The following day was as gloriously warm and sunny as the one before. Even at only eight o'clock, the morning sun blazed warm, the cloudless sky a rich hue of blue, the gold-and-green meadows surrounding the house bathed in the sun's rays.
As it was every morning, breakfast was served out on the patio. An informal meal, meaning that Sirius and Regulus were allowed to join the rest of the family at the table - so long as they behaved themselves.
As it did most mornings, the conversation around the breakfast table consisted mainly of a steady stream of exceptionally dull comments on how lucky they had been with the weather so far this summer and wondering about how long they would evade the inevitable rainfall for. Sirius tried his best to filter out the boring drivel of the adults as he stirred halfheartedly at his bowl of porridge, occasionally scooping up a spoonful of the stuff only to allow it to fall back into his bowl with a dissatisfying plop.
He wrinkled his nose in dislike and glanced longingly across the table at the platter of pastries laid out in the centre, a look which did not go unnoticed by his hawk-eyed mother.
"Sirius, finish your porridge first" said Walburga, glancing across the table at her son. She stirred her cup of coffee with a silver teaspoon as it was poured from the pot levitating beside her.
"I'm full" Sirius muttered in reply, slouching forward and resting his chin in his hand sulkily.
"If that were so, you wouldn't be eyeing the croissants like a kneazle staring at pot of cream, now, would you?" Walburga arched an eyebrow at her son, knowingly.
"But I don't like it" Sirius argued, changing tactic. He grimaced down at his bowl in distaste. "It's horrible stuff, and they always add too much milk"
"Nonsense" said Walburga, firmly, taking a sip from her cup. "There's nothing wrong with your porridge, it's perfectly fine. Your brother hasn't any complaints"
Sirius glanced at Regulus's bowl beside him. The younger boy had obediently scraped his own bowl clean. Sirius knew very well that his brother disliked the stuff as much as he did, but Regulus stoically soldiered through his serving every morning regardless, never one to complain.
Sirius scowled at his brother, who shrank away from Sirius's gaze, meekly nibbling on the helping of raspberries he'd chosen as his treat for finishing his own porridge.
Sirius glanced around at vast array of foods laid out on the table. Serving platters kept magically warm were piled high with deliciously fried foods; bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, hash browns. These were almost exclusively for the men of the family - Walburga's own plate contained a modest helping of scrambled eggs, toast and fruit, but even this meagre affair looked and smelled far more appealing than the bowls of porridge Sirius and his brother had placed before them each morning without their consultation.
Her elder son stared in envy as she delicately speared a chunk of eggs on her fork.
"It's not fair" Sirius whined, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms sulkily. "Why should I have to eat it if I don't like it?"
"Because it's good for you" replied Walburga, setting down her fork with a loud clatter, her annoyance at her elder son's misbehaviour clearly growing.
Her sharp gaze darted across the table towards her husband, who's gaze remained firmly fixed on the plate of eggs, tomatoes and bacon before him, occasionally darting sideways to glance at the copy of the Daily Prophet levitating beside his chair.
Orion's input was noticeably absent from breakfast each morning. Aside from a few choice remarks to his father about how the British Galleon was holding up against it's French or German counterpart, the wizard was content to eat his fill in as timely a manner as possible so that he might retreat to the seclusion of the library as quickly as possible and out of the sun.
In a degree of fairness, Orion did tend to be vulnerable to sunburn. Not that this excused his hasty retreat from the breakfast table in his wife's eyes.
"Do you not want to grow up strong and healthy?" asked Walburga, looking the table at her son sternly.
"Not if eating this rubbish is the only way" Sirius muttered, glaring off to the side.
An outright cross-table argument was thankfully averted by the input of Alphard Black, who quickly seized the opportunity to intervene and avert one of his sister's famous fits of temper.
"At least let the boy have some honey on his porridge, Burgie. You never did like that dreadful stuff either, as I recall" he said from where he sat, lounged lazily in his seat on the other side of the table, sandwiched awkwardly between the uninterested Orion and stony-faced Arcturus, who had made no secret of his irritation at the obscenely early hour the family's vulgar black sheep had seen fit to arrive at his house that morning.
The first of the expected relatives to arrive for the jarvey hunt due to take place that afternoon, Alphard had arrived in his own typically unorthodox fashion - startling the poor house elves by arriving with several loud raps on the front door knocker as opposed to arriving via the Floo fireplace as expected - at half-past four in the morning, carrying a suitcase which contained more obscure artefacts from his recent visit to South America than sets of evening robes for the series of grand dinners planned that week.
"So long as he's brought his hunting clothes" Arcturus had growled to his son on the way to breakfast. "But then I wouldn't put it past him to think it appropriate to walk out into the forest in day robes"
Sirius's sour expression eased immediately at his uncle's input, his mouth curving into a smile that did not go unnoticed by his mother.
Walburga shot her brother a glare of mild irritation before returning her attention to her son.
"Sirius Orion, if I allow you some honey on your porridge, will you finish it all?" she asked sternly.
Sirius nodded. It wasn't ideal, but at least some added sweetness would make the horrid stuff slightly less unpleasant.
"Very well" said Walburga, tapping the jar of honey with her wand.
