Sirius watched as his brother and cousins left the dinner table. He had to stay behind to be lectured by his parents, grandparents, and their siblings. Luckily his Uncle Alphard was there.

As the table was being cleared, Arcturus Black III, the current head of the family, was the first to speak. He was a warlock (I will always view 'Wizard' as a gender-neutral term) in his 70's, and was Sirius's paternal grandfather, and maternal 1st-cousin-twice-removed. "Sirius Orion, as heir of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, you have many responsibilities, which we have been painstakingly reminding you of."

Sirius gave a nod. Of course he was aware, and he hated every one of them.

"One of those responsibilities," Arcturus continued, "as you know, is to find a suitable bride and produce heirs of your own."

"And despite my daughter's best efforts," interjected Pollux Black, a warlock in his 60's, and was Sirius's maternal grandfather and paternal 1st-cousin-twice-removed, "all of your potential suitors have either rejected you, or you have refused."

Sirius again nodded. Ever since he was at least five, his mother had been looking for eligible brides from pure-blood families in both Great Britain and abroad. Sirius couldn't handle any of them.

"And some of the reasons I heard for suitors rejecting you," Sirius's mother and 2nd-cousin-once-removed Walburga Black said with resentment, "is your closeness with the trouble-maker James Potter and the half-squib Remus Lupin! Carlotta Mulciber was over for tea today, and she said her son Augustus told her he and his friends often see you cuddling those two in public. And Pompeia Avery said that she saw you snogging Lupin!"

Sirius instantly paled. He knew he was pushing things, but he just couldn't help himself. He was lucky he could keep his brother quiet by holding his relationship with the house elf Kreacher over his head, but he couldn't do that with everyone. He had to come clean.

"We've been hearing these things for a while," Sirius's father and 2nd-cousin-once-removed Orion Black stated, "and we have talked with you about it, however you haven't improved much, if at all."

"Your bedroom is a shrine to all things Gryffindor and muggle!" Walburga nearly shrieked. "And no matter what we do, we can't get rid of them!"

"I- I am in Gryffindor." Sirius meekly said. Although he was 16, he felt like he was 5.

"And you won't keep quiet about it!" Walburga yelled, "When that stupid hat placed you in that house, half of your marriage prospects vanished! And then when you wouldn't stop defending them, and being with them, the other half crumpled!"

Sirius felt the anger boil inside him. He wanted to lash out, but he felt restrained by his family's wishes.

"We are not here to simply yell at you Sirius." Alphard Black soothed, he was Sirius's maternal uncle and paternal 2nd-cousin-once-removed, "We are simply here to ask if you are aware of what your actions are doing to our family's future, and who you intend to marry."

Sirius took a breath. James's words from the Whomping Willow incident rang in his head, "You need to be more thoughtful next time. If you care about him, show it! Or else you're just a prideful prick like your parents." He, he had to come clean. He patted his wand from underneath the table, exit strategy quickly forming. "I, I don't care."

"Don't care?" The adults yelled in shock.

"Being a Gryffindor means being brave. Not letting fear stop you." Sirius thought, "Yes. I'd rather be a Potter or a Lupin, rather than a Black who insists that the only way to be, is to be an in-bred pure-blood! The Gaunts died off due to them only marrying pure-bloods, and Nymphadora Tonks, a half-blood, is a metamorphmagus!"

The others were too in shock to say anything, although Alphard did agree with some of his nephew's points.

"Well, if you'd rather be a Potter," Arcturus finally asked, "what's stopping you?"

"This conversation." Sirius smartly answered, then he booked it back to his room.

Walburga nearly flew after her son in a blind rage, however she was held back by her husband and younger brother.

"Walburga, he's young." Alphard reasoned. "If we kill him, or beat him, we'll get in trouble!"

"Only if we're caught!" Walburga shrieked.

"Which we will be!" Orion stated, "You know how Hogwarts is!"

Walburga stopped her struggles. She did know Hogwarts, and Dumbledore.

"Let's just burn him off the tree." Walburga's youngest brother Cygnus Black suggested, "He's a runaway and a blood-traitor afterall."

"I agree." Pollux stated, "Arcturus?"

The head of House Black slowly nodded. "First thing tomorrow."

The others agreed, and soon went to bed. However, Sirius Orion Black refused to sleep in that house another night. With his bags packed and shrunk, the teenager grabbed his broom and took off into the night to live with his best friend, and soon-to-be official adopted brother, James Potter.

James was sitting his bed reading a quidditch magazine, when he suddenly felt his two-way mirror activate. He quickly picked it up. "Hey Pads."

"Prongs!" a panicked Sirius yelled into the mirror, "Are you home? I need to come over!"

"Yes, you finally running away?" James asked, the two had planned Sirius's escape from his terrible family for years.

"Yep, although I was kinda kicked out. I'll explain later. I'm in the Knight Bus, I should be there soon."

"Ok, I'll unlock the door and tell my parents." James told him.

"Thanks mate, you're the best."

"That's what friends are for." James said, then he hung up and rushed downstairs. The plan originally for Sirius to live with his cousin Andromeda, however when James overheard his parents lament that they couldn't have more children, and were hesitant on adopting, the plan changed for Sirius to live with them.

"What's wrong love?" Euphemia Potter asked her son when he rushed to the door.

"Sirius is coming over." James explained.

"Now? It's the middle of the night."

"He ran away." James explained as he unlocked the door, "And might've been kicked out."

"Kicked out!?" Euphemia asked in shock. Although she knew how elitist the Blacks were, she never imagined they would kick out their heir at such a young age.

"He said he'd explain when he got here." James answered as he went to wait outside.

"Well then I'll make him some tea." Euphemia stated as she went to the kitchen.

It wasn't long before the Knight Bus arrived at the Potter's door. When Sirius stepped out, he looked quite shaken. James couldn't tell if it was from what his family did, the ride, or both.

"Padfoot!" James called to his friend.

"Prongs!" Sirius said in relief. Then he rushed to him and they held each other in a brotherly embrace.

"I'm glad you made it here safe." James told him in a mix of relief and joke.

"Well I was tossed around a bit." Sirius replied with a smile.

The two broke out in a fit of laughter.

Finally James said, "Come, let's get inside, Mum's got a kettle on."