Ta da! An updated chapter. This one took a while because it is in fact a dark chapter. That and work decided to roster me everyday for 6 in the morning starts. One can get tired very quickly and not be bothered to write anything. But it's written now for your enjoyment so make sure you review. Special thanks to Arnold Nyx Onymous for such an awesome review as it helped me to get a few ideas straight and lead to my idea of this chapter. So thank you!

Warnings: this chapter is incredibly dark, for me. I have never written something like this before but this chapter will be important for future parts in the story. The relationship part anyway. So, child abuse, rape and death are the warnings for this chapter.

Summary: Has anyone ever wondered how the Slytherins first became parseltongues? How did the knowledge on how to create a Horcrux first come to be? What if that knowledge wasn't lost? Harry Potter died that day in the Ministry of Magic, but what if he could get a second chance? What if the knowledge of a spell only used once could give him another chance, one that wasn't doomed to failure? A destiny predicted before the founding of Hogwarts is about to come to play, and the rise of the Third Serpent Lord has only just begun...

Salazar Pollux Black

Chapter 5: Family Fractures

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Seven year old Salazar Black grinned as he was finally handed his training wand. It was several days after his seventh birthday, and both he and Sirius had been excitedly waiting to begin their own magical training. It had been all Sirius could talk about since Andromeda had gone to Hogwarts. She had promised that over the Christmas holidays she would tutor him in magic so that he could use the wand all he liked, as long as he promised not to prank anyone.

Andromeda was the first Black not to have been Sorted into Slytherin, she had instead been Sorted into Ravenclaw. It was a disappointment in the family, but overly so. Andromeda had proved that she was intelligent, coming first in her House year after the First and Second Year Exams. As her father had stated, "at least she wasn't a Gryffindor".

"Now Sal," Orion Black explained as he watched his second son marvel the wand. "I know I don't have to tell you this, but this is not a toy. You are to only use it in your lessons."

"I know Dad," Salazar told the man with an eye roll. "It's Sirius you should be telling this to."

"I know," Orion stated with a frown. While he had repaired his relationship with Salazar over the past three years, he had done nothing to fix his relationship with Sirius. His Heir was still ignored by the majority of the family, and he still pulled pranks on everyone. It seemed that the only two who managed to escape being pranked were Salazar and Andromeda.

"Dad, don't be too hard on him," Salazar pleaded once he spotted his father's expression. "You know he only does it so that you notice him."

"Well he's going about it the wrong way," Orion growled as he stared at the roof.

"He tried impressing you with knowledge and behaving proper, but you didn't notice his efforts," Salazar explained. "You only noticed me."

Orion sighed and smiled at the child in front of him. He ruffled his hair and started to walk out of the living room where they were situated. They were the only two present as it was still early morning. Orion had been waiting in the living room for the first of his twin children to come down, knowing that one was always up before the other.

"Whereabouts is your brother?" he asked, pausing in the doorway. "He needs his wand too."

"Just stirring now," Salazar replied as he looked up at the roof. He and Sirius still shared a bedroom on the floor above, on the opposite end of the hallway to their parents and two doors down from Regulus. The other bedrooms were for their cousins, aunts and uncles when they were over.

Orion nodded and left the room. Salazar watched him disappear from sight before he dropped onto the nearest chair and stared at his new wand. It was plain, a dark wood without a real core. Salazar had no idea what the core actually was, only that it was able to assist children in tapping into their core to access their magic. He would be getting a real wand on his eleventh birthday so that he could attend Hogwarts and he would return his training wand to the Black Vault where the other training wands waited.

The whole purpose of a training wand, before getting a proper one, was for children to learn how to take care of a wand properly. All the different wand-care techniques, the first gift of responsibility and the beginning of learning how to access magic were all a part of the "training program" that the majority of pureblood children undertook from their seventh birthday. Salazar had read up as much as he could on wand-care on the months leading up to his and Sirius' birthday, learning all that he could so that he would be ready to take up the responsibility of owning a wand. The family was confident that he would be able to handle the responsibility, Sirius on the other hand…

Ever since their fourth birthday Sirius had become even more of a hot-headed prankster, appearing to hate everyone except for Andromeda and Salazar. He had briefly tried to make the family proud of him, but in Sirius' eyes, all they ever saw was Salazar. If he behaved, it was because he wanted to be more like Salazar and that Salazar was a positive influence, but if he ever misbehaved it was to make Salazar look bad. Salazar, Salazar, Salazar…that was all Sirius ever heard. So he stopped trying.

