Coming Together ༄ Sirius Black

Chapter Sixty Three

Walburga Black sat, perfectly poised on the edge of her seat. One leg folded over the other and her hands neatly held on her knees. The woman oozed elegance and control.
She blended in seamlessly with the surrounding room, black clothes to match the dark furniture. Gently, the woman lifted a single finger to brush a stray hair out of her eyes.

"Walburga, dear, would you come here?" Orion called from the adjoining room.

With the faintest hint of a smirk playing on her pale lips, Walburga leaned forward slightly and silently removed the lace, black veil from over her eyes. Her perfectly polished heels clicked on the floor as she strode with pride towards her husband.

Orion Black wore a weathered suit and was lounging back in his armchair, a glass of whiskey in one hand and a cigarette in the other. His greying hair had been combed back pristinely and the man had to do all in his power to avoid running his hands through it.

"Yes, my love?" Walburga responded, peeking around the door.
Orion turned to his wife, "You can come in."

He rose from his tattered leather chair to face Walburga as she entered the smoky office. "Has the letter gone out to Regulus?" He asked before taking another drag from his cigarette.

"Yes. This morning. Kreacher posted it." Walburga replied shortly.
Orion nodded before turning away and starting to pace back and forth behind his desk, "Ah, yes... That house elf. And what of... The other one? Have you let the boy know?"

Walburga's expression faltered and for a split second vulnerability shone through, "S-Sirius?"

"Yes."

"No." She shook her head, "I've told him nothing. Would you like me to?"

Sighing, Orion looked back over towards his wife, a faint trace of light coming through the window illuminated him, "No. That-the boy will find out sooner or later. When did you send the letter?"

Walburga's fingers began to fidget as she clasped them in front of her, "Late last night... So as to arrive this morning."

"I'll get in the contact with the Headmaster. He'll pull Regulus out of lessons for the day so we can attend the funeral. Oh, and get the house elf to pack the bags."

Unease filled Walburga as she quietly turned and left the ominous room. The certainty that had embodied the woman moments earlier had been shaken to its core upon remembering the lack of her eldest son Sirius. Fury was building up deep in Walburga at the thought of Sirius not returning home to his family over the summer. He was ungrateful and was bringing shame onto their family.

But soon he would return. Walburga was sure of this... Sirius Black needed his family.

Many miles away, however, Sirius sat at one of the long tables in the Great Hall, surrounded by friends. He held Asteria's hand on one side, which she gripped tightly in his lap, whilst her turned over a letter in the other hand.

It was addressed to him, that was for sure.
Though he didn't recognise the handwriting.

"I never get letters." Sirius muttered, glancing across at Remus and Peter before looking to Asteria for answers.
She shrugged in response, "You know as much as I do."

Inhaling sharply, Sirius furrowed his eyebrows before tearing into the envelope. Out fluttered a yellowing letter, the words written upon it hasty and challenging to read.
The group sat almost silently (except for Peter munching on some particularly burnt toast) as they watched the boy scan over the contents of the letter.

"U-uncle Alphard..." Sirius' voice was barely above a whisper as he spoke. Pulling his hand away from Asteria, he folded the letter back up and tucked it away in the pocket of his robes.

Asteria frowned, "Sirius?"
"Padfoot, what's up?"
"Is something wrong?"

Sirius scratched his head before looking up, "My... er... My uncle Alphard has died. He-erm-he was one of the few members of my family I actually liked that wasn't banished."

"Sirius..." Asteria murmured, reaching out to offer what support she could to the hurting boy.

"I'm... I'm fine, really. It's all fine." He pulled away, pursing his lips in deep thought.

Asteria looked over at Remus and Peter, widening her eyes at the boys. Remus furrowed his eyebrows and mouthed 'what' back at her. She nodded towards Sirius and stared at the boys warningly again. 

Peter sighed, "Hey, Padfoot, we could go find James. I heard earlier that he wanted to feed some first years some charmed cupcakes that'll turn their hair green."
Remus nodded along, "Yeah, and plus we could probably convince someone to give one to Snape."

Forcing a small smile onto his face, Sirius nodded and stood up with the other boys, "Okay. That sounds good, let's go."

Together, Remus and Peter started to walk out of the Great Hall as Sirius hung back for a moment. "Thank you." He mumbled to Asteria, leaning down to press a lingering kiss on her forehead.

"Whatever you need." She nodded sweetly in response before watching Sirius walk off after his friends to try and brighten his mood.

However, Sirius wasn't going to pull a harmless prank on some unsuspecting students, he was shortly on his way to confront Regulus and find out what was really unfolding in the Black family.

Several hours later, the door to number 12 Grimmauld Place slammed open, sending ferocious echoes throughout the empty house. Stomping followed the slamming as several people piled out of the cold and into the somehow even colder building.

"If he wasn't already dead I'd murder that traitor!" Cygnus Black III roared, tearing off his coat and throwing it over the top of the poor house elf Kreacher, who stood waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

"Clearly you didn't deal with the issue correctly. Any idiot could have gotten rid of Alphard but you should have known about his connections." Pollux Black, Cygnus and Walburga's father, warned disapprovingly, leaning his walking stick up against the faded wall.

Orion sighed with frustration, "How could anyone have seen it coming? Did anyone expect Alphard to leave a small fortune to my weak son?"

Druella Black, Cygnus' wife, turned to look at the group of squabbling men, "All of you get inside and we'll sort this mess out between us." she ordered.

Walburga Black was back in the kitchen, pacing back and forth. Her clothes appeared crooked and her hair had started to fall out of its pins as she collapsed into a chair with a sigh. Closing her eyes, Walburga rubbed her temple in thought.

Shouting could still be heard from the other room as Orion, Cygnus, Druella, and Pollux all battled over how best to resolve the mess. Was it possible for them to attain the money Alphard had promised Sirius in his will?

Walburga now had no hope of her eldest son returning home. She truly had lost her beloved child to a dirty mudblood.

And with that her mind was made up.

The woman's expression hardened into sharp stone as she pulled her wand out and stormed into the living room where her family stood gathered. Kreacher stood in the doorway after putting away all of the coats, hats, and scarves. He watched with shock at what happened.

Silence fell over the room as the Black family watched Walburga raise her wand.

Without a single sign of emotion, she shot a dazzling steam of silver light at the family tree tapestry on the wall.

And with that Alphard Black, Walburga's own brother, had been blasted off the wall along with Sirius Black.

"Well that's one way of dealing with it." Pollux sneered.

Kreacher stumbled back, shock filling him at witnessing two wizards he had helped raise, and care for and served for many years, being wiped away like a layer of dirt on one's shoes should be.