Chapter Text
The magic world is complicated.
There is not much to say about this. Magic is a phenomenon of nature as complicated as the creation of stars and planets. It exists. It lives. It breathes. It is a colossal entity about which so much and so little is known. But there are rules, of course, there are rules, even if those rules are arbitrary and unclear, they still exist on the same plane of chaotic and wild nature.
Because sometimes nature can be predictive, the consequences are well shuffled on the table. Fire burns. Water wets. The clash of heat and humidity can create a hurricane. Sometimes nature is obvious, simple. Magic is the same.
It is a natural rule that nothing is obtained without offering something else. The exchange of forces is a universal constant that transcends the logic of man and twines itself into the deep recesses of magic. Matter is neither created nor destroyed, only transformed; it is a rule so basic that it almost sounds like a childish and clumsy lesson. There is no power without sacrifice, no tomorrow without yesterday. Greatness is hard-earned and highly covetous; it consumes the souls of those who seek it, chewing around the edges until it gobbles up any hint of sugary weakness.
The Noble and Ancient House of Black had been around almost as long as magic itself; as old as they are, their fame reaches far beyond magical Britain and takes root all over the world. The Black family, of course, proudly boasted of its longevity and made sure to uphold its name no matter what.
Great witches and wizards have come from such a noble house, some would even dare to say that it was as if Circe in person had chosen to bless them with a unique connection to magic. True or not, the reality was that there was no pureblood family more in syntony with magic, and so, it was a surprise when slowly — like a poison — it seemed that it had turned against them.
Officially, there is no record of who was the poor soul that started the decline of the Black house; however, it only took a few generations to made clear that something was happening between their members. Perhaps, it was the product of the heinous incest that the main line of the family motivated almost two centuries ago, perhaps one of the proud Black magicians had incurred the wrath of Circe or Hecate. Perhaps it was just magic claiming its prize: ‘Behold a great power, and behold my reward’ The natural exchange of life.
The range of possibilities was that wide, and while scepticism was to be expected, the ancient families knew better; magic was a gift and to offend the one who had given them such a blessing only brought vicious consequences.
Contrary to other pure blood houses that had disappeared in time, the decline of the Black house was something totally different, it was not about loss of status or economic level, nor was it referring to the lack of powerful magicians. As infamous as they may be, no one would deny that there was no family more powerful and influential than them, today or tomorrow. Even at their lowest point, they were still far ahead of any family.
The decline of the Black house was something else, close to a disease, like a rot that sought to punish and torture. The magic was still there, strong and alive, exceptional witches and wizards were still being born, but there was something about them that derange them. Black madness, will be what they will call it, an open secret of the wizarding community.
The madness — for lack of a better word — seemed to reach everyone without exception, some more than others, but always present. Many scholars had theorized what might be going on in the Black blood, some would say that the incest had indeed irrevocably altered their connection to magic, others would say that it was punishment for their beliefs in blood supremacy, and some would talk about how the use of the dark arts had taken a toll on the family. If any of those things were true, the whole world did not know, and it was uncertain if the Blacks themselves had the answer to it.
Black madness behaved like a genetic disease, growing over time until the wizard or which was lost in it. This disease was not the same in all members, some could live long lives without revealing even a hint of lack of sanity, while others could not live beyond twenty with the way their minds were broken.
Difficult to predict and remedy, but so obvious to identify.
Sirius Orion Black would be born one night in early November, product of the relationship between Walburga Black and Orion Black, two individuals so dimensionally opposite that it was quite obvious that they had only married out of obligation. Orion could not be described in any other way than cowardly, a paranoid but vicious man who feared his own shadow, not to mention his wife. Walburga, fierce and demanding, a heartless and cruel woman who did not have even a hint of love in her heart. Together they had fathered Sirius, brave and noble Sirius, but also cruel and obsessive Sirius.
Neither Walburga nor Orion had of course been imbeciles of such exorbitant sizes all their lives. Orion, for example, had been a gentle but daring boy, his intellect was enviable and he seemed to have kept the worst of his madness in check — his obsession, cruelty and pride — however, not long after graduating from Hogwarts, he had completely lost his way, a shadow of his former self who would rather lock himself in his office than deal with the unpredictable outside world. Walburga, on the other hand, had been a lovely child, too lively to have been brought up in the dark halls of an old London house, always with a laugh on her lips even though madness overtook her so soon, turning her charming laughs manic and terrifying, turning her obsession with animals into a hunger to dissect them, turning her spells to create flowers into dark and dirty curses.
