Grimmauld Place, London 1970

Sirius had sat on his bed staring at the ugly green colored carpet, he was supposed to be thinking about his behavior, instead he was thinking about how to get back at Kreacher. He kicked his foot out and knocked over a pile of self-building blocks, which immediately reformed into a little pillar. Stupid elf, Stupid mother.

Andy had told him not to keep the magazine, that if anyone found it he would be in big trouble. Sirius had convinced her to send it to him, he had told her he'd destroy it quickly—but he had fallen in love with the pictures of all the shiny motorbikes. Andy was at Hogwarts and wrote him the most fantastic letters about the school and the friends she was making. Sirius wanted to be there more than he had ever wanted anything, and he still had a whole year to go. Stupid birthday.

He kicked the tower again and watched it right itself. His mother was furious but as usual she was going to let his father dole out the consequences. Sirius was waiting for the lecture about muggles and their vile, disgusting, uncivilized ways. He'd heard it so many times before that he could probably give it to himself.

Sirius didn't understand what the big deal was about muggles, they seemed interesting from what he'd read in the magazine. Had all kinds of things that wizards didn't have. Sirius didn't mind that they couldn't do magic, it didn't seem like the muggles minded too much either. There was a light tap at his door and Sirius knew it would be Regulus coming in to talk to him. The door opened shyly, and his little brother crept into the room closing the door carefully behind him.

"You aren't supposed to be in here Reg." Sirius tried not too sound too irritated, Regulus's eyes were downcast and his face was all-over sad.

"I know." Regulus' voice was small and quiet, tragic in that way that only little brothers could manage. Sirius sighed and lay flat down on the bed with a soft thud and swung his eyes back to Regulus.

They looked a lot alike, Reg and him. Reg was smaller though, more delicate looking, and so pale you could see the little blue veins mapping out underneath his skin in places. They had the same dark hair, cut short the way their mother made them keep it. Their features were strong, defined and aristocratic, even as young children they had never had the normal baby pudge, that sort of thing, it seemed, had been carefully bred out of the Black family gene pool.

"You're going to get into trouble with mother." Sirius warned as Regulus sat down on the floor cross-legged and began building another tower to match the one Sirius had been kicking at.

"Father's just gotten home. He's eating but he'll be up soon enough." Regulus' voice was low and his eyes drifted across the rest of the room and back again without landing on Sirius once. "He's very angry."

"You were eavesdropping?" Sirius raised a single brow in surprise, Regulus was usually too shy to risk getting caught.

Regulus nodded his head solemnly, eyes never leaving his little tower.

"Well, out with it then. What did they say?" Sirius sat up smoothly, tucking his legs beneath him.

Regulus' breath rattled out in a long frustrated huff and Sirius shifted closer to the edge of the bed.

"Mother told him about the magazine, about how Kreacher found you looking at it and all." Regulus shifted again. "Father said that it was about time you learned your place."

"Don't get so worked up about it, Reg, father always says things like that. I've heard the speech a million times." Sirius tried to sound casual but the tragic look only deepened on his brother's features.

Regulus shook his head in a burst of near-violent movement and Sirius' brow creased as he noticed the tear falling down the boy's cheek. Sirius moved down to the floor and sat across from his brother.

"What's the matter Reg?" He could hear the fear creeping into his own voice.

"He…" Regulus looked up at Sirius for the first time and there was so much fear and sadness in his pale blue eyes that Sirius' heart began to pound in his chest. "He said…that since you don't listen…he'd just have to show you."

"Show me wha— " Sirius started speaking and then it all suddenly made sense, Reg's fear and tears, and the reason it was so hard to look at him. "Oh."

They sat in silence for a long time, there across from each other the blocks building and building upon themselves between them. It was a new thing, this true fear of their father's violence. Orion's anger was always something to dread. The man had a way of using words sharp enough to sting, but this, this threat that had always somehow lingered at the crescendo of the lecture, when Orion had seemed to reached his peak volume, had never actually felt like a threat, like a possibility.

When they heard heavy, purposeful, footsteps coming from the lower floor, Regulus' head shot up and he looked at Sirius with wild panic. Sirius reached out and took the smaller hand in his.

"Reg, listen to me. I'll be all right." Sirius met his brother's eyes, Regulus' blue clashing with his own near-silver gray. "You have to leave now and go to your room and stay there. Don't come out, okay? No matter what."

"But—" Regulus started to say as Sirius stood and pulled his brother to his feet.

"No, Reg. Go now before he finds you here." Sirius dropped his voice to a whisper and gripped his littler brother's fragile hand tightly. "Promise me you'll stay in your room until tomorrow."

Regulus didn't want to make the promise, he was still young enough to believe that there was something he could do.

"Please, Reg, for me." Sirius listened for the footsteps and placed them somewhere near the middle of the first flight of stairs.

"I…I promise." The younger boy finally, stuttered out.

"Good, now—go." Sirius pushed him toward the door and Regulus slipped out just as the footsteps were echoed on the second flight.

Sirius stared at the door and tried to imagine what he should be doing, but found he couldn't move his feet. So he stood, staring at the door, trying not to imagine what would happen when it opened. Orion Black was a large and imposing man, Sirius and Regulus had not gotten their build from him. His hair was dark black like his sons', he and Regulus shared the pale blue eyes.

There was no doubt he was strong, and Sirius was terrified about what Regulus had overheard. But still he stood staring at the door, something deep inside of him unwilling to hide, he raised his jaw ever so slightly, a small gesture of defiance that was so natural that he didn't even know he'd done it.