Salazar looked to the roof again, sensing that his brother had finally received his wand. He tried not to think about how Orion had handed over the wand, or the talk he had more than likely had with the Black Heir, and instead waited for his twin to rocket down the stairs as if a stampede of furious Hippogriffs was on his tail…for which he didn't have to wait long.

"Sal!"

Sirius practically flew into the living room with a blinding smile on his face. Salazar was actually surprised that Sirius would show that much expression out of the privacy of their room, he usually looked sullen or disinterested whenever around another family member. Sirius' eyes landed on Salazar's new wand and his shoulders dropped slightly while his smile dimmed. Salazar eyed Sirius' wand as well and knew why the older boy looked upset.

Sirius' wand was white, dirty and bent. It was obviously an old wand, probably having been in the Vault for many years without a holder. It didn't look in the slightest like it had been well cared for, or even cared for at all. Any magic performed from it would probably have…interesting results for the wielder.

Salazar hid his disgust at the state of the wand, knowing that Sirius was staring at his own training wand with jealousy and sadness. Instead, he stood up from his seat and dragged Sirius back upstairs where they could start working on their wands, or at least, start making Sirius' more presentable for a Black Heir to hold.

While Sirius went to sit on his unmade bed, Salazar called for Kretcher and asked if it was possible to get some wand-care products so that he could work on the presentation of his wand. As usual, Kretcher obeyed without a thought and soon Salazar had a box of wand-care products in his arms and congratulations from the temperamental house elf for obtaining his training wand.

"Alright," Salazar pronounced as he sat across from Sirius on the older boy's bed. "We're going to clean this wand so that it will work as best as it possibly can for you."

"Does it make a difference?" Sirius asked as his brother pulled out the numerous products needed.

"Of course it does," Salazar replied without pause. "The appearance of one's wand reflects the skill of the holder. If one takes care of their wand then their wand will take care of them. Despite what many think, when a wizard receives their first wand, the wand's core locks onto the wizard's core, creating an unbreakable link. The wand will react to the wizard's emotions and feed off their intentions. That's why those who see a wand only as tool, and not an extension of themselves, have weaker spells. The wand didn't want to work for someone who didn't appreciate it."

"So by keeping our wands clean and presentable our spells will be stronger?" Sirius asked.

"In a way," came the reply. "Imagine that you're a wand in this family and you're often switched between me and Dad. Now, Dad doesn't appreciate you and does his best to ignore you most of the time, this could reflect a wizard not skilled in the art of wand-care. Now as for me, I care for you and we do everything together. I could represent someone who does understand that art of wand-care. Compare the two, which "user" would you more likely perform the powerful spells for, and which would you perform the weaker spells for?"

"So it's all about treating the wand with respect?" Sirius asked. "You don't respect your wand and it won't respect you?"

"Exactly!" Salazar stated with a smile. "Now let's build the respect between your wand and you."

Sirius smiled again and looked at his miserable wand. He would show his family that he deserved to be a Black, besides, his training wand could be better suited to him than Salazar's. After all, wasn't he supposed to be the "white sheep" in the Black family?

Salazar couldn't believe that he had agreed to follow Sirius on another one of his "adventures".

They had had their training wands for a week and already Sirius had the power going to his head. He thought himself invincible. The boy had been ecstatic when his wand had worked for him far better than first anticipated. Orion Black had looked like he had bitten into a sour lemon as he congratulated his oldest son. Sirius had spent half an hour every night looking after the old wand and Salazar had smiled when he noticed the wand responding to all the care it had been given. While the wand was still white and had a slight bend near the hilt, the wood gleamed under all the attention it was given and Salazar imagined that every time Sirius took care of his wand there was a contented hum of magic in the air. He also attended to his own wand, making sure it was clean and up to the standard his father expected him to have it at.

As a reward for their, so far, stunning progress in magical education, Orion had given the twins a free day to do whatever they wished to. Unfortunately for Salazar, that meant that Sirius had been able to pick their "adventure". The only guidelines that Salazar had set were that it couldn't be a prank and it couldn't be dangerous.

Of course, neither twin really knew how much danger they would end up being in.

Sirius had picked an adventure into Muggle London as neither twin had ever set foot in the muggle world before, despite their Manor being in a muggle neighborhood. It was the perfect disguise as who would think that a family as old and noble as the Black's would be living in a perfectly muggle neighborhood, a destitute one at that?

"Come on Sal!" Sirius said with a smile. "This is so exciting! Don't dawdle!"