However, if there was something that such an incompatible couple seemed to share, it was an excellent and enviable magical core, as well as an enormous pride in their surname. Both traits would be inherited in one way or another to Sirius, making him a formidable wizard, as well as an overly proud boy — although not exactly of his family name. Little Sirius would grow up to see how his family deteriorated, how his mother became more and more irascible and his father something close to one of the paintings in the house. He would see his cousin Bellatrix fall before the grasp of the family curse too young, and he would also see himself in a not so different situation.
For Sirius, it had all started the moment he first glimpsed a tiny body — too small, sickeningly small — to fill the ancient house on Grimmauld Place with bubbling, joyous sounds. When Sirius met Regulus, his little brother, it was evident that the horrible evil of the Blacks had begun to take root in his mind; he was barely almost two years-old, and yet, Sirius’ childish mind had taken an infatuate to his brother, loving him deeply even though the feeling was unspeakable for such a small infant.
Somehow Regulus’ arrival was a blessing for Sirius, serving as an anchor to his most cruel and sadistic instincts, and keeping him relatively sane; if Regulus was by his side - safe, secure - for Sirius there was nothing more to wish for. But that only made that, when his little brother wasn’t around, Sirius’ mind would lead him to dark places that would materialize when Regulus was hurt. It was a natural response, one could not really expect anything more from Sirius; to grow up in a family like the Blacks, it takes a lot of determination and guts, every person can be an enemy and every shadow can be a trap.
As a kind of parallelism, the older Black brother would see in the first row the deterioration of his cousin Bella, and could not help but compare it with his own: Bellatrix with her electrifying magic and a weakness for Andromeda and Narcissa, would see a hunger for the pain, a cruel desire to make her sisters cry and to see with great satisfaction how the tears fell down their faces. And yet, in a devious way, Bella still loved her sisters, Sirius could see it in the way her eyes filled with a brief flash of regret at cutting Narcissa’s hair — even though, over the years, that flash would eventually fade, nothing more than a memory. Bella was almost seven years older than Sirius, and was for a long time the biggest nightmare in his young mind, although not for the reasons that any other human being might have. Sirius was terrified to think, that at some point, he would also be able to harm Regulus without hesitation. He dreaded the thought of his impulses overpowering his rational mind, or worse, of reason becoming so distorted that hurting Regulus didn't turn his stomach. Always a child with too much awareness and insight, Sirius could not deny the obvious.
Luckily for Sirius, and unfortunately for the wizarding world, his violent impulses took another path, making him too overprotective and jealous of his little brother — eventually the short list would expand to a werewolf, a blood traitor, and a mousy boy, as well as anyone else Sirius Black would consider dazzling — thus making the path that he once shared with Bella in the love for their siblings, will end up dividing definitively.
But Sirius was still too young, and no matter how gifted he was in magic or how promising his future looked, he was still a helpless child in front of his parents, adults who didn’t really care about him or his brother. Sirius' small height could do nothing against the colossal height of Walburga and Orion.
The first time Walburga Black rise her wand on Regulus, would be when the little child was two years-old; it had been on a night in February, during the time that Regulus and Sirius still shared a room. Walburga had come in with wide eyes and a scowl on her lips to cast a quick silencing charm on her youngest son, thus cutting off the giggles that had so sweetly delighted the portraits in the hall. Sirius, four years-old at the moment and who had been tickling his brother, felt a hatred grow in his chest at his mother. There was no apparent reason, no warning beforehand. It was just an erratic attack by a woman who day by day was losing the line of what was acceptable and what was not acceptable. If Sirius had been a child with a softer heart, perhaps his mother's loss of control, as well as her bouts of irrationality, might have aroused in Sirius some pity for a woman who, by all accounts, did not seem to be acting in her right mind... but that is not Sirius, and he could not feel compassion for the same woman who constantly tormented the innocent soul that is his little brother.
