It's an update! This chapter was giving me a bit of trouble as my muse had decided to take a holiday without giving me any warning. But he came back and this chapter was written. Big thanks to solidShadow for giving me a push in the right direction as well as to everyone who reviewed.

Salazar Pollux Black

Chapter 4: The Early Years

1963 AD

Salazar Black rolled over onto his stomach and stared at his older brother by forty seconds. Sirius was walking around their playpen trying to find a way out to prank their cousin Narcissa who was incredibly vain. Their younger brother Regulus was just over two years old, while the twins were approaching their forth birthday. Salazar was well aware that they were the only male children born into the Black family this generation, and as such they were expected to act a certain way. He also knew that Sirius would be the one to inherit the title of Lord Black when their father passed on and he became of age, and Salazar dreaded that day very much.

"What doing Ree?" Salazar asked his twin as he glanced over at where Regulus was playing around with a stuffed dragon toy.

"Need out Zar," Sirius replied and held onto the bars with a pout. "No fun here."

Salazar chuckled and rolled back over so that he couldn't see what his twin was doing. The two of them were identical; the only way to tell them apart was by looking at their foreheads or making them over emotional. This was because Salazar had a strange scar-like mark on his forehead in the shape of lightning bolt but if you look more closely you would see that the edges weren't ridgid as it would be excepted but rather smooth and when it was seen from close distance it was more like a snake then a bolt. It was hidden under his hair and rarely seen. Salazar had no idea where he had gotten it only that it had been there since a few days after his birth. Uncle Ignatius had gotten into a lot of trouble as he had been babysitting at the time. He had never been allowed in the same room as any of the Black children on his own after that. Salazar still loved him though and thought he was really funny.

The overemotional aspect of their differences was that Salazar's eyes would change colour when he was angry, sad, or overly happy. Generally though his eyes remained blue, the same as Sirius', and not the killing curse green that they sometimes became. Bellatrix had been the first victim of his glare shortly after his second birthday when she thought it would be funny to take one of his presents out of his hands. Salazar had glared at her and his eyes shifted to the colour they were at birth, frightening the poor girl enough that she hadn't ever tried to anger her cousin again.

Aside from that instance, Salazar loved Bellatrix more than his other cousins. Sirius preferred Andromeda's company though and was often convincing the girl to give him sweets. Salazar missed Bellatrix since she had gone off to Hogwarts. She had turned 12 on the 31st of June and was in her Second Year. Already she had been gone just over a month and from the letters she sent to the Black Family she was doing them proud. "A perfect Slytherin," Salazar's mother would state proudly. Bellatrix had promised that she would return for Christmas to see him and stated that she'd bring back something special just for him. The previous year she had returned home and immediately told anyone she could that Albus Dumbledore was an insane man who was not fit to run a school. The present he had gotten then was a snake pendant with emerald eyes and a silver body. Bellatrix had given it to him as it was a Slytherin mascot.

It was the one thing that everyone expected of the Black Family. For generations they had always been in Slytherin, or the next respectable House, Ravenclaw. There hadn't been any Black in history who had not been either of the two "respectable" Houses. Sirius was the only one not really interested in which House he would be sorted into.

"Help Zar," Sirius suddenly pleaded grabbing his brother's arm. "Open lock! Not hurt no one."

"No," Salazar muttered. "You get in trouble."

"Not if not get catched," Sirius stated triumphantly.

"Mum and Dad not be happy," Salazar tried again. "We be put away again."

There was a time where Salazar had participated in the pranks with a sense of enjoyment. He had even managed to get Kretcher into the plan as the house elf wasn't very friendly to their prank victim. Ignatius Prewett had lost a lot of his reputation within the Black Family after Salazar had received his scar and as a result wasn't highly respected by the Black house elves. Kretcher had managed to slip the man a potion in his nightly drink that made him hallucinate.

