CHAPTER 29
Toujours Pur
They had seated Sirius in the living room, closest to the hearth. Regulus was smirking from the kitchen door. His mother, father, and Aunt Elladora (who was accompanied by a sour faced Narcissa) sat opposite him on the couch. His mother's foot tapped the carpet in rhythm with her anger, and his father, under his short black hair, had his mouth pursed into a firm line.
"Sirius, we wished to talk to you about your behavior before you return to Hogwarts," Mr. Black said. "I will not tolerate my son consorting with such-"
"Filth. Half breeds," Mrs. Black cut in. "It's a disgrace. Your cousin here says that you are never seen without that Potter boy."
"Now we have tried to be civil," Mr. Black said. "But it has gone too far. My son, a lapdog for a blood traitor-"
"He's not a blood trai-"
"You dare to speak when your father is talking to you?" Mrs. Black screeched. "You insolent boy! We have put a roof over your head, fed you, clothed you, given you everything that you ever wanted --- and this is the thanks we get? Your cousin writes us telling us that you are consorting with the Potters, and a boy who has a Mudblood for a father! Not to mention all of the other filth that resides in that Gryffindor Tower."
"We told you to speak to Dumbledore about a re-sorting. About going into Slytherin. But you didn't, did you? You decided you were going to be clever and forget your lineage. Toujours Pur, Sirius."
Sirius snorted, and Aunt Elladora took her turn on him. "You ungrateful little wretch! These two have supported you your entire life, and you never listen to them! Look at Regulus! Now he's listened. He has the right sort of friends! And look at you! One would think that you would learn."
"What?" Sirius barked. "I don't want to be like Regulus! I'm tired of you three trying to-"
"Sit back down, young man!" Mr. Black shouted. "I don't care what you're tired of and what you're not tired of! We're tired of your behavioral problems! We're tired of Narcissa reporting to us all of the unspeakable things you're doing at school!"
"Then maybe Narcissa should shut her yap," Sirius retorted, glaring at her.
"I just care for you, Cousin," she sneered, and Aunt Elladora patted her on her head. "Now see, Narcissa means well, Sirius-"
"No she doesn't!" He stood again and balled his fists. "None of you do. You just don't want me going around and embarrassing you! You don't give a damn about me! You never did!"
Bellatrix appeared behind Sirius, smirking. She would be coming to Hogwarts next year. He quickly wondered where Andromeda had gone off to.
"Sirius Black!" Mrs. Black screeched. "I am telling you that if I ever hear from either of your two cousins that you have been around those blood traitors --- around any Gryffindors --- there will be hell to pay on your part. Understood?"
Sirius glared and, without answering, ran to the staircase and up into his room. A writing desk was sitting there, and he saw the piece of parchment that he had brought back from school. They had all decided that he would hold onto it.
He opened a drawer, and stuffed it in. They didn't know how clever he was. They didn't outrank him. He was an Animagus. He had conquered a werewolf. He was going to be an Auror.
On his wall, there was a long tapestry. He didn't understand why they had set it there. It didn't belong in his room. His parents' room always sported it --- why was it here?
It was the family tree. It read: The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Toujours Pur. He found himself under his parents' names (Orion and Walburga), next to Regulus. And then, under Aunt Elladora and Uncle Alphard, there were two names and a burn mark.
Burn mark. Narcissa Black. Bellatrix Black.
Andromeda had been blown off the map.
She had been disowned.
He smiled. She had gotten out of it. She had escaped this hell.
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Christmas was a terrible time. No presents, no plum pudding, no nothing. All he got out of his lovely holiday was some extra practice with his Animagus form and an explanation on how Andromeda had gotten blown off the family tree.
He had secretly written her later the night of his arrival, and she had written back, explaining it all. She had married a Muggle-born named Ted Tonks, and she'd had a child with him. Nymphadora was the new baby girl's name.
Sirius wrote back his congratulations, and then waited for a reply that never came. He hated his family more than ever. He hated them all. The entire house was a constant reminder of everything he didn't want to be, but was expected to become. If it hadn't been for the letters coming from James, he would not have survived.
He also was reading all of the books in the house to try to figure out how to begin a map that would show the entire school building and its inhabitants. He had begun to draw up something that he thought may be fun to work with.
In the meantime, he had been scraping up loose papers from the house and scanning the headlines for anything that may have something to do with Death Eaters. Ever since their Animagus feat, he hadn't been hearing very much about what was happening. But that didn't mean that they had ceased to exist.