The shame his father tried to instill in him, the repentance he was after had come and passed after the first blow had thrown Sirius to the floor. It was replaced with a steadily building anger, and every strike after that had only stoked the fire.

Orion had come in proclaiming he would beat some Black family honor into the boy, and Sirius' silence had only further enraged the man. After a long time, Orion's own fists were raw and bloody and Sirius had struggled to stand once again at his father's command. Sirius knew that if he only cried out, begged for it to stop, apologized…anything of that sort, it would end.

But something deep inside of him, which he didn't fully understand, refused to allow any sound to come from his lips. He replayed Andy's letters in his head, letters where she talked about all the muggle-born friends she had, and all of the things they had told her and he refused to believe that she was lying, even in the face of his father's wrath.

Orion left, eventually, when his wife called him down. He turned toward the door throwing a handful of menacing words over his shoulder as he left. Sirius said nothing and waited until his father had closed the door behind him, with unexpected gentleness, and then allowed himself to sink slowly onto the bed.

Hours later, though Sirius could not be sure how long, he pushed himself up, his back pressing into the corner between the wall and his headboard. He did not cry, nor had he cried earlier, he hadn't shed a tear nor screamed out in pain even once and he wouldn't now. He sat with his knees pulled up to his chest, his arms wound tightly around them crushing his entire body together. There was a small cut above his left eye that had taken a long time to stop bleeding, and dark bruises were taking angry form around his eye and cheek and his nose had swollen so that he could only breath through his mouth in small pants. His ribs ached, as did his right wrist. But Sirius hardly felt the pain.

He did not know it then, but looking back later he would recognize how that night, sitting curled in the corner of his bed, he had watched out the window as the sunset on the last day of his childhood.

The morning of June 21st, found Sirius and Regulus at the breakfast table whispering quietly to each other about the things that young boys do, while their father read the Daily Prophet and their mother ordered the house elf about.

It was Sirius' birthday, and there was going to be a grand party. Everyone in the family was coming, and Sirius was far from excited about it. For reasons that they were never told, although Sirius could guess, Andy would not be here, and coupled with the fact that Bella would be only made Sirius more depressed.

Sirius was watching the window rather conspicuously and the minute he saw a brown owl heading in the direction of the house jumped up from his seat only to be scolded by his mother.

"Sit down Sirius!" Walburga's tone was booming and Sirius sat grumbling as he did so. "Kreacher fetch the mail."

Sirius waited, fidgeting, at once excited and nervous beyond anything he had ever felt. His eyes followed Kreacher as he returned and handed his mother the letter. His mother looked at it and then opened the thick envelope and read through the letter before handing it to his father. Sirius waited barely aware that he was holding his breath. When his father finally glanced at Sirius over the top of the letter Sirius was nearly bursting with his excitement.

"Well, hopefully they'll teach you the appropriate way to behave in Slytherin." His father's gruff voice rang out and Sirius let out a long breath. He picked up the letter his father had thrown carelessly on the table and stared at it with something akin to reverence.

"If I'm in Slytherin." He whispered, but not quietly enough. Orion's hand hit him with surprising force given their awkward position catty-corner from each other at the table, Sirius' eyes watered and he felt the familiar trickle of blood from his nose. He didn't move, only watched as a drop of blood landed over the headmistress's firm signature at the bottom of the page.

"You had better be." His father stood and Sirius flinched a little as Orion moved passed him and out of the room.

Sirius breathed slowly and cut his eyes over to Regulus who was begging him with his eyes not to respond.

"May I be excused?" Sirius asked carefully. He took his Mother's huff as permission and stood from the table and made his way back upstairs.

It had been months and months, and despite the pleading of both Regulus and Andy he couldn't seem to behave himself, or to make himself agree with the things his parents spouted off. Orion had grown more viscous as the months wore on, determined to break Sirius so that he could make him into the pureblood heir that he was supposed to be.

And yet, Sirius never cried out, and never crumbled. Now, as he sat heavily on the bed he looked at his letter from Hogwarts, nothing more than a welcoming letter and a list of supplies, but to Sirius it was everything, it was his way out.

The party was in full swing, people chatting and milling about. Sirius was in the den staring at the fire and trying to remain unseen. The house was full of the who's who of magical England. Idiots the lot of them, Sirius thought.

He had quietly followed his mother around for the first hour and allowed himself to be introduced and fawned over. He'd taken his opportunity to slip away when Bellatrix had come in with her new fiancé and drew everyone's attention. The whole thing was quite the perfect pureblood engagement and everyone wanted to know the details of the proposal and the upcoming wedding.

Kreacher had healed the superficial bruising and cuts so as to make Sirius presentable, not that pureblood society frowned upon beating your children. However, his mother had not wanted to explain why Orion had to discipline his heir. There was still a throbbing in Sirius' head that never seemed to go away anymore and his ribs ached when he breathed. Sirius could hear a volley of frustrated words in the hallway and tensed slightly when the door opened.

"Sirius!" Orion said loudly just shy of shouting. "What are you doing in here? There is a party out there in your honor and people are beginning to wonder where you got to!"

Sirius continued looking in the fire, so man people in the house provided a relative safety. "I don't feel like being honored."

There was a deadly tense silence and Orion's footsteps came closer. Sirius knew what was coming but he didn't flinch. He only waited.

Then, from nowhere, quiet but firm voice spoke. "Orion, I think you'd do well not to strike the boy."

