Author: HatefulRodeo

Story: Sirius' Awakening

Notes: Alright this chapter we will meet Walburga and Orion Black. I always believed Sirius' mom got a bum rap in the books. Yes, she may have been crazy but she was stuck in a portrait for how many years. All she had was Kreacher to talk to; I don't blame her for being slightly unhinged. And you have to consider that she lost both her sons in one way or another. No matter how rebellious a child is their parents still love them; usually. Also, did anyone notice that she burned off Sirius' name off the tapestry but never formally disowned him? Anywho, this is mostly filler and next chapter things will be moving along! Thanks to all that fav'd, followed and reviewed! ENJOY LOVELIES!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I will make no money from the posting of this story.

Previously:

And those bottomless onyx eyes that could be so hard to read were currently covered by thin eyelids. But Sirius knew when Severus allowed his feelings to show they were so expressive; easily conveying exactly what was on the other's mind if one knew how to read them. Sirius usually only saw hate and loathing when Snape looked at him but maybe that would change?

Sirius found himself wanting to get to know the Slytherin. He knew very little about his ex-nemesis but the guy couldn't be all bad. Regulus and Lily were friends with him so Severus couldn't be as horrible as he once believed he was.

Sirius shook his head and pushed away all his thoughts of Severus and drew his wand to summon on of his school books; if he was going to lay here he might as well get some reading done so he could get started on his dreaded summer homework.

~*~*~*~*~*Chapter 2~*~*~*~*~

Walburga Elladora Black was seated in the sitting room, accompanied by her husband Orion Regulus Black, waiting on her eldest son, Sirius, to come and speak to them. Now the fact that her son would want to speak to his parents was in itself shocking and enough to spark her curiosity.

What could mean enough to Sirius for him to willingly be in his dreadful parents' presence? Oh she knew how her son felt about her and his father and it hurt her; quite a lot. He was her baby, her first child, and when he ignored their words of advice, or called them racists, it pained them. She simply wanted the best for him, she wanted him to be aware of the dangers that came from muggles and those who entered the magical world ignorant of their way of life.

Alas, it hadn't worked and Sirius was bound, and determined, to spite them at every turn. First by being sorted into Gryffindor, which in itself wasn't to bad, but then her son befriended the Potter heir; a more muggle loving family than the Potters had yet to be found! Unless one was speaking of Albus bloody Dumbledore; that man was a scourge on their world! Always pushing aside the Old Ways to make space for foolish muggle traditions.

Sighing, she pulled herself away from her mind, glancing at her husband with a smile on her face. Walburga still adored her husband; always had and always would. The man was everything a pureblood Lord should be; smart, clever, handsome, and he loved his family to distraction. It hurt Orion that his heir, and firstborn son, seemed to despise his parents so.

The Lady Black knew there was so much her love wanted to teach both their sons, especially Sirius. Their eldest son was their heir and it was up to him to lead their Noble House in the future. How was Sirius supposed to do that when he wouldn't even listen to them? Wouldn't even try to learn from them?

A knock was heard before their eldest boy walked into the room, a nervous smile on his handsome face before he seemed to strengthen his resolve and stood tall and proud in front of them. She was proud that he was able to get a handle on his emotions; showing them was a sign of weakness unless in front of those you trusted. It was sad but true; in their world love was a flaw that would be exploited and used against you. Why do you think most people believed Walburga and Orion merely tolerated each other?

Careful planning and misinformation; that was how! Sirius voice cut through her smug thoughts, bringing her attention back onto him; "Mother, father, I have a request to make. As you know one of Regulus' friends has come to our home and is seeking sanctuary here."

Ah yes Regulus' friend. What was the boy's name? Severus Snape that was it. Snape? She didn't recognize the surname which meant he was either half-blood or muggleborn; neither of which overly pleased her but she would listen to what Sirius had to say.

Obviously there were several things she was missing here and would not be hasty in her decision. She glanced to Orion and with not so much as a word between them knew it would be her decision if the boy stayed, nodding imperceptively toward her husband she turned back to Sirius.

"I was made aware upon our arrival that Mr. Snape has, indeed, been staying here for the last week while your father and I were in Paris. But what I'm not aware of is the reason why you are here asking for him to stay and not Regulus? Shouldn't it be your brother's place to beseech for his friend's sanctuary with us?"

