The One That Got Away| Sirius Black

028| New Wounds

July 7, 1975

Sirius finally got the courage to bring up the Wright family at dinner. He had been slowly showing curiosity about what his parents discussed. It felt right to ask about Isabella without them getting suspicious. It was also a good way to get Isabella to come over again. Not that seeing Isabella was Sirius's only motivation, but he did miss her. It was strange for Sirius to have a friend like Isabella. She used to despise him and he loved to mess with her. While that may still be true for him, Isabella had definitely come around to being friends with Sirius.

"Don't forget we have that dinner party for Bellatrix and Rudolphus tomorrow night," Walburga says after a few moments of silence. They sat around the dinner table again. Sirius was picking at his food since he was feeling too nervous to eat.

"Is it family only?" Sirius pries. His mother looks up at this, her eyes narrowing slightly as she tries to discover what he's up to. It was rare that Sirius spoke to them without making a sarcastic remark.

"Family and friends," Walburga responds simply. "Why do you care?"

"I just want to see who I'm going to be spending my night with," Sirius shrugs stabbing his fork into a baked potato. He locks eyes with Regulus who was directly across from him at the table. Sirius raises an eyebrow innocently, but Regulus could tell his brother was up to something.

"I don't think anyone you're particularly fond of will be there," Regulus says, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Walburga asks looking between her two sons. Sirius and Regulus were staring at each other, silently challenging the other to say what they really meant. The tension was unusually high. Regulus and Sirius could usually agree to disagree, after all, they were all each other had. Today, however, neither one of them seemed to want to back down.

"It means Sirius doesn't hang around this crowd, him being a Gryffindor and all," Regulus says simply. Sirius can tell this wasn't what he truly wanted to say. It would still set their parents off though, so Sirius was confused why Regulus would bring it up. Sirius can feel himself getting angrier.

"Do you either though? I usually just see you with Barty, tell me, have you replaced Isabella?" Sirius feigns curiosity, leaning forward in his seat. Regulus's jaw clenches.

"What does he mean?" Walburga asks a mix of anxiety and anger in her voice as her sons fight without revealing much information. "Regulus are you still courting that girl? The Wrights are as trashy as they come but you will not be marrying a man... regardless of their social standing!"

"Yes," Regulus says quietly. "I am still courting her."

"Good," Walburga says lounging back in her seat and pursing her lips. "Though, we may have to look at different prospects for this year. I've been thinking you can do better since Otis and Diana brought it up. I fear they're just going to keep falling down the social ladder anyway."

"Why would you say that?" Sirius asks a little too quickly.

His mother gives him the side eye. "I didn't know you had such a sudden interest in the Wright family," she says looking him up and down skeptically.

Sirius knew there was no way his family had discovered that Isabella visits. He had a silencing charm around his room and his bedroom window was the only one on the side of the house that she came in from. They would only be able to see if they came in his room or were outside, but those were both unlikely. Sirius wouldn't give them any information though. "I'm a gossip I suppose," he shrugs.

"Well that's not a good look for you," Walburga snaps. "Those Wrights will play dirty. They've been wanting a spot in the inner circle for the longest time. They think they can buy their way up, they use their children for it. It's disgusting, really."