Chapter Text
The car was suffocating.
The silence deafening.
Sirius didn’t understand why they were driving, they could have flown, and not have to drown in the discomfort, not have to mentally die at every bubbly word that his father’s newest showpiece tried engage the three Blacks with.
needless to say she was failing.
“so, Sirius, aren’t you exited to go to an American high school?” Madeline asked, she was sitting half on his father’s lap, while Orion smoked a cigar and read a newspaper.
It was revolting, Madeline was only six years older than Sirius, he was in kindergarten when she was starting sixth grade. An absolutely horrifying thought.
“I suppose,” Sirius muttered, picking at his cufflinks.
“isn’t it a bit unpractical to drive three hours in a limousine?” Sirius’ younger sister, regina, asked, looking out her window, away from her book.
“its more comfortable,” their father commented, without looking away from his paper.
“but its not _practical_ father,” regina insisted, frowning, she added, “or that safe, really, we’re on a highway, people won’t be accustomed to a car like this-”
“The driver aint worried, Gina,” Sirius pointed out.
“Grammar,” Orion reminded, blankly.
Sirius didn’t respond, instead studying the inside of the car for the hundredth time over the drive. It was mostly black, a mini bar off to the side, stocked with soda, alcohol, and fruit.
“will our school have uniforms?” Sirius asked, fed up with the silence that was compressing in on him.
“probably not,” Madeline responded, twisting her tennis bracelet on her wrist. She seemed just as anxious in the tight space, though she had it slightly worse, with Orion’s arm around her she couldn’t have any personal space. “but there will be gym uniforms, so be prepared for that.”
Madeline was good looking, though it pained Sirius to admit.
She was blonde, shorter than Sirius, but taller than regina. Always perpetually wearing tight fitting clothes, frankly, too low cut to wear where a fourteen year old was allowed to be.
But she wasn’t particularly interesting.
Sirius hadn’t yet held a decent conversation with her, it didn’t seem that she could, not around Orion, at the very least.
She was materially motivated, cash, jewelry, clothes, cars, you name it. if it was expensive, she wanted it. though it didn’t really do any damage to the black family fortune.
Honestly. If his father was going to marry some sugar baby who was half his age, he could have at least had the courtesy to find one who was willing to kill him for his money. If that had been the case, Sirius and Madeline would have gotten alone swimmingly.
The car eventually came to a stop, after another half hour of driving down the backwater highway. Both Sirius and regina perked up, the possibility of them having stopped at a gas station to get teeth rotting candy and liver failure inducing crisps enough to snap them out of their lethargy.
But alas, they were quickly disappointed to see a rickety town sign, and trees as far as one could see. Only the slightest hint of human civilization in the distance.
“why have we stopped?” regina asked, a slight frown pulling her freckles in an odd way. Sirius would have normally found humor in his little sisters ugly frown, but he couldn’t bring himself to find any joy in it now.
“id like us to take a family picture with the town sign,” Madaline explained, producing a fancy looking camera, waiting for Orion, who had already stood up out of the comfort of the car and onto the rocky uneven ground, to give his hand and help her out of the limousine.
Sirius and regina made brief eye contact, sharing a mutual look of 'Jesus Christ why is she making us moving into an Instagram post.'
Regina didn’t particularly want to walk on the gravel, she was wearing heels that Madiline had begged her to wear, wanting to ‘match’, though she wouldn’t have normally conceded, she felt slightly bad for the poor woman, whom Orion had taken free will away from.
While Sirius just didn’t like how his father was bending over backwards, or, what to him was bending over backwards, to a normal person it would have just been leaning slightly backwards, to please his new arm candy.
“come on,” Orion spoke in a firm tone, silently warning repercussion if the two children didn’t comply.
Sirius sighed inwardly, clambering out of the car, and letting regina hold herself steady on his shoulder while she tried to get a decent place to step.
“its too hot,” Sirius complained, reaching up to loosen his shirt collar.
“its awful here,” regina agreed quietly, tripping over a rock and grabbing Sirius’ hair keep herself up.
“ow,” Sirius grunted out, gritting his teeth as his hair was grabbed and his head was sharply pulled forward, “that wasn’t necessary, ‘Gina.”
Madiline had started taking pictures with her camera, pictures of everything, from the trees to the ground beneath her.
“come on boys, get in here for a photo,” Madiline looked back at Sirius and regina, “and girl, sorry, regina.”
Sirius noticed a slight, barely noticeable smile curl onto Regina’s face, probably amused from Madiline’s mistake, “its fine,” she said, in a slightly happier voice than she had previously spoke in.
After fifteen excruciating minutes of non-stop photos and smiling, as well as a grumbled apology from Sirius when he stepped on Madiline foot. Sirius and regina finally were allowed to get back into the car, regina sat opposite to him, grabbing a Pepsi out of the mini bar.
Meanwhile, both Sirius and regina tried very, very hard to ignore the fact that their father was pinning Madiline to the side of the car and making out with her.
It was very uncomfortable to see her back against the window, shifting around and pushing onion’s arm slightly back, though her efforts were over powered by the older man.
Regina looked very intently at her drink, while Sirius untied and re-tied his tie a couple times.
It wasn’t enjoyable to be away from their mother.
Not that she was much better, but it was just slightly better to be around her, their father mostly ignored them, but when he paid attention, he was much stricter, and much more likely to hit Sirius upside the head for a lopsided collar, while Walburga simply screamed at them for clothing discrepancies, only hitting them for behavioral problems.
Orion opened his paper again as he sat in the seat next to Sirius, crossing a leg over his other, he tapped on the divider to tell the chauffeur to begin driving.
He lit a cigar as the car started moving, filling the cab with putrid, choking smoke.
“we’re almost there,” madiline, who was sitting next to regina, announced in a slightly strained, but cheery tone.
No one spoke.
Sirius almost, almost felt bad. Madiline was much to bright a person to be married to what was essentially a brick with a wallet. But he supposed she was getting something out of it, at least.
“I’ll have to go back to London for a meeting in a few days, Tom and Wendy will watch over you while we are away,” Orion spoke, tapping out his cigar in an ash tray. His voice, as always, was monotone and apathetic, though left no room for question nor resistance.
“yes, father,” regina and Sirius spoke in unison, years of getting scolded when they spoke out of turn had trained them to speak at the same time, less time taken by their words, and more opportunity for the other, or who ever was less likely to be hurt badly that day, to take the blame for speaking.
Madiline opened a magazine, regina opened a book, and Sirius opened his window.
Watching every exhale of his fathers breath, tainted by grey brown smoke that made Sirius’ throat hurt, glide out the open widow, curling out into the open sky. Strings of thick, sickening death.
Sirius swore to himself silently, for the seventh time that day, that he would never touch a cigar or cigarette in his life, much less light one.
But those promises drifted from his mind with the smoke from his lungs.