Sirius Implications, Chapter 14: Revelations
Hope had known all along that there were some terrible things bottled up inside Sirius Black. She knew that at least some of them had to do with his brother and parents whom the Healer in England had kindly researched for Hope and confirmed to all be dead or presumed dead. His brother, Perseus, had disappeared late in the Spring Term of his fifth year at Hogwarts and was never found. He was presumed dead. Years later, when their younger son, Sirius, was in his own fifth year at Hogwarts his parents, Saturn and Aurelia Black, had perished in the fire that destroyed their manor.
Those facts seemed like enough weeks ago when Hope had received the letter outlining them. But she sensed there was more to it. She had been more right than she ever could have imagined. The events Black described in their last session were enough, in and of themselves, to keep someone in therapy for a lifetime. They also shed light on one of Black's more stubborn problems. Hope now knew that Black's hatred of Severus Snape was so intertwined with the traumatic events surrounding his brother's death that to help the animagus past it was a task requiring extreme skill
Her sessions with Sirius had been productive beyond her expectations; but Hope was suddenly very, very glad Sirius would eventually be moved to the clinic in Europe where the best Psychiatric Medi-wizards in the world would have a chance to help him.
She shook herself and forced her attention back to the note she was trying to write in Black's file:
"While being asked about S.S. the patient became angry indicating that 'he' should be punished for what happened to his brother. It became clear to me that 'he' is either the patient's father or an associate of his. I strongly suspect the patient is confusing these men with S.S. Still, that is an issue that may not be appropriate to address for some time in light of the patient's further revelations concerning his brother.
"The patient indicated that at (what I estimate to be) the age of nine he often spied on his parents during some secretive activities they engaged in with outsiders. During the course of one of these 'spy missions' the patient witnessed his brother being tortured and raped by three of his father's associates - apparently for refusing to renounce a homosexual relationship. The patient's father and mother held his brother for the torture. His mother was knocked unconscious when she objected to the rape but the father helped to hold his son down for this, as well. After these event's the father saw his 'guests' to the door and took his unconscious wife to bed.
"The patient eventually was able to make it to his brother's side where he had been left on the floor. By the time the patient was able to go to him, his brother had apparently bled to death from injuries sustained during the torture and rape. The patient eventually was scared by a noise and returned to his room where he was violently ill for some time. Several days after these events the patients father called him and told him 'you no longer have a brother and are never to refer to or speak of him again.'
"The patient was quite naturally emotionally distraught after these revelations and may be unaware of one additional important fact he revealed. The associate of his father's who led the events that caused his brother's death shares a last name with S.S. I think it more than possible that the patient has substituted S.S. for the man who violated and killed his brother.
"The name is rare, and I fear that later exploration of this issue may be complicated by the likelihood that the man in question may be related to S.S. I have made inquires concerning this and will pass the information along to the clinic in Europe when the patient is transferred as I seriously doubt the patient and I will get to this issue in our remaining time.
"The patient is on the edge of total breakdown after this session and I was forced to place him in the hospital wing for the night after this session."