Disclaimer - Usual. I own nothing. I'm certainly not making any money. Thank you, Rowlings for the 'verse in which to play.
Chapter 3
"I'm going to Hogwarts! I'm going to Hogwarts!" Sirius tore through the house yelling as loudly as he could, waving his Hogwarts letter over his head. He was ecstatic. He would finally be leaving this house, even if it was just during the school terms. He could get away from the old crone and her insane, pure-blood, illusions-of-grandeur mentality… and her screaming. Oh, to not have to hear that screechy, shrill, make-blood-pour-from-your-ears voice!
Regulus peaked his head out of the study, "What are you on about?"
Sirius changed his yells to a sing-song taunt, "I'm going to Hogwarts. I'm going to Hogwarts." He paused long enough in his running around to wave his letter in front of Regulus' face. Then he one-arm hugged his brother and tried to pull him with him as he continued prancing about the house. Regulus shoved him off and followed sulkily behind. When Sirius reached the sitting room of the Black Family Manor, he saw his mother standing in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest, looking outraged.
"Sirius Orion Black! Come here this instant!" she yelled.
Sirius skipped up to her and halted, a big grin plastered across his face. Regulus stayed in the hallway, close enough to hear what was going on, but far enough away that his mother wouldn't take notice of him.
"What is the meaning of all that racket?" she demanded.
"I got my Hogwarts letter today." He held the letter up in front of her.
She grabbed the letter from him but continued to glare at him. "Well of course you did! You're a Black. That is no reason to go tearing through the house, screaming like a banshee."
No, it takes much less to get you to do that, Sirius thought, and wisely kept the thought to himself. But this only caused his smile to widen.
"Now compose yourself, child. You are a Black and I will not have you acting like a hooligan or common mudblood."
I am leaving. I am leaving. I am escaping from her Sirius kept repeating to himself. She would not spoil this for him.
"You know, your father and I seriously considered not allowing you to attend Hogwarts with that mudblood-loving fool for a headmaster."
This wiped the smile off Sirius' face. The possibility that he would not be allowed to attend had never occurred to him.
Mrs. Black seemed satisfied by the abrupt change in mood she had been able to elicit in her son. She scanned the letter and said, half to herself, "Of course, not everyone there holds those views. And it is still the best education a wizard can get." Shifting her attention back to her son she said, "You will be placed in Slytherin. That should help keep you focused. Yes… I'll let Druella know. Bella and Narcissa will be able to introduce you to the right people, AND," she added with a glare, "keep an eye on you."
It always amazed Sirius how easily his mother could suck all joy out of special occasions for him.
"Go tell your father. We will need to get your supplies on Saturday."
Sirius headed to his father's private study. He was walking more subdued now, with his head down. He knocked on the door of the study and waited to be acknowledged. It was a full two minutes before his father indicated that he knew Sirius was there and called him in. The study was a round room, filled from floor to ceiling with books. There was a fireplace across from the door, and a desk sat in the middle of the room. His father was writing notes on a piece of parchment when Sirius entered, and he did not look up.
Sirius continued to wait. If there had been any excitement that his mother had not managed to leech away, this waiting on his father killed it. It wasn't so much the waiting that bothered Sirius. Despite his boisterous personality and his natural exuberance, he had gotten very good at waiting. Not necessarily patiently, but silently at least. It was the fact that his father, who surely knew about the letter, did not acknowledge it. He was not proud of his son, his first-born heir to the Black Family Name – the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black - Toujours pur, blah, blah, blah. He was not excited for him and this new stage of his education. It was expected. He was expected to go to Hogwarts. He was expected to do well. He was expected to bring pride to the family by upholding the honor of the Blacks, whatever that meant. And anything that fell short of that expectation brought punishment, guilt, shame and the threat of being thrown out on the street and disowned.
As he stood waiting, a new energy started taking hold of him. It was not the excitement from earlier, but anger. And he was beginning to have trouble containing himself. He shifted restlessly.
Still without looking up, his father said, "Sirius, I know you're there. Do we need to review your lessons on waiting patiently?"
Sirius' hand clenched, but he answered in an even tone, "No sir. Sorry sir."
After another minute, his father finally looked up from his papers. "What do you have for me, son?"
Sirius cleared his throat, stepped forward and handed his letter to his father. "I received my Hogwarts letter today."
"Very well. Have you responded in the affirmative, yet?"
"No sir."
"And what were you waiting for?"
"Well, I…"
"You were running around the house like an animal. And then you upset your mother. This is not the behavior for a boy who is ready to attend such a prestigious school and begin his journey to manhood."
All Sirius could do was nod. He didn't trust himself to say anything, not that his jaw would unclench enough to allow for speech anyway.
"Fine. Send the reply. I expect your mother will want to go to Diagon Alley on Saturday. I have business to attend to that day. Go."
Again Sirius nodded. He gave a slight bow and walked out of the room. He gently closed the door behind him and stood with his hand resting on the door knob. He took a few steadying breaths and than ran to his room.
As he paced back and forth, trying not to let his anger become tears, he heard a knock at the door.
"What?" he spat out. His parents never knocked, they just entered, so he knew it wasn't either of them.
"It's me, Regulus."
Sirius cast about trying to find some way to look casual before he let his brother in the room. He found his wizard cards and started going through them. "Come in."
Regulus stole into his room and shut the door quietly behind him. "So you're going to Hogwarts in September."
"Yup." Sirius said. He looked at his brother and saw that he was frowning. He rolled his eyes. "What? Do you have something you want to say? Do you want to remind me to 'uphold the Black Family Honor' or tell me what a poor representative I am of the family?"
"No! I…" Regulus took a step toward his brother, but stopped. "I'm going miss you. That's is all."
Sirius was stunned for a minute.
"I mean, no one can make mum yell like you can," Regulus said with a grin. Sirius snorted in response. "And you come up with the best ways to frustrate the house elves. I really think you led the last one to an early beheading."
Sirius was grinning again, the load of disappointment lifted a little by his brother. "Yeah. I think she was almost begging for the beheading." He laughed. Their eyes locked for a moment, then Regulus nodded to his brother and headed toward the door.
"Regulus," Sirius called. His brother turned to look at him while his hand remained on the doorknob. "I am going miss you too with your whining and tattling and your…"
Regulus grabbed one of Sirius' shirts from the floor and threw it at his brother. "Git," he laughed back and walked out the door.
Sirius took a deep breath and walked to his window. He began imagining life at Hogwarts, and the smile and excitement from earlier returned, albeit tempered by all that had happened, but there. Sweet escape.
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A/N - And of course thanks to readers, reviewers, editors and betas - especially ShoesDoNotExist, Mom, Mei Mei, and J.A. Carlton. Ya'll rock!