Sirius' heart leapt and a strange way making his breath stutter out.

"Alphard, it is not your place to question my method of discipline." Orion bit out, anger burning in each syllable.

"On the contrary, Orion, do you forget that I am heir to Cygnus' line and it was I who paid Walburga's dowry?" Alphard's voice was calm but not without menace. "I will not have you causing scandal in such a public arena."

Silence fell again and Sirius didn't so much as let out a breath.

"Let the boy alone, Orion. It's his birthday."

No response came but one set of footsteps left the room and the door of the den shut with a click. Sirius let out a long breath and laid his head back on the chair.

"Happy birthday, Sirius." Alphard said as he came to sit in the chair across from him.

Alphard Black, looked as if he could have been Sirius' father, more so than even Orion. His hair was deep black spiced with strips of grey and hung around his shoulders in waves. His piercing grey eyes seemed at once suspicious and welcoming, his features were refined and angular. He was tall, lean, and somehow looked rugged without seeming tattered.

Sirius hadn't seen Alphard often, he was usually traveling around doing something important that Sirius didn't fully understand. He was most often out of the country but he would occasionally show up for the random holiday here and there.

"Thank you." Sirius said looking at him. "I didn't know you were coming."

Alphard laughed and it was a deep, warm sound. "Neither did your Mother, had her in quite a state when I turned up at the door."

Sirius smiled, he knew why his parents listened to Alphard and only mentioned his 'deplorable manners' in private. Alphard had lots of gold, not only the old family money but his own money, too. He was unmarried and didn't seem to have any plans to marry. Which meant, his gold was his to give as he saw fit in his will. If there was anything that mattered as much as blood status in the Black family, it was gold.

"Will you be staying long?" Sirius' slipped into the question out of habit and Alphard caught the tone with a warm laugh.

"Now, Sirius, I know we haven't spent a great deal of time together, but there is no need for the formality." Alphard responded with an easy grin, "But, I will be here through the summer."

Sirius nodded and glanced at Alphard catching the sudden crease in his uncle's brow.

"Sirius, I spoke with Regulus earlier." Alphard stared intently into his nephew's eyes. "He is worried for you."

Sirius only nodded. What was there to say really?

"My father was much the same." The older man said. "He swore he'd make me into the Black heir he wanted me to be."

Sirius looked at him and swallowed. "I don't want to be like my father."

Alphard nodded.

"I hate this place, and this family." Sirius was being reckless, he knew, and looked at Alphard with a tinge of fear for how his comment would be received.

"As did I, when I was younger." Alphard ran a hand across his hair, lips turning into a deep frown.

They sat in silence for several minutes staring into the flames before Alphard finally stood.

"You are much stronger and braver than I was at your age, Sirius." Alphard put his hand on Sirius' shoulder as he passed. "And for that, I am proud to call you my nephew."

A few weeks later, Sirius and Regulus were upstairs in Sirius' bedroom playing Aurors and Dark Creatures when they heard shouting from the lower floor. They looked at each other before making their way quietly out onto the landing.

"I don't see the concern here, he's going to be leaving for Hogwarts shortly, why shouldn't he have a little vacation?" Alphard's voice echoed up the stairwell.

"Alphard, he's got tutoring and…" Walburga said with surprising humility.

"Oh, he's been tutored from the time he could speak. He'll be at school soon enough." Alphard responded flippantly.

"He's my son! And I will do with him as I see fit." Orion's voice boomed and Regulus flinched. "I don't need him off gallivanting with you in your flat in the middle of the slums!"

"Be wary, Orion, I know well enough that your father squandered the better part of your fortune." Alphard fired back. "You may not like it, and for that matter neither do I, but we all know Walburga's dowry is about down to its last draw and you won't get any assistance from Lucretia's husband."

Silence fell, and then Alphard spoke again. "I'll pick him up next Monday, and I will return him the week before he leaves for Hogwarts."

Sirius and Regulus hurried back into the bedroom as Alphard took his leave. Once they were inside Sirius could not stop the grin that covered his face.

"I'm going to stay with Uncle Alphard!" He nearly shouted but he caught the sad look on Regulus' face. "Aw, Reg, I bet he'll take you next summer before you go to school."

This cheered his younger brother a bit, "I'll miss you though."

"I'll miss you too, but I'll write you loads of letters. I promise." Sirius said.

Regulus smiled but before he could say anything, the door swung open and banged against the wall, revealing a red-faced and looming Orion.

"Get out!" Orion shouted at Regulus who turned and looked at Sirius. "I said GO!"

Regulus left quickly only glancing back at Sirius for a moment, apology written on his features.

"Your Uncle has requested that you stay with him for the summer." Orion said coldly.

Sirius nodded.

"You'll be gone for two months and we can't have you forgetting where your place is, Alphard Black be damned." Orion said and stepped closer to Sirius.

Sirius was still all-over bruises and painfully sore as he put the last of his clothing into his trunk and forced it closed. He glanced around the room one last time and then sat down on his bed. There came a soft knock on the door and Regulus came in he sitting down beside Sirius without a word.

"What am I supposed to do all summer without you?" He asked his pale blue eyes watery and already full of loneliness.

"You'll be all right," Sirius said. "It'll probably be better around here without me to get you into trouble all the time."

Regulus looked unconvinced and opened his mouth to argue but was interrupted by a loud call from down stairs.

