Thanks to: memories of pain, Goldgrin, Kyra , Ginny13A, Rhyia and Blade's Venom.
fwuzzfwuzz :
I know that BB:FP is not the best story around. Main reason of so many happy reunions here is that I want to have it out of my way to write something not happy. Do you think that I would end Family Portrait like some sappy novel? NO WAY. But I like being in the middle, somewhere between tragedy and sappy novel, that's why I want to make them happy before I will made something horrible to them.
Shinigami:
I know that he will love it. A little problem here, I think that photo got lost somewhere. Oh she will meet them, but not in FP – or in the last chapter of FP. I will throw Luna into this – this one I'm sure as I'm sure my own name.
Sharivari:
Sprawdzaj zawsze czy wyslalas zalacznik. Bo wczoraj nic nie dostalam. Ja tam lubie Gdansk – fajne miasto.
Chapter betaed. But I think that my beta still has it on her computer in better version than this one.
Sirius: No talks?
Sniffy: No.
Sirius: Lead song?
Sniffy: No.
Sirius: Why?
Sniffy: Because I'm too lazy bum – live with me.
Chapter seventeen: Another Snape's worst memory and Sirius' biggest secret.
Few hours later Raven and Harry were the witnesses of the talk between Mirzam and Percy Weasley in his room.
"Thank you Mrs. Black for explaining this to me. Now I know what really had happened. I was just a toy in their hands. I should make a peace with my family but I think that I should prove that I'm worth their trust. Mrs. Black what I had to do?" said Percy.
"Give yourself a chance Percy. Give yourself a chance to decide about your fate. If you join us, you would be in the danger. Order members always were on Voldemort Hit List. But if you would try to be neutral you perhaps would be in more danger. Order members always had a protection from the other Order members, neutrals has not. During first war we lose many Order members Percy, during first war we weren't prepared, now we are" Mirzam handed Percy a bowl of broth.
"Thank you Mrs. Black" said Percy taking the bowl from Mirzam's hands.
"Besides you will be one of five Weasleys in the Order after the Introduction" said Mirzam settling down on the armchair.
"Five? I thought that whole family was in the Order," said shocked Percy.
"Only of age ones and yes your parents were there but after the last incident between your parents and someone of the Order your parents are on expulsion. There are certain rules which every Order member has to obey, like disrespecting someone from the Inner Circle will be punished, disobeying the order from someone from the Inner Circle will be punished. Your mother not only insulted capacity of someone from the Inner Circle but also disobeyed Dumbledore's order when all members were called here after the attack at the Order member and your flat. Other Order members can't disrespect me, as a member of the Order and member of the Inner Circle, especially, the member of the Inner Circle who is responsible for Order's safety and as someone who is choosing and letting or not other people to become a members of the Order. Old crow knew that rule, but your mother perhaps wasn't introduced to this rule when she joined the Order. It's not the age what makes you member of the Inner Circle but the facts if you can be a good leader, if you understand people, your ability of understanding the responsibilities. Inner Circle member is chosen not by the other Order members but by the other, higher force, by Sorting Hat" said Mirzam gesturing during her speech.
"Sorting Hat?" Percy, Raven and Harry stared at her.
"The Sorting Hat, had meet you once, it knows yours strength and yours weakness. You can't fool it. Inner Circle is chosen always during Halloween night, once in a year and only if one or more members of the Inner Circle had died or betrayed the Order. I was nineteen when I was chosen as a member of the Inner Circle and since the 31st October 1980 when for the last time the members of the Inner Circle was chosen Inner Circle didn't changed even if four of the members was dead and two years later two others lost their sanity. From the old Inner Circle left four people plus Hogwarts Heads of the Houses and what made me afraid about the Order is the fact that last year the Ceremony didn't took place. I was informed why but still from fifteen members of the Inner Circle, five members of the staff left plus four sane members from the last Inner Circle, two other lost their sanity but we can't replace them because they didn't betrayed us nor are dead, four of them is dead. Inner Circle is the weakest since I remember because from fifteen members of the Inner Circle only nine are capable of making decisions" Mirzam shrugged.
"You are afraid that something bad will happen, mum?" asked Harry.
"There is a war outside there Harry, remember about this" said Mirzam.
"Did you are responsible one of kicking out Order members?" Percy asked suddenly.