Sirius and Salazar had been hidden in the shadows when the man had suddenly sprung up in alarm, swinging around the quill he had had in his hand at the time. The best part of the potion was that, while not harmful, it sent the victim visions of what frightened them the most in a location of their favourite place. It lasted for about five minutes, but five minutes was just long enough for the twins to watch their Uncle run around waving a quill in the air, tripping over stools, tables and chairs, while screaming about the Cornish pixies that were chasing him. The twins hadn't been suspected because of their age and the fact that it was a fairly complex potion.

However, the last time Sirius had convinced him to prank someone they had been caught in the act. It was Sirius' idea. They had been trying to decorate Bellatrix's room with white handprints over her dark walls. They were only a quarter of the way done before their father had stormed into the room and spotted the damage. For the rest of the day were kept in separate rooms, each on the opposite side of the house. It had been like torture to the two brothers who hadn't been out of each other's sight since birth for longer than ten minutes. Salazar had been in tears by the time he was let out and did everything he could to not be put in that situation again. Sirius, however, didn't seem to have been affected by the punishment, at least, not enough to not try to do it again.

"Not put us away again," Sirius told his brother firmly. "We stay same."

"Not doing it Ree," Salazar stated. He loved his brother but despite being identical Sirius was easily the more reckless one.

"But we bored Zar!" Sirius continued as he cuddled close to his brother, still holding Salazar's arm firmly. "Dad not put you away. Not get catched!"

Regulus chose that moment to start crying and threw his toy away. Salazar moved to get the toy while Sirius pouted. There was no secret in the Black Family that Salazar was the favoured child, despite being the second born. Even at a young age he acted more like a pureblood than Sirius, and according to his mother it had taken Orion Black a good five minutes to name him, and then it was a name of power. A name that had not yet been a part of the Black Family. The only person in the family who favoured Sirius over his brother was their cousin Andromeda, which was probably why he liked her the most. Not even Regulus liked Sirius more as it was always Salazar trying to help him. Then again, Sirius had tried to prank most members of the family and that may contribute to his lack of favor, that and he never seemed repentant like Salazar did after that one time he was caught. To Sirius, the only family members who cared about his were Salazar and Andromeda.

"Why is he crying now?" eight-year-old Narcissa asked as she walked into the room. Her nose was turned up as if she had spotted something beneath her or smelt something foul, though that expression softened slightly when she looked at Salazar.

"Reggie hungry," Salazar explained as he handed back the dragon toy. "Mum and Dad come soon?"

"I'll go and find Aunty Walburga and ask," Narcissa promised. "I'll also go and see if Kretcher can get Regulus some food or something."

Her expression went back to being haughty and she left the room. Salazar lifted an eyebrow at Sirius who looked sullen. Despite being only a child at times he acted like an adult, it was one of the many things that endeared him to others. Unfortunately, Sirius never seemed to want to act like a proper pureblood child, preferring to cause trouble. Salazar assumed that it had something to do with the time they had been separated. While Walburga Black had released him with a hug, Orion Black had released Sirius and yelled at him. It had been a year ago but Sirius proved every day that he didn't like his family.

"Be more fun to get out with no Mum and Dad," Sirius muttered.

"You still get out," Salazar told his older twin as he focused on little Reggie. "Sides, now no get in trouble for being freed."

"You no fun Zar," Sirius stated. Salazar ignored him as Sirius often insulted others when he was upset or uncomfortable. While some of the things he said made him sad he knew that Sirius did care about him in his own twisted way. Sirius always came to him first, even if he knew the answer to his request, and he only went to Andromeda after being denied. That made Salazar sad as in his eyes his brother didn't seem care about them being separated.

A short time later Kretcher appeared with a pop next to the playpen with a bottle of milk for Regulus. Salazar smiled at the house elf and helped by sitting Regulus up so that he wouldn't drown when he started to drink. Sirius sat in his corner sulking. He loved his twin brother, really he did...he just didn't like he seemed to get all the good attention, leaving him with the bad attention.

