Sirius' Story

Quote of the Day: 'Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance' (– Martin Luther King Jr.)

The Christmas holidays came and saw Remus and Peter again going home to be with their families for the Christmas holidays. Remus had not received any news of the couple that had gone missing a couple of weeks before, but he still felt he needed to be with his parents. So it was only James and I again this Christmas, which was becoming something of a tradition here at Hogwarts. ignorant

Christmas Day had come, and consequently this was also the day that I had arranged to meet Andromeda in the common room fireplace. I was sitting near the crackling fireplace, waiting for my cousin's head to appear in the flames. The common room was empty as it always was in the Christmas holidays; it was even emptier than usual because I had arranged to meet Andromeda at the time of the Christmas feast so that we would be assured privacy. James was down at the feast, covering for me. I didn't mind missing out on the feast much because I knew that James would bring me food anyway, and if he didn't I'd get some from the kitchens later. It was a win - win situation.

I was flipping through one of James' Quidditch magazines as I waited, reading about the recent games, when suddenly I heard a pop. I looked towards the fire to see Andromeda, her long brown hair tied in a pony tail. She looked a bit upset - but she smiled when she saw me.

"Andromeda! Hi!" I said as I bent down to talk to her.

"Hi Sirius, how are you?" she asked, gazing at me as flames licked the sides of her head.

"Fine, you?" I asked.

"Ah, not so good."

"What? Why not? What happened?" I asked. I had a feeling that there was something behind her sullen mood.

"Well, it appears that we're both heretics now," she replied disconsolately.

"Huh?" I asked, puzzled.

"I was wiped off the tapestry, Sirius," she said finally. I widened my eyes in shock. The tapestry was a tapestry recording the Black lineage and its family tree for over centuries. Every known pureblood Black was on that tapestry, even me, and if any of the Blacks were not worthy of the Black family or if they were disowned, they were always wiped off. I just wondered when I would be wiped off there.

"You- wiped off! Why?"

"I told them that I was engaged," she said. I widened my eyes.

"You're engaged!" Why hadn't she told me all this!

"Yes… to a Muggle-born…" she said. "Who listens to crazy rock music and dances like a hippy." She grinned, and that faraway look was in her eyes again.

I wondered fleetingly what a hippy was. Some kind of crazy animal, perhaps? "Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

"I was going to, but I didn't want to write it in a letter."

I ran my hand through my hair, not knowing what to think. Andromeda was engaged and she had been wiped off the tapestry!

"Tell me everything," I said then. "Start from the beginning." I wanted to know everything about how this had happened.

Andromeda looked at me gravely and started her story.

I won't write her exact words here—I can't remember them all. But, I can tell you the general story.

Andromeda had been going out with Ted Tonks since her 7th Year, but after that she broke it off because she knew our family would never approve of it. Then, in the summer of our 1st year, when she had taken me to Diagon Alley, she met up with him again and started seeing him. They had been together ever since, and last week when Ted had asked her to marry him, she said yes and decided once and for all to tell the family. Well, she told them at Christmas, where they would all be together, and then, knowing they wouldn't accept it, she left Grimmauld Place…but not before she was wiped off the tapestry.

"So that's why I'm at Ted's place, and not Grimmauld Place," Andromeda finished.

I sat there for a while, mulling over what I had just heard.

"So they've disowned you?" I asked, angry that my favourite cousin had now been disowned from our family.

Andromeda nodded. "It was only a matter of time, Sirius."

"But- but where will you go now?" I asked.

"I'll live at Ted's flat until we find a proper house to live in," Andromeda replied.

"How's it feel?" I asked suddenly. I'd always wondered what it would feel like to be disowned from the Black family—or, rather, to disown them. I'd dreamed about it for so long but never really had the courage to go through with it all. Now that Andromeda had done it, it hit close to home.

Andromeda looked at me for a moment, and then her face broke into a grin. "Oh Sirius, it feels great," she said suddenly. "I feel like I'm finally free. I've never agreed with their ways and what they believe in, and to… to leave all that behind and start fresh, like I don't belong to the Black family…it feels wonderful."

Then she stopped grinning. "But…" she stopped.

"But?" I quipped.

"But at the same time, it feels like I've lost a big part of me. I mean, it's not everyday that you find yourself without a family and a home to go back to…" she trailed off.

"But you still have me! I'm family!" I reminded her.

She smiled at me, "Yes, I still have you, Sirius. And it better stay that way," she added.

"Of course it'll stay that way! I wouldn't have it any other way," I replied. Andromeda smiled.

