15th July 1976. Arcturus Black Manor, Cornwall.

The Black family was eating a frugal lunch around the dining room table in their summer residence. It was Walburga who had ordered Kreacher, the family's house-elf, to prepare a meal which was meagre and had nothing to do with the rich banquets at Hogwarts, full of delicacies and treats, to which the three sons had by now become largely accustomed. It was a subtle provocation on the part of the mother, expressing her implicit disapproval of the educational choices the school was pursuing.

A criticism that her husband, Orion Black, apparently also fully shared. The man, with his perpetually austere appearance, showed his total support for his wife by enjoying with a solemn expression every mouthful of the bland and tasteless dishes, which Kreacher made appear on his silver platter with regular snaps of his fingers.

Alya, Regulus and Sirius didn't show the same enthusiasm, but they were far from expressing their disappointment about the meal. All five ate in religious silence, with only the clinking of glasses and cutlery as a background. In any case, it was customary in the Black household to eat meals without getting lost in chatter. To the outside eye, the situation might have looked like another of Walburga's strict rules to make her family seem even more noble and regal than it already was. However, the choice of silence had quite other reasons: relations with her eldest son, Sirius, had deteriorated inexorably, due to the boy's total rejection of the elitist values in which the Black lineage blindly believed. His disgust with every member of his noble family - including Alya and Regulus, of course - was increasingly evident. Any hint of conversation risked turning into a furious argument about magical blood rights and how much Sirius brought dishonour to the family.

Therefore, as long as the five Blacks were together in the same room, seated at the same table, it was much more convenient to maintain a safe and controlled muteness, so as not to spoil the verisimilar atmosphere of summer holiday serenity.

However, that day there was an air of unusual tension at the Arcturus Black manor, but that had nothing to do with latent family disagreements. Both Sirius and Alya kept casting nervous glances at the hall window. Neither dared admit it, proud as they were, but both expected owls or any bird of prey to arrive at any moment with the results in their paw of O.W.Ls exams. A wait filled with anxiety and expectation, which also concealed a childish fear of the possible reactions of their parents regarding their grades. However, the only things coming through the window panes were the sun's rays, flooding the room's sumptuous furniture with copious iridescent light. No birds on the horizon, not even a blackbird or a finch.

***

"You're agitated, admit it," poked Regulus, looking at Alya with the expression of someone who knows better.

Lunch over, brother and sister had taken refuge upstairs, in the small room that Alya adored. Sirius was in the same wing of the palace, but holed up in his room. He had made a habit of spending all his time there, except for times of obligatory family gatherings. Alya assumed that he and his pompous friend, James Potter, had finally found a way to communicate with each other without the use of letters and owls. It was the only plausible explanation for her brother's quiet and unusual behaviour.

Regulus perched lazily on one of the cushioned chairs around the perimeter of the room, whistling the tune of the French song Walburga had taught them as children. Alya, unable to sit still, had taken to improvising a few waltz steps, dancing a dance of her own. It had always been like that: when she was nervous about something, Alya danced. And Regulus knew her well.

"Alya, you're a bundle of nerves!" her brother mocked her again.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Reg," Alya replied dryly, continuing to twirl gracefully under the sumptuous crystal chandeliers, which floated just below the ceiling, almost touching the garish paintings. The gold decorating the effigies on the walls seemed to shine with a greater brilliance than usual, thanks to the sun shining through the large windows, which overlooked the panorama outside. A light made even more dazzling by the reflections of the numerous mirrors that studded the sumptuous walls. Alya loved to dance immersed in that regal splendour.

"Don't lie to me, I know you too well and can recognise when something is bothering you," replied Regulus, in a saccharine tone.

"And what would bother me, shall I know?"

"Your O.W.Ls, that's obvious. All you did was stare out the window earlier at lunch. Besides, you've been dancing for half an hour. You always do when you're agitated. I swear, I'm getting seasick watching you sway here and there around the room."

"I tell you I'm not worried about it," Alya repeated, in a sustained voice. "I dance because I'm bored, that's all," she added haughtily.

"Sure, right," retorted Regulus, not at all convinced. Then, the boy suddenly fell silent, looking at one of the windows, over his sister's shoulder. He pointed his finger, his eyes wide with surprise.

"There, an owl is coming!" he announced seriously.

Alya winced. She turned so fast that she almost tripped over her own feet. But when she peered anxiously at the horizon stretching beyond the window pane, she saw nothing but the empty blue expanse of the clear sky. Not even the shadow of a gnat was flying. Alya snorted in anger.

"Reg, you're an idiot!" she railed indignantly.

Regulus burst out laughing, holding his belly with one hand.

