Sirius loves his godson. He truly does.
But Sirius currently wants to strangle his beloved godson for panicking in the wake of being invited on a date with the Zabini Heir.
Sirius had had to talk Haylan into going to sleep after writing his reply to Zabini, that they would tackle all the details in the morning.
Sirius had not expected to be woken up at 5 am to Haylan yelling about having nothing that was nice enough to wear on a proper date.
Sirius was also positive that Haylan could show up to his date in a trash bag and Zabini would find him attractive. But Haylan was hearing none of this logic. So Sirius had to request backup in the form of Narcissa Malfoy. While Sirius couldn't escape this torture, he also didn't have to face it alone. Though Narcissa actually enjoyed this sort of thing, so he wasn't sure how much camaraderie he could pull out of cousin Cissa.
Sirius could only hope they finished before lunch.
They did not in fact finish before lunch, or even dinner.
Haylan spent most of his second year 'missing' coming to terms with his new look and what he actually liked and disliked. Having lived with hand-me-downs and barely surviving the Dursleys, Harry Potter didn't have a clue about what he liked and disliked about most things. At Hogwarts, he learned how to enjoy food, and people, and books. But they wore a uniform for the majority of the time, he never got the chance to spread his wings when it came to how he looked until he was 15 years old.
After the glamorous and enchantments were removed from his body and he came out looking more like his mother than his father, he wanted to take better care of himself. He wanted to look good and feel comfortable in his own skin.
Emperor to be or not, Haylan was still a teenage boy with insecurities. So to go from small, waif-thin, but still masculine Harry Potter over to this way more androgynous and graceful-looking Haylan Caliban was a shock to the system. Narcissa held him as he cried that first night, not making fun of him for thinking he suddenly looked like a girl.
Over the years thoughts he had time to learn to fall in love with his red wavy hair that would turn into curls at the first sign of him using a lot of magic. Narcissa and Andromeda taught him how to dress in any kind of event, but they also taught him how to cater to his looks in both feminine and masculine ways. They told him how the wizarding world had looser terms on things that are strictly masculine and strictly feminine especially since it was so easy for magic to change one's body. Why be restricted to just one type of fashion?
Getting ready for his date Haylan went through more hair product than he thought Draco probably had. Styling his long red hair into bouncy curls that framed his face artfully. Outlining his eyes in kohl was a practice in patience that had taken him a long time to get down and he still couldn't do anything fancy with it like Sirius or Narcissa could. But it made his bright green eyes stand out even more than normal, and Haylan was rather fond of his eye color.
It had taken Narcissa and a reluctant Sirius a long time to come to a consensus on what outfit would be good enough for this date that also wouldn't send Blaise into a heart attack.
Haylan admired the soft black pants as he pulled them on, they were skin-tight and made his ass look amazing. They were also way too tight to wear any underpants with, but worth it for how it looked on him. Next was a tight black button-up with long sleeves and silver cufflinks. Simple, but the base is needed for the best part of his outfit.
He didn't wear them often, but Haylan had fallen in love with how a men's corset looked on his more androgynous frame. Paired with the pants, and the long sleeve shirt, Haylan knew this outfit was respectable, not revealing in any way, but also would allow Blaise to see Haylan's body in the best light.
The corset he decided on was a black and silver corset vest with the pattern of flowers and snakes intertwined. Thankfully there was a nifty spell Narcissa taught him for lacing up the back once he was in it.
For the final touches, he pulled on a pair of ankle-high black combat boots, arranged his heirship rings on his fingers, slid the crest of Caliban necklace around his throat like a choker, and lined his ears in his favorite star-themed earrings. Thanks to charms in the wizarding world Haylan didn't have to put holes in his ears to have as many or as little earrings as he wanted. But he tended to prefer at least 5 on each ear.
Looking himself over in the mirror to make sure he looked perfect, he didn't see Sirius leaning in the doorway until Sirius whistled in appreciation.
"Damn, you are trying to kill the boy. There are easier ways to kill someone you know Bambi?" Sirius teased making Haylan blush.
"I have to look perfect. I have an image to uphold and a man to seduce into ruling the wizarding world with me. This outfit accomplished both." Haylan said in the snobbiest tone he could produce. Sirius' bark-like laughter filled the room making Haylan smile. He loved seeing his godfather so open and free for once in his life.
"Well be safe and have fun kiddo. You know we will all be here waiting to ambush you when you get back from your date." Sirius wiggled his eyebrows causing Haylan to just roll his eyes.
"I hope you fall asleep waiting for us to come home." Haylan stuck his tongue out at Sirius childishly but enjoyed the laugh afterward. This is what family is supposed to feel like.
Blaise was pacing.
Blaise was trying to remember how to breathe.
