Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition
Team: Tutshill Tornados
Position: Keeper
Prompt: The Rains of Castmere
I used the idea of someone in a position of power being overpowered by someone else and the hurt it provokes. It was mainly inspired by the sentence "a shift in power superior vs inferior" in the summary as well as the sentence "And who are you […] that I must bow so low?" in the lyrics.
TG: We are talking of the Black family so Emotional abuse is to be expected (mostly neglecting of children's feelings) as well as implied physical abuse.
AN: Phew I did it! I would like to thank Abby (plasticmoonandstars) for betaing this despite the fact that I asked her very late and that she is the Magpies keeper. It was really nice of her and there might have been some strange sentences if she hadn't had a look at it.
On a rainy November day, between tears and screams, a beautiful woman gave birth to a little boy. He already had a mop of black hair and grey eyes, showing his affiliation to The Most Noble and Ancient House of Black. The medi-witch placed him delicately in his mother's arms for her to hold him against her heart.
However, as much as she was relieved to finally see her suffering ending, she was not overwhelmed by the unspeakable love every mother was supposed to feel when giving birth to a child. She did not feel anything except relief at having birthed a boy who could inherit the Black family's fortune and beliefs, carrying them out to victory. She had done her duty; the rest was up to faith and education.
As the little boy grew up, he was revered by all the family. His status as first-born predestining him to be the heir and beautiful looks charmed most people. The elves let him do anything he wanted, his cousins cooed at how cute he was, and his personal instructor always complimented his sagacity which surpassed by far any child of his age. Yet, his parents never took him in their arms, never kissed him when he scratched a knee nor smiled when he gave them a drawing which had taken him the better part of a day to create. He was their favourite, not by choice, but by birth: they didn't love him as their child but as a project that would one day carry out its fruits. He was the heir, that was the most important thing in their eyes.
His younger brother was not held in the same esteem. He was not the heir, just a lifeboat stored and preserved to be used if the main ship were to sink. In the faint hypothesis of Sirius being incapable to withhold his responsibility, Regulus would become the heir of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black, but it was not even in the realm of possibilities for his parents. Therefore, they showed him even less affection than they did to his older brother and, if they took great care in his moral and intellectual upbringing, they never saw a reason to focus on his emotions nor to be proud of him.
As any rich pureblood child would, they both received the best education that they could be provided. They were taught by the best teachers from the pureblood elite, who underlined blood purity more than anything else. They learned to read on the thick boring book called Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy and trained their memory by reciting by heart all the descendants of Phineas Nigellus Black and their relationship to each other.
Even from a young age, the differences in personality made themselves known between the two brothers. Regulus was a follower. He listened carefully to whatever his parents or instructor said and revered his older brother who always seemed so carefree and sure of himself. Indeed, Sirius had been used to being able to get away with any minor trouble he might cause and quite enjoyed causing mayhem in the house. He liked to think by himself and often put into doubt what his teachers said. He was anything but the following type: that was what Regulus admired the most and what scared the most his parents.
When he reached the age of grasping the implications of his family's behaviour towards muggleborns - mudbloods, as they said- he started to drift away from them all. He sought refuge in her cousin's arms and words which seemed so much less filled with hatred and self-importance. Andy was kind; she was the first person to show him that love indeed existed.
He was destroyed when she was disowned. His parents were shouting abuse at her and his uncle and aunt, her own parents, were telling her repeatedly that she was a disgrace. She replied fiercely but with tears in her eyes that she preferred love to blood purity and was glad to escape from this hell of a family if it meant that she could be with her lover. It was her rebellion act: she never came back. Her name was burned from the family tapestry instead of being linked to Ted and later on Nymphadora Tonks' ones.
This event was the start of Sirius' rebellion. He gave up on trying to fit his family's expectations. Yes, he was the heir, he was expected to do good, but no, he wouldn't do it, not when he had seen his family cruelty and a demonstration of the pain they caused.
From then on, he did not conform to what they expected from him and enjoyed it quite much: he wore muggle clothes Andy had sent him when he could, refusing to insult her like the rest of the family and keeping on writing to her even when risking an excruciating punishment. His family tried to guide him through what they considered to be the right path, punishing, lecturing his misdemeanour, and encouraging pureblood-like behaviour to remind him of his rank. He was still the favourite, but only because of his birth since his brother's behaviour fit so much better his family's expectations.