"Yes and no. Whole Order is voting if we should kick out someone but me, Andie and Dumbledore have that power above the others that we can said no and our no has to be obeyed even if the other members think that they know better than us. If I say no the others have to obey me, even Dumbledore and Andie. You should know that your mother would be kicked from the Order sooner if I didn't interfered in time. I believe that better than kicking not cooperating Order members is keeping them away from the Order for some time and after everything cools down it's time for making decisions" Mirzam stared on the wall behind Percy.
"When Penelope and I can join the Order?" Percy asked tentatively.
"At 31st of August. You and the others. Anything else?" Mirzam asked.
"No, Mrs. Black. Thank you for your time" Percy said.
Raven Alrai Black woke up in the middle of the night. He turned in his bed and tried to fall asleep once again. Tried but failed and after fifteen minutes he decided to wander around the house. After minute of hesitation he decided to bring his Invisibility Cloak with himself.
When he was on the corridor he bumped into something and suddenly two "Ouch" was heard on the corridor.
"Raven?" another voice asked.
"Harry?" Raven gapped on the spot were Harry was supposed to stand.
"Hello brother! Couldn't sleep?" Harry's head appeared from under another Invisibility Cloak.
"You can say so bro. You too?" Raven asked.
"Actually no. I had a little surprise for mum and dad. I'm trying to sneak to their room. Will you help me Rave?" Harry smiled at him.
"Sure"
They slowly opened Mirzam's and Sirius' bedroom door and sneaked inside.
Raven frowned when he saw his father sleeping on their bed, 'where was mum?' he asked himself.
They were distracted by muffled scream coming from the bed. Both boys stared in that direction. Sirius was fighting with the sheet groaning incoherently something what sounded like "No", "Left him alone", "Don't do this", "Please don't leave me". That moment Mirzam choose to walk into the bedroom. When she saw Sirius, she froze for a second before rushed to the bed.
"Sirius! Wake up! Sirius! Silencio" the last word was muttered towards the door.
Sirius screamed before he sat "Dad!" then he fall on the bed again.
"Sirius?" Mirzam's voice was soft and caring.
Sirius sat on the bed again, this time more slowly and rubbed his eyes before he whispered, "It was nothing Mirz. It was just a nightmare"
"You usually have nightmares about Azkaban and about the Halloween night Sirius. You don't have nightmares about your father" Mirzam's voice was barely a whisper and her hands linked with Sirius' hands.
"You are right. I didn't. But this one… It was so realistic. Like it happened before, but it didn't…" Sirius' voice broke down and he hung his head.
Mirzam raised one hand and cupped Sirius chin and raised his head to look in her eyes before she asked, "Can you talk about it?"
"Yes" Sirius whispered.
Mirzam sat down beside Sirius and brought her arm around his shoulders.
"I was seven years old then. Dad and I were coming back from a muggle amusement park. We were laughing, joking, and eating ice-creams. We were acting like a father and son should. But suddenly I saw jet of red light coming towards me and then everything went dark. When I woke up I was in the back alley, lying on the ground, few feet away from me I saw dad and a man in black robes. That man had his wand pointed at that. Dad was screaming and shaking… and then that man muttered "Imperio" and told dad something and dad stand from the ground with his wand pointed at me when I heard him saying "Crucio". That's the last thing I remember" Sirius turned his head towards Mirzam, trying to meet her eyes.
But Mirzam's eyes were directed at the door. Her face was emotionless but from her eyes expression you could read that she was thinking about something.
"Mirzam? Why I dreamed about this? Why now? Why about him? I mean he wasn't the best father in the world, he was a bastard actually, but why?" Sirius whispered.
Mirzam slowly turned her face to Sirius "You doesn't remember?" she asked.
"Remember? What? Who?" Sirius raised his voice a bit.
"Your father. The man he was before…"
"Before what?"
"Before that day"
"Day?"
"You were seven then, it was actually 13th August 1966. You two left the house. You said then that you two are going to spend a day with each other. You were both happy, you were smiling, joking. But when you came back in the evening I felt that something had changed, like between you two the maw had grown. So suddenly… I couldn't understand it then, but now I know"
Sirius stared at her in shock.
