Burning Stars.

Misfortune begining

Sirius' second day home, AUTHOR NOTE!! anything they all say to each other is French, however it's written in English as to save you all from having to go back and forth translating, this is unless specified otherwise.
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December 15th, 1976.

The next morning, Sirius awoke, freezing cold. He'd fallen asleep in his dinner clothes. These were not only uncomfortable, but also incredibly cold. It was then he realized he had no idea what time it was. His mother sealed his windows shit after an attempt to run away, preventing any chances of using the sky outside to make a guess. Downstairs, there was a grandfather clock, so the dark haired boy crept up out of bed, putting on a pair of pajamas before going downstairs.

5:38 am. That was too early for Sirius, so upstairs he crept. Silent as a mouse past his parents bedroom. Upstairs, Sirius got back into bed, though he couldn't sleep. You see, Sirius had never been able to fall asleep at home, the silence deafened him.

"Sirius Orion! Get yourself up, now!" boomed the voice of Orion, the boys father. Startled, the sleeping boy was quickly up, confused. Then he realized. Fuck. Walburga and Orion didn't let their children sleep past 7:30, and Sirius put two and two together rather hastily, when he'd finally come to his senses.

"It is 8am, Sirius Black. Why in Merlin's name are you still asleep." came Orion's voice, the French making him far scarier than he had to be. "Father I don't know I'm sorry I didn't realize it won't happen again I was woken early and fell back asleep I-" Sirius began to ramble, as he did when he was stressed. His voice had a sense of terror, one curse was enough to switch someone's mind. Trust me.

"Two mistakes in two days, it isn't fucking good enough, Sirius." spat Orion, his tone condescending. "I expect you dressed and downstairs, your cousins will be arriving for a gathering in an hour."

Sirius scrambled up, nodding. "Oui, Papa.. Désolé." Sirius mumbled, going to get what his parents would consider, his best clothes. His back turned, he didn't see his father leave, his body flinching at the slam of the door. It echoed down the cold corridors.

Once he'd dressed, he decided to go into his little brothers room, which was down the hallway from his own. The younger boy heard Sirius' footsteps, recognizing them as his brothers. Since he was a child he'd been able to differentiate between footsteps of his family members.

The elder brother knocked on the door, the echo sending shivers down his spine. "Come in, Sirius." Regulus replied, scared of his parents thinking he was being too friendly to Sirius. Stepping into the room, Sirius looked around. Regulus' windowsill was lined with rocks and shells, he'd always loved the beach.

"Reggie, is there anything else mother and father are picky about that you've forgotten to tell me? And father wants us dressed and downstairs, Druella, Cygnus and the girls are coming." Sirius said, in English, he never spoke French to Regulus unless he had to. He stepped closer to Regulus, who was writing a letter on his bed.

Nodding, the younger boy got up, relaying any rules his parents had for the boys as he went to find something to wear. "Now, I'm going to get dressed, could you leave and lock the door please?" Regulus said, his tone suggesting it wasn't a question however. Sirius nodded his head, leaving. He remembered not to slam the door, gently shutting it.

Once everyone was ready and the cousins had began to arrive, the dinner could begin. Orion was at the head of the table of course, he was the King of the House of Black. On his right, Walburga, though she was serving everyone dinner. Beside Walburga was Regulus, and then Sirius. On Orion's left, Druella, Bellatrix, and Narcissa. Cygnus was at the other end of the table, Andromeda was not invited.

The majority of the dinner was mere quiet conversation, Sirius staying mostly silent as not to do anything he shouldn't. "I see Sirius has finally come to his senses and come back home, Andromeda could use those same lessons." Druella retorted, this angering Sirius. Walburga could see Sirius getting irritated, shooting him a glare.

Sirius went quiet, afraid to cause a scene. "Yes, Druella. It's disappointing about Andromeda, really." Walburga replied, her tone much sharper now, scaring Sirius.

Once dinner was over, Sirius excused himself. In English. Sirius hurriedly apologized, panicking. Without warning, Walburga cursed him. In front of everyone. The boy let out a scream of agony, Regulus looking away quickly. Walburga didn't stop this time however, she continued to curse his shaking body. Sirius writhed in agony, the pain was unbearable.

"Maman, I think you ought to stop now, Sirius needs to go and clear up his dinner, ouais?" Regulus eventually said, his voice had a sense of terror. With a sharp flick, Walburga stopped, her lips pursed. "Get up, now." the taller woman said, glaring at her son on the floor.

Sirius was still trembling, hardly able to drag himself up, though he did. He was already embarrassed enough. Once up, he awaited further instruction, terrified of being cursed again.

"Go and clean up dinner, without making a mess." Walburga seethed. He silently nodded, picking up as much as he knew he could carry. The dining room was silent, all of the guests were in the living room, presumably talking about him. A silent tear rolled down the shaking boys cheek.

20.06pm

Soon enough, nightfall came about. Sirius had been sitting silently in the living room since lunchtime. He knew now to speak unless he'd been spoken to.

Then he was spoken to.

"Go and fetch the wine, Sirius." came his mother's voice, "the best you have." Druella chimed in. Sirius hated when his parents drank, it made them worse. For one, they became scarier, as well as far more irritable. When they saw him hesitating, Orion decided to take matters into his own hands. He picked Sirius up by the scruff of the collar, shoving him into the hallway.

Stumbling, he held onto the wall as to not fall over. The silent Black wandered down the halls to his parents wine room, which was at the end of the hallway.

Soon enough, he returned to the living room, handing them the bottles. Walburga practically snatched it, only Narcissa offering a mere "merci.." to him. He gestured for Regulus to excuse the both of them.

"Maman, may Sirius and I be excused upstairs, we both have homework to do. I also feel it would be inappropriate for us to stay as we are the only two who can not drink." said a very French Regulus. Once Walburga had nodded, and both boys were out of sight, Sirius put us arm around Regulus and hurried him upstairs to Sirius' room, shutting the door. Regulus didn't protest, he knew why his brother was doing this, he'd done it before.

"Could I borrow your wand to lock the door, Reg? Maman still has mine," Sirius said, switching to English. Regulus nodded and handed it over. Hearing the click of the lock, both boys relaxed. When their parents were drinking, neither could open locked doors with magic.

They both eventually fell asleep, Regulus on the bed and Sirius on the chair beside his desk. The night went as fine as it could, no body in and no body out.