There was no doubt that for the past three years Sirius had been spoilt. As the first born, he was expected to take over the running of the Black Family at his father's death, and as a result he was allowed to get away with anything almost. It was only in the last six months that the attention bestowed upon him started to become unwanted. He just wanted to have fun and make his cousins angry. He thought Narcissa looked funny when her face went bright red in fury, or how Bellatrix would scream in horror at the mess her room was. No one was allowed to hurt him as the Black Heir, but that didn't stop them from disliking him. Everyone had turned their attention to Salazar, the twin and younger brother.

Sirius scowled as he looked over as Salazar made funny faces at Regulus while he was drinking. Kretcher would stare at Sal in awe, but when his attention turned to Sirius, he glared. Sirius hated how his brother took the attention away from him. Salazar had stopped playing with him after they were caught putting white handprints all over the dark blue walls of Bellatrix's room. The punishment hadn't been that bad, the locking up part at least. It was afterwards, when Orion had released him from his prison that Sirius started to understand his place in the family.

Flashback

Three-year-old Sirius Black lay on his back, completely bored. He knew that Salazar was upset, and he had to admit that he was getting a little uncomfortable being separated from his brother for so long. He had no idea how long he had been in the room only that he had been given food once by the deranged house elf who had never hidden his dislike of him. That had been ages ago and he was hungry again and he needed to use the potty.

Sirius jumped when the door opened and light rushed in. With a smile on his face Sirius stood up and held up his arms for his father to lift him up. Orion Black had always given him what he wanted and he assumed that today would be no exception. But when Orion didn't move towards him Sirius lowered his arms in confusion.

"Da? Up!" Sirius ordered. Orion walked further into the room but before Sirius could smile, the man had spun him around and hit him on his backside, hard. Sirius started to cry and struggle, but Orion kept him still and hit him again.

"You are the Heir to a noble pureblood family," Orion explained angrily as he turned Sirius around so that he could stare at him. "You are my oldest son, but by no means are you my favourite. You will cease these pranks or you will be treated like a Mudblood. I can't disown you but I can make you wish you were."

Sirius had no idea what his father was telling him. He was only three years old, all he understood was that his father didn't like him anymore. Orion let go of his son and left the room. The door remained open but still Sirius didn't move. It wasn't until he saw his mother and twin in the entrance that he darted forward. Walburga lifted him into her arms alongside Salazar and carried them to their rooms where they were given a bland dinner and sent to bed.

As he curled up next to his brother that night he studied his brother's face. They were completely identical, except for a small scar that was barely noticeable on Sal's forehead. Sirius assumed that if his father didn't like him, then he wouldn't like Sal either. He promised that he would always protect Sal from their family, promised that no matter what they would always be together…

End flashback

Sirius had kept his promise, even when it became obvious that just because they looked the same, didn't mean that Salazar wasn't liked. On the contrary, Salazar was loved by everyone, he was the child showed off at family dinners and parties. Sirius knew that Salazar hated the attention, but not why he hated it. Sirius had no idea why anyone would hate to be showered in love and attention the way Sal was, but he knew that his brother was different.

"Ree, come play," Salazar said suddenly, pulling him from his musings. Sirius looked over at his brother and smiled. No matter how much attention and love the rest of the family gave him, Salazar would always think of Sirius first, come to him first. Salazar would always give to others while taking little for himself, and he knew that Sirius often felt lonely and left out, and he would always try to make Sirius smile.

That's why Sirius couldn't find it in himself to be annoyed or angry at his brother for long.

As Halloween came around, numerous parties were arranged to be held at Black Manor, each with a different agenda. The first being the most obvious, Samhain, the ending of the "Light" half of the year and the beginning of the "Dark" half. The celebration was mostly hosted by Dark Wizards, while the Light Wizards celebrated Bealtaine on the last day of April and first day on May. The Black's celebrated both but most of their effort went into the Samhain celebrations.

