good things fall apart • sirius black

The Blacks

Eight o'clock ticked by, so did nine, then ten... And still, Ellie and Sirius hadn't emerged from their rooms yet. Walburga was offended that their guest hadn't bothered to wake to join them for breakfast, and Regulus was left uncomfortably alone, all the attention on him. By the time it got to eleven, the Blacks were finished waiting around for their eldest son and soon to be fiancé. They needed to be up so that they could be ready for when they were leaving at three to go to Cygnus' home.

Orion was sent to wake the pair up, a job he believed Kreacher would've been able to do, and he climbed the many flights of stairs with his features set as cold as ever. He didn't even bother to knock on Sirius' door, marching right inside, and throwing back the drapes around his son's bed forcefully.

Though he hadn't expected what he found.

Despite the huge bed, Ellie and Sirius were squished as close to each other's sides as possible, curled up in a ball of duvet. Orion stumbled back a little, having been under the impression that his wife had told the pair firmly that they weren't to share a room. The only saving grace seemed to be that one of Sirius' arms was strewn across his pillow above his head, and from that, it was clear he was clothed.

No longer feeling as fierce, after being sent into shock, Orion had no idea how to approach this situation. He'd not been expecting it, previously prepared to drag his son out of bed by his ankle. But now he was at a loss of how to wake the pair up. They were sleeping deeply, that was for sure, one of Ellie's hands on Sirius' face as chocolate hair shrouded everything else. She really did remind him of Adelaide Dubois, and Orion stood at the foot of the bed trying to figure out what the best way to approach the situation was.

He was angry, yes, for they'd both defied his and Walburga's wishes. But he couldn't shout out their guest, his wife had made that clear, and he wasn't even sure he'd be able to when she was looking at him anyway. Finally deciding to clench his jaw and raise his voice regardless, the only authoritative mechanism he actually had, Orion pulled the duvet off of the pair as he spoke.

"Sirius... SIRIUS."

The handsome boy woke with a fright, bolting upright and breathing heavily. His eyes fell on the stern face of his father at the foot of his bed immediately, and his hand flailed around at his side in an attempt to wake Ellie up. She grumbled inaudible words and rolled over, fumbling for wherever the duvet had gone, still engulfed in a mass of chocolate waves. Orion didn't say anything for a moment, staring severely at his son, and Sirius just stared back as his mouth went dry. He knew he'd have hell to pay for being found sleeping with Ellie by his side, but that wasn't what he was worried about. Instead, he panicked for whatever they might do to her.

"What is the meaning of this?" Orion eventually spoke, though Sirius was no more ready to form words.

"We- She- Cubby was cold, it's so cold up in that room, and she woke up... And, um, it was the middle of the night... It stays warm in here." Shutting his eyes tight to try and set his mind straight, Sirius stumbled over his words in his still slightly sleepy state.

"Stop calling her that childish name." Orion snapped, "Your mother made it clear you weren't to share a room, did she not?"

"No, yeah, she said that-"

"Then why is Persephone asleep in your bed?" Sirius' face screwed up in confusion.

"I just said... She woke up cold, there was nothing we could've done at midnight, I let her sleep in here so she didn't freeze."

"That's not an excuse."

Eyes flicking to Ellie still asleep and then back to his son, Orion was beginning to get angrier about the situation. It didn't matter that he may have thought they looked like they'd been sleeping peacefully, the pair had been disrespectful, and he didn't dare think about what could've happened.