[Comprehensive HP colleagues] That year

Sirius curled up in the dark and silent room, feeling like his blood was going to freeze.He closed his eyes, forcing himself not to think about how dark the room was, and then involuntarily played back what happened a few days ago in his mind over and over again.

After meeting Snape, Walburga strengthened his control over Sirius, but this also couldn't stop Sirius from wanting to go out to play, although just to be on the safe side, Sirius made it a point to go out four or five times a month. The frequency has been reduced to once a month.

On the last day of August 1970, the continuous rain for several days finally came to an end, and the rare sunshine was bright. Sirius finally found a chance to come out again.I haven't seen him for a month, and Andy, like himself, has grown a lot taller.

In fact, Andy is two years older than Sirius, but the height of the two has always been similar. Andy once pretended to complain: "I am taller than my peers, but you are two years younger than me, and you have always been with me." I'm about average height, and that really pissed me off."

According to the usual practice, when two people meet, they don't say anything, and they play a game first.After a few 10 minutes, they were all sweating profusely, sitting on the grass and sharing what happened around them recently.

"There have been many happy events in my family during this time. I received the admission letter for the 'Youth NBA Training Camp' yesterday, and my sister's illness is also cured! Let me tell you, my sister has been in poor health since she was a child. Actually, that It's all about the magic. Of course, we didn't know the wizarding world existed before my sister's magic broke out, so even if my dad was a doctor, he didn't know how to cure my sister. After my sister's magic broke out, a wizard told us Introduced a wizard doctor, by the way, you call a doctor a healer. My sister has been going to St. Mungo's regularly for years, and just the other day, the doctor said that my sister is cured! My sister has been wanting to see See you, do you have..."

Andy couldn't finish his sentence, because at this moment, with a "crack", a woman appeared in front of them out of thin air.

Seeing that woman's face, Sirius froze!

That was Araminta Merifren, Sirius' mother's cousin.Sirius seldom saw her, but he had known her for a long time.Walburga had told him with great regret that Merry Fren had tried unsuccessfully to force through a Ministry of Magic statute legalizing the killing of Muggles.

"Run, Andy, run..." Sirius said weakly, but Andy still hasn't figured out the situation.He looked at the woman in front of him suspiciously, and he saw the small wooden stick in her hand. "She's a witch too? Sirius, do you know her?"

"I told you to run!" Sirius yelled.Andy looked at him in surprise, but didn't move his feet.Sirius pushed him anxiously, and saw Merriffron's contorted face and the hand raising his wand sharply.

"No," Sirius yelled, "he...he's not a Muggle, he can do magic, he..."

"Sirius, you little bastard is really a liar. I heard it just now. He is a Muggle and has a mudblood sister. You are mixed with such a person. Wait until your mother teaches you! As for you..." Merriffron turned to look at Andy with a pale face, "I want to teach you a lesson, and let you know the consequences of seducing the young master of the Black family! Crucifixion!"

A red light flashed, and Sirius jumped in front of Andy. He blocked the spell and felt a piercing pain.Andy looked in horror at Sirius, who was curled up on the ground dripping with cold sweat. He was about to squat down to see what happened to Sirius, when suddenly a green light flashed in front of him, and he felt a stabbing pain in his chest, and then...

No more, he died.

Sirius actually doesn't remember what happened after that.He probably cried and was brought back to No. 12, Grimmauld Place by Meriflon. He probably scolded Merriffren as a murderer. He was probably beaten by his mother. His mother probably didn’t use magic to teach him this time. , but used real cane, because he now felt that the pain was sticky all over his body, and he guessed it was blood.But he couldn't be sure, the room was pitch black, and he couldn't see anything now.

The only thing he could see was the way Andy fell in front of him, and how those eyes, which were always radiant, no longer had any brilliance.He knew it was his fault, if it wasn't for him, Andy probably wouldn't have died!Meriflon was the murderer and he was the accomplice!

He was thinking wildly, and suddenly heard the voice of arguing outside:

"Mr. Crouch, you have no evidence, so why do you say that Araminta is the murderer!" That was the voice of the mother.

"When the incident happened, a Muggle happened to pass by, and he saw the whole process."

"How can you believe what Muggles say? Maybe he's misreading, Muggles always have bad eyesight."

"You are making too much sense. According to Section 14 of the Secrecy Act, Muggle confessions are acceptable..."

"I'm arguing? I'm arguing! Crouch, don't forget your own identity! You are also from a pure-blood family, are you going to degenerate into a Muggle now?!"

"Mrs. Black, you don't have to use blood to talk about things. I have always helped me out!"

"You want to reason, don't you? Well, get a wizard witness. Anyway, I can't tolerate you convicting Araminta on the basis of Muggles' one-sidedness!"

"I came here to look for witnesses. According to the Muggle's description, there was also a boy present at the time. That boy was called Sirius by Araminta. As far as I know, your eldest son is called by this name."