The jar levitated across the table to hover over Sirius's bowl, the spoon lifting itself up to drizzle a thin streak of the golden liquid over the porridge.
It was a disappointingly meagre serving compared to the amount he had hoped to be allowed to ladle onto the porridge himself, but Sirius knew better than to ask his mother for more.
Catching sight of the expectant look on her face, he reluctantly picked up his spoon and began to force down the porridge, trying to focus on the croissant he would finally be allowed to enjoy once his bowl was empty.
When the meal was through at last, Sirius shoved back his chair and pulled his brother off of his chair by the arm, eager to get away from the grown ups and on with his plans for the day.
"Boys, no running off" Walburga called to them before they'd made it more than a few steps towards the gardens that lead through to the meadow.
"But we've finished!" Sirius argued impatiently.
"Your grandfather will be here soon" said Walburga as she walked around the table towards her sons, steering them back towards the house with a hand pressed firmly to Sirius's back. "With Uncle Cygnus and Aunt Druella. You'll stay here to welcome them"
Sirius groaned. It wasn't so much that he disliked his relatives, particularly Grandpapa, who was decidedly less grumpy with him than Arcturus was, but he failed to see any reason why he should have to waste an entire morning stuck inside waiting to simply say a quick hello as they stepped through the fireplace.
And besides, all the talk would surely be of the jarvey hunt that afternoon, which Sirius was still refused permission to attend.
"Can't we just go and play and then come back when they're here?" Sirius asked.
"Absolutely not" replied his mother. "You'll come running in late, covered in dirt like a pair of alley cats. I'm not having you putting on such a shameful display"
Sirius craned his head round to glance back, wistfully, at the sun-bathed gardens. It would be a long few hours spent waiting to taste freedom again.
Shortly after midday, the family were lined up before the great, carved fireplace in the entrance hall, awaiting the arrival of their expected guests. They had been stood here, in almost complete silence, for almost ten minutes now, and Sirius was growing increasingly impatient.
Sirius shoved his hands into his pockets sulkily, only to be quickly tapped on the shoulder by his mother beside him. Sirius knew a hint when he was given one. He sighed and pulled his hands out, straightening up as he was expected to.
After a few moments, crackling sounds began to emit from within the fireplace before a sudden burst of bright green flames exploded within the hearth. Out of the flames stepped two wizards; the elder, Pollux Black - a portly man in a handsome, if old-fashioned set of travelling robes - and the younger, the elder of his two sons, Cygnus, in a decidedly newer-looking set of handsome robes and wearing an almost-bored expression.
Two large trunks levitated beside the men as they walked out of the hearth, which fell to the floor with a heavy thud on the parquet floor.
"Dru not with you, Cyg?" Alphard asked his brother with a joking grin as they shook hands in greeting.
"Druella decided to take the girls to stay with her parents for the week instead" he said, bluntly, as he nodded to the house elves huddled in the corner to take the heavy trunk he had arrived with. His tone suggested that the absence of his wife from the family gathering was not a topic he was keen to go into detail on.
The fragile state of peace between the couple was the worst-kept secret in the family, to the point where even Sirius had managed to overhear disapproving talk of the spats between his aunt and uncle.
Of course, no one would ever consider outright confronting the matter. And so, Cygnus's half-hearted excuse for his wife's absence went un-questioned.
Almost.
"After we'd already arranged your visit here for the jarvey hunt?" snapped Arcturus, never one to take an insult lying down. The elder Black shook his head, huffing with displeasure at the rudeness of it all. "Disgracefully rude. You ought not have allowed it"
Sirius glanced up at his mother stood beside him just in time to catch the fleeting look of knowing disapproval that flashed across her face for just a moment at his grandfather's outburst.
With little more than a grunt in response, Cygnus moved swiftly onward, keen to change the subject. He walked on to greet his sister, giving each of his nephews a quick hair-ruffle in greeting, otherwise ignoring them.
Sirius resisted the urge to shake his head in irritation at having his hair tousled. It wasn't so much that he disliked his uncle, but Cygnus scarcely paid either of his nephews little attention other than to shoot them a courtesy glance once in a while.
Of course, they saw much more of him than Uncle Alphard, who always seemed to be off travelling in exotic lands, researching different forms of magic, but Alphard was far more interesting than Cygnus for that exact reason - and when he did return, he could be relied upon to provide exciting tales of far-off lands and curious gifts brought back from his adventures.
Sirius was still patiently waiting to be presented with this trip's offerings. He had wanted to raise the topic with his uncle when he'd first seen him at breakfast but had decided against it. If Mama thought he was being rude, she might forbid her brother to give him anything at all. In any case, Alphard was usually very prompt with his offerings, but perhaps his unexpectedly early arrival had delayed the handing over of gifts. The house elves were probably still unpacking his suitcase. But perhaps this evening, after the jarvey hunt-
"Sirius!"
"Huh?"
A hand pressed to Sirius's back, between the shoulders, jolted him forward a little to snap him out of his daydream. Sirius glanced up at his mother to find her staring down at him sternly in reprimand for his lack of attention.
"Your grandfather asked you a question" Walburga prompted him, gesturing to her father, who Sirius suddenly realised was stood before him, smiling in gruff bemusement at his grandson's absent-mindedness.
