Chapter Text
Sirius knew that most people thought he was too reckless as well as a fool, but like most Pureblooded Wizards from old families, Sirius had his mask. He had also quite a skill in determining what others kept behind their own mask. Whether it is those of the Malfoy family who had in public put on a stoic act, Sirius had found that more often than not the Malfoys would actually be quite kind and loving once you got past their mask. It always made him think of a line he once read from a Muggle playwright called Shakespeare that went: "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts."
This quote, he thought, was a perfect line for almost all Pureblooded magic users even his own family was not immune to hiding behind a mask. Unlike the stoic Malfoy family, the Blacks are said to be quite mad and even a little insane. But in truth, it was just the Black family mask though some like his cousin Bella had let the mask take over her own being going truly mad. Sirius's own mask made him seem more reckless than others of his family, but in truth, he was quite intelligent as well as a good son. It had all been his own mother, Walburga Black who had seen another war coming after the defeat of Gellert Grindelwald and had set her two sons down before Sirius had gone to Hogwarts to explain how the houses were chosen at the school.
"Now almost every single member of the House of Black had been in Slytherin House which is all well and good, but I think it might be good for one or both of you to try to get into another one of the houses. Do not worry we will think no less of you no matter which house you join but I have a feeling that more evil is coming to our world and it might be good for our family to gain some allies with families who have Light or Gray Cores," Walburga said before she hugged both her precious boys.
She had been so glad when Sirius had written to her after the sorting to inform her that not only had he been sorted into Gryffindor House, but he had made some friends with the boys James Potter and Remus Lupin. While Walburga had been happy that he had made friends with the heir of a family from the light as well as the half-blood boy, she also had to act the part so she had sent a Howler at him threatening to disown him unless he started to act like a real Black. This last act had worked a little too well according to a return letter from her eldest son sent after everyone had gone to sleep saying his new friends had got further into his camp. It was not until the Yule where he had returned home and invited his new friends that they actually learned the truth.
Walburga had to greet the two friends with a smile and a bow as she let them into her house almost laughing at the looks on their faces for Sirius had informed her that they had agreed to come with him due to them under the belief that he was about to be mistreated. "Now boys I can assume you are aware that many Purebloods act differently in private than they do in public?" she had asked and saw James at least nod as a look of understanding came to his face. "The Black family was always said to be a little mad but that is just our mask as we find that others tend to underestimate us when they think we are just a step shy of insanity letting us observe them with a keen eye. Now that you know this, thanks to my heir vouching for you, I ask that you keep this secret and," she said leaning in and finishing in a quiet tone "just watch out for Sirius as no one in our family had quite the control over their mask than him."
James and Remus had kept his secret sometimes finding it hard such as when his mother would send a yearly Howler at him they would have to take a drink so others would not see their grins. When James and Sirius discovered that Remus was a werewolf it was Walburga who had to help them find a way to help their friend by teaching them how to change into Animagus the pair had then taught a fellow student that had tagged after them though had not been told of Sirius's true nature. It was also under her tutelage that they had been able to create the Marauders' Map.
Sirius had been proud of his younger brother in school as Regulus had been sorted into Slytherin thus giving Walburga more reason to send Howlers to Sirius and keep up their charade. Unlike his older brother, Walburga was given the task of basically spying on the rising evil forced gathering behind some fool who had taken the name Voldemort making the brothers act like they hated each other at school thus leading Regulus a better reputation for those of the man's followers who were trying to recruit dark Pureblood kids still in school.
It had hit both Walburga and Sirius when shortly after graduating, Regulus told them that he had been chosen to accompany Voldemort on a mission alone. Regulus had been joined by the family House Elf Kreacher who had shown up a couple of days later with the sad news that Regulus had been killed. Both Sirius and his mother were heartbroken at the news and for the first time in her life in regards to her eldest son Walburga had lost control of her mask blaming him for Regulus's death, kicking him out of the house, and blasting his name off the family tapestry. However, she did after a year apologize for her actions and confirmed that she had not disowned him from the family.
Though according to his mother, Sirius had better control of his mask than anyone else in the Black family had in the last century there were times to his embarrassment that he had lost control at keeping himself from his mask two of which were two of the worst moments in his life. The first time he found he lost control of keeping his mask separate from himself was in the case of a fellow student, Severus Snape. The moment he had laid his eyes on the other boy, he had been taken with him but like a kid in grade school, the only way he had found to share his attraction to the other male was basically bullying him. Sirius had only been able to tell his two best friends, sometimes in tears, as he thought about how he treated the other boy.
