Chapter Text
Toujours Pur.
It's all for our family's sake.
Blacks don't cry, Orion. We are above all others, so we cannot have weaknesses.
You'll be a great lord one day. Even better than Arcturus.
We do this because we love you, you know that, right?
Orion stretched his arms out in front of him, looking at the streaks of scars. They stood out clearly on the pale skin, even in the dark. He could have removed the scars with magic, but for some reason he didn't. Why, he wondered. He was not proud or disgusted by these scars. He had no reason to do that. There were many things he had no reason to do.
Great men became great because they aspired to it. Their ambition surpassed their fears.
His father often talked about ambition and motivation. Arcturus Black preferred to interact with people who had some clear goals in life. Was that the reason why Orion looked at him and knew he wouldn't become like him?
Arcturus was Lord of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. According to tradition, the title passed to the eldest male heir of the family. That is, Orion was supposed to be the next Lord. He was taught manners and politics before he even entered Hogwarts. He sat in a dark room without windows to learn how to control his magic alone and without anyone else's help. His arms and his back were scarred from the spells that had taught him to endure pain. All for the sake of becoming a perfect Lord, clever and strong. He wanted to be like his father because Arcturus had been one of the strongest wizards in their family for several generations.
But Arcturus... He taught Orion what he should know, but he did not call him his successor. Orion once thought he would be his replacement. At some point he realized that wasn't going to happen. He didn't know how he was so sure of that, because the pureblood wizards around him kept talking about him becoming Lord. Was it because Arcturus despised people without goals or ambition? Orion had no ambition simply because he didn't have any choice. He was Arcturus' only son, he couldn't be anything else but Lord. Orion's whole life is about learning how to be Lord, how to be a replacement for Arcturus. Of course, Orion was smart and strong and attractive. But he didn't have any ambitions, desires, or interests.
Clearly, I'm not good enough.
Orion dropped his hands on the bed and stared at the ceiling. The thought did not make him feel offended or irritated. If he doesn't get the title, his responsibilities won't change. Since he learned new languages with ease, he was going to work in the Department of International Magical Co-operation. He was supposed to increase the influence of the Black family and make sure that his relatives did not get into trouble.
This is probably what Arcturus called a lack of ambition.
He thought for a second about when he started calling his father by his name. But that thought quickly faded away. After all, he couldn't even remember his mother's face unless he had her portrait in front of him.
If I don't become Lord, then Arcturus remains Lord. The next Lord should be my son in that case. If I have no son, the title will go to Lucretia's son. After her come Alphard, Cygnus, their children and Walburga's children.
The real problem would be if neither of them had a son. There are only two possibilities: either Arcturus will live to the moment when one of their daughters will have a son or Arcturus will die and the title will go to a man from a related family. The second scenario is the most problematic. No pureblood family would want to be deprived of such an inheritance.
Orion sighed, wondering why he even thought that far ahead. He had to think about the present. He was always practical and indifferent and always lived in the present, not thinking about what would happen next or what could be if he made a different decision. He knew the answer, though. The answer that caused him to have to find an old book that even some members of the Black family didn't know about.
This book contained information about all the abilities and gifts of members of the Black family over the past few centuries. Excellent memory, ability to learn languages, parseltongue, occlumency, legilimency, animagus, metamorphmagus, divination, pyrokinesis and things like that, it even contained information about the character of the listed wizards. This book helped keep track of the abilities appearing in the family and the character of the Blacks in order to help master the gift or to determine if someone who did not fit in with their behavior appeared in the family.
Although his good memory and language ability were hereditary, Orion found no mention in the book of a character similar to his. Was he really the only Black so indifferent to everything around him? That wasn't the reason he found the book, though. The reason was the strange dreams and visions he had begun to have not so long ago.
An inner sense could explain how he knew who was going to enter the room or what the person was going to say, but not how he saw the falling glass because of a careless movement before the glass fell. There was no explanation as to why he had seen and heard conversations between aurors from different countries in the Ministry of Magic recently, when said aurors were not there and also were dressed in things that did not belong to this age.
The divination? It comes in many forms. But he was no seer. For Merlin's sake, he couldn't even make out what the coffee grounds pictured, let alone speak the prophecy. His visions were always clear. It was as if he was watching the events that were happening right in front of him. Besides, the seers saw the future. That is, in addition to being the only Black in the last centuries resembling a block of ice with no ambition, he also possessed some broken ability to see what had already happened?
Orion covered his face with a pillow, sighing again. He wasn't going to tell anyone about it just yet, since this ability wasn't a problem. Some of the visions were even interesting.
The auror who walked down the corridor of the Ministry of Magic was gorgeous. He was tall, with a straight posture, gray in his black hair, and his eyes had a pleasant brown hue that resembled honey or cognac when viewed up close. There were two moles under the corner of his left eye and a calm expression on his face. Anyone could tell at a glance that it was someone important.
Orion wasn't usually interested in someone's appearance, but this man really was gorgeous. Especially his eyes. So calm and alive at the same time. It was one of two visions that captured Orion. He was sure he could find out about this man, but there was a problem with the second vision.
-Don't pretend you don't care, Regulus. You're always on the Blacks' side, even though you know where this is going!
-Why should I worry about pureblood wizards finally getting what they deserve? I don't understand why you're so against it or why you're so eager to be like a muggle!
The man from the first vision was obviously from the Ministry of Magic, an auror or the head of some department. Orion saw the two young men in the second vision for the first time, though they had Black's features. But the younger of the two also had almost white eyes, just like Arcturus.
Who is this Regulus?