A Magical Carol (Harry Potter/Christmas Carol)

Ghost of Christmas Future

There lingered in the back of his head, the feeling of dread regarding the impending dread of hearing his youngest bring up Horcrux. At the same time, he stood there, unable to do anything as there was the unfortunate consequence of not being able to interfere with the Christmas of now, yet as the horror sunk in, a horror befell his sight.

Orion watched as the Ghost of Christmas Present started morphing, started contorting, his visage being burned away for the representation of death that was the Ghost of Christmas Future. While Orion himself was prepared for such a sight, it was still quite the site to behold, an utter nightmare on top of the already existing one. And as the Ghost of Christmas Present morphed into the Ghost of Christmas Future, he saw the blue pixie-like creatures turn into fire imps.

When the site in front of him finished, Orion took a deep breath. "So. You're not going to talk. That much I know from the books." He glanced around. "Do point in the direction you want me to go. A graveyard somewhere, to let me know who has passed on?"

Except, he found himself at Grimmauld place—a place which was now a shadow of its former glory, with the wallpaper peeling and—

Orion stared at the curtain in the front hallway, wondering when that addition occurred, let alone what was behind the curtain when a black dog came hurtling through. The curtain opened to reveal a portrait of his wife as she yelled at the dog, telling it—Sirius—just how much of a bane to his existence he was, let alone how she thought of him illegally becoming an Animagus. The latter didn 't surprise him, given Sirius' penchant for breaking the rules, but his eldest being back at the family home, let alone the portrait of his wife, caught him off guard.

The Ghost of Christmas Future pointed up the stairs with his bony finger. He followed Sirius up the stairs, taking in the level of disrepair Grimmauld was in, before he arrived in time to see Sirius telling Kreacher off; how Kreacher didn't hesitate to rub it in that he held much disdain for the master he served, for how he'd broken Walburga's heart as Sirius worked on tearing the place apart. And there was also a boy who looked like Sirius' friend with the girl's eyes, standing there, his parents nary in sight despite Sirius being right there. The red-haired children and a set of twins meant they were Molly Weasley née Prewett, meaning everyone was Ignatius Prewett's kin—the ones Walburga would never have allowed in if she were alive.

The brown-haired girl—she was Muggleborn, reminding him of the girl he'd seen Regulus with when the Ghost of Christmas Present showed him what Regulus was up to, though he brushed it aside as there were many brown-haired, brown-eyed girls out there, meaning this Hermione had no consequence to him beyond the fact Kreacher had stooped to calling her a Mudblood. He was far more concerned that Regulus hadn't inherited the place than his brother, which spoke volumes given the disdain and Kreacher's words.

And then Sirius talked of the family as he stood in front of the tapestry as he spoke with the Potter boy, revealed by what Sirius said regarding when he ran away and how Sirius identified the place as that of the boy's dad, which made him wonder even more what had happened to Sirius' friend.

Orion heard his eldest's disdain over the idea of being practically royal, reminding him that Sirius never learned the actual family bloodlines to be accurate. Yet, the way he said it made him feel in that moment it wasn't about the blood status but holding oneself above others, which in turn felt strange given how many times they'd discussed the same thing with Regulus, about not their youngest, not holding his superior intelligence over other people, which meant they missed the mark in specific ways. Many ways, probably.

He also heard the pain in Sirius' voice as he talked about Regulus, knowing full well Sirius was talking about how overly trusting Regulus could be of people, which in turn resulted in the boy joining up—that. Bella knew and took advantage of it. And Sirius revealed how Regulus had run, although something in the back of Orion's mind made him think Regulus had died trying to do something about the Horcrux, which in turn—there was the death year, next year, for both Regulus and him, feeling like a confirmation, yet, "I'm not surprised. That Regulus dying is going to kill me. And that left Walburga alone, I see."