"Hello, Grandpapa" said Sirius, eyes shining with innocence in an attempt to mask the fact that he had no clue what his grandfather's question had been.
Pollux Black chuckled in amusement, ruffling his young grandson's hair.
Sirius grinned at the weight of the heavy hand on his head. He didn't mind the gesture so much when Grandpapa did it.
"I was asking how you and young Regulus are enjoying your holiday so far" said Pollux. "Regulus here tells me you've been enjoying yourselves out in the fields most days?"
His younger brother stood beside him with a timid smile on his face as he looked up at Grandpapa- a stark comparison to how he had trembled with nerves during their audience with Arcturus last night.
"Yes" said Sirius with a slight shrug. "It's been alright"
"Oh?" Pollux tilted his head. "Just 'alright'?"
Sirius nodded silently, scraping his foot against the carpet, the image of boredom and impatience.
"I'm sorry, Papa" said Walburga with a sigh, placing a hand on her son's shoulder and squeezing tightly. "Sirius Orion has been rather put out about the jarvey hunt, I'm afraid"
Pollux gave his grandson a sympathetic look.
"Oh dear. Your papa not letting you come out with us after last year, is he not?"
Sirius shook his head, scowling.
Pollux chuckled again, clapping the boy on the shoulder sympathetically.
"Quite right too, I'm afraid, boy" he said. "You're a tad young yet. A jarvey hunt is no place for a mere cub. Why, I didn't go out with my first hunt until after I'd started school"
Sirius burned with indignation. He hated being referred to as a child, detested the thought of being considered too young for anything.
"Then why did you all let me come out with you last year?" he asked, balling his fists in indignation.
"Because you promised you'd be on your best behaviour" said Orion, sternly.
Sirius looked up at his father to see the glower of disappointment he so hated - it never failed to fill him with a deep sense of embarrassment.
He felt his cheeks flush red at the memory of his disastrous first jarvey hunt last year.
"But I can do better this year, Papa" Sirius eagerly replied, doing his best to control his urge to shout his case. "I can, really"
"No, Sirius" Orion said firmly. "Perhaps next year, but you're still too young at the moment"
Sirius sighed, staring down at the floor, miserably.
His body jolted slightly from the force of his grandfather's heavy-handed pat on the shoulder.
"Never mind, lad" said Pollux with a slight chuckle. "You've got plenty of years ahead of you, the jarveys will still be here next year"
But next year was too far away for Sirius. And the sulky, miserable look on his grandson's face told Pollux as much.
"Why don't you boys run along and play now?" said the elder wizard. "Some fresh air ought to cheer you up a bit"
As expected, the suggestion of his release from his family obligations was enough to placate Sirius. Smiling gratefully at his grandfather, he tugged at Regulus's arm and made to head towards the door, only to be yanked to a halt almost instantly by his mother seizing hold of him.
"Now, don't go too far, boys" said Walburga as she inspected her sons before they were allowed to leave, brushing down their clothes and attempting to smooth down Sirius's unruly hair, giving him a warning shake when he tried to wriggle away. "And take your cloaks-"
"Cloaks?! Merlin's beard, Burgie, it's the middle of summer!"
Walburga's seemingly-permanent scowl only deepened, as it always did when her youngest brother insisted on calling her by the nickname she had wanted to shake off for years.
"I'll thank you to leave matters regarding my sons to me, Alphard" she said, primly, earning herself an amused look from her brother.
"But Uncle Alphard's right, Mama, it's roasting outside" said Sirius, jerking his head away from his mother's hand again. "We don't need them today"
Walburga fixed her firstborn with a stern look.
"Alright-" she said, raising a hand to silence her son as he hissed out a "Yes!" of triumph. "-so long as you make sure you're back in time for tea - in a presentable state. I don't want to see dirt marks all over those shirts"
"We will, promise" said Sirius impatiently, grabbing hold of Regulus before his brother could offer a more solemn promise of his own.
"And stay of of trouble" Walburga called to her sons one more time as they hurried through the hall, bound for the door to the gardens.
"Slow down, Sirius!" Regulus huffed as he struggled to keep up with his brother, who had lurched into a sprint the second they made it outside. "What's the rush?"
Sirius sighed, reluctantly coming to a halt in the middle of the landscaped gardens which surrounded the rear of the house to allow his brother to catch up.
"I want to go back to the crup kennels, of course" he said, rolling his eyes at Regulus's automatic disapproving frown.
"Sirius, no" said Regulus, anxiously. "You heard what Papa and Grandfather said last night. We aren't allowed to go back there"
"Who cares?" Sirius groaned in annoyance.
Why did his little brother always have to be such a spoilsport?
Regulus felt his conviction waning. He hated it when Sirius was angry with him. He would be in a horrid mood all day if he he wasn't careful.
"Sirius..."
Regulus sighed, defeated.
"How about..."
He glanced at the flowerbeds and bushes around them.
"Why don't we just stay here for a little while?" Regulus asked. "Surely it would be better to wait until Papa and the others have gone out on the jarvey hunt before we try and visit the kennels? They might catch us when they come down to bring out the hunting crups"
Sirius's moody expression lifted as he considered his little brother's logical points - the ones he'd been far too impatient to consider.
"That's a good point, actually" he said.
Regulus lit up at his brother's approval.
