It should have been a quiet, uneventful evening like any other at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. Dinner served promptly at eight, followed by coffee in the drawing room with his wife and the evening issue of the Prophet.

And so, Orion was most displeased to instead find himself caught in up the midst of a storm of drama at a time when he ought to be rounding the evening off with quiet nightcap in the seclusion of his study, savouring the news from Phineas Nigellus's portrait that Sirius, like each of his ancestors before him, had taken his rightful place at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall of Hogwarts and was settling in for his first night away at school.

Because, in a burst of surprise which Orion was far from used to encountering in his carefully-planned everyday life, Sirius - his firstborn son and heir - had become the first ever Black to be shunned by the prestigious house of Salazar Slytherin, and had instead been relegated to Gryffindor house.

"It's a disgrace!" Walburga shrieked as she paced furiously up and down the drawing room. So caught up was she in her own fury that she seemed not to notice the irritated way her husband rubbed at his temple with each of her continued outbursts. "An absolute disgrace! A Black - our son, in Gryffindor - it hardly bears thinking about"

She wrinkled her nose in distaste and glared into the flames flickering in the fireplace. Several moments of silence passed before, clearly impatient with her husband's lack of response, she whipped her head round to where he sat, peering thoughtfully into the page of the newspaper on his lap, his fingers gripped around the handle of his coffee cup.

Orion himself had scarcely spoken a word since his great-grandfather's painted figure had departed several minutes preciously, having delivered the unfortunate news directly from Hogwarts itself.

"Have you nothing to say, Orion?" Mrs Black demanded, rounding on her husband, her arms folded across her chest expectantly.

"I can't imagine what there is to say which might prove useful to the situation" Orion said evenly, his eyes still fixed downward at the article before him. His fingers tightened around the hot china of the coffee cup. It ought to be cool enough to sip in a moment, he mused.

"Our son-" Walburga seethed. "-has been insulted by that rag of a hat, and you have nothing to say on the matter?"

Orion's gaze finally flickered up to meet his wife's accusing stare.

"Really, Walburga, I feel you are blowing this out of proportion. I agree, it is... unexpected. But it is hardly the end of the world"

Walburga's cheeks flushed scarlet.

"Sirius Orion's prospects at that school will be ruined in that house!" she snapped angrily. "How is he to develop the necessary connections that Slytherin would have assured him? Not to mention the untold filth he'll be mixing with in Gryffindor. He'll be exposed to Merlin knows what ridiculous ideas!"

Orion took a sip of his coffee. The hot liquid burned its way down his throat, distracting him from his growing irritation with his wife's hysterics.

"Sirius is a bright and social boy" he said as he set the cup back on its saucer. "I'm quite sure he will have no trouble acquiring the connections expected of him, whichever house he is in"

Walburga sniffed disapprovingly.

"I still don't like it" she said, resuming her pacing. "It isn't right! No Black has ever been placed outside of Slytherin. What will people say?"

"Nothing of any value, I'm sure"

"You ought to write to the school. Tonight. Demand that old fool Dumbledore move him immediately, before he gets too settled"

"You know full well I cannot do that"

"And why not?"

Walburga's eyes were alright either fury as she marched across the room to stand before her husband's chairs glaring daggers down at him.

"The Sorting Hat's word is final, you know that as well as I" Orion kept his gaze fixed firmly down at his paper as he set his cup back down on the coffee table. "There is very little that either I or Dumbledore can do about it, therefore I see very little point in causing an unnecessary fuss"

"Our eldest son's scholastic career is facing ruin before it's even begun and you see little point in causing an unnecessary fuss?"

Walburga balled her fists tightly in such a petulant display that Orion half-expected her to stamp her foot for good measure.

"Perhaps I ought to write him myself, if you will not" Walburga turned away to stand before the fireplace once again, leaving her husband to absorb her threat.

"You will do no such thing"

"And why shouldn't I?" Orion looked up to see a fierce defiance alight in his wife's features which reminded him startlingly of the boy at the heart of their disagreement. "After all, if you will not stand up for the dignity of this family then I suppose it falls to me to-"

"Control yourself, madam" Orion tossed his paper aside and rose to his feet with startling swiftness, as though he had been poised to strike for any length of time.

A faint flicker of alarm flashed in Walburga's grey eyes as she took in her husband's stern glare.

At last. A crumb of deference.

Orion strode towards the fireplace to stand over his wife, staring down at her imposing.

"The Hat has placed Sirius in Gryffindor and he, we and everyone else must make do with it. I will not draw further attention to the matter by sending hysterical pleas to that wily old half-blood for the sake of what will certainly be a fruitless outcome"

"But the family-"

"-will get used to the idea" Orion said firmly, silencing Walburga's argument. "Sirius will excel at school and prove himself worthy, in spite of his sorting. It is, after all, just a school house"

Walburga narrowed her eyes up at her husband, clearly un-subdued.

"You might be content to accept defeat in this matter, Orion Black, but I am not"

"Then you should endeavour to learn to be" Orion snapped in reply, reaching the end of his tether at last. He turned away from his wife and headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To the study. I have important matters to attend to. I'll thank you not to disturb me"

"Very well" Walburga called after him. "If it is solitude you desire, then I'll ensure the elf turns down the bed in your dressing room"

Orion felt his stomach lurch with disappointment as he climbed the staircase.

The prospect of writing this most dreaded of letters to his father - breaking the unfortunate news of his son's sorting - was uncomfortable enough to think of, let alone without the soothing thought of a night beside his wife to revitalise him before the arrival of the dreaded, furious reply his owl would surely drop into his lap the next morning.