Sirius didn't understand why the man named Crouch entered 12 Grimmauld Place, whose address was strictly confidential, and he didn't want to know.He slapped the door of the reflection room vigorously, and shouted in a hoarse voice (he hadn't had water or food for two days), "I am Sirius, and I am willing to testify."

The arguing outside the door stopped for a while, Sirius seemed to be able to see his mother gnashing her teeth, and he heard the voice of Mr. Crouch: "Open this door."

"You order me, how dare you order me?!" Walburga said loudly.

"If you don't open the door, it only shows that you are guilty, then Meriflon..." Crouch threatened.

Then Sirius heard the sound of the door opening, and the light from outside shone in. Sirius felt that it was too dazzling for a moment, so he quickly covered his eyes with his hands.His sleeve slipped down, revealing streaks of blood on his pale skin.

However, Crouch just frowned and didn't comment on Sirius' injury. He asked in a mechanical voice, "Tell me, what happened that day. Is Meriflon the murderer?"

Walburga stared at Sirius fiercely, warning him not to talk nonsense.But Sirius was not affected by her at all, and said quickly and decisively: "It was Meriflon who killed Andy. She first used Cruciatus, which was blocked by me. Then, while I was too painful to move, she attacked Andy." Di cast a killing curse! She is the murderer!"

At the end, Sirius' eyes turned red.

Crouch left very happily, and Sirius stood stubbornly at the door of the reflection room, bearing Walburga's sight of death.

Surprisingly, his mother didn't get angry.She said: "My son", and then summoned Kreacher, and conjured a cane out of thin air.

When Sirius saw the vine, his pupils shrank suddenly.

"Kreacher, use this cane to teach him a good lesson. Unless he admits his mistake or faints, don't stop. If he faints, put him in the reflection room, wake up and continue beating. I want to see, he How long can you be tough?"

The overwhelming pain came, and Sirius heard the cries of his younger siblings. Rael was pleading with his mother, and Xia Kelin was persuading him to compromise. She said, "Admit your mistake quickly. There is no sense of family responsibility."

Shit family responsibility!Thinking of this, Sirius fell into a coma.

After Sirius fell into a coma, Orion returned home. He prevented Walburga from continuing to let Kreacher punish Sirius, but Sirius was still locked in the reflection room for three full months before being released—— Once, missed his birthday.

Misfortunes never come singly, shortly after the Black family in London made a fuss because of Sirius, the Black family in Kent also had a scandal that could be "comparable" to Sirius' "great achievements": Andromeda Black, privately married a Muggle-born wizard with the Ministry of Magic, and was expelled from the family because of this.

*************

On the day Andromeda packed up and left, it snowed heavily in the sky. When she looked back at the Black Manor wrapped in silver, she found that her heart was not as sad as she imagined.

Maybe, she thought, it was because she hadn't lost all of her family.At least, in this world, there are two people who are willing to give her a ride, even though her Andromeda name has been erased from the family tree of the Black family forever.

Those two people were her cousin Sirius and her uncle Alphard.

"Andy is dead, and you are leaving too. Why do bad things always happen together? From now on, no one in the Black family will be able to protect me." The cousin who just turned 11 looked at me pitifully. she says.

She gave a wry smile, put her hands on Sirius' shoulders, and said seriously: "Siris, after I'm gone, don't confront your mother anymore. As you said, I can no longer protect you at Black's house." , you have to know how to protect yourself. Forget about Andy..."

"Impossible, I can't do it! That's a human life!" Sirius suddenly became agitated like a furry cat, "Ann, didn't you say that I did nothing wrong by accusing Meriflon. Since she If you have the courage to kill, you should have the courage to bear the price of killing."

"Yes, I said that," Andromeda sighed. "But at that time, I and Ted had registered their marriage with the Ministry of Magic. I had a way out, Sirius, but you didn't."

Hearing what Andromeda said, Sirius suddenly felt his nose sore for no reason.He tried his best to restrain his urge to cry - this is so stupid, he didn't want to cry when he was beaten to death, how could he lose the chain now.

He sucked his nose that was a little red from the cold and said, "Okay, let's not talk about those unhappy things. Ann, I believe you and Tonks will be happy. But if he bullies you, You must tell me, and I will seek justice for you."

Andromeda smiled and said hello, then turned to Alphard who had been standing silently by the side.

"I didn't expect you to come back from Bulgaria, Uncle," said Andromeda.

"I owe it to you and Ted to be together, why didn't I come?" Alphard said with a smile.

"Are you and Aunt Tonks...really not going to be together?" Andromeda asked hesitantly.

"We are very good friends now, but we can't be lovers," Alphard said in a low tone, "She is not Heather after all, I can't see her as Heather's substitute, it's not fair to her, but also to Heather blasphemy."

"Who is Heather?" Sirius interrupted.

"It's my uncle's former lover, who has passed away for many years." Andromeda said softly.