Walburga had never been an exemplary mother, and as her children grew older, she seemed to become more and more disconnected from them. At first, she would settle for ignoring them, visiting only sporadic times but trusting Kreacher to attend to their needs; on one memorable occasion, she had even turned a deaf ear to Regulus’ cries, refusing to go upstairs even though Regulus was a child of just a few months and leaving the house elf to solve any inconvenience. Yet, she had never raised her wand towards any of her children until that night when any mercy Walburga might have had for the boys had evaporated. Moments like that became more frequent, though not easier to avoid; just as Walburga could one day come and sew their mouths shut with magic, so could she show small, pleasant smiles. For Sirius it was easier to protect himself from his mother, for Regulus it was a constant battle between fear and affection.
That was also the turning point for Sirius, the moment he realized there was no one he hated more than Walburga Black. But the small figure that was Sirius could hardly stand up to the cruel monster that was his mother, and as Walburga grew more and more violent — little petrifying spells, a few curses to shut them up, nails on their little shoulders, slaps on their chubby cheeks… — Sirius was more and more desperate to be able to do something that will avoid the painful red and purple spots on Regulus’ body. In Sirius's childish mind it was not fair, Regulus was the sweetest, gentlest boy in the world, it was not fair that the evil hand of fate put Regulus in the worst possible place with the worst possible people. But if the world was not going to play nice, then Sirius was going to twist fate's hand and force her to carefully trace the threads of Regulus' future — at the very least, he thought, if the world was not going to be fair to them, Sirius should be the one to seek his own justice.
His first relevant accidental magic came when he was five years-old, before that, Sirius had been able to levitate small stuffed animals and change the color of the sheets, however, by the time Regulus was nearing his 4th birthday, the older brother Black was able to do more than just children’s tricks.
The thing happened like this: Orion, who saw his children every blue moon, had decided that it was a good idea to have a dinner with his family on a pleasant evening; the four of them would sit at the long dining room table, thick but familiar silence enveloping them. At one point they had all been eating when Regulus, still such a small child and frightened by the presence of the strange man, knocked over the wine pitcher by pulling at the tablecloth accidentally. In a split of seconds Walburga’s eyes had turned furious and her lips had begun to spit poison.
“Stupid kid," she said "Are you so inept that you can’t even eat properly? Perhaps I should lock you in the cupboard like —” the words came to an abrupt halt, she could never finish her sentence because, the moment her eldest child understood the threat, the wine glass in her hand exploded violently, sending crystals that cut her face and hands. Walburga did not know how to react, her husband could only stare in awe at the sharp remains of the cup embedded in his wife's palms.
It had been instinctive, Sirius knew that his mother was serious about sending Regulus to the elves’ cupboard for it wouldn’t be the first time she did it; Walburga didn't even have to finish her familiar threat for Sirius to fill in the blanks. However, he also knew how much it scared his little brother to be locked up in that place, so as a reflex action, Sirius’ magic had not hesitated to turn on his mother. It was not a response born of Sirius's deepest hatred for his mother, as one might expect, it was just... fear. A terrifying shiver of having to spend another night listening to Regulus sobbing on the other side of the cupboard. Whatever exceptional magic Sirius had ever done in his life, the impetus had always been the fear and the deep love that boiled underneath it.
It was a night of many revelations, of discovering Sirius' indomitable nature and lack of boundaries when it came to his brother. Never mind Sirius's safety, never mind the consequences; what mattered was Regulus, who would never have the same recklessness to stand up for himself. But that's what Sirius was there for, to look into the evil that lurked behind his mother's eyes and keep it always on him, and only on him.
Sirius, who had never respected or loved his mother, had suddenly become openly antagonistic towards her, and had stubbornly started taking every moment to provoke his mother, be it by talking to the neighboring Muggle children or skipping his classes. Sirius had also made it his personal mission to teach Regulus to be quiet, to hide in the shadows and go unnoticed.
Both brothers had sealed their fate then, with Sirius being an extremely mischievous and rude boy, while Regulus was a timid and cautious little boy. The oldest one always in front and the youngest one hidden behind him. Sirius had become the center of attention, always stealing people’s eyes in a good or bad way.
Of course, it wasn’t a perfect plan, many times Sirius couldn’t stop his mother from attacking his brother, no matter how many antiques or insults he threw in her face. But they were together and that was all that mattered, they were together while their mother beat them both for making too much noise; they were together, only divided by a door, when their mother put one of them in the kitchen cupboard. They were together, when they saw the stars on the rooftop during the deepest hours of the night… they had each other and that was enough.
Among all the gold in the world and all the prestige of their name, there was nothing more valuable than each other's lives.
