the_debt_of_time

Grinning, Sirius looked down at the glass. "Firewhisky?"
"Your first?" Alphard asked, and Sirius nodded. "A momentous occasion, then.
What should we drink to?"
"This sham of a marriage?" Sirius suggested.
"Be careful, Sirius," Alphard quietly advised. "Do not think yourself to be
untouchable."
"You know this is wrong," Sirius ground out, taking his first sip of firewhisky, which
burned going down. He coughed loudly, and Alphard patted him hard on the back. Sirius
cleared his throat and let the warmth from the drink settle over him before he took a
second hesitant sip that didn't burn as much. "Cissa's going to be miserable."
"Matches made this way are traditional. You'd do well to keep your opinions quiet
on the matter. Your cousin will do what she's been raised to do. It's not in her nature to
stir things up. Unlike yourself. I hear you're making a name for yourself at Hogwarts. You
and that Potter boy."
"James." Sirius nodded. "He's my best mate."
"Be careful," Alphard warned. "Your parents have eyes everywhere. You won't be
a boy much longer. That drink in your hand is the first of many, and once they realise
you're approaching manhood, they'll be making more detailed plans for your future."
"What do you suggest?" Sirius asked, feeling his stomach churn at the thought of
letting his parents sell him off the way Cygnus was doing with Narcissa. Then again, it
might have just been the firewhisky. "Go along with them? Let them force me into a sham
of a marriage like Cissa? Shit, I'm shocked they didn't have us marry each other."
"No, we live in a time now where the pureblood families are trying to unite together.
Our world is changing, Sirius, and we all need to make decisions on how we're going to
adapt to it." Alphard tilted his drink back, finishing it off. "If I go and make pleasantries
with people I dislike for the sake of family, will you promise to stay out of trouble?"
"You want me to take an Unbreakable Vow?" Sirius suggested with a smirk, and
Alphard laughed.
"No, I think not. I rather enjoy having you around for situations like these, and
something tells me you'd end up breaking that vow all too quickly. And then who would
keep me company?" He ruffled Sirius's hair before stepping away from the bar and making
his rounds.