The Black Twins
Albus's plan failed, the war was lost. But his forgotten brother, Aberforth, has a plan too, a plan 'B', a plan that no normal person would even imagine, much less put into action. Then again; Aberforth had never really been normal. His plan, however, had consequences that not even he could imagine, and it slipped and twisted from his grasp, laughing wildly as it dove into the realms of chaos. Ladies and gentlemen, hold onto your broomsticks, the Black twins are coming to Hogwarts. MWPP era.
A/N
Thanx so much everyone for your reviews! : D
Answer time – Aberforth wrote a letter where he pretended that Harry was the son of the late Dorea and Charlus Potter.
– Harry was meant to go and live with Charlus's brother Harold Potter and his wife, but he got lost and was instead adopted by Walburga and Orion Black.
– Harold Potter is James Potter's Father; Aberforth's plan was for Harry to live as James's brother.
Which means Charlus Potter is James's uncle.
I didn't want to change Harry's name, as Lady Salazar said, because I don't want him to turn into an OC.
There are going to be some flashbacks in this chapter. Also just so people know, although Harry is in the past, he is still the Boy-Who-Lived and still has the connection to Voldemort.
I don't own Harry Potter… Harry Black on the other hand…; )
ON WITH THE STORY… One Hell of a Day PART 1
TBT
"Harry…"
"Har-ry,"
"Harry, wake up!"
The ten year old in question, merely groaned, and rolled over, pulling his pillow over his head.
"HarryHarryHarryHarryHarryHarryHar–"
"Siri shut up," Harry whined to his twin, his voice muffled by the pillow, "Merlin… what time is it?"
"Time to wake up!"
"It must be about… six in the morning,"
"Five actually," Sirius Black happily informed him, far too happily in Harry's opinion.
Harry groaned again, "Nooo…sleep… dreams… Kreacher gimme my marshmallows…" He began to drift off, something Sirius seemed determined to prevent. Harry was jolted from his sleep once more, when an annoying someone started jumping up and down on his bed.
"Wakey, Wakey! Rise and shiny! Harry, Harry, time too-ooh get uuh-uup!" Sirius began singing. Harry moved the pillow so he could glare at him balefully with one eye, fixing his bouncing twin with a look that would make his mother proud.
Sirius took no notice, at least until Harry got fed up had threw the pillow at him. Unfortunately Sirius managed to catch it; he poked his tongue out at Harry and continued his 'Wake up' song, now holding the pillow above his head like a trophy. Harry growled in frustration.
"Fine! You want me up? Then I'll get up!" Harry roared, throwing back the bed covers and launching himself at Sirius, taking his twin by surprise. The two of them crashed to the floor in a tangle of limbs, Harry managed to wrestle the pillow from a laughing Sirius and began to repeatedly hit him with it. Still laughing Sirius attempted to shield his head from the blows
"I'll – show – you!" Harry gritted out, hitting his brother with the pillow between every word, though he was smiling, "wake me up at five a.m. will you? Take that!" Harry's smile faltered, when he noticed Sirius grinning evilly at him.
"Uh-oh…ARRG!"
In one huge heave Sirius turned the tables on Harry, literally. Using his superior strength he flipped Harry over, and pinned him down. Harry struggled, but to no avail as Sirius just sat on his stomach, effectively trapping him.
Sirius grinned maddeningly down at Harry, "I win," he gloated.
"Only 'cause you're fat, now get off!"
Relenting; he rolled off him, "I am not," Sirius pouted.
"Yes you are," Harry stated, sitting up cross legged on the floor.
"Am not,"
"Are too,"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"AM NOT!"
"ARE TOO!"
"You're just scrawny,"
"Are to– hey! I am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
In truth; Sirius was about an inch taller then Harry. Sirius was the slightly stronger of the two as well; he had black shaggy hair that fell casually into his grey-blue eyes. Harry also had black hair that ended just below his ears, but it was much messier then his twin's, and stuck up at the back. His fringe flowed to one side of his face, but his emerald green eyes were a striking feature in his face, just as much as the lightning-bolt scar on his forehead. He was the smaller of the two, but was wiry and fast. He also would've had glasses, but thanks to his father he didn't….
