Happy Valentines everyone, hope you have a lovely day.
Sirius was at the far end of the Gryffindor breakfast table. James was at the other end with Peter, and Remus sat in the middle looking like he was contemplating drowning himself in his cereal. It served him right. He had broken them as far as Sirius was concerned. No matter how many times Remus repeated they went as friends, James just wouldn't listen. Sirius wasn't sure why he was so angry, he blamed it on the fact that he was eating his toast alone but he knew he was angry before then, at just the moment Remus and Lily got back and Remus was smiling. Before he had had a chance to realise the reason he should be angry was James.
Funnily enough it seemed Rowan didn't care very much about the Lily thing at all. In fact he knew they had a date later, Ravenclaws were odd beans. Lily was near Remus on the table but she was wise enough not to sit directly across from him and ruin this situation further. She was even more pissed at James than she ever had been. To her, he was being ridiculous and hurting poor Remus.
Sirius took a deliberate bite of his toast but he couldn't taste the jam. It was like ash in his mouth. He tried his tea and then wanted to throw it at the second year Hufflepuff who walked past because tea was Remus' thing.
'Sirius!' came a shrill voice.
'Go away.'
'But we have a date later,' Rosie said.
'Yeah later, go now, I have a headache,' he replied.
'Ok, see you then.'
Sirius realised at that moment he hadn't actually broken up with her and it was certainly due, she was starting to get clingy. When the whispering around him started he didn't pay much attention. Not until a shadow fell over him and then silence. Looking up he saw his brother standing there. Well wasn't this turning out to be fantastic day.
'What do you want?' Sirius asked.
Regulus didn't say anything he just placed a letter on the table in front of him.
Regulus,
Terrible news. My brother, your Uncle Alphard passed away last night. We need you to come home as soon as possible so we can read the will and sort out funeral arrangements.
Mother.
A huge weight fell into Sirius' stomach and he struggled to breathe. Alphard was one of the few family members he could tolerate. He was still full of pure-blood nonsense but he didn't believe in hurting anyone for it which was a novel concept.
'Why?' he asked. His mother had deliberately not sent him a letter and he wanted to curse her for it, but why had his mother loving, death eater wannabe of a brother let him know. Regulus shrugged.
'Let's go.'
Sirius got up from the table and felt suspiciously like he was moving through jelly. They walked out of the dining hall together and for once Sirius didn't notice the constant eyes on him or the terrified glances from his marauders.
They went straight to Dumbledore's office, the only one with a fire attached to the Floo network. He seemed to be expecting them which was a relief, he didn't fancy talking right now. He told them they could have as much time as they needed. Sirius nodded but he very much doubted he would spending all that long in the Black household. The green flames surrounded him and he felt nothing in his body from the trip, none of the normal symptoms, he was numb from head to toe. It was only when his mother started screaming did his mind really awake.
'WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!' she bellowed. Walburga Black was, Sirius had decided in his childhood days, his own personal hell.
'He was my uncle,' Sirius replied as if that answered everything. She shook her head and turned to Regulus the golden son, and for the first time since he could remember, shouted at him.
'Why did you tell him? Why did you bring him? That filthy blood traitor into this house?' She yelled.
'Leave off him mother I stole the letter off him, he tried to hide it,' Sirius said in a nonchalant way. His brother was well on his way to becoming a death eater, he knew that. And Sirius was on his way to fighting them. He understood one day he might be fighting his brother and he would be trying to kill him. But 'til then he did him a favour and it needed repaying. They never used to be this separate. When the were younger he used to look out for his little brother, but then Sirius became more ostracised and Regulus became more pure-blood.
'You, you are not welcome here,' she said her grey eyes narrowing on him. She was, unfortunately, a very handsome and fearsome woman. But her soul made her ugly and Sirius turned his head in disgust and sat himself on one of the regal sofas.
'He was my uncle, I'm here for his funeral,' Sirius replied.
'You. He was my brother, if you're thinking about money, you will not get a sickle.' She sneered.
'I do not want his money and I only want to pay respects, you callous windbag,' he answered. She turned red at the moment and Sirius grinned and it was the grin he normally saved for Snivellus.
'You are disgusting. I can't believe...' she trailed off because other family members came in at that point. All of them avoided him, which was perfectly fine with him.
'What is he doing here?' his father asked his mother. But she didn't answer him, they both just glared in his general direction.
'Ok the will,' said a small, smartly dressed goblin. Everyone shut up. 'I, Alphard Black, hereby leave everything to my nephew Sirius Black the third. The funds are to be transferred immediately upon my death in the hopes that while he can't find happiness within this family he may find it elsewhere.'
Walburga launched herself at the goblin, her husband only just managing to hold her back.
'I am sorry you disliked it, but it is done,' the goblin bowed and left through the Floo. Sirius felt numb again. His uncle had been as rich as all Blacks that hadn't been disinherited were. So Sirius now had money, he could stop borrowing money from Remus and James and he didn't have to freeload from the Potter's either.
'You,' his mother rounded on him. 'What did you do? I know you did something.'
'I didn't do anything mother, except be nice to him, maybe that's where you went wrong.'
'You will not speak to your mother like that you ungrateful wretch,' his father bellowed and Sirius winced despite himself. His father left the room his wand raised and Sirius knew he was off to blast the name off the tapestry. Normally that was a treat reserved for his mother but she was very distraught.
'You will not be attending his funeral!' She screamed at him.
