Chapter 9: Tears of Blood

January 19, 1977 Wednesday, 7:45 PM

It was about a month after the ball and Sirius and Gwen were walking out from the Great Hall after dinner.

"Gwen, can I ask you something?" Sirius said abruptly.

"Of course," Gwen replied.

"Is it true that you're going out with Lestrange?" asked Sirius hoping, praying, that it was merely a misunderstanding.

"Yes, I am," Gwen confirmed, crushing his hope.

"Why him? Why Lestrange?" Sirius demanded. Why not me?

Gwen turned to him and glared fiercely at him. "I like him, Sirius! How long are you going to try to stop me from dating? I like him! Why can't you understand that?" she said angrily before storming away.

"Because I like you," Sirius said softly as he watched her retreating back, "Why can't you understand that?

---

Gwen sighed as she walked towards the Slytherin common room.
Why was Sirius always so overprotective? It made it so much more difficult for her to get over him because it made her hope, deep down, that perhaps he loved her too.

But she knew better. Sirius didn't even know that he was adopted. And it was times like these that made her want to tell him everything.

---

Sirius stepped back into the Great Hall and scanned the Slytherin table as he walked towards it.

"Lestrange, can we step outside for a moment?" Sirius said as he spotted Rabastan amongst the Slytherins.

Rabastan nodded and followed him out to the empty entrance hall.

"Black," Rabastan greeted him. "What did you want to see me about?"

"Gwen mentioned that you're going out."

"Yes, we are," Rabastan nodded, looking pleased.

Sirius immediately grabbed him by the neck of his robes.

"What are you doing, Sirius?" Rabastan sputtered with surprise.

"I came to warn you," Sirius growled, "that if you make Gwen shed so much as a single tear, I'll make you shed blood."
"That's a promise," he said, roughly releasing him before storming off.

April 23, 1977 Saturday, 5:24 PM

Sirius was sitting under the Willow tree with the Marauders when Paul Irving, his team Keeper, approached them.

"Sirius, I-uh," Paul hesitated.

"What is it, Paul?" Sirius prompted.

"Diana seems to be a bit depressed lately and I thought that you might want to know. Diana's refusing to say what's wrong and I thought she might tell you," Paul said in a rush.

Sirius nodded. He had noticed himself that there had been a change in Diana since she had returned from Easter break and had been concerned.
"Of course. Where is she?" he asked.

"She's at the quidditch pitch," Paul replied.

"Alright, thanks Paul," said Sirius as he headed to the quidditch pitch.

Sirius searched the pitch until he saw Diana sitting at the top of the stands by herself. Diana looked up as Sirius climbed the stands towards her.

Diana smiled at Sirius as he sat next to her.
"Why didn't you tell me you're my brother?" she said after a long silence.

"Wh-what? What are you talking about?" said Sirius.

"It's okay. I know," Diana said assuringly.

"And they told us not to tell you," Sirius growled.

"Mum and Dad didn't tell me. I overheard Granddad and Grandma speaking about it," Diana said quietly.

"They told you about me?" Sirius asked with puzzlement. He hadn't realized that the Woods knew of him.

"No, they just mentioned that I had older siblings. I just figured that you must be one of them since you've always took care of me ever since I came to Hogwarts," Diana explained.
"Is James my brother too?" she asked after a pause.

"If he was, that would mean he's my twin. Do we look like twins?" Sirius laughed.

"A bit." She shrugged.

"Nah, James is our cousin," said Sirius. "But we do have another brother. And a sister. Chris and Karen. Chris goes to Durmstrang and Karen…well I don't know what happened to her. She…disappeared. Anyway, I've told Chris all about you. Maybe you can come with me next time I go visit him."

"Really? I would like that," Diana smiled then sighed.
"All this time, I had older brothers and a sister and I didn't even know. And I doubt Mum and Dad would've ever told me if I hadn't found out. Why did they hide it from me?" she added angrily.

"I didn't understand either, at first. But now I understand why they did that. They didn't want you to ever have to doubt their love for you," said Sirius.

"Is that how you feel with your Mum? Especially since she always calls you a bloodtraitor?" Diana asked sadly.
"Why did she even bother to adopt you if she's not prepared to love you unconditionally?" she said resentfully.

