Disclaimer: I don't own it. Any of it.
Warnings: Implied onesided Slash JPSB! Oh, and some good old Het! LMNM! The time line is slightly off, but nothing too obnoxious, I don't think.
A/N: The ages of the Black children are slightly off, and Sirius is in Azkaban after Nymphadora is an Auror. I'm sure if that's entirely accurate, but it works for this so, yeah.
The Real Monsters
They say that Andromeda and Sirius are the courageous ones.
They fled from our family and for that they were honored among the "normal" circles in society.
They renounced our ways and vanished into the shining radiance of the light side.
They took flight and flew to freedom. They flew away from our wickedness.
They escaped us.
To that I say that they left us. They abandoned us. When we needed them the most they departed and never looked back. They deserted sisters and brothers and, yet, they are the heroes.
It should be us being honored and glorified.
They abandoned us.
They left us here to deal with broken parents gone mad from losing children. We were the ones that carried on after their departure. They left us here to pick up their careless mess. We picked up broken mothers that had lost their children and were slowly slipping into madness. We dealt with the cold shells of our fathers. They were never as warm in fear that someday we might leave as well. They left us here all alone and never once looked back.
Bellatrix, Regulus, and I are scorned for staying with our family. I think that's a little hypocritical. We had the fortitude and the sheer willpower to carry on. That's what true courage is. It's about pulling through and trying to hold together. We trudged on carrying our family's glory, only the three of us. We withstood the blows brought on by the Light side, and we triumphed as we overcame all obstacles that were placed in our way. We tried, but we were never good enough for our parents after they left.
Bella was the oldest, only seventeen when they both ran away. A seventeen year old child shouldn't have to pick up the shattered pieces of an entire family and try and glue them back together. A seventeen year old child shouldn't have to make plans for her wedding and her little sisters as well because their mother is too devastated to carry on. A seventeen year old child shouldn't have to represent an entire family in the Dark Lord's council. Yet, Bella has had to do all those things and she did them as well as anyone could. No one has ever given her enough credit for the things she has had endured.
Regulus was even younger. He was only fifteen when Sirius left and his mother's mental stability was in question far before her first son's departure. Regulus would never get over that. He'd never be able to repair their mother. He could never be Sirius, but Sirius didn't care about him though. No, all Sirius cared about was James Potter and what Potter thought about him. He left his little brother alone with a crumbling mother and a soon to be deceased father. Yes, Sirius Black certainly was a heroic and admirable man. Gryffindor chivalry at it's finest.
Our parents shouldn't have had to deal with that. No one should ever lose a child, but I suppose that sentiment isn't meant for Death Eaters and their supporters. No, that's just for the Light side. Our mothers just had it coming. We're just a bunch of slimy snakes that deserve it.
Sirius and Andromeda were always the rebels. Sirius had combat boots and an earring by the time he was twelve. Aunt Walburga never tried to take those things from him. She knew that, that was who he was. Despite anything that you may have heard, that woman loved her son. She honestly loved him. She never got out of control until he began to pull away from her, from us.
Now that I am a mother, I can understand what she must have gone through.
Looking back, she was probably panicking and if she hadn't over reacted he might still be here. She hadn't known what to do. Walburga had tried to control him, but with his personality and his natural rebelliousness it had only made things worse. Her son was headed down a dangerous path. The Dark Lord was going to be after the Potters soon. Everyone in our circle knew that. They were too close the Dumbledore. She had to try and get her baby away from them. Obviously it may not have been the best way to try and keep Sirius safe, but she had done the best job she knew how to do. Yet, somehow she had sent him spiraling out of control.
That Weasley woman should understand as well. I hear all about her third born running as far away as possible and joining the ministry officials. She pushed and pushed and now he's gone. However, I assume she wouldn't see the situation as anything remotely comparable. She's the perfect mother I'm sure.
They are a bunch of hypocrites.
They try and convince us that they don't have prejudices. Yet, they have just as many prejudices about Purebloods as we have about Mudbloods. At least we're honest and up front about it. They let those things brew inside of themselves, they let them fester and try and hide their biased opinions.