"Believe me Sirius when I'm telling you this. You father loved you deeply, you were an apple in his eye. Regulus as a younger boy was Talitha's son, but you were Achird's. He used to talk about you like you were his hope, he planted the rebel seed in you, he often were telling you to follow your heart. That's what I remember. I remember you father who was nice, kind man who cared about his family and loved his older son above everything. When you were five you fall from the window on the third floor to the garden, you had a broken spine and very hard brain concussion, you were wavering between life and death. You father didn't leave your side for days. I think that I heard him crying in the night when Healers told us that you are dying. That's hardly a man which you remember Sirius" Mirzam's voice was full of emotions.
"She is right Sirius, you know?" they heard another voice from the door.
"Regulus?" Mirzam and Sirius asked in unison.
"That's my name. Mirzam is right Sirius. I was five then but I remember you two sharing every moment you could. I often was finding you in the same room as him. You were reading on the floor when he was working in the study. He was showing you some books he found good for you. Sitting before the fire and talking about everything and nothing. That's the image of dad that was engraved in my mind when I was little boy. He changed so suddenly that I even didn't realised when it has happened" Regulus said settling down on their bed.
"So I'm mental or something?" Sirius stared at Mirzam and Regulus.
"Erasing Charm?" Regulus turned to Mirzam.
"Temporary Erasing Charm timed for thirty years since the event. Listen Sirius, for last thirty years you were under very strong memory charm, the charm affected that part of your memories, which were bounded with your father, and it changed them so much that you remember only bad things. That's why you had that nightmare tonight. It's that event coming back to you. Your mind is trying to expel that charm from itself. From what I know about Temporary Erasing Charm – and it's not much, someone who was a Healer can say about this charm more – rejected memories are coming back to recipient mind after the time passed. In next few days your memories about your father should come back to you. It's all a matter of time Sirius" Mirzam explained.
Sirius looked crushed, his voice was trembling when he asked, "So that nightmare was real, it's not a nightmare but a memory? I'm mental"
"You are not!" Mirzam and Regulus huffed at him.
"I'm mental. What is the worst, is the fact that our sons knows about this" Sirius muttered and put his face in his hands.
Mirzam stared at him quizzically.
"Raven and Harry are here. They are under Invisibility Cloak" Sirius muttered.
Mirzam turned in their direction and raised her right arm, her hand making a gesture of summoning and with a swish two invisibility cloaks flew to her outstretched hand.
"Wow. Mum you can do a wandless magic?" Harry was the first to get his voice back.
"Most of fully trained wizards and witches can Harry, but even then it are a simples spells, it depends of your power. Wandless magic is in yours seventh year course books" Mirzam answered holding two invisibility cloaks in her arms.
"You are very powerful mum, don't try to denied it. You shouldn't use a wand at all," said Raven.
Mirzam snorted and shook her head "Actually I use wandless magic when it comes to charms, I rather trust my wand with transfiguration and defence spells"
"She screwed one transfiguration spell pretty badly. It took Healers from St. Mungo to bring James back to normality" Sirius snorted from the bed.
Raven and Harry stared at her in shock.
"I wanted to turn him into a pig. He ended with a pigtail and pig head. It was quite amusing…"
"Because you were laughing so hard that you fall from the desk and ended in St. Mungo's with mild brain concussion" Sirius muttered from the bed.
"But still it was worth to see 'true face' of James Potter" Mirzam laughed with familiar bark like laughter.
"You two didn't get well?" Raven asked suddenly.
"Mirzam and James?" Sirius asked.
Raven nodded.
"Never. In her eyes even after he married her sister James was always a spoiled kid who get what he wanted. He wanted Lily so he got her" Sirius said.
"Lily was my sister but even she was far from being ideal. When we were in our sixth year she did something which surprised and hurt me very much, I mean I knew her for years and I expected better than that from her, but that muggle sentence is true, you are a lion between lions and a snake between snakes" Mirzam's eyes travelled towards the corner of the room.
"What?" both boys asked and they heard Regulus leaving the room – it was Sirius' and Mirzam's problem, not his.
"It was after 'Shack Incident', wasn't it Verascez?" Snape's voice was heard from the doorstep.
"Severus what you are doing here?" Sirius asked.
"I was on my way to bed after hot chocolate in the kitchen when I stumbled on your brother muttering something about Dreamless Sleep Potions" Snape answered.