–FLASHBACK–
"…What do you mean you can't read that?" Sirius asked his brother confused. They were five-years old and sitting in the drawing room, Sirius was pointing at the Black motto above the Family Tree Tapestry, while Harry was looking just as confused as his twin.
"Wait…you mean you can read it?" Harry asked with wide eyes, "All the way up there?"
"Yeah," Sirius frowned, looking from the motto; Always Pure, to his brother and back again. "Why, what does it look like to you?"
"Err… all blurred and a bit doubled I guess…"
Sirius and Harry fell silent as they contemplated this new revelation. After a moment Harry spoke.
"Maybe, we should go talk to Father," Harry suggested, still a bit shaken. Sirius readily agreed and they both ran out to the staircase, taking the steps two at a time. They kept their eyes on their feet on the way down, refusing to look at the horrible, shrunken, house-elf heads that adorned the wall. They were scary, and neither of the five-year olds could look at them without shuddering.
Reaching the bottom of the staircase Sirius and Harry turned into the dining room where they knew their Father would be. Sure enough, the imposing and fierce man that was their Father sat in one of the ornate, dark-green leather chairs, in his silver lined robes. He was pouring over some parchment, frowning intently at the scrawled writing. Sirius and Harry hesitated when they saw him, and exchanged a nervous look; it was not a good idea to interrupt their Father when he was busy. In an unspoken agreement they began to back quietly out of the room. But some movement must have alerted Orion Black to their presence, because he looked up sharply, his dark eyes capturing his sons and freezing them in place.
"Yes?" he rumbled, not moving his gaze from them. Harry shifted nervously from foot to foot, now he wasn't so sure about this, but his father was waiting for an answer so Harry cleared his throat.
"Um…Well, Father… You see… It's probably nothing anyway but…erm…"
Sirius came to his twin's rescue, "Harry sees things blurred," he said bluntly, and Harry shot him a grateful look.
The room fell silent as Orion regarded the two boys, who were growing more anxious as every second past. Sirius fidgeted and stared resolutely at his feet as the tension thickened. Harry hesitantly met his Father's eyes, unsure of the man's reaction.
After what seemed an eternity, Orion raised a hand, "Harry," he addressed him, "How many fingers am I holding up?" he held up two.
Harry squinted from the other side of the room, "Err...f-four?" Orion scowled darkly and Sirius winced. Harry hurried to correct himself, "I-I mean three."
Slowly Orion put down his hand, then the parchment he'd been reading, and stood up. Sirius and Harry gulped and exchanged a worried look, what was going to happen now? Walking over to the twins, their Father towered over Harry, his cold eyes boring into him.
Without turning, Orion commanded, "Sirius, go play with your brother Regulus, Harry come with me."
The boys remained where they were, a flurry of thoughts and emotions rushing through them as the words sunk in, the panic at being separated rendering them frozen once more. What! Why? Where's Harry going? Why can't Sirius come? What's going to happen? What's wrong with me?
"Now!" Their Father boomed, and with one last apprehensive look over his shoulder, Sirius scampered away.
When he had gone, Harry looked up at the six foot tall man, not really knowing what to expect.
"Why haven't you told me about this before?" his Father asked frigidly.
Harry flushed, embarrassed, "I thought that… that everyone saw this way," he muttered, it sounded stupid even to his own ears. His Father grimaced, before sweeping out of the room.
"Follow me," he demanded, and Harry hastened after him. His Father led him through the gloomy house, and down the stairs that led to the kitchen. Harry's mother Walburga was off visiting her sister-in-law Druella Black, so the kitchen was empty.
"KREACHER!" Orion thundered suddenly, making Harry jump. A moment later there was the 'pop' of apparition and the simpering house-elf appeared, bowed down and nose on the floor.
"Master called Kreacher, sir?" Kreacher inquired, looking up at Orion with adoring eyes.
"Come with me," Orion ordered, "You stay here," he said to Harry and moved off into the parlour, Kreacher scurrying behind him.
Orion knew that Harry probably needed glasses for his bad eye-sight, but the Blacks did not were glasses, they were a muggle invention and his family would have nothing to do with them. There was a way to repair eyesight magically, but not very many people used it since it was considered dark magic. But Orion Black had no such qualms about using it, or about the side effects that were bound to occur.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sirius was worried. He had come up here to play with Reg, his four year old brother, but was having trouble concentrating since his twin was occupying his thoughts. We had done the right thing… right? Going to Father like that? But what if there is something wrong with Harry and Father takes him away? Is that why I couldn't come?