My son tells me all about that Weasley boy. The way he parades himself about as the perfect Mudblood lover. Yet, anytime that his little girlfriend shows any sign of ignorance of the customs in the Wizarding world he acts like a little prat and becomes pretentious. He's incredulous that someone wouldn't know something like that, what an idiot.
If he was as high and impartial, as he claims to be, then he wouldn't stoop to meet Draco's insults. They are just little quips really. I mean calling someone Weasel isn't too diabolical or appalling really. It's a very childish insult. Yet, he lowers himself to meet my son's teasing every time. My little Dragon tells me it's very amusing; so until he stops becoming irate by Draco's remarks, my son will not stop.
So now I find myself, twenty some odd years later, in another war.
Sirius and Bella were in Azkaban, it's ironic the way that the Light cast Sirius aside after James died. They just locked him up like any other Black and threw away the key.
No Trial. Nothing.
I always said that Azkaban was worse than anything a Death Eater could ever bestow upon their victims. Reliving your worst memories and having the happiness sucked out of you is in no way humane. Neither is having your soul ripped out of your body, at least we let people keep their souls. That however, is blissfully ignored. It would mean that we have some semblance of humanity and we cannot be seen as anything other than horrifying monsters. I would personally rather have a flash of green light and be done with it, but then again, I'm an evil ice queen that doesn't understand compassion.
So, when I first heard that Sirius was in Azkaban I would have thought that someone on their side would have gotten him out immediately. They had to known that he would have never sold James Potter out. He loved him, and even though I disliked Sirius; it has always broken my heart to see that Potter would never return those feelings.
Sirius gave everything up for him and the idiot didn't even notice. He practically threw himself at James and the boy was as oblivious as ever. He didn't deserve Sirius.
Sirius did many things that were solely for increasing his importance in that blood traitors circle. For that he was James's sidekick, the best friend. He was almost saintly in Potter's world. The good Black; the only Black to ever be in Gryffindor.
I remember him saying that they were brothers, him and James. He said that right in front of Regulus; the one person that still treated him the same after he was in Gryffindor. The one person that looked up to him, the one person that thought he couldn't do wrong. Sirius broke his little brother's heart. Stepped on it with his combat boots and never even cared. It was disgusting the way he carried on, following James around like some sort of dog, hoping to steal his attention away from that Mudblood.
Didn't he see that with us he never had to fight for attention? We loved him. Not the idea of him. James Potter loved the idea of Sirius; a Black that was a perfect Gryffindor. That was something that Sirius would never be, not matter how hard he tried to deny the blood that flowed through his veins. He'd always be a Black; he'd always have Black Blood.
We had loved him for who he was. Even with his rock music that blared so loud that it vibrated the walls at Grimmauld Place, we still loved him, his mother still loved him. We even loved him when he messed up. That's more than I can say for Potter's gang. During Sirius's fifth year his friends hadn't spoken to him for over four months. He had been shunned and yet he still pinned for them. We didn't shun him until he was too far gone and Sirius hated us. I will never truly understand him for that. One thing I know for sure though is that James Potter will never really love Sirius.
He just loved the idea of Sirius Black, his best friend. Nothing more, nothing less.
I have heard that Andromeda has a child that's an Auror now. Bellatrix has told me that she's awkward in battle. She could have great potential, but with the limited training the ministry has funding for, the girl will be dead soon. I have asked Lucius not to be the one that does her in. It was a foolish request I know, but all he did was smile slightly and nod. I probably didn't even have to ask. Lucius knows the importance of family.
Even family that left and abandoned us. Even family that denies and tries to tear us down.
Even family that doesn't consider itself as such.
We might be the Ancient and Noble House of Black, but we're not the monsters.
Monsters don't hold things together. Monsters don't hold sobbing mothers and try and sooth a father's rage. Monsters don't rebuild after hardships.
Only true monsters tear things apart; they tear things limb from limb without a care as to the devastation that they left behind.
I think that Sirius and Andromeda are the true monsters in this family.
A/N: Please Review. It'll on take a second. : )
Oh, and thanks for reading!