Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. This work is merely for leisure and not for any profit whatsoever.
Summary: London is a big city. In cities of such size, many small details pass by unnoticed by most of the crowd. Homes become invisible, shops are glanced over and ignored, strange events and people are written off as one-time occurrences, and anomalies are unknowingly brushed aside. SI/OC.
Stars in the Silence
The House of Black
Life as a member of the House of Black was not fun. Not for Sirius, Aquila or even Regulus. As members of the House of Black, they had to portray certain standards and abilities, and so their days were filled with lesson after lesson after lesson. The twins' daily pure-blood regimen, broken only with short breaks for lunch, filled up their time from morning to evening and was busy and taxing for a pair of five-year-olds. (Regulus, due to his younger age, would only start actual lessons come the following year.) They learnt how to play musical instruments; Sirius the piano and Aquila the violin. They learnt how to waltz and Aquila learnt ballet in addition to that – for grace and poise her mother had tutted when Aquila gave her a sullen glare. They continued their penmanship classes. They were taught chess, told how and when to lie and how to act. They were tutored on magical theory and learnt multiple languages.
Of course, with Aquila having near three decades on Sirius mentally, it wasn't surprising that she found their schedule more manageable than them.
"I still don't get why we need to learn two other languages! I mean, I can understand learning French, but Latin? Why the bloody-"
Aquila watched stoically as their mother flung a mild Stinging Hex at her twin, chastising tersely, "Language, Sirius!"
She sighed internally. Of course Sirius stubbornly refused to go quietly to their lessons no matter how many times she explained it. Ignoring his yelp and subsequent grumblings she nudged for him to stand. Dipping her head, she excused them from the table calmly, because no matter how distasteful the fact that she needed permission was to her, this was the protocol in a Noble House, Aquila tugged her twin out into the hallway, leaving behind a sullen Regulus and their irate mother to their lunch. Sirius huffed at the mildly reproachful look she sent him, "Yes, yes I know; 'Learning Latin will help us understand and replicate future spells we will learn in the future, don't curse in front of Reggie and don't antagonise Mother.' Shut it already."
She smirked, "I haven't said anything and-"
"And it's my fault for not holding my tongue and not censoring my words – never mind the fact that I learnt them from you, hypocrite– and I, of course, deserved it," He gave her a wounded look, "I'm your twin, you're supposed to be on my side."
"I am on your side, that's the only reason I deign you with my advice and aid," Aquila said in a faux haughty tone, "Otherwise I'd have merely cackled like dearest cousin Bellatrix."
"She's insufferable and a menace to society."
"Big words, I'm surprised you know what they mean."
"I'm brash, not stupid."
"Funny, I could have sworn they meant the same thing."
"I'm hurt, truly. You've stabbed me in the heart."
"You poor thing. How will you ever survive cousin Bella when she gets her knives this coming Yule? Mother mentioned that she saw a lovely set the other day in Knockturn Alley."
Sirius choked on air, "She's what?! Is Mother insane? It's Bellatrix!"
"Did you say something? I don't think they heard you in Hogwarts," ignoring the incensed look Sirius flung at her, Aquila said sardonically, "A Black Lady is always armed with her wand, her wit and a knife. Did you expect anything less?"
"Bellatrix is thirteen. Thirteen. How does Mother not see what's wrong with this? We're barely five and we know that this is a Bad. Idea."
"I see I'm rubbing off you. Good, you could do with my common sense and intellect," Aquila said, brushing off the look of annoyance Sirius sent her, "To answer your question; we are members of the House of Black. Again, did you expect anything less?"
"… Are they teaching her how to use them?"
"Her lessons begin in the summer after she receives them. And before you ask, I know this because I actually pay attention to what Mother and the other Ladies discuss during their 'tea parties'. You should attempt to do so too, brother dearest," Aquila drawled, lips pulling into a smirk. Tea parties? Ha, more like minor political battles. Flowery compliments more often than not had double meanings and hidden barbs while the painted smirks on the Ladies present were the only clue of the hidden plans formulating behind immaculate masks. Politics, oh how Aquila hated them, and from the look on Sirius' face, her twin shared her opinion on the matter.
Standing outside the study room where their language tutor was waiting for them, Sirius stared at her in disbelief, "Mother is giving Bellatrix something pointy and dangerous, and Bellatrix is only going to be taught how to handle them after the school term ends?"
"I doubt Bella will be able to bring her knives to Hogwarts. Aunt Druella at least has enough sense to disallow that until she's certain Bella knows how to use them. And no matter how Bella may act, I sincerely doubt she'd go all stab-happy afterwards. She's in Slytherin; she should have some amount subtlety."
The deadpanned look Sirius sent her conveyed exactly how much faith he had in Bellatrix having subtlety.
Stormy grey eyes glinted back at him, "We are learning how to manipulate and blackmail others when we are five, Siri. This is the House of Black. Why are you surprised?"
…
"Do we still have to go for lessons, Kii?"
"For the last time Siri, yes."
.
For all purposes and doubts, their tutor was an extremely competent one, fluent in English, French, Latin and many more languages (as if their parents would have settled for anything less) but he certainly wasn't a good tutor for them. Too formal for Sirius to truly connect with him enough to try to excel, too rigid to allow for Aquila to practice the languages differently and too stubborn to change his lesson plans when it was obvious they weren't effective anymore. There was only so many times they could be asked to translate the Anglo-French War before even the fact that the numerous Muggle battles occurring in Normandy had been used to cover up a three-way aerial territorial spat between three colonies of feuding Veela became boring.
Aquila dipped her quill into her ink well before penning down the translated quote the matriarch of the triumphant colony had used as a rallying call for her people to defend their home, 'Si vis pacem, para bellum.'
She cocked her head to one side as she mused over what her mother and the other Ladies had discussed in their latest… tea party.
Apparently, Aunt Druella's cousin's daughter had heard from the Hogwarts rumour mill that the Headmaster had turned down a potential candidate for the position of Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts due to a personal bias. In retaliation, the wizard had jinxed the job position, although no one knew exactly what the jinx was. Aquila turned her calculating eyes away from the original French source material to focus on the Latin quote she had just written, brows slightly pinched. The student had said that her Head of House had been in a foul mood during the End-of-Term Feast because Dumbledore had turned away 'a genius of a wizard unrivaled in his proficiency in Defence and the greatest Slytherin of his time.' Although the only thing she could confirm was that the Slytherin politics in the upper years had shifted to include a possible rising political powerhouse descended from Salazar Slytherin himself.
There was only one Wizard Aquila knew who matched that description.
.
If you desire peace, prepare for war.
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