The hardest lesson Sirius had to learn was that very few things last forever, and the arrival of his letter to Hogwarts was how little eleven-year-old Sirius had to learn it.
Sirius had always known that he would not be what his mother wanted, even though it might have been very easy for him to meet her expectations. If his mother wanted a perfect pure blood heir, what she would get would be Sirius playing with muggle children; if his mother wanted a boy who excel in studies, then Sirius would let his mind wander during his lessons. Walburga wants ice and Sirius gives her fire, his mother says Black and out of sheer stubbornness Sirius replies White. Whatever his mother wanted him to fit into, Sirius would never give her the satisfaction, no matter how much he might enjoy his piano lessons, or his French classes, or the Charms tutors. That is the only satisfaction Sirius can find, his only escape from what seems to be a life already mapped out and doomed.
For the eleven-year-old Sirius, it was obvious that he would go to great lengths to disappoint his mother, and the next logical step was, of course, not being in Slytherin. One must not be fooled, Sirius was, and is, a Slytherin through and through; he is intelligent, with enough ambition and cunning to easily fit into the house of serpents, but his hatred and contempt for his mother and his entire family is greater — sometimes even than his love for Regulus, as overwhelming as it may be to look at that possible truth. Sirius knew, without a doubt, that he would end up in Gryffindor, the other house that suited him best, but just as certain it was that his little brother would end up in Slytherin. That was the nature within each of them, Sirius's rebelliousness and Regulus's calmness, two extremes born from the same cockroach's nest.
With deep sadness Sirius realized that this could be the breaking point, not only would he go to Hogwarts, leaving his sweet little brother at the mercy of the deranged Walburga, but also, when the time came, they would both be in different houses, a inevitable and foreshadowed event. Perhaps, if Sirius told Regulus to cry to the hat to put him in Gryffindor there would be some chance, but Sirius would never do that, because, if he does it, he would put his brother in an impossible position in front of their mother. As disrespectful as Sirius was, he knew his mother would never willingly get rid of him, but that didn’t apply to Regulus, who was prone to illness and lacked Sirius’s knack for attracting people-in a good or a bad way. The eldest Black son is, to Walburga’s misery, a strong and powerful heir, too much like her in ways Sirius refused to acknowledge, leaving Regulus as an expendable spare part. There was no doubt in Sirius’ mind, that at the slightest sign of rebelliousness in his younger brother, their mother wouldn’t doubt to correct or kill him.
Second children are not important, they are just spare parts, cared for and looked after but not indispensable. And Regulus, in and of himself, was not the replacement Walburga would wish for. Sirius could allow himself many liberties, defy his mother openly and suffer no permanent consequences for it, the same did not apply to Regulus. And though Sirius was aware of it, he still, irrationally, wondered how much of that complacency in Regulus was just a form of survival and how much of it was honest truth…
During the year before he began his education at Hogwarts, Sirius developed an obsessive attachment to his brother, refusing to let him wander alone or sleep in a room other than his own. For Regulus this was not a problem, he loved his brother deeply as one of the few figures in his life who treated him with kindness, besides, he was aware that his older brother would leave, and they had to take advantage of every possible time.
By the time it was time to leave, both brothers would be heartbroken to part, Sirius had even tried to sneak his brother into the carriage along with his trunk, but they were quickly stopped by a school prefect. In the end, both had said goodbye on the platform under Walburga’s critical eyes, which prevented both from showing what she considered inappropriate behavior for the heirs of the noble house of Black, however, to Sirius’ surprise, his brother had not hesitated to hug him hard before he enters the train.
Being the social butterfly that he was, Sirius wasted no time in making his first friends whom his mother would passionately disapprove of; Of course, Sirius hadn’t approached them just because they would be the kind of person his mother hated, but in his conviction to stay away from any brat in his parents’ social circle, Sirius had inevitably run into one of the most important people in his life.
The first friend he made was a boy named James Potter, heir to the well-known Potter family and a rather cheerful pureblood; Both had met when James entered the car Sirius was in and they had recognized each other instantly, they had never spoken between them but as heirs to important families they both knew of each other’s existence. At first it had been a bit awkward; it was clear that James was wary of the presence of the heir to perhaps the most important wizarding family in Britain, known for its beliefs in the supremacy of blood and its foray into the dark arts, however James was a Gryffindor through and through and straightening his back and puffing out his chest a bit, he held out his hand and introduced himself.
