A loud crack sounded throughout the room, so loud she thought the house was shaking on its foundation. She stood, eyes wide, staring at the man that had just appeared in front of her. A man that shouldn't have been able to apparate into this house. He was in defense mode with his wand poised in front of him as if he had just left a fight; his eyes darted from corner to corner until they finally landed on her. They narrowed and he lifted his wand arm up further, in anticipation of her attacking him. She immediately threw her hands up to show that she was unarmed.
"Who are you? How did you get in my house?"
"What? I live here. How did you get in here? That should have been impossible!"
As the two stared at each other, the unknown man began to get impatient. She noticed some similarities to Sirius then. Their eyes were the same, as was their hair.
"Sirius!" she shouted, hoping that he would come quickly.
"What did you just say?"
Before she could answer, Sirius ran into the room, followed closely by Remus. He stopped short as he took in the scene before him, causing Remus to run right into his back. Taking in the look of extreme horror on his face, she slowly moved to grab her wand from her arm holster and pointed it at the man. Unfortunately, he must have caught her movement out of the corner of his eye as he suddenly turned back towards her, his wand pointed right at her chest.
"Whoever you are, lower your wand right now. How dare you go around impersonating a member of the House of Black," Sirius finally broke the silence, using what Hermione called his pompous pureblood voice.
"Sirius? But… why do you look so old? What is going on here?"
"You tell me before I call for the Aurors. You are trespassing and have your wand pointed at a member of this household. Now you will answer me or I will have you arrested."
The man lowered his wand, looking confused and out of place.
"I am not sure. I was fighting with your mother, and she sent some spell at me that I have never seen before. The next thing I know, I am in a different room of the house and this young lady is standing in front of me."
Sirius scoffed.
"My father died many years ago. I do not know what you think you have to gain, but I suggest –"
"Sirius, I think he's telling the truth."
All three heads turned towards her, and Remus finally spoke up, asking, "Why do you think that?"
"Well, Sirius, didn't you always say you were suspicious over the circumstances surrounding your father's death? But that you had no one to question since you had already left at that point and Regulus was gone? Well, what if he didn't die but was accidentally propelled into the future by your mother?"
The next thing she knew, Sirius was rushing out of the room, leaving three bewildered people staring after him. A few bangs and shouts was all it took to have them following him.
They found him standing in front of the portrait of his mother, screaming at her. It was hard to hear what he was saying over the screeching coming from Mrs. Black, however. Her screaming was cut off abruptly as the man (who was more likely than not Orion Black) pushed passed Hermione and Remus to stand in front of his wife.
"Orion? Is that you?" the portrait asked, attempting to sound meek.
"You know full well it is, witch."
"Impossible! That spell was supposed to kill you!"
Hermione couldn't help herself and gasped loudly at the witch's words.
"You shut your foul mouth, Mudblood. None of this is any of your business."
Sirius raised his wand, preparing to hex the portrait into silence, but Orion grabbed his arm and shook his head.
"You will not speak to any member of this household in that manner, Walburga."
Hermione was shocked. Those did not sound like words she would expect to hear from a supposed Pureblood purist. Even Sirius was staring at Orion with his mouth agape in shock.
"You will remember your place. And as it appears that your spell backfired, I am still alive, but you… you, my dear, are quite dead. Which means I can do this," he spoke with conviction as he waved his wand at Walburga. She started screaming until suddenly her frame was completely blank, and there was silence.
"Well, now that that is done, Sirius, care to fill me in on what has been going on?"
"Get out."
"What?"
"Get out. This is my house now, and I refuse to have you spend any time under it. Leave."
"Sirius, please, you don't under –"
"I understand just fine. I understand that you threw me out of the family for refusing to kneel in front of a mad man. I understand that your ideals got my brother killed. Get. Out."
"I think you will find that as soon as I appeared in this time, ownership of all previous House of Black estates would have reverted back to my ownership. So, no, I do not think I will be leaving."
Sirius let out a low growl and made a move to pounce on the man, but Hermione was too quick for him. She immobilized him, letting Remus catch him before he fell over, and said, "Hear the man out, Sirius. We can be happy in the future, or we can be angry about the past. Let the anger go."
She left then, pulling Remus along with her, leaving the two wizards alone. Hopefully, cooler heads would prevail, and there would be no spells thrown.
A week later, Hermione was drawn to the library by some loud knocks. Knowing that Sirius and Remus were out for the night, that left the new arrival in their house.
Orion Black.
She had barely spoken to the man since he rid the house of Walburga's screeching. The day after he arrived, Sirius had dragged him down to Gringotts and demanded a heritage test. The wizard had spoken the truth; he was who he said he was.
As she entered the library to check to make sure he was okay, she stopped short at the scene in front of her. Orion sat in the chair, an empty bottle of Firewhiskey next to him, with his head in his hands. Broken glass was scattered across the floor, mixed with what looked like pieces from a broken vase.
"Mr. Black? Are you okay?"
His head shot up, and he looked at her with bloodshot eyes.
"Oh, I'm just wonderful. I'm in the future with a son who hates me, my other son is dead, and I've been lost for most of my adult life. This isn't how I imagined my life."
"How did you imagine it?" she asked softly. He watched her warily, and she was sure he would normally never consider talking to her about any of this.
"I was in love, once. Before that bitch came along and stole me away. Would it shock you to learn she was a Muggleborn?"