He thought he felt his dinner rise to the back of his throat as he saw a new addition to the Daily Prophet. An obituary, just for the victims of Lord Voldemort and his followers. He didn't recognize most of the names, since he usually didn't associate with Muggle-borns outside of school (thanks to his parents). He was off to become an Auror, and Dumbledore had told him that he could reference him to a friend. Dumbledore was willing to help anyone that would become an Auror and go off to school to learn about it. He would fund them, sponsor them. Probably trying to get people away from the Dark Side, Sirius thought.
He soon found himself tearing out the obituaries and posting them on his wall, as in sort of a memorial. As for his family's reaction, they thought Voldemort had the right idea about things. None of them had joined with the Dark Lord as far as Sirius knew, but he knew that they gave their full support to the cause.
And now with Andromeda gone, it left him alone in a den of wolves.
Every day the obituaries got longer. Every day they branched out farther, into Scotland and Ireland, eventually spilling over the English Channel and into France. There was no stopping this force that had begun to take shape.
There were a few articles in which it reported that just to utter his name would provoke him to kill the one who uttered it. Out of fear, or maybe out of superstition, the Daily Prophet stopped running Voldemort's name, and began referring to him as "You-Know-You" and "He-Who-Must-Not-Be- Named," along with some other odd names.
It seemed that the Ministry wasn't taking it seriously enough. Minister of Magic Hodges was a blubbering idiot that took all of his advice either from Dumbledore or from Bartemius Crouch, a high-ranking member of Magical Law Enforcement. Crouch seemed, as his name suggested, a little crotchety.
He was quoted saying, "I will not rest until all of You-Know-Who's supporters, followers, and worshippers are either dead or locked behind bars and our world is returned to order."
Sirius knew that Voldemort was growing in power, and he was looking to do more than kill off a few Muggles and wizards of impure blood. He was after something larger and greater than a genocide.
The first day back was filled with activities for James. Most of them revolved around Quidditch. Their first game was to be the next Saturday against Slytherin, and he had to be ready to take them on.
Dennis was in his final year, and the slot of Team Captain was to be open in the fall. Dashings, Jorkins, and Grudgins had all moved on into the real world, leaving spots open for newcomers Geraldus Diggle, Janice Avery, and Deborah Blunkins to take their place on the field.
"Please let us just win the last one," Dennis begged them after practice. "I want to leave Hogwarts with a good taste in my mouth. I've never seen a better team since the one in '71, when Jorkins joined. A little ditzy, yes --- and a large mouth when it came to gossip, but yes, could she fly."
Sirius had grabbed James after the practice and dragged him to the lake, where the other two were waiting for them, holding a new book. There was something shiny on Remus's cloak. It was some sort of a badge.
"What's that?" James asked.
Remus looked from the badge to him, and then back at the badge. "I'm a prefect, Prongs. I have been since fall. I told you, didn't I?"
James had been so caught up in the transformations that he had forgotten all about it. He laughed. "You, a prefect?"
"I think Dumbledore intends me to keep you three in line," Remus said, and he gave a bit of a sickened smile, "Good luck to me, I suppose."
"Did you return the Animagus book to the library yet?" James asked him as he sat down.
"Yeah," Remus said gloomily. "We have an overdue charge of about forty sickles. I told her it got lost, but I don't think she believed me."
"Show him the new book, Moony," Sirius said, leaning back in the shade.
Remus turned to the cover, and James read Enchanted Maps of the Twentieth Century.
"Yeah? What about it?" James said.
"Now come on, Prongs!" Sirius looked at him. "Remember what I was telling you before break? About possibly starting to map out the school? Well, I've been looking into the spells and I've come up with a brilliant idea. We make it tell where everyone is, and how to get into the secret passageways."
"Sounds like a good plan to me," Remus said. "The spells aren't that hard."
"Sure," James said. "We can explore next full moon."
And the full moon came. As soon as Remus had turned into a wolf, they made their way back through the tunnel, up the hole, and into the grounds. They had an idea of where to start, and so they walked around the school, trying to get a thought on what the exact shape of the outside was. Then they paraded the grounds, making sure that Hagrid didn't notice them. At last they knew sunrise was fast approaching, so they ducked back into the hole, through the tunnel, and into the living room.
After returning to their room, Sirius, James, and Peter picked up a piece of parchment and quickly drew the form of Hogwarts. Then the Whomping Willow, and the tunnel leading off of the page. Next came Hagrid's Hut and the Forbidden Forest.
"There we go," Sirius said. "Here before us is the beginnings of greatness, mates."