Chapter Two
December 31, 1970
The room was grand and draped in rich colorful fabrics. There was a piano magically playing softly in the background while the elite of the Wizarding world mingled about. Insincere compliments were paid here and there; questioning glares bouncing from eye to eye, smug faces spoke inappropriate comments when backs were turned. This was Pure Blood Society, every family elaborately parading their lineage and worth like peacocks amusing each other with gaudy and pretentious plumage.
Sirius sat near the wall on a large cushioned bench next to his brother waiting for dinner to be served, both boys dressed in their velvet Fauntleroy suits. He fidgeted and tucked a finger into his itchy, lace collar and pulled to loosen the scarf around his neck. Sirius hated smart parties. He was expected to be quiet and polite and only speak when spoken to and honestly there was no fun in that.
This was New Years Eve at the house of Orionis and Lyra Black, Sirius’s aunt and uncle. Sirius glanced around the room to find a familiar face and his wish was granted. Directly across the room from him sat two of his cousins, Narcissa and Andromeda.
His view was quickly obscured by a rather fat witch stuffed ridiculously into tight silk robes and squeezed with a corset around her bulging middle. Sirius thought when she walked her bum looked like two pigs stuffed under a silk blanket fighting desperately to get out.
When the large witch moved, Andromeda was still looking over at him. Sirius pulled an absurd face at his cousin. She giggled, caught herself, and then hid her smile behind a gloved hand. The large witch moved again in his line of view, she cackled as she drank deeply from her goblet then moved forward once more. Andromeda was still staring at him and now Narcissa was too. Sirius grabbed his ascot and lifted it up like a noose. He tilted his head, waggled his tongue and made his eyes bulge. When he saw his cousins again through the crowded room, Andromeda’s head was down but her shoulders were shaking in silent laughter and Narcissa, to the right of her, was giggling as well. Regulus beside him was snorting into his hand.
Sirius loved making his cousin Andromeda laugh. She was an easy target. She was a happy girl and a little on the mischievous side and even though she was older than he, they got on quite well. They found very early on in their lives that they had a lot in common. They were a combined front. They both quite disliked Bella and Cissy.
Sirius continued his theatrics, grabbed one of Regulus’s hands and clenched it around his own throat. He crossed his eyes, stuck out his tongue, and exaggeratedly shook his head back to front and side to side pulling his brother with him making it look as though Regulus was choking him. Regulus snorted in laughter but soon regained his composure when Arcturus and Denebola Black stopped in front of their two sons. Once recognition dawned, Sirius gave a small cough, straightened his tie, and slowly looked up through his fringe to meet the angry glare of his parents.
Mrs. Black rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh while Mr. Black’s gaze did not leave him.
Mr. Black stepped aside to reveal a stout man with a face like a barracuda; beady eyes, long nose and sharp angled teeth.
“As I was saying, Nott, Sirius here will be starting at Hogwarts next year.”
Sirius stood and looked up, extending his hand to Mr. Nott, “Good evening, sir.”
The man grinned and looked back at Sirius’s father, “Don’t be harsh, Arcturus, the boy’s just trying to stay entertained. Here you are, boy.”
Mr. Nott took Sirius’s hand and instead of shaking it turned it palm side up. He removed his wand from his belt and with a soft tap two large, buttery toffees appeared in Sirius’s hand. With a large smile he thanked him.
Mr. Nott winked down at the boys. “Be sure to introduce yourself to my son. He’s about your age.”
“This young man must be?” Mr. Nott nodded towards Regulus.
“This is my youngest, Regulus,” Mr. Black gestured. “Old Slughorn can’t have him yet. He’s staying with me for a few more years.” Both men chuckled at the apparent joke.
Sirius watched his father as he conversed with Mr. Nott. Arcturus Black was an illustrious, fit man with black, shortly trimmed hair and a mustache. His facial features could only be described as aristocratic; long straight nose, high cheek bones, strong chin and jaw line. He wore his best suit draped in his most expensive robes. He stood tall, shoulders back with one hand in his waistcoat pocket fingering the ancient pocket watch that magically kept time down to the exact second.
