Parallels

By SXS
Disclaimer: don't own, never will, etc.
A/N: I modified Bella's age to be about two years older than Sirius.

"You can stay with me."

I looked down at Fil, one of the shortest boys I knew—and one of the best friends I had. His face was a mixture of "trust me" and "please don't go." I sighed, running a hand through my jet-black hair.

"My family…"

"Your family what?"

I bit my lip, unable to meet his eyes. Prongs made a throat-clearing noise, and I looked up at his face. It was a burning resolve. His hazel eyes bore into me, and I quickly looked away, at the ground. I had only seen Prongs get that look twice before—when Gryffindor had to win by one-hundred and eighty points at Quidditch to be crowned the champions his first year as captain, and when Snivellus called Evans "Mudblood" in fifth year.

"Prongs, you know how they are, and why I can't. They said—"

"That you can't be seeing filth like me anymore?"

I felt a flush rise from my neck to my face; she was making it sound like we were actually dating. But really, we weren't. I mean—if I wasn't a Black and she wasn't Muggle-born, you could bet your wand we would be, but if any of my siblings ever got word that I was head-over-heels in love with her, they'd tell father, who would instantly disown me.

And then again, I couldn't really fathom how terrible that would truly be. Sometimes I wonder if it would be as bad as still living under their roof.

"No, you're not," I spluttered, staring into her sharp eyes. "Min—"

"I know you think I'm not," she replied briskly. "Look, I know your family's putting a lot of pressure…."

Fil piped up, "But honestly, Al—what do you want?"

"I…I don't know," I answered them. The three of them stared at me, Remus looked more weary than usual, Peter was chewing his lip, concerned, but James still had that determined expression on his face. Yet, it was Remus who spoke.

"It's us or them."

"I want to be with you."

"I want to be with you."

Fil had this look on his face—it was a cross between joy and disappointment; the corners of his mouth were turned upwards, but his eyebrows were furrowed and downcast. Minerva simply had a most Gryffindor-ish expression on hers; determined and unaffected. Suddenly, there was a loud clang as the compartment door was thrown open.

"What are you doing here?!" shrieked Walbourga, enraged. "You know you're not supposed to be mixing with…with those!"

Neither Fil or Minerva said anything; even though we were officially sixth years now, Walbourga still had much power over all of us as a graduate of seventh year.

"Bellatrix—what the hell!" I yelled, shocked out of my mind. Usually Bellatrix was with her vomit-inducing little Slytherin friends, and didn't give a damn about what I did or who I was with.

"I heard what you said!" she accused. "You're a Black, Sirius, a Black! You can't do this—don't you get it?"

"Shut up!" I yelled, brandishing my wand. "Stu—"

I was sure Bellatrix was going to scream out a curse as well, but a loud, sonorous voice boomed throughout the train; "THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS HAS ARRIVED ON PLATFORM NINE AND THREE-QUARTERS. Please unpack your luggage, and thank you for riding the Hogwarts Express."

Bellatrix lowered her wand.

"Mother and father will hear about this," Walbourga threatened venomously. She turned on her heel, and stalked out. I turned around, and started at Filius and Minerva.

"S-See?!" I spluttered, "I can't go with you guys…or stay with you. My family is—my home is—I…I just can't. You guys are my best friends, but you really can't take me away…as much as I want."

"Al, don't you get it?"

"We couldn't take you away if we tried, mate," James spoke, his voice hoarse.

"What are you talking about?"

"It's your choice—do you want to get away, or not?"

I stepped out of the train, a strong breeze whipping my hair around. I stared to the right and saw my family, along with numerous aunts and uncles. They looked stern; Walbourga stood near them, looking triumphant. My father began marching towards me.

I stumbled a bit; afraid of what was to come. From behind me, Minerva stepped out, and faced my father like the Gryffindor she was. I couldn't help but feel a surge of pride as she narrowed her piercing eyes in his direction. However, this did nothing but push him to walk faster.

"Sirius!"

I stared up at my father, his daunting gray eyes flashing angrily. I could see Bellatrix over in the corner, grinning maliciously. Oh Merlin, some day she was going to pay….

"What?"

"Get away from filth like this—get your things. We're going home. We will discuss this matter later."

"He doesn't want to leave us."

I turned around at the two voices that had chimed in unison; Fil and Minerva. I fought back the urge to smile, but quickly realized my father would probably blast them into oblivion.

"And who are you?" he smirked venomously. "Some Mudblood and that Goblin child? Disgusting. Alphard, you have no place among such inferiors."

