Deaf!Sirius AU
The Blacks never bothered to learn to communicate with their eldest son.
Sirius didn't even know there was a way of communicating without talking that wasn't writing until his cousin Andromeda told him about BSL.
She taught BSL to Sirius and Regulus, so the two of them could communicate with Sirius easily.
At first it was really hard to teach them. They didn't want their parents to know about it (it was a muggle thing, after all), so they could only take a few classes each summer.
That was until one summer when Sirius was 8 years old. Andromeda brought them a picture of herself, that she had enchanted with the help of one of her professors at Hogwarts so it could give them classes while she was away.
No one else knew about this. They always were really careful not to use BSL too much in front of their family, so they always thought it was a stupid game and never asked about it.
A few years later, when he was about to turn 11, Sirius started to get really scared of going to Hogwarts.
Even if Dumbledore said in his letter that he'd assist Sirius with his hearing so he could take the classes, he knew no one would be able to understand his deaf voice. And if not even his parents had taken the time to learn Sign Language for him, why would a bunch of strangers do so just to befriend him?
Because of this, he didn't try to talk to anyone on the train on their way to Hogwarts.
He wasn't sure if the other boys in the compartment were talking to him or between them, but he didn't care because they wouldn't have understood him anyway.
Sirius just stared through the window the whole time, thinking about Professor Dumbledore and how he'd be able to hear soon. He thought maybe that would replace the sadness and frustration that not being able to talk to the other boys caused him. He was wrong.
The Sorting Ceremony and the Feast were overall overwhelming. Partly because he had no idea of what was going on, but mostly because all the noise around him gave Sirius a huge headache —just like the ones he'd have when his mother yelled at him; but a lot worse because it wasn't just one person, but hundreds of people screaming in the same room—.
He was also really confused throughout the whole thing because he was sent to a table full of people in red ties, and ‘Wasn't it a family thing that all Blacks were in the green house?’
Sirius thought his head might explode on their way to the dorms, and was really relieved when he finally arrived to the quietness of his dormroom and the sharp pain finally stopped.
As he unpacked his stuff, he was sure the other boys he shared the dorm with were talking about him.
They were all huddled together on one side of the room; but he couldn't feel them talking, so he guessed they were probably whispering so he couldn't hear them. Which was stupid, Sirius thought, because he wouldn't have heard them even if they'd started yelling at him. At least that allowed him to rest from all the noise that there was in the Great Hall.
Just when he was starting to think things could only get worse, Sirius was surprised by one of his dormmates gently touching his shoulder.
The guy was a scarred, skinny boy with tawny curls and hazel eyes. Three other boys were staring at Sirius from behind him.
‘Hello, you deaf?’ he signed.
Sirius was so happy he thought he might start crying.
He nodded enthusiastically at the boy. ‘You deaf?’
‘No, my grandmother is. My name is’ he stopped to think for a second. ‘R-E-M-U-S. What's your name?’
‘S-I-R-I-U-S’ he signed slowly, just to make sure the other boy would understand him. The other boys looked really confused. ‘Don't worry, the headmaster will help me hear. I can't speak too well.’
‘Don't worry. I will help you.’ Remus signed, smiling kindly at him.
After introducing himself to the other boys he shared the dorm with (with Remus' help) and getting to know eachother for a while, they all went to sleep.
Sirius laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling, a huge grin on his face. He hadn't been that happy since cousin Andie told him about the deaf language.
Maybe Hogwarts wouldn't be as bad as he thought.
