The Black Way

Isilarma

Written for teddylupin-snape, who asked for something involving Sirius and Walburga for the GGE 2014. This is set a few years before Sirius goes to Hogwarts. Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and am not affiliated with Bloomsbury or Scholastic Inc.

Walburga had always been one to appreciate quiet. Not that she had ever really experienced an excess of noise. Blacks did not go in for such things, and anyone that did was no one Walburga wished to associate herself with. Orion had been of a similar opinion, and so their married life had been one of relative tranquillity.

Admittedly, that tranquillity had been disrupted somewhat by the arrival of two, healthy boys. Regulus, thankfully, had learned quickly, but Sirius...

Walburga shook her head. Sirius was her heir, and she was proud of him, but it was impossible to deny that he lacked anything even remotely resembling a sense of decorum. He charged round the house like a graphorn in a potions laboratory, wreaking havoc wherever he went, and Walburga simply didn't know how to control him. It was certainly not behaviour befitting a Black, a fact which she had tried to impress upon her son more times than she could remember, but to no avail.

In any case, it was difficult to relax when Sirius was in the vicinity. Walburga had learned to make the most of any opportunities that came her way. With Sirius away associating with his peers, and Orion upstairs occupying Regulus, Walburga finally had a chance to sit back and review the Ministry's most recent display of idiocy. Partly for entertainment purposes, and partly to determine exactly how it could be used to benefit her house. It was one of her preferred ways of passing the time, and she finally allowed herself to relax.

Of course, Sirius chose that moment to come flying out of the Floo, crash into the bookcase, and yelp as he was bombarded with angry books.

Walburga didn't even look up. It was far too common an occurrence to elicit anything other than resignation.

"How do we enter the Floo, Sirius?" There was an indistinct mumble. "Speak up."

"We walk with decorum," Sirius recited flatly. He picked himself and began shoving books back onto the shelf.

Walburga glanced over at him. While mishaps with the Floo were hardly unusual, they were usually followed with loud exclamations regarding how 'cool' or 'awesome' something was. This time though, Sirius said nothing. Indeed, he was glaring at the wall like he was trying to burn a hole in it, and wasn't even attempting to order the books correctly. Walburga sighed.

"What is the matter?"

"Nothing."

"Sirius."

She didn't even raise her voice, but Sirius cringed and looked round. "I don't want to go back there."

Walburga raised an eyebrow. "Would you care to explain why?" Admittedly, the Averys weren't the first people she would choose for her son to associate with, but since Orion had done business with them on a number of occasions, she had never raised too many objections to him visiting. Sirius had always gotten along well with their daughter though, so the news that he didn't want to return was slightly bewildering.

"No."

Walburga just looked at him, and he dropped his gaze. "It's stupid."

Walburga bit back the first thing that came to mind. "You said you liked Elizabeth."

"I do. Did. Now I hate her."

"Then what has changed?" asked Walburga warily. She had a horrible feeling she could see where this was going.

Sirius continued to glare at the floor. "She's mean."

"How is she mean?"

Sirius looked up, and Walburga's heart clenched just a little at the misery in his eyes. "She threw my flower away."

Walburga's eyes narrowed. "I do not recall giving you permission to court her."

Sirius' scowl darkened and he looked away. "Doesn't matter now, does it? She's not interested, and I hate her."

Walburga's hands curled into fists. The Averys might be one of the Noble Houses, but their bloodline was no more pure than that of the Blacks. Perhaps even less so. And even though Sirius's courtship was the act of a child, there was no call for such a rebuttal. The air cooled noticeably around her. This could not go unanswered.

Sirius was still talking, heedless of her reaction. "And so then I turned her hair pink, and her mum yelled at me, and that's when I came back-"

Walburga held up a hand, cutting off the flow of babble. "Wait. How did you respond?"

Sirius' eyes flashed. "I turned her hair pink. And I'm not sorry," he added defiantly.

"Nor should you be," Walburga snapped.

Sirius froze. "What?"

Walburga glared at him. "Your decision to act was proper. The way in which you did so was not."

"But she deserved it!"

"No," Walbuga corrected. "She deserved worse."

Sirius' mouth opened, closed, and opened again. Walburga rose to her feet, straightening her robes imperiously as she frowned down at her son. "We are Blacks," she stated. "We do things properly, and with our own inimitable style."

Sirius' small face screwed up. "Huh?"

Walburga rolled her eyes. "We do not resort to Colour-Change Charms," she told him. "We are far better than that."

A slow smile spread across Sirius' face. "You mean you'll help? Really?"

Walburga laid a hand on his head, noting with some dismay that he needed yet another trim. "Why don't we see what we can do?"

Two days later, Walburga watched with approval as Kreacher escorted a screeching Miss Avery through the Floo. The child would be quite all right in time, but she had more than learned her lesson. Sirius stood beside her, and as Elizabeth disappeared he looked up at her.

"Did I do it right?"

Walburga allowed herself a smile. "You did splendidly."

Sirius' answering beam lit up the room, and for once Walburga did nothing to halt his babble about how he could have made the lesson even more spectacular. She truly did have a son she could be proud of.