Foolproof Plan
Sirius’ steps didn’t echo in the hallway as he avoided all the boards that would make noise because his mother hated it.
Just before he reached the library door he let his steps make sounds so she would know he was coming, she hated being surprised.
His knuckles hit the hardwood three times just as his mother liked.
Four was too much, two was too little.
Everything was counted and thought out when it came to Walburga.
Sirius didn’t even breathe while he waited to be allowed to come in because he could not afford to anger his mother.
“Come in,” Her voice sounded polished like she was allowing a stranger to meet her, not her own son.
“Mother,” Sirius said, facing the ground. He knew it was best not to look at her until she told him to sit.
“What do you want, Sirius? I’m busy,"
“Sorry to bother but I would like to have a word with you, please” He hated how little he sounded when talking to his mother, almost like a child.
“Make it quick, I don’t want to waste my time,” She said coldly and Sirius took the queue to sit in front of her.
“I wanted to apologize for my misbehaving when I ran away to the low-life competition” He knew that using her words would make it look like he paid attention and believed what she said. “It was a mishap in judgment and it won’t happen again. I understand now my role with my family and I’m proud to take it.”
Sirius could see in Walburga’s eyes her surprise though her face remained neutral. He had never shown any interest in being the heir and he could tell how pleased she was.
“Is that so?”
“Yes, I remembered you are heading for lunch tomorrow with the Lestranges and I wanted to join you to possibly arrange my marriage with Pandora Lestrange,” Sirius said as calmly as he could because it was the key point of his plan.
He needed his mother to think he was committed to being the heir, and the only thing that could convince her was marriage.
Walburga was a proud woman and wouldn’t let her firstborn son marry a family that wasn’t at least as rich as the Blacks.
Of course, he could say some crazy family he would never want to get close to but that it would please his mother, however, he also had to think about what would happen if his plan failed.
He could do like a lot of his family did and marry one of his cousins but that thought freaked him out. So he had to pick carefully and, after long consideration, he chose the Lestranges.
They were rich, well-respected, and with a daughter around Sirius’ age to wed. Plus Pandora was actually quite sweet. He had never been close to her but Regulus was good friends with her.
She was the obvious choice.
“You will come with me to the lunch and return home engaged,”
For the first time in sixteen years, Sirius saw something that resembled a smile on his mother’s face. It was truly scary, he hoped he wouldn’t have to see it again.
༄༄
“Reg, I’m leaving,” Sirius said to his brother’s door before a shocked Regulus appeared.
“You managed to do it?”
“Don’t sound so surprised, Reggie. I gotta go now. Root for me, will you?” Sirius said, giving his brother a hug and a smile.
“Of course. Good luck” The older Black ran down the stairs smiling brightly. As he approached his mother, his smile faded into a soft grin and his posture changed to the most aristocratic he could manage.
“What’s in the bag you’re carrying?” His mother asked.
“A gift to Pandora I asked Kreacher to buy” He lied easily. He did ask the butler to buy something but it wasn’t in the bag, instead, he carried a change of clothes since he couldn’t dance in a suit. His mother gave him an approving head shake and headed towards the door.
Sirius could barely contain his excitement as they walked through the streets of London.
The Lestranges didn’t live far away from the Blacks and he knew his mother loved to strut across the streets to let all her neighbors know she was going somewhere fancy.
In the back of his mind, he was worried about how he was going to sing and dance in the state he was in. His voice hadn’t gotten much better as he shouted almost three days straight - after the third day he didn’t have the strength to so he just stared into nothing - and he had a limp he tried desperately to hide.
Turns out it takes much more than a couple of days to heal a severely burned leg.
When they were close to the Lestrange’s house, Sirius stopped.
His mother didn’t seem to notice and kept walking, thankfully. He looked around to see in which direction he was going to run. He had to reach a big street so he could take a cab but he couldn’t get too close to Grimmauld Place since his mother would most likely call Kreacher and he would be out looking for him.
He could hear the sound of a lot of cars and after a second he realized where it was coming from. He didn’t hesitate, he just ran, holding his bag tightly while he rushed through a group of people.
Sirius knew his mother wouldn’t run after him but he had to put some distance between them for safety.
The houses were nothing but a blur to him as he ran as fast as he could. Faintly he heard his mother yelling his name, he ran even faster.
His bad leg hurted like hell and his lungs were on fire but he kept going.
His mind was hazy as he climbed into the backseat of a cab, his voice almost a whisper as he gave the address. He thought he was going to vomit.
༄༄
The atmosphere was different than last time, definitely tenser, and that freaked Sirius out.
He could see people biting their nails, pacing, and talking to themselves as he went towards the toilet.
“Sirius?” A familiar voice called.
“Hey, Pete,” He said, forcing his voice out.
“How are you?” Peter asked noticeably worried after he saw Sirius’ somewhat alarming state.
“Fine. Just thought I was late and came running” The lie slipped his lips easily.
“Oh, okay. Going to the bathroom?”
“Yeah. Can’t dance in this getup” Sirius joked, pointing at the very formal outfit he had on and Peter laughed.
Everything was fine.
They kept talking while Sirius changed, desperately trying not to think about the next stage in the competition. Black was very careful not to let Pettigrew see his leg, which wasn’t difficult as the other boy turned around politely to give Sirius more privacy.
