Les Misérables | Regulus A. Black [1]

Chapter Thirteen

[Chapter Thirteen]

Normally, when Orion was a boy, the summers were filled with him actually stealing time to head outside, enjoy some fresh air, even if it meant doing nothing but just sitting in the grass outside of his childhood home. For the majority of the summer, he noticed that Regulus and Éponine had pretty much spent it inside. There were a couple of outings to Diagon Alley, going to the Malfoy Manor for the wedding, but that was hardly enough for the two to really benefit the warmer days. Already, the weather was taking a turn to return to the colder temperatures, especially at night as they experienced the drop. It meant that summer was coming to an end, which meant that the school term would be starting up shortly. 

The time was becoming limited and Orion wanted the summer between the two to end off on a good note. After all, he had witnessed quite a different attitude develop between the two since the first trip to Diagon Alley. The two were no longer glaring at each other or going out of their way to ignore one another. They weren't going out of their way to be around each other constantly, but if Éponine heard the piano being played, she would venture into the room and sit next to Regulus on the bench, listening to him play while she read one of her books. Regulus had taken it upon himself to actually offer some of his own books for her to read, which the girl seemed plenty thankful for. 

During dinner, it wasn't just Orion and Walburga leading the conversations anymore as the two of them seemed to share in their own conversations. Just the other night the two of them seemed to find something hilarious that made absolutely no sense to the adults but left the teens practically in stitches as they could hardly contain their laughter at the table. Walburga was thrilled to see the interaction between the two, having to pinch herself multiple times a day to ensure herself that what she was witnessing was real and not an illusion of some sort. 

Orion was happy because his family seemed happy once again. Since Sirius' departure from the household, he would admit that things had become quite gloomy around the Grimmauld Place. It was rare that he and his wife shared in a pleasant conversation unless others were around and Regulus had mostly taken to sitting alone in his room. The household had felt empty with Sirius' absence as the boy's personality had always been larger than life itself. However, they knew they had to move on, they simply couldn't dwell on it forever.

Sirius had gone over to the wrong side, he had been influenced by outsiders and unfortunately, he had become a blood-traitor, surrounding himself with those that would only lead him down a troubling path. When the boy had been born, Orion had only hoped and envisioned a wonderful life for his son as he had done with Regulus. He wanted the best for his boys, not because it was a duty, but because Orion loved his children. He and Walburga wanted to have children and they wanted to raise them to be happy.

Unfortunately, since Sirius left, Orion could only see his son travelling down a long and painful road that would end so unfairly for his son. Walburga's brother, Alphard had fought in Sirius' name, claiming that the boy might have been onto something, that the Black family was in need of change and needed to wake up. He condemned Walburga and Orion for what they had driven Sirius to do, they had driven the boy from his home, just how Andromeda had been driven from her home years prior. But Orion could only find himself disagreeing, he and his wife never wanted Sirius to leave, they never wanted to drive him away.