This OS is written for the Of Blank and Blank Competition, the Favorite House Boot Camp (prompt 29: dawn) and the Noble And Most Ancient House Of Black Competition (Cygnus Black III) on the HPFC.

Hope you like it, and don't forget to review :p

Of Siblings and Rings

Cygnus was sitting in silence on the Black Lake's shore. The name was really fitting and it reminded him of his family and their manor. There was a lake there too, though it was smaller and less… well Black in a sort of strange way. He remembered playing there with his brother and, sometimes, when their mother allowed it, his sister Walburga, though she seemed persuaded that such activities were beneath her status.

Those had been simpler days, when they had still been close. Now Walburga was withdrawn and he didn't saw her as often, even though they lived in the same Hogwarts' house – Slytherin, of course, it was the best after all, and Blacks would settle for nothing less than the best. She wasn't the small, adorable little girl he had known and though he knew that it was what was expected of them – to grow up and be proper Blacks, proper Heirs to one of the greatest Pureblood families in the magical world – he wished that sometimes they could turn back time, even for a few minutes. Come back to when his big sister had been nice and actually spent time with her siblings.

Of course he was proud of his heritage, of his history and of his family and of course it disgusted him to see how Muggle-borns and even more and more of Half-Bloods were ignoring this, but sometimes he wished life could be easier.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice the older boy sitting next to him until he felt a hand on his arm. He jumped and drew his wand until he realized just who exactly was there.

"Alphard, what are you doing there?"

"What, do I need a reason to come see my little brother now?" Alphard had always been the more carefree of the three of them and Cygnus had always envied that. Of course it might also be a mask to hide behind, seeing as Alphard was the Heir, the one who would lead their family after Pollux, their father, died. God only knows how many masks the Blacks had, and how skilled they were at wearing them.

"Yes." Was Cygnus simple answer as he turned his gaze back to the slowly fading stars. The day was coming…

He knew he was acting maybe a bit like a child, but his brother had always been the only one with whom he could let his guard down, even a little and who wouldn't judge him.

"Hm… Let's just say that I saw you all alone down here and I decided that you shouldn't be left to your own thoughts too long. After all, you wouldn't want anyone to notice you meeting from the dormitory, right?"

Though Cygnus knew his brother was joking, he could hear the worry in his voice and also the slight warning. After all, they were Black and had a reputation to uphold.

"Don't worry. I had no plan on stay here for so long. And this place is quite well hidden. By the time somebody notice my absence from the Common Room I can be in the Great Hall, eating my breakfast calmly."

"I don't worry" Cygnus couldn't help but smile slightly at his brother indignant tone and send him a knowing look – the one with the arched eyebrow that irked him so much – until he grunted the closest thing he would ever say to a confession.

A comfortable silence settled between the two siblings as they stared in the lake. Cygnus resumed his fiddling with the diamond ring his mother had given him for his sixteenth birthday. He would remember what she said all his life.

"You're sixteen now Cygnus, almost a man. And as a man, as a proud black you must marry."

"Who?" He had asked, resigned.

"Druella Rosier. A very fine woman. I think the two of you will get along just fine."

"If you say so" What else could he say? That he didn't want to marry someone he had only seen from afar, talked with only twice in his life? But he couldn't do that. He knew what happened to those who defied the Family's will, and it wasn't pretty.

"There –" she handed him a beautifully crafted ring. A small diamond sparkled almost mockingly at him as he admired the work of art it was. "- give this to her when you propose. Her father is okay with this, and she knows."

And just like that, with a last proud smile, she left him standing with a ring in his hand. It had taken him a few seconds to understand what exactly had happened to him, but when he did he hid carefully the emotions away.

He was a Black after all, and Black weren't allowed to show weaknesses – one of the first lessons he had learnt.

Of course his brother noticed what he was doing. He chuckled until Cygnus shut him up with a dark look.

"I see Mother is playing matchmaker with you too."

Cygnus stopped playing with the ring.

"I don't…"

"You don't what?" His brother was suddenly serious and had he not known him so well he would have been surprised.

"I don't want to marry like this. I want what Mother and father have. I want a relationship like that, I want to be with someone I choose for the rest of my life."

"I understand."

"You do?"

"Of course. Do you think you're the only one who'd prefer to have a choice? And at least you don't have the future of the family on your shoulders."

"You're right. So what do you think I should do?"

Alphard gave a dark laugh. "Marry her."

"But you said…"

"Buy another ring, the one you would choose for that special someone you would spend your life with. And hide it. This one, the one Mother gave you? You give it to her, the one she chose. And if you ever change your mind well then you change the ring. Harden your heart, little brother, because there's no other way."

Cygnus nodded and looked upon the ring with a new look. Where he had seen perfection he now saw flaws, where he had seen beauty he now saw what could have been and what could be instead.

"Now come on, we'd better leave before everyone's up."

The ring buried in his hand, Cygnus didn't look back as they walked away from the lake and as the dawn came.

It was a new day, there was no use looking behind.