Alphard
The clip ended and everyone turned towards Sirius. There was a slight smile on his face. Harry frowned.
“You can play piano?”
Sirius’ smile widened.
“Yeah. Our family used to say that music is a big part in children’s raising. Bella, Andy and Reg never really enjoyed it. They learned as much as they had to and dropped it after that. Me and Cissy loved it. Especially when we got to play together. After some time, we got bored of playing other’s pieces and started creating our own. That one was one of our own.”
Minerva looked at him with curiosity.
“You keep surprising me all the time.”
Sirius grinned at her.
“That’s my life goal.”
She shook her head with a slight smile. Hermione leaned forwards a bit.
“That man, Alphard, is he your uncle?”
Sirius nodded.
“Yeah. Uncle Alphard was the one in our family who managed to be himself without getting everyone after him. I don’t know if he felt so sure about himself that he didn’t worry about the fact that someone might try to harm him, or if he simply didn’t care. But he was always the one who understood me best. My mother…”
He stopped and frowned.
“Walburga, blasted him off the tree when he left me a big fortune after I got disowned.”
“What were the ages?”
This time Orion was the one who answered.
“Alphard was oldest. He was three years older than me. Cygnus was a year younger than me.”
Arthur frowned.
“He looks much older than you in this clip.”
Orion nodded.
“Yes. After out mother died, Alphard fell apart for a while. He got greys in his hair and seemed to age a few years in a few weeks. He was always close to her. Me and Cygnus took it much better.”
Snape glanced over to the wall, before he turned to Sirius.
“That memory didn’t seem to be bad. Excluding all the glares your grandfather gave you, it was almost happy.”
Sirius sighed.
“Yeah. That part of it was happy. But the rest wasn’t.”
Molly frowned.
“Your father said that it was going to be a family meeting. But why were the Lestranges and Malfoys there?”
Sirius rolled his eyes, but his voice was calm when he answered. Most probably because of the low growl from behind him. Orion glanced to Remus, before he turned his eyes back to his son.
“All pureblood families are related. Some of them further back than others. And, they had young sons. Aunt Druella and uncle Cygnus were looking for husbands for their daughters.”
Arthur tilted his head.
“But why didn’t they invite someone with a daughter, then? Didn’t they look for a wife for you?”
Orion burst out laughing.
“No. After the fiasco with Dahlia Avery, I decided to not invite any young girls to our house.”
Everyone turned to Sirius, who had a big smile on his face. Remus tapped his shoulder.
“What did you do, Pads?”
“I might have told her that she looked like a hybrid between a toad and a rat. And that it wasn’t so surprising taking into consideration how her parents looked. She started crying and screaming about what an ass I was. Her father tried to hex me. I kinda threw him through a window.”
Remus shook his head.
“Only you, Sirius. Only you.”
Sirius grinned at him.
“Yeah. After that, they didn’t force me to talk to those aristocratic… Well, those girls. And they were never really what interested me.”
Remus smiled.
“No, they were not. Although Marlene was kinda like aristocracy.”
Sirius shrugged one shoulder.
“Yeah. Kinda. But not really.”
Dumbledore looked back to Orion.
“Your father seemed to back down when he came into that room.”
Orion nodded, but it was Sirius who answered.
“I told you. There was only one person who could make grandfather stop. There was only one person who my grandfather felt respect for and that was my father.”
On the painting, said man smirked.
“As I said, I’m pleasantly surprised that you think so well about me.”
For a moment, it looked as if Sirius was going to say something unkind, but then he seemed to suddenly remember something, because he turned around towards the wall and muttered:
“Just stating the facts. And, there is actually another person who grandfather never went against.”
Orion frowned, before understanding appeared on his face.
“Yes. That confrontation was a sight to behold. Why don’t you show them.”
Sirius nodded and waved his hand and another memory started.
Sirius was talking in a corner with James, when Arcturus suddenly stood up from his seat and walked over to them. Cygnus tapped Orion’s shoulder and the older brother stood up quickly, but he didn’t manage to do anything, before Arcturus grabbed Sirius’ arm and pulled him to his feet.
“You filthy blood traitor. How dare you even show your face around here? You…”
“Father.”
Alphard’s voice was calm but dangerous. Everyone, even Arcturus, turned to him with shock. He stood up slowly and took a few steps towards his father.
“Let him go.”
Orion froze in place. Arcturus frowned. His hand on Sirius’ arm tightened and the boy winced slightly. James started taking a step towards him, but was stopped by Narcissa. She held his hand tightly and shook her head.
“You’re forgetting your place, Alphard.”
The man shook his head, only to nod a second later.
“Yes. Maybe I am. But what do I have to worry about? You won’t hurt me.”
Arcturus looked positively furious. He took a step towards his son, pulling Sirius along with him.
“How dare you?”
“I dare. I dare, because you won’t touch me. Now let go of Sirius. We wouldn’t want this to turn into a fight, right?”
Arcturus glanced down to the boy. Sirius, kept his eyes straight ahead, not looking at anyone in particular. With a frown, he pushed him away with so much force, that Sirius fell over and landed next to the piano. Narcissa’s grip on James’ hand tightened to tell him that he had to stay. Sirius picked himself up and, seeing Druella’s hand movement, quickly walked over to her. She put her hand on his shoulder and pulled him closer to herself. Meanwhile, Orion went a bit closer to his brother, Cygnus following him without hesitation.
“Let us not fight.”
Arcturus glared at his sons, before he turned around angrily and stormed out of the room. Alphard turned to his brothers. He suddenly looked extremely tired.
“You shouldn’t have done this. But thank you.”
Abraxas snorted.
“Our world is really going downhill if sons can’t show their father the respect he deserves.”
Alphard turned to him, a cold look in his eyes.
“I refuse to show respect to a man who was the reason my mother died. Even if he is my father.”
Malfoy stood up.
“She must’ve deserved it. Who knows, maybe she was just a blood traitor. Or a common whore.”
Seconds later he was blown into a wall. His hand flew up to his throat and he started gasping for air. Both Orion and Cygnus turned to their brother. Alphard’s hand was closed into a tight fist. His eyes were blazing with fury. Lucius tried walking towards his father, but was stopped by his mother. She shook her head slightly. It was clear that she was scared. Orion put his hand on Alphard’s shoulder.
“Alphard. Let him go.”
After a few seconds, Alphard’s hand relaxed and Abraxas dragged in a deep breath. The oldest Black turned to his brother.
“I’ll be leaving. This was a bad idea.”
He started heading towards the door, when Dorea quickly walked up to him.
“Are you apparating or are you taking the Knight?”
He hesitated.
“The Knight.”
She nodded.
“Would you mind if we came with you?”
He shook his head.
“Not at all.”
He seemed to have collected himself and was calm again. Dorea turned to the children.
“James, Sirius. Let’s go.”
Everyone turned to Sirius with shock. The boy glanced up to his father with a questioning look. Orion nodded.
“We’ll floo some of your clothes and your homework.”
Sirius nodded and quickly left the room, along with Dorea and James. Alphard frowned at his brother, before he too walked out. In the hall he turned to Dorea.
“Orion agreed to letting Sirius go with you? For how long?”
She smiled.
“The rest of the summer. I managed to make him agree to it.”
Alphard nodded.
“Good.”
He crouched down in front of Sirius and looked him straight in the eyes.
“Sirius. I want you to remember something. Whatever my father says about you, it is not true. He is an old, angry man. And he doesn’t care about anything else than his beliefs. But you are not a traitor.”
Sirius smiled.
“Thank you, uncle Alphard.”
He nodded and stood up.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
He started walking towards the front door, Dorea and the boys following him.