AN: This chapter was hard to get out. At parts I would feel full of inspiration but then I would have no idea where I was going with things. Thanks as always to Fia for helping me. And now to answer some admittedly mostly old comments.

Tiwa Vol

Thanks for the advice. I made sure to do it. Unfortunately when I published my first chapter I had no idea how this site worked.

Gandalf da Black

Thanks for the compliment though I'm sorry you had to wait over a year lol.

Terrahsims

Thank you! Thankfully I'm managing to put out semi regular content now.

HadEve

No I'm not a troll. I just got distracted by life for awhile.

Zero Fullabuster

I'm glad you're enjoying it. Heres another chapter lol. I'll be updating son of iron next but then I'll be back to this.

Two weeks had passed since they had been left here. Two miserable mind numbing weeks of pacing the cell and thinking about what he could have done if he had just been a little faster or a little smarter. Harry had some experience being locked up before, but he always knew that he would be let out eventually before. The Dursleys would need him eventually to either do their work for them or just to belittle him to make themselves feel better. Here his only promise of release was to be used as a supposed weapon in the case of his parents' murderer returning. Somehow this idea didn't bring him much hope or comfort while locked up.

In addition to the lack of hope of release, Sirius had taken a turn for the worse and had little energy for talk. Two days after their imprisonment began some of Sirius's wounds became infected and he developed a fever. Despite yelling for the guards whenever food was pushed into their cell no one ever responded let alone came in to help. Harry and Sirius were alone with no hope of even basic help it seemed. As the days went on Sirius had became continually weaker, by the second week spending most of his days and nights asleep. In his moments of wakefulness and clear headedness he assured Harry that he would be ok with time but Harry was less than reassured. Despite Sirius's explanation of internal magic from Harry's perspective he was seeing the closest thing he had to family slowly fade away in front of his eyes. He had just found Sirius and now he was terrified he was going to lose him like he lost everyone else.

This led Harry to his current situation, he had begun to pace the room during his days as well as doing simple bodyweight exercises. While Harry was far from a bodybuilder or even an athlete really. His time on the quidditch team had taught him some basic exercises mainly meant for lower body and core strength in order to better fly one's broom. Harry simply needed something to do other than whipping Sirius's brow with a wet cloth and dwelling on his ever darkening thoughts. So as a result he set a goal for himself, to eventually make his way up to the single window in the cell. He held no hope that he would be able to escape out the cell this way, let alone be able to take Sirius with him. However it gave him something to do, and after looking at the same 4 walls day in and out literally any change of scenery would be more than welcome.

Luckily despite their guards being less than hospitable in every other way they were decently fed and provided with two jugs of water a day in addition to mixed vegetables, meat and occasionally a bit of bread. It was far from the feasts of Hogwarts but it was healthy and filling enough to not leave their stomachs empty. Harry hoped with a combination of this and daily exercises he would eventually be able to jump or claw his way up to the window. And as such he was religious in making sure he practiced as much as he could daily without harming himself. He was towards the end of today's exercises when something different than normal happened.

After two weeks he had developed a fairly accurate sense of time for the day despite the lack of any clock or spell to tell the time. He could estimate from the position of the sun shining into the cell around how long it would take till the guards brought either of their two daily meals. The guards noticeably never deviated from this schedule and more importantly as far as he could tell it was the only time anyone came into the area outside he and Sirius's cell. So when he heard footsteps sounding outside he quickly stopped his pushups and got to his feet.

Harry could hear someone stop outside the door and he froze to listen for any more noise that could indicate what was happening, even holding his breath in hopes it might make a difference. That was quickly proven unnecessary as the rattling of keys and sound of metal scraping in locks was loud and clear throughout the cell. Harry remained frozen, this time not out of a desire to listen but rather out of panic. He had no idea what was about to happen and what he could do in response. With a quick glance he saw that Sirius was still dead to the world and showed no response to what was happening. This stirred him to action jumping between Sirius and the door before it could open. He knew he had no real hope of beating someone with a wand when had nothing of his own. But he couldn't stand the idea of Sirius being hurt when he stood by and did nothing, especially after Sirius had already taken a spell for him once.

After a final click of a lock and a moment of silence the door swung open for the first time in two weeks. As the door opened it revealed a robed figure standing back from the door with a wand raised and ready. They were wearing a mainly black set of robes with some bits being a dark red in color. The robes covered them from head to toe, while their hands were covered in black gloves as well. As for their face they wore what could at first glance be mistaken for a death eater mask but what was in reality a similar shaped mask of plain brown wood with two eye holes and no other facial features. The only other noticeable feature about the figure was a rough iron medallion hanging around their neck and laying on the center of their chest. Despite the simplicity of the outfit it left the individual in complete anonymity and Harry found himself shivering at the lifeless seeming mask.

Upon seeing Harry standing there and Sirius behind him the figure stepped forward into the cell before breaking the silence. "Inmate 39, step away from inmate 38 and retreat to the back wall with your hands where they can be seen. Refusal to obey orders will be met with varying levels of force based on level of uncooperativeness ."

