Chapter 10: Instinct

July 7, 1977 Thursday, 10:32 AM

"Let's watch the Muggle movies that Peter got for us since Mother's not home," Sirius suggested.

They opened the secret cabinet in Gwen's room which held their collection of movies. They had kept the cabinet in Gwen's room since their mother was prone to searching Sirius' room and throwing away any Muggle items that weren't attached by a permanent sticking charm.

"Hey, this one's a horror movie about a witch. Let's watch this one," Sirius suggested.

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Very funny. Peter's sense of humour," she muttered.

Sirius grinned. "Why? It's brilliant. Maybe we should show this one to Mother. I'm sure she'll enjoy it," he said.

"Like she really needs another reason to hate Muggles," Gwen retorted.

"Good point."

Gwen continued to shuffle through the movies. "There's a few on zombies, ghosts, werewolves-really, how tactless."
"Why are they all horror?" she complained.

"No, there are a couple of others. Look, there are a couple of Disney movies," said Sirius, holding out a couple to her.

"Disneymovies? What's that? Disney made movies too?" asked Gwen.

"I suppose so. According to Peter, every Muggle child grows up watching these movies," Sirius told her.

"Let's watch this one then," said Gwen, picking up the first one.
"Cinderella," she read out loud.

"Alright."

Sirius stuck the video into his new colour TV, the latest Muggle electronic, which had been his birthday present from Gwen and they settled back on his bed to watch.

Ten minutes later, Sirius turned to Gwen and burst out laughing at the look of utter bewilderment and horror on her face.

"Why do they keep singing? Muggle children like this?" said Gwen astonished.

"You want to watch a different movie?" Sirius suggested.

"Absolutely. This is worse than a horror movie," Gwen said with a shudder.

"My pick. Since you got to pick the first horror," said Sirius.

"Okay, as long as its not another Disney horror," said Gwen.

"There's this one about vampires," said Sirius.

"Looks interesting. And it would be fun to see vampires from the Muggle perspective," said Gwen.

They stuck the movie into the television and it soon had them in tears of laugher as the hero brandished a knot of garlic and a wooden cross at a vampire.

"Muggles think that they can defeat a vampire with that? Where do they get their ideas?" said Gwen.

"Seriously. Everyone knows that only a werewolf or a fellow vampire can kill a vampire," Sirius commented.

The movie soon turned bloody as a colony of vampires invaded the village.

"Ihate horror movies," Gwen said with fervour as she covered her eyes at a particularly violent scene.

"You want to turn it off?" asked Sirius.

"Are you kidding me? You know I say that every time we watch a horror movie," Gwen replied.

"Alright." Sirius turned back to the screen.

"Why did she scream?" Gwen asked anxiously as she heard a high pitched scream.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Uh, that would be me," said Sirius sheepishly.

Sirius reddened as Gwen burst out laughing.
"Let's just watch the movie, alright?" he said sullenly.

"Sure, whatever you say," Gwen grinned widely.

They turned back to the screen and watched the movie in rapt silence until half an hour later when Sirius interrupted.
"I don't understand why she would call out his name when she's suppose to pretend that she doesn't even know him," he said exasperatedly. "She totally blew their secret."

The pair Sirius was referring to was the hero and heroine who were keeping their relationship a secret since it was a forbidden one. However, when the heroine had been attacked by the vampire, she had called out the name of her boyfriend.

"I dunno, I think it's a bit romantic," said Gwen.

"Romantic? How is that romantic?" Sirius asked, dumbfounded.

"Because I guess it's a sort of instinct to call out to the person you love the most when you're in danger," Gwen explained.

"What if it had been you in that situation, Gwen? Would it be me or Rabastan that you call?" Sirius asked, his grey eyes turning stormy as they bore in hers.

"What kind of question is that? Of course it would be Rabastan," Gwen said mock seriously.

Her face tinged pink with fury as Sirius' face fell.

"How could you think, for a single second, that I love you less than Rabastan!" Gwen demanded.
"I could never love anyone more than I do you," she said fiercely.

Sirius smiled. "Me neither."

Gwen looked at him, slightly mollified, and asked, "Well, then what about you? Wouldn't you call for me?"

