It's A Boy
Before anyone managed to say anything, Sirius stood up and turned towards his father.
“You stood up to grandfather? To protect my ass?”
Orion frowned.
“I would like it if you stopped using that kind of language. But yes, I did make it clear to my father that he would not go after you anymore.”
Sirius shook his head.
“But how? And why?”
The others watched in silence, except for Molly’s quiet crying. Orion sighed.
“Because you are my son, Sirius. Whatever happens. When you were in Gryffindor, when you started rebelling, when you started dating that mudblood, when you ran away, when you were put in Azkaban. You were always my son. And you will always be my son. Whether you like it or not. Just as you’ll always be a Black. Nothing can change that. I might not agree with your life choices, I might even hate you for what you do with this place and your life. But you are my child. And, if the need is there, I will always be on your side.”
Sirius was stunned. He was staring at the portrait with big eyes and an open mouth. Orion rolled his eyes.
“Close your mouth. You’ll catch flies.”
Sirius’ mouth snapped shut but he kept staring at the portrait. After a moment, Orion clearly got tired of it.
“What is it?”
That seemed to snap Sirius out of it.
“You never treated Regulus like that.”
For a moment Orion hesitated. Then he pointed towards the wall.
“Sit down. There are some things that you need to know. I was going to tell you earlier, but with you in Azkaban, it got pretty hard. And do silence that woman.”
Arthur sent a glare towards the portrait and pulled Molly closer to him. Snape was looking between Sirius and Orion. Something like regret was slowly forming on his face. Meanwhile, Sirius sat down, too stunned to think about the fact that he was following his father’s orders again, and a new clip appeared on the wall.
A younger Orion was standing in the library when Walburga walked inside.
“You wanted to talk?”
He turned towards her and nodded. His eyes were ice cold.
“I know about your affair with Niles Avery.”
Walburga opened her mouth immediately, but he put his hand up.
“Silence. I admitted to what I did, I expected you to be honest with me. We both know that this marriage is not based on love. And we both know that you hate my son. I will give your child my last name and he will be raised in this house. I will not tell anyone. As a thank you for that, I demand that you respect my son and do not try to hurt him. Sirius is my child and he is the heir to this house and the Black fortune. If you ever raise your hand against him, I will punish you severly. Do you understand that, Walburga?”
The woman nodded.
“Good. Now go and tell Kreacher to ready a feast. Cygnus is coming over with his family, as well as father and the Malfoys. And keep out of my sight until then. Understood?”
Once again, she just nodded and left.
Everyone was shocked. Sirius waved his hand around.
“Wait a second. You’re telling me that Reg isn’t your son? He isn’t my brother? Or, I mean, he is my half-brother then, but still. She had an affair?”
Orion nodded.
“Regulus is not my son. That is why I never stood up for him when he was in trouble. And that was also why Walburga was so protective of him when it came to me and my father. She knew that if the truth came out, father would kill Regulus for being born outside of the marriage. And she was afraid that I would snap one day and kill him for not being my child. But there is one more thing that you need to see.”
Suddenly, Remus groaned. Sirius turned towards him immediately.
“Moony?”
But he just shook his head.
“I think I know what it is. And it all makes sense.”
Sirius stared at him for a moment before he shook his head.
“You’re making no sense. Alright. Play the next one. The sooner we are done here, the sooner I’ll get to go and take a talk with mother dearest. There are a few things I think I should discuss with her.”
Orion nodded and waved towards the wall.
Orion was sitting in the library again. Suddenly, the door opened and a younger Druella walked inside. The man stood up and smiled.
“Druella. What brings you here? Are the girls alright?”
The woman nodded slowly. She was visibly nervous.
“Yes. They are great.”
She paused for a moment before she sat down on a chair and continued.
“There is something I need to talk to you about, Orion.”
He nodded and sat down.
“Do you remember Alphards birthday party? A few months ago?”
Orion sighed.
“Druella, please. We agreed to not talk about it again. Cygnus knows. Whatever bad blood that might have been between us has passed. He understands. He loves you, you love him. There is nothing more to this.”
Druella shook her head.
“But there is. I… I’m pregnant, Orion. With your child.”
He dropped the feather he had been turning around in his hands.
“You’re what?”
“Pregnant. I am having your child. It’s a boy.”
