"To say my childhood was unconventional would be an understatement. I was born Aries Sirius Black on the thirtieth of August 1981 to Sirius Orion Black and Alexandra Black nee Rowle. My father was the disowned first-born blood-traitor son of a powerful pureblood family and my mother was, likewise, outcast from her strict pureblood family for her political views. They met at Hogwarts though did not date until after they had graduated, my father was training to be an auror and mother training to be a healer, both kept the relationship a secret, well aware of the target they would make themselves if it were ever known - blood-traitor members of prominent Voldemort supporting families, an auror and both members of the order of the phoenix." A fond smile tugged at Aries lips as he spoke, but when he started up again it vanished.
"And then my mother fell pregnant. Their marriage was held in secret, the only attendees were your parents, James and Lily Potter. Father had agreed to be the decoy for their secret keeper and, fearful for the life of both of us, he arranged for Mother and I to be hidden before her pregnancy even began to show. As far as the world was concerned she was dead and I had never existed. I have pictures of my family all together in those precious few months before our world dissolved, Father would visit as often as he could while being wary not to draw attention to us and Mother desperately tried to hold onto some remnant of his presence through photographs, always fearing that this visit might be his last, that he might be snatched from us through the cruelty of war. And then he was. Not at the end of a Death Eaters' wand though, fighting for the Aurors or the Order as she had feared, no, he was framed for the betrayal of his best friends and the deaths of thirteen people." His face was grim and he practically growled the last sentence. Paddy's ears pricked up at the tone and he raised his head in his spot by the fire, as though checking for danger nearby. Harry grimaced in sympathy but did not interrupt.
"Mother did not show herself and testify that he was not their Secret Keeper out of fear of the roving bands of Death Eaters, made desperate by the fall of their Lord and by the time they were all captured it was too late, Sirius Black was an insane murderer and betrayer, vilified beyond all reason and the emergence of his wife and son would have been dangerous for us both. So we stayed in hiding in the house that my Great-Uncle Alphard left to my father, deep in the Welsh wilderness."
"When I turned eleven I received my Hogwarts letter but did not attend, I had no wish to be stared at for being the son of an accused murderer and mother feared for my safety, I was tutored at home and still, no one but my parents was aware of my existence. We would visit muggle towns under glamours and assumed identities occasionally but were largely isolated, not that I minded, I had my books, my broom, my dog Paddy (short for Padfoot, after my father) and hills and mountains to roam at my leisure." Though he had seemed regretful when he spoke of his Hogwarts letter the memory of his childhood home brought a wistful smile to his face, as though he were recalling a pleasant dream.
"Not long before my twelfth birthday we received the news that my father had escaped Azkaban and rejoiced but he did not come and find us, not until the next summer did he return to us. Azkaban had left its mark upon him and so, to aid his recovery in a place he did not have to fear recognition, we travelled abroad for a time, that's why his letters to you were carried by exotic birds. Then father received word from you and we returned to Britain so that Father could be near if you needed help. Mother and I returned to our home and he stayed with us intermittently, living near Hogwarts at times when he felt you were particularly in danger. My training was stepped up, I had always been quick and wanted to complete my OWLS that year, one year early, but Father also helped, giving me some of the training he received as an auror." Harry looked guilty at the thought that he had been responsible for the separation of the recently reunited family but when he opened his mouth to apologise he remembered his companion's request for silence until he had finished.
"That academic year culminated in an event that changed everything once again, Voldemort's return. Suddenly Father was needed in the reforming of the Order of the Phoenix and Headquarters was to be at Grimmauld Place, the Black townhouse in London, where he would have to stay to allow them access to the wards. We did not join him there immediately; Mother did not trust that there was not another spy in their ranks, another Wormtail. The Weasleys, you and Hermione (who Dad told me had been with you when you helped him escape from Hogwarts on the back of Buckbeak) were staying, once you were retrieved from his relatives. I have the letters Father wrote me that summer, he told me how guilty he felt for wishing that your trial went badly so that you would be expelled and could live with us and he could raise us both like brothers as he and James had promised each other they would should anything happen to either one of them." Conflicting emotions tore across Harry's face, the thought of leaving Hogwarts was not pleasant but he almost wished he had, in order to be part of that family. He could not dwell on it for long however, as Aries was talking once more.
"Once you had all left for Hogwarts and the older Weasleys had returned to their home then Mother and I joined him. The house was awful, dusty and full of the accumulated artefacts of centuries of Dark Arts followers but I was with both my parents and was even introduced to Remus Lupin, the only one of my father's friends still alive apart from the Rat- shocked does not even begin to cover his reaction. We lived relatively peacefully for the next three and a half months, Mother, Father and Remus all taught me, Paddy and I explored the house, and as a family we healed from long years of isolation, imprisonment and separation."
