Christmas break couldn't come quick enough for Harry and he was thrilled when he was finally ensconced on the Hogwarts Express with only his friends and girlfriend for company. The last few weeks of school had been torture for Harry as he was ostracised and accused of all sorts by most of the students.
After that first article about The Dark Lady the papers were full of stories about her, even though she didn't speak out again or was even spotted out and about. The stories were all favourable to her and less favourable to Harry. Since Harry had accused her of various things and she'd denied them the papers declared he was lying and trying to cause trouble for an innocent witch. As if the papers blaming him wasn't bad enough, almost all of the school seemed to feel the same way. Harry had gotten into numerous arguments with people when they'd called him a liar. A lot of people were even questioning his account of what had happened at the end of the Triwizard Tournament. The Dark Lady had implied that her father hadn't been out to cause trouble for years and most people were happy to believe her. A couple of people had even called Harry a murderer for killing Voldemort at the Ministry.
As if that wasn't enough more people were openly agreeing with The Dark Lady's views on muggleborns. The fact the Slytherins were saying she was an inspiration and spoke a lot of sense wasn't a surprise to Harry, but he was surprised by the number of other students claiming that The Dark Lady made some valid points. However the last straw came a week ago when Lavender casually stated that she didn't think The Dark Lady was all that bad and that maybe Harry had misjudged her because of her father. The resulting fight had almost led to Ron and Lavender splitting up, but realising she might lose her boyfriend Lavender backed down and apologised for her actions. Things were still slightly tense between Harry and Lavender, but for Ron's sake Harry was trying not to let her get under his skin.
After a peaceful ride The Hogwarts Express pulled into the King's Cross station and everyone alighted. Hermione grabbed her belongings and said a quick goodbye before disappearing into the crowds to find her parents. Lavender said a longer goodbye to Ron, which included an obscene amount of public kissing and groping, before also departing. With their friends gone Harry, Ron and Ginny set off in search of their family. After a few minutes they found Molly waiting for all three of them.
"Harry, you can head home from ours." Molly told Harry, after greeting all three of the teenagers with a hug.
"Is everything okay with Sirius?" Harry asked anxiously. Occasionally the newspapers would call on the Ministry to reinvestigate Sirius's pardon, but so far he hadn't heard about them doing so.
"He's fine, we're just being cautious." Molly reassured Harry.
Harry wasn't completely reassured by Molly's words, but he let himself be swept up in the arrangement to return to the Burrow. The sooner he arrived at the Burrow, the sooner he could leave and go home to check on Sirius.
Leaving the Burrow was more difficult than Harry had anticipated. Fred and George were at the Burrow when they got back and Molly insisted Harry stayed for his dinner. With the twins, Ron and Ginny all begging him to stay Harry felt he had little choice but to accept. When he mentioned contacting Sirius to let him know, Molly informed him that he already knew and it was planned before they arrived that Harry should stay for dinner. The fact that Sirius already knew of the plans and was okay with them reassured Harry somewhat and he settled down for a lively dinner with the Weasley's.
Once dinner was over and the twins left for their small flat over the shop Harry insisted in going home. With an arrangement to meet Ron the following day, Harry said goodbye to Ginny and flooed home to Grimmauld Place.
"Sirius." Harry called when he arrived in the front room and found no sign of his godfather.
After lugging his trunk up to his room, Harry checked Sirius' room before heading back downstairs. Harry had just entered the kitchen when the door to the cellar opened and a frowning Sirius emerged. Upon seeing Harry his frown disappeared and was replaced by a wide smile.
"Harry, how's school?" Sirius asked as he embraced his godson.
"Not great." Harry admitted. When Molly had asked the same question over dinner he'd lied and said everything was fine, but he always confided in his godfather.
"All this stuff in the papers?" Sirius guessed as he began filling the kettle to make a pot of tea.
"Yeah." Harry sighed, sitting down at the table. "I was an idiot Sirius. I ran off to the press without thinking of the consequences and now everyone thinks The Dark Lady is brilliant. I handed her a golden opportunity to discredit the Order and she grabbed it with both hands."
"You didn't mean for it to happen, Harry." Sirius soothed as he made two cups of tea and carried them to the table. "You couldn't predict she was going to be so manipulative."
"I guess not, but I still feel bad." Harry said.
"Don't. I'm sure we can fix it." Sirius smiled reassuringly.
"How?" Harry asked. "She has the whole world eating out of the palm of her hand. You should hear people at school backing her ridiculous muggleborn ideas. She's even got good people convinced she's talking sense."
"People won't be so keen on believing her when they find out she's hiding her true identity." Sirius said.
"Damn, I forget all about that." Harry frowned in frustration. "I should have mentioned that she's Narcissa Malfoy."
"It's a good job you didn't." Sirius told his godson. "You can't go around accusing people like the Malfoy's. They have too much money and influence to mess with. Before we publically out her, we need proof of who she really is."
"How do we get that?"
"I'm working on it." Sirius grinned mischievously. "I promise I'll tell you more tomorrow, but I think it's time you went to bed. We can talk more when you're fresh, I know the train ride can take it out of you."