Sirius sighed. "Who knows?"
"Don't go thinking I'm miserable or anything though. Dad's twice as good to me, to make up for Mother, I think. And of course there's Gwen and Regulus."

"Of course, how could I forget your twin? You guys are inseparable," Diana laughed.
"Though you two aren't really twins after all, are you?" she added afterthought.

"Yes, we aren't," Sirius replied.

"Well, if that isn't a bit ironic," said Diana. "When I first met you two I thought that you were unmistakeably twins. Turns out you aren't twins at all."

"Yeah, I've always found that a bit funny myself," Sirius laughed.

As they sat in the stands, neither noticed that they were being watched.

Morgan Dolohov smirked as she watched Sirius Black and Diana Davison from a distance. She quickly turned around as footsteps approached from behind.

"Regulus," she said, putting on a smile.

"What are you doing here, Morgan? I've been looking everywhere for you," said Regulus.

"Nothing, just going for a walk," Morgan said smoothly.

"What are you watching?" Regulus asked, then looked at the two figures sitting in the stands.
"Isn't that Sirius?" he asked. "Who's the kid with him?"

Morgan shrugged. "I was going to walk through the field when I saw your brother comforting his little friend."

"Of course. You wouldn't know it with how immature he is at times, but he's great at things like that," Regulus said fondly.

Morgan smiled. "Is he?"

"Yes," Regulus replied with a smile but inwardly shuddered. Though Morgan had been smiling, for a moment there, he could have sworn that he had seen something in her eyes. Something that, he instinctively felt, wasn't good.

Nah, I'm just imagining things. Why would she hate Sirius? Regulus assured himself. Sure, she detested Gryffindors and Muggleborns but never had he seen her direct such malice towards them as he thought he had just seen. Yes, he had definitely been imagining things.

May, 5, 1977 Thursday, 8:10 AM

Sirius had just started on his breakfast when the mail arrived and a grey owl landed in front of him.

A second later, another owl landed in front of James and they opened their letters to find identical cards which contained elegant writing.

Sirius opened his card and read,

To: Gwen, Regulus, and Sirius Black,

You are cordially invited to the wedding of

Christopher Davison and Kara Elric,

to be held on: Sunday, July 3, 1997 at 6:30 PM.

Please send your reply ASAP by owl.

James looked up from his own card with a grin. "Aw, our Chris is all grown up now."

"Doesn't his fiancé's name seem really familiar?" Sirius muttered distractedly.

James rolled his eyes. "Of course it does, Chris talks about her half the time in his letters."

Sirius impatiently shook his head. "No, it's something else."

He reached into the envelope which also contained a letter and a picture. The picture showed Chris with a young woman who was obviously his fiancé.
"Well, Chris has certainly grown into his looks. He looks almost as handsome as I do," he said cockily.

James snorted but refrained from commenting and merely scrutinized the picture. Though both he and his cousin had jet black hair and hazel eyes, their similarity didn't go beyond colouring. While James' hair was ceaselessly messy, Chris' was sleek and neat and there were vast differences in the shapes of their eyes.

Sirius looked over to his fiancé then quickly motioned to James.
"I knew her name sounded familiar!" he said triumphly and pointed to her. "Look at her!"

James scrutinized the picture then looked back at Sirius with bemusement. "Um…what about her?"

She was certainly striking enough with her coppery-red curls and shining violet eyes but there was nothing about her that struck him as particularly familiar.

"Are you thick? How many people do you know who have eyes like hers?" Sirius said impatiently.

"Of course! Gwen!" James exclaimed.
"What does she have to do with Gwen?" he asked after a pause.

"Her surname is Elric," Sirius explained. "When we were younger, Gwen asked Dad why her eyes were so 'weird'," he smiled slightly at the memory, "and he explained that it's because one of his relatives was a Elric."

"Elric?" James repeated.

"Yes, the Elrics are a old Norwegian pureblood family most renowned for their violet eyes. Apparently, their eyes run in the family," said Sirius.