It did not help that Severus was friends with Lily Evens whom James also had a crush on leading to some bad encounters as for the longest time both boys had the same method of showing interest in the pair. To Sirius's annoyance, James was able to grow out of pranking and picking on Lily to get her attention and managed to get a date yet Sirius was always so flustered around Snape, that he could not take off his mask as the other way around. This leads to his first worst moment in his life as he had Severus almost get attacked by Remus in his werewolf form. As soon as he had sent Severus after Remus he was able to get rid of his mask and ask James for his help, at the very last moment James had been able to save the other boy from being either killed or bitten. When James had told him Sirius had collapsed into a ball and cried himself to sleep at what his inability to shed his mask around his crush had nearly led to. For the rest of their time in school, Sirius did his best to avoid the other boy in hopes of not causing any more problems for Severus though it broke his heart leading to more nights of crying himself to sleep.
After school, he joined James in becoming an Auror and it had been his ability to see past others' masks that had led to his quick advancement. At one point he was considered on the fast track to becoming the Head Auror as his record was almost on par with Alastor Moody, though James joked that he was better than Moody for although he had just as tough assignments as the other Auror, Sirius was not as scared. Of his group of friends, only James was with him in becoming an Auror as Lily had found herself working as an Unspeakable and Remus was going for his Masters in both Defense Against the Dark Arts as well as History in the hopes of becoming a teacher. Sirius had never really trusted Peter Pettigrew and was glad the man did not have the grades to become an Auror rather he became a normal member of the Magical Law Enforcement.
Though he had not been in the same room as much as possible with Severus, he had learned his crush was on his way from being the youngest person to gain a Masters in Potions. It was during his time as an Auror that his second-worst moment happened as he once more became lost behind his mask. It all happened after Samhain when Voldemort had visited James and Lily leading to their deaths. Arriving at the blasted house, he saw someone leave and was about to curse them only for the person to pass in front of a light and Sirius to recognize Severus Snape's profile. Sirius hunkered down letting Severus leave before entering the house and stopping in place as he found James's dead body lying at the foot of the stairs.
Locking his mask in place to not cry at his friend's body, Sirius made his way upstairs to where his Godson's room. Entering it he experienced another break to his heart as he saw Lily's dead body but Harry was still alive crying in his crib. Seeing him Harry made grabby hands and called out "Pafo." Sirius locked his mask harder in place as he scooped up his precious Godson and exited the house only to almost run bodily into Hagrid. The tall man had convinced Sirius that it would be best for Dumbledore to take care of Harry. Sirius was so far behind his mask he not only agreed but gave the man use of his flying motorcycle to take Harry away as his grief for both James, Lily but also Regulus who had died from the forces of Voldemort made him act as reckless as he was often called as he went after Peter.
After meeting Peter and the man blowing himself up Sirius found he could finally remove his mask, but by then it was too late as the Aurors arrived and led him away. Only afterward did Sirius discover the biggest mistake of his life so far in trusting Albus Dumbledore. It seems that the old man was the one person whose mask Sirius had not been able to see around and had trusted he was the kindly old man he seemed to be. This was clearly shown as rather than be given a trial he had been sent right to Azkaban to max security nonetheless. As he waited for the trial, he realized Albus was not one to be trusted as the old man had known he was not the Potter's Secret Keeper and had been the one to tell them all about the Prophecy about the one to stop the Dark Lord.
He had a feeling that the old fool did not care about the Potters or himself and was more concerned about Harry which was worrying. Thus it was that Sirius was able to remain sane in that place thinking about his Godson but also thinking about every interaction he had had with Dumbledore. After too many years to count he had found a new lease on life and a reason to be after asking for a chance to read a newspaper being carried by a visitor. As he sat in his cell he shook his head at the picture on the front page where he saw a family on a trip.
He found his gift of seeing past people's masks still worked as he saw the mother of the group looked all smiles and happiness but he could tell she was more concerned about making sure only the youngest children were in the front as in the picture she actually elbowed a pair of twins to the background. The twins, as well as the other children of the family, looked happy and kind and Sirius was glad to see they were not wearing masks, unlike their mother and younger siblings who seemed to have the same overly friendly mask as their mother. As he saw the youngest boy's face he suddenly noticed the rat on the boy's shoulder and recognized Peter. Reading the article he felt his heart drop as he found out that the youngest boy, Ronald Weasley, was a friend of Harry. Sirius almost lost himself behind his mask again but being in Azkaban had made his ability to control his own mask absolute.