The second celebration happening on the same day would be the forth birthday of Sirius and Salazar Black.

Several notable purebloods would be attending both celebrations, with the children attending to spend time with the birthday boys. The Malfoys, the Lestranges, the Zabinis and the Notts were amongst the families attending, each with children near the twin's age. Abraxas Malfoy had one son, Lucius Malfoy who was nine years old and would be attending Hogwarts in a few years. Romulus Lestrange had two sons, Rodolphus who was thirteen and currently a Third Year Slytherin student and wouldn't be attending, and Rabastan who was recently ten years old. He'd be going to Hogwarts the same year Lucius Malfoy would. Matthias Zabini had one son who was actually the closet to the twins' age at seven years. Theodore Nott would be arriving late with his Heir Theodore the Seventh. The Nott family always named the Heir Theodore, while any girl was named after the mother.

There were other families who would be attending but they were the notable ones.

Sirius and Salazar spent the day watching from the shadows as the decorations for the parties went up. Regulus was being watched by Kretcher and Narcissa and Andromeda were helping out with their parents. Both parties would be happening, but one after the other. The twins would have their party early in the afternoon. It would end after the first meal and then the Samhain celebrations would start. The end of the party and the beginning of the celebrations would be with a small ball where guests could mingle and dance together before the main meal later in the evening.

Salazar turned away from the organisations, pulling Sirius along after him. They wouldn't have much time before someone came to look for them to get into their outfits, so Salazar was determined to avoid that for as long as possible. He had no idea why he hated the attention, but for some reason every time someone praised him or showered him affection, there would be dark whispers in the back of him mind, words he couldn't understand but words that made him feel worthless. Yet, another part of his mind would preen under the attention. It made him very confused most of the time.

He also noticed that it was only him who was praised while Sirius was ignored.

"What we doing Sal?" Sirius asked as his brother dragged him along the corridor. Salazar ignored him until they got to the back door and pulled him to their spot in the backyard. It was behind one of the large trees with a good view of the house but they couldn't be seen by anyone inside.

"We can hide outside for as long as possible without anyone finding us," Salazar explained as he sat down. "I don't want to dress up."

"They like you anyway," Sirius said with a sulk. "Why you care?"

"You not there with me," Salazar explained easily. "Want you there with me when I in front of them all."

Sirius was silent while he watched his younger brother. While he knew that his brother cared about him, he hadn't thought that it would be to that extent. He tried to think of something to say to convey how much he appreciated the sentiment but couldn't think of anything. Instead he moved the topic onto something that he could talk about easily.

"You know who is coming?" he asked.

"Lots of people," came the distracted reply. "They will mostly hang out with Andy and Cissi and pay attention to us when we're eating."

"Do you think Lucius and Rab will be bringing their wands with them?" Sirius asked. While it was common for the Black twins to see magic as they came from a pureblood family, the adults never really went around showing off their skills. All Salazar and Sirius saw of magic was what Kretcher showed them, or what Bellatrix demonstrated for them in the holidays. Lucius and Rabastan had received training wands when they turned seven and would often show off what spells they had learnt to the pureblood children who had yet to get their own. Narcissa had her training wand, but while she would let the twins watch while she practiced her spells, she never gloated about what she could do.

"Yes," Salazar murmured. "They think they are the new Merlin and that they were born to have magic. They not leave wands at home."

"You think we can have a go?" Sirius asked excitedly, his eyes shinning brightly at the thought of using magic.

"Not from Lucius and Rab," Salazar said, finally turning his attention to his brother. "But maybe Andy and Cissi will let us."

There was a soft pop from behind them and Salazar turned to face Kretcher, his shoulders hunched a little and a guilty smile on his face. Sirius scowled but when the house elf started to lead them inside he followed without much complaint

Salazar smiled from his perch on Narcissa's hip. Sirius was being held by Andromeda on the other side of the room but he knew that Sirius loved Andy so he didn't worry about him much. Narcissa was talking to him about what she had learnt that day with a sincere smile on her face, on she reserved for only Salazar. She was leading him over to the group of pureblood children, a place where Andromeda tended to avoid because of the fact that her parents were considering betrothing her to one of the pureblood boys who were well off and acquainted with the Black Family. She had confided in the twins when she had heard the rumor, telling them that she didn't like any of the boys who came around to visit.