Salazar simply smiled and made sure that his wand was in his pocket. The two boys had forsaken their robes, wearing only the casual pants and shirt often worn by purebloods underneath their wizarding attire. It was the closest thing that either boy had to muggle clothing, and at the least, muggles would only assume that they were fairly wealthy to have such fine quality clothing.

Being close to winter, the days were cold and the wind was harsh against their uncovered faces. Salazar was wearing his black dragonhide pants as well as a matching dragonhide jacket over a white button up silk shirt. He wore simple dress shoes that didn't draw attention and warm gloves to protect his hands from the chill. Around his neck was a green and silver scarf, a gift from Bellatrix and the brightest article of clothing he was wearing.

Sirius was wearing much the same, but where Salazar had worn black, Sirius had worn dark blue pants and a dark brown jacket. His shirt was black cotton, far more casual than Salazar's silk shirt, and he was wearing a red scarf and gloves. It was the one spell that Sirius enjoyed to use over and over again, changing everything he could into either red or gold…Gryffindor colours.

"Hey Sal, where do you want to go first?" Sirius asked as they walked down Grimmauld Street together. "Do you think there's a park down here somewhere? I heard Andy talk about parks and that that was where families went to have fun. There should be one near us right? I wonder if anyone will be there."

"Let's just walk around the block so that we don't get lost," Salazar suggested. "If we see a park we can stop there for a bit. But we didn't bring any food so we can't stay out too long. Kretcher will hunt us down if we miss out on lunch."

"Don't be such a kill-joy," Sirius ordered with a stern look and a smile. "We'll worry about that later. For now, we're going to have fun! F-U-N! FUN!"

Salazar shook his head with a smile but nonetheless he followed Sirius as the older boy lead them away from the safety of Black Manor and further into the muggle world. As it was early morning, there were quite a few people out jogging, usually in groups of two or three. There were no children to be seen, something that Salazar didn't fail to notice. Sirius didn't seem to be paying attention to the curious, intrigued and fearful glances sent their way from a variety of different people. Salazar did though, and while he was also curious about their glances, also noted that not one of them stopped to either divert their current path or interrogate them.

He suddenly had a very bad feeling about their adventure.

He sped up so that he was walking close to his brother, his eyes darting from side to side as if looking for danger. Sirius looked at him curiously, noting how apprehensive he was, before starting to prattle on about the different things in the muggle world that attracted his attention, which was almost everything. He pointed out the various different objects such as cars, clothing and muggle technology with such childish excitement that Salazar couldn't help but smile as well.

Then it happened.

Sirius spotted a small park across the road and sped off to it. There were several families already there and children were playing on the equipment under the watchful eye of their parents. It was the only group of children either twin had seen all morning.

Yet, when Sirius ran off, he forgot about his brother.

Salazar had been looking the other way when Sirius ran across the road and as such when he turned back he was trapped by the once again moving traffic. He gasped as Sirius was nearly hit by a passing car but was unable to cross himself without being hit himself. Sirius didn't even seem to notice that he was now alone, so intent on getting to the park that he was.

Salazar shivered slightly as a cool breeze brushed past him. People walked around him, ignoring him or staring at him wide-eyed. The cars slowed down but still Salazar couldn't bring himself to cross the road. It was the first time he had ever seen a car, and he had seen how fast they were capable of travelling down this particular road, he was not keen on being hit by one.

Sirius disappeared from his sight.

"Well, well, what have we here?"

Salazar spun around at the slurred voice and stared up at the towering, swaying person behind him. He gulped as he noticed the height of the man, and his apparent drunkenness. The man's hair was long a greasy, it may have once been blond but now it was hard to tell. His eyes were beady, his pupils dilated and there was what appeared to be week old stubble on his face. Salazar tried to walk backwards, away from the man who sent chills down his spine. The man, however, reached out and took Salazar's arm, pulling him down the street in the opposite direction of where Sirius had gone, and taking the side street away from where his house was. Salazar tried to struggle but all he received for his efforts was a knock to the back of his head from the glass bottle held in the man's free hand. Salazar slumped slightly as his vision darkened. His head was spinning dangerously and he couldn't help but lean against the drunken man to stay upright.

The man suddenly let go of Salazar and the small boy fell gracelessly to the ground. His hands moved to grab his still spinning head as he glared up at the man. The man was taking another swig of alcohol, but he was drunk enough that the bottle actually missed his mouth and the majority of the bottle went down his front. Salazar looked around him, noticing that he was in a dark alleyway where there weren't any witnesses. He was afraid.

