minnow // sirius black

fourty-three

She vowed that no Death Eaters would attend the wake, but the funeral would be crawling with them. She wrote that the wake would be held in Grimmauld Place, after dusk.

She asked if we'd heard from Regulus.

Sirius seemed to take his father's death well, and while I knew he was at least slightly upset that he'd lost half of his family in one week, he was only truly hurt by Regulus' death. I did not ask if he was alright.

I also did not ask if he wanted to attend the wake, so when he asked if I did, I was surprised.

I told him, honestly, that it was his descision. I'd go if he wanted to, and I would not pry if he didn't want to.

He softly asked if it was normal that he did want to go, but was worried about whether she was lying. So, I offered to bring Dean with us. I offered not to bring Esme, and to glamour myself heavily.

Sirius softly agreed to half of those offers, but quietly said that he didn't think I'd need to glamour myself.

So, Sirius and I got up early, and wore black. We insisted on going, even when Dean asked us if we were insane. He was adamant about going, and so he walked with us as we went to drop Esme off with James and Lily.

We then apparated to Grimmauld Place, Sirius keeping a protective arm around my back as Dean stayed just in front of me. Sirius knocked three times as we stood outside the door.

Within a moment, the door swung open to reveal a black clad woman. I recognized her as Sirius' mother, through the small crack between Sirius and Dean's shoulders. I held my marbles in my hand, ready to throw them if I needed to. My left hand was gently tucked into my pocket, where my wand was tightly held. I had a wallet in my other pocket, but it was more for show than anything.

I wore a black romper, the top of which was loose. I wore heels, as usual, and the antler necklace. It was quite a simple outfit, which was fitting for a wake.

I could barely see Walburga's face, but I knew it was not one of happiness; maybe shock. She did not love her son as much as she should have. She likely could not even pretend to be happy to see Sirius.

He was not as shocked as I was that she invited him to the wake, even though he was disowned. Sirius explained that despite being outcasted, it was his father's wake, and in the Black family, the wake was usually held specifically for disowned relatives. He said that they were rarely happy, or sad, events, but they were held in respect.

Walburga said a short, and curt, hello to the boys, and stood aside as we entered. As soon as I stepped into the house, Sirius whispered a warning.

"Watch the troll foot."

I furrowed my eyebrows as I looked around, and sure enough, there was a troll foot being used as an umbrella stand. I inwardly rolled my eyes, because of course they had a troll's foot as an umbrella stand.

As Walburga shut the door behind me, I felt a chill run down my spine. I was in enemy territory, and I was on edge from the moment that I stepped through that door frame.

Sirius moved his arm from my back, instead gently grabbing my right fist in his right hand as he moved in front of me. Dean fell behind, now keeping a steady hand on my bicep, as Walburga walked beside us.

She did not speak, and as Walburga led us down the hallways that seemed to last forever, my heart began to thud. Sirius looked back at me with a small smile. I furrowed my eyebrows in concern, but smiled anyway. I felt Dean squeeze my arm, and I glanced at him. He looked at the wall to our right, were there was a display case of elf heads.