Sirius absently smiled as he eyed his father. He stood a little straighter as pride welled up inside him. Sirius wanted to be just like him when he was older. Arcturus Black commanded the attention of a room the moment he walked into it. People liked and respected him and his opinions. Sirius wanted to be respected like that. He would do it. He was destined for greatness after all. He was the heir to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black. At least that’s what his parents had always told him…although at the age of ten he wasn’t quite sure what that meant yet.
To the boys’ relief, everyone was called to dinner which meant the children could retreat down to the smaller dinning room with the watchful, yet less obtrusive eyes of nannies, nurses, and house elves.
“Sirius, Regulus is your charge,” Mrs. Black instructed as she peered from behind Mr. Nott chatting with whom must have been Mrs. Nott.
“Yes, mother.”
Sirius grabbed Regulus’s hand and the boys followed the other children out of the hall.
*~*
Dinner in the children’s wing was much louder than their elders’ quarters.
Hands on Regulus’s shoulders, Sirius steered the two of them through the laughing and overexcited crowd of pure blood children. He knew some of them from the circles his parents socialized in. He saw the same faces at most gatherings although New Years was the biggest party at the Black household. Two girls with ridiculously curly hair he’d never seen before stared as they walked by then proceeded to giggle furiously when they had passed. Sirius eyed them warily but continued on. Finally he found two vacant seats near the end of the table and by his three cousins, Narcissa, Andromeda, and now they were joined by the middle girl, Bellatrix.
Andromeda, the oldest, was in her fifth year at Hogwarts while Bellatrix was in her third. Narcissa, just a year older than Sirius was in the middle of her first year there and she never neglected a chance to remind him that he was a mere child for still being home tutored.
“Well look who it is, the baby boys of the family,” Bellatrix taunted from her seat at the table. Bella, like Narcissa, could never deny pestering Sirius.
“Shove off, Bella, you’re not much older,” Sirius muttered as he pulled the chair out next to her and sat.
“Honestly, Sirius, pulling faces like that,” Andromeda teased. “You’re a proper idiot!”
“Well hullo to you too, Ana-banana,” Sirius acknowledged Andromeda who was wearing her traditional yellow dress.
“Don’t call me that!” she pouted.
Regulus laughed, “Well you do sort of look like a banana. You’re tall and skinny and you always wear yellow.”
“You be quiet,” Andromeda pointed at Regulus then turned to her sister and mumbled under her breath, “She always makes me wear the yellow. You should wear it next time.”
“It looks good with your hair,” Narcissa answered with a shrug. “You know Mother says I can’t wear yellow because I’m so fair. I look much better in the blue.”
Sirius groaned, “Who cares what you wear? I’d rather go starkers than be stuck in this itchy thing.” He edged his fork under his lace collar and scratched at his neck.
“That’s disgusting, you do know that?” Andromeda watched as he then used the same fork to jab at a cooked carrot.
Sirius grinned back at her as he happily chewed and she made a disgusted face.
“I thought I’d choke from laughter when your father caught you,” Narcissa added, laughing at her cousin once again as she delicately cut a portion of roast.
“Was he angry with you for acting up?” Andromeda asked.
“No,” Sirius shrugged it off and reached for some bread.
“Cissy, pass the roast chicken,” Regulus piped up and Sirius placed bread on his brother’s plate as well.
“Poor Regulus has to put up with you and your stupid antics,” said Bellatrix adding a pile of mashed potatoes to her plate.
“I was just having a laugh. We are at a party, you know,” Sirius answered.
“You always act an idiot and make a spectacle of yourself,” Bellatrix retorted.
Sirius shrugged, “I like the attention. I am the heir, you know.” He smirked at her, “Even if I’m a baby. I’m still more important than you.”
Bellatrix scowled back at him with no comment.