Time past and Sirius grew progressively distracted from the game of Gobstones they were playing. Finally Regulus announced himself the winner triumphantly; Sirius gave him a weak smile and congratulations.
"Wanna play again?" Regulus asked cheerfully.
"Err...maybe some other time, Reg. I'm going to go find Harry,"
"Oh okay," the four-year old said, disappointed. But Sirius didn't notice, he was already half-way to the door.
Exiting Regulus's room, Sirius rushed to his own and Harry's room, reaching up for the handle and pushing open the door. Sirius and Harry's room was spacious and handsome, with two large single beds with carved wooden headboards. The walls were decorated with silvery grey silk and in the corner was a large wooden wardrobe. There was a tall window looking out onto the street, at present obscured by long velvet curtains, and the chandelier was unlit.
Confused as to why the room was dark, Sirius was unprepared for what he found inside. At the base of the bed, curled up with his arms huddled around his legs and tears falling unchecked down his face, was Harry. Sirius heart leapt to his throat in panic, something was terribly wrong, and the next thing he knew he was flying across the room to his brother.
"Harry!"
His twin's head shot up, and he dashed the tears from his face furiously, "S-Siri? Is that you?"
Dread and uncertainty was building up inside Sirius, "Of course it's me, what's the matter?"
Harry had his head turned towards Sirius, but his eyes were glazed over and he was looking slightly to Sirius's left, Harry uncurled his arm and groped the air around him.
"Where are you? I can't see you,"
"I'm right here," Sirius moved into Harry, taking hold of his shoulders and looking desperately at him, but the usually lively emerald eyes were blank. "What do you mean, what's happened to you?"
"Father," Harry revealed, beginning to tear up again, "h-he said that, i-it would make my eyes better, and that I'd see like everyone else soon. But- But until then I'd be…I'd be…blind…" Harry shuddered in Sirius's arms, unable to see them.
Sirius stared at his brother horrified, feeling an unfamiliar sense of unfairness welling up inside of him. He wanted to do something, to pick up something and throw it across the room, or to run downstairs and yell at everyone. He wanted Harry to look up and smile, say he was only joking and laugh because Sirius had fallen for the act. He had never really liked his parents, they were just kind of… there, but now he realised the feeling was anger, hate even.
"How dare they?" Sirius growled, feeling awfully useless as his brother tried once more to pull himself together. Biting his lip, he tried to not to scream and shout for his Father to come up and put Harry back to normal right now! Instead Sirius lowered his voice, "How long?" he asked quietly.
"One week," Harry answered miserably.
"Can you see anything at all?"
"No, it's just all dark,"
"That – that," Sirius floundered for words, "Mean, old, evil–"
"I know,"
"I hate him!" Sirius declared darkly.
"I know, so do I."
It would be the last time they ever voluntarily went to their Father for help. That week the two boys grew closer then ever as Sirius guided Harry everywhere, and helped him up and down the stairs. Harry grew better at finding his way around without seeing, and at using his other senses to get by. Finally, the morning after the seventh night, Harry awoke to a new world, one like he'd never seen before.
–END FLASHBACK–
"So why did you wake me up at this should-be-illegal time of the day?" Harry asked, melodramatically flopping back onto his bed and throwing his arm over his face.
"You honestly don't remember?" Sirius raised his eyebrows, still grinning. He sat down on the bed, albeit a little harder then necessary so that the mattress would once again bounce up and down.
"No," Harry sighed in exasperation and grumbled under his breath, "Annoying – bothersome – brothers, bloody – heartless – unsympathetic– "
"Oh quit complaining," Sirius waved his grumblings away, "you can't be a misery guts on our birthday,"
"Yes I bloody ca– Birthday! It's our birthday! Wahoo!" At once he was up and looking just as excited as Sirius.
"Yep! Ten-years old today,"
"The big 'One-Oh',"
"Double digits,"
"Double trouble," they both grinned deviously at this, imagining everything they would do today.
"Anyway, I was thinking that we could go down to the kitchen and make ourselves something, before Kreacher has a chance to try and poison us," Sirius said only half-jokingly, he certainly wouldn't put it past the dirty little toerag to slip something into their pumpkin juice.