"Now what's a child like you doing by yourself?" the man asked as he swayed. "And what can Uncle Richard do for you?"

Salazar didn't say a word. Instead, he sat up and pressed his back against the wall, making himself as small as physically possible. The man, Richard, knelt down in front of him and grabbed his chin.

"Such a pretty child," he murmured. "It'd be a shame to mark such a pretty face. But you've been a bad boy, and bad boys must be punished."

Salazar's eyes went wide in fear at the insane grin that spread across Richard's face. The hand on his chin tightened noticeably so that it caused pain. Salazar shut his eyes in fear and was shocked when the other hand, no longer holding the bottle, swung around to hit him across the face. His face couldn't even move with the hand on account of the other hand holding it steady. Tears sprung up in his eyes but he refused to let them fall.

Richard's hand moved from his chin to his neck and he squeezed. Salazar struggled, his own hands coming up to hold onto Richard's in a futile attempt to pry the hand off. Small keening noises escaped from his throat as he struggled to draw breath. For one horrifying moment Salazar actually thought he was going to die.

The hand let him go and Salazar slumped to the ground, gasping and coughing at the same time. Richard stood up and put his hands on the wall above the small boy underneath him. The two stared at each other, the only sounds between were the small gasps Salazar was making as he tried to force more air into his lungs, and the wheezy breaths of Richard as he struggled to remain standing through the alcohol induced haze clouding his mind.

Richard swung his foot.

The blow connected with Salazar's ribs and the boy let out a startled scream as his bones snapped under the pressure. Richard fell to the ground as he lost his balance. He pulled Salazar to him so that he could straddle him and keep him in the one spot. He started to hit the small boy. Fists and open hands raining down on his face, arms and chest, causing bruises and at times small cuts from where Richard's finger nails broke the skin.

All through it all Salazar screamed and struggled. His raised arms received the most damage as he tried to protect himself and due to the damage to his ribs he was finding it immensely difficult to breathe. His thoughts moved to Sirius, and he hoped that the other boy would find him and help him.

His arms were wrenched up over his head, causing agony to his ribs, and help there by one of Richard's large hands. The man was panting and his face was red, but that wasn't what scared Salazar, it was the lust in the man's beady eyes. Richard pulled a knife from his waistband and cut off Salazar's shirt, not caring if he cut the skin underneath as well. The jacket was resistant to being cut, but with enough pressure the material split. Richard drew his knife over Salazar's now bare chest, drawing meaningless patterns. He found the broken ribs and pressed down on it after releasing Salazar's arms. Salazar screamed.

As he screamed Richard moved down to his own pants and started to unbutton them to relieve pressure. He lay down on the boy, his pants resting near his knees so that he was completely exposed. He rutted against the smaller boy, his harsh pants becoming moans. Salazar's legs were forced apart to give Richard better access and his arms were once again held down. Salazar felt the man shudder above him as he reached his climax. Richard went limp on top of him, his breath causing Salazar to gag.

Salazar couldn't even think. He had never been more terrified in his entire life, not even when he stood in front of his dad, thinking that the man may have hit him to get to Sirius. His eyes were bright emerald green, a sign that his magic was stirring under the surface. His wand was in the pocket of his pants, where he couldn't reach it, but Salazar knew that he didn't need a wand for accidental magic.

His eyes flashed again, and the muggle on top of his was thrown backwards violently. He crashed into the opposite wall with such force that the bricks cracked and he was knocked out instantly. Salazar screamed as his magic worked of its own accord to protect him. A vibrant green shield covered him and crashed into the muggle. Salazar knew, through the haze of pain, that Richard would never attack anyone ever again.

Eventually, Salazar realized that he needed help. He did the only thing he could think of and called for Kretcher. The house elf appeared outside of his shield and Salazar turned to look at him. His eyes were still a vibrant green and he knew that he looked a right mess. Kretcher turned and saw the now dead muggle slumped against the wall.

"Kretcher," Salazar whispered through the pain of his chest. "Get Dad? Please?"

"At once Master Salazar," Kretcher said and he disappeared with a pop. Salazar turned his head so that it was once again looking at the sky. He was mildly surprised to see that it was getting dark. He had no idea how long he had been outside for, seeing as it was only midmorning when he and Sirius had left the Manor.

Sirius.

Salazar gasped as he thought of his brother. There was a sense of betrayal when he thought of the slightly older boy. Sirius had run off without him, without once looking back to make sure that he was following him. It must have been hours since he was last seen. Surely Sirius would have looked for him?