Sirius fidgeted slightly, which made her want to smile; he wanted so much to impress them by being Slytherin but those Gryffindor tendencies were showing. Finally, her boy spoke; "I feel it is my responsibility to ask that Severus be allowed to stay here. I am the eldest son and as such my younger brother is my responsibility. Also, I feel I am in debt to Severus for many careless past actions against him on my part."

"I am hoping that by asking you that he be allowed to stay that some of my misdeeds will be forgiven." Walburga nodded, seeming to think about what her son was saying. However, she was pretty confident that she would let the boy stay. She knew something bad must have happened to the Snape child for him to escape to, and want to remain at, Grimmauld Place. But she wanted to know what those reasons were before she verbally agreed to let the boy remain with them.

"Alright, Sirius; I accept your reasoning but why does the Snape boy need to stay here? Why can he not go home to his family?" She watched her child. Watched him try to reign in his anger and disgust before he spoke. Oh yes something horrid must have happened to the other boy for Sirius to be this upset.

Sirius' answer came through clenched teeth and fiery eyes, blazing with hate; "Severus' father is a muggle, mother. He is the worst sort of beast! He abuses and beats Severus. He starves him mother! He came here in shambles, barely able to stand upright from that filthy muggle's treatment. I will not allow him to go back there!" When her son was done speaking his once proud posture hunched a bit as he drew in great rasping breaths to calm himself.

Walburga watched all this while her mind whirled; a muggle was beating a wizard child?! How dare them! How dare any muggle harm a wizard and a child at that! No, Severus would never be going back to his home, not if she had any say in it. Orion's hand came to grasp hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. Taking a deep breath she gazed at Sirius, feeling proud that her son was finally seeing the danger, and damage, muggles could do.

"Alright, my son Severus can stay with us. Tell me Sirius what kind of boy is this Severus? I know he must be Slytherin as Regulus is his friend but what else can you tell me about the boy?" Sirius' grey eyes lit up in happiness and the smile that lit up his handsome face was enough to bring a small smile onto hers.

"Mother, father, he's a good student and a good person. He practices the Old Ways, from what I understand, and he is interested in the Dark Arts. How far he's dabbled I cannot say but he is the perfect Slytherin. He's also brilliant at Potions and Defense." Walburga and Orion smiled at their son. Both adults wondering if Sirius had more of a stake in Severus staying with them than a simple feeling of obligation.

Pushing those thoughts to the side she continued; "Sirius, why don't you take a seat while we speak?" Her firstborn gracefully moved to take a seat on the sofa in front of them. Once he was seated she asked another question that was niggling her; "Why hasn't Severus informed Dumbledore? Surely the Headmaster would have done something for the poor child?"

By Sirius reaction she knew this may be the thing that opens her son's eyes to the old coot's manipulative and bigoted ways. But she would hold her tongue for now and see what Sirius had to say. "Oh Severus went to Dumbledore alright. And so you know what he did? He turned him away! Said he was exaggerating and it couldn't be that bad!"

"How could he do that? How could he turn a student away after they made accusations like that? Just because he's Slytherin? I don't understand it, mum, I just don't. Shouldn't he protect all of us?" Walburga felt her heart stop; her baby called her mum. He hadn't called her mum since he was nine and decided he wanted to rebel against everything they believed in.

Pushing down the urge to rush to her son, and hug him, the Lady Black simply held her husband's hand tighter; "I can't answer with certainty on why the old coot would turn away a student but I can speculate. I believe it is in fact due to Severus being a Slytherin and not just a Slytherin but a half-blood with no power in our world. He can get away with it because no one will speak out on Severus' behalf, allowing Dumbledore to continue on discriminating against those he finds undesirable."

"But I cannot be sure, Sirius. All I know is that Severus will never go back to that muggle trash he calls family. The boy will stay with us and we will accept him into our home as family. I will not allow Dumbledore's prejudice to destroy an innocent child." Sirius beamed at his mother and father; "Thank you, thank you both." Here Walburga noticed her son fidgeting again before he spoke; "I'm sorry."

Those words made her breath catch in her throat; never did she ever think she'd here Sirius apologize to them but she again held her tongue to see where he was going with this. With a glance toward her husband she saw he was equally shocked, though you would never know it by looking at them.