"Geez, I don't know. It's a tie between you and Snivellus," Sirius said dryly.

July 17, 1977 Saturday, 3:58 PM

Sirius glared defiantly at his mother, unflinching, as she continued to perform various curses and hexes upon him.

It had become a sort of unspoken war between them. Her trying to force him to cry out, shed at least a single tear, and him defiantly refusing to give in.
These sorts of sessions had become a routine over the past two years though only he and his mother knew of it and she had been very cautious so that no body else suspected.

Sirius himself never told any one. Both Gwen and Regulus thought her the perfect mother and he didn't want to ruin this image for them. Besides, all that mattered was that she was a good mother to them and he was thankful that she at least was good to her own children.
Perhaps he, Sirius, had been a disappointment as an adoptive child, having been sorted into Gryffindor, but he was certain that she would never have forsaken her own flesh and blood.

If Gwen were to find out, not only would she blame herself for having been oblivious to it all and not preventing it, she would also grow to resent their mother and Sirius felt that Gwen didn't deserve that kind of pain.
Furthermore, though Walburga hadn't been a very good mother to Sirius, he felt that perhaps he had pushed her to it and it was partly his own fault.

As for their father, Sirius didn't tell him, though he was the one person able to stop her, because he felt that he had already done more than enough for him. Orion was so good to him that everyone felt that he favored Sirius out of the three and Sirius felt that perhaps Walburga's jealousy over this aspect had lend to her resentment of him. After all, it was natural for her to feel and resent that an adoptive child stole her husband's love from her own children.

"Sectumsempra!"

Sirius gritted his teeth as an invisible sword cut across his chest and arms causing blood to spurt forth.

Walburga looked at him, her eyes void of any emotion and her face contorted with rage.

"Mother?" Gwen's voice was heard from the living room as she arrived through the floo network.

"Yes, dear?" Walburga called, and as she looked upon Sirius, her eyes once again filled with rage, but of a different sort. Rage and self-disgust.

As she helped Sirius wipe the blood and clean his wounds, there was only tenderness in her eyes now and he felt that it had almost been worth the pain.
Walburga was always very loving towards Sirius after one of her attacks and Sirius felt that it was more out of guilt than fear that he would tell because there was no falseness in her actions, only pain. Though he felt resentment for her, he also felt pity because he suspected that she couldn't control her own anger and jealousy, which was why he endured her attacks without defending himself or attacking her back.

July 23, 1977 Sunday, 9:10 AM

"Gwen, are you ready yet?" Regulus called from the living room where he was impatiently pacing in front of the fireplace.

"I'll be right down," Gwen called back.

Gwen rushed through the bathroom to Sirius' room, where he was gathering his quidditch equipment, and threw her arms around him in a quick hug.
"Bye, see you later," she said into his shoulder.

"Yeah, see you later. Have fun at Diagon Alley," Sirius said, hugging her back.

"Gwen, we were supposed to meet them ten minutes ago," Regulus whined.

"Alright, alright. I'm coming," Gwen called back over her shoulder then quickly turned her head back to Sirius, causing her lips to brush lightly against his.

The two burst out laughing, belying their pounding hearts. Before he could change his mind, Sirius quickly leaned over and pecked her lightly on the lips then gently pushed her to the door.

"Come on, you better go before Regulus burns a fuse," Sirius said lightly.

Gwen walked down to the living room in a daze with a slight grin on her face. Regulus, who was still pacing the floor, stopped when he saw her.
"What's gone into you?" he asked with bewilderment.

"What? Oh. Nothing, nothing," Gwen replied, shaking her head as if to clear the daze from it.

Regulus raised a brow but didn't press further. "So what took you so long?" he asked.

"I was just saying 'goodbye' to Sirius," said Gwen.

Regulus snorted. "Goodbye? You're going to be apart for a few hours, not days," he said exasperatedly.

Gwen ignored him. "Come on, let's go," she said.

She threw a pinch of floo power into the fireplace and stepped into the it. "Diagon Alley!" she called.