"You should have seen your face, Alya!" sobbed Regulus in laughter.

"Stop it!"

"If it's any consolation I think Sirius is anxious too. He has done nothing but peer out the window while eating, like you. Sometimes, you two are very much alike!" laughed Regulus again, but with a sudden shadow veiling his gaze.

"Sirius and I don't look anything alike!" scoffed Alya, frowning at him. She always got annoyed when they pointed out any resemblance to her twin brother.

"By the way. What's he up to?" asked Regulus, feigning indifference.

"He'll be hiding in his room devising some new strategy with which to disgrace our family, along with that fool Potter," replied Alya simply.

"James Potter - I just can't stand him!" hissed Regulus, now completely serious. He clenched his fists with a grim expression on his face.

"Your attempts to knock him off his broom during one of your games have not yet met with success?" Alya taunted him amused. However, she didn't rage any further. After all, she well understood how Regulus felt. She also resented the friendship between Sirius and James Potter. As the years went by, the two of them seemed to grow closer and closer and, at the same time, Sirius became more and more estranged from his real family. There was a danger that his brother would pass the point of no return. The bond with that arrogant Potter was leading Sirius to places Alya feared she couldn't reach.

Alya looked at Regulus and saw how his grey eyes, as sparkling as her own, now darted with anger and frustration.

"Forget that pompous Potter, Reg. You'll only ruin your digestion!" sighed Alya. She abandoned her dance for a moment, to go and tap her brother's shoulder with an understanding pat.

"You're right, that idiot isn't worth a second of my thoughts," Regulus murmured, more to himself than to Alya.

Suddenly, Kreacher burst into the hall.

"Mistress sends Kreacher for you. She is expected downstairs," he announced in his croaky little voice.

Alya whitened.

'Uh oh. The O.W.Ls results are in for real." commented Regulus, returning his sister with an affectionate pat, trying to give her courage. Brother and sister left the room, obediently following the old house elf downstairs where Orion and Walburga were waiting for them.

***

The results of the school exams turned out to be excellent, beyond all anticipations. Alya breathed a sigh of relief when she realised that she had even passed the Potions test with an excellent mark. Of course, she was well aware that this would not have been possible if she hadn't cheated, but little did she care. Her haughty parents had been very proud of her and her achievements, and that was all that mattered to Alya.

Sirius' grades had also been excellent, but neither Orion nor Walburga were impressed or pleased. They greeted the news about their son's exam results with the coldest indifference.

And no matter how hard Sirius tried to appear imperturbable in front of his parents' total disinterest, Alya sensed how deeply such an attitude had hurt him. Immediately after communicating his school grades to his parents, Sirius quickly left the room and, with a granite expression, returned upstairs.

Alya secretly felt sorry for her twin brother, but did not show it.

That afternoon, she and Regulus sneaked into the manor's cellars. They scoffed one of their father's precious old bottles of Firewhisky and drank secretly, to celebrate Alya's O.W.Ls results.

"So, Alya, do you want to tell me how you got the Potions O.W.L?" Regulus asked, out of the blue, after taking a generous swig of whisky.

Alya sighed indecisively. Part of her was itching to get rid of that burden, which had turned out to be far more cumbersome than she had imagined. She didn't dare admit it even to herself, but Alya was beginning to feel a little guilty about how she had gotten her O.W.L. in Potions.

"Promise you won't say anything to anyone?"

"I promise!" replied Regulus promptly, who was listening to her in curiosity.

Alya told him straight about what she had found out about Lily Evans and her secret feelings for Sirius. She also revealed how she had used those same feelings against the Gryffindor girl in order to extort the information she needed to take the exam. In other words, Alya confessed how her grade in Potions was the result of deception and devious manipulation.

"Lily Evans in love with Sirius? Are you kidding?" asked Regulus in amazement, after Alya had finished her tale.

"No, I'm not. Never been so serious," she replied, convinced.

"Snape's friend? The one Potter's always buzzing around? That Lily Evans?" Insisted Regulus, increasingly incredulous.

"Yes, Reg, that Lily Evans! There don't seem to be any others at Hogwarts!" replied Alya, irritated. Her brother's lips rippled into a mocking smirk.

"A potentially interesting situation!" he commented amused.

"What do you mean?"

'Well, imagine if Potter came to find out that the girl he likes actually has a crush on his best friend. I don't think he would take it very well. Potter doesn't like to lose. He thinks he's the best, that one. Potter loves showing that he can get anything he wants," Regulus observed, with a strange, malevolent expression on his face.

"And what would be the fun in that? It seems a rather dull matter to me, after all."