Sirius' voice floated to her ears and she let her eyes again settle on her eldest son; "I'm sorry for not believing you when you told me about muggles and that they could hurt us. I should have known you would never lie to me. I'm sorry for believing Dumbledore, and the Potters, over my own blood. I'm ashamed of my past actions toward you. All you both wanted to do was to help me understand and I treated you badly."

"I've been foolish and pushed my family away. Family is the most important thing. And while I can't say I'll agree with everything you have to teach me I will listen and respect you for your views since I know you would never do anything to hurt me or steer me wrong." Walburga's eyes became slightly moist; her son was apologizing and desired to rebuild their relationship. It was all she could so not to cry and hug her son.

Orion, apparently, noticed his wife's inability to speak and took over the conversation; "Sirius, we love you. You must know we would never do anything to hurt you. Your mother, and I, are pleased you understand that now and we would like the chance to be a family again, like we used to be. I know Regulus has missed you as have your mother and I. You are our first son, our heir, and we will always love you."

"Never be ashamed of who you are or where you come from. You are a Black and that is nothing to be ashamed of." Sirius smiled at his father; "Thank you, dad. I'm glad you still want me here after all I've said and done." Walburga snorted and with a voice full of amusement spoke; "Of course we still want you! You're our son and until the day you leave this family we will love you and accept you. Foolish Gryffindor!"

Sirius chuckled and stood, moving toward his mother with a sheepish grin on his face. When he made it to Walburga's seated form he grasped her free hand and pulled her to her feet. Before she could scold him she was wrapped up in a fierce hug, her boy nuzzling his face into her neck.

The ever collected Lady of House Black smiled and held her first child just as tightly. In a wavering voice she spoke; "I love you, Sirius, always. Don't ever think I stopped just because you were being a prat." A watery chuckled was heard from the vicinity of her neck; "I know, mum. I love you too." She smiled before collecting herself and moving away from her son; "Now, I think we need to meet the newest addition to our home."

Sirius nodded, wiping his eyes, and breathing deeply to get his bearing. Orion stood and moved to hug his boy. Walburga Black never in a million years anticipated the meeting would go like this; never in a million years did she think they would degenerate into three sobbing Hufflepuffs.

But then again they were family and if you couldn't express your love, every now again, for them who could you express it to? Walburga looked at her boy and felt that familiar stirring of hope in her heart. Maybe, just maybe, from now on her son would listen to his parents and want to learn from them. Whoever this Severus Snape was she was grateful to him as it seemed his presence in their home led to Sirius' awakening.

Now she and Orion would need to act accordingly; papers would need to be filed with the Ministry. The Lady Black had no issue with accepting Severus Snape into their home but she would only do it legally; she had no desire for any trouble to come to her door. However, she knew the child wouldn't want a big production being made about his new living arrangements and that was fine.

Orion had many contacts within the Ministry so it wouldn't be too big of a hassle to get one of them over here to do the paperwork. Once those papers were filed Severus Snape would become a ward of the Ancient and Noble House of Black, giving the boy privileges, and access to things, he'd never dreamed of. But Severus would need to continue bringing home good grades along with living by the rules of their house.

Clearing her throat she brought the attention of the two men in the room back to her; "I believe we need to speak to Severus now. There is much to discuss. Sirius, could you please fetch him and Regulus so we can have a sit down?" Her son's grey eyes lit up and with a jaunty nod he slipped from the room.

Orion's chuckled; "It seems that boy has finally woken up to some very hard truths. We must be careful with him, Walburga. Sirius is a strong boy but he is fragile right now; all of his beliefs have been questioned, or shattered, in the past week." She smiled, and with a nod, retook her seat; "I agree. I'm just pleased our son is letting us in again. I know he is, and always was, a good boy. Sirius is just so stubborn; something he gets from his father's side, I believe."

She waved off Orion's playful glare and continued; "But I think Severus' presence here will help Sirius. Both of them can help each other; Sirius needs someone to listen to him, someone his own age and Severus needs to feel safe and accepted."

"I believe Sirius, along with Regulus, can help him adjust to life here and make him feel welcomed and wanted. Of course, we will be there as well to give the boy whatever he needs to feel better."

The sound of knocking put an end to their conversation. Straightening her back she bid her son's and soon-to-be ward entry into the room.

As I said this chapter was mostly filler but it was necessary to the plot. Next chapter we will be hearing from Severus' POV.

All Mistakes Are My Own.