For some families, Christmas was celebrated. But for the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, they celebrated Yule. The biggest event they had was the Yule Ball, which took place on the twenty-fifth of December at Black Castle, which was only used for family events. No one had lived there for over thirty years.
Sirius, Regulus, Arcturus, and Melania arrived early. The Lord and Lady always arrived before the others. Soon after they arrived, Cassiopeia came, followed by Lucretia and Severus. Ignatius preferred to celebrate with the Prewett family.
Other members of the Black family started coming. It wasn't long before the Black sisters arrived. Bellatrix immediately noticed Severus.
"Why is there a half-blood here?" she asked coldly, glaring at Severus.
"It's none of your business why I am here," Severus answered before Sirius could.
Bellatrix was about to say something else, but that was when Orion and Walburga arrived. Sirius stiffened. He knew they would be coming, but to actually see them again brought back bad memories.
"Sirius, Regulus," Orion greeted coldly.
"What are YOU two doing here?" Walburga asked icily. "You're both a disgrace to our family." She then looked at Severus and sneered, "What is HE doing here? He's a filthy half-blood!"
"Walburga, enough," Arcturus ordered. "This is a time to spend with family, not accuse people of their blood status or whether they should be here or not."
"But Arcturus, that half-blood doesn't belong here!" Walburga argued.
"And who is the head of this family?" Arcturus asked, daring her to keep arguing. Walburga glared at him.
"Fine, whatever you say," she said, walking away. Orion followed her.
"Maybe I don't belong here," Severus muttered.
"Hey, don't listen to that woman," Sirius told him. "She thinks she's the one in charge. She's my mother. Trust me, she is horrible. You belong here, Severus. There might be a few people here tonight who won't like you because you're a half-blood, but it's not their decision on who gets to come. That is Grandfather's choice. And if he allowed you to come, then that means you belong here. And anyway, if she gets to be too much, Grandfather does have the power to make her leave. She knows this, so that's why she finally gave up her argument." Severus smiled slightly.
"You seem to know what you're talking about," he commented.
Sirius grinned. "I'm the Heir. Of course I know what I'm talking about!"
The ball started soon after. Sirius didn't like these balls, but as Heir of the House of Black, he was required to at least greet e" single guest. There were so many guests to speak with, so he decided to get started.
Sirius spoke with the people he got along best first. He even had an informative discussion with Cassiopeia about her current research project.
Finally, Sirius got to the people he didn't like that much. He first talked to Pollux.
Lucretia was on edge. Something was wrong. She felt that there was dark magic coming from somewhere, but she couldn't place it. She was determined to get to the bottom of it.
She went to the refreshments table to get a butterbeer when Walburga came up next to her. That's when she felt it. The black magic. She looked at the woman, trying to find the source of the forbidden magic.
She finally found the source. Whatever it was, it was hiding under her dress robes. She smirked. Ever since the beginning of the Black family, it was a rule that any member found with an object with forbidden magic would be automatically disowned from the family. Now she just needed to get Walburga to reveal it so Lord Black could disown her.
"Walburga,just out of curiosity, what is under your dress robes?" Lucretia asked loud enough to catch the attention of several of the family members, which was her intention.
Walburga beamed, not seeing what Lucretia was planning. She was just excited to share what she had.
"Oh, Lucretia, I am glad you asked," Walburga said, bringing the object in question out into the open. "This is Slytherin's locket," she said proudly. "The Dark Lord has asked me to keep it safe."
"And when did you get this locket?" Lucretia asked.
"Two months ago," Walburga replied, a cruel smile on her face. "I am so proud to be holding onto such an important object."
Lucretia turned to her father, and spoke. "Lord Black, Walburga Black has been found with an object full of black magic." That announcement alone caused an uproar.
"You're a liar!" Walburga shrieked.
"Do not accuse people of something without proof, Lucretia!" Pollux snarled.
Others were shouting things like, "I knew that woman was up to no good!" and, "I cannot believe she would disgrace our family!"
"SILENCE!" Lord Black bellowed. Once the noise died down, he turned to Walburga. "Walburga, please put the locket on the floor. NOW." Walburga knew better than to defy a direct order from the head of the family. She carefully put the locket down near her feet. Arcturus waved his wand over the locket, and the color that was shown above of the object was black.
Once again, there was an uproar. Some were shouting calling Walburga a disgrace. Walburga, of course, kept pointing at Lucretia and shouting, "You're a liar!"
Arcturus had to order for people to be quiet once again. "Walburga Black, you have been found guilty of knowingly carrying around an object full of black magic. For that, you are hereby no longer a member of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. You are hereby banned from accessing any vault you may have had access to in the Black name. You are also hereby banned from all Black properties starting now. You will have twelve hours to retrieve and move your belongings from Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. After twelve hours, the wards will kick you out. You will not have access to any other Black property during this twelve hour period. Now leave, and never come back."
Walburga screamed loudly, starting to shout things like, "You will pay!" But before she could say anything more, the wards activated and kicked her out of Black Castle.
When she finally left, Arcturus broke the silence that had taken over. "Lucretia, please go around and ensure that no one else has any artifacts with black 'magic."
"Yes, Father," Lucretia agreed. She started walking around the ballroom.
Arcturus turned to Orion, who was glaring at him. "Orion, will you remain with us in the family, or do you wish to follow Walburga?"
Orion scoffed. "I don't see what's wrong with black magic. I'm out of here. Goodbye, Father. It was nice knowing you." He then turned to Melania. "Goodbye, Mother. It was nice knowing you as well." With that, Orion walked out of the room and out of Black Castle.
Sirius had never seen his grandparents trying to hold back tears, especially his grandfather. Arcturus was always good at hiding emotions. The most Sirius had seen before was concern, but now, he saw a look that he never thought he'd see on his face. Sirius could understand. It must be hard knowing that one of your own children left you forever.
Lucretia was relieved to find no more black magic from any of the other members. When she was done, she turned to see her parents fighting a losing battle. Her mother had tears running down her face, and her father was barely holding back his tears. She felt tears come to her own eyes. Orion was her brother, and at one point in time, her brother was a great person. But as soon as Voldemort became the leader of Slytherin house, Orion had followed him, and so did Walburga.
Lucretia didn't want to say anything, but the black magic in that locket was starting to make her sick. "Father?" she asked quietly. Arcturus was startled. He turned to her. "I'm so sorry to have to mention this, but can we please do something with this locket?" Arcturus understood what she was saying immediately.
"Kreacher!" Arcturus barked. Kreacher popped into the room. "Kreacher, for now on, you shall not listen to Orion and Walburga. If either of them call for you, do not answer. Walburga has been disowned, and Orion has decided to leave us."
"Yes, Master Lord Black," Kreacher responded.
"Also, please take this locket to the headmaster's office at Hogwarts."
"Yes, Master Lord Black," Kreacher said, popping away with the locket.
"Thank you, Father," Lucretia said.
Arcturus nodded. "I believe this concludes our evening. We have much to reflect on after losing two members tonight. Please think about who you would rather follow. A half-blood dark wizard who pretends to be a blood-purest, or a member of the Black family. Have a good night everyone." Everyone started leaving the ball room.
Sirius and Regulus went back to Black Manor. They decided to let their grandparents have time to come to terms with what happened, but the next morning, they would remind them that they would never be like their father, and that they would never leave the family behind.