"Yes it was" Mirzam answered to Snape's question.
"She hurt him badly, even worse than…" Snape was about to say something but suddenly realised where and with who he was.
"Me. I hurt him, I betrayed his trust, his secret, but she…" Sirius muttered.
"She ripped his heart from his chest and shattered it into million pieces and in that state she handed it back. It took more than 'I had to Mirzam, he lied to me' and 'I'm so sorry, don't be mad at me' to even try to forgive her and I think that I still didn't it completely" Mirzam run her hand through her black curls.
Raven and Harry stared at them, jaws dropped.
"James told Lily about Remus 'condition' and she broke with him. It took us three months to put pieces of him together again and about a month for this two to forgive me for my stupidity" said Sirius.
"Actually three weeks from me and five from Remus. But on the other hand I was the only one beside you who knew the truth" said Mirzam grimly.
"Truth about 'Shack Incident'?" Remus Lupin appeared in the door. " Mirzam you told me that you knew about my 'condition' then, but as far as I know it was James Potter who saved Severus"
"Wishful thinking from James Potter part" Mirzam snorted. "Remus, you knew bad side of James Potter and did you really believe that he would save his archenemy?" Mirzam's green eyes connected with Remus' brown ones.
"If it wasn't James so who it was?" Remus asked. "I recognised his scent Mirzam, really there is no way to foul werewolf sense of smell"
"And I saw James Potter, so how?" Snape stared at her.
"You two are fully trained wizards. One with enormous knowledge about potions so I think that you know that when one person is using Polyjuice Potion everything even the scent of that person is the same" Mirzam explained and very slowly turned to Sirius.
Sirius turned his head towards the window and said "Why now? It stayed a secret for a twenty years, why you are trying to change it?" He didn't mention the name but they knew that those questions were directed to Mirzam.
"Because the truth set us free and because you two" Mirzam pointed at Sirius and Snape " Really had to forgive each other"
"Do you have pensieve somewhere?" Sirius asked.
Snape raised eyebrow and Remus did the same.
Mirzam nodded and went to the wardrobe and came back with a pensieve and settled it on the bed table.
Sirius sighed and raised his wand towards his temple and with few waves of silver thoughts the pensieve was full. Sirius sighed again and motioned towards men in the room to follow him.
Raven turned to his mother.
"I saw this more than once. Go on. I will wait for you here" she motioned towards the pensieve.
They took deep breaths and fall into the pensieve. They found themselves in Hogwarts entrance hall.
"Stop following me!" a loud growl was heard from the entrance to the dungeons.
"I will if you told me what's going on Black" Raven recognised Snape's voice.
"Like hell I will" now they saw younger Sirius storming from the stairs.
He didn't changed much since Raven saw him in Snape's pensieve but Raven could see the difference in him. That Sirius had madness in his eyes.
"McGonagall would be more than happy if she knew that it was you who pulled a prank in Staff Room" younger Snape appeared behind Sirius.
"Go to hell!"
"I will, but I will made an exchange with you Black. You will tell me why Lupin keeps disappearing behind that stupid tree and I will forget about that prank"
"Sod off Snivelius!" Sirius was loosing his patience.
"Maybe I will"
"So do this!"
"I will, but the deal first"
"I'm not making any kind of deals with you"
"Don't be so sure Black"
"You will be not telling me what I had to do so I'm telling you this one last time: sod off!"
"Unfortunately no. Remember because of Potter's stupidity in the potions class we both have a detention to serve"
"I will punish him for that when I will be seeing him next time. Why that idiot couldn't pick up someone else, why it had to be me?"
"Because he likes to annoys you?"
"Sod off. I have more important things to do than hearing you"
"Snape! Black! You are here to serve a detention!" another voice was heard next to them.
Raven realised that things started changing around them. The entrance hall started getting darker and darker and Raven decided that it was a night here. His thoughts were interrupted by two voices…
"Will not!"
"Will to!"
"Will not!"
"Will to!"
"Will not! Just sod off and leave me in peace" Sirius angry voice was heard in the hall again.
"I thought that you are a good friend Black… but I was wrong…" young Snape turned back from Sirius and was ready to leave.
"What are you implying Snape?" Sirius turned to Snape's direction in less than second.
