Chapter 4

Sirius walked through the arch into the Gringotts lobby. He made his way towards the closest clerk and said. "I wish to speak with Bonecrusher, the Black family accountant."

The goblin bared his teeth in more of a grimace than a smile. "And what business do you have with him?" The goblin snarled at the end. Sirius just raised his eyebrows at the over-the-top attitude.

"As far as I'm aware I am the Black family heir. I am entitled to speak with him round the clock at my discretion." He said calmly.

The wrinkly creature grimaced even more and stood up. "Very well, wait here."

Not even a minute later he came back with a guard. "Follow him." He said curtly.

Sirius nodded. "May the blood of your enemies forever stain your blade."

"And their gold your vaults." He replied in a slightly friendlier tone.

Sirius had long grown out of his initial petulant attitude towards the goblins. Now he actually didn't mind interacting with them as much, matter of fact, he often found it preferable to doing so with his fellow pure-blooded witches and wizards. They expected no respect and gave none back, but if you took the first step they usually followed suit. Up to a point, obviously. There was still no love lost between them and any wizard.

In the end of the day they remained the same toddler-sized, greedy fucks, no matter how you treated them. Always fancying themselves way smarter than they really were. Moaning about inequality, while proclaiming their race superior to wizards. In between rebellions they actually enjoyed a somewhat-equal status in the wizarding society, but that came to a swift end when all they did was cheat people in agreements and abuse the freely given privileges and good will. Goblins used 'given an inch, they will take a mile' as a motto to live by. You had to keep them under control since they had no degree of self-moderation, always trying to take advantage of you.

Nonetheless, Sirius liked to maintain a charade of friendliness with the goblins. While they were not to be trusted, he was not above using their ploys to his advantage. He still generally kept them at an arm's length, but he was not blind to the advantages having their cooperation could bring. And coming off as more likeable than Malfoys, Parkinsons or Lestranges should not be a challenge.

Sirius was led towards the room he only visited once or twice in his youth. It seemed Bonecrusher's office remained the same. He entered and took his seat silently, seeing as the goblin in question was in the middle of writing something down.

He finally looked up and actually grinned at Sirius showing his sharp, yellow teeth. "Sirius Black." The elderly goblin rasped out in a gravelly voice.

"Bonecrusher." Sirius responded.

"What brings you here? I was under the impression you cut ties with your family." He grimaced distastefully.

"Well, I am still the heir, despite all my mother's effort to disinherit me. Apparently my grandfather retained some sense in his final years, despite being influenced with less than respectable ideologies towards the end of his life. Since he deemed it fit to leave the headship to me in spite of our differences the least I can do is respect that. So, I figured now would be a prime time to claim what's mine." At his unamused gaze Sirius sighed. "Truth be told, there was a time I wanted to just leave it all behind. My parents, they were getting quite... aggressive towards me if you catch my meaning. At the time I had to get away or I was sure the curses, getting more and more serious and frequent, would eventually result in some serious impairment or even death."

"I was somewhat aware of your parents' views and their... dispositions. So I'm not all that surprised by what you are describing. Either way, you can spare me the sob story - you won't get a better deal out of it. What I meant was, why now, what gave you the push to claim your birthright now. Your grandfather had passed away almost two years ago." Bonecrusher asked.

Despite not having any real reason to, Sirius decided to humor the goblin.

"I, well, I am not sure if the news reached here yet, but the Potters had died tonight." He only nodded non-comittally in response. "Only little Harry survived. I am also named Potter Regent till his fifteenth birthday, possibly longer. I am afraid however someone will try to fight my custody, despite being the boy's godfather." Sirius grimaced. "Namely one Albus fucking Dumbledore."

"Well you certainly have the right to contest it, there is no doubt about that. But you will still have to go through the process and try to claim the ring like everyone else." Sirius was well aware of the process so he just nodded.

"Let's just get on with it."

The old goblin just grunted in acknowledgment and opened one of the drawers. Pulling out an ornate box his expression did not change when a needle pricked his finger. The box opened revealing two equally ornate rings.

Sirius picked the lord of house ring and put it on straight away. There was a quick uncomfortable feeling as the Black family magics scanned him, but it passed almost instantly. Apparently, it judged him worthy, as he wasn't writhing on the ground in agony. Sirius breathed a sigh of relief, a tension he was not aware of leaving his body. He was sure that his ancestors did not share his family's latest views on what constituted a proper wizard and he was very confident in his magical ability, but with so much on the line, you could never be too sure.

"Congratulations, Lord Black." Bonecrusher actually grinned.