"Cissi, which twin do you have there?" Rabastan asked when he spotted the blonde girl. Narcissa smirked at him and lifted Salazar higher on her hip for the others to see.

"This is Salazar," she introduced. "Wish him a wonderful birthday. 'Tis a great honor to be born on the crux of Samhain and he was born at the stroke of midnight. Uncle Orion spent a great deal of time naming him."

The children present cried out well wishes to him and Salazar smiled in reply. Narcissa sat down on an available chair, shifting Salazar so that he was on her lap, and joined in the conversation. Apparently, Lucius and Rabastan were having a small competition on who had learnt the most when it came to spells, and were demonstrating for the group of judges before them. Salazar watched in amazement as spells were cast with varying degrees of power. The colors flickered in and out of existence as each spell was cast and the concentration on the casters face was amusing to the four year old.

Andromeda joined them before too long, and after another round of birthday wishes to the less favoured Black child, the competition continued. Sirius even started to call out suggestions of his own, as well as combinations of spells that he thought would be useful in a prank. Salazar kept quiet with suggestions, but didn't hold back his laughter when one of the spells failed or the object being levitated made humorous movements in the air. The adults had all moved into the Ballroom leaving the children alone, and as such, didn't witness the magic attempts of the children in the corner of the Dining Room.

"Can we have a go?" Sirius asked when Lucius and Rabastan started to argue over who had cast the better levitation charm. The two children stared at the four year old and instantly replied a negative.

"You're too young to be able to channel your magic little Black," Lucius said with a slight tilt of his chin towards the roof. "You wouldn't be able to so much as cause a spark to come from the tip of the wand."

"Besides, these wands belong to us and can't be used by little children," Rabastan added. Andromeda sighed in disappointment and pulled her wand from her sleeve, putting it in Sirius' small hand.

"You can have a try with mine, Siri," she said. "The spell is Wingardium Leviosa. Swish and flick."

Sirius did as he was told but he was unable to correctly pronounce the spell, making his attempt humorous and pitiful. Lucius and Rabastan wasted no time in laughing at the attempt, claiming again how young children weren't supposed to have wands at all. Sirius felt his eyes tear up in disappointment as he handed the wand back to his favourite cousin. Salazar glared at the two boys who were still laughing, his eyes flickering once again to an emerald green. Rabastan flinched at the intensity the four year old was able to put into that one glare and stopped laughing instantly. Lucius didn't even bother to look at the younger twin and returned to his spell casting.

Narcissa pulled her own wand from its holder and attempted to give it to the child on her lap. Lucius started to laugh again while the others merely watched with amused interest. No one noticed the adult standing in the doorway watching the proceedings with curiosity.

"Do you want a try as well Sal?" Narcissa asked.

"We just watched a four year old fail and you want to see another one?" Lucius asked with laughter. "This will be amusing."

Salazar glared at the boy as he took the wand. His world seemed to disconnect in the blink of an eye as the wand in his hand moved as if an extension of his arm. His eyes closed momentarily before snapping open to stare at Lucius. The blond boy went pale as he finally saw the young boy's eyes. Salazar's eyes, normally a warm blue, were now a chilling emerald green and glowed with an inner light. Salazar aimed the wand at the boy and flicked the wand deliberately.

"Wingardium Leviosa," he said clearly.

Lucius began to lift into the air, his pale face losing what little colour it had left as he realised that he was moving further and further away from the ground. He was too startled to even scream, instead he looked at the children now two metres below him as if they could help him. They were all either staring at him in horror or at Salazar in awe.