"Verascez and Lupin would loose their scholarship and prefect badge if McGonagall would find out that it was them who pulled that prank in the Staff Room. Absolutely brilliant and embarrassing joke, mind you Black" Snape sneered.
Raven saw that all blood drained from Sirius' face.
"You wouldn't dare!" Sirius' voice was shaking.
"What would stop me?" Snape asked.
"I will… I will go to Dumbledore… You asshole, you knew that they were landed in that mess just because they were close to the Staff Room because they were on their way back from the Ancient Runes…!"
"Remember that Schmerzt used Priori Incantem on their wands and that it was THEIR wands which were used to that prank?" Snape raised one eyebrow.
"It wasn't them!"
"But what if a witness of that incident suddenly appeared and told McGonagall that he saw them leaving the Staff Room short before the teachers were humiliated. A witness who was blackmailed by one of you"
From now Sirius was shaking with anger.
"And what would you do Black? You like humiliating people, but you know where to stop before you would land yourself on expulsion. Remember, one more time and you are out from Hogwarts…"
Sirius turned his back to Snape and hung his head before extracting from himself one sentence "What you want, Snape?"
"You know what I want, Black. It's all up to you…"
There was three minutes of silence before barely audible voice spoken "Touch the trunk on the tree, it will paralyze it. Use a stick…"
"Thank you Black. It's good making transaction with you" Snape started walking away.
When Snape's footsteps weren't heard for more than a minute younger Sirius raised his head and glanced through the window at the almost full moon. In one second he made a decision and flew from the entrance hall on the grounds. He run through the grounds with such a speed that Raven thought that it was the faster a person could ever manage. Young Sirius fall on his knees before the Whomping Willow and turned into dog before paralyzing the tree and entering the secret passage to Shrieking Shack. When he was inside he turned back to his human self and fall on his knees again. He was shaking like a mad, suddenly he extracted from himself the most heart-rending howl Raven ever heard in his life. He kept shaking and sobbing for some time before rising from the ground and very slowly started getting back to Gryffindor Tower.
It was good after midnight when younger Sirius reached Common Room and slumped heavily on the couch.
Raven risked quick glance around the room and saw two people on the table near the windows. Heads hung, engaged in their books. Raven recognised his mother dark mop and another one in light brown colour. Light brown mop rose from the books and glanced at the couch.
"Sirius came back" Remus' voice cut the silence.
Mirzam turned in her chair and glanced at Sirius before asking, "What's wrong?"
Younger Remus looked from one to another but didn't said a word.
"Nothing. I'm just tired. Detention with Snivelius. Excuse me. I'm heading to the bed," Sirius answered not meeting her eyes.
When he fall on his bed in the Dormitory (which by the way was the same one in which Raven sleep when he was at Hogwarts) and shoot the curtains around his bed. After five minutes footsteps were heard on the stairs and when the door opened they saw young Remus.
"Sirius?" Remus voice was a whisper "Sirius?"
No answers from Sirius part. Remus sighed and went to bed.
Raven thought that those night was one of the longest in his father life. Young Sirius kept tossing and turning in his bed through the whole night. Somewhere around 5am Sirius get up from the bed and went to the bed occupied by James Potter. He stared for few minutes at his friend sleeping form before reaching to his head and taking one hair from his mop.
The rest of that day was a blur. Classes with McGonagall, Flitwick, Schmerzt – the potion master and head of Slytherin House until noon. Lunch in Great Hall. Afternoon class with another professor called McKnight – DADA. Ancient Runes with professor Stinky, who really stink like older Remus assured them and Arithmacy with professor Bonkers. Quick dinner in Great Hall. The moment when young Remus excused himself from the table. The moment when young Snape stand up from Slytherin table. Then everything around became clearer.
"James?" younger Sirius asked after Pettigrew left the Great Hall "Do you have a time for a prank?"
Young James Potter stared at his friend in shock before he asked, "Are you mad Sirius? I always have a time for a prank. What it is now?"
"I will tell you outside" Sirius motioned towards the doors.
With that two Marauders left the Great Hall and when they found each other outside young Sirius pulled James into one of broom closets.
Young James bent to turn the bucket upside down. Young Sirius chosen that one particular moment to hit him on the head. Raven didn't know what it was, but he knew that it was enough to knock James unconscious on the floor. Then Sirius tied him with conjured rope and stuffed a gag into his mouth. To be sure that James would not wake up quickly Sirius put him under sleeping charm and after taking Polyjuice Potion as James Potter Sirius Black left the broom closet.