Sirius grinned back, a touch of smugness entering his features."If my mother is still alive in that old house she will certainly kick it, when she sees my hand now." He actually was not aware when his mother died exactly, despite coming from the future. It was actually kind of sad since it demonstrated the state of his relationship with his immediate family.

There was one piece of knowledge from the future he just had to make use of now, however. Grinning maniacally, he spoke to Bonecrusher. "There are some decisions pertaining to the house I have to get out of the way immediately."

"I, Sirius Orion Black, Lord of Black, declare the union between Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black and Rudolphus Lestrange null and void for breach of contract. They foregone their lordship and noble status by accepting a slave brand of Tom Marvolo Riddle - a half-blood of common birth. So mote it be."

Sirius actually spent quite a bit of time debating on whether to end the union right now or wait for their inevitable conviction and try to gain even more. But after looking through the clauses of the marriage contract he was more than satisfied with the penalty he would get. His family paid a truly ridiculous amount of money in dowry, he wasn't sure how it even could be justified. He would never argue that Bellatrix was all there in the head. Her personality also left a lot to be desired and that was an understatement. But even if Rudolphus was to marry a mentally impaired troll toddler, that dowry would have still been exorbitant. It felt like they were giving pieces of their fortune away in exchange for fuck all. No matter, it would all be reclaimed now, with interest.

Claiming their vaults outright, on the other hand, would have been a tall order, the law was very clear on that, only after the line was dead would they go to someone else, and even then it would be someone denoted in the will. It was a precaution against corruption, paltry as it was. The ministry had tried to take Sirius's vaults after his conviction, so arguing against it now would have left a bad taste in his mouth.

Ignoring Bonecrusher's suddenly wide eyes, beyond letting himself feel a minute sliver of satisfaction, Sirius continued, even as he felt his family magics accepting his statement.

"I, Sirius Orion Black, Lord of Black, disinherit Bellatrix Black for staining the name of the house by willingly becoming a slave to someone of lower status, as well as her attacks on members of other noble houses and commoners alike. I strip her of the name Black and all the family magics that come with it. Let her be known as Bellatrix no name from this day forth. So mote it be."

Bonecrusher looked ready to cut in but Sirius continued.

"I, Sirius Orion Black, Lord of Black, declare the union between Narcissa Malfoy nee Black and Lucius Malfoy null and void for breach of contract. Lord of Malfoy has foregone his lordship and noble status since he accepted a slave brand of Tom Marvolo Riddle - a half-blood of common birth. So mote it be."

Sirius held back from disinheriting Narcissa for the moment. Her marriage was set up by their parents as was Bella's, but she did not commit any truly damning acts. The fact that she totally swallowed all the twisted ideas their family forced down her throat wasn't quite enough for Sirius to cross her out with pure conscience. He would have to meet with her before making any binding decisions. There was just one immediate thing to do before speaking to Bonecrusher.

"I, Sirius Orion Black, Lord of Black, reinstate Andromeda Tonks nee Black back into the Black family and welcome her daughter Nymphadora Tonks as a new memeber, as she too is a daughter of Black. So mote it be."

Feeling the magic accept his final decision he let out a breath and relaxed slightly into his seat. He wasn't sure the whole ceremonial speech thing was really necessary but he decided to just do it properly the way he was taught, no matter how stupid it may sound in his opinion.

"Well... that is one way to start a lordship." Bonecrusher said.

"Yes, yes it is. Now we can discuss the arrangements I want to make." At his nod Sirius continued. "I assume you will handle taking back the dowry and reparations from the parties I named earlier?" A nod later he went on. "I want to be the only one with access to the family vault. Andromeda should have access to her personal vault back, though Narcissa should not. If she comes to the bank and tries to access it tell her to contact me."

Bonecrusher made some notes. "I also want to temporarily name Harry Potter my heir. As he has enough Black blood and is my godson he can make the claim. Set up an heir trust vault for him as well." Sirius took a moment to think. "That will be all for now, but I want you to send me the current list of properties and investments as well as the account balance. From now on I want weekly bank statements, and contact if you deem it prudent."

Standing up Sirius made his way towards the door not bothering to say anything more to the old goblin, as all his attention was already occupied by his papers.

When he exited the bank he took a deep breath of fresh nightly air. A grin split his face. He had to admit that stripping Bellatrix of the family magic felt really fucking good. He would pay good money to see her face right now. Though, on the other hand, it spared his ears her furious screeching and curses, so maybe it was for the better he was not anywhere in the vicinity.

Looking at the dark sky and moon, he realized it was probably three or four in the morning. Even with the occlumency, he needed at least around 4 hours of sleep to feel fresh, so maybe it was time to get going.

Taking one last breath he spun on his heel and disapparated, feeling a bit more confident about the future.

END