"Hey great idea, we can make ourselves our own birthday treat," Harry schemed, his green eyes twinkling mischievously, already thinking of those treacle tarts downstairs. "Say, should we wake Reg up too?"
The smile slipped from Sirius's face and he scowled and looked away, purposefully avoiding Harry's gaze as he pretended to find his own bed very interesting. Harry soon realised his mistake; the day before Sirius and Regulus had some sort of argument while Harry was at the bathroom. He'd managed to get the gist of the fight; Regulus had suggested that Kreacher really wasn't that bad, Sirius had disagreed… vehemently. Harry had thought the whole thing to be rather stupid, but refrained from saying so in case both his brothers took offence and turned on him. He'd hoped that the whole thing would just blow over, but it seemed not to be as Sirius could stubbornly hold a grudge for a long time.
Harry rolled his eyes exasperated, but changed the subject anyway, "Nah we should probably let him sleep in, someone should at least get to," he hinted, trying to lighten the atmosphere, but Sirius still looked a bit sullen at the mention of their brother. Harry decided to go for a different tact.
"Race you!" he shouted, and shot out the door, leaving Sirius spluttering on the bed. One constant about Sirius was his competitiveness, he would never back down from a challenge and he would always determinedly strive to win, though he would sometimes sulk if he lost. But Sirius had learned a long time ago that it was near impossible to beat Harry in speed and now revelled in the challenge, no longer disappointed when he lost every race. Instead he vowed that one day, one day, he would beat Harry, or at least catch him. That was why when Harry ran out, he knew that Sirius would gather himself quicker then you could blink and be dashing after him like there was a hellhound on his heels.
Harry wasn't to be disappointed and soon heard the thumping behind him as they raced down the four stories to the basement, which was also the kitchen. Harry struggled not to laugh as he heard his brother's elephant footsteps, Sirius may be bigger and stronger, but Harry could run with the grace of a cat. Then again it's not exactly hard to be quieter then Sirius, he does tend to make his presence known at all times.
Harry slowed considerably when passing his parents' bedroom, taking extra care to be quiet. When Sirius and he and been seven years old they had made the mistake of waking their parents early in the morning, the resulting consequences had not been pretty. Walburga had screamed at them, giving them such a scolding for disturbing her 'beauty sleep' that the twins had actually feared for their lives. Age had recently been eating away at the mistress of the Black house, and she was finding it particularly hard, for in her young days she'd been considered quite the catch, beautiful even. Harry shuddered to even consider it, though maybe Mother is really part Veela…
Harry had once overheard his cousins discussing them, saying they could turn into hideous, frightful monsters. That certainly fit Mother; Harry mused as he ran, maybe it was a slow, over-time thing… or perhaps she's more closely related to a hag. As punishment for waking her, Walburga had hexed the twins, forcing them to stay awake through the entire next three days, unable to fall asleep. For two seven-year-olds it had been one of the more harsh punishments.
Reaching the first landing, Harry ducked his head as he ran down the final staircase. Avoiding looking at the shrunken house-elf heads was more of a habit now, then of Harry actually being scared of them. But just because he was used to them, didn't mean the heads were any more pleasant to look at.
About half-way down the stairs to the entrance hall Harry grabbed the banister, vaulted over it, and dropped down the other side. Falling a few feet to the ground, he landed in a crouched position. In the small pause he heard his brother reach the first landing behind him, so Harry stood up straight again and sprinted to the door that would take him to the kitchen.
The kitchen was just as gloomy as the rest of the house; it was a cavernous room with rough stone walls, and a large stone fireplace at the far end of the room. Old fashioned gas-lamps lit the room, with heavy iron pots and pans hanging from a dark ceiling. A long wooden table stood in the middle of the room, which was used for informal meals.
By the time Sirius came bursting into the kitchen, panting like a bellows, Harry had sat himself causally in a chair, chin propped up on one hand. He gazed curiously at Sirius with one eyebrow raised, as if he'd been sitting there for hours.
"Wow, you take your time don't you? Flobberworms are faster." Harry teased. Sirius said nothing as he was still trying to catch his breath, but he did send a mock-glare at Harry.