"Honestly? Yes, it would shock me. I've heard many thing about you, Mr. Black. None of them ever suggested you held anything but contempt for anyone that was not a Pureblood."
"She was so beautiful, so perfect," he continued on as if he didn't even hear her. "I loved her very much."
"What happened to her?"
"She was killed, not that long after I was married. I'll always regret that she was most likely killed because of me."
She felt awful for the man. She couldn't imagine what it would feel like to basically have your whole life taken from you in that manner. Crouching down next to him, careful to avoid the glass on the floor, she took his hand in hers in a silent comfort. They stayed that way for a while before he spoke up once more.
"Please, call me Orion."
The months that followed that night in the library were hectic. Sirius and Orion had formed a tentative relationship after Sirius learned that Walburga had been poisoning his father with love potions for the majority of their marriage. However, because Sirius was still somewhat reluctant to be in his father's company, even with their truce, it was Hermione who helped Orion get his bearings in this new time.
She didn't mind, really. In all honestly, she found him intelligent and a delight to talk to. He was completely the opposite of anything Sirius had ever said about him. Her only problem with him was that she wished he would stop sending her gifts. Every other day or so, an owl would show up at her office in the Department of Mysteries bearing a package. Sometimes it was flowers, sometimes it was more expensive things such as jewelry or designer dresses.
She tried to get him to stop on multiple occasions, but he would just laugh at her and say, "I have plenty of money, and I will spend it as I see fit." To him, that was the end of the conversation. She thought briefly about asking Sirius to talk to him, but she didn't want to introduce anymore strife between the two.
Speaking of the devil, a short knock on her office door revealed Orion standing in the doorway.
"Hello, Hermione."
"Orion! What are you doing here?" she asked as she rose from her chair to greet him.
"Do I need a reason to visit my favorite witch?"
She couldn't help the blush that appeared on her face at his words. There was a part of her that wished he meant that the way she wanted him to mean it. If she was being honest with herself, she had been having less than friendly feelings towards the older wizard for some time now.
"Of course not."
"I came to take you to lunch. Come, get your bag and let's go. I've made reservations at the Mountain Orchid."
"Orion! That place is too expensive! How many times do I have to tell you that you don't have to spend so much money on me?"
"Apparently once more. I'll spend it as I wish, Hermione. Now, let us go before they give our reservation away."
She took his hand and allowed him to lead her away from her office. She wanted to admonish him for just assuming she would go to lunch with him but found herself unable to. They would go and enjoy a good lunch.
She could yell at him later.
Later never came, however, as Orion had convinced her to play hooky for the rest of day and insisted she show him around London. They had a wonderful time seeing the sights and when they returned home, their laughter drew the attention of Sirius. She noticed his eyes narrow slightly as they landed on their clasped hands.
"Hermione… where did you get that bracelet?"
"Oh, isn't it lovely? Orion gave it to me last week."
"Oh, did he now?"
"Sirius –"
"Don't you 'Sirius' me, Father. You know she has no idea what that bracelet on her wrist means. Hermione, what else has my father given to you?"
"I… what? Flowers, jewelry, dinners and lunches out. I've tried to make him stop, Sirius, I swear! Please, don't be mad!"
His eyes softened as he looked at her before they hardened once more as his gaze shifted to his father, who looked like he was controlling the urge to fidget.
"I'm not mad at you, Hermione. My father, on the other hand… he should have told you. You are lucky no one has noticed that bracelet or this would be all over the Prophet."
"I don't understand. What's so important about this bracelet?"
"That's a Black family betrothal piece. All those gifts? My father's been courting you, Hermione, and that bracelet says you have accepted his suit."
"What?" she hissed. She wrenched her hand from Orion's and glared at him. "How could you?"
Trying desperately to keep the tears that were threatening to fall at bay, she turned and left the room.
Hours later, a knocked sounded on her door. Knowing it was Orion, she called for him to come in even though she really did not want to see him. He looked… nervous as he closed the door behind him.
"Hermione, forgive me."
"For what, exactly?"
"Sirius informed me that this is not how things are done in this time. I've been so lost since I've come to this time; I do not know why this has happened. The only bright spots have been a second chance with my son and you, Hermione."
"Maybe some people are just meant to be in the same story, Orion. Maybe this is where you were meant to be."
"Possibly. I just… I honestly thought you knew about the customs and what I was doing. I realize now that I should have just talked to you, told you that I think you are the most wonderful witch I have ever met. You are beautiful, not just on the outside but inside as well. I find myself to be quite in love with you. You would do me a great honor if you would accept that bracelet in the spirt it was given."
"Orion, I… yes."
The word tumbled out of her mouth before she even knew that was what she wanted to say. She had fallen in love with him over the time they spent together but did not think he would return her feelings. Orion let out an undignified whoop of joy as he picked her up and spun her around. He lowered his head as if to kiss her, but at the last minute turned and his lips ended up near her ear.
"You have to be the one to tell Sirius you are going to be his new step-mother," he whispered, causing shivers to run down her spine.
He finally kissed her then, and it felt like she was home.
Hogwarts: Ancient Runes class – Write about wealth in the Wizarding World. Prompt: Orion Black
Gringotts Prompt Bank:
Dialogue Extracted From TV Programmes:"We can be happy in the future or we can be angry about the past." - Maleficent, Once Upon a Time
Randomly Generated Goodreads Quotes: "Maybe some people are just meant to be in the same story." - Jandy Nelson
It's So Wrong, It's Right: Cross-Gen