Chapter Eleven
Sirius woke up late the next morning. It was a habit he had rarely been able to indulge in as Harry grew older. Once the boy could get out of bed on his own, it was over. Sirius never saw his bed past 9am again. He was lucky to get to sleep that late.
He felt refreshed. He had slept until 11am. Harry had gone with the Grangers to some event at the local library first thing this morning. Harry wasn't expected home until supper, where Nookie would treat everyone to a delicious dinner and Sirius would get to hear about their day.
In the meantime, he had to get to Grimmauld Place and find that locket. Padfoot changed and ate a quick brunch before heading over to his old home.
The very sight of the black doorway into the dank townhouse crushed between a row of similarly dower and depressed homesteads made Sirius ill. He hadn't stepped foot in this place since he was 16 years old. HIs mother had cursed him up one side and down the other for dishonoring the family. He had been expected to take the dark mark but had refused. Better to suffer her abuse and run away to freedom than stay and become a slave to an evil bastard.
The front entryway was as he remembered it - giant, severed troll leg used as an umbrella stand and all. He walked through the doorway and started a tour of his old home. He felt like a ghost haunting the place. The receiving room, the formal dining room, the library. All places with bad memories attached to them. It wasn't until he entered the family sitting room that the reality of the situation really hit home.
He froze in front of the wall with the family tree tapestry. He followed the lines of his forefathers and mothers through time to find the place where his own name should have been. It was gone. Burned from the tree like trash thrown on the fire. It was proof positive that he didn't belong.
Sirius wanted to leave so badly. He hadn't even been looking for the locket. He had just been wandering the halls like a ghost of the past, coming back to torment himself.
He took a few deep breaths and remembered what he was here for. Some evil bastard member of his family had kept a piece of the evil bastard Voldemort's soul as a keepsake. Now Sirius had to come end the soul piece before the Dark Nutter came back and put an end to Harry. Sirius squared his shoulders in determination and set to work searching the room.
The Gods were with him or something. Sirius had transformed into his animagus form in the hopes of using his enhanced senses to sniff out the evil trinket. To his shock, it worked right away. His nose led him to a glass cabinet with pride of place in the center of the far wall. Sirius picked it up and examined it. The extreme pull he felt to put the thing on was all the proof he needed to know the locket was a soul shard. Those things tended to have a mind of their own. He pulled a containment bag out of his pocket and placed the locket inside. He slipped the bag into his pocket right away.
A house elf popped into the room and started going crazy.
"Where is it? Master Regulus' locket. Dids you be taking it? GIVE IT BACK!" the elf screeched. It ran at Sirius and began attacking his shins. Sirius recognized the little creep. It was Kreacher.
"Kreacher! Stop! I demand it. Stop now!" The little elf froze in mid punch. Sirius' shins were grateful.
"Awful, blood-traitor master has returned. He steals what belongs to Kreacher and commands Kreacher to allow it. Evil, bad master," the elf was simultaneously sobbing and spitting venomous words at Sirius.
"Kreacher," Padfoot said seriously. "I command you to tell me what you know about this locket."
The elf hissed at Sirius but began his tale. Padfoot listened in horror to the story of how his baby brother had drowned in a sea cave, drug under the water by inferi. He must have been so terrified. Padfoot felt so horrible. If only he had been more kind to his brother, he might have come to Sirius when he needed help with the locket instead of a half-crazed house elf.
Sirius started speaking to the distraught elf.
"Kreacher, the locket is a goner. I'm going to take it to be destroyed. The goblins have been destroying the Dark Nutter's soul shards with my help for years. We will find and destroy them all."
The elf looked like he didn't believe a word that came from Sirius' lying mouth. He tried to convince the little ankle biter but it didn't believe him.
"Look, if you'll come with me, we can go to the goblins now and watch the thing be destroyed. Would that satisfy you?" Sirius was at wits end. He didn't know why he even bothered to try to convince the vile creature but the elf's loyalty to his brother had been absolute. Sirius couldn't save his brother but he could let the elf see his last request fulfilled.
The elf still looked unconvinced so Sirius made another concession.
"If you come with me and see it done, I'll trade you to Narcissa for a different elf. Would you like that? To go work for a proper pureblood family?" Padfoot could use this to his advantage. This could be just the ruse he needed to get her to Gringotts for a heart-to-heart conversation.
The elf quickly agreed. This pleased them both. Neither of them had much love for the other. They would both be glad if they never saw the other again.
A quick trip to Gringotts and it was done. The elf looked like a terrible weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He barely complained at all when Sirius told him to go back to Grimmauld place and pack all of the dark arts artifacts into one trunk and all the books into another. The dark arts artifacts would be destroyed. The books were all Sirius desired from the terrible house he hoped to never step foot in again.
