Black Fortunes

Chapter 11

Mid-April 1976

Harrigan was wandering the upper levels of 12 Grimmauld Place. He had been invited to the residence that Arcturus had opened after closing Black Manor, which had been the home of Orion since he was born. It was warded beyond belief and closed up tighter than an insane asylum, these being the words of Orion himself. He frowned to himself as he looked around, remembering exactly why he had chosen to wander these dark halls.

Orion had received a letter from Regulus just this afternoon detailing Sirius' current moods, which were swinging towards the very instability that Orion had been trying to keep his eldest from. The reaction that his eldest had shown to just a picture in the social section of the Daily Prophet was worrying to the Lord, who was trying to think of how to reply to Regulus without making his youngest more worried than he was.

Hesitantly Harrigan opened another door, smiling at the room inside. This obviously belonged to Regulus, he had Slytherin's green and silver everywhere, in banners, small flags, old uniforms hung proudly in the wardrobe for memories' sake, and pictures of him and his friends on the walls. Studying the photos he noted one group off to the side, almost lost in the multitude of images belonging to Regulus' friends.

These were candid shots taken from some ways away of a boy that looked more like Orion than Regulus did, sharply angled and handsome features crowned by slightly wavy black hair and glittering gray-blue eyes. In some he was alone, studying or staring off into the distance, most showed him with three other boys or two of them, hanging out under a tree by a lake or walking down the halls of the great castle that was Hogwarts.

Having met the boy pictured once before, Harrigan quickly realized these were of Sirius, elder son and heir of Orion. The pictures taken by his year younger brother were both sweet and wistful as well as heartbreaking and slightly uncomfortable to look at. Their very distance conveyed Regulus' desire to be closer to his brother and his friends, a longing for a presence that must have been very familiar at one time and now was more distant than ever.

He left the room a few moments later, wandering down the hall toward yet another door, the images Regulus had taken still prominent in his mind. Thus, when he opened the next door, he was rather unprepared for what he was going to see. He blinked, stared, and shook his head, resisting a laugh. This was obviously Sirius' room and the boy had probably done a very good job of driving his mother insane.

Pictures of pretty Muggle girls and motorcycles were stuck to the wall, their vapid stares and stillness a very obvious contrast to the moving photos of Sirius and his friends goofing off in the other photos. A large poster of a roaring gold Gryffindor lion emblazoned on a bright scarlet shield shimmered from the wall opposite, while a child's toy version of a dragon skeleton hung from the ceiling as if it were about to lazily fly around the room. Old textbooks and clothing were scattered everywhere as well as some very unusual magazines.

The wardrobe looked to have been shoved against the wall at some point and there were a few pieces of parchment visible from underneath. The layers of dust on the floor spoke of just how long the wardrobe had been in its old spot. Curious, Harrigan walked through the errant child's room and picked them up. Turning the whole pile over he noted that they were a series of letters between Sirius and someone else. Hoping his indiscretion wouldn't be pushing his luck with Orion and his sons he started to read the top letter.

Dear Sirius,

I think of you every day, you know. Corny, isn't it? It is still true. Though I have just graduated I feel lost knowing that on the 1st of September I won't be seeing you on the platform. I will wish you luck with your 5th year now, not knowing when I will be able to write or speak to you again.