The cousins ran around the living room, jumping over chairs, hiding behind furniture. Childish giggling filled the house, along with the adults' laughter. They were playing Bellatrix's favourite game, Wizards and Muggles, with Bellatrix and Sirius playing the coveted role of the wizards while the others ran away from them. When they finally cornered Hermione, Andromeda and Narcissa, who had stupidly decided to hide under the same table, Bellatrix proudly brandished her makeshift wand, a stick of wood Kreacher had gathered from the backyard.
"Yield, you filthy muggles!" she exclaimed.
"We haven't found Reg yet!" Sirius protested.
"It'll be two against one, he'll lose anyway," she shrugged.
Bellatrix made them walk out from under the table at "wandpoint". Once all three of them were lined up in front of her, Sirius and she triumphantly shouted "Avada Kedavra!".
A heavy silence fell on the room at once. Orion Black descended upon them with a wrath Hermione had never seen. He grabbed his eldest son by the shoulders.
"Where did you learn that? Answer me at once, young man!"
Hermione took a few steps back, she had never heard her father so angry.
"Answer me Sirius!" he was almost shaking him, and Sirius, too stunned to speak, blinked at him.
"Relax, Orion," said Uncle Cygnus from the sofa, "I had to teach them the right spells. The Hogwarts curriculum isn't what it used to be" he added, looking at his sister who was nodding her head solemnly next to him.
Orion glared at him, and turned back to the children.
"You are never to use that spell, ever, ever again. Do you understand me?" his voice was loud, it was almost unrecognisable.
Sirius quickly nodded, but Bella pursed her lips sceptically.
"But Father says that's the only efficient way to get rid of the vermin," she said.
Orion sat on his knees to bring himself to her eye level, and spoke again, slowly enunciating every word.
"Listen to me very carefully, Bella. As long as you are part of my house, you will never speak those words or use that spell."
Bella cackled in response, and Orion grabbed her shoulder tightly, ready to start screaming again. The minute he touched her, chaos erupted around them.
"Don't you dare touch my daughter" Cygnus shouted, getting up and marching on his brother in law.
"Is this what you teach your kids, Cygnus?"
"I will teach my children however I see fit!"
"I am the future head of this house, and I forbid…"
"You're a spineless fool is what you are, and you will bring upon our extinction…"
Walburga's and Druella's screams soon joined in. Hermione edged herself between the wall and Uncle Alphard's chair. Alphard was fidgeting in his seat, itching to leave the house before the fight got worse. When he noticed her trying to hide, he drew her between his arms, and soothingly smoothed her curls away from her face.
The shouting didn't stop until Narcissa started crying. Druella gathered her daughters then, and promptly left via floo. Cygnus followed after them, still shaking his fists at Orion. Walburga sneered at her husband and marched to her room.
With almost everyone gone, the living room was eerily silent again. Alphard squeezed Hermione's hand and bent down to kiss her forehead. He got up to shake Orion's hand, but he just fumed at him.
"Thanks for your help, Al," he said, taking a step back from him and pointing at the floo. Alphard flexed his hand and dropped it, his shoulders uncharacteristically hunched, but he didn't react. He left without a goodbye. Sirius and Hermione were the only ones left, both shaking.
Orion looked around.
"Where's your brother?" he asked them calmly.
Regulus appeared then, he had found a way to hide in a drawer big enough to fit him, and had smartly stayed inside until the room was clear. He peeked his head from the drawer, and Orion let out a short laugh and gestured for him to join them. He gathered them all in front of him and solemnly looked at each of their faces.
"That spell is a very, very bad curse. It is punishable by prison. And most importantly, it is immoral. I never want you to use it, not even while playing."
"I'm sorry", Sirius whispered, and Orion drew him into a hug.
"I know, son, I'm not angry at you." He looked at the twins. "I'm not angry at either of you. But I need to know you understand me. No one, wizard or muggle, deserves to have a spell like that directed at them. Am I understood?"
Hermione and Reg nodded in return and soon enough, all three of them were safely in their father's embrace. That was the first and last time Hermione had ever seen her father angry at one of his children.
James rushes through the crowd, edging his friends on as he went.