"James Fleamont Potter, heir to the Potter family, nice to meet you, Black heir, right?" James Potter was clearly a bold and prideful boy, sure of himself and brimming with confidence, but what caught Sirius's attention was the mocking gleam in his eyes, as if he found all pureblood etiquette ridiculous something Sirius could relate to.
With his best posh voice and perfect posture, Sirius took James's hand "Sirius Orion Black, heir to the most Noble and Ancient House of Black, a pleasure to meet you heir Potter" both boys held their gaze for a while, and as one they burst out laughing.
James Potter was Sirius's first friend and from that moment on he would be another precious person in his heart, a kindred soul.
The second friend Sirius would make would be Peter Pettigrew, a half-blood boy who was a childhood friend of James. Peter had been looking for James and so when he had entered the carriage, he had been met by the sight of the two pureblood heirs rolling around with laughter. The introductions between Pettigrew and Sirius were quick and friendly with James as the intermediary between the two.
“Black heir this is Peter Pettigrew, the heir to the Pettigrew family, I’m sure you’ve heard of them” James’s tone was mocking as Peter looked at the Potter boy with an eyebrow raised, quite used to James’ playful behavior.
Continuing with the act Sirius turned his nose up and using an even more elegant voice formally greeted the blond boy “It’s a pleasure to meet you heir Pettigrew, I’ve certainly heard a lot from your family”
“Good things I hope I don’t want such an important family to find mine poorly”
But before Sirius could launch into a full speech about how the Blacks would never in their lives find such wonderful company inappropriate, let alone the very real home of Pettigrew, the door to the carriage opened again.
Remus John Lupin was the third friend Sirius made, and he was from the start the most fascinating person Sirius had ever had the pleasure to meet. With just one look at Remus’s face, it was like an epiphany for Sirius, and he wasted no time in eagerly introducing himself.
“Hey I’m Sirius. What’s your name? Do you need help with your trunk?” Pushing James aside, the Black boy had come closer with bright eyes and a wide smile at Remus, who could only watch the slightly smaller boy with wary eyes.
“No.” Ignoring Sirius, Remus hefted his trunk into the compartment and took a seat by the window, resolutely ignoring the looks of the other three children as he opened a small worn book.
“My, that’s a pleasure too mate.” Sitting down across from the boy, James Potter tried to make his eyes meet Lupin’s warm brown ones but failed miserably “Aren’t you going to tell us your name?”
“Remus. Remus Lupin.” He looked up just a fraction of a second from his reading, long enough to see the pout on James’s lips and reply with a dry tone.
“Well Remus, I’m James, the boy with the blond hair is Peter and you already know Sirius”
“A pleasure”
“It certainly looks like it.” Sirius had practically flung himself into space next to Remus, trying to see over the words in his book as Peter sat down next to James, pulling out a packet of Muggle chocolates that quickly caught the boy Lupin’s attention, which didn’t go unnoticed by Sirius “Do you like chocolate? Personally, I find it too sweet although my little brother seems to like it a lot.”
“Don’t you like chocolate?” Remus’s voice sounded alarmed, as if the idea that someone might hate the sweet was inhuman and closing his book, he directed his attention to the boy next to him.
Sirius shrugged a bit “Not that I hate it, but yeah, I guess I don’t like it.”
“That’s weird mate, chocolate is like… I don’t know, the best invention or something like that” Peter’s eyes traveled from Sirius to Remus, seeing how the latter saw the Black boy as the strangest creature on the train.
“I don’t usually eat sweets; my mother doesn’t usually allow them often”
“What are you supposed to eat when you’re sad then?” for James Potter, who wasn’t necessarily the biggest sweet tooth, he suddenly found Sirius’s presence out of this world.
“No sweets?” that somehow seemed like the most horrible thing Remus could have ever heard.
The rest of the train ride had been spent getting to know each other and learning about each other. By the time they got to Hogsmeade they had heard all about James’ little family and how amazing his parents were, about Peter and his two older sisters living somewhere in America as well as his love of collecting chocolate frog cards, something that shared with James. Remus, as well as Sirius, had spoken very little about their home life, a little tense when the questions turned to their families and limiting themselves to answering only what was necessary. Remus said a couple of things about his mother and nothing about his father, preferring to tell them about his enthusiasm for the DADA class; Sirius on the other hand had talked extensively about his little brother but nothing about his parents after the candy talk, choosing to talk to James and Peter about the Quidditch season.
