The World and Her Stars: One Shots

More about August Black

Some tidbits about August. Pre, during, and post-war. 

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#1: Origins

August was the result of a one-night stand.

His mother was a muggle born witch named Annie, and she was on holiday with a few friends on the Amalfi coast of Italy when she caught the eye of a handsome wizard that labeled himself as a "world traveler", which is, of course, Sirius Black. The two of them got into a whole mess of trouble that night, and Annie loved how mischievous and free spirited that Sirius was. Sirius loved how Annie never hesitated, and how she welcomed trouble with open arms. It wasn't love at first sight, but the witch and wizard greatly admired one another.

It wasn't until a few months later that Annie discovered she was pregnant, and she immediately wrote to Sirius. Due to Sirius's family and their ties to the Dark Lord, he wanted to do everything he could to protect Annie and his son, and to prevent their existence from ever being known to those that would ultimately try to hurt them.

Every month, he sent money to Annie, making sure to support her in every way that he could without putting her in danger. They wrote back and forth, and she even sent pictures of their son to Sirius when he was born. For the safety of August, Sirius asked that the boy not know who his father is until Annie's dying breath, because he feared that not even his young son's mind was safe.

When Sirius was sent to prison, he made sure to only tell one other person about the existence of his son, and that was his cousin, Andromeda Tonks. He knew that her disownment from the Black family would protect her from interrogation, and she vowed to continue to help and support Annie and August when Sirius could not.

August was raised thinking his father had died when he was a baby. He attended Hogwarts, was sorted into Gryffindor, and went about his life, completely unaware that he was related to some of the wicked people he was learning about in history class.

A year before the start of the second wizarding war, Annie succumbed to a muggle cancer that ran in her family. It was aggressive and fast-spreading, making it so that magic could do nothing but make her comfortable in her last moments. August was given all of his mother's possessions, including a letter from her, written to him, with instructions to read immediately after her passing. In this letter, he learned the truth about his father, and the reasoning as to why his identity had to be kept a secret for so long. At the end of the letter was an address that he was told to send a letter to that just held the phrase, "I know.".

Two days later, August received a letter back from none other than Andromeda with coordinates, a date, and a time. Due to Sirius's "rouge prisoner" status, Andromeda had to make their meeting place as hidden and discreet as possible. August apparated to the most tropical island he had ever seen on the exact date and at the exact time. And a father met his son for the first time.

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#2: His Introduction to the War

Now to make things incredibly morbid—August witnessed Sirius's death.

He was at the Burrow with his father, Arthur and Molly Weasley, Remus Lupin, Tonks, and a few others. Sirius didn't like for August to be in the middle of the war happenings because of the target that it put on August's back. Voldemort and his followers had no idea of August's paternity, and Sirius wanted to keep it that way. He didn't want to put his son in danger, and he didn't want to give the death eaters any leverage to use against him.

But August—surprise, surprise—was having none of it. He wanted to join The Order. He wanted to fight back. He wanted to help. He didn't want to just sit on the sidelines while everyone else died. He couldn't do anything to help his mother as she succumbed to illness, but he could do something to help his father.

They were all discussing this when the attack on the Burrow began. It didn't take August very long to figure out that his father had something that Voldemort wanted, and the death eaters were there to collect.

Remus and Sirius went out the back, and August joined Tonks and a few others in the front. Immediately he was thrown into battle with a masked figure. The two shot curses and hexes back and forth at one another, using shield to deflect and protect themselves. It wasn't until a loud scream—a woman's scream—pierced the air, that made him and the death eater stop what they were doing. The death eater shouted a name—Rose—and another masked figure a few yards away from where they were standing—Blaise— called the name of the person that August was battling only seconds before.

Draco Malfoy. August knew of him only because of his father, and he wasn't surprised that he was now following in his footsteps.

Tonks shot a hex Draco's way, which he blocked, giving August time to go around back to help his father and Remus. He rounded the corner of the house just in time to see his father throw something down to the witch that scrambled on the ground in front of him. Bloodied, shaking, and terrified. He assumed the scream from before was hers. Before August could even question his father's motives, he saw another cloaked figure emerge from the shadows being cast by the house, despite the flames that spilled out from every window. August didn't even have time to raise his wand before it was too late.

Snap. Thud. 

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#3: Falling for his Witch

It was on their third date that August told Pansy about how he had kissed Rose in the bunker.

He was walking her back to her flat (where Pansy had never even let a man near before) after a date when he brought it up. He didn't want her to find out any other way but from him, and he wanted to tell her sooner, but he was so worried about how she would react.

He knew from their first date together, one they planned behind everyone's backs, that Pansy Parkinson was the witch he wanted.

But he wanted her honestly. With no secrets or anything that could possibly make her feel uncomfortable. He owed it to her to be honest.

But Pansy wasn't upset like he thought she would be. She was surprised. Not that he had kissed Rose, because after telling her the long reason why, Pansy completely understood. She was just surprised that August told her at all. He was surprised that she expected anything less than honesty from him.

It was on their third date when August kissed Pansy for the first time.

And it was on their third date that Pansy invited a man into her flat for the first time, and woke up next to him the following morning.