Chapter 1
Sirius Orion Black had an issue. Well, in all honesty, he had several. One, the fact he was completely and utterly amazing and brilliant, that he was smothered by the weight of his own excellence. The second, his family were a shower of old-fashioned mufflebrains, wishing to dampen his every spark of creativity. His mother was the first bullet point under that heading, in bold red letters. She hated him.
Well, not really. She hated that he wasn’t the perfect Black Heir she had dreamed up and expected him to be since the womb. He was a first-born son with a second-son mentality.
He was in his 7th year of Hogwarts, and he was sick and tired of his mother’s insistence that he “pull himself together, and find a nice, respectable girl to marry and inherit the running of Grimmauld Place.” As if that was the sole purpose of one so great as THE Sirius Orion Black, to marry and become a miserable and cruel man like his father. At least all his cousins are already spoken for, though he was certain that Mother was still fuming that she hadn’t been quite quick enough to secure the betrothal to Narcissa before the malfoys got their teeth stuck into the girl. Andromeda had likely been option number two -Walburga didn’t like Bellatrix- but she had “brought shame” by marrying a muggleborn. Of the three, Andromeda would have been the least terrible, she used to send him records.
Sirius would not marry to “secure a legacy.” He didn’t care enough about it enough. Who cares about a few dusty portraits on a wall? Why should you, when there’s so many cooler things to worry about? Like Bowie. Why would anyone care about anything other than great music?
That was Sirius’ secret to greatness. Don’t care about anyone or anything other than his passions, or his friends, his brothers, his Marauders.
Reggie was the sensible one. The apple of his mothers’ eye. He did all the things that Sirius was supposed to, the path he was supposed to hack through the jungle of propriety and dignity. Reggie wasn’t great, but his parent’s didn’t want great, they wanted obedient, pliable.
And he listened to terrible music. No one actually listened to Jack Cooper. It wasn’t even real swing.
Sirius had it all figured out. He needed Mother off his case with talk of girlfriends and marriage. Let him focus on being spectacular and amazing, and Reggie can do the boring responsible duties. He didn’t seem to hate it, but then again, how would Sirius know how Reggie feels? Ever since he started Hogwarts, he had been nothing but downright snobbish to his older brother, barely saying a word to him, let alone a civil one. How very like mother of him. Walburga hadn’t so much as said a word to her firstborn son since he’d told her he had no intention of going to the Yule Ball. He couldn’t hold out forever, though, lest Mother break her silence and tell Father.
That wouldn’t be a predicament, but a downright problem. Sirius needed to get away. And he couldn’t do that if his father decided to punish him again.
Not if. When.
His father was the only one to make Sirius feel small. Useless. Helpless.
So perhaps he didn’t have it ALL figured. But the Great Prankster Sirius Orion Black never backed out without his tricks. He always had a plan. And his compromises were never without their Devil’s clauses.
Oh, yes. There will be some devilry in his game yet.
Cinderella will go to the Ball, but Mother won’t approve of Prince Charming.