Sirius was following his cousins, Andromeda and Narcissa, who were in seventh and fifth year respectively, to find an empty compartment.
"Remember, Sirius. From this day onward, you are expected to act properly as the heir of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black."
"Yes, Mother." Sirius almost rolled his eyes, but managed to hold himself in at the sight of his brother's frantic, pleading eyes.
"Don't slouch, don't shrug, don't act inappropriately, don't associate with Mudbloods and Blood-traitors."
"Yes, Mother."
"Avoid the headmaster, Dumbledore, at all costs. That good-for-nothing man will not have you in his grasp, as it is bad enough that you will be in his reach. Do I make myself clear?" His mother's glare sharpened. "Sirius?"
Sirius nodded firmly, even though he didn't see why he had to. "Yes, Mother, I understand. If possible, I will not be anywhere near Dumbledore."
"Good. Sit with your cousins. They will help you adjust."
Those were his mother's words that he didn't have the chance to tune out. As a result, here he was, thinking about her words.
Sirius's lips pursed in deep concentration. Did he have to obey her?
A glance at his cousins dismissed the rebellious thoughts floating around in his head.
Yes. It'd be best for him, and technically Regulus, his younger brother, as well, to heed whatever nonsense his mother was spouting. It wasn't safe to state that he just didn't care about Mudbloods, Half-bloods, Blood-traitors ― that sort of thing ― while they were still a minor. It was just a fact that it wouldn't do much other than making his mother pay more attention to him so he wouldn't be a Muggle lover or something incredibly absurd. Sirius was sure that while he couldn't bring himself to care about blood purity nonsense, he didn't plan on to be a Muggle lover, that's for sure.
"This way, Narcissa."
"Oh, Lucius. It's good to see you well. Have you found a compartment for us yet?"
"Of course."
Sirius was brought out from his own mind to find that Narcissa was accosted by a Wizard that he didn't know. He stepped in front of Narcissa.
"Who are you?" Sirius narrowed his eyes up at the boy who he now realised was a Slytherin Prefect with the badge on his robes.
Andromeda tugged his sleeve hard and whispered harshly into his ears, "Shh, Sirius. Please. Remember your manners."
Sirius scowled lightly at her, annoyed but obeying her, nonetheless. As he followed the lead of the older Wizard, he kept giving wary looks at his cousins and the Wizard.
The Wizard eyeing the small firstie. "Ah, is this your cousin and the heir of your house, Narcissa?" He slid open the compartment he reserved. "Please." He reclined his head down.
"Thank you." Narcissa smiled and ushered her sister and cousin to enter first. When it was her turn, she stepped beside Sirius and gave a sideways glance at him while gently resting her hands on his shoulders. "I will introduce you. Sirius, this is Lucius of the House Malfoy, my betrothed. And Lucius, may I present you my cousin, Sirius, the Heir of my house, the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black."
"Pleasure." Sirius kept his frown, not caring at what the Malfoy thought of him.
Lucius smiled faintly. "Likewise."
On the inside, Sirius was in panic. Narcissa was betrothed? Must be Uncle Cygnus and Aunt Druella's doing, but why did he not know of this?
"I've never heard that your parents set you up with a Malfoy, Narcissa. Is this a recent thing?" Sirius inquired with a visible frown on his face, hiding the chaos inside his mind.
Narcissa gave him a look. A warning of sort. "I'm afraid so, cousin."
Sirius looked at Andromeda, face hard. "What about you?"
"I am betrothed, too." Knowing her cousin wouldn't be satisfied with just that, Andromeda continued on, "This is because of Aunt Lucretia and the scandal of the house that she married into. Grandfather Pollux was worried about the reputation of our house, so he advised our parents to set us up with Wizards from good, respectable houses."
Sirius blinked rapidly, stumped. "Wait, you and Bellatrix, too?" He recoiled. "Bellatrix... She wouldn't..." He knew Bellatrix, the I-would-never-marry Bellatrix. Sirius doubted she had reacted well.