"Okay, we'll stay in the gardens for a while" declared Sirius, as though the idea had been his all along.
Regulus breathed a sigh of relief. He had bought himself some time to relax (it would be a while yet before the men left for the jarvey hunt) and his brother wasn't angry with him for being a spoilsport.
Sirius glanced around at the flower beds.
They were in a rather pitiful state, compared to what they had been. The bushes and shrubs were a tad overgrown and the many flowerbeds were dotted with the occasional thriving bloom, but none as bright and full of life as they had been when their grandmother had tended them.
Sirius felt a tinge of sadness as he recalled memories of listening to his grandmother explain the various types flowers in her gardens to him on sunny afternoons.
Melania Black had passed away less than a year ago - and in that time, the gardens she had once maintained with such pride seemed to have died with her. The house elves had done a fair job at maintaining some degree of neatness in most of the flowerbeds, but they had neither the time nor the passion to keep the gardens up to the same standard that she had.
Sirius caught sight of the sad look on Regulus's face as he looked around at the flowerbeds. His brother seemed to be sharing his melancholy.
"Hey"
Regulus looked over to his brother, who stood with a grin on his face.
"Remember that time when I accidentally let the knarls trash the garden?"
Regulus's face couldn't help but split into a grin to match his brother's at the memory.
"Yes" he said with a laugh. "But I still don't think Granny really believed you when you told her you didn't know not to leave food out in gardens"
It had been three years ago, on a summer's afternoon just as hot and sunny as this. The two boys had been out playing in the gardens - the outside area they were limited to at that time - and Sirius had managed to steal a small pile sandwiches from the kitchens via the back door and had presented them to his delighted brother on the lawn, declaring that they would have their own picnic in the gardens.
However, when there were still several sandwiches left, their mother and chosen the worst possible moment to come out and check that her children were behaving themselves. Sirius had quickly swept the sandwiches under the bushes beside them, mercifully managing to get away with concealing his thievery from Walburga.
But it was a short-lived miracle. Growing tired of their picnic, once Walburga had retreated back into the shade inside the house, Sirius had teased his brother into a game of chase, the hidden sandwiches laying abandoned under the bushes.
The colony of knarls which Melania had been battling to keep at bay for years had swiftly jumped into action, seeing the offering of food as a lure into a trap and proceeding to completely trash the garden; uprooting every flower bed, ploughing deep holes into the pristine lawn and reducing the shrubs to little more than bare twigs.
"But I didn't know!" Sirius had pleaded with their thoroughly-displeased grandmother. "Honest, Granny, I didn't know not to leave food out in gardens!"
"Everyone knows you mustn't leave food out in gardens, it was so obvious that you were fibbing" Regulus recalled with a giggle. "Mama wouldn't let you play outside for a whole week. And Granny was furious"
In hindsight, the memory of their petite, delicate grandmother attempting to chastise her grandson for his misbehaviour was quite amusing. Melania Black had never been known to be intimidating - it simply was not a state which suited her.
Regulus suddenly glanced around him at the tall, flowering bushes bordering the gardens.
"Sirius? You don't suppose the knarls are still here, do you?"
"Probably" said Sirius, peering deep into the base of the bushes, half-hoping to spot a small, quill-covered creature poking its twitching little snout out at him. "We can try and lure some out if you like?"
"No, thank you" Regulus quickly shook his head.
He was quite content to remain as far away from trouble as possible, for as long as possible. But when one was Sirius Black's brother, trouble never did seem to be very far away for long.
"Alright" said Sirius with a shrug before flopping down to lay on his back out on the grass, concern for the potential for grass stains on his white shirt gone to the wind.
"We'll just relax here for a bit, then" The elder brother pillowed the back of his head on his hands, and closed his eyes. He breathed a contented sigh and smiled as he felt the sun's rays bathe his face in their warmth.
Taking far more care to avoid getting dirt on his own clothes, Regulus lay down beside his brother, happy to bask in the peaceful sunshine for a while.
He closed his eyes and breathed in deep, savouring the aromas of the flowers infused in the warm, summer air. Such was the tranquillity that he could almost fall asleep...
"Reg, wake up!"
The sound of Sirius's voice and the sharp poke in his shoulder jolted Regulus abruptly out of his slumber.
"What?" Regulus's voice was fuzzy with sleep. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. How long had he been asleep?
"They're leaving!" Sirius hissed excitedly, crouched low as he peered through the gaps in the bushes. "See?"
Regulus turned to look in the direction Sirius pointed. Through the bushes, he could make out the small crowd of wizards, each in a set of beige hunting robes and tall, black hunting boots, making their way down from the house and heading towards the meadow leading to the crup kennels.
"Right, we'll give them a few minutes to get the crups and go, then we'll head down there ourselves"
Sirius voice was heavy with determination, the voice that Regulus had long-since come to see as a warning that there was surely trouble to be found at the end of his brother's plan.
But what else could he do but follow along, regardless?
Sure enough, ten minutes later, the sound of incessant barking echoed across the ground towards the gardens, telling the brothers that the chosen pack of hunting crups had been let loose and were surely dashing ahead of the hunters into the forest, their keen noses pressed to the ground in desperate search of a of jarvey scent trail.
The barking soon tapered off until the air was silent once more.