"Sirius! Your Uncle is here to fetch you!" His mother's shrill words echoed as Sirius jumped from his place on the bed and pulled Regulus into a quick hug.

"It'll be all right. I'll owl you and tell you everything I'm doing." Sirius smiled at him and drug his trunk along behind him as he made his way out the door.

His trunk made a loud 'thump' every time it hit a stair, Sirius was nearly bouncing with bottled joy. He came around the foyer and saw Alphard standing there and shot him a wide smile. His stomach dropped when Alphard's features darkened.

"How do you expect me to take him around public like this?" He boomed and Sirius stepped back his hand automatically going to the side of his face where a dark purple bruise from a few nights before had just started to yellow at the edges. Sirius hung his head, for a moment, afraid he wouldn't be allowed to go.

"Well, I…he's unruly, Alphard." His mother said with none of her trademark steel.

"Damn it all, Walburga! He's a child! He's supposed to be unruly." Alphard approached Sirius and knelt in front of him lifting his chin up to examine the mark a little closer. "Honestly, why haven't you healed this by now? Or are you and your husband quite that inept that you can't manage the simple charm?"

Walburga's face had whitened and there was the telltale tension around her lips that Sirius was used to having directed at him. "Alphard! Really, such language!"

Alphard only shook his head and pulled out his wand, he did a small circular wave just above his skin and Sirius felt a tiny moment of heat before the muscles in his face seemed to relax. He reached his hand and touched it finding the soreness gone.

He grinned up at his Uncle, who responded with a slightly lopsided smile of his own.

"Very well. You all set there, Sirius?" He said as he straightened out his long limbs.

Sirius nodded and then followed his uncle toward the door taking once last glance to where Regulus stood looking at him from between the railing of the stairs. He waved to him and walked outside the dark foyer of Grimmald Place and into the light of London at mid-day.

Sirius followed behind Alphard quietly pulling his trunk along the ground, he was still a bit on the small side and the trunk was heavy but he was too happy to care. Once they got a ways down the block Alphard turned and his eyes landed on Sirius and he frowned.

"I'm sorry, Sirius, let me help you with that." Alphard took the handle from Sirius and set the trunk down before shrinking it and putting it in his pocket. He laughed a little at the wide-eyed expression on Sirius' face. "So, I've got a bit of a thrill for you."

Sirius smiled widely his eyebrows raised. "What is it?"

"We're going to ride the underground." Alphard said watching carefully.

"With the muggles?" Sirius nearly shouted and Alphard nodded. "Wicked."

Sirius' eyes were round as they made their way into the underground station, he watched the muggles particularly the way they were dressed and glanced at his own formal trousers with a frown.

Alphard caught the longing on the boy's face and smiled to himself. "Don't worry much about it, I'll take you shopping if you'd like"

Sirius' eyes lit up and there was a definite bounce to his step. When the doors opened to allow them onto the train Sirius entered with a look of awe. Alphard sat down in one of the hard plastic chairs while Sirius turned in small circles in the center of the train, trying to take it all in.

"You'll want to grab hold of one of those poles, there Sirius." Alphard said and Sirius spun around the question already forming on his lips when the train gave a sudden lurch and Sirius fell flat. There was a moment of silence and then Sirius began to laugh and laugh and Alphard couldn't help but join in. Sirius picked himself up gripping the pole tightly as the train plummeted forward.

The walk from the station to Alphard's flat was filled with Sirius' non-stop questions. Questions about everything he saw, questions about why muggles did the things they did, and Alphard thought about each answer before giving it. For the first time that Sirius could remember, an adult was talking to him as though what he asked and said was important.

Alphard's apartment was deep in the city, and Sirius was pretty sure they were the only Wizards around for a great distance. He remembered his father saying that Alphard lived in the slums, which meant that he lived with the muggles. They took the lift to his apartment, which delighted Sirius to no end, and came to a floor where there was only a single door.

The door was made from heavy metal and made a loud clunk as Alphard pulled it open. The layout was wide open, with walls only separating off the bedrooms and bathroom. Large windows gave a beautiful view of the city and Sirius stood in the middle of the hardwood floor unable to remove the smile from his face. Alphard brought Sirius to the guest room and unshrunk his trunk for him before going to the master bedroom himself.

Sirius wandered out of the guestroom and snooped around the living area. Photographs adorned the walls. Most of them were of Alphard from the many different places he had traveled, but for one picture of Alphard, Sirius and Regulus that looked to have been taken at one of the many Black Family gatherings several years past. Sirius wandered over to a large bookshelf that took up nearly an entire wall and read the titles. He was about to pull down The Most Valuable Hexes Known, when he heard Alphard's door open, he spun quickly to face him an apology on it's way across his lips when he stopped staring at Alphard who had changed from his formal robes to a pair of muggle jeans and a light blue button up shirt.

"I was thinking we'd stop by the pub down the street for dinner, my cooking is atrocious." Alphard smiled and then took in Sirius' appearance. "Well, perhaps we should get you some clothing first."

Sirius nodded absently wondering what his father would do when he found out Sirius had been wearing muggle clothing.

He pulled open the door to Alphard's flat, and it all looked exactly the same as it had the last time he had been here. Nothing was out of place, nothing different. He looked at the photographs that Alphard had collected of the two of them which now hung on the walls. Them together, Sirius alone, always in their muggle clothes, at a fair, in a muggle photo booth, and on and on.