"Good."

"So that's that then." I said.

"Yeah, that's that. It's not Andromeda Black anymore, but Andromeda Tonks." Andromeda let out a wistful sigh. She really must love Tonks.

"But I'll always be Sirius Black," I said derisively. There was no denying it. I'd always keep my last name. Even if I did marry, I'd have kids with the last name of 'Black'. It depressed me somehow.

Andromeda didn't reply for a minute. "Yes, you share their last name, Sirius, but that's all you share with them. You've always been different from them, and I've always noticed it. You've always been the one to rebel. You don't believe in the pureblood mania. You know that what makes a wizard has nothing to do with being pureblood, but with what's in his heart, and that makes you different."

"Thanks, Andromeda," I replied genuinely.

"That's all right," she said. "Now Sirius, listen. I wanted to talk to you about something else." She was suddenly serious. "Have you been hearing about the people going missing lately?"

I widened my eyes. So Andromeda had noticed as well. "Yes. Remus' parents' friends were some of them– Anastasia and Wesley Sheppard, the most recent ones," I replied.

Andromeda regarded me gravely. "Is Remus okay?"

"Well… I'm not sure, I… I can't imagine what it'd be like to have people that you've known all your life just disappear like that…"

"Yes. It must be hard. Is he here?" Andromeda asked, peering around the empty common room.

"No. He went home for Christmas to be with his family," I said. "So what do you think of it all?"

"Well… it could be just the usual case of people going missing and they'll turn up later, or that they went missing under the normal circumstances… or it could be something more."

"Like what?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, but it's a little bit strange that people go missing, and then it's quiet for months until more people go missing," Andromeda said.

"Yeah. But what's happening?" I wondered.

"I really don't know, Sirius. No one does. But Ted's noticed something…"

"What?"

"These people that go missing…they're all Muggle borns, or involved with Muggles…"

I looked at her, wide-eyed. "But… what does all this mean?"

"I don't know that either, but your father and Crevan— when he was at Grimmauld Place last—they were saying something about the Knights of Walpurgis."

"Knights of Walpurgis?" The name sounded vaguely familiar. "Who or what is that?"

"It's a group of some sort," Andromeda replied. "Whatever they are, Amias and Crevan know what they are and they aren't in the least concerned about the disappearances. On the contrary, they think that as long as it's Muggle-borns that go missing, then it's fine with them."

I shook my head angrily. "It would be fine with them, the stupid prats!"

"Well whatever it is, it's probably just a passing thing anyway—at least, I hope it is," Andromeda replied.

"Yeah," I said, more to reassure myself than Andromeda. "Just a passing thing…"

"Hey, speaking of Crevan – why isn't he back at school yet?" I asked. "Not that I care, believe me. Just curious."

"I don't know exactly, but apparently, he's busy doing some other work," Andromeda replied.

"Other work?"

"I'm not sure what, but it might have something to do with what your father and he were talking about—about those Knights of Walpurgis."

This was getting even stranger. I didn't reply for a while.

"So, having a good Christmas?" Andromeda said lightly, changing the subject.

"Wha… oh… yes, good enough," I replied vaguely.

"Did you get my present?" She asked.

"Yes, it's great! Thanks a lot!" I grinned, thinking of the talking hat that Andromeda had sent me. At random intervals it started insulting passers-by.

"I thought you might like it, I thought of you when I saw it. It's from Ted as well – he was the one who convinced me to buy it."

"Oh, thank him for me then," I replied. Then, I raised my eyebrow and grinned at her teasingly. "Sending presents together now, are you? I seem to have missed the Christmas card with the picture of you and Ted on it, or did you forget to send it?"

Andromeda rolled her eyes with a grin. "Well, Ted wanted to pay half," she replied.

I smiled. "Well, he doesn't seem so bad then."

Andromeda shook her head at me. "Of course he's not so bad. He's brilliant." She smiled. "Well, I better go; I can smell burning." She sniffed the air. "Ted never was much of a cook," she added with a grin.

"Well, your head is in a fireplace," I reminded her.

"Ha ha, very funny. Have a good Christmas, Sirius, and keep in touch. See ya," Andromeda said.

Her head disappeared with a "pop" as I said goodbye.

I sat back in my chair, mulling over all that Andromeda had told me. The Knights of Walpurgis. Who were they? What were they? The name was somehow familiar to me, and yet I could not place where I had seen or heard it.

Who were the Knights of Walpurgis? I wondered as I sat back in my chair and gazed at the fire.