Harry yawned and stretched, arching his back before standing up, "Well then," he started turning towards the Kitchen pantry and rubbing his hands together gleefully, "let's see if there are any treacle tarts left." Unfortunately there wasn't any, but the twins made themselves a good breakfast nevertheless.
"Hey Siri?" Harry spoke up as he buttered his piece of bread, "whose coming today again?"
Sirius swallowed his mouthful of bacon, and pulled a face at the thought of their family, "Probably our cousins, Andy's not so bad... but Bella and Cissy?" he gave an exaggerated shudder. "And then there's Auntie Druella and Uncle Cygnus, also Uncle Ignatius and Auntie Lucretia."
Harry's face grew darker with every name, but then he brightened, "But Uncle Alphard's coming right?"
"Oh yeah, right." Prodding his bacon around his plate, Sirius became thoughtful; "I don't think Grandpa Pollux is coming, he was too busy or something… but Grandfather Arcturus and Grandmother Melania are."
Harry groaned, closing his eyes as if in pain, "Great," he said unenthusiastically, "this is going to be one hell of a day."
TBT
The 'party guests' were due to arrive about lunchtime, which left the whole morning to get ready. Harry and Sirius finished their breakfast with as little mess as possible (which meant only the kitchen benches; table, chairs and some of the roof had food on it.) Luckily, Kreacher turned up to clean before their parents came down the stairs.
The twins both retired to their room again, more to stay out the way of their Father then anything else. He was an early riser and got up everyday at six o'clock whether it was a weekend or a work day. Sirius thought that the lack of sleep was what made Father so grouchy, but then Harry pointed out that Mother was the opposite. She slept in until ten o'clock everyday, but was still just as mean and nasty as Father.
About quarter-past-ten their Mother's voice was heard screaming at the twins to come downstairs. Harry and Sirius rolled their eyes simultaneously at the summoning screeches, leaving their game of wizard's chess half finished. The chess pieces were made of black iron ore, a present from Grandpa Pollux to Harry the year before. Unfortunately for Harry no one in his family was really any good at the game except for Regulus, Sirius just couldn't sit still for the entire game, and there was no way Harry would ask his parents to play. Needless to say he was almost glad to stop playing, since the majority of the game consisted of Harry trying to tell Sirius that
"No you can't move that piece there!"
And Sirius defiantly asking, "Why the hell not?"
Then Harry would roll his eyes and inform Sirius that "Yes the Knight moves in an 'L' shape, but not halfway round the board!"
Sirius would then get huffy and claim Harry was making the rules up as he went, before making a clearly ridiculous move and declaring checkmate. So it was almost a relief when Walburga shrieked for them… almost.
As luck would have it though, as the twins were going down the stairs at a very slow pace, not at all in a hurry to reach the kitchen where their Mother was surely waiting, Regulus happened to be going up the stairs.
"Morning Reg!" Harry greeted his little brother cheerfully.
Regulus smiled back, "Hey Harry, happy birthday,"
"Thanks little bro,"
Regulus's gaze then turned to Sirius, who was shifting behind Harry looking as if he wanted nothing but to turn around and walk back up the stairs.
"Happy birthday Sirius," Regulus said softly as he faintly lowered his head, clearly wanting to make up for the day before. Seeing this, Harry elbowed Sirius and gestured meaningfully at Regulus.
Sirius pulled a face and sighed, "Thanks Reg," he said, accepting the silent apology. Their nine-year-old brother looked up again and smiled gratefully, promptly turning it into a scowl when Harry ruffled the boy's hair leaving it as a scruffy mess as he continued down the stairs.
Sirius smirked at the look on Regulus's face, before a further, "GET DOWN HERE NOW!" from Mother had him hurrying after Harry.
On reaching the entrance to the Kitchen, however, both Sirius and Harry hesitated at the doorway on catching a glimpse of their Mother. The twins would be the first to admit that Walburga Black was a nasty piece of work. Dressed in green and black robes, with greying dark hair held in an old style bun, she was a little taller then Sirius and over the last few years had gained a lot of weight. Her cold, onyx eyes would fix you with a wicked disapproving stare and it seemed that no matter what you did, a sneer was permanently fixed on her face.