Blaise was going to pass out if Heir Caliban didn't show up soon.
Blaise admittedly arrived at their date destination quite early to make sure everything was ready for them. He wanted to do something completely different from what Heir Caliban would expect from a first date.
Blaise was dressed in black slacks and a green button-down shirt that reminded him of Haylan's eyes as well as the Slytherin crest. He knew the jewel-tone green looked good with his complexion, made his eyes look more amber than brown, and showed he was proud of his roots and where he came from. He was not ashamed to be a Slytherin.
Looking down at his silver watch he saw it read 6:59 pm.
One more minute.
Unless Heir Caliban decided Blaise had messed up the first unexpected date too badly.
No, Blaise can't think like that, he has to remain positive or he was going to go crazy.
It was now 7:00 pm.
A sinking feeling filled his gut as he stood alone still on the stone pathway.
And then there was a quiet pop and Haylan was standing before him.
Haylan was beautiful. Handsome didn't do Haylan's features enough justice.
When Blaise was able to tear his eyes away from Haylan's face, he saw what the young heir was wearing and immediately felt faint.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fucking Hell and Merlin's Saggy Bollocks.
"Are you okay Heir Zabini?" Haylan asked with some concern. It took Blaise two tries to find his voice, nodding slowly.
"Yep, I mean Yes, I am fine. You are fine, I mean you look lovely, I um-" Blaise stumbled. If his mother could see him she would cackle and correct his stuttering. But Haylan just laughed softly. Smiling at Blaise with such a Slytherin devious smirk. Oh, he did this on purpose.
"You look good as well Heir Zabini. May I ask what we are doing on this date tonight?"
"Ah yes of course! But first, this is for you." Blaise pulled out a small bundle of flowers, handing them over to the blushing Caliban heir.
"Apple Blossoms, Gardenia, White Camelia, and Fern? Wouldn't Calla Lilies be more appropriate than white camelia?" Haylan asked with a raised eyebrow, Blaise would be worried if he didn't also see the small smile forming on Haylan's lips as well.
"You possess great beauty, that is true that calla lilies could have worked, but I specifically find you attractive, adorable, and beautiful. So white camelia." Blaise said quietly, hoping his words came off as sincere as he felt them and he wasn't accidentally insulting the emperor.
"Well it is a very beautiful group of flowers… thank you," Haylan said with a soft almost shy smile making Blaise feel warm inside.
Offering his hand to the short emperor, Blaise smiled back at him.
"Come along. I have big plans for us tonight."
Haylan accepted his hand with a big smile on his face and a flutter in his chest.
The Black cousins were gathered in Haylan's office, gossiping and waiting for Haylan to return. They expected him to be out quite a while, as it was only 8:30 pm at this point. But they had spent so many years apart and met in secret so often that they enjoyed the simple pleasure of just teasing each other and catching up on each other's lives.
Sirius had missed his family dearly. Sirius wished he could have saved his baby brother from his terrible fate. Regulus would have loved Haylan and would have been the perfect role model for what he needed to be to rule well. And as horrible as their relationship was at the end, Regulus wouldn't have allowed Sirius to rot in Azkaban.
But that was another life's dream. Sirius was just grateful to have another chance with his Godson.
As they chatted with red wine in their glasses and the night slowly moved forward none of them had expected the floo the flare up.
It wasn't even 9 pm yet.
But there standing outside of the floo grate was Haylan. Clothes still impeccable, hair shining in the firelight. There were flowers crushed in his right hand.
But Haylan's face was not what they expected.
Haylan was crying.
Not just crying, sobbing and slowly crumbling in on himself.
Sirius caught him before he fell to the floor. Holding Haylan close to his chest as he sobbed his heart out on Sirius' T-shirt.
Both Black sisters looked in shock.
No one knew what happened and Haylan wasn't in any state to say what was wrong with him.
Andromeda quickly found a calming draught and passed it to Sirius. It took him some convincing but Haylan eventually opened his mouth enough between sobs that Sirius was able to get the potion down his throat.
Narcissa looked at this small boy who may be her head of house and the emperor of the wizarding world, but in her heart, this little boy was like a second son to her.
Unfortunately, Blaise was also close to her heart, but Haylan was more vulnerable and needed more love and care than he would ever admit to needing due to his childhood.
Sirius got a chill down his spine when he saw the dark look in Narcissa's eye before she quickly stood and made her exit to the floo. Shouting out the password for Zabini Manor as her heels snapped sharply on the stone fireplace floor.
The blonde woman was gone in an instant and Sirius wanted to feel bad for the Zabini boy, but holding Haylan as he fell apart in his Godfather's arms, Sirius could only hope that Narcissa learned enough from Bellatrix over the years to give Zabini hell.