Written for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments) Term 13 and Quidditch League: Holyhead Harpies as Beater 2
HSWW: First Aid - Task #1: Write about making someone feel better temporarily.
Quidditch League: Holyhead Harpies, Beater 2: Your character must assume everyone else acts a certain way.
Optional Prompts: (genre) family / (word) fragile
Additional challenges listed below
Warning: Character death
Word Count – 1356
Sirius Black didn't have anyone.
Well, that was not exactly true. He had James, Remus and Peter. He had the Potters. Lily, Marlene and Mary. Also, the Quidditch team. Alright, Sirius had quite a few people he could count on, but none of them were there right now. It was only him, alone with the tombstones. Cheap ones. The type of tombstones that a Black wouldn't be caught dead in, literally.
Sirius ran his fingers over the carving on the grey stone that read Alphard Black. The tears didn't come and he suspected that they never would. It wasn't like they had the best relationship, or any relationship at all for that matter, so Sirius wasn't surprised that he hadn't felt sad when he heard the news. When the money came, he felt guilt. That remained with him ever since.
"I didn't know if you were coming," said a voice behind him.
Sirius hadn't seen Andromeda in seven years. The family didn't recognize her as one of their own anymore, and Sirius just wasn't the best of keeping in touch with people. They wrote to each other sometimes. It was mainly Andromeda who reached out first, and Sirius just replied, but he liked to know that he had her around. When he received her invitation to meet her at the graveyard to say goodbye to their uncle, Sirius was shocked to say the least.
"How could I not? The man left everything he had to me," he said.
"To us," Andromeda corrected him. "Let's not forget that he gave me a generous sum as well."
"Doesn't that bug you? One day, he's just another Black and you don't think much about him. The next, you inherit everything he had. Why would he do that, Andy?"
Sirius looked at her exasperated. There was a slightly crazed look in his eyes.
"The fact that you don't know just proves that it took you way too long to leave that family," she said, resting her hand on his shoulder.
"You do know that I'm younger than you, right? And I left at sixteen, when you got kicked out at eighteen."
Andromeda rolled her eyes. "That's your problem, Sirius. You get too caught up in meaningless details and you miss the ones that matter."
"Like?" he asked. Andromeda gestured to the tombstone and Sirius sighed. "If I liked riddles, I would have become a Ravenclaw. Can you be straight with me, please? I'm already confused enough."
"Just think about all the holidays and parties. Where Uncle Alphard sat, who he talked to, how many he attended."
"I don't get it," Sirius admitted without giving her request a single thought.
"You two were more alike than you think." Andromeda smiled. "I can't stay for very long, Sirius. Nymphadora isn't feeling very well and I have to take care of her."
Sirius felt a pang of envy hit him. Andromeda's little girl, who Sirius had never met, had unconditional love from the very moment she was born. Sirius imagined that it also applied to her father. Ted and Andromeda had graduated before Sirius went to Hogwarts and Sirius had never made an effort to get to know the guy. Maybe it was time that changed. Seeing how fragile life was made him want to cling onto the people he still had.
"You know that kid is going to hate you for naming her that, right?" he teased.
"That's half the fun of having a kid." Andromeda winked at him. "Stop by for some tea at any time, alright? My door is always open for you."
His cousin hugged him briefly before Apparating away. Even that second-long hug had been more affection than Sirius had ever received from any Black before. He didn't remember ever being hugged by a family member before. A pat on the shoulder and a squeeze on the elbow, yes. Very brief and minimal physical contact that came from-
"Alphard," he said out loud to the tombstones.
It was true. Thinking back now, Sirius realized how Alphard had always been the only one who went out of his way to interact with Sirius, even after he got sorted into Gryffindor. He was definitely the only one who touched him, but Sirius never thought much of it. He thought Alphard was only being polite and courteous, like the Black family members had been taught to be.
Andromeda asked him to think about the parties. Alphard was always sitting at a table in the corner, with a drink in hand, observing everybody. Sirius had just assumed his uncle thought he was too good to be mingling with the rest of his family and that they didn't deserve the energy to put on a façade. Merlin knew how many times he had heard Walburga bad mouthing her brother Cygnus and his family after a holiday gathering.
"That was not the case, was it?" Sirius asked the engraving. "You just didn't want to put up with their bullshit."
The one person Alphard approached was Sirius, but that only happened when no one was around. It usually happened when Sirius found a way to sneak out of the ballroom to take a breather. Alphard would always show up moments later and the boy would get scared and run back inside.
Here's the thing, when you grow up in a family like the Blacks, you got wary of every one of your relatives that caught you alone. Especially when you were the only Gryffindor and Blood traitor, or so you thought, in the place. Sirius had gotten enough beatings, scoldings and dirty looks to know that it was not safe to be alone with another member of his family anywhere.
"I never even gave you a chance to talk to me. I just grouped you with the rest of them." Sirius ran his hand through his hair. "I know how much I hated when people did that to me, so I can only imagine what it felt like to you."
The guilt burned inside him. At that moment, Sirius understood that he had strong beliefs about his uncle based on fragile and mostly circumstantial evidence. Sirius did to Alphard what many people did to him back in the Gryffindor Common Room during his first year, and he hated himself for it.
"I would have never known who you really were if you hadn't done what you did. If Andy is right and we are similar, then I'm sure you would have loved to see Walburga's face when she read your will." Sirius let out a humourless laugh. "She went all red in the face and started yelling at me. Can you believe that she accused me of giving you a potion of some sorts or spelling you to give me your money?"
The sun was setting on the horizon, casting an orange glow on the whole graveyard, and it only made Sirius more melancholic.
"She blasted you off the family tapestry, did you know that? The Potters told me, but I have no idea how they knew. I guess you won't mind not having your face there. I sure don't."
Sirius was quiet for a moment, trying to think of something else to say. He wasn't sure why, since the man was already gone and it wouldn't make much of a difference to him now. But Sirius had to say it.
"Uncle Alphard, I'm sorry. I should have given you a chance, but I was scared. I'm not trying to excuse my behavior, I promise. I should have known better, I know that. It's just that growing up in that environment really fucks you up. You were braver than I was. You tried to give me a chance." His voice caught in his throat.
The wind blew Sirius' hair in his face, and Sirius used that moment to collect himself. He let out a humourless laugh.
"I'm talking to a rock. Merlin, I must be going crazy."
With a last look back, Sirius left the graveyard with the need to always appreciate the family that had found him and given him a chance.
Insane Prompt Challenge
#17. Word: Alone
Writing Club November
Record Collection: 5. (color) grey
Time Machine: 13. (quote) "The world seems full of good men, even if there are monsters in it."
Amber's Attic: 1. (genre) family
Liza's Loves: 15. Full of Stars - Write about a character with the name of a star/constellation
Lizzy's Loft: 3. (scenario) Someone dies/is dying
Scamander's Case: 22. (restriction) only two characters
Film Festival: 18. (word) invitation
Lyric Alley: 14. What you don't know about me never meant much to you
TV Spree: 16. Write about a (not fake) death
All Aboard
Title: 8. Graveside Confessions
Autumn Seasonal
Days of the Year: 1st November - Dios Los Muertos: Write about visiting a loved one's grave.
Chemistry Week: 46. Palladium: Puzzled
Family Day: 9. The Weird Uncle
Tarot Reading: 2. Five of Cups, reversed: Write about letting go of the past to move forward.