Chapter Text
Prince Sirius Orion Black sat in the castle’s foyer, mentally pleading for his dreadful parents to leave him the hell alone. He never sat in the foyer and usually was hidden away in his bedroom so he knew his parents wouldn’t find him swiftly, though he wished they wouldn’t find him at all.
Earlier that morning he’d been informed that they’d found his bride to be and the next day they’d have a dinner party to discuss the arrangements. Unfortunately for Sirius, he was not very keen on the idea of marriage, especially to a woman and even more especially to his cousin of all people. The point of the marriage was to contribute toward his eventual reign as king which he frankly didn’t want either so really, the whole union was absurd. It was a shame that Sirius was unlucky enough to be born before his younger and much more refined brother Regulus, who was surely a better candidate for the royal title.
“Sirius?” Regulus asked, peering into the room. “Why are you down here?”
“Hiding from mother and father,” Sirius sighed.
“Are you nervous about the dinner party, then?”
Sirius sighed, leaning his head back against the cold stone wall behind him. “Nervous isn’t quite the word I’d use, but yes, I suppose I am.”
“You don’t want to marry her?”
“She’s our cousin, Regulus.”
“Well, if you must marry one of them, surely Narcissa is better than Bellatrix,” Regulus laughed. In addition to Narcissa and Bellatrix, the two brothers once had another cousin by the name of Andromeda who was disowned for falling in love with a peasant boy and running away with him. Sirius missed her dearly and her bravery inspired him secretly. He hoped one day he’d have the courage to do something so drastic for his own happiness.
“You've got a point there,” Sirius replied. “Regulus?”
“Yes?”
“I don’t think I want to get married at all. Is that strange?”
Regulus looked at him, puzzled. “Not even if mother and father let you choose someone you loved?”
“They wouldn’t approve of anyone I’d choose, I’m afraid.”
“Do you already love someone else?” Regulus asked. “Is it Mary? They don’t even approve of us talking to her because of her status.”
“No, Regulus it’s not Mary,” Sirius said. “She’s like my sister. That’d be like marrying you.”
“Well, if you don’t love her, then what do you mean?”
“Have you ever heard of pirates, Regulus?” Sirius asked, not answering his brother’s question.
“Yes, of course.”
“Pirates often don’t get married and instead find love on the sea, with one another.”
“Oh,” Regulus said, fairly unfazed. “So, you wish to run away and become a pirate then?”
“Well no, not necessarily,” Sirius replied, “but I do want to love like one.”
Regulus' eyes widened, finally understanding. “I see.”
“You won’t tell them, will you?” Sirius asked nervously, glancing toward the grand stairs that led to their parents’ bedroom.
“I won’t tell a soul,” Regulus promised.
“Thank you.”
“Even though you don’t want to be king, you really would make an excellent one, brother. I hope you know that.”
“Well if you believe in me enough for the two of us then maybe everything will work out,” Sirius breathed. “Mother and father surely favor you for king. I do as well.”
“Sirius, your birthright is to rise to the throne,” Regulus argued. “You deserve it.”
“Just because I was born before you doesn’t mean I’ve earned the title as heir,” Sirius replied. “I think we should speak with mother and father about you being king instead of me.”
“Sirius-”
“-Reg, please,” he interrupted. “Just consider it. I beg you.”
“I will,” Regulus replied. “Only as long as you consider that you deserve the throne as well. You don’t need a queen to be a king.”
“That’s not what they think,” Sirius said, suddenly misty-eyed. It frustrated him immensely that he was stuck living a lie, trapped behind his royal facade of heterosexuality and fabricated elegance. “I don’t think I can ever be happy here.”
“Oh, Sirius,” Regulus replied, moving to wrap his hands around his brother as a tear rolled down his face. “You’ll be alright. We’ll figure something out.”
“Promise?” Sirius asked his younger brother, wiping at his cheeks with his hands.
“I promise.”
“Sirius!” Walburga’s voice echoed sharply throughout the air. Sirius flinched and Regulus backed away from him, hands behind his back with his head held high. “What on Earth are you doing? Why are your eyes so red?”
Sirius opened his mouth and stared at her silently, unsure of what to say.
“We were discussing dinner tomorrow,” Regulus chimed in. “Sirius is quite excited you see, he was crying tears of joy!” He seemed to sway back and forth anxiously. Walburga scowled. That had not been the right thing to say.
“Has he?” Walburga asked. “Come to the dungeons, Sirius. We clearly need to work on your manners before dinner tomorrow.”
Sirius stood up from his chair and cleared his throat, rubbing his hands together anxiously in front of him. “Mother, I don't want to marry her. I don’t know why you’re so set on this but I don’t need a queen in order to be king-”
“-Did I say you could speak?” She snarled, reaching forward to grab his wrist harshly. “Regulus, go speak to your father in his study. He would like to discuss scheduling another session with the artist. We’ll need a more mature portrait of you if your brother ruins everything tomorrow and you’re to be king.”
Regulus glanced at Sirius. He wanted to say something, anything to help, but Sirius shook his head. There was nothing either of them could say. “Yes mother,” Regulus replied and walked with careful footsteps down the hallway to where his father was waiting for him.
