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They stood on the porch, hand in hand, looking up at the daunting townhouse squeezed precariously into the space between numbers 12 and 14 Grimmauld Place. Remus tightened his grip for a moment, then relaxed and took a deep breath, shooting his boyfriend a tight grin. Said boyfriend, for his part, found himself unable to smile back.
This was it.
Nothing was more nerve wracking than this, Sirius decided, purposefully ignoring all the different times in his life he’d experienced fear on this level, and that the outcome of today really wasn’t going to impact his life much. Aside from maybe his relationship with Reggie, he supposed, though even that was much less uncertain than it would have been just months prior. Before he’d found Regulus kissing a boy behind the bleachers when he came to pick his brother up from practice.
Yeah, that helped ease his mind greatly on the topic of “Is Reggie Homophobic”.
Remus turned to look at him, and Sirius nodded once, inhaling shakily, before he knocked on the door with a firm hand. A soft thud echoed from inside, followed by footsteps that paused for a moment before the door creaked open to reveal a sour-looking woman in her mid-forties, lips pursed as she (Figuratively, of course, Sirius wasn’t that short!) looked down on the two men on her doorstep. “Mother, a pleasure to see you again,” he lied.
“Sirius. Your father and I are just ever so joyous that you agreed to come tonight, to celebrate your brother reaching his majority.” The woman deadpanned, then raised a brow at how shabbily dressed her son’s companion was. “You invited a guest.” She managed to turn the question into both a statement and an accusation, and Sirius steeled himself against the scorn in her silver gaze.
“Ah, yes.” He fumbled over the words momentarily, then nodded to himself before continuing, “Mother, I would like you to meet Remus Lupin. I met him at university, and wished to bring him along to see the family. We, ah. We have news to share, as well. Remus,” He turned to the man standing beside him, eyes softening, “this is my mother, Walburga.”
Walburga sniffed imperiously, then turned to lead them further into the house. “Well. At least you still remember some of the things we have worked so hard to teach you.”
Sirius flushed in embarrassed anger. He’d defaulted back to introducing her first, forgetting that in this house, everything was seen as purposeful. Two years away from them really had been helping him heal, along with the weekly therapy Remus had talked him into soon after they had started dating. “Yes, Mother. I definitely remember how you like to teach.”
They walked further into the house, before arriving at the impeccably presented dining room. Sirius glared at the stupid crystal chandelier, before noticing that Remus looked almost cowed by the splendour of the grand room. Trying to see it with fresh eyes, he supposed there was some merit in that. Dark blue walls, accented by richly carved walnut trim, reached up to meet a vaulted, painted wood-panelled ceiling that sported a large, intricate crystal chandelier. Two of the walls were taken up by arched entryways, while the others held tasteful, dark wooden shelves that were carefully decorated with various objects of beauty. The table in the centre of the room was long and solid, with gold leafing embedded in the grooves of the carved wood surface, and matched by ten bare, sturdy chairs. Dishes of fine china and crystal were laid out on the table, pre-portioned meals set for each of the four expected diners.
Sirius felt a brief flash of guilt for inviting Remus without warning, but pushed it away by reminding himself that he was allowed to make accommodations for his own safety, be that physical or emotional. In this case, Remus was his accommodation.
Each of them took a careful seat at the imposing table, Walburga staring at Remus with a gleam in her eye that very much reminded Sirius of the time she’d seen a mouse in her kitchen.
“Your father and brother shall be here shortly, Orion had to pick him up from practice today since the driver fell ill,” she complained, “I wanted him to just replace the idiot, but alas. He insisted that would be firing him without due cause, which I find ridiculous. He’s our driver, what good is he if he can’t drive?”
Remus tried for a sympathetic smile and asked, “What was he sick with?”
Walburga pursed her lips and paused, but answered anyway, “How should I know? Probably just a common cold or something ridiculous like that.”
“You wouldn’t want him getting us all sick, would you, Wally?” A deep, steady voice came from behind them as Orion stepped into the room. “Even a common cold can be so discomforting, I decided that it was not worth risking yourself, or Regulus and myself, getting ill from something so avoidable.”
“I’d hate to end up getting ill from a driver when I could just ask Father for assistance, Mother.” Sirius looked up in barely concealed joy at his younger brother as Regulus stepped into the room. “Hullo, Sirius. Sirius’s-'' He cut off abruptly, blinking at Remus.
Sirius turned wildly in his seat, looking at Remus, who sported the same bemused expression. “Rem?”
“Ah, hi, there.” Remus muttered with a cough, looking at Regulus intently. “I wasn’t aware you were Sirius’s… sibling.”
“I hadn’t realised that Sirius was the… friend you talked about so much.”
There was a brief, loaded pause, as no one seemed quite certain how to continue, then Sirius slowly held up a hand like he was in primary again. “Excuse me? Teachers? Could one of you explain what the fuck just happened?”
“Sirius!” Walburga screeched, making the other three Blacks flinch away. “Watch your fucking language!”
“Dear, you know it doesn’t work to correct them if you use the same-” Orion began to explain gently, but was cut off by her angry hiss. He gave the others a chagrined smile as he shrugged as if to say “What can I do?”