Now that frosty gaze was turned to the twins who were hovering in the doorway. She turned away from Kreacher, who she had been talking to, and drew herself up to her full height. Which wasn't that much really, Harry thought watching warily as their Mother put her hands on her hips, looking down her nose at the twins.
"It's about time you two got up! Just because it's your birthday doesn't mean you can laze around all day. When I was younger we were up at five o'clock everyday making breakfast!" Sirius and Harry tried to hide a smirk, carefully avoiding each other's eyes lest they started laughing.
Unfortunately this didn't escape Walburga's notice, and she took a menacing step forward, her high voice grating on Harry's nerves as she pointed a threatening finger at them.
"Well I won't stand for it! You two are going to march upstairs and make yourselves presentable for the rest of the Black family. Grandfather Arcturus is coming over today and I won't have the two of you looking like ragtag ruffians! You will be respectable and act like the proper pure-blood nobility that you were raised to be! You will not pull another stunt like last time, do you hear me…?"
Harry tuned her out; once his mother got started she could continue on for hours. There was no point trying to defend yourself, she would just start ranting about respecting your elders, and how in her day she would never dream of interrupting her Mother. The so called 'stunt' that Sirius and he had pulled last time the family had come over, was simply locking Narcissa in the attic and leaving her there. She had been annoying the twins with her none stop talk of 'the greatness of the Slytherin House', so the twins had locked her in the attic and 'accidentally' forgotten about her for several hours. All her talk about Slytherin had rather put both of the boys off, and now they weren't so looking forward to Hogwarts next year. Slytherin sounded exactly like their home life, and neither of the boys were rejoicing at that fact.
"…understand? When Bellatrix and Narcissa arrive you are to act the perfect hosts! The rest of the Black family already think poorly of us because of your inability to take pride in your social status! Well I'm telling you two right now that I won't stand for it any longer!" Harry could swear that she didn't breathe, she talked so fast.
Sirius's face took on one of confusion as her words sunk in, "Hang on, what about Andy?" he asked.
A look of righteous anger flashed through Walburga's eyes, "IT'S ANDROMEDA, NOT ANDY, WHAT A FILTHY MUGGLE NAME!"
"Whatever, she is coming right?" Sirius pressed with a mixed expression of annoyance at Mother and anxiety about their cousin.
SMACK!
Walburga slapped Sirius hard across the face, her face filled with fury as she prodded a finger into his chest, "Don't you dare speak to me like that!" she hissed.
Harry was at his twin's side in a second as Sirius slowly raised a hand to the red mark on his cheek, and the two boys glared at their Mother. It wasn't the first time this had happened, and probably wouldn't be the last either, but that didn't exactly make Harry feel any better. Neither of the twins had ever been hugged by their Mother, and they could never seem to do right in their Father's eyes, not that they didn't try to impress him. But those years of trying to do well by their family were over, the twins realised there was nothing they could do to please their family so they just stopped trying.
Now the ten-year-olds resented their family with a passion, with only the odd exception to their hate such as Andy or Uncle Alphard, Regulus wasn't so bad, but he was only young still. Both of them hated to think what life would be like if they didn't have each other, they knew it would certainly be much more miserable. Being twins meant they always had someone to talk to, and they helped and protected each other as best they could. It always hurt when the twins looked out onto the street and saw families of muggles walking past, happy and laughing. They had always been taught that muggles were filthy and dirty, the scum of the earth… but when they saw the muggle children rushing to the park to play… they didn't look so bad.
"Well! What are you still doing here? GET UPSATIRS THIS INSTANT!" Walburga screeched, waving her hands to shoo them out of the room, Sirius and Harry quickly complied. Sirius was flushed with anger and humiliation as they stamped back up the stairs. He walked in front of Harry keeping his face firmly turned away. Harry followed him warily, still seething inside at their Mother, but wondering about Sirius. It wasn't a good sign when he was quiet; Sirius was usually so boisterous and blunt that he just vented his anger, but there were rare occasions when he bottled it up. These were the more dangerous in Harry's opinion, he liked it better when Sirius just got it over and done with, even if it meant he attacked Harry in the process. But when he bottled it up it was like a ticking erumpent horn that could explode at any moment.
Just then Sirius stopped short, causing Harry to walk straight into him.