She and Regulus were going to Diagon Alley where they were going to spend the day with a couple of their friends. No sooner had Gwen stepped out from the fireplace then Aquila and Narcissa were on either side of her.

"Finally!" Narcissa exclaimed.

"We thought you'd forgotten," Aquila said reproachfully.

Rabastan also joined them, leaning in to give Gwen a light kiss but she turned her head at the last second so that it landed on her cheek.
"Hi, Rabastan," she greeted. She gave him a swift peck on the cheek and quickly turned back to the others.

"What took you two so long?" asked Rodolphus.

He was sitting at the counter surrounded by Rabastan, Lucius, Severus, Avery, Mulciber, and Magus.

Regulus, who had just stepped out of the fireplace after Gwen, replied with a dramatic sigh. "Gwen just couldn't bear to leave without a tearful goodbye to Sirius."

The others snickered but Gwen ignored them and turned to Rodolphus.
"Rodolphus, how have you been? How's Bella?" she asked, giving her cousin-in-law a hug.

"Bella's doing well. She sends her love," Rodolphus replied.

Before Gwen could reply, Narcissa and Aquila dragged her out the door.

"We'll be back in a few hours," they called back to the guys.

"Stop staring, Rabastan. It's very unbecoming, what would Father say?" Rodolphus drawled.

"They didn't make girls like her in his age. Besides, I've seen you look at Bella the same way," Rabastan retorted.

Rodolphus grinned. "Well now, Bella, she's different story. She's certainly not the 'damsel in distress' of our fathers' age."

"Are you saying that Gwen is?" Rabastan demanded, looking irritated.

"I suppose not but Bella is far more feisty than Gwen is. More beautiful too," Rodolphus said with appreciation.

Regulus snorted. "Still enjoying married life?" he asked.

"Immensely," Rodolphus replied.

Rabastan broke in. "Well I suppose you have to say that out of loyalty to Bella, but Gwen is by far the more beautiful."

"While we're discussing the Black girls, may I add that I believe Narcissa is the most beautiful out of them all?" Lucius interrupted with a slight smirk.

Both Rodolphus and Rabastan burst into derisive laughter.

"If you're interested in the fragile type," Rodolphus said with a shrug.

"Narcissa is way too delicate," said Rabastan. "Nothing like Gwen or even Bellatrix."

"Narcissa isn't delicate," Lucius said indignantly and turned to Regulus. "You know she isn't."

"Leave me out of this. Don't you realize these ladies you're speaking so fondly of are my sister and cousins?" Regulus drawled.

"You're one to talk. I saw the way you were looking at my sister," Lucius retorted slyly.

"I was not," Regulus protested. "I was watching Gwen!"

Lucius snorted. "We should hope you don't look at your sister that way."

"Looks like you have competition, Rabastan," Rodolphus drawled, causing the others to laugh.

"Not very surprising. I suppose you Blacks like to keep it in the family; I heard your parents are cousins," Severus put in.

"Now, now. No need to insult such a noble pureblood line, Snape," Rodolphus reprimanded.

The others watched in interest, much too accustomed to the frequent Regulus/Severus confrontations to be bothered. Their less than friendly relationship was common knowledge amongst the Slytherins and served to aggravate Gwen to no end.

"Jealous, Snape?" Regulus sneered. "I'll have you know that they're only distant cousins. But then I've always said, better to marry even your own cousin than a Muggle."
"By the way, how's your Mudblood friend?" he added.

Severus flushed at the slight to his father and to Lily. "Don't call her a Mudblood," he growled.

Regulus smirked. "Why not? You did," he replied.

"Guys!" Rodolphus interrupted, seeing that Severus was on the verge of taking out his wand. "We have more serious matters to discuss before the girls get back."

All seven boys immediately turned their attention to him.

"How fares the Dark Lord?" Regulus asked with a sudden reverence.

"Fine," Rodolphus nodded. "He's been gaining followers from abroad as well."

"Of course. Isn't that why Evan transferred to Durmstrang? To gather followers there?" Rabastan asked.

"Yes. As you know, Evan has been granted the position of junior Death Eater under the Dark Lord's service," said Rodolphus.

"How come he got to join before he became of age?" Magus complained.