He abruptly stood and headed to the Slytherin table. "I have to go tell Gwen and Regulus about the wedding," he called over his shoulder.

Gwen and Regulus were sitting side by side at the table and were whispering quietly to each other, oblivious to their friends who were sitting around them. Sirius jumped in between the two, pushing them apart and halting their conversation, and put a around each of them.

"Talking about me behind my back again, are we?" Sirius grinned.

"Of course. What else would we discuss in the Great Hall? We were just saying how much of a prat you are," Regulus said mock-seriously.

"Regulus! I told you not to tell him," Gwen joked in a loud whisper.

Regulus grinned then turned to Sirius. "So is there something you have to tell us?" he asked.

"Oh yeah. Do you two remember Chris?" Sirius asked.

"Chris?" Gwen and Regulus asked at the same time.

"Yes, Chris Davison. Our parents and m-his parents were friends, remember?" Sirius asked, catching himself just in time.

"Chris Davison…" Gwen said musingly. "Oh! Chris Davison. What about him?"

"I sort of remember him. I do remember Karen though; we used to be best friends. I wonder what happened to her," Regulus said thoughtfully.

"Wish I knew," Sirius said wistfully. "Anyway, about Chris. He's getting married!" he said, breaking the news to them.

There was a stunned silence before Gwen shrieked, "No way!"

"Yes. The wedding is in the first week of July. By the way, we're all invited," Sirius added.

"Married! He's much too young," Gwen said, sounding scandalized.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "He's not eight years old anymore, Gwen. It's been nearly twelve years since we saw him, he's twenty now."

Regulus let out a low whistle. "Wow, twelve years," he commented.

"Yes, the years do fly by, don't they?" Sirius agreed.

"So, are we all going?" he asked.

"Absolutely," said Gwen.

"Definitely," said Regulus.

Sirius grinned widely. "Excellent."

Summer Seventh Year

June 25, 1977 Saturday, 10 AM

"Kreacher!" Sirius yelled.

With a loud 'pop', Kreacher appeared in front of him. "You called, Master Sirius?"

"Yes. Go to Woodside Manor and bring back Diana Wood," Sirius barked.

"You don't have to yell at him all the time, Sirius," Regulus commented, rolling his eyes.

Half a hour later, Kreacher had returned with Diana and they were ready to Norway where the wedding was to be held. They were planning to spend the week before the wedding at Chris' house so that they could all catch up, and more importantly, so that Diana and Chris could get acquainted.

"So how do you know Chris?" Regulus asked Diana with curiosity.

"Oh! I-uh." Diana glanced nervously at Sirius.

"She's his sister," Sirius informed him.

Regulus thought for a long time before replying. "You mean the baby?!" he asked, staring incredulously at her as if surprised that she wasn't still in a cradle.

Diana giggled. "I'm nearly thirteen now, you know," she said.

"Right." Regulus grinned back at her.

Gwen merely looked at her without comment.
Diana Davison…Sirius had said that she was Chris' sister but what he didn't know was that she was also his sister. How unfortunate that he have his sister by his side all these years and not even be aware of it… she thought sympathetically.

"Come on, let's go," said Sirius.

Regulus went through the floo network first, following by Diana then Gwen, with Sirius bringing up the rear.

When Sirius arrived at Chris' house, he and Diana were standing about five feet apart, timidly eying each other.

Relief filled both of their faces as they saw him and Diana rushed to his side while Chris enthusiastically greeted him.

Sirius nervously cleared his throat. How was one supposed to introducedsiblings to one another?

Regulus looked sympathetically at Sirius. By what unfortunate twist of fate was it that these two siblings had to be introduced to one another? Noticing his discomfort, Regulus quickly jumped in.
"Chris! It's good to see you again. This is Diana," he gestured between them. "Diana, this is Chris Davison."

"Hello, Diana," Chris said, sticking a hand out to her.

"Um, hello Chris," Diana replied, taking his hand.

They briefly shook hands then went back to shifting and nervously eyeing the other as they had been doing.

"So, I've heard you're a excellent Seeker, Diana," Chris said awkwardly, attempting to start a conversation.

"Oh, did Sirius tell you that?" Diana said, looking pleased.