Sirius failed to ask more information about Heather, because at this time, Ted Tonks apparated in front of everyone.He strode forward, using his broad body to shield Andromeda from the wind and snow.

"Thank you for sending her here." Ted's voice was a little hoarse, but the gratitude in his tone was still obvious.

"Boy, listen, although Ann broke up with her mother's family because of you, she still has me as an uncle. Don't look at my friendship with your mother. If you dare to bully Ann, I will never forgive you!"

"Look at what you said, don't talk about you. If I dare to bully Ann, my mother will not spare me. She likes An Ke much more than she likes my son. I am worried that people will think that my mother is marrying her daughter at the wedding. Instead of marrying a daughter-in-law."

Thad's words made Andromeda blush and Alphard laughed out loud.The laughter was so loud that the jackdaws on the tree flapped their wings and flew up.

Sirius stared blankly at Alphard. He had never seen a member of the Black family, male, female, young or old, laugh so freely, neither had he himself, nor had Andromeda.

"It's snowing heavily." Ted said at this time, "Then, I'm taking Ann home." Speaking of the word "home", his expression was extraordinarily soft.

Then Andromeda and Thad said goodbye to Sirius and Alphard, Disapparated, and disappeared into the snow.

Sirius looked at the place where Andromeda disappeared, feeling a little dazed.Andromeda found her "retreat", so what about Sirius?

"Are you envious of your cousin?" Alphard asked him suddenly.

"Yes." Sirius replied without thinking.

"You kid is honest." Alphard joked.

"I envy you too," Sirius said.

"What can I envy? It's just a sad poor man who has lost his love forever." Alphard said with self-mockery.

"At least you can laugh if you want to without being reprimanded by your elders," Sirius said.

Alphard was taken aback when he heard the words, and then smiled wryly: "Yes, I have been away by myself for so long, so long that I have forgotten the years that were bound by family rules. But Sirius, you are the first one I have seen. The child who dared to disagree with the rotten Black family before going to school, perhaps, you can go further than Andromeda and I in the future."

**********

After Sirius was sent home by Alphard, he saw Xia Kelin curled up on the sofa, hugging the pillow.

When he stepped forward, Xia Kelin looked up at him, and murmured, "Why on earth... would you make someone like Andromeda abandon her family? Leave the family that raised her and cared for her."

Sirius knew that Xia Kelin had an obsession with family honor because she lost her father and separated from her mother since she was a child, but he still couldn't understand such accusations: "What does it mean that Ann abandons her family? She just married a Muggle-born They got married to any wizard, and because it was Muggle-born, not the man himself, they removed Ann. Who dumped whom?"

"You don't understand at all, Andromeda didn't betray the family purely because of love!" Xia Kelin jumped up excitedly, "Every lady from a pure-blooded Slytherin family must do her best as the head of the house after she gets married. Otherwise, she might be looked down upon or even bullied by the family. Andromeda just couldn't bear such pressure, and finally ran out to marry a Muggle. But why didn't she think about it, in the situation where there was no common topic? Now, how do you maintain your marriage? With the huge gap in living standards, how does Andromeda get used to cleaning the house and cooking by herself? She married into a Muggle family, and what she learned before is useless The land of martial arts, at least the aristocratic circles will not accept or invite her to the ball, and Andromeda has no special expertise in magic..."

"That's enough!" Sirius said with an angry face, "I don't allow you to insult Ann like this. Just now you said you didn't know why Ann abandoned her family, and now you're saying that she couldn't stand the pressure of being the housewife. It's so funny You are not Ann, how do you know what she thinks? How do you know that she and Tonks have nothing in common? They have been lovers for five years! Which couple can persist like this without a common topic How long? Besides, Anke is not the kind of delicate lady. How do you know that she can't get used to cleaning the house and cooking by herself? Besides, her husband Tonks is just a Muggle-born wizard, not a real Muggle, what? It is even more ridiculous that the things learned before are useless? The aristocratic circle will not accept or invite her to the ball. It is even more ridiculous. Do you think that Ann rarely attends those balls? Do you think that Ann has only learned to dance these years? It is simply inexplicable! "

Xia Kelin was stunned.Sirius had never spoken to her so harshly since he was a child.She didn't know, she didn't know that Andromeda and that man had been dating for five years, and she didn't know that Andromeda married a Muggle-born wizard instead of a Muggle.What she said about Ann was like someone wrote a book and opened it to her in her mind. She never thought that those words were not all true.

But, but...

There was nothing left to do, Sirius walked away, and from that day on, he started a cold war with her.

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The first half of this chapter is adapted from Chapter 2 of "Flame and Sunshine".Shaklin's evaluation of Andromeda comes from Chapter 11 "Acquaintance with Lily" and Chapter 16 "The Opponent's Powerlessness" of "Black Honor". Of course, Sirius in the original text has a completely different reaction from here.