777

"So Crevan and your dad – they know about these 'Knights of Walpurgis'?" Remus asked, leaning on the windowsill and watching Orrill fade into the distance.

I nodded. It was a couple of days before the new term was about to begin and Remus and Peter had arrived back at Hogwarts. I had just finished telling Remus about my conversation with Andromeda. We were up in the Owlery, as Remus had just finished sending a letter to his mother assuring her of his safe return to Hogwarts (she was very fussy about him).

"I wonder what they are…" Remus said, the wind blowing his hair away from his face as he looked out the window.

"I don't know, but I've got a funny feeling that I've seen that name somewhere before…" I confided in him. So far, I had only told James and Remus about what Andromeda had told me.

"Where?" Remus asked.

"I can't place it," I replied.

"Oh." Remus turned and looked at me. "It's strange, isn't it? People go missing – Muggle borns, or people associated with Muggles—and then this Knights of Walpurgis thing comes up."

"Yeah." I replied. "So have you heard anything about the Sheppards?"

Instantly, Remus looked weary.

"No." he replied. "Mum and dad are trying to find out everything they can, but you can imagine that the Ministry won't tell them anything. Especially since they have a werewolf as a son…" I noticed the resentment in his voice as he said the last part…I didn't know what to say to that.

"And the Daily Prophet hasn't reported anything about them either," Remus continued.

"What about the Quibbler or something?" I suggested.

Remus snorted. "The Quibbler?" He raised his eyebrows at me. "I doubt it. They only report on sightings of animals that don't even seem to exist and outrageous conspiracy theories."

"Peter seems to like the Quibbler…" I said.

"Peter also believes in Humpled Dingles," Remus reminded me.

I laughed. At least Remus had his sense of humour back.

"So you don't know anything about what happened to the Sheppards then?" I asked.

"Well… there was one thing…" Remus said slowly, looking away from me.

"What?" I asked.

"Something that Anastasia's sister found at their house just after they went missing…"

"And what was it?" I asked eagerly.

Remus took a while to reply. "A silver ring with a serpent on it," he said finally, his gaze latched on the sky outside.

I looked at him with wide eyes.

Serpents, as is widely known, are the symbol for anything associated with pureblood wizards, with Slytherin, with dark wizards, and with Salazar Slytherin himself.

And with the 'Most Ancient and Noble House of Black'.

Remus knew I had a silver ring with the Black family crest embossed in a circle and that on either side of the crest was a small silver serpent with emerald eyes. Amias had given me the ring about two months before I had started my first year at Hogwarts. It had slipped out of my socks once when I had pulled them out of my trunk, and Remus had seen it before I shoved it back in there. I didn't know why I kept the ring at all. It would be so easy to just throw it into the lake, but I still held onto it. Maybe by keeping it I was telling myself that there was a way for my family to change. Or, that I wanted to keep some reminder that I did have a family—even if none of them ever cared about me.

"That – that's the symbol for purebloods…" I said finally.

"Yes." Remus replied, and then he looked at me. "Sirius, I didn't want to tell you at first… I wanted to save you from knowing… I know that's the symbol of… of the Black's as well… but you're not a traditional Black, and I would never hold that against you as a person, especially because you're my friend…"

"I… what's all this mean?" I said.

"I really don't know…" Remus replied wearily.

And neither did I.

Nevertheless, we had all forgotten about the Knights of Walpurgis thing within the span of a month, and there were no more missing people, even though those that had gone missing were never found. Remus and I had also almost forgotten about the serpent ring that Anastasia's sister had found after the Sheppards had gone missing.

As the months went by, we eventually forgot that it had ever happened, and even if Remus did think about it now and then, he never talked about it again.

We never talked about it again and went on with our daily lives…

Which was a most fatal mistake.

If we had of known what was coming…

777

Author's Notes: Yes I know it seems I'm being a bit slack with this story at the moment, but a lot of other stuff has been going on in my life and I will admit that I haven't done anything to this story in mooonnnntths, (never fear I have a fair few chapters written in advance), but I am truly trying to get back into it, and back into the swing of things. I don't know, I think maybe the events that happened in HBP kind of made me not write as much. Anyway, that's an update.

Thank you also to the people who beta-ed this chapter, I really really appreciate it guys:-D

Oh and if your wondering why there's no dedication to the 700th reviewer I'm going to be slightly random and make the dedication for the 777th reviewer (if it gets there!) just cause I can and cause 7's my fave number!

I would like to thank you all for your continued support and wonderful reviews, keep them coming and I will keep the story coming:-D