"Since when are you so eager to get home?" Sirius grumbles behind him.
James blushes and avoids answering. He cranes his neck, trying to see above the heads, looking for one particular head of curls. He had arrived so late on September 1st; he had only caught a sight of her dark curls before she apparated away. And when he had suggested to Sirius to invite her too on Yule, Sirius had flat out refused. Now is his chance. When he finally does see her, warmth blooms in his chest. And when she starts running towards him, he starts running in elation as well. Except, she runs right past him and flings herself at Sirius instead.
He clears his throat, and tries to fight the blush that is still colouring his cheeks. He turns to observe her. Sirius awkwardly pats her back while she rains an avalanche of questions on him.
"Did you pass your exams? Did you get my letters? Why didn't you write back? Are you alright?"
He watches the weariness slowly leave his friend's body. He knew his home life wasn't perfect, but ever since they were children, his sister could always bring a smile out of him. Once the siblings are done hugging, he walks over to her confidently and grabs her hand in his.
"My lady Hermione, it is an absolute pleasure to see you again," he says while bringing her hand to his lips. He doesn't have a chance to kiss it before she takes it away and uses it to strike him on the shoulder instead.
"You stole my brother away," she snaps, her grey eyes flashing at him.
"Maybe next time I could steal you away instead," he grins until a cleared throat behind him makes him pale. He turns around to find Walburga Black glaring at him, one hand clutching Regulus's and the other planted at her hip. She narrows her eyes at him and he quickly takes a step back, letting the Black siblings walk past him and sheepishly follow their mother. James sighs and bids his two other friends goodbye before walking over to his own smiling parents waiting patiently for him.
Back at Grimmauld Place, Orion meets his family in the drawing room. One glare from Walburga has him sighing and ushering the twins out. He turns around to look at his eldest one last time before leaving him alone with his obviously irate mother, and Sirius' pleading eyes make him hesitate at the door. The white of his eyes is entirely visible, making him look agitated despite the nonchalant air he's trying to convey with his body. Orion knows that look. That's the look of Sirius wanting to be saved. Alas, there is nothing he can do to spare him what's to come. Delaying it will only make worse. Orion turns his back on his son and wife and leaves them alone. Walburga then finally turns her attention on her eldest, and Sirius fights not to flinch. She has a pile of letters, all bearing the Hogwarts seal, that she has accumulated all year, and is painstakingly reading the content of each of them.
"My own son, my heir, lowering himself to exploding toilet seats, is that what I sent you to Hogwarts for?"
Sirius lets out a snort, knowing it will only make her angrier. His heart is hammering so hard in his chest it feels like it will jump out of its place any second now. And as his mother lists every single infraction he has committed, all he can feel is a vindictive sort of pride. Because he was scared out of his mind that she would start beating him again, was convinced of it actually, and yet he has done every single one of those things regardless.
Sirius would never admit, not even under torture, that he had begged the Sorting Hat to put him in Slytherin; to no avail obviously. And he has spent the whole year ashamed of that moment of cowardice, and silently wondering whether he truly deserved to be in Gryffindor, until this moment right here. Until he swallows down his fear and looks the person who scared him the most in the world right in the eye and accepts his punishment with his head held high. And when Walburga is finally done yelling and orders Kreacher to carry out the punishment, Sirius's heart is steady and calm. He takes every blow, not even ashamed at his groans of pain. And when, through one particularly nasty spell, he spots Hermione at the door trying to get to his side discreetly, he shakes his head at her. There is no need for both of them to be punished. He keeps staring at the door until she disappears and he sighs in relief.
When it's done, he stands up and draws himself to his full height. The top of his head now brushes his mother's chin. Soon enough, he'll be able to look her in the eye with all the contempt he feels, and soon enough, he'll be too strong for even her. Now he glowers at her. She suddenly pulls him towards her chest and holds him there.
