Arcturus Black
Sirius and the rest of his family were sitting in the living room, when Kreacher suddenly appeared in the middle of it. He bowed deeply before the two eldest Blacks and said with a trembling voice:
“Sir Arcturus have arrived, master. He is waiting in the big living room. And he is very angry.”
Walburga stood up quickly.
“Regulus, you stay close to me. Is that understood?”
The boy nodded and they quickly left the room. Sirius looked over to his father. Orion sighed.
“Let’s go.”
They left and, before they walked into the big living room, Orion put a hand on his son’s shoulder. He gave it a quick squeeze before he gently pushed the boy inside and followed him. Before Sirius could even look around, he got a mouthful of black curly hair. He spit it out and put his arms around Bellatrix.
“Hello Bella.”
She hugged him tighter and whispered in his ear:
“He is furious. Be very careful, Siri.”
And she let him go. Andromeda hugged him immediately after her sister, but she let go of him quickly and continued on to Regulus with a smile on her face. Narcissa approached him slowly. He smiled gently to show her that it was still good between them and she hugged him tightly.
“Be careful, Siri. He is so mad at you.”
He nodded into her hair and let go of her. Then he walked over to a beautiful blonde woman, who was looking at him. He bowed before her.
“Hello, aunt Druella.”
The woman smiled and pulled him into a hug.
“Hello, Sirius. It’s nice to see you again.”
Then she lowered her voice to a whisper.
“Go greet him. He is furious with you but I think your father might be able to calm things down. Just stay calm.”
Sirius nodded and turned towards his grandfather. Arcturus was looking at him with fury in his eyes. The boy went forward and bowed before him. Immediately, all the talk in the room quieted down. Orion looked from his son to his father. Sirius straightened up and said in a calm voice:
“Good Day, Grandfather.”
Arcturus’ hand tightened on his cane.
“I want to see you in the basement in two minutes, boy.”
All the color drained from Sirius’ face. Behind him, Bellatrix, Narcissa and Druella exchanged worried looks. Andromeda just looked at them with a bored expression and turned back to Regulus, who was glancing between her and his mother. Walburga just shrugged and turned back to Andromeda and Regulus. Orion seemed to hesitate. He looked over to his brother, Cygnus. The man frowned at him. For a moment they were just looking at each other and then Orion shook his head and turned back to his son.
“You heard your grandfather, Sirius.”
That made the boy move. He nodded stiffly and quickly left the room. He walked out into the hall and down a pair of stairs until he reached a cold stone cellar. There he walked over to a bench, took off his shirt and put it on it. He glanced over to the shackles that were hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room and decided that there was no idea in waiting. He put his hands in them and they snapped closed around his wrists. A minute later, Arcturus walked inside. He nodded shortly when he noticed the boy’s position. Without a word, he walked over to him, raised his cane and brought it down against Sirius’, still red, back. The boy cried out and Arcturus wrinkled his nose.
“Weak.”
His next hit was even harder but Sirius managed to keep quiet this time. He took another 10 lashes without a sound. But then he started to whimper. Around 20, the first tears slipped out from under his closed eyelids. At 31, he was crying. After 44, every hit was followed by a scream. Hearing that, Arcturus put even more force behind his hits. They were on 68 when there was a sudden crack, followed by a loud scream, and then silence. Sirius went limp, the shackles being the only thing holding him up. Arcturus frowned. He poked the boy with his cane, but there was no reaction. With a wave of his hand he released the shackles and the boy fell to the floor.
The clip ended but, before anyone managed to say anything, Orion spoke up.
“I think you should see the continuation of this too.”
He waved his hand and a new clip appeared on the wall.
They were all in the big living room when they heard a terrible scream. Bellatrix and Druella held back Narcissa who tried to rush out of the room.
“Calm down, Cissy. There is nothing we can do.”
Orion was pacing the room. Then, the door opened and Arcturus walked inside. He looked over to Orion and said without emotion:
“I might have killed your son. Walburga, would you be so kind as to lead me to the kitchen? I’m quite hungry.”
The woman nodded and led the man out of the room, Regulus and Andromeda following them. Druella, Bellatrix and Narcissa had already disappeared through another door. Orion and Cygnus looked at each other. The younger brother shook his head.
“How can you let this happen, Orion? Sirius is your son.”
Before the other man could answer, they heard Druella’s scared voice.
“Cygnus! Orion! Come down here!”
They exchanged another look before both brothers rushed towards the basement. Orion reached it first and stopped in horror when he noticed his son. Sirius was on the ground, his back twisted in an unnatural way. Bellatrix was holding a crying Narcissa, while Druella was kneeling next to the boy.
“His spine is broken. I can heal him, but I need to concentrate. And I can’t do it here.”
Cygnus turned towards Orion. The older brother frowned.
“What do you expect me to do?”
His brother quickly grabbed his arm.
“What do you even mean by that? Your son is DYING, Orion! What else is important right now?!”
“Father…”
“Damn him!”
Orion took a step back, hearing his outburst.
“Don’t you remember when we were younger, brother? You were always the one who stood up to father. Who took the blame for everything, just so that me and Alphard wouldn’t get hurt. Why do you suddenly fear that man so much? Why won’t you stand up for your own son?”
Orion hesitated.
“Because father was right. Thanks to all those punishments, I’ve grown strong. People fear and respect me. Unlike you. And I will raise my son the same way.”
Cygnus pulled his wand out.
“How? By abusing him?! I will not allow it! I won’t let you do it to him!”
Orion was reaching for his own wand when Druella’s quiet voice cut in.
“Orion. Sirius is dying.”
The man looked from her sad face, to his son’s motionless body. He looked extremely conflicted, before he suddenly nodded sharply. He turned towards his brother.
“Take him home with you. Take care of him. Tell him that I… No. Tell him that you took him from here. That I didn’t know.”
Cygnus frowned. In the background, Druella grabbed onto Sirius with one hand, grabbed her daughters hands in the other and disappeared.
“Rio?”
The man shook his head.
“No. Don’t. It’s better this way. Go. Walburga will keep an eye on Andromeda and we’ll deliver her to the train. She doesn’t exactly like Sirius so it will be better if she stays here.”
Cygnus hesitated. He put his wand away and looked up to his brother.
“And what about father?”
Something in Orion’s face changed.
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of him. He won’t come after Sirius.”
Cygnus nodded with a proud smile and apparated away. Orion shivered slightly at the blood on the ground, before he turned away from it all and headed upstairs with a determined look on his face.