An excited grin spread across Sirius's face.
"The coast is clear!" he declared, scrambling to his feet. "Come on, Reg, let's go!"
Regulus hastened to follow, chasing after his brother, who had already sprinted his way through the gardens and out into the vast meadow before Regulus had even scrambled to his feet. Sirius hadn't so much as glanced back to check that his little brother was following him - he knew he would be.
Regulus tried to stifle the growing sense of nervousness building inside him as they ran across the grass towards the kennel block. He looked back several times to the house - growing smaller in the distance with each look, half-expecting to see their mother peering out at them through one of the windows.
The now-familiar sound of incessant barking grew louder as the two boys approached the kennels. Panting for breath as they slowed to a walk, Sirius led the way as they walked round the length of the metal fence towards the entrance.
"Keep quiet, Reg" Sirius whispered sternly to his brother, as if Regulus was the one who needed such a warning. "That old man might be lurking about"
"He was nice to us last time" Regulus reasoned, glancing around him nervously nonetheless.
"Grandfather's probably told him not to let us in" There was an obvious tinge of bitterness to Sirius's voice. "And he'll probably blab if he catches us here again"
As they neared the entrance of the kennels and the barking became louder still, Regulus felt certain that the dogs inside sounded far less friendly than they had on their last visit. He wondered if the crups that hadn't been chosen to go on the hunt were feeling frustrated at being left behind.
He pushed the thought from his head dismissively.
Of course not. They were only crups. Animals couldn't think in such a human-like manner - could they?
Sirius boldly yanked open the gate of the wire fence, strolling through as though he had every right to be there. But instead of walking through to the main block, he turned to walk around the side of the building.
Regulus groaned. Sirius was clearly wanting to visit the cruppies again. He briefly considered voicing his concerns against this endeavour, but decided against it.
Sirius would only ignore him and probably be in a foul mood with him for the rest of the day.
Regulus did, however, feel a glimmer of hope as they approached the lone, shed-like kennel which housed the mother crup and her litter.
Sirius had opened the lock on the door with his juvenile magic the first time round - surely he wouldn't manage it a second time?
"I did it before, so I can do it again" said Sirius through gritted teeth as he clutched the metal padlock tight between his hands.
He screwed up his face in concentration, gathering together every ounce of magic he could feel inside him and focusing as hard as he possibly could on the task at hand.
At the last moment, just as he was about to give in to the sharp pounding in his head and let go of the padlock, there was a subtle clicking sound.
Sirius opened his eyes to see the padlock open. He grinned triumphantly.
"How do you do that?" Regulus asked, awe-struck at the control his brother had over his magic.
"Practice" said Sirius airily, tossing his hair smugly. He gave away not a trace of the panic that had gripped him just seconds ago when he considered that perhaps the trick might not work a second time.
With a quick glance around him to check the coast was clear, Sirius removed the padlock, tossing it onto the grass beside him, and opened the door to the shed.
In the dim light of the kennel, Sirius could just make out a pair of black eyes glinting dangerously in the light. The mother crup was sat up in her nest, her body tense, her ivory teeth snarling. Clustered around her in a dozing pile were her pups, oblivious to the intruder.
"Hey, girl, it's okay" Sirius spoke softly to the crup. "It's me, remember? I was here yesterday"
He took a slow step through the doorway.
Before his foot could crunch the straw bedding beneath it, the mother crup had leaped to her feet, awakening her brood in the process, and let out a string of sharp, warning barks.
"Sirius, don't!" Regulus cried as Sirius jumped backwards out of the hut, startled by the barks.
"It's okay, Reg, she won't hurt me" Sirius forced himself to sound far more calm than he felt. "I came prepared"
He reached deep into his trouser pockets and pulled out several chunks of duck, leftovers from last night's dinner. Tiny bits of fluff from the material of his clothes clung to the meat.
Regulus's mouth fell open in shock.
"When did you get that?!"
"Sneaked down to the kitchen last night for it, through the old servants' passage" said Sirius. "You were dead asleep"
"Oh..." Regulus was mildly disappointed that his brother hadn't awoken him to share a midnight feast of his stolen scraps.
Sirius wiped his hands of the grease coating the meat on his trousers.
"Mama is going to be so cross with you" said Regulus, wrinkling his nose at the grease marks on the fabric.
Sirius shrugged.
"It'll be fine" he said, dismissively, turning back to the shed doorway.
Sirius took another slow step through the doorway, this time with his arm outstretched to clearly show the chunks of meat in his hand to the dog.
"Look what I have!" he whispered to the mother crap. "See? It's food. Do you want some?"
The instant change in the crup's behaviour was a sight to behold. On sight of the pieces of duck, her growling ceased instantly, her tense muscles relaxed and her forked tail began to wag excitedly.
"There you go, see? I said it was okay" Sirius smiled happily as the crup leaned forward to snatch the meat from his palm.
At the sight of their mother snapping up the tasty treats, the six cruppies suddenly sprung into action, bounding forward out of their nest, clamouring over one another to get to Sirius in a bid to be the first to get at the meat. Their loud, incessant yapping filled the shed.
Regulus peered through the doorway to see his brother crouched on the straw-covered floor, surrounded by tiny, wriggling cruppies, their little paws scrambling at him, their tiny tails lashing excitedly.
