Sirius needed a moment. Even the smallest of moments away from his family. So after leaving the robes shop with the stern witch he excused himself to the nearest toilet.
He was quite used to his family by now. Their flighty temperaments and elitist behavior being something he was born around, something he should believe himself. And it was hard not to sometimes. I mean…. it would be easier. Shut your mouth and listen to your elders, they know quite a bit more than you do. But still, since the blasting of his most dear cousins name off of the family tapestry, subsequently erasing her existence in that instant - Sirius wasn't as able to stop his mind from wandering.
He wrapped his hands around the cool porcelain of the sink in front of him. He knew actions had consequences - especially if you're a Black. But family was everything, or so he thought. He believed loyalty was the most important trait. But when he had mentioned this to his mother, she glared down at him with the look that entranced him - she was reading his thoughts. She had spit out a noise that might have meant to be a laugh but sounded more like a shriek of disgust. Purity. Purity topped loyalty. Of course. That interaction had landed him the rest of the week in his room with a meal a day, if he was silent.
A stall door opened behind his back and Sirius was brought out of his thoughts and into the cool, grey bathroom of Diagon Alley. A boy looking about his age was standing in front of him. He was shorter than him but not by much. His sandy hair was combed but remained messy in a thin, stringy mess that told sirius he wasn't of the same class standard his family liked. The purebood heir instinct kicked in and he puffed his chest and stared him down through the slightly blurred mirror.
The boys round face was watching him back. Quite right too. He was probably shopping for Hogwarts also. The tear between who he wanted to be and who he was bred to be gnawed at him insides. The boy was speaking.
"Hello…" the boy squeaked as he approached the sink next to Sirius. He was definitely rounder all around.
He hadn't been around many children his age. There was Regulus. he supposed. His cousin Narcissa was only four years older but seemed quite disinterested in him. He remembered at one point there being a girl called Joan Abbott but he hadn't seen or heard about the Abbott family recently other than a mumble of something sounding like "blood traitors."
The boy was leaving quickly before Sirius remembered he never replied to the boy. He watched him scurry out the door and Sirius made a move to follow. He saw the boy approach another boy and what was clearly the other boys father. He knew those two. The Potters. His pre-Hogwarts education had consisted a lot of studying pure blood families and the Potters were.
He was quite highly pulled out of his head once more but this time by the firm grip of his fathers harsh hand around the back of his neck, pulling him back toward his mother and brother.
They were to leave now. His mother and father were visibly furious since leaving the wand shop.
After trying around 15 different wands, he had matched perfectly to a Cedar wand with Unicorn hair core. "Quite unusual for a Black." he heard the old man say. He had sucked in a breath at that, knowing it meant trouble. Things only worsened from there with phrases being thrown around such as "strong healing tendencies" or "not likely keen toward dark magic." Unfortunately, phrases like "potential to be a frightening adversary, which often comes as a shock to those who have thoughtlessly challenged you" and "a potential to be dangerous in other ways" that turned Sirius' skin cold, didn't make his parents' features any less hard.
As he and his father approached his family, he saw his two cousins now accompanying them. Bellatrix was in her final year and had always been by far his least favourite. She did nothing to hide just how dark her magic abilities were. Both sisters carried themselves elegantly but Bella had a madness in her eyes that everyone else seemed to view is power and determination.
"good you've returned. we shall head home at once" Sirius' mother said snippily. She said murmured and quietly in the ears of his cousins before she headed off down the cobbled streets, back to the leaky cauldron.
"I saw the Potter boy was out" Cepheus said quietly to his wife as they entered the pub. "with Pettigrew's child" Sirius listened quietly, if you wanted to learn information - you stayed quiet. That's how he learned it worked in his household. "Shame he got mixed up with such a poor lot. His father was so gifted. Abraham professed immense skill tjat would have raised an amazing heir if not for mudblood sympathizers involving themselves in matters that do not concern them" These words raised a few heads from the people passed but the Black family cared not what lower class citizens thought of them. This was not a location his family would ever stop and dine in. The population was far too mixed. A shabby wizard in what Sirius vaguely recognized to be a common attire amongst the shopkeepers, suddenly stood up upon looking in the direction of Cepheus. His fathers physical demeanor changed instantly. He looked disgusted as the stranger continued to stare. Sirius had no idea who the man was. He was someone of importance and he racked his brain to think. The man was tall, a bit taller than his father. His skin was pale and he reeked of rebellion. His face was oval shaped. His nose narrow and lips thin and pressed in a firm frown. His deep hazel eyes looked upon Cepheus and Walburga with just as much despise as was returned. His hair was dark and curly but reversing in his old age - sitting at what sirius assumed was in his 40s. Peering closer at his clothes. While shabby, were neatly placed and a name tag was perfectly pinned to his chest. Sirius struggles to read the name as his shoulder was firmly gripped and pulled away. Before though, he read the name Gerald in smooth gold letters. As they left the pub, Sirius continued to think of every blood traitor he could. The Abbott's, Potter's, Weasley's, Prewwett's. None of them would produce such a personal reaction without being provoked.