After he found himself on the ground he started running like a madman towards Shrieking Shack. Fast enough to saw Snape entering the secret passageway, but not fast enough to catch him.
Through the passageway and to the shack and then to the nearest room where he found Snape.
"Get out!" young Sirius hissed.
"Why Potter, are you afraid of troubles you may have because of my presence here?" Snape turned to Sirius, his back towards the door of other room.
But Sirius wasn't watching Snape; his eyes were fixed on the door and just like enchanted the doors opened and on the doorstep appeared a werewolf.
Snape very slowly turned towards the door.
The werewolf growled and started very slowly nearing to Snape. But then Sirius caught Snape by sleeve and pushed Snape from the room before closing the door. Snape skipped on the stairs and Sirius' "Run!" made him running like a madman towards the castle.
But young Sirius hadn't Snape's luck, because werewolf broke the door and almost jumped at Sirius, almost because Sirius closed the door from the corridor then he stabbed a broom between the frame and doorknob and leaned against them to hold werewolf inside. One particularly hard bang from the other side the door sent Sirius face down on the stairs. He rolled all the way down and fall on his back, left arm under it in weird angle.
"How it ended?" asked older Snape suddenly.
"It?" Raven's father turned to him.
"I mean with you. We know how James Potter acted straight after, but how it ended with you?" Snape gesticulated towards Sirius.
"This one?" Sirius motioned towards his younger and rather unconscious self "Broken nose, twisted left leg, broken arm and collarbone and I suspected also minor brain concussion plus a black eye because James remembered that I hit him"
"But what happened with the memories?" asked Remus.
"You know that there is a charm used mainly by Healers and Unspeakables which allows a person to give another one or more memories. I used it on James" Sirius answered, not meeting their eyes.
"But why?" asked Remus, desperately trying to meet Sirius' eyes.
"I don't know. Really. It was more like an impulse rather than something deliberated. I just did it" Sirius slowly meeting their eyes.
"A feeling. Something what had to be done?" asked Snape suddenly.
Sirius very slowly nodded.
"I had it too. That day when we meet in the Shack. My mind tried to find something what would distract me from delivering Remus his Wolfsbane it turned that instead of giving it to him straight after lunch I went to his chambers closer to dinner rather than lunch. Just in time to see him at the map entering the Shack. I don't know how to call it," said Snape.
"It's called 'prophecies syndrome'" they heard Mirzam voice before they realised that they were back to Mirzam's and Sirius' bedroom.
"Prophecies syndrome?" asked Remus.
Mirzam nodded "Your mind makes an unforeseen decisions for some reasons which you are not so sure, which you would never consciously do. Like saving your enemy for example. It makes you do it because it knows better. Unspeakables had an opinion about this syndrome it says that 'every person has her/his own prophecy which she/he had to made come true, sometimes that person knows about the prophecy but sometimes not and then a mind of that person makes a decision for that person'. Ask Reg about it, he knows more about prophecies than all of us together"
"Why?" asked Raven.
"He didn't told you Raven? He was an Unspeakable and he worked in the Hall of Prophecy. He is one of two people who knows more about prophecies than any other people," said Mirzam.
"Who is the other?" asked Snape suddenly.
"Rookwood. Augustus Rookwood" Regulus Black voice echoed from the doorstep.
Raven turned to him and said to him "But you told me that Remus worked in DoM too"
Regulus nodded before he answered, "He did. Remus?"
"I worked in the Death Chamber. I was his mentor, but when his training has ended Regulus choose the other way. What your father and uncle would confirm Blacks are rather gifted in Divination…" Remus started explaining but was cut by Sirius.
"Not all, but most of and only a men"
"Did you know about that Prophecy?" Raven stared at Regulus.
"I did. I was the one who heard the beginning of it. Dumbledore didn't tell you about it? I also know whole text by heart, because Potters told your parents and then they revealed it to me and knowing it was a huge responsibility" Regulus explained.
"Why?" asked Harry.
"Because I have lives of nine people in my hands. Lives, which I was responsible for. I would ever not forgive myself if something happened to one of that nine. Never"
Sniffy: You know what I like the most...