I Solemnly Swear

Chapter Six

The first thing Sirius did when he woke up the day before school began was pray. His parents had yet to reply to his letter and there was no way they hadn't heard already. School owls were trusted to fly as swiftly as possible. His mother and father were sure to be pissed, and the longer the letter took to get to him, the angrier they were. It would show in the letter they returned; if they even replied. Perhaps they would make Sirius sweat it out until Christmas break. If he was at home there was no one to hear his parents 'teach him a lesson.'

With these thoughts in mind, Sirius got dressed and went down to the common room to sit and wait for others to wake up. As he sat there, he tried so very hard to hate the crackling fire and the soft couch where he was sitting. This should have felt wrong; Slytherin was the only house that should have held a Black. Why didn't this feel wrong?

It hadn't felt wrong when James had led him all over the school to help him find the Owlery. It hadn't felt wrong when he laughed with Potter as they tried to get the gum out of their hair. It definitely hadn't felt wrong when he had stayed up late the night before to stare at his namesake, eating some leftover pie he had brought back from dinner. It felt right.

As right as it had felt, Sirius still felt all sorts of wrong when he noticed the Black family owl, Ursa, flying towards him. It was enough to make him feel sick to his stomach and stop eating the best bacon in the world.

His hands shook as he took the letter from Ursa, terrified of what it might contain. Thankfully it wasn't a Howler; his mother had much more tact than that. Even still, it felt like everyone's eyes were on him as he opened up the letter. "You don't belong here," they all seemed to say as he started reading. It was true. He didn't belong in Gryffindor and he no longer belonged to his family. He didn't belong anywhere.

Sirius Orion Black the Third,

How dare you disgrace the noble name of Black! You have shamed us with your sorting. Gryffindor! How could you have been so stupid and selfish by choosing that house over our family's pride? Your ancestors are turning in their graves because of you. You brought down our reputation just because you couldn't be a good son and do what you were meant to do. The Dark Lord will never see us the same, all because of you. You disgust me. I am ashamed to even call you my son.

Rethink your house placement or there will be consequences.

Walburga Black

Sirius held back tears. He knew the letter would be bad, but nothing could have ever prepared him for the short and furious words his mother spat at him. How could he have abandoned his family? He truly was a selfish person. His mother was right.

At that moment, Potter sat down and opened a letter he had received. His grin spread over his face the more he read and when he turned towards Sirius, his smile was threatening to take over his whole face.

"Siri! My mum just wrote to me!"

"What did she say?"

"She's proud I got into Gryffindor. Says I'm making her and my father proud."

Sirius felt his heart crack. He looked at the letter with jealous eyes. Even though Potter's mother was a blood traitor, she appeared to be proud of her son. His parents had never done that before. They probably would never be proud of him. At this, his eyes began to burn more than ever from the effort of not crying. He stood up from the table quickly.

"Where are you going mate?" James' concerned voice asked him. "Are you okay? Did I say something wrong?"

Sirius forced a smile on his face and hid his glistening eyes. "I'm fine Potter. I just need some fresh air."