"Yeah, it can." Harry remarked, stifling a yawn. "But before I go, I want to ask about today. Why weren't you there to pick me up? Is there something going on I should know about?"
"We were being cautious." Sirius told his godson. "Everyone in the Order who works at the Ministry are keeping their ears open in case an investigation is going to begin, but we just didn't want someone to see me today and cause a fuss which may have pushed the Ministry into acting."
"What happens if they do start an investigation?" Harry asked.
"I'm not going back to Azkaban, so I'll run." Sirius answered. "Like before I'll keep in touch and try and see you as often as possible. And I don't want you to worry about having to go back to those awful muggles, if the worst should happen Molly and Arthur will take you in."
Harry nodded, hoping the worst wouldn't happen and they could unmask The Dark Lady before he lost Sirius again.
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"So where's Sirius?" Ron asked.
"He said he something to do when we were having breakfast and by the time I went upstairs to get dressed and came back he was gone." Harry replied.
Ron and Harry were playing wizard's chess in the front room of Grimmauld Place. Ron had arrived mid-morning and the pair had been in the front room ever since. They had briefly considered heading off to finish their Christmas shopping, but they didn't like to leave without informing Sirius where they were going.
"I'm hungry." Ron announced as Harry gained a rare victory over him.
"Let's go and see if we can find something to eat." Harry suggested.
Leaving the chess board where it was in case they wanted to resume their play after lunch the boys headed into the kitchen. Just as they were scouring the cupboards for food the door to the cellar opened and Sirius emerged. Just like the previous evening he was wearing a frustrated frown on his face.
"What are you doing down there?" Harry demanded. "You were down there last night as well."
"I'll tell you over lunch." Sirius replied.
Together the three wizards managed to rustle up a few chicken sandwiches for lunch. Sirius also brewed a pot of tea as the three sat down to eat and talk.
"Come on then, what's going on?" Harry looked expectantly at his godfather the moment they were all seated.
"Well, you know last night I said I was working on a way to prove who The Dark Lady was?" Sirius questioned, and Harry nodded. "Well, my solution is in the cellar. Not that's he's being very helpful, mind you."
"He?" Ron's eyes widened comically as he looked warily at the cellar door. "Are you saying you have someone in the cellar?"
"Yeah, a Death Eater." Sirius nodded. "I was out drinking a few night ago and he came in. I spotted his mark and couldn't resist grabbing him when he left the pub. I figured I could get him to talk, he's only a young lad and I figured he would break easily."
"And he won't break?" Harry asked.
"No, he's a stubborn little bugger. He won't give up The Dark Lady's identity." Sirius sighed.
"Maybe we can help." Harry suggested.
"I doubt it, but feel free to come back down to the cellar with me after we've ate."
Harry and Ron accepted Sirius's invitation and once they had ate the three wizards descended into the cellar. Sirius took the lead and even though he assured Harry and Ron that the Death Eater was restrained he told them to get their wands out just in case. Wands at the ready Harry and Ron followed Sirius into the dimly lit cellar, eager to meet their prisoner.
The Death Eater in question was chained to the wall at the far side of the cellar. When he looked up Harry and Ron both recognised him as the former captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, Marcus Flint. Harry and Ron also both noticed the heavy bruising on the wizard's face and the fact that he seemed in pain when he moved.
"Are you finally going to speak?" Sirius asked, slowly advancing on Flint. "Just tell us about The Dark Lady and we'll let you go."
"I don't think so." Flint responded. "I'll never survive talking about her."
"And you'll never survive not talking about her." Sirius countered. "Don't for one minute think I'm bluffing here, I'll make it hurt if you don't talk."
"And she'll make it hurt a lot worse if I do talk." Flint chuckled humourlessly. "Do your worst, it'll be nothing compared to what The Dark Lady would do if I talked."
"You would really die to protect her?" Harry asked, stepping forward.
"Yes." Flint nodded. "And even if I wasn't loyal to her, I still wouldn't talk."
"Why?" Ron questioned as he also stepped forward.
"I've seen what happens to those who betray her and I'm not suffering that fate." Flint said, looking up at the trio in defiance. "Do you worst, you don't scare me."
After that Flint refused to say any more, even once Sirius lost his temper and began torturing him. Once he had lost consciousness, Sirius decided that was enough for the day. Disappointed in their lack of results, the trio headed back into the kitchen.
"She must be a right bitch to have her followers so scared of her." Ron commented.
"If they're all so scared of her, how will you ever get anyone to talk?" Harry asked Sirius.
"I don't know." Sirius sighed. "What you need is someone who isn't worried that she'll kill them, plus they have to be weak willed enough to crack under pressure."
"I think I might know someone like that." Harry said quietly.
"Who?" Sirius and Ron asked at exactly the same time.
"Malfoy." Harry replied with a grin. "He knows his mother won't kill him for talking, and let's face it he's not exactly the bravest person is he? I'm sure with a bit of pressure, we can get him talking."
Sirius and Ron both looked impressed with Harry's idea and before long a full blown conversation was going on about how they could get the information they wanted from Draco.