Andromeda and Narcissa exchanged glances and they sighed simultaneously. It wasn't pleasant being reminded of Bellatrix's temper tantrum about being betrothed to a younger Wizard from the House Lestrange.
"Lucretia Black, she married into... Oh. The Molly Prewett scandal, yes?" Lucius spoke up. He didn't know what brought the House Black to betroth one of their daughters to the House Malfoy, but he suspected it, of course.
"Oh." Narcissa let out a soft sigh. "Oh, yes. Her."
Lucius hummed. "It's an unfortunate tragedy, indeed. For a Witch from such a good house to lower itself to Muggle-loving Blood-traitors..."
Andromeda, who sat beside Sirius, suddenly pulled out a book from her bag and ignored her surroundings.
Sirius wanted to ask who did they betroth her to, but he refrained from the time being. He couldn't blame her attitude, as he, too, was getting uncomfortable. He knew what it was about.
The son of the disowned Cedrella Weasley née Black, Arthur Weasley, had wed to Molly of the Noble House of Prewett around two years ago. It was a scandal, because Lucretia Prewett nèe Black, was the daughter of the current Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.
He sniffed a little at the reminder. His mother had ranted for days when the news of the birth William Weasley reached their house. But once the fact that Arthur Weasley, an employee of the Ministry, is a Muggle-lover and a Dumbledore-lover, reached his mother's ears, well... that was the trigger for his mother to go ballistic.
"Don't you dare stand there and stop me! Your sister married to that good-for-nothing of a house! You're blind if you can't see that everyone will talk about the shame Lucretia brought upon our noble house! The least we could do to restore our good name is to burn her name off my noble fathers' house!"
"Walburga, Lucretia didn't know that ―"
"I don't care! Just let me through, Orion!"
At the end of the day, Walburga was stopped only because Arcturus, the Head of the House, was called to the ancestral home they resided in by Orion, who couldn't find a way to stop his own wife without resorting to snitch said wife's rather insane behaviour to his own father.
It would be another scandal if his mother succeeded. Lucretia Prewett née Black didn't do anything other than being married to a house that had a member that married to a house that declared as blood-traitors by many, the Weasleys, so disowning her from the family tapestry would only confirm that the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black has one confirmed insane member, namely his mother.
Well, the House of Black had one member that married into the blood-traitor family so it would be hypocritical to condemn the House of Prewett. After all, Cedrella Weasley née Black was Arthur Weasley's mother.
Scowling at the unpleasant thought, Sirius glanced to his right.
Sure the Weasleys were dirty and a bunch of poor cretins, but frankly, Sirius was getting tired of dealing with all that Blood Status stuff. He was eleven, soon to be twelve in November, he didn't want to think nasty things about anyone, as he had a lot of things to be worry about. Certainly, gossiping about the Weasleys wouldn't help his current dilemma; his Sorting.
Yes, Sirius was worried. There was a lot of pressure to get Sorted in Slytherin. If he didn't go to Slytherin, well...
Sirius let out a heavy sigh.
He didn't ask to be born into this troublesome and headache-inducing family. Why couldn't his family be a little more noble about something they didn't agree about? Honestly.
Sirius knew his family, including himself, were the best of the, well, best. The House of Black was practically the Wizarding Royal Family. The Blacks were on the same, or maybe topping the Muggle Royal Family's level in regards of being a royalty (wait, was it the other way around? He was not sure). His mother said so.
But of course, Sirius mused to himself, he could do without all the horrible screeching (his mother didn't use magic to amplify her voice, she simply had an impressive set of lungs) and the insults thrown left and right at literally anyone that displeased his mother. Sirius loved the ability to hear things so he didn't exactly want to lose it, thank you very much.
As he observed Narcissa and Lucius talking quietly with each other, he suddenly thought that he ought to find a fellow firstie. Sirius was bored and so he stood up.
"Where's the loo?"