The muggle stores were completely different than the ones he'd seen in Diagion Alley. They were packed full of people, everyone talking with each other, women milling about choosing clothes from wide racks. Alphard lounged on the counter talking with the young girl behind it. Sirius looked at them briefly before wandering around the shop touching various articles of clothing. There were so many styles, shirts with words or pictures on them. Sirius wondered if they had these things in the wizard world but that his parents simply wouldn't allow it.

"Interesting stuff isn't it?" Alphard came up from behind Sirius. "I had no idea about all of this until much, much later in my life. Purebloods have a way of blocking everything else out."

Sirius nodded understanding only some of what Alphard was really saying. The young woman from the counter approached them blushing at Alphard.

"Your son looks just like you." She said her voice sweet and open. "Both of you handsome devils, for sure."

Sirius smiled up at the woman and Alphard chuckled. Sirius had never felt so proud in his life. The woman decided to make herself their personal escort and led Sirius by the hand around the shop pulling things off the shelves by threes and fours.

Then she ushered them back to the dressing room. Sirius tried on what seemed like hundreds of clothes shirts, and jeans, and jumpers. At first he was shy coming out to show the his uncle and the pretty blonde woman, but amongst their applause and laughter Sirius found a silliness and dramatic side to him that had been long repressed in the dark corridors of Grimmauld place. Soon enough, he was strutting about and winking at other customers.

By the time they left Alphard had needed to shrink four bags full of muggle clothing. Sirius, in the end, wore dark blue jeans, and a button-up shirt blue to match his uncles, and brand new black combat-style boots. Their similar appearance caused many smiles from those they passed by. They made their way to a nearby pub and were seated at a small round table in the back.

Sirius' eyes roamed eagerly over the pictures on the wall of all the different muggle sports while he and Alphard waited to be served. After a few minutes, an older man with splotches of white hair and an apron around his waist approached with a wide grin and Alphard stood to shake his hand. The older man looked to Sirius and there was an amused twinkle in his eyes.

"Cloned yourself have you then, Al?" His voice was rough and scratchy.

"Derrick, this is my nephew Sirius." He said and Sirius stood like Alphard had and offered his hand.

"Well, look at that proper gentleman he is." He said with a smile. "What can I get you gents this evening?"

Sirius smiled widely and ordered a hamburger and chips while his uncle ordered some sort of pasta. Alphard had ordered both Sirius and himself a soda, promising Sirius that he would enjoy it.

"So, Sirius, what do you think of my little corner of the world?" He asked and Sirius smiled again.

"I love it, these muggles are so nice." Sirius said happily. "I don't understand why wizards hate them so much."

Alphard shrugged, "They're just people, like us. Some kind and others not. They go about their lives."

Sirius nodded trying to look wise and understanding, as a waitress returned placing large glasses of a dark colored liquid in front of each of them and flashed a smile at Alphard. Sirius looked at it closely and raised his eyebrows at the tiny bubbles that appeared at the surface.

"It's bubbling, Uncle Alphard." Sirius said looking concerned, "Maybe it's got a potion in it."

"No, no. Just try it." Alphard said and when Sirius didn't move rolled his eyes and took a long drink from his glass. Carefully Sirius lifted the glass to his lips and took a drink. It was like melted candy, sweet and cool. Sirius had four glasses and had to find the loo before their food had arrived.

The first week passed quickly for Sirius, he and Alphard spent their days wandering the streets of muggle London, watching the people, listening to the street musicians and shopping. If Sirius so much as looked at something for longer than a minute Alphard was in the store to buy it, already Sirius had a fair amount of muggle clothing, trinkets and toys. But, for Sirius, it wasn't the clothes or the toys that made him so completely happy, it was that they talked. Sirius had never talked so much in his life, and for the first time he was learning to argue back in a conversation, to make his point, to make jokes, to really laugh.

They were having lunch at Derrick's pub again the following Monday, Sirius was sipping down his third soda and dramatically re-telling the story of a man he had seen doing a mime act out in the square earlier. Alphard laughed as Sirius waved his arms around and bounced on his chair. The waitress came back with a grin for Sirius and a blush for Alphard and placed their orders on the table.

"Anything else I can do for you?" She asked with a wink.

"No, Liza, thank you." Alphard said. He watched Sirius for a moment as Sirius shoveled the food into his mouth. "Sirius."

Sirius brought his head up and smiled. "Yea?"

"I have a bit of an errand to run after lunch," Alphard said between bites of spaghetti. "You can come if you'd like or you can stay at the flat."

Sirius tilted his head to the side. "What is it?"

"I have to stop at a friends house and pick something up." Alphard responded, "Come to think of it they have a little boy about your age."

Sirius raised his eyebrows and a smile graced his face for a minute before his eyes dropped to his place and his features darkened.

"What's the matter?" Alphard asked.

"It isn't the Malfoy's is it?" Sirius asked quietly.

"No, no." Alphard said laughing, "Potters. Their son's name is James, I believe."

"He's never come to the parties." Sirius said his brow's creasing.

"No, he wouldn't." Alphard responded. "They're not your mum's sort."

Sirius took another large bite of hamburger and the crease between his eyebrows got deeper.

"They're not purebloods then?" Sirius asked cautiously.

Alphard took a deep breath and shook his head. "They are, actually. But they don't believe the same things as our family."

"How do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"Well, I'm not sure. I suppose they're like you and I. They don't mind muggles and all that. They're just a bit more vocal about it." Alphard responded.

"So they tell people they like muggles then?" Sirius asked.

Alphard nodded finishing the last of his meal.

"Do you suppose they would say it even to my father?"