“Sirius is funny and he’s fun to be around,” Regulus added as he fingered through the platter of chicken legs.
“Stupid isn’t funny,’ Bellatrix answered back in a superior tone. She added pudding to her plate.
Sirius eyed said plate. When he looked up at his cousin she was looking back at him with a challenging expression.
“I don’t think your mother would approve of all that.” Sirius puffed out his cheeks and stretched out his arms for the appearance of a round belly. He laughed then added in an unmistakable impression of his Aunt Lyra, “Bella you must eat like a proper young lady. You want to grow to be a delicate flower and not an enormous cow.”
All the cousins but one laughed at that. Bellatrix was by no means fat, but for a girl with such a small stature, she was a little plump for her age. She was fair skinned with long jet black hair. The girls’ mother was always quite controlling over their dress, behavior, food and the like, but Bellatrix being the middle child and in the throes of puberty took the blunt of Aunt Lyra’s watchful eye. Sirius knew just what buttons to push to get a rise out of Bellatrix. And once again, he was not wrong. Soon she had her wand pointed at him threateningly. Sirius dropped his cutlery and stared back at her with wide eyes.
“If you don’t shut your gob, I’ll hex you so you’re sprouting tentacles from your face. Of course,” she added, “that would be an improvement.”
Sirius pursed his lips and sulked. He wanted a wand so badly he could taste it. He couldn’t wait until next year when he’d finally get one of his own. Then his cousins wouldn’t always have the upper hand, especially Bellatrix.
“Bella, put that away. You can’t use it outside of school anyway,” Andromeda said.
“I can so!”
“For day to day spells yes, but you can’t hex people!” Andromeda warned.
“But he doesn’t know that,” Bellatrix returned her wand to her lap then added, “Well he didn’t until now.”
*~*
Once dinner had ended the children scattered around the wing of the house in various activities. Sirius sat at a small round table with Andromeda playing chess as Regulus watched on. Bellatrix was talking in the corner with a boy named Avery, and Narcissa was…well Sirius didn’t care where she was as long as she wasn’t around him.
“Are you nearly finished?” Regulus whined.
“No. Go play somewhere else,” Sirius answered, irritated.
“There’s nothing to do,” he said.
Sirius gave him an angry look.
“Go play with Cissy,” Andromeda offered as she moved her knight. The knight attacked one of Sirius’s pawns with a force that catapulted it across the table. Andromeda swiped down and caught it up before it landed on the floor.
“Good catch,” Sirius said, impressed.
“No way am I playing with Cissy. Last time she bit me!”
"She only bites if she doesn't get her way," Sirius reasoned.
"No!" Regulus scowled.
Sirius shrugged his reply and focused his attention back on the game.
Regulus slunk back down in his chair to pout. “Sirius, we could go and…”
“You don’t have to be around me every second of the day!” Sirius shouted.
Regulus, shaken by his brother’s outburst, stood and sulked off to sit with some boys playing Gobstones. Sirius saw him shoot a glance back at the two of them. Sirius ignored it.
Once their chess game had resumed Andromeda said quietly, “You didn’t need to shout at him.”
“I just get tired of him following me around. He acts like he can’t do anything without me,” Sirius answered as he moved his Queen’s side castle.
“He looks up to you.”
Sirius shrugged. He thought about that for a moment. Something else occurred to him.
“Andromeda…do you…” Sirius paused, biting his lower lip.
His cousin raised her eyebrows at him in question.
“Do you think,” Sirius continued, “that I’m like my father?”
Andromeda studied him, “Well you look like him.”
Sirius grimaced, “Well of course I look like him. That’s not what I mean.”
Andromeda played with the pawn in her hand avoiding Sirius’ eyes. Finally she looked up at him.
“Am I like him, Ana?” Sirius asked, desperate for an answer.
“Do you want to be?”
“Of course!” Sirius answered, surprised by the question.
Andromeda smiled at him but the smile did not reach her eyes. She nodded, “Yes, you’re like your father.”