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It took almost a month for Sirius to arrange a meeting with Narcissa. The ruse perpetuated by Gringotts was that her Aunt Walberga had left some items to her that needed to be picked up at the bank. Padfoot thought it would be a good idea to butter Narcissa up so he had Kreacher pack up some of his mistress' finest things to be a gift for Narcissa. Sirius really didn't care what the elf chose but decided he should look through it anyway. It was fairly innocuous so Padfoot was glad to see it passed along.
Sirius again arrived early for the meeting and paid the fee for the goblins to let him use a meeting room and put the glamour upon himself to make him look like his former self. He was waiting in the room when she arrived. She froze in the doorway when she saw him.
"Sirius," she said calmly. "I apologize. I thought you were deceased." Sirius grinned at her.
"Rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated, cousin," he said with a Cheshire grin.
"How is it that you convinced Azkaban otherwise?" she questioned him.
"Wouldn't you like to know," he teased her in return. "Come, Cissy, sit. We have much to talk about."
"I think not," she responded. "My husband will be most interested to learn of your good health. I simply must hurry home to tell him." She said with a cool viciousness.
"Tut, tut, Cissy. Don't be so hasty. I am the new Lord Black, after all. You owe me your respect. Unless, you want to be tossed from the family with your marriage annulled before you can even get home. I did bring gifts, after all," he said gesturing at the things Kreacher had gathered for her, showing off the Lordship ring as he did so. Narcissa gasped.
"How did you get that ring? Is Arcturus dead? How did I not hear of this?" she asked, with a hand covering her mouth.
"No, Cissy. Grandfather abdicated his lordship to me. He will keep up the Wizengamot position by proxy for me until my son is old enough to take it over. He was fine and dandy, last time I saw him." Padfoot couldn't help but laugh. Narcissa knew just as he did that only the true and validly claimed lord could wear that ring.
She came over and sat heavily in the chair across from Sirius, studying the ring up close. She wouldn't put it past her cousin to use a forgery to trick her. She could tell. This was the real deal. Sirius was Lord Black. Trepidation filled her voice as she spoke next.
"What do you want, Sirius?"
"I just wanted to give you your things and get something of mine in return. Your husband has a diary that belongs to the Black Family. It has T. M. Riddle inscribed inside the cover. It is black and small," Sirius said, describing all he knew of the book. The goblin scrying spell wasn't very forthcoming with the details.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said stiffly. It was obvious to Padfoot that she knew more than she was saying.
"I think you do. It's a soul shard, Cissy. I wonder what would happen if a Black Family soul shard found its way into your son's hands. What Black family member would possess him and take over his body for their own? What do you think, Cissy?" Sirius said all this in a mocking tone. If the fear of his power as Lord Black wasn't enough to cow her into compliance, maybe fear of the soul shard would be.
She froze at his words. A soul shard? In her house? NEAR HER BABY? Surely not. Lucius wouldn't be that stupid … would he? Narcissa thought for a moment and decided he would be. She still didn't give anything away so quickly.
"I recall no such object. My husband would never be stupid enough to bring such a vile thing into my home with our precious son. I think I should leave," she was very anxious to get home and destroy that thing.
"You can't destroy it, you know," he said to her retreating back. His words echoed in the room. She stopped walking.
"The goblins are the only ones that can destroy them. I have an agreement with them. They'll destroy it and I get to watch." He reached down and took something out of his pocket and threw it on the table.
"No one has to know that you helped destroy it. This book is a replica of the diary. It even feels evil and pulls anyone who writes in it into a trance, forcing them to write all their secrets. It will fool anyone but the Dark Nutter himself." Narcissa stood quietly, in thought.
"If you want to make the trade, I will give you 100,000 galleons. Your husband never has to know you have it. You never know when a lady might need some emergency cash of your own." Narcissa was listening now. Lucius allowed her a generous budget but he checked every purchase for his approval. She also knew that he still followed the Dark Lord. She did not want the insane half-blood to return to power. Lucius might be willing to overlook his blood status and his cruelty in the pursuit of more power but Narcissa was not so willing. She would not have her son fed to that maniac. She would take this money and flee with her son before she would allow that.
She turned back around to face Sirius. "How would we make the trade?" she asked.
Sirius grinned in response. "You'll agree to trade a house elf with me, for breeding purposes. You'll take Kreacher and I'll take whoever you send. Kreacher will bring the key to the vault to you and your elf will bring the real book to me."
Narcissa thought for a few moments before she agreed.
"Tomorrow, Sirius. I will send the elf to you here. Do not attempt to betray me. My revenge would be cold and merciless," she hissed at the man across the table from her.
Sirius laughed but agreed and so it was done. A few weeks later, Dobby arrived with the diary and Kreacher left with the vault key. A quick fee paid at Gringotts and then there were none.
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