"Why must you hurt me so, my son?" she whispers against the crown of his hair and he shudders before melting into her embrace, ashamed at the comfort he draws from it even when he'd rather be anywhere else. The tears he has kept at bay until then flow freely and wet her blouse. "I have sacrificed my entire life for you, is that not enough?" she asks. He tries to disentangle himself from her but her grip on him grows painfully tight. "You have no idea how much it hurts me to punish you, but for your sake I will keep doing it." She lets him go then and forcefully wipes his tears from his face. His skin burns where she touches it. She takes a deep breath and cools her features once more. "Go wait for dinner," she orders and any warmth he thinks he's felt from her before is already gone.
He turns around and runs to his room. Hermione sneaks in right before he can slam the door and makes sure to close it softly. Sirius ignores her and flops himself on his red and gold bed. At least she hasn't lied about that, his dad really has turned the room into an almost exact replica of the Gryffindor dormitories, minus the other boys' beds. He feels his sister sit at the foot of the bed, and he ignores her in favour of staring at the canopy of the bed. It's much more intricate than the one he has at Hogwarts, depicting not just lions and griffins, but all sorts of chimaeras that seemed to shimmer and catch fire.
"Was that truly necessary?" Hermione asked in a soft voice and he tore his eyes away from a golden hippogriff to peer at her over his nose.
"Was what necessary?"
"Exploding toilet seats. That sounds unsanitary" she crunches up her nose in disgust and he laughs then.
"Yes, princess, it was absolutely necessary," he snickers.
They sit in heavy silence. He knows she has more to say, though he isn't sure he wants to hear it. She takes a few deep breaths, clearly hesitating, and he makes no move to help.
Finally, she whispers, "why didn't you answer any of my letters?"
"I answered some of them," he denies too quickly to fool either of them. He sighs heavily, and sits up to face her. She almost breaks his heart right then and there. She is staring at her hands in her lap, her long curls falling over her face like heavy curtains, hiding what he is sure to be a dejected face that he never wants to be responsible for.
"Honestly?"
She nods without looking up at him.
"I didn't have much to say," he says.
She looks up at him quizzically. "The sheer number of letters we received from the headmaster begs to the contrary."
Sirius ran his hand through his hair, pulling at the locks a little harder than necessary to distract himself from the ache in his chest.
"I don't know," he mutters finally, and it's his turn to stare at his lap.
"Are you mad at me?" she asks in a voice so small he isn't sure he heard her.
He looks up to find her wet eyes boring into his, so similar yet so different, so open, so innocent, so expressive he never wants to see them filled with hurt ever again. He jumps up to her side and crushes her to his chest, instinctively tucking her under his chin as she clutches at his shirt. "Never" he whispers in her hair, and she hugs him tighter. "Are you mad at me?" he adds after a few seconds, terrified at her answer. When she shakes her head against him, he let out a breath of relief, making a few tendrils of dark hair fly on the crown of her hair.
A crack in the air startles them and they turn to find Kreacher glaring at Sirius.
"Dinner is served, Mistress, Master." He sneers that last word with such contempt, Sirius almost picks his shoe to throw at him, but the elf disappears as soon as he relays his message.
"Guess he's mad at me, bloody menace," Sirius grumbles as he gets up and reaches his hand to Hermione to get her up. Before she can open the door, he turns her to him. He opens his mouth a couple of times, not sure how to express any of the thousand things he wants to tell her. He settles on ruffling the hair on top of her head, laughing at her pout and heading to what would most probably be a tense dinner.
Sirius takes his seat across from the twins. His mother sits on one head of the table, his father on the other; and the silence is deafening. He picks at the salad on his plate, pushing it around and around.
"Sirius," Orion breaks the silence, "how are you liking Hogwarts?"
Walburga snorts before Sirius can answer. "I don't really think that is the problem we have to deal with."
Orion sighs and looks back down at his own plate, clearly done talking. Sirius puts his fork down and smiles at each of his parents.
"I love Hogwarts. I have the best housemates ever!"
Orion hummed noncommittally, and Walburga, sensing the shift in Sirius's mood, narrows her eyes at him.
"All respectable wizards I assume?" she asks and Sirius's grin widens.
"Not even remotely, Mother. In fact, the smartest girl in our year is a muggle-born if you can believe it."
That has the effect he wants. His mother drops her fork on the table and leans forward to glare at him.
"They have you living with a mudblood? And she is besting you?" she hisses at him.