Sirius’ smile threatened to engulf his face. His chin lifted and the smile was replaced by a smug grin. “I’m going to be like him. I’m going to be just like him.”
Andromeda continued a forced smile but something in her eyes showed a great sadness at this revelation. She studied the board and after a long moment a real smile shown through,
“Checkmate!”
Sirius’s smug grin was replaced by a grumpy face and furrowed brows, “I hate playing chess with you.”
It was Andromeda’s turn to wear the smug grin, “They didn’t put me in Ravenclaw for nothing.”
“Play again?” Sirius asked, already setting up the board.
“No.” Andromeda sighed and sat back in her chair. She fiddled with the ends of the white satin ribbon that adorned her yellow dress, apparently debating something internally.
“Sirius?”
“Hmm?” he answered, still busy with the game board.
“I want to show you something,” Andromeda said in a low voice.
Sirius looked up, her tone peaking his curiosity, “What?”
She leaned forward so their heads were nearly touching, “Something I found just the other day.”
“What is it?”
She shook her head and glanced around for unwanted ears, “Not here. It’s in my father’s study.”
Sirius glanced around as well. Seeing no one had really noticed the two of them, they headed for the door towards the staircase. With one last glance over at Regulus, who seemed content with playing Gobstones, Sirius followed his cousin out of the room.
They made their way easily up the stairs, avoiding all adults. When they reached her father’s study Andromeda lifted her wand to the doorknob.
“Alohomora!” she whispered and with a soft click the door opened.
Andromeda hurried in, grabbing Sirius’s sleeve and pulling him inside and closing the door behind them at once. The room was completely dark.
“Lumos!”
Her wand emitted enough light that it flickered across the many items in the room giving them an eerie glow. It made Sirius feel like there were a dozen Flobberworms in the pit of his stomach. It reminded him of Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Of course, this house was not unlike Number 12, same family, same sort of ominous artifacts that ornamented the home, it was something he thought he’d never get used to no matter how long he lived. Both homes seemed dark even if the light of day shown bright.
“It’s over here,” Andromeda whispered as she walked across the room towards her father’s large mahogany desk. Sirius followed close behind. His heart was pounding but it wasn’t for fear. It was the thrill of uncovering a secret, of knowing something no one else knew. He wondered what his cousin could possibly show him.
She removed a large photo album from her father’s bottom desk drawer. She plopped it on the floor and they both sat down in front of it, their feet tucked under them. Sirius looked over at Andromeda as she hesitated.
“Well open it!” Sirius couldn’t take the anticipation any longer. Patience was something he had never been accused of having.
With one last glance at him, Andromeda hastily flipped the cover of the photo book so it lay open somewhere towards the middle. She slowly started lifting the pages. Sirius noticed they were pictures mostly of his father and his uncle, Andromeda’s father. Not anything unusual. Their father’s were brothers after all and they did many things together.
In one picture Sirius saw Orionis Black pointing up at what looked like a large Asian hut. It was colorful and the architecture was odd and something he’d never seen before. Another picture showed his father apparently in a wizarding pub waving shyly at the camera as two witches stood on either side of him, apparently very intrigued by him. There were other wizards in other pictures as well; most of whom Sirius knew very well. There was Mr. Nott, Mr. Avery, Mr. Lestrange, Mr. McNair, and both Mr. Blacks standing in front of huge trees and thick brush; they must have been in a tropical forest, sweat dripping down each man’s brow. They were patting each other’s shoulders as if congratulating one another.
Each picture showed a different background or setting. Sirius knew his father traveled all around the world, but he’d never seen any photographs of the places he’d been. Finally, Andromeda stopped at the very last picture in the book.
“There,” she pointed, “look.”
Sirius leaned forward to get a better look.
There in the picture were three people. Two of the people were men bound and gagged and hanging from some sort of invisible hooks. The one was apparently attempting to shout and plead with someone behind the camera, blood trickling from the gag cutting into the edge of his mouth. The other man’s head was lulling to the side and he was not moving. Sirius’s breath caught. The man looked…dead.
