Make The Wizarding World A Better Place

Nostalgia & Understanding

And now, a couple of decades later, as he taught his grandfather about the need of muggle blood for magic to remain strong and healthy within a Most Ancient and Noble House, an owl hits its beak on the glass gently to catch their attention.

Arcturus looked to his mentor and friend for permission with an eager look on his face, he'd turned eleven yesterday and was awaiting his Hogwarts letter. Sirius Emrys (was the name he'd taken after his engagement with Merlin and kept after the man's death) looked upon his small charge with amusement shining in his now blood red eyes (ever since meeting the Black family for the first time and remembering that silver eyes was unique to their family, he'd decided to stick with his vampire eye colour) and nodded his assent. The eleven year old boy calmly walked over to the window before opening it, but Sirius could easily see how the boy's hands were shaking. When the owl held out its leg for Arcturus to take the letter, the child could barely get his hands to stop shaking.

Oh, he was hiding it, that he was, but it was hard for anyone to hide anything from Sirius these days. He was far too used to reading people's expressions and body language at this point.

'If my hands had shaken like that in front of my mother, she would have crucioed me into oblivion for showing weakness.' Sirius thought idly to himself, but kept an amused smile on his face. Arcturus opened his letter with shaking hands and read the first few lines, before letting out a cry of victory while jumping up and down.

   "What in the world is going on here?" Amethyst Black neé Nott asked Sirius with a surprised look at her eldest son when she entered the room. Sirius smiled to himself before waving a hand at the young child, turning the air slightly chilly around him - reminding the child that there were others present at the moment.

   "Mother, look! I've been accepted into Hogwarts!" Arcturus exclaimed excitedly and Amethyst gasped.

   "That is wonderful news, Arcturus! I'm so proud of you!" Amethyst crowed proudly as her eldest son beamed at her.

Sirius felt an aching sense of nostalgia and loss as he heard that. Those had been nearly the exact words his father had used when he'd told him about his letter of acceptance, and the same tone he'd used - the only difference this time was that it was his father's grandmother speaking to his father's father. Sirius knew these days that his father had been very proud of the young man his eldest son had grown into, even if he'd never actually said it to him. Or rather, he had not been able to say it in fear of his wife's reaction.

   "You look rather sad, Mr. Emrys. Is there something wrong?" Amethyst asked the old vampire. She had often noticed that he would look at her son with some form of sad fondness, as if he knew when the boy would grow up before getting old and die. It unnerved her quite a bit, but he was always so kind to any child he came across that told their name... She had wondered many times why that was, but it would be years until she would truly find the answer to that question.

Sirius shook his head to clear it of the ancient memories and smiled at his great-grandmother gently, knowing exactly what was going through her head due to his magic.

   "Nothing you need to worry about, child. Old memories making themselves known, that is all. How many childrens mothers have I heard say those exact words? And how many of their wakes and funerals have I attended, where my mind won't stop replaying its memories of that very person's smile as a child that had just gotten their own acceptance letter? Far to many, but I still find some purpose in watching them all grow and eventually pass into the halls of their ancestors." Sirius spoke in melancholy.

Amethyst was shocked, she'd never thought about how many people (friends) that had been born, had grown, and had died during his lifetime. Of course, it was only natural that this moment would bring up harsh memories. Sirius heard where her thoughts were going and smiled softly at her, the sadness melting away as he looked upon the humans that he enjoyed the company of so much (simply because they were so filled with life).

   "But now, don't let my ancient memories keep you from celebrating this day. Go on child, why don't you tell your father the happy news?" Sirius added to the child, with an amused and fond tone, who lit up and beamed back to him, before bounding out of the room.

This sight caused Sirius to laugh loudly as he enjoyed the sight of a childs great happiness, the bark-like sound of his laugh echoing around the house and everyone in the house at the moment stopped dead in their tracks when they heard it and Arcturus lit up even more. He had made Sirius Emrys laugh!

No one had managed to get him to outright laugh like that before, at least not since the early 19th century! He was definitely making progress at getting Sirius to open up to him. Arcturus grinned as he kept bounding up the stairs to his father's office.

Sirius' laugh eventually died away, leaving him still chuckling at the startled face that was still filled with a sense of wonder, of Amethyst Black neé Nott. She soon snapped out of it and gave Sirius a soft smile.