Chapter 88: A Yuletide Heart-to-Heart

The day after the Yule Ball, Sirius couldn't sleep. He wanted to sleep in until 8:00, but he woke up at 7:12, and his mind kept him awake by thinking about the events of the previous evening. He finally decided to just get up. After all, Arcturus would already be up. His grandfather was an early riser.

When Sirius got downstairs, he found Arcturus in the dining room, having a cup of tea and reading the Daily Prophet. Arcturus looked up as Sirius entered the room.

"Good morning, Sirius," he greeted him with slight surprise. "It is unlike you to get up this early."

Sirius shrugged as he took a seat at the table. "Yes, well, I couldn't go back to sleep," he admitted. "I kept thinking about last night."

"Ah, last night," Arcturus said with a sigh. "I must say, it was one of the most interesting Yule Balls I have attended in a very long time."

"Wait, have there been other Yule Balls like last night's?" Sirius asked, having a hard time imagining what it could be like.

"When I was your age, every Yule Ball ended up in dueling with one another," Arcturus explained. "I never participated in the drama, because I wanted no part of it, but many of the family members would get angry at one another, or would drink too much, sometimes both. It would result in duels, and even the children had to dodge spells that would accidentally be sent their way. It was chaos."

"Wow!" Sirius breathed. "I never remember them being that bad!"

"That is because when Phineas was patriarch, which was until I was twenty-four years old, he encouraged chaos and violence. He thought that by allowing people to duel each other during family gatherings, it helped to show that the Black Family was strong and unafraid to fight. Our family would be all over the Daily Prophet the next morning. Then Sirius II became patriarch, and he was not any better. He continued what Phineas had encouraged. When Lucretia was only three years old, she was hit with one of the curses flying around, and she ended up in St. Mungo's for a few days. I vowed to myself then and there that when I became patriarch, I would put a stop to this violence."

"And you did," Sirius stated.

"Indeed, I did," Arcturus said. "And oh, did I ever get push back for it. Many family members were furious that I had stopped the family traditions at the gatherings. It took a few years for the family to realize that I was not going to budge on my decision to ban dueling or other violent actions at the family gatherings."

"Well, I'm glad you did, because I don't think it's normal for family gatherings to be like that," Sirius said with a frown. "Our family's really messed up."

Arcturus chuckled. "Indeed," he said before once again becoming serious. "What happened last night reminded me of those days when behavior like what Sirius II showed was acceptable."

"He is a nasty piece of work," Sirius said. "Even in the original timeline, he was really horrible, but nothing really happened like last night."

"That is because in your original timeline, there was no Marius and Ilaria at these gatherings, and Walburga was in the family, and so he had no reason to get violent," Arcturus explained. "Whereas in this timeline, it's the opposite. Marius and Ilaria are involved in our family, and Walburga was disowned. Big difference."

"True," Sirius said thoughtfully. "Speaking of my namesake, I really hate being named after a man like him! Why don't we just change my name to Sagittarius? At least then, I wouldn't be named after a jerk like him!"

Arcturus chuckled and shook his head. "Sirius, I was named after someone I despise as well," he informed him. "Arcturus II was someone I had always clashed with. He was my uncle, and you could definitely tell that he and my father were siblings. Despite that, I didn't change my name, because in this family, you do not change your name just because you don't like it or you don't like the person you were named after. While I have rejected many of the old traditions our family has held for centuries, I do keep to this one. The reason why is because when we don't like who we were named after, that encourages us to be better, so that if someone else is named after us in the future, they can be assured that they were named after someone who brought good to this world."

Sirius thought about it for a moment. He had never thought about it this way before. "Well, I guess you have a point," he finally said slowly. "Oh, alright, I guess I'll keep my name, but only so that if there's another Sirius in the future, he won't be named after Sirius II."

Arcturus nodded. "Good," he said. "I am trying to lead our family into a brighter future, a new era. The younger generation is key to this. My uncle died in 1959, but yet, Sirius II has lived for much longer. I suspect that he will die any year now. Back in the early 1950's, we thought he was going to die, because the healers told him he didn't have much longer to live, because of all the dark magic he's used, and as you know, dark magic ruins a person if it's abused. Somehow, he hasn't passed away yet, but he's clearly still using dark curses. Last night was an example of that."

"I'm guessing you, Uncle Regulus, and Aunt Lycoris were put under the Cruciatus plenty as children?" Sirius asked.

"It was mostly me and Lycoris," Arcturus replied. "Regulus I was viewed as the perfect child. But yes, I was raised similar to how you were raised by your parents. Though, my mother was a kinder person, so she never hurt us." He sighed. "When I heard that you and Regulus were being harmed by Orion and Walburga, it brought back memories for me. I know what it's like, Sirius. Except, in some ways, you had it worse, because you had both your mother and father hurting you, whereas I was only hurt by my father."

"That's why you were so angry that day when we told you," Sirius said.

"Yes. I had hoped no future Black would go through what I went through," Arcturus responded. "And last night... he was attempting to hurt you the same way he hurt me. I was not going to allow that."

"Like Reg said last night, thanks for defending us," Sirius said with gratitude.

"Always," Arcturus stated firmly. "You and your brother will not be harmed by any family member if I have something to say about it." He then gave Sirius a stern look. "I will be sure to tell Regulus this as well, but I will tell you first. I do not want to hear any more swearing coming from you. You may be an adult in a child's body, but you need to pretend to be a child in front of those who don't know, and so that means no swearing at family gatherings. Understood?"

Sirius nodded. "I understand, Grandfather. After all, it would be suspicious if you didn't tell me not to swear, because you would for a child."

Arcturus nodded. "Exactly. Trust me, you do not want certain family members to get suspicious." His grandson gazed at him for a moment, saddened by how the topic had seemed to have haunted the patriarch in a way that nothing else had.

"I'm very sorry that you and Aunt Lycoris had to understand pain in a way that no one should ever have to," Sirius said. He was sorry for himself and his brother too, and Arcturus could hear it in the tone he carried.

"No, it should be the opposite in that you and your brother shouldn't know what it's like to grow up in an environment like my own," the older man responded, shaking his head.

"Do you know if Uncle Regulus was like my brother in the original timeline in which he took on the 'perfect child' persona, so you and Aunt Lycoris didn't have to?"

"I'm fairly certain that is indeed what happened," his grandfather answered.

"Can you confirm?"

"I could."

The conversation came to an end at that moment, because that was when Regulus came into the room, followed closely by Melania. Sirius realized that he and his grandfather had a lot more in common than he even thought possible. They had both been raised in similar environments, they both were named after horrible people, and they both wanted to change the future of the Black Family. This just made it even clearer who Sirius' favorite person was. Sirius hoped that the New Year Ball would be better, but only time would tell.

Author's note: Merry Christmas to those who celebrate!