"Pah," Harry spat out a mouthful of his twin's hair and stepped back irritably, "Sirius?" he prompted when the taller boy showed no signs of moving.
"I just realised, she didn't answer my question," he said in a low voice.
"What question?"
"About Andy," Sirius swung round to face him and Harry was glad to see the traces of anger disappearing, "What if she's not coming?"
Harry frowned, "Well I don't see why not, she's come to all our other birthdays."
"But then why would Mother say Bella and Cissy were coming but not mention Andy?"
"I-I don't know," Harry admitted beginning to worry himself. Maybe she is ill and can't come or something…
"I hope she's alright," Sirius said, his train of thought obviously following Harry's.
"Maybe Mother just forgot to mention her, I'm sure she's still coming," Harry said trying to stay optimistic.
Sirius didn't buy it though and he turned away again looking troubled.
"Yeah," he said, trying to convince himself, "maybe."
TBT
"Druella darling, how lovely to see you," Walburga cried as she greeted her sister-in-law. The members of the Black family were gathered in the entrance hall of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, all dressed in exquisite dress-robes of dark green, black, silver and the occasional dark purple. Harry and Sirius watched from the second landing, looking down at their twelve relatives as the murmurs of polite small talk reached their ears. The two boys were dressed in their best black dress-robes, leaning on the banister, and glumly observing their family. It was hard to distinguish between family members as nearly everyone had black or dark hair, and the birds-eye-view of the party didn't exactly help matters.
"There's Bella and Cissy," Sirius pointed them out to Harry apathetically. Harry just grunted in response. "Can't see Andy though." A barking laughter floated up raising a small smile on the twin's faces.
"Uncle Alphard's here,"
"Yeah that's good." They continued to watch for a while, and then Sirius suddenly broke into a fit of coughs.
"Bergh," he groaned when the fit had stopped, "Grandfather's here too, I got the smoke from his pipe." Harry hid a smirk and turned his attention back downstairs.
"We'll have to head down soon; else Mother will send Kreacher or Reg up to get us," Harry said.
"Oh no, we can't embarrass Mother dearest like that, can we?" Sirius replied sarcastically.
"Come on, maybe it won't be that bad,"
"Always the optimistic one aren't you?"
"Shut up Siri, I'm just saying–"
"Okay, okay, sorry, maybe you're right and we'll have a dandy old time today with our loving family,"
"No need to overdo it now,"
"I'm not over doing it; I'm speaking from treasured experience,"
Harry moaned and put his head in his hands, "Fine let's just go down there, and get it over with then," he said, voice smothered.
Sirius gave a grin which ended up looking more like a grimace, "Great!" he gritted with forced enthusiasm, "What are we waiting for then?" he grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him along behind him as they started towards the stairs.
"Oh, I don't know, a slightly more sane family perhaps?"
"Rhetorical question Harry,"
"Siri! You know a big word!"
"Shut up."
TBT
Their previous Birthdays and family gatherings had never been enjoyable affairs, so the Black twins didn't place much hope in this one. Sure enough, three minutes in and they were already thinking of ways to escape. Presently; Walburga had seated everyone in the Dining room for lunch; it was a formal affair as always so they sat at the handsome dark-wood table, in the ornate stiff-backed chairs.
The huge chandelier above was lit up, but the light seemed not to reach the far corners of the room. Silvery grey silk covered the walls with pictures of leering family members here and there. All the food was fancy, every dish was rare and expensive, but the taste was usually disregarded as a minor detail (It was far more important to show how rich and classy you were.) The adults each had a delicate chalice of fine elderflower wine; with the Black family shield on every one of course, and only the best silverware was used.
Orion Black sat at the head of the table next to his Father, Arcturus. The twin's Grandfather was old now, in his mid-seventies, his black hair had turned white, but his grey eyes were just as sharp as ever. Walburga sat opposite him talking to Grandmother Melania and Auntie Druella; it continued down the table descending in age, until on the other end was their cousins. Bellatrix was striking nineteen-year-old with dark hair and eyes; she had left school a year ago and was engaged to a man named Roldolphus Lestrange. The twins had only me him once and they thought he was perfect for her, as he was just as mean, nasty, and cruel. Next to her sat her sister Narcissa Black, she was a fourth year Slytherin at Hogwarts this year. Narcissa was just as beautiful as her sister, but was her opposite with blonde hair and cold blue eyes; behind her back Sirius and Harry called her the Ice-witch.
