Sapphire Bonds ☾✦ Poly Wolfstar

III. Christmas Dinner

December 1976

    A fanciful collar of an elegant shirt incessantly scratched Sirius's throat. He nervously slid his finger under the fabric, trying to alleviate his frustration. He dreamt of unbuttoning at least three top buttons, but he would gladly toss the shirt to hell if he could. However, with another admonishing look from his mother, he sighed heavily and placed his hands on the table to start twirling the crystal glass with his drink.

He detested coming home for the holidays, especially loathing these festive dinners that had become increasingly unbearable in recent years. It was the annual gathering of the snobbish upper crust of English wizarding families. Witches with hair arranged in almost comical compositions with feathers and gilded flowers, forced smiles, proudly recounting their husbands' latest achievements or boasting about their offspring. Proud men engaged in courteous conversations, subtly emphasizing their status, not wanting to appear even a bit inferior amid the splendor represented by the main residence of the Noble and Ancient House of Black. Everything felt so artificial and ostentatious that the thought of enduring more hours of this evening made Sirius nauseous.

The opulent house, pulsating with life today, filled with guests, conversations, and fake laughter, would soon return to its natural state—a residence filled with coldness and a handful of people remaining from the Black family. Visiting families would likely quickly abandon the perfect pictures they tried so hard to represent today within the confines of their own homes. Pride in their children would vanish soon after leaving this house, replaced by arguments about what one spouse said not quite right tonight, or they would finally speak the truth about the people they smiled at now as if they were the best of friends. Sirius could swear that more than half of those impeccably smiling wives hated their husbands just as much as he hated these dinners.

Every passing year seemed more burdensome, and he eagerly awaited the day to return to Hogwarts. Another year without Uncle Alphard, who used to discreetly pour Sirius a bit of drink to help him endure these evenings. Another year, where beyond the artificial smiles of the guests, something else lingered in the air. Tension, as if they feared that one wrong word would not only carry social embarrassment but also a real threat. Not only for them but for their families. Though they tried to maintain decorum, seemingly trivial topics increasingly entangled discussions about current events. Everything that Sirius didn't want to hear or even think about, knowing well the position his family declared.

And one more thing that irritated him almost as much as that damn collar. A storm of dark curls that, whether he liked it or not, drew his attention toward the long table every time Amanita Shafiq moved to reach for her glass or talk to someone near her.

To say that Remus wasn't pleased with how Sirius handled the situation that night on the pitch would be an understatement. Sirius may have used a few overly colorful adjectives, but after all, he was the one that caught his boyfriend on a secret date. He had a reason to be angry. Yet, in the end, it was Sirius had to apologize, and it took him a week to pacify Remus enough to return things to an apparent normal. Although several weeks had passed since then, he still had a quiet desire to strangle the girl for how easily and quickly she made so much mess in his relationship. A few times, he even tried to vent his frustration with quite mean comments when they crossed paths during joint classes, but he encountered something he didn't expect. Amanita, with surprising determination and stubbornness, completely ceased to acknowledge his existence. Apparently, the same treatment befell Remus, who didn't forget to remind Sirius that his prank ruined chance at any form of positive relationship with the Slytherin girl. As if. Was he supposed to believe that suddenly his boyfriend was only interested in a simple friendship with the girl he caught them red-handed?