With a new sense of purpose, he had broken out of the Magical Prison and headed to his home Grimmauld Place. To his great relief, he found his mother still alive and was able to convince her of his innocence. She had nursed him back to health with the help of Kreacher as he told her all he had realized about Albus Dumbledore she had listened to him with a knowing look and talked him into going to see Harry before he went after Peter even going as far to give him an old family wand. On her suggestion, he had made his way to where his magic led him to find to his horror his Godson living with abusive Muggles if what he could determine in his Grim form, but what was worse was that he recognized Arabella Figg, one of Dumbledore's people watching over the place as well. He allowed Harry to get sight of him as the boy summoned the Knight Bus before making the long journey to Hogwarts and fulfilling his duty as Harry's Godfather.
When he got to Hogwarts he had been lucky enough to befriend a half-Kneazle, by the name of Crookshanks, who had helped him as much as she could to get his hands on Peter. As he waited for the rat Sirius watched his Godson and found the boy too small and thin to his liking he made a note to himself that once he caught the rat he was going to take the boy to a healer who could be trusted as it seemed the one at Hogwarts was one of Dumbledore's people. It was during the wait he had also laid eyes on Severus finding his crush had not lessened as a tug pulled at his heart.
Sirius next laid eyes on his old friend Remus and was glad to see he had gotten his wish as he was a teacher and from what he overheard was the best one in years. Sirius had also been happy to lay eyes on his Godson and his friends. He saw the boy Ronald who just as he saw in the picture had a mask of being a friendly person but he saw that the redhead was more prone to anger and jealousy, while the Witch with them had the look of pure sincerity with her how she acted. Watching Harry play Quidditch had been exciting for Sirius to see how well he stacked up against James's skill. By his estimates, Harry was a tad better than James had been though the match had been ruined when the Dementors came and to his horror Harry had fallen from his broom, almost making Sirius shift back and use the wand to slow him down but just in time Harry began to slow seemingly on his own After Harry was safe, Sirius's eyes followed his Godson's broom and saw it fly right into the Whomping Willow and was utterly destroyed. That night Sirius had decided to send Crookshanks to the Hogsmeade Post Office to order his Godson a new broom as a way to make up some lost time.
He finally got into the castle on the night of Samhain, using the night's festivities to try to sneak into Gryffindor Tower. When reaching the Fat Lady's Portrait he gave the alumni password but the Fat Lady refused to open up. He wanted to keep his cool but knew he had to act the part of the half-mad man he pulled out his family wand and slashed at the portrait before using several secret passages to get out of the school and headed to the Whomping Willow to a place he had set up in the Shrieking Shack, The rest of the Hogwarts school year passed in a haze for Sirius the only highlights was seeing Harry flying on the broom he had gotten his Godson making the skill level between him and James more noticeable. As the school year drew to a close, Sirius decided it was time to get the rat and finding him being carried out of Hagrid's hut by Ronald, Sirius rushed towards the red-headed boy and clasping the boy's arm in his jaws pulled him to the Shrieking Shack. After a tense situation with Remus, Severus arrives which makes Sirius act recklessly, almost leading to his crush killing him. Harry and his friends ended up stunning Severus making Sirius's heart stop as he saw the man blasted into the wall but it got worse when later that night Pettigrew got away and forced Sirius to flee.
After fleeing, Sirius once more returned to find that his mother was deathly ill. He spent the summer caring for her giving him any time to check on Harry's home life with the Muggles. The only times he had gotten out of the house had been to buy Harry his birthday gift as well as an owl for Ronald to replace the pet Peter had been pretending to be. Shortly before Harry's fourth year was to begin Walburga had finally passed away leaving him Lord Black which happened on the same day he received an owl from Harry telling him about a dream his Godson had had the night of his birthday involving Voldemort.
As time was of the essence Sirius used the family wand he had been able to cast a spell to create a Magical Portrait of her and hung it in the front hall and put up silk curtains on either side of her in traditional black before he sent a response to Harry as he had no time before heading out after Peter the year before Sirius conversed with Walburga's Portrait to learn all that had happened during his imprisonment. Some of the news she shared had horrified him such as the events that she had heard happen at Hogwarts during the years Harry had been at school that she had learned from Sirius's cousin Narcissa and her son Draco. This information was just more added to the pile against Dumbledore in his mind.
More of which was to be laid on as shortly after Samhain he was delivered a second letter from Harry with the news of not only the return of the Triwizard's Tournament but also that by the fact that Harry had somehow been chosen as a fourth Champion. This was enough to get Sirius out of Grimmauld Place and return to Hogwarts. Not that he could do much when he got there besides watch, to his horror, Harry competed in a task meant for kids at least three years his senior task that even would be a challenge to a rookie Auror that the four were somehow able to get past. But at the Final Task, it was horrors upon horrors as Harry was abducted out of the grounds of Hogwarts, something the Wards should have prevented from happening which meant it had been allowed by Dumbledore as no one else could control the wards apart from the Headmaster of the castle.