"Salazar!"

Salazar turned his head slowly and saw his father standing just outside his shield. He was mildly surprised to note that the shield was just as strong as it had been when it was first cast. He tried to focus on his father but the edges of his vision were growing darker as he found it harder and harder to breathe.

"Salazar! Son! Listen to me. You have to drop the shield, I promise that you're safe now," Orion pleaded. "I'm here now. Nothing bad can happen to you. I'm going to take you home and then we're going to find a healer for you. But I can't do that if you don't drop this shield."

"Daddy," Salazar whispered as he started to reach out to him. "I don't know how."

"Pull in your magic," Orion ordered. "It doesn't need to protect you any more. I am here."

Salazar did as he was asked and started to pull his magic in. The shield faded away as if it had never existed and instantly Salazar was in his father's arms. He screamed at the movement of his broken bones, coughing as he tried to take deep breaths. He felt more than saw the blood drip down his chin, and he heard Orion's horrified gasp.

"Sal, I'm going to lift you alright? I'm going to apparate us home. It'll be the quickest thing to do," Orion said as he held his son to his chest.

"Don't leave me daddy," Salazar managed to say through all his gasping and coughing. "Don't leave."

"Never son," Orion whispered as he picked up the injured child. Salazar felt tears fall from his eyes as his body was shifted again. He had rarely, if ever, been in pain before and it was never to this extreme. He grabbed onto Orion's shirt with a death grip in preparation for apparition. Yet, even as prepared as was, he couldn't help but scream once the reached their destination.

The next few hours were a blur for Salazar. He didn't pass out, but he did become unresponsive to everyone and stopped making a sound, even when his injuries were attended to. He had retreated into the far corners of his mind to escape the pain and was unwilling to return and face the same pain again and again. He heard the healer tell his father to leave the room, and Orion's reply that he wouldn't. He heard his Uncle Alphard talk about Sirius, but was unable to make any meaning of their chatter. After the healer left Walburga entered the room and sat with her middle son for a while before leaving again to look after Regulus.

Salazar felt someone eventually tilt his head backwards and pour a potion into his mouth. He offered no resistance, even when he was sucked into darkness, the potion having been a Dreamless Sleep potion.

Sirius was sulking in his room. The cool adventure that he dragged his brother along to had ended in a complete disaster. After not noticing his brother fail to cross the road to the park, Sirius had spent a good half hour watching families interact, children running up to their parents with something to show them something that they had found, picnic lunches being enjoyed by all present and parents paying attention to all of their children. Sirius had then played on the playground for a good while, becoming friends with another child and playing with them. It wasn't until his new friend's parents called him back to have lunch that Sirius realised that his brother wasn't with him. He had looked around frantically before running back the way they had come from.

Unfortunately for him, a pair of uniformed men, who introduced themselves as "police officers", had stopped to talk with him and took him for a ride in their car. Sirius had tried to explain that his brother was missing and that he was looking for him but no one in the "police station" had tried to listen to him. He had sat there for hours. The "police officers" had given him something to eat but aside from that he was asked to just sit there. He grew bored very quickly.

Eventually, Uncle Alphard had come to collect him, charming the "police" so that they wouldn't ask questions, and taken Sirius home.

From there he had found out that Salazar had been attacked. Once Salazar had been returned to the Manor with Orion, Kretcher had been sent to find Sirius. The house elf had directed Alphard to where he was and then they had gone home. Since then, Sirius hadn't been allowed to leave his room. Not even Regulus had come in to tell him that Salazar was alright, in fact, he still didn't know if his brother was alright.

After hours of being locked in his room, Sirius was greeted with his first visitor…his father.

Orion Black looked exhausted. His eyes were red-rimmed and his skin pale, but he also looked furious. Sirius remained still on his bed, not showing his fear as his father walked further into the room. Orion took out his wand and it was only then that Sirius flinched. But all Orion did was pack up Salazar's side of the room, summoning and shrinking all of his belongings and directing them out of the door. Sirius knew what was happening, his eyes went wide and his mind came up with three different conclusions. The first being that Salazar would be fine and he was moving to a new room; the second being that Salazar was too injured to be moved and would be staying in whatever room he was in for the next period of time; and the third was that Salazar had died and they were getting rid of everything he owned.

"What's wrong with Sal?" Sirius asked just as Orion started to leave the room. Orion froze at the door and turned back to face his eldest son.