"Then, just before Christmas, Arthur Weasley was attacked and the Weasleys, you and Hermione descended on Grimmauld Place once more so Mother and I retreated to Wales, I didn't want to leave but Father insisted. I'm not quite sure why we persisted in hiding our existence from even our closest allies but we did. Once we returned to London life continued much the same as before; studying, getting to know my father and hiding in my room (formerly my uncle Regulus') on the top floor next to my parents' room when the Order had their meetings." Once more Harry looked guilty, his Christmas with his Godfather had come at the price of the man's Christmas with his family, but Aries shrugged it off.
" I suppose we must have become complacent in a way, after so many years making trips into the local towns and villages back in Wales, even to Cardiff one or twice, we decided Mother and I could risk a trip into Muggle London. We did not venture into Diaggon Alley, that would have been foolish, but we wandered close to the Leaky Cauldron and it was there we were spotted, despite changes in eye and hair colour, by my uncle, the Death Eater Thorfinn Rowle. He cornered us in an alley as we prepared to disapparate and, with the help of silencing and muggle repelling charms conbined with anti-apparition wards he had us trapped, to question us at his leisure. Mother would not talk, even when he used the Cruciatus but when he turned it on me she broke, admitting who we were and that we had been hiding for the last fourteen years but never mentioning the Order or that we knew Father was innocent or were in contact with him. Eventually, he got bored, Mother distracted him and he turned on her, while her eyes urged me to flee, he used the Avada Kedavra. I ran. I don't know how I made it across London back home when my whole body was shaking and screaming with pain and tears blinded me but I did." Aries' face was haunted as he deliberately avoided Harry's shocked, pitying gaze.
"The next months were not pretty. Father and I fell apart. Mother had been the centre around which my whole life revolved, my teacher, my only company through the lonely years of my childhood. Father had spent so long locked up and finally regained his wife and son only to lose her less than two years later. I barely slept, plagued by nightmares of the death which I witnessed and my own torture, and Father drank. Remus kept us alive, ensuring Father left his bottles and I my books to get regular meals but nothing could fill the gaping hole in our lives. As the months passed things improved a little, Father still drank and I was still reclusive but we would sometimes spend evenings in front of the fire, him telling stories of Mother in their youth and me telling of her when I was a child." Aries was stroking Paddy's head, which now rested in his lap as the dog looked up at him mournfully, as if understanding his mood.
"I was hiding in my room, relaxing after having completed the last of my OWLS (in disguise) at the Ministry earlier that day, when the Order heard about your presence in the Department of Mysteries. Father was not supposed to go with them, he was meant to stay and speak to Dumbledore but he didn't. I think I understand why he left, he had not been able to save Lily and James, he had not been able to save Mother but he could at least try to save you."
"I heard the door unlock from where I waited, halfway up the first flight of stairs. Remus entered first, he was drawn and pale, I could see something in his eyes when he met mine, he looked broken. His voice shook as he spoke "Aries. I'm so sorry." I lost it. I shouted and screamed, my rage and loss sending great uncontrollable tremors through my body, my magic raging around me, rattling the paintings on the walls and smashing ornaments. I did not even notice the other Order members crowded in behind Remus staring at me in shock. He approached me warily and wrapped me in his arms. I buried my head against his head and sobbed for the loss of my father, so soon after my mother, so soon after I finally got him back, and for myself, cast adrift in the world, an orphan who most did not even realise existed." Aries was white and drawn but he gritted his teeth and persevered with his tale.
" 'What the bloody hell is going on here?' growled a man who I recognised from my father's stories as Mad-Eye Moody. I did not pay attention to Remus' explanation, to their shocked looks and exclamations, their questions. Eventually Remus scooped me up when I grew weak from crying and carried me to the drawing room. He sat on one of the sofas and I curled up next to him, my head in his lap as he carded his hand through my hair comfortingly. I could fell his voice rumbling through me as he spoke to the others, who had followed him, settling on chairs and settees. Someone produced some Firewhisky and I remember the clink of glasses and the soft murmur of stories telling stories of my Father as I slipped, exhausted into sleep." He clenched and unclenched his fists, feeling the imprints left by his nails cutting into flesh.
"No one knew what to do with me. There was talk of sending me to live with Andromeda, my father's cousin, but I didn't want to leave Grimmauld place, despite the memory of what I had lost haunting every room. Returning to Wales was out of the question, I didn't want to sully my childhood memories of its beauty with the despair I was feeling. Remus and I stayed in the house but my cousin Tonks often visited and she helped a lot. It couldn't last however, Remus couldn't teach me everything on his own so it was decided that, come September I'd attend Hogwarts and start as a sixth year because I'd already done my OWLs. Tonks took me to get my supplies at Diagon Alley once my booklist arrived. I'd never been before. And now, here I am."
Aries finished his story and silence fell. He looked up at the boy opposite him and in the green eyes saw, not pity, he would have hated that, but understanding and an echo of his own pain reflected back at him. He attempted to smile "I always did want to go to Hogwarts."