"Yep!" he pops the p with as much glee as he could. "By so far it's not even worth competing."
"The heir of the most ancient and noble House of Black is second to a mudblood!" she screams, punctuating her sentence with a loud smack on the table that makes the rest of its occupants startle. "Orion, do you hear this?"
Orion pinches the bridge of his nose, not looking at any member of his family. After trying and failing at rubbing his migraine away, he finally looks at his eldest son.
"Sirius, stop provoking your mother. Walburga," he turns to look at his wife, "can we have one quiet meal? Just one? Please?"
Kreacher appears then to clear the salad and hesitates at the sight of the mostly full plates. Walburga waves him on and he cracks his fingers, serving them the main course and disappearing again.
"Hermione, Regulus, you'll do your school shopping with your aunt Druella and your cousins," Walburga barks at the twins.
"Why can't we go with daddy?" Hermione asks, confused.
"Because your cousins were raised right, at least, and you could do with some good influence in your life."
Orion stiffens in his seat.
"My brother Cygnus knows how to raise a Black," she eggs on, "I cannot have a repeat of the Sirius debacle," she adds as if Sirius weren't sitting at her left, fuming.
"Walburga," Orion says warningly, "one meal is all ask."
"And all I asked is for my children to not be a disgrace to my name and blood, but that was clearly too much to ask. I should have just let Cygnus raise them instead of you."
"One meal," Orion repeats darkly, clutching his fork tight enough that his knuckles paled.
"No you cannot have one meal!" Walburga screams, "you cannot have anything! You have ruined everything!" spit is flying out of her mouth as she yells at the top of her lungs, her face contorted beyond recognition.
Orion brings his fist down on the table with a bang and silences her. "Children," his voice is much too controlled to be natural, "go to your rooms, now."
Sirius doesn't need to be told twice. He scrambles to his feet and runs to the stairs with the twins right behind him. The screaming voices of his parents follow him until he reaches the first floor, then they abruptly vanish and he guesses someone must have cast a silencing spell on the ground floor while he was away. He leans his back on the wall and turns to smirk at his siblings.
"I guess nothing has changed around here."
Regulus glares darkly at him.
"You just had to provoke her, didn't you?"
Sirius stands straighter to return the glare.
"What is that supposed to mean, Reg?"
"You found fame and glory at Hogwarts, if that's what you call an endless stream of detentions, good for you," Regulus spits with all the venom he can muster, "but while you were parading around with the best housemates ever, we were here. And we could have used one quiet meal."
"Wait a second, that down there was not my fault –"
"Whatever," Regulus shakes his head at him and turns toward his room. "Welcome home, I guess."
Sirius looks at Hermione in confusion, but her face is guarded.
"What the bloody hell is his problem?" he asks her.
"They've been fighting a lot more since you've left for school," she shrugs.
"So? That's not my fault."
"I never said it was," she shrugs again and walks away. She goes into Reg's room instead of her own and Sirius is left standing alone, watching the door they disappeared behind.
"It's not my fault," he whispers to himself.
The summer passes in quiet discontent. Orion takes Regulus and Hermione shopping for their school supplies without telling his wife. Their travelling plans are cancelled. Walburga announces that Sirius does not deserve a reward for the shame he has brought upon them. And, to everyone's surprise, Regulus states he would not travel without Sirius, for which the latter is grateful though he never says as much. This is how Regulus apologises for upsetting Sirius, and Sirius thanks him by teaching him new moves on his broom. So they spend their summer wallowing in their gloomy house. Sirius regales the twins with tales of Hogwarts, Hermione reads, Regulus and Sirius fly. It isn't the summer they were all hoping for, but it isn't as bad as it could have been.
The reluctant peace lasts until the end of July. High-pitched screaming wakes the Black children up. They leave their respective rooms and congregate in the hallway, silently asking each other if either of them has an idea of what was happening. Sirius braves the stairs first, reluctantly followed by the twins. The screaming seems to be coming from the family room in the second floor, where the family tree is proudly displayed. Walburga is staring at the tapestry, pale as a sheet, screaming obscenities that would make dragon tamers blush. The kids come to stand next to her and watch the newest addition to the tree, a branch connecting Andromeda's spot to an Edward Tonks. None of them know who that is, but they all know it isn't Rodolphus Lestrange, her fiancé.