"Be glad that all I'm doing is separating the two of you," he hissed. "If Salazar had died, you would never leave this room again. As it is, I'll leave with the knowledge that because you left him, he will probably never be the same again."

Orion left the room, leaving Sirius to his thoughts. Sirius consoled himself with the fact that his twin was still alive, but guilt ate away at him. If it hadn't been for him Salazar would never have been hurt in the first place, if it hadn't been for him, Salazar would probably still be with him. Because he knew, he knew that it would be a long time before he was so much as allowed to look at his brother, never mind talking to him.

Sirius crawled under the covers of his bed and cried.

Salazar opened his eyes to darkness. He could hear the steady breathing of someone near him and felt his heart-rate increase. He sat up on the bed he was on with a scream of pure terror and struggled when he felt arms come around him. For one wild moment he thought Richard was back for more and he started to sob and plead, all the while struggling to escape.

"Sal, shhh, it's alright, it's just me, it's your father," a kind voice whispered in his ear. "You're safe here; I won't let anyone hurt you anymore. Calm down now, you're home. It'll be alright now. You don't have to be afraid anymore."

Slowly, Salazar started to calm down and he buried his face into his dad's chest. He cried. Memories from the disastrous adventure in London played in front of his now closed eyelids and he babbled about what Richard had done. Orion's arms tightened around him in comfort as the whole story spilled from his lips, the fear, the pain, the shame and his inability to use magic until the end.

"It hurt daddy," Salazar sobbed. "I thought you wouldn't come."

"I will always come for you," Orion reassured him. "If you ever need me I will come. All you have to do is ask."

"Don't leave me? Please, can you stay with me?" Salazar asked, finally looking up. He was sitting on Orion's hip, a position he hadn't been aware of being in during his terror. He guessed that Orion had lifted him after he stopped struggling and walked around the room, hoping that the rocking motion of his body as he walked would calm the child down.

"I'll stay with you," Orion promised. Salazar tucked his head back under Orion's chin and tightened his grip on his shirt. Dozens of questions ran through his mind but he knew that there was only one he needed to know the answer of.

"Where's Sirius?" he asked. Orion's arms tightened around him and his chin locked in fury. "Daddy?"

"He's in his room," was the reply. "Alphard picked him up from a muggle police station."

"A what?"

"A place where muggle Aurors gather to discuss their assignments."

"Oh," Salazar murmured. He knew that there had to be a reason as to why Sirius hadn't come for him. He looked up at his father again with the intention to ask another question but Orion spoke before he could.

"This is to be your new room," he explained. "There is a joining door into my room should you ever need me or your mother. You can have a few days to recover but as soon as you're ready on want you to continue your training. I will see to it that you are safe at all times."

"Are there any books on muggles in the library?" Salazar asked softly. Orion looked at him in confusion. "I don't want to be completely ignorant if I have to face one again. I need to be prepared. What their defenses are, how to overcome them, how to avoid them…I need to know."

"If there aren't I will have someone hunt some down for you," Orion promised. "But Sal, you are not alone. You don't have to tackle this on your own."

"I know daddy," Salazar murmured. "Can you stay with me tonight? I don't want to sleep here alone."

"Of course my son," Orion said with a smile. "It's late anyway and you should still be asleep. We'll talk more in the morning."

Salazar smiled slightly and maintained his grip on his father as he was set down on the bed. Orion lay down on the bed next to him and Salazar instantly burrowed into his side. He knew that as long as his father was around he'd be safe. Because unlike Sirius, his father had never broken a promise to him. Sirius had.

Salazar promised himself that he would talk to Sirius when he woke up next. He had to know where they stood with each other. He had to know why his brother had run off without him, and didn't try to look for him. He had to.

"Goodnight Sal," Orion whispered into his hair.

"Goodnight daddy," Salazar replied sleepily.

I love Sirius, I really do and in future chapters things will be better for him. But that probably won't be until Hogwarts when he makes friends of his own. I also needed a reason as to why Salazar would hate muggles and not Sirius. Salazar has only seen the bad, and his brother thought it would be better to go to a muggle park than stay with him. So now Salazar can hate muggles with justificaton. Sirius won't because he only saw the good and can't understand the horror Salazar went through.

I'm lacking ideas for what could happen before and during Hogwarts. If anyone has any ideas of what could possibly happen then let me know in a review. After this chapter I'm going to try and work on HP:CO so I don't know when this story will be updated again. But it will be updated. I won't be abandoning my stories.

Look forward to seeing your reviews!