When Harry came back Professor McGonagall escorted his Grim form up to the Headmaster's office where he was shortly joined by the fool as well as his Godson. Harry told them what had happened after he had been snatched from the grounds and the return of Voldemort to Sirius's shock he saw a smile at that bit of information fly across Dumbledore's face. Once more Sirius was asked to leave with orders to help gather up the members of Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix.
Having a sinking feeling that Dumbledore would want Grimmauld Place as the headquarters before he went to recruit, something that Dumbledore should know as extremely hard if not impossible as most Muggles and Wizards saw him as an escaped criminal, Sirius went back home. He told his mother's portrait what had happened and they had worked out a plan, along with Kreacher where both Kreacher and Walburga would act hostile to anyone that entered the home unless Sirius was alone and had brought them to her like he had done with his old school friends those many years ago. Having taken care of that he went to collect Remus who he decided would be the one to talk to people into rejoining the Order.
It seemed as though his guess had been right for a week after Hogwarts ended Dumbledore asked him for permission to use Grimmauld Place to host their meetings. Thinking at some point Harry would be brought to his home, he agreed and to his utter annoyance not only did the Order come for meetings but some newer members, such as the Weasley family actually moved right into the building without even asking his permission. It was the first time he met any of them apart from Ronald and he found his earlier measure of them correct Molly had a Pureblood mask that made it look like she was a nice caring Witch, but Sirius saw the anger she had toward some of her children while at the same time the favoritism she had to her two youngest. Ronald and Ginny were brats who seemed to get annoyed whenever they did not get their own way and threw a fit when they saw how dirty the rooms that Molly had decided they were to sleep in were.
The twins of the family, he did not actually mind and allowed them to come to the top floor an area of the house he kept warded against everyone as it held his personal rooms not to mention his mother's old room. Sirius instantly liked the twins who loved pranks something he could get behind and told them stories of the pranks he had done in his years letting slip his nickname of Padfoot, as Harry had told him that the twins had found the Marauder's Map. The twins' mouths fell open and they began to bow to him making him laugh. He met the twins' older brothers Bill and Charlie as well and both of them seemed decent sorts though not that into pranks. When he first meets Arthur he first believes the man is a good hard-working but down-beaten man, but then he pierces the man's mask and finds the man to be just like his wife though to a lesser degree as he does not show favoritism to Ron and Ginny but he did not seem to respect the twins or their older brothers as much as they deserved.
A week or so later Harry's other friend showed up and he got to really know her. Sirius found he had been correct once again as he saw that Hermione was a kind Witch, a little naive for how smart she was, and unfortunately, a little bit bullied by Ronald. One day when the school-age kids were cleaning the house getting rid of some old heirlooms just cause in Molly's opinion they were Dark and thus "evil" Sirius invited Hermione up to the top floor after the next meal. As she went back to cleaning Sirius headed to his room and summoned Kreacher giving the House Elf to save as many heirlooms as he could and put them in Walburga's bedroom a task the House Elf was glad to do. When Hermione arrived Sirius invited her into his private office where he asked her about Harry the rest of the night she told him stories of his Godson and all the adventures he had at school but always seemed to gloss over his time at home. "The Muggles he lives with mistreating him don't they?" he asked at last.
"I am sorry to say they do. From what Harry has told us, not that Ron believes him much thinking he is just trying to get some "more attention," his relatives treat him worse than Wizards and Witches treat House Elves," she said sending him a glare for how he had to treat Kreacher in front of everyone else. "Before he got his first letter from Hogwarts, he told me they made him sleep in the closet under the stairs and after that gave him the smallest bedroom. During the summer after his First-Year at Hogwarts an Elf used magic in the place and made the Ministry send him a note about not using magic outside of school they put locks on the bedroom door and bars on the window," she said as Black felt anger get the better of him as he blasted apart a nearby table only to calm down and repair it in the next second making Hermione marvel at his spell work. "Before his third year, he ended up running away as his uncle's sister came to visit and he got so mad he inflated her leading him to go to spend the rest of the summer at the Leaky Cauldron and you know what happened last year with the diet," she finishes with such anger he was sure she wished she could blast something apart as well.