Walburga leaves the room, still vociferating.
"I've never heard of the 'Tonks'," Regulus says quietly. He doesn't need a reply.
Minutes later, the family room is filled with all Blacks currently residing in Britain. Andromeda's mother Druella has tear tracks on her face. Bellatrix is so angry she is practically vibrating. Her father Cygnus and Narcissa are stone-faced. Cassiopeia looks impatient. Pollux looks like he wishes the walls would swallow him. Arcturus looks disappointed, and his wife Melania looks bored. Alphard and Orion look sad.
"We all know why we're here, yes?" Arcturus says, always preferring efficiency to tact. Everyone nods. "And everyone agrees on the way this will be handled?" Again, everyone nods, some more reluctantly than others.
"Very well, for breaking a family contract, for marrying without her family's consent, for bringing new blood without her family's approval, and for betraying her family, I declare Andromeda Black officially disowned. Let it be witnessed, she is no longer a Black, she will no longer have access to our family's magic, riches, or protection. So mote it be." As Arcturus talks, he conjured a silver dagger and slices his palm, then he touches his blood to the base of the family tree. And finally, when he is done talking, he mutters a spell and blasts Andromeda's spot on the family tree. The newly added branch disappears, as well as her new husband's name. Where Andromeda's portrait has stood is now an angry blackened scorched mark. Hermione feels the cleaving of the magic inside her chest, but doesn't dare flinch when her mother is observing her children with hawk-like intensity.
When Arcturus is done, Walburga turned to glare directly at Sirius.
"I don't ever want to have to do this again, but I will if I have to," she states, her eyes never leaving her eldest son's, and he juts his chin forward.
The adults all file out quietly and the cousins are left standing in a dazed silence. Narcissa breaks it first.
"Let's go to lunch, Bella's treat. We haven't spent time together in so long, I think we need it."
They step into the floo behind Narcissa, landing in the best wizarding restaurant London has to offer. When the server arrives to present them their menus, Bellatrix speaks first.
"Your oldest bottle of wine, and five glasses," she snaps at the young man.
"Bella!" Narcissa exclaims. "They are children."
"Ugh, fine, three glasses," Bella corrects and Sirius perks up from his seat.
"One glass," Narcissa admonished. "The rest of us will have water and our menus, please," she says to the waiter.
Sirius slumps back in his seat. Hermione hasn't finished reading the entrees yet when Bella slams her empty glass on the table and reaches for the bottle to refill.
"That bitch," she grumbles, "that selfish whore…"
"Language, Bella," Narcissa mutters next to her.
"Fuck her and fuck you too, Cissa," Bella bites back, "you're not the one who has to marry Rodolphus bloody Lestrange now." She punctuates her sentence with another generous gulp of wine, already reaching for the bottle again.
"You don't know that you will either," Narcissa tries to alleviate her sister's particular brand of fear dressed in aggression.
"Wanna bet?" The bottle clinks loudly when she drops it back in the ice bucket. "The Lestrange vault is too deep for Arcturus to pass on. You've already secured him the precious Malfoy bloodline. And little 'Mione here hasn't even bled yet." Hermione squirms in her seat. "Unless you're hiding another Black daughter somewhere, I'm next to the gallows." Her grip on the glass's stem tightens hard enough to break it.
Narcissa smartly stays silent after that. Their meals are brought, and they dig in with little enthusiasm.
"Do you know who…" Regulus hesitates at the sight of Bella slamming her third glass down and looks at Narcissa instead. She nods at him but it's Bellatrix who answers.
"Should have fucking known, damned mudblood was constantly sniffing around her," she grumbles viciously and stabs at her steak.
"At least he's a wizard," Hermione hazards and is rewarded with a dark look.
"Filth is filth," Bella hisses at her and Hermione focuses back on her meal.
"Let's talk about something else," Narcissa says, smoothing her napkin on her laps, "I've missed you all."
Sirius snorts and Narcissa purses her lips at him.
"Is there something on your mind, Sirius?" she asks sweetly.