Narcissa had her hands covering her mouth as she stared at Lucius, while Andromeda and Sirius were watching Salazar with different expressions. Andromeda was staring at the boy in fear, her eyes wide and mouth slightly open as if to scream. Sirius, on the other hand, was staring at his brother with jealousy, fear and awe. Jealousy because he wasn't able to do the same spell, fear because he didn't know the repercussions of what would happen to them, and awe because even he knew how difficult it was to levitate a living person.

The adult standing in the doorway moved quickly across the room as he saw the blond boy start to fall. He sent a cushioning charm at the ground where he knew the boy would fall and turned his attention to the caster. Salazar let the wand fall from his fingers as the sudden energy drain took its toll on him and he slumped back against his cousin, unconscious to the world. Lucius landed hard on the ground, despite the cushioning charm breaking his fall.

Alphard Black quickly and effectively erased the last few minutes from each child's mind, except for the twins, Andromeda and Narcissa. He told the girls to keep silent as he lifted the unconscious Salazar into his arms and stared at him. Narcissa put her wand away and looked at the other children who were starting to come around after their memories sorted themselves out.

"What happens in the Black Family, stays in the Black Family," Alphard told his nieces. "I'm putting Salazar to bed, that spell would have taken a lot of energy from him. Look after Sirius."

The two girls nodded that they would obey him as he walked out of the room. Alphard had a lot he needed to tell the Family Head, but he would wait until after Samhain. It would be best if no more attention was drawn to the twins until after the celebrations were over.

Sirius was bored and worried. After Uncle Alphard had come and taken Salazar away, the others hadn't seemed to remember Salazar's first attempt at magic, only his dismal one. He had run off, leaving Andromeda to talk with the pre-Hogwarts children without him. He wasn't happy with his Uncle for taking away his brother, and he had come up with an idea on how to get payback.

Alphard Black had his own room in Black Manor, even though he wasn't there often. Sirius knew, however, that he would be staying after the Samhain celebrations finished. So therefore, it was to his room that Sirius crept to.

In his hands Sirius carried a handful of worms he had collected from the garden. His clothes were a little dirty now from all the digging around he had done, but he didn't care. His intention was to slip the worms under the covers of his Uncle's bed in two separate places…at the foot and under the pillow.

His plan managed to get as far the door to the room before his father passed by him on his way back from the bathroom. Orion Black had taken one look at his grubby clothes, the worms in his hands and his guilty expression before he had violently lifted Sirius by the back of his clothes and threw him into the Master Bedroom.

Sirius scurried around, trying to get away from his father. The expression on Orion's face was almost murderous as he swung the door shut, not noticing as it bounced back open again slightly. He picked up a wicked looking cane by the wardrobe and held it out so that Sirius could see exactly what it was. The cane itself was about a metre long, but it was far from smooth. Little thorns dotted along the cane, much like the thorns from a rose. Sirius gasped in fear and scurried backwards until his back was pressed against the large bed.

"This has gone on long enough," Orion stated as he walked forward slowly. "This pranking business has got to stop. You are my Heir, no matter how much I dislike that thought. If this is the only way to ensure your obedience, then so be it."

The cane was raised into the air, but it didn't stay there for long. It swiftly came down onto Sirius' upraised arms, shredding the fine robes and drawing blood. The cane came down again on his legs, again on his other arm, across his stomach, on his back when he had rolled into a ball to protect himself, and across his bottom. The robes were unsalvageable and blood dripped onto the carpet under him…but still Orion didn't relent. The abuse continued.

But Sirius' screams had drawn the attention of another child, and it was his head the poked around the door in worry and confusion, and it was his gasp that drew the attention of the room's two occupants to the open door. Salazar darted into the room and stood between his twin and his father.

The cane is poised in the air but Orion hesitated to use it on the son he favors. He stares down at the now green eyed twin, and flinched unnoticeably. The eyes that stared up at him had never stared at him with hate before, it had always been love. It was in that moment that he knew he could make a choice. He could toss the cane away without harming his second son and leave the room without looking back, or he could let the cane fall, risk hitting Salazar and forever damage what little good relationship still existed between them.