"Sheis very good," Sirius said proudly and added, "Almost as good as Gwen."

Four eyes rolled simultaneously.

"You should be quite proud of yourself, Diana. Sirius absolutely worships Gwen; that's the best form of compliment you can get possibly get from him," Regulus commented.

The others snickered and the tension was considerably lessened afterwards, so that the five were able to converse without awkwardness despite the unusual situation.

---

The week passed quickly, during which they were able to meet Chris' fiancé, Kara, and her family. Before they knew it, the wedding day had arrived and Sirius, James, and Regulus were waiting for Chris to make an appearance while Gwen and Diana were helping Kara get ready.

"You look so pretty," Diana said with a sigh.

"Yes, Chris is going to faint at the sight of you," Gwen agreed.

"Thanks." Kara smiled.

"C'mon, Di. We should go sit down," said Gwen.

"Wait. I have something to say to Kara," said Diana.

"Alright. I'll be waiting outside," Gwen replied, closing the door after her.

Diana turned to Kara and impulsively hugged her. "I'm glad my brother is marrying you," she said shyly.

Kara smiled and took her hand. "And I'm so glad you could make it to our wedding, Diana. I can't begin to tell you how much it means to Chris that you're here."

"Really?" said Diana, pleased.

"Of course. You won't believe how excited he was when he heard that you were coming. You were too young to remember him but he remembers you and he talks about you and the rest of your family all the time. He was a lot older than the rest of you and he remembers much more so it was a lot harder for him to make a new life," Kara said sadly.

"Poor Chris," Diana murmured, getting slightly teary-eyed.

"He still hasn't gotten over how his family was ripped apart and it means a lot to him that his family is with him today," Kara said, patting her hand.

"And he grew up alone with Uncle Jeff, didn't he? Uncle Jeff would've been more like a brother than a father figure. Poor Chris, he must've been so lonely," Diana said sympathetically.

Kara smiled wistfully. "He must've been. I think that's partly why he was so drawn to me. You saw what my family is like," she said.

"Yes, I've always envied big families," Diana said enviously.
"It was lonely sometimes, growing up as a only child, even though I had my parents. I can't imagine what it must have been like for Chris," she said sadly.

"Don't worry about Chris. He wasn't as lonely as you think he must've been. He always had his friends and later me and my family," Kara said assuringly.
"And I promise that I'll see to it that he's never lonely again," she promised.

"Thank you," Diana whispered.

"No, thank you," said Kara.

"For what?" asked Diana.

"For coming back. I believe your coming back was the best wedding present he could want," said Kara, reaching out to hug her.

"I think I better go before I make you late for your own wedding," said Diana, disengaging from the hug.

Diana headed out into the hall where Gwen was waiting, impatiently walking back and forth.

"What took you so long? When you said that you had to tell her something, I didn't realize you meant your life story," Gwen teased.

Diana grinned. "I guess we kinda got carried away."

Gwen snorted. "Kind of?"

"C'mon. Let's go."

It was 6:25 PM when Diana and Gwen finally joined Regulus and James on Chris' side of the guests. James' parents, Uncle Jeff, and several of Chris' friends sat with them while Sirius, who was best man, stood at the front with Chris.

The wedding began as Kara walked up the aisle with her bridesmaid, Melody Summers, ahead of her. After a quick reception, Chris and Kara were leaving for their honeymoon and Sirius, Gwen, Regulus, and Diana were seeing them off.

Just as they were about to leave, Chris turned back and came towards them.
"I forgot to mention," he said, "Kara and I were offered positions at St. Mungo's so we're transferring to England."

"That's great!" Diana beamed.

"Thanks," Chris replied, looking pleased.

"Congratulations," Regulus said heartily.

"St. Mungo's? I want to work there," Gwen said with longing.

"I guess I'll be seeing you around a lot in a year or so then," Chris said with a smile.

"Congratulations, Chris," said Sirius, pulling him into a manly hug.
"I better see more of you now," he added in a whisper. "At least once a week."

"Don't worry bro, you'll be begging me to stop coming around," Chris whispered back with a grin.

After Chris and Kara had finally left, they flooed back to England through the International Floo Network.