The third man in the picture was Andromeda’s father, Orionis Black. He was bundled in his thickest cloak, wrapped in a scarf and hat and smiling and raising his tankard. Sirius noticed the background of this picture. Beautiful, grand white topped mountains. He wondered where this picture was taken and when.
Not knowing what to say, he finally took his gaze off the picture and looked over at his cousin who was staring at him, waiting for his reaction. When he said nothing, she spoke.
“I think they’re Muggles.”
The Flobberworms in Sirius’s stomach were suddenly fighting with all their might to get out. He swallowed hard to push them down.
“You think your father…” But he couldn’t say it.
Andromeda nodded slowly.
“Do you think both of the Muggles…?”
Andromeda shrugged but again nodded.
Sirius looked back down at the photo.
“Who do you suppose took this picture?” Sirius asked.
Andromeda shrugged, “I don’t know.” And it was the truth.
“Well,” Sirius tried to think of something to say, “Mother says Muggles are filthy creatures. She says they spread their vile sickness throughout the world. Maybe they tried to hurt your father or possibly infect him?”
“My father’s a powerful wizard. He could have easily just Stunned them!”
“Maybe that’s what he did,” Sirius reasoned. “And the Muggles were so weak it killed them!”
“Maybe,” she sighed.
Andromeda lifted her knees and hugged them to her chest. She rested her chin between them. Sirius closed the book and leaned back against the desk, his legs stretched out in front of him. He played with the buttons on his suit jacket.
“Sirius?”
He looked over at his cousin.
“Do you think my father was Muggle hunting?”
Sirius shrugged, honestly at a loss for words.
“Because, well…at school…one of my friends, Marlene, is a Muggle born.”
Sirius’s mouth dropped open, “A Mudblood?”.
Suddenly Andromeda’s tone turned enthusiastic as she spoke of her friend. She turned to Sirius and smiled,
“Sirius, you’d love her! She’s the coolest person I know. She’s a laugh to be around and she’s always getting into mischief! But fun like, you know, nothing bad.”
Sirius lifted one side of his mouth in a half-hearted grin.
“I just couldn’t imagine someone hunting her down…you know?” she added solemnly.
The conversation was cut short when the two of them heard another voice whisper outside the door then a muffled giggle.
“Nox!” Andromeda dimmed the light.
Sirius felt around the floor for the book, grabbed it then crawled under the desk, cracking his head on the underside. Andromeda followed pulling the chair in on them to hide. They sat huddled together, Sirius clutching his head in silent agony.
Two people entered the room; the one’s voice was Bellatrix as she whispered, “In here, no one will come in here.”
The other voice was male although still a tenor. His breath was heavy and he sounded excited. “Bella, you said once we were alone I could kiss you.”
Relieved that is wasn’t either of their parents and surprised by the sudden situation at hand, Sirius and Andromeda exchanged wild looks. Sirius’s face cracked into an evil smile while his cousin covered her mouth to stifle a giggle.
“Hold on, Thomas, I can’t see where I’m going. Lumos! For Merlin’s sake, don’t grab at me.”
Sirius, unable to control it, snorted. Andromeda smacked his leg and gave him a warning look.
“You promised,” the boy named Thomas whined.
They heard Bellatrix giggle and then the unmistakable sound of kissing. The kissing turned into the sound of wild slurping. Under the desk, Sirius grimaced and Andromeda’s face scrunched in a suppressed laugh.
“Oh Thomas,” Bellatrix purred.
“Bella, you’re so beautiful. Can I put my hand…just there? Please?”
Bellatrix giggled, “Thomas that tickles!”
Sirius leaned in so his lips brushed against Andromeda’s hair and he whispered, “Your sister’s a tart.”
Andromeda elbowed him and he winced. They both shook in a silent fit of giggles.