Walburga sneered at her husband’s interruption, then turned to Regulus. “Explain, boy.”
Sirius watched as Remus seemed to flinch, before peering suspiciously at Reggie. He saw Reg give Rem (And wasn’t that slightly annoying and something he should have thought of sooner… at least one of them was gonna need a different nickname) a firm look, and shake his head, as if saying ”Not here”.
“I met Remus at the, ah, the after school program I joined. He’s our… history tutor.” Sirius could tell Reg was at least slightly lying, but thankfully Walburga seemed appeased, if still a bit sceptical.
“Were you not staying late for ‘practice’?”
Regulus gave a soft, hesitant smile. “Yes, Mother,” he lied, “I joined the trivia team, it looks good on college applications. Remus has been assisting the class occasionally.”
“Remus helps with the trivia club? Huh. But, how did he not recognize-” Sirius was cut off abruptly by a sharp elbow to each side of his ribs. He wheezed softly and sent a betrayed look at both of them. “What?”
With a sigh, Regulus placed his gently trembling hands on the table and seemed to steel himself for something. “He didn’t recognize when you said my name because… Well.” He sent a quick glance to each of their parents, then turned back at Sirius, looking him directly in the eyes with a focus Sirius wasn’t used to. “I don’t go by ‘Regulus’ there.”
“What do you mean? You have a nickname?”
“Not quite.” He She inhaled again before letting the breath out slowly and confessed, “I’m not a boy, Sirius. My name’s Mirzam, and I’m, I’m trans.”
“You’re what?” This time it was Orion, in his deep, vicious rasp, that stood to hover menacingly over the table. “Now see here, I will not have any son of mine engaging in such godless, unnatural behaviour. I will not be a father to a queer.”
Sirius stood abruptly, banging into the table with his thighs and making the dishes clank together with the force of his movement. “Well!” He fumed, “If you’re not willing to have a queer child, you’ll be very disappointed that you have two. I’m gay, Father. Remus and I are dating, and I wanted to join the family for dinner on Re- on Mirzam’s birthday so I could announce our engagement.”
“Oh, congrats, Sirius.” Mirzam said in a tight voice, blinking her eyes as if trying not to cry. “I-”
“No. No no no! No!” Walburga grabbed her whiskey-filled glass from the table and threw it full force towards Sirius, who barely managed to duck out of the way. “You will not do this to me! I gave birth to two perfect, straight sons-”
“Stop.” Remus stood calmly, placing one hand on Sirius’s shoulder, and beckoning Mirzam to stand with the other. “How dare you?”
“How dare I? These are my kids! I deserve-”
“Nothing. You deserve nothing. You had one son and one daughter, ma’am, and they’re both amazing. Sirius is the most lighthearted, energetic, gorgeous and kind person I’ve ever met, and your daughter Mirzam is sweet, sharp, and willing to stick up for anyone, regardless of personal harm. Neither of them is straight, and you do not get to make them feel lesser for it. And on her birthday for fuck’s sake.” He looked at her like she had bird droppings dripping down her face. “Grow up.”
Orion stood there quietly through the exchange, then looked up from his clasped hands with a savage frown. “Get out of my house. All of you. You, Regulus, I expected better from, but I should have guessed that rotten brother of yours had corrupted you. Get out.”
None of them moved for a moment as Mirzam looked up at her parents with horrified tears in her eyes, before a furious Orion slammed a fist down on the table with a harsh bang. “Out! Out of my home, until you’re ready to admit this is all some, some fantasy you’re holding on to. You’re 18 now, you’re not my fucking business. Leave.”
Sirius reached around and took Mirzam’s hand gently, then tugged his sister out of the dining room and towards the door, not sparing another look for his parents’ actions. Remus sneered once, then turned sharply and followed the siblings out of the house.
“Oh my god. Oh my god, oh my god, oh no.” Mirzam clutched Sirius’s hand tightly enough he heard the bones creak, then shuddered. “What am I going to do?”
“You come stay with Rem and I, R- sis.” Sirius shrugged, then lit up with a grin. “Hey! I don’t have to change your nickname, now, Rem! I was worried they were too similar…” He trailed off as he realised his sister was looking up at him with quiet awe. “Hey, did you expect me to just leave you to flounder? Nah. I’ve been there myself.” He hugged her tightly to his chest and pressed a fierce kiss to the top of her head. “Though, I’m really curious how you actually met Rem? He hates trivia.”
“Oh, uh. I’ve been working part time for a few hours a day at Flourish and Bott’s with him.” Mirzam smirked. “I caught Father before his morning coffee and told him that I needed him to sign the form so that I could stay after for practice, and he didn’t even look up from the newspaper to sign it, so I was able to do it legally. Figured I wouldn’t be able to last long in that house anyway, so I was trying to save up some for after,” he paused, then went on in a thoughtful tone, “Though I never thought it’d be this soon.”
“Of course you did.” Remus laughed, then glanced up at the bus schedule posted next to the stop they needed. “Well, we’ve got some time before the next bus.” He pulled a mini chess set from his comically oversized cardigan pockets, then smiled. “Anyone fancy a game?”