"Of course he was granted this special privilege since his father is also under the Dark Lord's service," said Rodolphus.

"Can we not speak of Rosier?" Lucius growled. "Aquila still bursts into tears whenever someone mentions his name," he said darkly.

"You can't really blame Evan for ending things with her before he left; he just wanted to protect her in case something happens to him," said Snape.

"Yes, he was just as reluctant to leave Aquila as she was," Magus agreed.

"Besides, wasn't it just a few months ago that you were trying to get on his good side since he's Narcissa's cousin?" Mulciber said slyly.

"That was obviously before he broke Aquila's heart, you dimwit," Regulus snapped.

"Quite true, Regulus. And can we please not discuss Rosier?" Lucius said, gritting his teeth.

"Alright. Are you still uncertain of whether you will join or not, Lucius?" Rodolphus asked.

Lucius sighed. "Of course I completely support the cause but I must confess that I have my doubts about his true motives."

Rodolphus nodded understandingly. "It's understandable. I've seen a share of unpleasantness through the duration of my service, but there must always be sacrifices involved in a important cause."

For the next hour or so, they continued to discuss the Dark Lord and his actions before the girls arrived. Currently, the Dark Lord was rapidly gathering followers and it was with high anticipation for the distant days when he himself would finally become a Death Eater that Regulus returned home.

July 23, 1977 Sunday, 1:15 PM

Walburga Black sat in the confines of her bedroom with Druella Black, her sister-in-law and close confidante.

"What is it, Druella?" asked Walburga as she saw that Druella was contemplating over something.

Orion was out with the men while Gwen and Regulus were meeting with their friends. As for Sirius, who knew where he was, nor did she particularly care.

Druella thought for another minute before she spoke. "Walburga, why do I get the impression that Sirius thinks he's adopted?" she asked. "Surely you've told him the truth when you brought him back?"

"No, we haven't. Sirius does think that he is adopted," Walburga confessed.

"Whatever do you mean by it! The poor dear," Druella said sympathetically, "Don't you see how hard he tries?"
"Do you know what he said?" she said reproachfully. "He said that he pities adopted children because they must always strive to fit in and be loved. Imagine that!"

"Why do you put the poor child through all that misery? And for nothing!" said Druella.
"I can sympathize with people who don't tell their adoptee that they are adopted but to let your own child think that he is adopted! I don't understand," she said with a shake of her head.

"Oh, Druella, everything's so complicated! There are matters considering his birth that even we don't understand," said Walburga.
"We still don't know how Sirius ended up with the Davisons; our theory is that perhaps our children were switched."

"At first we thought that perhaps Sirius and Gwen had been switched since they were born on the same day and Gwen does resemble Cassiopeia a bit. Now we believe that it was our firstborn. He was supposedly Gwen's twin and died within hours of his birth but we think that he may not have been our child as we had originally thought, but the Davisons'. Cassiopeia Davison did give birth the same day, we think to that child, and their child was switched with our Sirius."
"Of course nothing is for sure. Perhaps the child was ours as well and the Davisons' child is still alive elsewhere," she added.

"But Walburga, surely Sirius would have at least suspected that he isn't adopted? How can he not when he is the spitting image of Orion?" asked Druella.

"He is, isn't he?" said Walburga with pride. "That is what made us suspect that perhaps Sirius was our son. Even though Harrison was Orion's first cousin and Cassiopeia another distant cousin, surely it was impossible for their child to resemble him so much?"

"But no, Sirius himself doesn't suspect it; he doesn't even dream it possible."

Walburga continued, "Well, it was a bit of a trauma to our families when we discovered it; to discover that your child is not your own! And of course we had to break off Sirius and Gwen's betrothal; it wouldn't do, of course, to have them marry after what we had discovered."

"Of course," Druella chuckled. "But that still doesn't explain why you haven't told Sirius himself."

Walburga remained silent for a few minutes. "How can I, Druella? How dare I when I was the one who gave the order?" she finally said.

"What order?" Druella asked, then her eyes widened as she understood. "No, surely-I never thought…"

"Yes, it was all my doing," said Walburga, her face heavy with distress.

"I was the one who killed them, Druella."