"I suppose if they were asked they would." Alphard stifled a laugh at Sirius' wide-eyed reaction.

"Whoa." Sirius responded.

The Potter's lived just outside of London, in a quiet little neighborhood where all of the houses were painted bright colors. The house was modest in size, but still larger than the average London family home. Sirius was still a little unsteady after the side-along apparation due to the constant throbbing in his ribs.

As they made their way up the walk to the front of the house, Sirius took in the large cement lions that seemed to be guarding the front door. As they passed them the lions turned toward the guests and bowed, gracefully dipping their stone heads to the ground. Sirius let Alphard go in front of them, hoping he could get a good look at the Potters before coming face to face with them.

The door opened and Sirius caught a glimpse of very large shoes. He was in the process of trying to determine exactly how large of a man, wore such shoes when Alphard stepped back and Sirius' eyes widened.

"Sirius, this is Harold, Harold my nephew Sirius Black." Alphard said smiling down at Sirius.

Harold Potter took up nearly the entire doorway, his wide shoulders barely left an inch on either side. He was larger than Orion but only just, and it was there that the similarities ended. Harold had warm brown eyes that crinkled at the edges, his features were strong and wide, in comparison with Alphard's more delicate aristocratic ones. His hair was a dark shade of brown and stuck out every which way.

"Well, hello Sirius! Alphard didn't mention he would be bringing you along. James will be pleased to have someone to play with." Harold's voice boomed but it didn't frighten Sirius the way you'd expect.

"Hello, Sir." Sirius offered his hand out, Harold smiled wide and shook his hand.

"Certainly has manners, which is more than I can say for James, I'm afraid." Harold spoke over a light chuckle as he led them inside the house. "Perhaps, you'll rub off on him a bit."

Harold led them through the house, which while clearly upper class, was not stiff and unwelcoming in the way that Grimmauld place was. It felt lived in, as if it were a home instead of the pureblood museum that his parent's house was. They came out the back door onto a bright and airy patio where a woman with beautiful raven hair and such small features that she could have easily passed for a member of Sirius' own family. While Alphard leant over and placed a kiss on the woman's cheek, Sirius glanced around looking for this 'James' that his uncle had told him about.

"Sirius, this is Avaline, Avaline this is my nephew Sirius." Alphard gestured from one to the other.

Avaline stood and knelt a little to come even with Sirius, who was suddenly shy in the face of her beautiful dark eyes. "You are certainly handsome. Please call me Ava."

Sirius blushed at her soft voice and smile.

"James is just around the side of the house, darling." She whispered and pushed him gently. "He's trying out the new training broom Harold purchased for him."

Sirius looked at Alphard who nodded his encouragement. Sirius left the adults chatting behind him and moved slowly in the direction Mrs. Potter had pointed him. As he came around the house he found a boy on a broomstick, hovering about six feet off the ground tossing a quaffle up into the air and catching it again.

Sirius moved cautiously toward him. The boy was about Sirius' height, if not a bit shorter, his hair dark like his mother's and wild like his father's. They stood in silence for a couple of minutes, they were too young and too curious to be anything but facinated and after a moment the boy, James, dropped off his broom and came toward Sirius.

Sirius noticed the boy's muggle clothing first, a black t-shirt that read 'It wasn't me!' written across the chest in small block letters, a pair of dirty blue jeans and trainers. He noted that behind the thick rimmed round glasses, he seemed to have a darker version of his father's bright blue eyes. Sirius grew bored in the silence and held out his hand.

"I'm Sirius Black." He said automatically and smiled in relief when the boy took his outstretched hand and pumped it enthusiastially.

"James Potter." The other boy said with a smile of his own, "How come you're here?"

"My uncle Alphard came to see your folks." Sirius said. "I'm staying with him for the summer."

James nodded the goofy grin still plastered on his face. "You like quidditch?"

And that was how it started, James brought out his older broom and then insisted Sirius use the newer one. They spent a long time tossing the quaffle back and forth and commenting on their own plays as they tossed them through the makeshift rings James' father had put up.

Not much later, they were rooting around in the kitchen for something to eat when they heard voices coming from the hallway. James gave Sirius a sly look and motioned with his head toward the hallway. Sirius shrugged and followed him, they came quietly up to the door, which was partially cracked and peaked in. Sirius' eyes widened as he took in the scene.

Alphard, Harold and Ava sat at the table near the center of the room. Alphard had his sleeve rolled up above his elbow and lain across the table toward where Ava sat. In Ava's hand was a strange thing that Sirius had never seen, it seemed to be a vial of potion that had a sharp point to it at one end. She fingered it carefully and looked concerned.

"Alphard, You know that this is risky." Ava said quietly. "There is a reason St. Mungos doesn't allow potions to be administered this way."

"I know." Alphard said and the depressed tone of his voice startled Sirius.

"I just…" Ava started to say before breaking off and looking to her husband.

Alphard shook his head. "We've tried everything else, none of it is working. You showed me your research. I understand the risks and also that there is no guarantee. But if you can buy me just a little time, there are many things I still need to do."

Ava sighed heavily and even from their distance, Sirius could see her eyes grow wet with unshed tears. "You're right, you're right. I'm sorry. It's just, I've been seeing you for nearly four years now. You've become a friend and I just…"

Alphard took her hand in his. "I know. To be honest when I first approached you about taking on my case personally, I was a little unsure about all of this. But, you all have become like family to me."