"I'm not inferior to you!" screamed James, completely out of control. Remus and Peter restrained him from physically going up to my father and punching him. There was a big commotion, resulting in my father yelling—something which he reserved only for when he was dangerously angry.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" he exclaimed loudly, his voice booming. He latched his hand onto my arm and dragged me back to where the rest of the family was. "Sirius we're going—and I forbid you to see any of these things for the rest of your time at Hogwarts."

Then I snapped.

"NO!"

"Don't argue with me, boy!"

"YOU CAN'T TAKE THEM! You can't tell me I can't see them—you can't take them away!" I was yelling furiously, probably attracting the attention of other families as well. I saw my mother glide over, her normally flawless face scrunched up in rage.

"Will you stop making such a spectacle?" she hissed at my father and me, making wild hand gestures. "We can discuss this at home."

"I'm not going."

"I'm not going."

"Yes you are, boy," my father spat, his face bright red in rage. "You are coming with us." He snatched my arm up and Disapparated, and I was forced to as a side-along. The last glimpse I had of Prongs, Mooney, and Wormtail was heart-wrenching; Prongs screaming, Mooney looking so desolately defeated, and Wormtail's face in his hands.

When I got back, I was shoved into my room. I stayed there for the remainder of the summer, not coming out. The House Elf brought me my meals. I couldn't send or receive letters from Minerva or Fil, and any letters they sent me were burned. I was miserable.

Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I wasn't a Black, if maybe I could've had a chance at a real relationship with people who weren't of the "purest" type. I don't think they'll ever understand how close Fil and I were—we were practically brothers; I was closer to him than I was to any of my siblings.

And Minerva.

I would probably ask her to marry me if I wasn't cursed into this family.

When I returned to Hogwarts the following year, Cygnus was instructed to keep a close watch on me. When he spotted me conversing and apologizing to Fil and Minerva for a moment, my father pulled me out of school. He also told me that if he saw me speaking with them again, they would be killed. So I just stopped talking to them.

I wonder if they could ever forgive me.

I thought about running away, but I was much too afraid my family would catch up to me. I realize now that it would've worked; I could've just run out the door when my parents weren't around, and then Apparate to Fil's. But there was still a small bit of me that whispered, whispered so scathingly, "You owe the family. They've taken you in, raised you—and you owe them your life." And that stopped me.

Now, I realize I didn't owe them anything.

When I got back, I was shoved into my room. My mother screamed about the Gryffindor hangings and a bunch of other mumbo-jumbo I didn't bother to listen to. I was seriously angry; I threw things and smashed stuff—I basically reducio-ed my entire room for the entire week. The House Elf brought me food, as I never came out. A few weeks after I had been forced home, I was dismembering the bedposts and cursing under my breath, wondering why the hell I was born in such an unfortunate family.

Then, I heard a curt knocking on the door.

"Get away!" I howled.

"Sirius."

It was as though a wave of cold water had been thrown on me; that wasn't my father. I stumbled to the door, and muttered "Alohomora," as I had blasted the doorknob off a few days ago. I was then face-to-face with a pair of gray eyes identical to mine. I took a step back, he took a step forward.

"Uncle Alphard? What're you doing here?" I mumbled stupidly. "Oh…right, you live here. Sorry."

"Quite alright," he replied softly. I liked Uncle Alphard, personally. He had been recently diagnosed with some sort of disease; it was called Interficat or something like that—deadly, but killed slow. It was a result of breathing in the fumes of Fiendfyre for too long. He was rumored to be in much pain, but he seemed okay at the moment.

"What're you doing here?" I shot, beginning to suspect he was here to convince me to "be a Black," as all the others had tried to. I stonily pushed them away, but I was curious as to what Alphard would do.

"Look," he pulled out something liquid-like and silver—and Invisibility Cloak "It's mine," he continued. "Made from the fur of a Demiguise—it's rather good. Use it, run away."

I was stunned, but not that much. Uncle Alphard always seemed like the type that wanted to get away from the family. During the parties thrown, he would lounge around, hardly speaking, downing bottles and bottles of firewhiskey. His eyes would have a strange, remorseful glimmer as he stared around. When I was six, I heard him sobbing in his room after one of them, but I had always suspected that was just the effect of the firewhiskey.

"Is this for free?" I choked out, still not completely understanding.

"You can run away," he muttered, looking around to make sure no one could hear. "Muffliato," he murmured, flicking his wand. "Anyway, yes. You can get away—you can get away right now. I'll let you have this cloak on one condition."

"What?" I rasped hungrily, wanting nothing more than to just leave.

"When you get back to Hogwarts, tell Minerva McGongall and Filius Flitwick that Alphard Black sends his regards…and deepest apologies."