"Maybe Potter would remove Sirius from his gang if he deemed him a threat. Now that would be fun! It would show Sirius how stupid he is to hang around with people like that!" explained Regulus triumphantly. "Who knows - we could put the flea in Potter's ear and see how he reacts -"

"We won't do any of that! You just promised me you would keep it a secret!" blurted out Alya, suddenly angry.

"It's not like I'm going to reveal how you came to find out certain information! I just want to see Potter and Sirius fighting. I want our brother to realise his mistakes" confessed Regulus gloomily.

"Our family has enough problems without Sirius getting into a fight with his friends over- girls! Over a Muggleborn to boot! Imagine if eventually our brother actually took an interest in Evans, knowing about her feelings! If only to spite our mother! He'd bring her into our house just for a laugh! As long as he is Potter's friend, and as long as Potter keeps buzzing around Lily Evans, that Muggleborn will remain invisible in Sirius's eyes. You wouldn't want history of Andromeda to repeat itself! We've had enough of dishonour. Reg, our family comes first: Toujours pur, toujours uni. Remember that! If Sirius acts like a fool, we will all suffer. We must defend him, to defend us and our good pureblood name!" said Alya seriously, raising her voice as she spoke.

Regulus looked at her thoughtfully.

"Well, if you put it like that - you have a point" he admitted, a little disappointed.

"Promise me you won't say anything!" stubborn Alya urged him.

"All right, all right! I'll be as mute as a fish." the boy promised, shrugging his shoulders.

"Thank you," said Alya relieved. Actually, other reasons lurked in her heart. Reasons she didn't feel like sharing even with Regulus. In fact, she found it hard to admit them even to herself.

Suddenly, there was a loud clang of pots falling to the ground. They turned frightened and saw Kreacher's rakish, wrinkled profile appear in the doorway.

"Young Lord and Ladyshould not be here. They are not allowed to enter the cellars," said the elf, scrutinising the two brothers with a suspicious and inquiring look. Alya was just in time to hide the half-empty Firewhisky bottle behind a row of dusty bottles.

"Kreacher!" she squeaked then, trying to appear as innocent as possible. Regulus meanwhile had whitened. "We were looking for you, actually!" lied Alya, quickly pondering a plausible excuse. "Reg and I saw a gnome in the inner garden. I think you should go and chase him away now. Before he builds us a den and creates a colony."

Kreacher narrowed his gaze, looking at her even more circumspectly.

"Gnomes in the garden?" he croaked.

"Yes, Kreacher. I've seen them, too," Regulus said, sidling up to Alya. "A colony of gnomes would destroy Mum's beautiful plants. She would be very hurt!" he continued, hitting the elf in his weak spot: total loyalty to Mrs Black.

"Kreacher go check it out now." she huffed, reluctantly retracing her steps. "Gnomes - lousy little creatures - burrowing and gnawing - my poor mistress, how she would despair at seeing her beautiful flowers mangled by those little fiends. Kreacher will take care of it. Kreacher is loyal to his noble mistress -" they heard him mutter to Alya and Regulus as the elf climbed the stairs, heading towards the inner courtyard. When he was far enough away, Regulus turned to Alya:

"I think we'd better bugger off!"

"Absolutely."

And the two ran off, snickering.

***

Dinnertime came, accompanied by the same silence as lunch. None of the five Blacks spoke or made any kind of comment. Apparently, Kreacher had bought the fairy tale about the gnomes in the garden and had not breathed a word to Walburga about his meeting with Alya and Regulus in the cellars. Both brother and sister cast several complicit and amused glances at each other during the meal. Sirius, whose expression seemed to harden with every passing minute, left the dining room as soon as he had finished eating, making it clear how little he enjoyed spending time with the other family members. But no one paid any attention. At least, in appearance. After a few minutes, Orion also got up from the table, announcing his retirement. He invited Regulus to join him in his private sitting room: he wanted to talk Quidditch with him. Alya saw Regulus' eyes light up. It made him very proud to be treated by his father as an equal.

Eventually, Alya was left alone with her mother. When she took her leave, Walburga froze her, shooting her one of his piercing, icy glances.

"Just a moment, Alya Merope," she said sternly. Alya winced.

"I'm waiting for you tomorrow morning in my personal boudoir. Six o'clock. On the dot. I wish to discuss a couple of matters with you. Bring your wand." she added in a neutral, but cold voice. Then she made a hand gesture indicating to her daughter to go to her room. Alya obeyed without saying a word.

Suddenly, she felt her blood run cold. What did the mother want to talk to her about? Before leaving, Kreacher shot the girl a satisfied and somewhat malicious glance. Alya understood: Kreacher had heard what she had told Regulus in the cellars and spoken to her mother. Alya knew she was in trouble.