You didn't consider that, did you?"

"Hang on, I don't understand how what I've done to my room is any different to what Regulus has done to his," Sirius interrupted indignantly.

"How could it be more different?" she exclaimed exasperatedly. "Regulus is proud of his roots, he fills us with honour - more than you've ever done! You're bringing shame on this family!"

Sirius was suddenly angry. He hadn't intended for the joke to go this far. Why did every single conversation she had with her always end up with him being compared to Regulus? "It's my room, not yours! You don't have to come in here! So why should it matter to you what it looks like? And Regulus makes you proud? Well, forgive me if I don't want to rush out and join the Death Eaters and get killed as soon as I leave school!"

Walburga's anger was heightening. "You, Sirius Black, are the most arrogant, ungrateful boy I have ever had the misfortune to meet. I am ashamed to think that I brought you up! Where did I go wrong?" she almost wailed. "We were willing to accept it when you were Sorted into Gryffindor, but not all Gryffindors have to be so... outspoken! Why can't you be more like Regulus? He's staying true to what we've taught him, standing up for our beliefs -"

"And I'm standing up for mine!" Sirius exclaimed heatedly. "Have you ever considered that your beliefs might be WRONG?"

"How DARE you talk to your mother like that?" she screeched. "You should be grateful, grateful that we still keep this roof on your head, that we still provide you with food to eat and clothes on your back, grateful that we haven't thrown you out like that awful girl," she said, shuddering; Andromeda was not spoken about in the Black household.

"That 'awful girl' has a name: Andromeda," Sirius insisted, just as angrily and just as loudly as his mother. "And as a matter of fact, I don't think she's awful. I think she's amazing. She stood up for her beliefs, stood up against her society and all her friends and family, so that she could be with the man she loves, and I admire her for that. I don't care what you think!"

"Siri-"

"And don't tell me you're throwing me out, Mother, because you don't need to. I'm leaving," Sirius declared. "I should have done this a long time ago."

There was a deathly silence between the two as Sirius shoved his belongings into his trunk, even forgetting that he could use magic in his anger, until he found he could not fit everything in, and waved his wand vigorously to try and solve the problem. It took several attempts; Sirius had never been good at controlling his magic when his temper got the better of him.

For the first time since he had known her, his mother was silent. She stood quietly behind him as he struggled with his packing, and after he snatched up his trunk, broom and cauldron, she followed him, without speaking, as he stormed down the stairs towards the front door.

When he reached it, just for a second, he hesitated. They may have had their differences, but his family was still his family, and nothing could ever change that. Maybe things didn't have to end this way.

But Walburga spoke, dashing all hopes for reconciliation. "You do know that if you go through that door, you're not coming back?" she said harshly.

Sirius stayed frozen for a split second, and then made up his mind. He shot his mother a look of deepest loathing. "Goodbye."

He slammed the door behind him. Walburga stayed there for a moment, a look of sadness lingering on her face. Then she shook herself. The anger returned. She strode up to the room with the tapestry, her wand feeling like a weapon in her hand. This was the best revenge she could get. She had a feeling of twisted satisfaction as she watched Sirius's name blast through the material, eradicating him from her life.


A/N: This is for the Mother and Child Competition on HPFC. Thank you to my wonderful, wonderful beta, kci47, who did this at such short notice for me!

Disclaimer: I am not J K Rowling, sorry to disappoint you ;)

Reviewers get my eternal love.