Without a word, Walburga dragged Sirius down the stairs to the dungeons. The air was cold and dusty but Sirius was so used to it by now that he hardly coughed. He tried the whole way there to free himself from his mother's grasp but her grip was too strong for him to budge.
“Mother, would you stop this, please? You’re insane for thinking I’ll actually go through with this marriage. You’re wasting your time-”
“-The more you keep talking the worse it will be for you,” Walburga spat.
“I know I just don’t understand why you care so much! Clearly, you don’t care about me so why does it matter who I marry?”
Walburga stopped where she stood and turned around quickly, staring into Sirius’ eyes with her cold, dark gaze. “You’re right, I don’t care about you. I care about our reputation,” she said. “No one will take us or our kingdom seriously if they know what a repulsive, annoying, worthless little pest you are. At least if you marry your queen will be likable. Plus you need an heir and you can’t exactly make one yourself, can you?”
“I’m only annoying and worthless because you raised me. You made me what I am.”
“-How dare you insinuate that who you are is my fault!” Walburga let go of his wrist to shove him against the wall. His wrist was practically purple and his hand felt numb. There would definitely be a bruise there within the hour.
“Well it is, is it not?” Sirius replied sourly. “I had to have learned it from somewhere.”
Walburga reeled back and slapped him harshly in the face. Tears flooded Sirius’ eyes from the sharp pain, but he did not let them fall. “If you’re not going to learn to shut up…” she started, “-then I will make you.”
Walburga grabbed Sirius’ wrist again and he cried out, forced into their usual room in the dungeons. Sirius’ punishments in this room were a common occurrence and had been ever since he was young. As he’d gotten older he tried to put up more of a fight, speaking up and lashing out against his mother’s wishes. Unfortunately, this only ever made things worse.
He was thrown down onto the floor on his knees and moved to take his shirt off but Walburga stopped him. “We’re not doing that today,” she said. “It’s never worked before so we’re going to try something different. She stood up and opened a cabinet next to the one where she kept her knives, the ones specifically used for Sirius’ punishments. There was a box inside that Sirius had only seen one other time before many years ago.
He swallowed nervously, regretting his words earlier. It had been stupid to try and stand up to her, he always did this and it always made things worse. If only he were more like Regulus, then maybe he wouldn’t deserve the pain his mother put him through.
Walburga took Sirius’ face in her hand harshly, squeezing his jaw with force. “Hold still,” she said with a wicked smile on her face and held up a needle laced with black thread. His eyes widened. She had only ever done this one other time and that was years ago when he was much younger.
Walburga began to weave the needle through Sirius’ lips using a few holes to sew his lips together. Sirius tried grasping at her hands and pushing her away and every time he did she would sew more harshly and yell, his chest heaving and tears rolling down his face.
“If you don’t stop moving I’m going to cuff you. Is that what you want?” Sirius just sobbed in response and shook his head rapidly. She reached onto the table to grab the handcuffs anyway. Sirius knew it was hopeless to struggle against her so he just sat on the floor and cried as she locked the metal cuffs around his hands, chaining him to the floor.
“Stupid, stupid boy,” she laughed. “You should be thanking me for the arranged marriage. Without it, I doubt anyone would ever choose to marry you anyway.” Sirius swallowed roughly and felt his chest tightening. He could hardly breathe. “What? No snide remark?” Sirius avoided eye contact as sobs wracked his body. He hadn’t felt this hopeless and humiliated in a while.
When the torture was over Walburga shoved Sirius to the floor and stood up, brushing off the skirt of her dress with her hands. “I wish you didn’t bleed so much. It’d make these sessions much more enjoyable for me.” Sirius said nothing. “Now I don’t want those to scar so I’ll allow you to remove the stitches yourself tonight after dinner. That should give them enough time to heal before the dinner party next week, yes?”
Sirius tried his best not to move or make a sound, but he couldn’t help the strangled sounds that escaped him. “I’ll have someone fetch you when dinner is ready,” Walburga said as she stood up and gathered her things. She grabbed her keys and left the cell, locking Sirius inside. She even went as far as to shut the curtains in the dungeon before she went up the stairs, leaving Sirius on the cold dirty floor in the darkness.
The prince continued to wail and shiver and gasp in agony for the next several hours until he had so much trouble breathing that he lost consciousness somewhere along the way. He was woken up by one of their servants and helped to stand on his wobbly legs. The light of the castle hurt his straining eyes and he left them closed most of the way there, knowing the path from the dungeons to the dining room by heart.
When he arrived at the dinner table Regulus gasped when he saw Sirius, shaking and blood running from his lips down his throat. “Mother-”
“-Silence Regulus,” Walburga interrupted. “Talking out of line is what your brother did to put himself into this situation in the first place. Don’t make me punish you just the same.”
Sirius gave his brother a hard stare and Regulus stayed silent. He knew better than to follow in his brother’s footsteps. The dinner was spent uncomfortably quiet without Sirius’ quips and random anecdotes. Regulus hated it.
“He ought to be like this more often Walburga,” Orion commented, gesturing to Sirius with his knife. “We can finally have a peaceful dinner for once.”
Sirius looked away, fiddling with his hands under the table to give himself something to do. He couldn’t eat anything with his mouth sewn shut, he just sat there in shame, his heart heavy and his stomach churning.