Their efforts, however, did not work: all they ever did was to exacerbate his hate for his family beliefs. It came to its peak when he was sorted in Gryffindor. The next day, he received a loud howler, filled with fuel and recriminations from his mother, ordering him to change the sorting in order not to be forced to be in a House filled with 'disgusting mudbloods and unworthy blood-traitors.' It hurt, but it comforted him in the thought that he was better where he was.
As the years went by, his rebellion strengthened, and he felt everyday closer to his friends than to his family. By becoming himself, he became everything his family hated: Muggle-lover, half-blood friend and blood traitor. He even started to support what they called half-breed and dark creatures as he knew from experience that they were only humans in reality.
During the first few years, his parents still had the hope of setting him straight -as if they could. They found excuses for his sorting and still held him as a prodigy in front of their friends' eyes, mentioning his "failed" sorting as an unintentional failure which he clearly regretted. He didn't. Nevertheless, their seemingly proud behaviour did not prevent them from punishing him harshly from any misstep he might make.
He was still supposed to be their golden façade, dictated by their dark heritage. However, Regulus was more and more taken as an example, he was the son they would have preferred to have birthed first. He was Slytherin, held the same principles as them and was a conformist which helped them to ingrain their twisted views in his mind.
Sirius was not the best in their eyes anymore and, when he reached the age of sixteen, he could see it crystal-clear. His rebellion, always meant to anger his parents a little more, had succeeded. As much as he loved to see them being flustered in public by his behaviour, and showing them the wrong in their beliefs, it still hurt each time they preferred his brother to him; not that he actually wanted to be preferred.
During all his young years, he had been the favourite, not by choice and he knew it. So, when he suddenly became a subject of shame: something to be hidden, punished even more than before, and did not hold in their eyes more value than any other blood-traitor, it hurt like losing a part of himself. They had never given him love, but they had given him attention, even if scarcely, and he had gotten used to it. It hurt to see them give attention he didn't even want to his discreet younger brother instead of himself. He was jealous, and yet didn't want in any way to be at his brother's place.
The final blow came when one day at dinner, as he argued harshly with his brother about something he couldn't remember, her mother sharply said, "Show some respect to your brother!" It was nothing and could have passed for any admonishment she used to address him. However, this struck him as the sign that he had indeed been replaced in their minds - since he had never had a place in their hearts - by his younger brother, who was now worth the compliments and attention.
He knew his brother and, as much as he loved him with all his heart and hated him with all his mind, Regulus was not worth his respect nor his admiration; no matter what his mother implied. Who was he that Sirius had to bow so low? When did he become so important? He was no better than the rest of the family and, for Sirius' standards, that meant worse than almost anyone else he knew.
That day, he saw no reason to hold back his thoughts as he argued violently with his mother: shoving to her head all her wrong-doings and her prejudices. Without thinking ahead, he told her that he indeed loved half-bloods and blood-traitors way more than his own family which had never seen him as any more than a puppet designed to inherit the family's fortune. Saying that she didn't like what she heard would be an understatement as the next day saw him out of the manor, bruised and confused, yet never wanting to ever set foot again in this grim place.
A few hours later, he was sitting on a comfortable couch in a cosy house, a cup of tea in his hand and warm smiles surrounding him. He was more than happy to have found the Potter Family who showed him yet again that a family was meant to love you and support you no matter what.
Pressed between Mrs Potter and his new brother, he tried with all his might to forget this bitter feeling in his gut that somewhere in London, Regulus had been left alone to be the heir of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black. He had become the favourite -if he was honest with himself, Sirius would admit it had already occurred several years ago- while the unloved Black had been erased from the family tree like a bad memory.
With a chance to start a new life, Sirius knew he would not be the favourite child of his new parents - not because he was not worth it, but because they loved each child they took under their wing equally. It didn't bother him since he could now enjoy affection and admiration which were not due to his birth but to the person he had grown to be. He was loved and loved in return: that was the most important thing.
Moon-star-and-chocolate