"See, Reg?" Sirius called to his brother through fits of laughter as the dogs' tongues licked at his hands for any trace of the duck pieces, all of which were long-since eaten. "Didn't I say it would be fine?"
Regulus had to admit, Sirius did seem to have been proven triumphant. The cruppies and their mother were lapping up every ounce of affection his brother could offer them with not a hint of maliciousness to be seen.
But he still didn't quite fancy joining in. He glanced worriedly at the scuff marks beginning to cover Sirius's white shirt. Mama was going to be so cross when she saw the state of him...
Regulus huffed a sigh as he stared down at the grass before him. He was bored of waiting for Sirius to grow tired of messing about with the dogs. After half an hour of standing outside the shed, his feet had begun to ache he had bravely back to the main kennel block to retrieve an old wooden stool he had seen by the doorway, dragging it back round to the cruppies' shed.
And here he had sat ever since, slouched forward, elbows resting on his knees, his face in his hands. A most undignified posture which he would have never assumed in the presence of his parents for fear of correction, but he was just so bored. He didn't have a watch, but he was sure it must have been almost two hours that they had been here, now.
Sirius was stood in the outside run of the cruppies' shed, one of the pups at his feet. The mother crup and most of the litter had soon grown tired of Sirius's presence once they had realised the supply of treats had run dry. They had curled back up in their nest, content to snooze the warm afternoon away.
But one pup, however, seemed to have taken a particular liking to the young wizard. The little creature peered up at him attentively, his tongue lolling out in a panting smile, his entire small body seeming to wag along with his tail.
And what a peculiar tail it was. Unlike the rest of his siblings, this pup did not have two identically white tips at the end of his forked tail, but rather one black and one white. It seemed rather odd, at first. Sirius couldn't remember ever having seen a crup with this feature before.
"I think it makes you look very distinguished" Sirius told the pup fondly as he attempted to give the little dog a scratch behind the ears, his attempt failing when the crup madly began to lick and nip his fingers.
However, in spite of how adorable the pup was and how flattered Sirius was to have been taken a shine to, that didn't excuse the fact that the poor creature seemed to be lacking in brainpower.
"Come on, we've been over it a hundred times. Sit!"
The crup reared up on two legs with an excited yap and a lash of his tail, giving no indication that he had understood Sirius's command at all.
Sirius let out a growl of frustration.
He had repeated the command enough times, had pushed his haunches down into the required position, why did the silly creature still not understand what he wanted?
"I think it's because you ran out of treats" Regulus called hardheartedly from around the shed.
Sirius glared in frustration.
"Well, I'm all out" he snapped back. "So he'll have to make do without"
Regulus rolled his eyes. Sirius may be impatient and short-tempered, but he was nothing if not determined. And once the bit was well and truly between his teeth, he would not give up until he had fulfilled his task.
"Sit!"
The little crup beamed up at him, tongue lolling, tail thrashing excitedly, but he did not sit.
"Come on, why don't you get it?" Sirius sighed, exasperated. "Why won't you just do as you're told?"
He kicked a nearby stone in frustration and watched as it roll through the gaps in the wire fence. Suddenly, an idea lit up inside his head.
He quickly reached down and stanched up a few of the small stones littering the edge of the fence and shoved them into his pockets.
"Hey" he called to the crup, turning to face it once more with a sneaky grin on his face.
The little dog's ears perked up in interest.
"See what I've got?"
Sirius jingled his hand in his pocket, rattling the stones enough to demonstrate that there was something potentially tasty hidden inside.
The pup went wild, spinning in circles and letting out a stream of excited yaps.
"Not just yet" said Sirius with a grin as the crup reared up on two legs and pawed at his trousers. "You have to earn it first. Now, sit!"
To his amazement the crup obeyed immediately. He sat, staring up at Sirius with almost hypnotic-like attention, eagerly anticipating his reward.
"Yes!" Sirius whooped in triumph.
The crup leaped up again, pawing desperately at the stones in his pocket.
"No, sit" Sirius repeated the command firmly. The crup quickly retreated, returning to his sitting position, never once taking his eyes off of Sirius's pocket.
Sirius whooped in triumph, basking in the glory of his success. He had done it, he had trained a crup!
"Hey, Reg! Come look! I did it!"
Sirius attempted to make a bolt for the door of the shed to fetch his brother but was pulled back by set of sharp teeth grabbing at his leg.
"Ow!" he gasped. The little pup was clinging onto his trouser leg, having nipped his skin in the process, growling with frustration at his lack of reward.
"Look, I don't have any treats, alright?" said Sirius, trying to shake off the dog to no avail. "I told a fib, okay? I'm sorry"
The crup clearly did not accept his apology. He had been promised a treat and was not prepared to take no for an answer. Sirius tried again to shake off the crup which continued to cling to him, letting out a few yips in between his ever-louder growling.
The commotion had woken the mother crup, who trotted out of the shed to investigate, the rest of her brood surrounding her.
Upon seeing one of her pups clinging to the leg of the small wizard trying to shake him off, the mother crouched low, snarling threateningly at Sirius.
"Oh no..."
Sirius was becoming nervous now. As sharp as the bite of the young crup had been, he was certain he would not get off so lightly with a bite from its mother. Her beady eyes fixed on him dangerously.