Harry hesitated for a second, looking between the figure he assumed to be a guard and Sirius, before slowly backing away with his hands at his side. As much as he wanted to try to do something, anything, he knew as of the moment any action he might take would more likely cause more problems than it would solve. He was unarmed, at wandpoint, and could expect no help from Sirius at the moment as far as he could tell. And in fact any action he committed could get Sirius caught in the crossfire and he would have no way to prevent it.

Upon seeing that Harry had conceded to his orders the guard seemed to slightly relax and began to slowly move forward. Upon reaching Sirius he cast a spell over his body under his breath and nodded when he saw the result. Harry had tensed up for a second when he cast a spell but he figured it was unlikely to hurt Sirius being cast over top of him like that.

The guard after casting his spell turned to look at Harry again before returning to stand next to the door where he stood relaxed but still with his wand at his side. Upon reaching the door he called out "Inmate 38 is unresponsive while inmate 39 has taken position by the wall without causing any problems. The cell should now be safe for visitors sir!"

Upon this two guards in matching uniforms to the first made their way into the cell holding their wants at the ready as well. And behind them came the at this point far too familiar face of Lucius Malfoy. He smiled at Harry before wordlessly walking over to Sirius and beginning to poke at him with his cane. At this Harry snarled and began to step forward but quickly froze when the guards all snapped their wants in position aimed at his chest.

Lucius chuckled. "Easy now Harry, I'm just confirming he really is unconscious. I'm not planning on harming him, today at least, no he remains at the moment too valuable to let die." He turned to Harry. "That being said, how are you enjoying your new home's hospitality Harry?" He paused and chuckled. "Or I suppose I should refer to you as inmate 39 now if I want to use proper procedure, wouldn't want anyone accusing me of not following the rules after all."

Apparently he actually expected an answer from Harry as he stood there with a smug but inquisitive look on his face.

Seeing this Harry decided to play the man's game at least for now. "I'm worried about Sirius's health and there isn't much to do besides pace." He paused here. "But if you want the truth it's better than my muggle relatives."

Lucius laughed at this. "Ah Harry what would your headmaster think if he heard you say that? But yes, as much as I do see you as my enemy no mage born child deserves to live with muggle filth like you did."

Harry cut in here surprised. "But I thought you hated muggleborns, or as your son likes to call them, "mudbloods"."

Lucuis gave a rueful smile. "Ah Harry, I know you're young but surely you know by now that politicians rarely say what they truly think. Don't mistake me, I'm not fond of muggleborns as you quaintly refer to them. But just as I don't necessarily want my old Lord to return I equally don't believe in all his rhetoric. I believe in the superiority of the old blooded families this is true, and I do hate the muggles that cause us to hide like rats in the walls. But all magical blood is a blessing, even if some is superior to others. I doubt you know much of the Lord Grindelwald who preceded the most recent Dark Lord Voldemort, it was before your time after all. But I grew up hearing the stories of him from my parents, his dream to unite those gifted with magic under one banner and to take our place as the dominant group under the sun. Unfortunately I was too young to ever serve his dream, and instead I ended up serving that egotistical maniac the Dark Lord Voldemort as a result of my youthful foolishness. You can consider my politics a mix of the two past Dark Lords if you really care to think on the subject. But unfortunately the Dark Lord Voldemort's influence still holds power over the traditionalist block of which I lead, and if I'm to maintain that position I must publicly support all his ideology until I gain the power base to support my own. My son remains as you know more of a fool lion then the cunning snake he should be. As a result I decided it would be wiser to teach him to fully believe the ruse so he would never foolishly compromise me."

Lucius paused for a second, lost in thought. "But now! For the reason I've come to visit you today Harry. Despite what you might imagine I come bearing gifts. As I said earlier Sirius, like you, is too valuable to let die, so." He snapped his fingers and another hooded figure came into the room carrying a bag. They leaned down over Sirius and began to fuss over him waving their want and pouring potions down his throat with the help of magic.

"It isn't Saint Mungos but it should be enough to get your godfather back to proper health, and" Lucuis stepped out of the cell and levitated a box back into the room. "This contains books with which he can teach you when he recovers. It won't do for my weapon to have a 3rd year education now would it?"

Lucius chuckled at the confused look on Harry's face. "As you can see Mr Potter I am not needlessly cruel nor foolish. I won't leave you to die here nor will I allow you to go mad, for you to be of potential use to me I need you in decent health with a stable mind and body. However I will not have the time to personally oversee your education so I must trust that you will take care of this yourself with Sirius's help. Unlike my son I can be clear with what I expect from you Harry, I expect you to do perfect and nothing less. If I feel you aren't living up to your potential as a weapon well, I know your type and the best punishment will just be for me to punish Sirius in your place if you don't do well enough. But you've already been shown an example of that happening. So now I just need to leave an example for Sirius of what will happen if he doesn't teach you well enough."

Harry upon realizing what was happening tried to run but before he could even take two steps Lucius raised his wand. And a cold voice saying "crucio" was the last thing he registered before his world broke down to only pain.