By the end of the day, just as Sirius had eagerly hoped, he had ended up sorted into Gryffindor and as a sign of fate, the other three children on the train had been sorted into the same house and now shared a room for the next 7 years. As was typical of Sirius, less than 4 hours after arriving at the castle he had decided that it was time to break the rules and had briefly informed the other children of his desire to find the owlery so that he could send a letter to his little brother and tell him about his sorting. This little escapade and mischief would be perhaps the first great bonding moment of the 4 children and what would define their relationship as a strong camaraderie from that moment on, when both Peter, Remus and James offered to accompany Sirius on his little escapade. James had even excitedly told them about a little family secret and had taken out of his trunk a silky silver cloth which the rest of the children had seen without emotion, but which soon became the most fascinating thing when James disappeared before their eyes.
Together they had passed through the fat lady portrait under the invisibility cloak and embarked after curfew in search of the owlery. Even with everything and the cape, they had ended up being caught when they got lost on the way back, but they all seemed quite satisfied with themselves for having been able to achieve their goal.
Argus Filch had led them straight to Minerva McGonagall, starting one of many detentions that school year.
Over time they had become almost inseparable, James and Sirius mostly seemed like two separate souls at birth with how easily they had learned to communicate and how quickly they could follow each other’s wits. Peter and Sirius’ relationship was also quite strong, and even though the two boys were so different, Sirius had learned to appreciate and bring out Peter’s playful personality.
As for Remus and Sirius, they were like cat and dog, constantly snapping at each other and trying to get on each other’s nerves in Sirius’s case or deliberately ignore the other in Remus’s case. However, both of them seemed to inevitably gravitate towards each other and they would not deny that they were extremely fascinated by each other.
As the months progressed, they learned more about them: it soon became clear that James could be a slightly insecure child who desperately sought the attention of others; that Peter had some difficulty concentrating in class and that this made him very depressed; that Remus seemed to have a somewhat fragile body with how often he complained of some ailment and that her mother was also not in the best of health, having to leave school once a month to visit her; that Sirius lived in an abusive home and that he was eternally worried about his little brother.
In Sirius’ case, he hadn’t really said much about his life in his house, but it was the little things that gave him away. Little flinches when a teacher raised their wand, an awkwardness at excessive physical contact, moments when his mind seemed to go elsewhere at loud noises, and the way he acted overly defensive when one teacher reprimanded the others. Perhaps what made it more apparent were the constant nightmares that had caused the other boys to hold their curtains open as an invitation for Sirius to seek solace.
However, they had their confirmation after the Christmas holidays, when they were greeted on the train by the sight of a slightly trembling Sirius with a bruise on his cheek. During the entire trip Sirius had kept to himself, but that night, after dinner, and after being cornered by a James Potter in mother hen mode, he had told them about what had happened on holidays.
“My mother is not happy with my sorting and well, let’s just say she lost her temper a bit” of course that was not something new, after all Walburga Black had sent a howler the day after sorting where she talked about how disappointed and embarrassed, she was with Sirius and how she hoped his son would at least have the decency to make friends on his level. The other three kids had been worried about their friend, expressing their displeasure with Walburga and how Sirius had nothing to be ashamed of; the Black boy had thanked them but assure that in reality he couldn’t care less about his mother’s opinion. After that he had taken the other letter, he had received and his face changed into a big smile: it was from Regulus, who wished him a good school year and talked about how much he already missed his brother and wished he would please try not to get into too much trouble.
“She’s a cruel bitch, she spent hours and hours talking about the stain that this would be in the history of the Blacks and blah blah blah” Sirius had begun to walk around the room making big gestures with his hands while the other children watched him from the bed of Peter. “Of course, I told her I didn’t give a fuck what Phineas Nigellus had to say about it and I kindly asked her to shut the hell up because you know, it’s Christmas, unless she was going to sing Christmas carols I didn’t really want to hear his ravings.”
“And then she hit you?” Peter felt a little dizzy watching Sirius pacing around the room and threw a sock at his head to stop him.