The twins unfortunately were sat directly across from these two, with Regulus at the end of the table. They were feeling miserable because it was quite obvious that their favourite cousin Andromeda wasn't here, and they didn't even have Uncle Alphard to entertain them because he was somewhere up the table talking to Uncle Cygnus; his barking laughter sounding every now and again. Andromeda was seventeen this year and in her final year at Hogwarts.
"Where's Andy?" Harry piped up suddenly, interrupting their cousins' conversation. Bellatrix turned to sneer at the twins, her features twisted with detest.
"Wouldn't you like to know," she said haughtily.
"Can't you brats see we're having a conversation here, or do you have no semblance of proper manners at all now?" Narcissa heckled.
"Where is she?" Harry persisted fixing the girls with a steady gaze; he was far too used to the girls and knew better then to get riled up at them.
"None of you business, you scrawny little pest,"
"Just because it's your birthday doesn't mean you can order us about,"
"What's the matter Narcissa," Sirius came in, "don't fancy being locked in the attic again?"
"You dim-witted toerags, I'll get you back for that," she hissed; her eyes flashing menacingly.
"No you won't, 'cause you're too stupid and too slow,"
"Sirius," Harry warned softly, he didn't want to cause trouble so early in the afternoon.
"Our sister's not here because she can't stand your presence,"
"Frankly you make her sick,"
"Why would she want to see you two anyway?"
"Oh look, the wittle baby wabies are going to start cwying," Bellatrix taunted nastily, "I think we've upset them Cissy,"
"Who cares? Their just nosy little nobodies, who will never amount to anything."
Sirius lurched suddenly, as if he was going to attack the girls from across the table. Harry, on reflex, caught his arm and pulled him back down into his seat, which Sirius took reluctantly, but he kept his blue-grey eyes glaring hatefully at their cousins. The girls broke into titters of malicious laughter, and Sirius jerkily shook Harry's hand off his arm, his face like a thundercloud. Regulus sat quietly in-between the four, keeping his head down and his gaze fixed firmly on the plate in front of him.
The rest of the meal Sirius and Harry ate in silence, ignoring any jibes the girls made at them as they resumed their conversation. But after ten minutes of this, Harry couldn't take it anymore and excused himself to get a glass of water, Sirius found he suddenly needed a drink too and the two boys left the dining room together. As soon as they were out of the door, they shared a dark look about their family and continued down to the kitchen.
"They make me so angry!" Sirius burst out as soon as they made it to the safety of the basement.
"Yeah, I know. But you can't attack them at the table," Harry said soberly.
"I wasn't going to,"
"Righhht,"
"But why isn't Andy here?"
"Who knows?" Harry sighed and leaned against the kitchen bench. Neither of them really needed a drink, it was just an excuse to get away.
"They do,"
"Well, duh,"
"Harry, what if it's something serious, like she's –ill– or something,"
Harry shrugged helplessly, as his gaze drifted round the kitchen; broken mumblings from the kitchen pantry told Harry where Kreacher was, and at the end of the room was the smouldering fireplace. This, however, did nothing to warm the room, Harry wondered if there was actually some charm in place that stopped it from heating the room above chilling.
"Hey, I've got an idea!" Sirius said, sounding excited. He had followed Harry's gaze to the fireplace, "We could Floo to Andy's!"
Harry turned to his twin open mouthed, "Wha–? No!" he downright refused.
"Oh come on, it's a brilliant idea,"
"It's a terrible idea,"
"Andy won't mind,"
"Our family will, and besides we're not allowed to use the Floo by ourselves,"
"They can't stop us,"
"They'll kill us!"
"They won't even know were gone,"
"Siri we can't just LEAVE!"
"Why not?"
"Because – because," Harry floundered to explain, "we just – can't –" he ended lamely, he had a very bad feeling about this.
But Sirius was already heading for the bag of Floo powder on the mantelpiece.
TBT
A/N
Dun, dun, DUN!
I hope people don't mind that I skipped to ten-years-old; I just thought it would be annoying if I took forever to get to Hogwarts.
As to the rest… well you'll just have to wait for Part Two of One Hell of a Day!
XX – Mel