"Oh I don't know. I think I'm just baffled by your unending supply of hypocrisy."
"I'm a hypocrite because I miss my cousins?"
"Well, my dearest Cissa, we've lived in the same castle for eleven fucking months. You didn't have to miss me," Sirius smiles sweetly at her.
A beat passes. Bellatrix stops frowning, and now sips at her glass with a cat-like smile and enjoys the show. Hermione and Regulus share a look. Narcissa blinks.
"I don't like it when you swear."
Another beat passes.
"I got it from my mama," Sirius finally says and they all dissolve into giggles, the emotions of the day bleeding into their slightly frantic laughs. Soon enough, Bellatrix is doing her best imitation of Walburga while everyone dabs at their eyes with their napkins.
At Grimmauld Place, a battle wages in the library.
"I will not let you marry my daughter off so easily," Druella protests, uncaring of Arcturus' thunderous glare.
"I was not asking."
"No!" she yanks her arm from her husband's grasp. "I have already lost a daughter to your scheming, I will not lose a second one."
"Oh please," drawls Walburga, "let us not pretend you have lost a daughter to anything but your embarrassing inability to raise her correctly."
"You stay out of this," Druella snarls at her sister in law.
"Ladies, please," Pollux stammers, "show some decorum."
Druella takes a deep breath. "Bella is too young," she implores.
"She is of age, as far as I know," Arcturus looks questioningly at his wife and Melania nods.
"Announce the engagement, but give them time to know each other. We don't need to hold a wedding so soon." Druella phrases it as an order but everyone present recognises the plea, and she is not above begging for her daughter if she has to.
"So she has time to pull an Andromeda and elope with that Skeeter girl she's been obsessed with?"
Druella turns an accusing look on Walburga who looks pleased at the bomb she finally gets to drop.
"What?" she asks innocently. "Was I supposed to keep that shameful rumour to myself? It has been the talk of every high tea I have attended this year. Surely the salacious tales must have reached you."
Druella turns to look at Arcturus and summons all her strength. "So what if the tales are true? The Skeeters are purebloods…"
"Hardly," Melania scoffs in a rare interruption. "Their blood has only been pure for three generations, they're practically mudbloods."
"I will not refuse a family as ancient and respectable as the Lestranges for these…," Arcturus waves his hand as if were shooing away a mosquito, "whatever their names are that I have never heard before."
"You let Dorea marry a Potter," Druella goes into the offensive.
"I did no such thing. Dorea married long before I became the Patriarch of our house. Besides, the Potters are pure and noble, despite their unfortunate political beliefs. She did not bring any shame upon us."
"You let Cassiopeia stay unmarried!" She doesn't care that she's getting desperate.
Cassie startles from the corner she hid in and hits her head on her way up. Arcturus' nostrils flare in a tell tale sign he is ready to close the door on this conversation for good.
"You forget yourself, Druella." His voice is quiet, too quiet. "You have no right to question anyone in this family. You are allowed a say in this conversation on my sufferance alone. Do not mistake it for power."
"She is my daughter! I am entitled to make decisions regarding her well-being."
"You are welcome to choose the colour of the wedding bouquet."
The children enter then, immediately sensing the heavy tension in the room.
"Bellatrix," Arcturus announces, "you will be marrying Rodolphus Lestrange before the school year starts. I want your cousins to attend the joyous occasion."
"I…" Bella looks at the tears in her mother's eyes.
"Perhaps it is a tad too hasty," Cygnus finally speaks up.
"Are you challenging your Patriarch, Cygnus?" Melania smiles sickly sweet.
Cygnus looks at his brother, but Alphard doesn't meet his eyes. Walburga looks far too satisfied with the outcome to back him up. Orion is pressing his tumbler full of more ice than liquor between his eyebrows. His father is his last resort, but Pollux simply shakes his head at him.
"No," he hisses, "I am not."
"Splendid. You have a wedding to plan," Arcturus informs a fuming Druella, "Do rise to the occasion, dear. A joining of such two families is a historical event."
He gets up then, and all follow his suit. With a final nod to his son, Arcturus leaves the house, Melania and Cassiopeia on his heels, though the latter takes the time to glare at Druella before following her brother out.