"From what Harry had told me, you were one of the few people who believed he had not entered the tournament and actually helped him through it which in my eyes earns me a slight debt to you so knowing you like books I will allow you access to the Black family personal library, but be warned that some books contain dark magic this does not make it evil," he said holding up a hand to stop any protest "but it Molly or Dumbledore see them they might want to destroy them. Which is something I can not allow for they are part of my family's legacy." Sirius then showed her the library and saw her mouth drop open as she rushed in to grab a book and began to read it. From that point forward Hermione not only visited the top floor each night to read from the books but she would also do her best to save other Black family heirlooms from Molly's purges.
When the twins first found their way to the top floor he also showed them the library though they read some books the pair still would rather talk about his time at Hogwarts and the pranks he had done, though they had also confirmed the stories about Harry's "home" life as they had been the one to rescue Harry after his first year and report the bars and locks on the door as well as a small sign in the closet under the stairs calling it "Harry's Room" in crude childish writing. Sirius thought he believed them and asked to see their memories of it which led him to cry as hard as he had done after sending Severus after Remus during their school years. Sirius decided when he next got the chance to be alone with his Godson he would get the boy somehow to Gringotts to get his heir and Lordship titles for protection. Also from some of the research, he had done during the Triwizard's Tournament that had happened in the past he had learned that due to Harry not only finishing it but being the winner of the event he had become an adult in the Wizarding World.
Severus would also show up randomly making Sirius' breath hitch at every random visit but due to his actions during their youth, Severus hated him with a passion and forced him to hide behind his reckless fool mask more than normal during each visit. When Harry did arrive it seemed that Molly and Arthur were doing their best to make sure Harry was never alone with him, he suspected on Dumbledore's orders, and neither was Harry left alone by Ron, or Ginny, Hermione was there as well but from their talks, Sirius knew he could actually trust. He had shared with both her and the twins that the way he acted was his family's version of their Pureblood's mask and introduced them to the real Kreacher. They had all been touched by the honor unfortunately they also had not gotten to get Harry alone without either Ron, Ginny, or one of the Weasley parents being with him. Shortly after Harry's trial had happened dropping all the charges against him, Sirius found out that Molly had convinced Harry to give her the key to his trust vault so that she could get his school supplies, feeling some trepidation at that as he did not trust Molly, Sirius decided when he took Harry to Gringotts he would need Harry to do a full Inheritance Test to check out the status of his vaults not putting it past Molly to somehow steal from him.
After Harry and the others went back to school and with no actual progress during any meeting of the Order Sirius was basically locked into a cell as if he was back in Azkaban, but this time he had to keep his mask up full-time when he was out of his own room. When Harry and the Weasley kids appeared in his house shortly before the Yule holiday he learned that Voldemort was going further into Harry's mind and could manipulate his Godson's thoughts, especially as Harry told him of a thought he had of wanting to strike at Dumbledore before he was sent to Grimmauld Place. Severus showed up under Dumbledore's orders to inform Harry that he would be learning Occlumency from him. Sirius wanted to hug the man but kept himself in check trying to find out why Dumbledore himself was not teaching Harry. Severus's response almost leads the pair to a duel but Harry stops it long enough for others to arrive at the distraction leading Sirius to pull back himself away from his mask.
As Harry went back to school for the second term Grimmauld Place was soon empty an occurrence that he took full advantage of as he feared that Voldemort would somehow use him to get at Harry so he began to make up his will. As they were alone Walburga's Portrait was able to return to her normal self as he had her help him put a will in place that would give Harry everything which required a fair amount of charms as Grimmauld Place was one of the family homes that thanks to his father, Orion, was made to only be in the Black family's hands.
They were finally able to work around this by summoning the Black family account manager from Gringotts and making Harry his heir. As the Goblin made to leave Sirius decided to add some stipulations to his Will that would only allow the document to be read once it had been touched by Harry's personal magic, as he had a feeling Dumbledore would want the Will to be read to make sure the Order keep hold of Grimmauld Place so they would need Harry to open it thus getting Harry to Gringotts. Sirius's next stipulation on the will was before Harry could open it the Goblins would give him a full Inheritance test alone and pass on any Heir and Lord rings Harry had, and just in case make his Godson go through cleansing in case there were spells or potions in his system with a Time-Turner clause that would make it seem that Harry had only taken the test all of which would be paid for from Sirius's own accounts.
It seemed as though once again Sirius had been right for as Harry's Fifth-Year came to a close Voldemort had tricked Harry, sending his Godson and five of his friends deep into the Department of Mysteries leading to a meeting with a group of Death Eaters. Sirius and others rushed to the rescue but in the end, Sirius found himself flying into the Veil making him have his fourth greatest regret as being unable to personally take his Godson to Gringotts and get him away from both Dumbledore and the Muggles he lived with, but at least his Will would help put Harry on the right path.