Harold wrapped his arm around his wife and gave a gentle squeeze. Ava took another deep breath and then gripping Alphard's arm, stuck him with the sharp end forcing a sharp his from between Alphard's clenched teeth.

Sirius didn't realize he'd closed his yes until James poked him. When Sirius looked at his new friend he found that he wasn't the only one who was confused by what they had seen.

"Now…"Ava's voice carried over to them and they turned back to the room. "I want to talk about Sirius, you really should let me look him over…if it's as bad as you say—"

Sirius pulled James away from the door as fast as he could. Once they were back in the kitchen and away from the voices Sirius tried to distract him with questions.

"What were they talking about? What was that stuff your mom had?" Sirius asked in a rush. James poured Sirius and himself a glass of pumpkin juice and sat down on the stool next to him.

"I don't know for sure. My mum's a healer, so maybe it was some sort of potion." James said glancing back at the door wondering if they were going to be found out. "What about all that stuff about needing more time?"

Sirius frowned. "I don't know. Alphard travels for his job sometimes. Maybe he's planning on going somewhere after the summer's out and needs protection from taking ill."

James' brow creased. "Oh yeah, he's a curse breaker—he helps out with the Ministry sometimes."

Silence fell between them, neither of them able to come up with any better explanation nor completely convinced by the one they had.

That conversation was forgotten not longer after it had occurred. Sirius and James made fast friends and spent most of the summer holiday together either at James' or Alphard's homes. They never tried to listen in on Alphard's conversations with James' parents again, instead they talked endlessly about quidditch and all of the most unimportant things that seemed to be all that mattered.

By the time Sirius had to leave and return to Grimmauld Place, Sirius and James were best friends and had made solemn vows of such. Alphard and Sirius had spent equally as much time together as had James and Sirius, and Sirius had begged Alphard to just let him stay through until the start of school. Alphard had looked at him with a steady sadness and explained that he had to take him home, but that if ever Sirius would need him all he had to do was send an owl.

Over the next years, Sirius would do just that. He would send off a hastily scrawled note to Alphard when things got particularly hard over the winter holidays during his first year at Hogwarts, and without fail Alphard would show up at Grimmauld Place, threatening his father and admonishing his mother and taking Sirius away to his flat. Summer of third year, Sirius would be picked up by Alphard at King's Cross and notice his uncle's pale complexion and thinness, but when Sirius questions, Alphard would only brush it off as nothing more than a cold. Sirius would believe him, if only because being young, he believed his uncle to be invincible. Alphard had become, in a way, both a surrogate father and an older brother.

London 1975 (Present Day)

Sirius Black had been told (often by Remus Lupin), that he let his emotions lead him and as a result his actions were often reckless and irrational. As Sirius sat in the den at Grimmauld place listening to his father lecture on about all of the things he should say and do and how important it was that Uncle Alphard thought well of him and his parents, especially now, he was trying harder than ever to be rational.

Sirius had gone back to Grimmauld Place, only because it was easier to let his father talk at him than to bear the brunt of his anger if he didn't. As always the house was dark and haunted, it was the prison that Sirius could never seem to fully escape, even now, he had changed so much and yet that place had not. His parents had not, he wanted so badly to leave, like he always had. But his father continued on, with no sympathy in his voice, no sadness to his expression and his mother sat in stony silence at his side while Orion preached at him about how just this once Sirius could live up to his duty and do what needed to be done. Sirius had never wanted to hit his father more in his life, but he kept his head and thought of other things.

Sirius slouched in the wing-back chair facing the fire in the den, letting memories wash over him with a sense of subdued pain. One thing Sirius had always known was the many shades of pain that existed in the world. Right now, it was so much easier for him to feel the distant pain of dark memories than the more present and forceful pain of today.

Sirius wanted desperately to talk with Regulus about this, to confide in him his guilt and his sorrow. But like Sirius, Regulus had changed and there was nothing to be said between them anymore. Sirius wondered if it wasn't his own fault, if he hadn't spent his summers away with Alphard, if maybe he could have saved his younger brother from what he had become. But it was a battle lost, and Sirius could not undo it. He looked at his brother who sat with perfect posture and a blank expression on his face and thought about all of the regrets he had and all the things he hadn't noticed until it was too late.

He was in a daze, exhausted and half-caught by his own memories as he made his way toward Alphard's flat two hours later. It was a familiar route, and one shaded with so many reminders that it made his heart ache with every beat. When he let himself into the flat he could hardly breathe through the clutter of his own emotions.

He pulled open the door to Alphard's flat, and it all looked exactly the same as it had the last time he had been here. Nothing was out of place, nothing different. He looked at the photographs that Alphard had collected of the two of them which now hung on the walls. Them together, Sirius alone, always in their muggle clothes, at a fair, in a muggle photo booth, and on and on.

In the kitchen, he took a cup down barely thinking about his actions, he didn't have to think about where things were kept he knew this place far too well. He reached into a cabinet and pulled a bottle of half-full Firewhiskey and poured a good measure into the glass. All the while, these bittersweet memories played across his mind like a muggle film and he drank down harsh gulps of the burning liquid just to have an excuse for the building wetness in his eyes.

Finally, Sirius checked the clock on the wall, visiting hours would start in only five minutes. He took the underground to The Leaky Cauldron where he flooed to St. Mungo's.

Sirius' heavy boots made loud echoes as he moved down the nearly empty hall and toward the room the receptionist had directed him to. He stood outside the door for a moment taking a breath before pushing it open and letting it swing closed behind him with a resounding 'click'.

