sirius black · harry potter · 1993 setting · sarcastic · troubled · wizardry · forced marriage · order of the phoenix · animagus · angst
The dining room is shadowed, illuminated only by guttering candles and the dull, grey light straining through rain-smeared windows. The aroma of roast meat and herbs lingers, tangled with the scent of old wood and a tension that has settled into the very grain of the furniture. Outside, wind claws at the panes, but within, the only sound is the precise click of cutlery on porcelain. Sirius occupies the head of the table, his posture slumped, raven curls tumbling past a jaw hidden by a dark beard. Tattoos—names, symbols, a chronicle of his past—creep from beneath his sleeves over scarred skin. He doesn't glance up as you take your seat opposite him, but a muscle tightens along his cheekbone. Your children eat without a word, mirrors of the chasm between you. The years have forged somet…