The slurping continued and things progressed. The giggling turned into sighing, the sighing soon turned into moaning. The breaking point came when Sirius heard a pair of trousers being unzipped and Bellatrix whisper, “Thomas, you have to show me what I’m supposed to do with it.”
A bark-like laugh shot out from under the mahogany desk. Two startled teenagers could be heard fumbling with clothing and soon materialized behind the desk and peering down at Sirius and Andromeda huddled together for dear life.
“Get out from under there!” Bellatrix screeched through gritted teeth.
“Don’t get angry at us,” Andromeda shot back climbing out from under the desk, “we didn’t mean to be a part of your torrid affair.”
“What were you doing in here?” Bellatrix asked.
Before they could answer there was a knock on the door. It was Narcissa.
“Bella? Bella, are you in there? Someone’s coming!”
“Did you pay Cissy to be your watch dog?” Sirius asked with a smirk, dusting off his bum with his hands.
Bellatrix shot him a nasty look before running to the door. She opened it a crack. They heard Cissy’s voice.
“Bella, it’s nearly midnight. Everyone’s heading back to the ballroom. Father’s done the enchantment.”
Bellatrix nodded and closed the door. She looked over at her sister and cousin and nodded towards the door.
“C’mon you lot, hurry or we’ll miss it. We’ll be expected in the ball room.”
Sirius and Andromeda headed out the door first and Bellatrix followed them with an angry glare, Thomas bringing up the behind. Sirius couldn’t look him in the face without snickering so he felt safer, seeing as Thomas Avery was a good three stone heavier than he, with keeping his head down until they reached the ballroom.
The girl’s father had charmed the ceiling of the ballroom to reflect the night sky. The New Year had begun unceremoniously since they’d missed the countdown to midnight. Everyone was looking upward and the ballroom was alight with cheers and laughter, as the ceiling glittered with fireworks blazing into shapes of the constellations, meteors, comments and shooting stars. Sirius marveled for a moment up at it until he felt a prod at his back. Bellatrix looked down at him then pointed over to his family.
Leaving the angry glare of Bellatrix behind, he found himself in the path of another angry stare. He saw his mother standing in the ballroom with his father, her hand resting on Regulus’s shoulder and he could see that Regulus’s nose had been bleeding and he had been crying.
“Oh no,” Sirius sighed.
He crossed the room and stood in front of his mother. Before he could say a word she started in at him.
“You left him! You left him to fend for himself!” She was yelling at him in an audible whisper. Regulus sniffed and wiped at his eyes trying to dry his face.
“I’m sorry, Mother.” He looked over at Regulus and gave him an apologetic face. Then directed back to his mother he said, “I was with Andro…”
“I don’t care where you were! I gave you instructions to watch over your brother and while you were gone, three boys started a row with him! Three, Sirius!” She reiterated as if he didn’t hear her and he were an imbecile.
Sirius noticed a few families around them turning their eyes from the ceiling and tuning in on his mother’s angry words. He wanted to melt into the floor and disappear; and at the same time, he wanted nothing more than to find those three boys and do now exactly what he’d have done had he been there to defend Regulus.”
Instead, here merely muttered, “Mother, I didn’t think…”
“Of course you didn’t think! You never think!” There was a fire in her eyes as his mother raised her hand quickly above her head to strike at him. Arcturus Black reached up and grabbed his wife’s wrist. He whispered loud enough for Sirius to hear.
“Not here, Denebola.”
Sirius was silently glad for his father at that moment until he heard him mumble to his wife.
“Not in front of all these guests. Wait until we get home.”
“Happy New Year!”
Sirius heard the joyous shouts coming from all around him. For some reason his mind went back to the photo in his uncle’s study. He wasn’t sure why it bothered him now. There had to have been a good reason for that picture. He thought about his father standing tall, talking to Nott earlier that evening. He knew he wanted to be like his father but sometimes his father let him down. Sometimes…like now. It was now nineteen seventy-one, and for some reason the rapturous shouts of, ‘Happy New Year!’ didn’t mean a thing to Sirius Black.