"They allow filth like Crafter in here now" Sirius heard his father spit as they entered the fireplace. "This community has gone slack." Sirius knew there were no pure blood families by the name of Crafter and decided he must be a Hogwarts classmate from his father's day. Sirius looked to his brother, Regulus used to ask questions and would even produce more answers from their mother who so evidently favored Regulus but the younger Black had adapted quickly and was learning his place at a rate Sirius couldn't fathom.
"pack your things at once, Sirius." His mother said as her heels clipped down the hall past him once they were in their dark and ancient home. Kreacher began bringing his belongings up to his bedroom and he trudged up after her. He didn't understand the rushin packing as he wouldn't be leaving for a week and a half.
Once upstairs he began pulling all his posh black robes out of his equally as dark closet. He was used to his plain robes but he had seen muggleborn kids his age in mix & match colours with flare trousers and pullovers or belted vests. He yearned for the freedom that that choice offered.
—-
The last few days at Grimmuald Place seemed to move slower than the last eleven years in total. The house was very silent as usual but the stabbing feeling of nerves and excitement were almost too much.
So the morning he woke on September 1st, he bolted out of bed and began gathering his belonging and began to clean, knowing he wouldn't be returning for awhile - when he remembered kreacher could do it and stumbled downstairs for breakfast.
His mother was already sitting at the table, fully dressed with her hair as tightly knotted as ever.
"do not run in this house, it is absolutely unbecoming of the Black heir to show such behavior" Walburga snapped. Sirius' smile dropped and he sat down at the other end of the large dining table and waited for the house elf to appear with his plate.
"your father and i shall accompany you to the train. I have spoken with your cousins and they shall be keeping an eye on you. You are not to steps foot out of what is expected of you."
"The boy will be a fine Slytherin" Sirius jumped momentarily, not realizing his father was approaching until his booming voice was heard. Sirius hadn't put much thought into his house. His entire family was in slytherin. It had been so for ages. Like the Weasley's and Potters in Gryffindor and the Abbott's in Hufflepuff. He wasn't exactly sure what went into sorting into your house because he was sure it had something to do with genetics, right? He had general knowledge of the other houses as he had seen various poems written by an unknown author in "Hogwarts : A History" but his family had little interest in the idea of house togetherness.
Once played were clear away, Kreacher was ordered to get Sirius' belongings and have Larpy - their elder house elf who mainly did more medial work wait with the belongings at King's Cross for the family's arrival.
Sirius stood at the entrance to the grand house and looked around. He looked into the office area with the mounted house elf heads & plaques with names like "Bookey 1847-1876", "Tiskey 1875-1903" and "Wakpey 1901-1945" and remembered how he always hated looking at the sad wide eyes of the past eleves and the gut feeling he felt when they received Kreacher a year ago, having memorized the estimated time this meant before Larpy's old, green eyes would have a mantle below them.His eyes flicked to the stairs where his mother had pulled him from a family dinner and slashed his calves for speaking out of turn. He turned his head to the table where at six years older he had first learned of the sacred twenty eight and pure blood supremacy in a school lesson or five years later hearing that he suddenly only had two female cousins instead of three and had his ear clipped for lying. Sirius shuddered and looked to the giant family tapestry that hung. his cousin Andromeda blasted off as well as a name he assumed to be a brother or sister of his father. He frowned as he attempted to read the name for what must have been the millionth time. No such luck, he sighed and stepped out the door. He wouldn't miss this house.
After he had apparrated on the side of his fathers arm, he landed in front of the Hogwarts Express. There were children of all ages wishing their families goodbye. He noted a very tall boy with a deep complexion almost immediately. He was self confident and suave. His face was thin like the rest of him, with angular features to accent his soft nose. His eyes were soft brown eyes that seemed to draw Sirius in in a way he felt he couldn't control. Sirius' face grew hot and he looked for someone else. He saw a girl who looked undoubtedly nice and most definitely didn't carry the pain of physical and emotional scars like he had. She was pale face with crimson cheeks. Her long, golden hair was t sites into two long three-way twists that reminded him of licorice wands. He looked over the crowd once more, Seeing a mess of carmel colored curls catching his eye but was broken from his thoughts by his mother.
"Remember what i said to you this morning. anything that happens - will be heard about" And with that she was gone.