She wanted him out. Sirius did not need to be told twice.
Giving his leg one last shake and, mercifully, finally detaching the crup from his trouser leg. The pup landed with a soft thud on the grass, none the worse for his ordeal.
Sirius made a desperate dash for safety, bolting back through the shed for the door, the family of crups giving chase to him as he retreated from their home.
He bolted through the shed door and attempted to slam it shut, but it was too late. Before he could stop them, the family of dogs had burst through the doorway after him.
Regulus jumped off of his stool with a shriek as the dogs milled around them, yapping noisily.
"Sirius!" he cried as he jumped on top of the stool in an attempt to keep the dogs away from his feet. "What did you do?!"
"Nothing!" Sirius desperately tried to usher the dogs back inside the shed but to no avail. The crups clearly had no intention of giving up their newfound freedom.
The crups quickly realised that pestering the young wizard for treats was a wasted effort. Before Sirius could attempt to stop them (not that he could have had a hope of grabbing more than one of the wriggling pups at a time), the mother crup ran off, heading in the direction of the main kennel block, her litter following close behind.
"Oh, Sirius, no!" Regulus exclaimed in panic. "We've lost them!"
"We need to get them back!"
Sirius tore off in hot pursuit of the dogs in desperate hope of catching some of them, any of them, but to no avail. Though small in stature, the athletic little crups were faster than him by far. He could only watch in horror as the crups tore off through the compound, out through the gate which the boys had foolishly left open and went sprinting off into the meadow.
"Oh, damn!"
His energy completely drained, Sirius came to a halt, panting heavily as he watched the crups run about the meadow. He didn't have a hope of catching them all. Panic began to rise inside him. What on earth was he going to do now?
Suddenly, a loud cracking sound pierced the air, making Sirius jump and whirl around to investigate.
Running across the meadow towards him with surprising agility was the kennel manager, brandishing his wand which omitted a long streak of glowing silver light with each wave.
Sirius watch, dumbfounded, as the old man expertly aimed his wand at each of the loose crups running about the meadow, lassoing each one with a separate ray of the rope-like light. In little more than a minute, he had expertly captured the mother crup and each of the cruppies, his wand hauling them by their magical leads across the meadow and back towards him.
With each of the dogs captured, the wizard marched back across the meadow towards Sirius.
"What on earth happened here?!"
The old man's voice was far sharper than it had been yesterday when he'd joked with Sirius, amused by his uppity behaviour.
All notion of grandeur above the halfblood employee instantly drained from Sirius's mind, his vision of himself reduced to precisely what he was - a child caught in a whole heap of trouble.
"I- I was- We were just-"
Before Sirius could attempt to feebly explain himself, there was another shout from behind him. A voice which made Sirius flinch.
"Stokes! What the devil has happened here, man?!"
Sirius turned to look behind him, his worst suspicions confirmed as he saw the approaching hunting party, led by his furious-looking grandfather.
"I'm sorry, sir, the litter somehow managed to get loose" the kennel manager's voice was calmer as he addressed his employer. "The gate must have been left open, perhaps, or the lock faulty"
Sirius felt a deep shame burning inside him as the old man attempted to cover up his crimes. He had done precisely nothing to deserve such mercy - so why was it being offered?
"You fool!" Arcturus growled as he reached them. "You mean to tell me these valuable animals were nearly lost to the wild because you left a blasted gate open?"
Sirius wanted nothing more than to stare down at the ground in an attempt to hide from his grandfather's unjust onslaught, but try as he might, he could not break his gaze away from his father marching across the meadow towards them, flanked by Grandpapa Pollux and his bemused-looking uncles. Even from afar, Sirius could make out the ominous look on his father's face. Orion seemed to have already decided that whatever was going on, his son had clearly played at least some part in it.
"Sirius" said Orion, sharply as he stood over his son, shrouding the boy in his shadow. "What happened?"
All attention fixed on the young boy, who in that moment, appearing far more cowed than many had ever thought possible of him.
"It was me" said Sirius, looking up at his grandfather's furious face. "I let the crups loose"
"You did what?!" Arcturus snapped, glaring down at his grandson.
"I didn't mean to!" the boy hastened to add. "Honest, Papa, I didn't!"
"And just what were you doing?"
Orion's icy gaze sent a shiver down his son's spine.
"I was... trying to train one of the cruppies"
Sirius's voice trailed off as he looked down at his feet, unable to bear his father's angry expression any longer.
"You foolish, idiot boy!" Arcturus rounded on Sirius, his face reddening with anger. "I specifically forbade you from going near those crups for a reason! Do you have even the slightest idea how much these dogs are worth? How much gold you could have lost me if they'd gotten away?"
Sensing he was intruding on a family matter, the kennel manager discreetly cleared his throat.
"I'll take the crups back to the kennels, sir" he said to Arcturus, jerking his head back towards the kennel block.
Arcturus did not see bother to reply, too focused on his errant grandson, and so the halfblood slipped away from the crowd, dragging the still-overexcited pack of crups at the end of his wand along with him.
Sirius felt a tinge of regret that he had not had chance to thank the man for attempting to cover for him.