For a moment he just stared at her. Then he flew up from his chair and started to pace around.
“Does Cygnus…?”
She nodded.
“I already talked with him. We agreed that you should raise the child.”
That made him stop dead in his tracks.
“What? You’re going to give him to me?”
Druella stood up.
“He is your son, Orion. Don’t you want him?”
The man shook his head quickly.
“No. That’s not what I meant. I just… I didn’t think you would give him away to me, without any problems. I was ready for a fight.”
She smiled, walked over to him and grabbed his hands.
“I trust you. And Cygnus trusts you too. And if you ever need our help with raising him, we are just a floo call away.”
Then her smile faded away and she said with seriousness:
“But you’ll have to keep an eye on Walburga. She will not accept this that easily.”
Orion nodded.
“I’ll take care of her. She will not touch my child. Have you named him yet?”
She shook her head.
“No. We decided that it would be best if you do it.”
He smiled softly.
“Sirius. Sirius Orion Black.”
The clip ended and everyone turned towards Sirius. He was staring straight ahead, not even blinking. Remus gently put a hand on his shoulder, but that didn’t do anything. Orion tilted his head slightly.
“Sirius.”
Everyone was shocked by the softness of his voice. Sirius turned towards him.
“That’s why she hated me, right? And why aunt Druella treated me like one of her own children?”
Orion nodded.
“Yes. Walburga hated the fact that her child wouldn’t be the one getting all the family heirloom. Druella… Druella always loved you. You are her son, just as much as you are mine.”
Sirius turned back to the wall.
“All this time. I thought that she hated me because of how I was. I wanted her to love me. When I was a little child. It took me time to realize that I would never be on the same level as Regulus. But even then I never suspected…”
His head snapped back towards his father.
“Bella was three at that time. Did she know?”
Orion nodded.
“Yes. That was why she always treated you like her little brother. Andromeda knew too. She hated you for taking her mother away from her. Even though Druella did her best, she couldn’t really take care of all the girls while she was pregnant. Bella often took care of Narcissa. Andromeda was often over at our house with Walburga. She always wanted a daughter. And later, when Andromeda betrayed her family, I guess she was either still mad at you, or just wanted to spare you the shock. Either way, she kept quiet.”
“Did Cissy know?”
Another nod.
“From what I understood, Bellatrix told her, when she got older and understood that they couldn’t tell you.”
“You slept with your brothers wife?”
Everyone turned towards Molly. Sirius rolled his eyes.
“That would be far from the worst a Black has done, Molly. Back in the days, when they wanted to keep the Black blood clean, siblings would sometimes marry. Sick, but true.”
Snape turned towards the portrait.
“How did you conceal it? It would take some powerful magic to make sure that no one found out. He went to Azkaban. It should have showed on the papers.”
Orion and Sirius rolled their eyes at the same time and everyone was struck by how much they resembled each other.
“Black magic. Isn’t it obvious, Snape?”
The man shrugged.
“I didn’t think there was a spell that could do it so permanently. Not even in the dark arts.”
Orion smirked.
“Oh, trust me, there are spells out there that you have no idea about. Spells that would make even the Dark Lord shiver in fear.”
Sirius tilted his head slightly.
“Really? We have those books here?”
Orion frowned and nodded.
“Yes. But they are restricted. I made sure that you would not be able to ever get to them, once I knew which side in this war you were standing on. I knew that, if you ever found out about them, you would sacrifice your soul to save your friends.”
For a moment Sirius looked confused. Then he suddenly gasped quietly.
“Fear this magic for it will consume your soul and make you into someone who you are not.”
Orion smiled proudly.
“I’m glad to know that you remembered at least something I taught you. Yes. That magic would take you over completely. You would kill your werewolf friend without blinking. I knew that something like that would destroy you, so I kept it away from you.”
Sirius frowned.
“You protected me?”
He was shocked. After everything that his father had put him through, this was the last thing he had expected from the man. Suddenly his whole vision of the man changed. And aunt Druella being his mother. He couldn’t grasp it but, at the same time, it made perfect sense. Remus turned towards the painting.
“Is there anything else you would like to show, mr Black, or can I continue?”
The man nodded.
“Do continue.”
Remus waved his hand towards the wall and another clip appeared.