“Of course not, don’t be silly Pete, she just threw a glass of wine at me” Sirius had rolled his eyes and meanwhile Sirius’s friends could only look at him in disbelief “No, the bruise was in response to the bruise I gave her “
James seemed shocked to hear that, and a quick glance showed him that the other kids were the same “Did you hit your mother?!
“More like setting her dress on fire although I think I did hit her in the face a few times” To that Sirius had made a vicious smile that scared his friends. They knew that Sirius could be quite violent, before the Christmas holidays he had pushed Severus Snape into the black lake for example, but they were still surprised to see that side of his friend.
“I don’t remember too well, I just… Well. When I got home, I didn’t see Regulus greeting me, so I went upstairs to see him, and he was in bed. Turns out our lovely mother had decided that Reggie was being too talkative with her, and she left him in the snow as punishment, and I don’t know if I told you guys, but he’s really sickly so obviously ended up with a really nasty pneumonia. I was so mad that filthy hag almost killed my brother so I went down to the living room with my wand and I set fire to her dress, after that I think I threw myself on her and hit her or something, I don’t know, when I woke up I was in the floor and she had some scratches on her face and I, well, I had this and others” after explaining himself Sirius had pointed to his cheek and seemed quite pleased with himself.
After that both Peter and Remus had sneaked into the hospital wing to steal some creams and potions for Sirius. For that night the four of them slept curled up on the carpet, happy to have each other and dreading the next vacation.
Regulus sent letters every day, sometimes short sometimes long, but always one daily: it could be about questions from Sirius’s classes, about some new book he had started, about the dream he had that day or about the stars visible that night; the point is that every morning promptly at 8 o’clock an owl delivered a letter in fancy handwriting and Sirius sent another one back. The Black heir had a sneaking suspicion that Kreacher might be helping Regulus send and receive the letters, because otherwise he is sure that his mother would have already cut off all communication between the brothers. Every letter he received was kept by Sirius in a small box that Remus had given him for Christmas, and placed at the bottom of his trunk; it wasn’t a magical box, so it wasn’t protected, but it was still more than surprising to Sirius when one morning in early April, a few days before they were due to leave for Easter, Severus Snape came looking for him in the hallway on his way to transformations to show him the little box.
From the very beginning, both the marauders – as Professor McGonagall had referred to them after catching them wandering the corridors after hours – and Snape had had a strong apprehension about the other’s presence. Mutual hatred had led to a petty feud-fueled by the rivalry between the boys’ houses, and since their first interaction in their first Potions class the boys had wasted no time bothering each other in the halls. Whether casting small hexes in the corridors, changing the ingredients of a potion, or making rude comments to each other, there wasn’t a day that the Marauders and Snape didn’t get into a fight.
However, this would be the decisive moment that would turn childhood pranks into something much more serious.
Severus Snape was a cruel and vengeful boy; he hated the small group of Gryffindors in his year with a passion and the hatred was mutual. But above all there were two people he hated the most: James Potter and Sirius Black. As Snape saw it, both boys had everything in the world and were insufferable idiots for it: they were purebloods, rich, handsome, and well-liked, everything Severus would never be and what caused him a lot of anger. As such he had made it his personal mission to at least make the lives of those two and their friends miserable, as small as that misery might be.
Like the vengeful child that he was, Severus had seen the perfect opportunity to respond to the marauders’ last move and taking advantage of his friend Lily Evans accidentally giving him the password to Gryffindor tower, he had decided to enter one Friday morning, while the whole castle was in classes. Searching among the things he had found very little until, in a stroke of luck, he had come across a small brown box with engravings of stars and dozens of letters inside.
Moving the box in front of Sirius Black and his gang, Severus had flashed a slimy smile worthy of Salazar Slytherin. “Do you recognize this Black?”
“YOUR DISGUSTING SNAKE DROP THAT.” Lunging at Severus, Remus had had to grab Sirius by his arms as he kicked desperately.
“How did you get into our tower?” James Potter was a cheerful boy but also quite quick to attack, and he hadn’t hesitated to stand in front of his friends and give Severus his best glare.
“That Potter” the name as if it were poison and dirty the mouth “It is something that does not concern you”
“Severus just give us the box back and we won’t say anything to the professors.” Always the reasonable one, Remus was struggling quite a bit to keep Sirius from running and smacking the Slytherin boy in the face.