"Really, now, Arcturus, there's no need to get quite so het-up" Pollux strode over to stand beside his cousin as he continued to spit venomous comments about the blatant disobedience of his grandson.
In any other moment, Sirius would have smirked at the sight of his Grandpapa in his too-tight hunting clothes, but right now, he felt as if he couldn't smile for the life of him.
"No need to get het-up?" Arcturus spat angrily, nostrils flaring. "This insolent little whelp nearly lost me an entire litter of crups and you tell me there's no need to reprimand him?"
"There is every need to reprimand him" Orion's steely voice cut in. "Papa, perhaps you would care to escort everyone back to the house whilst I deal with my son?"
Arcturus gave a grunt but did not disagree with the plan laid out by his son.
"So long as you do deal with him, this time" he said with a sneer as he turned away, marching back through the grass.
Pollux turned to follow his cousin, glancing down at Sirius with a sigh and a shake of his head before he left.
Sirius looked up to catch a glance of his uncles, both of whom had elected to stay out of the row. Both Cygnus and Alphard sported a large cluster of dead jarveys strung together by the feet and slung over their shoulders, the spoils of the hunt. Judging by the bemused smiles on each of their faces, both brothers seemed to have found a degree of entertainment from the scene their nephew had caused.
Sirius burned with embarrassment at having made a show of himself in front of the entire hunting party.
But this was quickly replaced by a fresh wave of dread that washed over him like ice water as he looked back up at his father.
"Where is your brother?"
The question was so unexpected that Sirius simply stood with his mouth hung open, stuck for words.
"Answer me"
His father's sharp words jolted him back to his senses.
"I don't know..." Sirius glanced around the meadow. He hadn't realised that Regulus was missing until now. "Maybe still back at the kennel block? Hiding, probably" There was a distinct trace of bitterness in his voice as he spoke.
Trust meek, scaredy-cat Regulus to hide himself away whilst Sirius got into trouble on behalf of them both.
"Kreacher!"
Sirius flinched at his father's loud, sharp call.
With a CRACK that rang through the meadow, the shrunken form of the house elf appeared before them, scowling with confusion as to why he had been summoned to the middle of a field, of all places.
"Go to the crup kennels" Orion ordered, gesturing to the building in the near distance. "You should find Master Regulus there. Bring him to the house and make sure he is clean before his mother sees him"
"At once, Master" said Kreacher with a humble bow before disappearing off to the kennels with another CRACK.
Orion rounded on Sirius once more.
"You were specifically told last night not to go near those crups again, were you not?"
Sirius gulped uneasily before nodding.
"Sirius?"
"Yes, Papa"
"And yet you deliberately disobeyed both your grandfather and me, and did it anyway"
There was simply no other way to wriggle out of the truth of the matter. Sirius hung his head, digging the toe of his shoe into the dirt.
"Have you nothing to say for yourself?"
Sirius looked up again. The look of deep, angry disappointment on his father's face awakened a sense of determination within him.
"I'm sorry the crups got loose, Papa, really I am. But I knew I could train one, I had to try. And I did it! Really, I did! I got it to-"
"Silence!"
Sirius obeyed immediately.
"This insolent behaviour will cease this instant" Orion hissed threateningly. "You will accompany me back to the house, where you will apologise properly to your grandfather for your misbehaviour. You will then go to your room and you will stay there until I say otherwise"
"But-"
Sirius's words faltered for a moment as his father's anger flared visibly at his audacity to talk back.
"But- Mama will expect me down for tea soon" he finished, meekly.
"You needn't concern yourself with that" said Orion. "Once I have relayed your day's misdemeanours to your mother, I'm quite sure she will agree that you ought to remain in your room for the rest of the day"
Sirius's stomach churned sickeningly at the thought of how cross his mother would be once she'd heard of his crimes. He suddenly found himself with no appetite for tea and cake.
But still, as unpleasant as his mama's tempestuous shouting fits could be, the dangerously calm anger of his father somehow felt far worse.
"Is that understood?" Orion asked, expectantly.
"Yes, Papa" Sirius answered, staring glumly down at the grass.
"Good. Now, hold still"
Sirius flinched as his father grasped his arm, steering him to turn from side to side as he inspected his clothes.
"I do believe-" Orion said, silkily, as he examined his son. "-that your mother also told you to ensure you kept yourself clean"
Sirius remained in a state of defeated silence as his father shook his head over the state of his white shirt, now covered in dirty paw marks and the grease stains on his trousers.
With his arm still firmly gripped around his son's arm, Orion aimed his wand at Sirius.
"Scourgify"
Sirius winced at the unpleasant feeling of the cleaning spell. He hated them - they never failed to leave him covered in goosebumps.
"Presentable at last" Orion remarked, wryly. "Now, come"
He released Sirius's arm, only to seize the boy again, this time by the scruff of his shirt, steering him back towards the house on the other side of the meadow.
Sirius allowed himself to be half-dragged across the grass by his father in miserable silence, the glory of his moment of success at having trained the cruppie to sit all but a distant memory.
He had been so proud of himself at having achieved his goal. And then it had all come crashing down, his triumph in ruins.
And now, here he was, ending this year's jarvey hunt in precisely the same way he had last year - being hauled back to Noire House by his father in disgrace.
He felt utterly wretched.