They heard a loud laugh before the door opened and he knew who it was.
“Pete! Sirius!” James said with a warm smile. Standing behind him, with a lopsided grin was Remus.
Sirius swore he couldn’t breathe for a second. Remus was so beautiful. His eyes had a fun spark and his shoulders were relaxed. He wore baggy jeans with a cute striped shirt, he looked somewhat like a teenager but there was still a hint of his grandpa style.
“James!” Sirius said, pulling the boy into a hug. “Remus,” Black called him a little unsure of what to do. He wrapped his arms around the taller boy that hugged his waist making shivers go down his spine. It felt so good that Sirius didn’t want to pull away, but he did.
“So, do we know how today is going to work?” James asked as the four boys walked out of the bathroom.
Almost as she was called, a woman from production started to call everyone. Sirius kept his arm around James, anyone who saw it would think it was just an act of friendship but Black was leaning a bit too much on Potter that didn’t seem to mind at all.
His leg throbbed so much he wanted to rip it out.
All the contestants were rounded up close to the stage and had the same worry feature splattered across their faces.
“So, this is how it is going to work. The auditions with the judges will start in twenty minutes, give or take. We’ll call your name, you go to the stage, you sing, hear what the judges have to say, and leave. Quick and easy,”
Something in her voice made Sirius more nervous if that’s possible almost like she was mocking them.
“After all the contestants did their auditions, you’ll be divided into groups of twenty and will take turns learning the choreography Gilderoy Lockhart will pass. Each group has half an hour with the choreographer and yes, the routines are different for each group.”
Sirius didn’t stress about that part too much because he did years of ballet as a child.
Not like child classes, you take twice a week, in your school so your mum can do her things with a bit more peace.
No, Walburga made him Regulus take hours upon hours of training weekly, probably more than it’s recommended to 10-year-olds. Although Sirius was beaming when his Mother said they wouldn’t be taking classes anymore he still stretched every day and still could probably do a lot of steps.
“Then, you’ll dance to the judges and wait. All of you will be put on stage and twenty-five names will be called. Those who are called will go to the next phase of the competition, and the rest will go home” Fake pity rounded the last sentence and Sirius knew she had no compassion for them whatsoever, to her all of that was like a big joke.
Sirius hated how much she reminded him of his Mother.
༄༄
Remus was really nervous.
He didn’t dance, at all.
He could tap his feat and maybe, if he was feeling brave, he would sway his hips slightly, but do a routine with proper steps? That wasn’t exactly up his alley.
Peter was close to freaking out, full-on panic.
“Calm down, Pete,” Said James with a soothing voice, “This is a singing competition, they won’t make us do ballet”
“They won’t?” Sirius asked, sounding genuinely surprised. He was sitting down on the floor, legs spread wider than Remus could ever attempt while leaning forward like it was casual.
He looked so comfortable with gray sweatpants and a black tight shirt that made his back muscles look wonderful. Remus was never a fit person, he was just skinny. But not like hot skinny, just almost sick skinny. So seeing Sirius in such a tight shirt made Remus really curious because he had muscles in places Remus never even imagined.
“Of course not. What did you think we were gonna do? Perform the bloody nutcracker?” James' eyes were wide in shock and he chuckled a bit like the thought was out of this world.
“If we’re not gonna do a combo, what are we going to dance?”
“I dunno. Probably something that looks like hip-hop”
“How do you dance that?” Sirius, that didn’t seem worried five minutes ago, had a thinking expression like he was reevaluating all the meaning of life.
“You just kind of feel it. I’m not a dancer, Sirius,” James looked like he was having the time of his life with Sirius’ obliviousness to the subject.
“Well, I am - or was - and I don’t know how to dance that. Do you even the basic positions of hip-hop? It could really help,” Black pleaded but James didn’t bother to answer when he looked at Peter’s face.
“Pete? Are you alright?” Pettigrew's face was pale white and he sweated like he just ran a marathon, “C’mon, let’s get you some water and wash your face,” James helped Peter up and went away to do what he said.
Remus, who had been standing up, leaned on a wall, sat down close to Sirius.
“Sirius?”
“Yes,”
“Were you really a ballet dancer?”
“I suppose I was. Took ballet classes all my life, twenty hours a week, usually” He said casually.
“Were you any good?” Remus asked, really interested.
“I think so, but my brother was way better. He always liked the patterns and repetitions while I couldn’t stand it” A fondness unknown to Remus took over Sirius’ voice when he talked about his brother.
“Is that why you quit?”
“Sure,” Black said like it was a good enough answer but not even close to the truth.
“Remus?”
“Yes,”
“Do you dance?”
“God, no.”
“Nothing at all?” Sirius smiled teasingly.
“I’m just a terrible, terrible dancer” Remus smiled back.
Remus knew there was something off about Sirius. He wasn’t the big ball of energy he was last time, though it could be just the nerves. But there was more, his voice was raspy and lower like he had to force it out and he had a very well-hidden limp. His mind seemed somewhere else and his eyes drifted in and out like he was caught somewhere he couldn’t escape.
In his chest, Remus felt the urge to comfort him.