“Now Lupin don’t try to threaten me” Severus rolled his eyes and opened the box, taking out a handful of cards “after all I doubt that Black wants his precious little brother’s letters to disappear”
“Dare you fucking asshole and I swear I- “
“Sirius” Peter’s voice was quite firm as he sent his friend a reprimanding look “What do you want to give us back the box?”
“Pete don’t negotiate with this idiot”
“This idiot is more than willing to dump this rubbish in the lake, so Potter, I would be very careful.” Pulling out his wand, Severus Snape pointed it straight at James’s face with the box under his arm and the cards in his other hand “I didn’t think that you get along so well with your brother Black, I wonder if your mother knows anything about that”
At that both Peter and Remus shared a look, knowing full well that there wasn’t much they could do to stop Sirius and James from responding to the not-so-subtle threat. With a nod Peter ran off for a professor just as Sirius head-butted Remus to get him to release him.
It all happened so fast, one second Sirius was hurling a series of colorful insults at Snape with his and James’ wands right into Snape’s slimy face and the next he was watching in horror as Severus set the cards on fire. The smell of smoke attracted the presence of many students who watched in fascination as Sirius Black punched and scratched Severus Snape while James Potter tried to salvage what he could from the letters and Remus Lupin did his best to separate Sirius and Snape.
By the time Professor McGonagall arrived with Peter, Severus was with a broken nose on the floor as he tried to dig his nails into Sirius’s face. A quick spell separated them, and it took Professor Slughorn’s presence to stop Snape from trying to get close to Sirius.
All the children would be punished, in detention until the end of the year but none of that mattered to the marauders, the only thing that mattered was how for the first time they saw Sirius Black collapse in Remus’s arms as he lamented the loss of his precious letters and together, they swore to make Severus Snape’s life as miserable as possible.
The sight the marauders received upon their return from Easter break was no different than last Christmas, with Sirius sporting an alarming ring-shaped bruise encircling his neck and terrible dark circles under his eyes. “Reggie was caught by mother reading one of the muggle books I sent”
“Is he okay?” the other marauders had looked at James like he was an idiot for asking such a dumb question.
“It could have been worse, I guess” before the expectant look of his friend, he continued “She put a little curse of nightmares on him, I was with him every night trying to calm him down but when mother found out, she tied me by the neck to my bed”
James was horrified to hear that, the idea that his mother would do something similar to him was inconceivable and it broke his heart to imagine both brothers in that horrible place; maybe he didn’t know Regulus but with everything that Sirius talked about him he felt extremely worried for the safety of the younger Black.
Peter took out of the trunk a small jar with a green cream inside it and offered it to Sirius “I brought it just in case”
After helping Sirius apply the cream, they had remained silent, with Remus allowing Sirius to snuggle up in one of his sweaters and sleep with his head in his lap.
Quicker than expected the school year came to an end, and the small group of friends remained anxious during the train ride back, constantly shooting Sirius glances as if they feared he might not be back for the following year.
James had hugged Sirius tightly, who was getting more and more used to being hugged by people other than his brother “My parents- I told them about your mother and them” with a deep breath and a slightly unsure voice he said to Sirius “They want you to know that you can come to us, if something happens and you need help, you and your brother can come to us.” With that he took a piece of paper out of his pocket and stuffed it into Sirius’s fist, the paper said: Potter Manor, Godric’s Hollow. Sirius felt tears burning in his eyes as he held onto James tightly and put his head on his shoulder.
After separating, Peter had taken Sirius by the shoulders and had looked directly into Sirius’s gray eyes “Don’t hesitate to set her on fire again”
Sirius had laughed at that and given Peter a firm nod before turning to Remus “Any advice?”
Remus just met Sirius’s eyes, an understanding look passed between them, and he offered a shaky smile. “I hope you’ll introduce us to Regulus in September.”
The first to get off the train was Sirius, swimming through the sea of people and quickly locating Walburga; it wasn’t hard to find her considering that she inevitably attracted attention with her perfect posture and her elegant black robes. They looked into each other’s eyes, the disgust between them present and without saying a word Walburga took Sirius by his shoulder, digging her nails in, and appearing at the entrance of Grimmauld Place. Without saying a word Sirius turned on his way to the stairs leaving his trunk at the foot of the stairs and as he went up to his room, he felt relieved, he would only have to stay for a few weeks and then he and Regulus would be far away, protected by magic of the castle and the safety of his friends. Together.