Alphard lay in a bed at the end of the room, surrounded by expensive looking flowers and a great many gifts. Sirius approached slowly taking the sight of his uncle in. He had last seen Alphard over this past summer, and was shocked at the change that little over six months had brought. Alphard's eyes were closed and sunken into the purpled skin that surrounded them, his skin was pale and slightly yellowed. His body, which had once been muscular and lithe now seemed lanky and incredibly frail. Sirius sat down in the chair beside the bed and barely took a breath. He didn't want to wake him, but Alphard had demanded Sirius come as soon as possible.

After a few moments, Alphard turned his head and opened his eyes. Sirius was a little startled by the way his grey eyes seemed too pale, as if the life was being slowly drained from them.

"Hey, Uncle Al." Sirius said quietly, his voice uneven. Alphard smiled a little.

"Sirius. I'm so glad you came." Alphard's voice was soft and rough, and full of pain.

Sirius smiled at him as best he could. "Of course, I would."

Alphard nodded slightly and then coughed a deep and wheezing sound that made Sirius' own chest ache.

"I don't have much time left, Sirius." Alphard pulled himself up slowly to a sitting position. Sirius leaned over and helped tuck some pillows behind his back. "I'm so sorry, that I never told you before."

Sirius shook his head, "It's okay."

Alphard picked up a glass of water from the side-table in his shaking hand and took a long drink. "I'm so sorry to be leaving you, Sirius. You will never know, how truly sorry I am."

Sirius shook his head again and made to speak but Alphard lifted one bony hand to stop him.

"I wish that I had been there sooner, that I had spent more time with you when you were younger." Alphard wheezed again but continued on speaking. "But I…was selfish, I wanted to experience life and more than anything I wanted away from that damn family. I failed you in my selfishness."

This time Sirius spoke before he could be stopped. "Don't think that, Al, you saved me, you came just when I needed you the most. You always came."

Alphard sighed and smiled at him. "You Sirius, give an old man's soul some peace."

Sirius didn't know what to say to this, he looked away instead.

"I wanted to tell you some things…" Alphard spoke placing his hand over Sirius', "And when I'm finished we won't speak of my sickness or my death anymore. I would like for you to stay with me if you could until it is done."

Sirius nodded, tears pricking the back of his eyes. "I'll stay, I couldn't go now, for anything."

Alphard squeezed Sirius' hand in his.

"I never wanted children, I was never much a fan of responsibility, and then when I found out I was ill…I realized I had nothing of value in my life." Alphard leaned back and looked at the ceiling, "The truth is, you saved me that first summer, gave me a reason to keep on surviving this dreadful disease. And I was never so proud of anything I'd done, as I was when people assumed you were my son."

Sirius swallowed and could not speak.

"You with your youth, and curiosity. Your joy, despite everything…you are so brave, so strong." Alphard smiled at him and it was wide and real despite the pain in his voice. "And when I was around you, you reminded me of how I should have been, the kind of person I wish I had been strong enough to be."

Sirius nodded as tears threatened to pour out.

"I am proud of you, Sirius. For all that you have accomplished, the person you have become. My only regret is that I will not be here to see the great man I know that you will be." Alphard was silent for a moment, his breathing labored. "Will you promise me something?"

"Anything." Sirius said in a watery breath.

"Promise me, Sirius, that you will never back down, and never give in to what others believe you should do or be or think. Promise me that you will still be full of fire and laughter, and that you won't let my passing take that from you. Promise me that you'll give them hell when they try and break you down, that you'll fight back, because I never did."

"I promise." Sirius said and tried desperately to believe that he could do all of it, be all of it.

Alphard nodded a soft smile on the edges of his lips. " I have left a significant enough portion of gold to your parents in my will, enough to get them through. The rest I have left to you, along with my flat, which has been paid off. I want you to get out of that house as soon as you can, and live your life the way you see fit."

"I will." Sirius promised and Alphard sighed and leaned back against the pillows.

"Now," Alphard said tiredly, "Tell me about your James and his little red head, are they still fighting like banshees?"

Alphard died four days later with Sirius at his side. Sirius had not left St. Mungo's once in that time, and he was the only visitor allowed access to Alphard's room. Others had come, all the remaining Blacks who were hell-bent on manipulating their way into his will, but the healers held firm to their patient's request and Sirius alone kept the dying man company.

When he died, there was no warning that it was coming. Alphard's condition had been on a steady decline, but there was no sudden coughing fit or struggle to breath. No, Alphard had gone quietly into death as Sirius was chatting aimlessly about his desire to buy a motorbike. One minute he was listening to Sirius list off all the charms he would place on the bike and the next he was simply no longer speaking, no longer breathing, no longer there.

Alphard had already arranged all of the funeral plans, and the goblin in charge of his estate had overseen the whole thing. The day of the funeral, James and his parents, along with Remus, Peter, and the whole of the Black family stood outside in the drizzling rain watching as his body was entombed.

Sirius had not cried that day, instead, he had felt a desperate cold seeping into him. He looked to where his parents stood with Regulus their eyes full of anger at what they deemed Alphard's parting slight.

Sirius knew that he changed that day, and when he returned to Grimmauld Place, he welcomed his father's abuse, because at the very least feeling the physical pain, reminded him that the numbness that had enveloped him was not all encompassing.

He would return to Hogwarts, a week late for the Spring term of his fifth year and he would do what he could to live up to the things he had promised Alphard.`