He chose the former.

The cane fell to the ground silently. Orion stared at Salazar before turning around and leaving. He didn't look back. Salazar, on the other hand, had spun around dropped to his knees besides his brother's bloody and whimpering form. As gently as he could he helped Sirius hobble to the bathroom where he could easily access water to wash away the blood.

Sirius was silent as his brother worked, helping him out of his tattered robes and cleaning away the blood. Salazar left briefly to get some pyjamas to change his brother into, but otherwise he hadn't left the older boy's side. They went to the bedroom together where they climbed up onto the bed and curled around each other.

Sirius started to cry. Loud, heart-wrenching sobs filled the room as the Black Heir gave into his child instincts. Salazar had tears in his eyes too, but he comforted his brother as much as he could. He had loved his father, even when Sirius had explained that the family hated him and loved Salazar. Salazar hadn't wanted to believe him but after what he had just seen and helped to clean up…he couldn't go back to that loving child. His place was with his brother and there was no way that anyone would be able to tear him away again.

Alphard Black requested a meeting the following morning with all family members, no children to be present.

The request wasn't a strange one, as meetings were called all the time, but usually everyone had some idea of what the meeting would be about. And usually Alphard was calm and collected, not the energetic, impatient type.

"What have you called us hear for now Alphard?" Cygnus asked with a yawn. "I'm sure there are those who agree with me when I say that last night exhausted me."

"That maybe," Alphard agreed. "But something happened last night that I just had to bring to the attention of the Family, something marvelous."

"And what is this something 'marvelous'?" Orion asked coldly. He had slept horribly last night, his dreams filled with the accusing glare his green-eyed son had sent him.

"Oh, you will be so proud Orion," Alphard continued, ignoring the cold tone. "For it's about Salazar."

"What about Salazar?" Druella asked in concern. "Is he alright?"

"What about my son Alphard?" Walburga added sternly.

"Patience my dear," Alphard said as he gently placed his hand over his sister's. "Last night I erased the memories from the non-Black children when I saw-"

"You did what!?" Orion asked in horror. "You erased the memories of our guests?!"

"I did," Alphard said proudly. "And you would have done the exact same thing if you had seen what I did."

"Well tell us already old man!" Lucretia snapped.

"Salazar is going to be so powerful one day," Alphard stated, sending the room into silence. "Last night he performed a perfect levitation charm, except it wasn't an inanimate object that he levitated. Oh no, he levitated Lucius Malfoy with the ease of someone who has been performing that spell for many years. He passed out afterwards and I carried him to his room."

"He performed magic?" Walburga asked, her eyes shinning. "My Salazar can use a wand?"

"There was nothing accidental about it," Alphard confirmed. "He's a master. I can't wait until he's older!"

No one asked about Sirius and if he had done the same thing. Everyone spoke about how they knew that the younger twin would be powerful. Yet in the corner of the room, away from the prying eyes of the Family, Orion Black stood with his back against the wall. His mind replayed the events from the night before and he realised that despite staring at him defiantly, Salazar had been exhausted. Adding this new piece of information to the scene he could see why…but still he wanted proof. He asked for the memory so that he could see for himself, and Alphard gave it to him without question.

He viewed the memory in his private study, and when he pulled out his eyes were shinning with pride. He had never been more proud of his son, but now that Salazar had seen him hitting Sirius he doubted that the boy wanted anything to do with him. The pride in his eyes became deep sadness, and in his mind he blamed his eldest. If Sirius hadn't been such a troublemaker then Salazar wouldn't have stared at him in such anger and animosity.

It was all Sirius Black's fault.

Done. How did everyone like it? Feel sorry for Sirius? Leave a review to let me know! I'll be trying to update HP:CO next but any ideas for this story will be greatly appreciated!

Till next time my readers!