'What! You have no right!' He shouted causing the family members who had arrived for the reading to flee via Floo.
'I have every right. In fact there won't be a funeral to go to.'
'What! Just because he left me his money?'
'Yes, you are a filthy blood traitor. I should have drowned you when you were born. I wanted to you know. Refrigerator Mothers they called us but I was right.'
Sirius didn't know what to say that.
'The biggest regret of my life was that I didn't, that your father stopped me.
'And now my brother thinks you are worthy of his money, you are worthy of nothing.'
Sirius frowned, he normally fought back but he couldn't be bothered today and not after those words. So his mother had always hated him, he had once hoped that at least she loved him as a baby, but he guessed not. Right at the moment he didn't want the money he had been given, all he wanted was to have a mother like Mrs Potter. Alphard may not be getting a funeral but he would have a celebration, after all, he was now rich and that meant firewhisky.
He got into the fire.
'Fuck you mother, Diagon Alley,' he smiled and he would always remember his mother with that beautiful expression. He headed to Gringotts vault 711 and filled his pockets with as many galleons as he could handle. Following that he got it exchanged into muggle money which was thankfully a lot lighter seeing as it was paper, strange people muggles. He spent the afternoon wondering around London. He bought a flat near Soho which was great 'cause he loved Asian food and he bought himself a motorbike. He had always wanted one and it helped that it reiterated the 'fuck you' to his mother. It was a beautiful bike and it made his heart twitch that he was going to be able to ride it back to Hogwarts. But until then he was staying in his Soho flat, free from imposing on Potter's and filled with firewhiskey.
The flat was small, after all what did he want with some huge fancy real-estate? His bedroom and living room and kitchen were all one room, his bathroom a little cupboard. With his inheritance he could have bought something bigger and fancier but there wasn't really any point. The walls were cream and the carpet was beige that would be something he would have to change once he could do magic outside of school. In about three months precisely. He could curse his mother and wouldn't that be happy times.
He smiled to himself and took a swig out of the firewhiskey and laid himself down on the floor and stared at the ceiling. He could have sat on the tattered, and he suspected mouldy, sofa or lay on the creaky bed. He took more of whiskey.
So his friends were fighting, his uncle was dead and his mother had hated him since birth, if that wasn't drinking occasion he didn't know what was. The alcohol burned as he breathed it in but then that's what it was supposed to do, be good whiskey and burn, but he bet there was one whiskey that didn't, that didn't understand the difference between whiskey and vodka and thought they should be getting along. That one didn't burn, it was icy instead. But all the other whiskies would hate it because it wasn't burning and if Merlin be damned it should be.
He felt something wet at the corners of his eyes, that certainly hadn't happened in years, so he pretended it wasn't happening and kept drinking. Where was Remus anyway? Shouldn't he be telling him not to be drinking so much? It was never as fun without Remus to ignore. Sirius struggled to remember what had been so bad about them going to Slughorn's party together. They were, after all, just friends. Where the hell was Moony when you needed him? Probably in the library doing something sensible like reading and not in a Soho flat drinking. He could do with Prongs too, to be silly with. And Peter, mustn't forget Peter. He would be being sick in the toilet because he tried to keep up with him and James.
'Accio Moony,' Sirius yelled and brandished his third empty bottle like it was his wand. But there was just silence so he continued to drink and he thought about the poor whiskey who enjoyed spending time with vodka.
The door opened then and three blurry figures strode in.
'Nice place you got here Padfoot,' a voice very similar to Prongs called out.
'Dumbledore and Andromeda told us what happened, though they failed to mention the flat. We've been searching London for you all day mate.'
'Ah Moony, did you come because I summoned you?' he asked to the figures but they were still blurry so he wasn't sure which one was Moony.
'Was that what that tickling sensation was?'
'I imagine so,' Sirius replied.
'We should put him in bed,' Moony said.
'You wanting to take advantage of me my Mooooooooooony,' Sirius said.
'Yes we should,' Prongs added.
'But he looks comfy,' Peter said. He was comfy, though they could move him if they wanted. Provided they kept the room from spinning but it was already doing that so they appeared to be failing quite spectacularly.
'Have you been cr...' James started but stopped when he realised the implications.
'I hate her. I hate her so fucking much I use muggle swear words,' Sirius spoke.
Remus put one of Sirius's arms around his neck and Prongs took hold of the other, and they lifted him to the bed. 'She, she is evil, she, she drown me,' Sirius mumbled. Remus smelt nice, he was always smelling nice, so he held on to him and they fell on the bed.
'Alright you stay there and I'm going to go tell people he is alive and, er, well,' Prongs said leaving Sirius to snuggle into the warmth that was Moony. He was aware that Moony was squirming but he ignored it and held on like Moony was a rock and he was lost in the sea.
'You smell nice, Moony,' Sirius said.
'Er, thank you?' Remus said.
'You're warm and snuggly,' and to emphasize the point he snuggled a bit more.
'Does that mean you think I'm fat?' Remus said almost indignant.
'Course not, your wolfiness makes you all toned, I have to work at mine, but no, you are soft. Like you. Your Remusness means that lying on you is a soft comfy place, unlike my cold ugly mother, who coincidently, is a little tubby these days.'
'Oh.'
'You make things less sharp. They never matter as much when you're here. Don't ever leave me, Moony, ok?' Sirius didn't hear the reply because drunkenness took hold and fell promptly asleep.
x
