Blackened Days.
A/n- okay this is the sequel to Second to Go, basically you wont understand much of this if you haven't read STG. Brief overview- Sirius is free, Fudge is dead (yay), harry is living w/ Si & Ed, uuhm.... not easy to explain ten chapters in three lines you know!
****
Sirius set down the last few packages on Harry's bed. Edea had locked herself in her attic study, and Remus was talking to their new house elf.
"Well, where do you want to start?" Sirius pointed at the boxes, "The paint will paint itself, the shelevs with put themselves up, there actually isnt anything you need to do, other than point your wand at the box."
"Where'd Edea go?" Hary frowned
"Up to her muggle-system-central room." Sirius shrugged, "She's got this passion for everything muggle. And she's in there all the time when she has a bit of time to waste."
"Like Ron's dad?"
"Not really, she doesn't collect things, otherwise the garden would be full of cars, believe me."
Harry laughed, remembering Ron's dad's obsession with plugs and batteries.
"Having fun?" Remus walked into the room. "You got a good little elf there,"
"We have house elves?" Harry's eyes widened.
"Only two." Sirius answered, "Minko and Tinko... or something."
"Don't tell Hermione, for hell's sake." Harry shuddered, remembering S.P.E.W.
"They're pretty good, keep themselves hidden and everything. Moony just likes talking to them, don't you?"
"They can be very interesting." Remus nodded, defending himself from the inevitable pounding of laughter from Sirius.
"I wouldn't call them interesting... more... odd." Harry immediately thought of Dobby.
"Well i guess if you've no been brought up with elves they do seem slightly strange." Remus agreed.
"Did my parents have them too?" Harry asked cautiously
Sirius frowned thoughtfully, "I can't remember seeing any, but then again if you don't see them that means either they're doing their job properly, or there are none."
"They did." Remus countered.
"Don't tell me, you talked to them.." Sirius cracked up again.
"Well..." Remus blushed slightly.
***
Ludo Bagman moved his things into Fudge's old office, one witch was busy scraping off Fudge's name from the door, and another was placing Bagman's quidditch trophies on the cabinet shelf.
"Isn't this just.... grand!" Bagman clapped his hands in delight. "Well, theres going to be a little less pompousness and a little more *FUN* around here."
A few of the aurors outside the door rolled their eyes as Bagman started to hum the Wimbourne Wasps theme tune.
"This.... IDIOT has to be the worst failure the ministry has ever appointed." Mad-Eye Moody growled at Xanthe Langlay.
"Oh i dont know..." Xanthe smiled weakly, "He's quite charming."
"Charming he may be, but he won't get the job done."
***
Edea laughed, throwing the Daily Prophet to Sirius who was eating breakfast the next day, "Lok who they've appointed..."
"Bagman as Minister." Sirius read the headlines, "Oh well... it'll mean more emphasis on magical sports i suppose."
"Wasn't he a death eater?" Harry looked up from the note he was writing to Hermione.
"You got it." Edea nodded, "He charmed his way round the jury very successfully, and i guess he charmed his way into the Minister Of Magic's job too."
"You're working for him... oh this is... rich," Sirius giggled.
"Sirius? was that a giggle i heard?" Remus picked up a piece of toast.
"Uh, no. of course not." Sirius smirked. "If i see auror training has suddenly taken aboard a quidditch team, i'll cheer you on Eds."
"What, and get my face smashed in by a bludger, nooo thank you." Edea rolled her eyes. "I am never, i repeat- never picking up a bat and swinging it in mid-air again."
"You played Quidditch?" Harry asked with interest.
"We did. Let me give you a team listing..." Sirius smiled, "seeker was james naturally, beaters - Eds and me, chasers were the Dimble triplets, and the keeper was Arthur Weasley, well until he graduated, then we managed to get Mooney on the team."
"Don't remind me." Remus groaned. "I'm really not the sporty type..."
"RUBBISH!" Sirius sprayed toast crumbs everywhere. "You were great."
"You had the best broom!" Edea grinned, "No one else had a Nimbus 1500."
"Apart from Snape." Remus added.
"That doesn't count." Sirius waved his mug, "We hexed it too much so it went slower than a shooting star."
"Very true." Edea smiled, "Not that we'd admit to cheating..."
"It wasn't cheating, it was... decreasing the variables." Sirius said thoughtfully.
Harry attached a note to Hedwig's leg, and there was a flurry of white as Hedwig flew out of the window.
"Decreasing the variables my ass." Edea grumbled
Remus coughed and looked in Harry's direction, Edea went slightly pink, mumbling soething that sounded very much like 'bugger off'.
***
"m...Master?" Wormtail entered the dark room, the windows veiled with black velvet.
"Wormtail.. did you succeed?"
"Y..Yes Master... I have located the boy."
"Good." Voldemort sounded pleased, if such a thing was possible. "We shall be patient and wait for the full moon. It should lower their support. The wolf will scupper their plans."
"Such... amazing ideas my lord... truly amazing." Wormtail bent down to kiss Voldemorts robes.
***
"Right." Sirius said matter of factly, once Remus and Harry had disappeared out into Hogsmeade.
"You're going to show me how i can get plane tickets on this internetty thing."
"Okay." Edea sat down, connecting her computer to the internet, "You see this thing?" She pointed with the mouse, "You write in what you want to find, and it'll come up with answers, so we write say... New York." The screen flashed up with answers. "See, then you just pick airports, and a time, and you get the tickets when you appear at the flight info desks."
"Where the hell did you learn all this?" Sirius said amazedly as she typed in a few more destinations.
"I had a good ten years to find something to occupy myself. Aurors weren't in a great demand after Voldemort's defeat was finished with." Edea looked up at Sirius. "I had time to live in a muggle town just like a muggle would. I took classes, did things muggles were so fond of, met other muggles with the same interests. I even went as far as to set up a business."
"What kind, magical?"
"Nah, there was this appointment in the job section of the paper for a radio broadcaster assistant. So i took that, learnt what there was to it, but it got a bit boring, so with all the new music groups needing management and recording studios i set up 'StarDuCruet Records'."
"You? Set up a record company??" Sirius sounded amazed. "That's so not your style."
"Actually i quite liked it, it earned me a fortune."
"Hence the nice car." Sirius put two and two together.
"Exactly." Edea looked at the screen, "Anyway, Harry's birthday, where were you thinking of taking him?"
"Somewhere exotic. Caribbean or somewhere. Jamaica."
"Jamaica." Edea nodded, "You go there as a fugitive?"
"Indeed." Sirius grinned. "I needed somewhere completely the opposite of Azkaban, they don't have any windows there, just slits in the wall, you couldn't really see much of the sea, or anything else, but you could see the stars. Funny that. I didn't stay long in Jamaica, i kept seeing the same stars. Well obviously, you can't change the stars. But it reminded me of that hellhole."
"You know, they have the Quidditch championships in Australia this year." Edea noted with interest that Sirius' eyes brightened up at that.
"Okay, we're going there. Make it so we see the finals."
"The finals are on August the second." Edea tapped in. "So we could go say... on July the twenty ninth and leave around the fourth of august. Uhm... we'll have to change flights... okay. we are go."
"Class." Sirius grinned wider, "Don't tell him, okay? We've got to get notes out to the Weasleys and Hermione's parents, do they even take owl post?? Is there a full moon then?"
Edea who was very used to Sirius's quick fire questioning answered them in one breath. "Okay, you write them, yes they do, and no."
***
TBC
A/n- okay this is the sequel to Second to Go, basically you wont understand much of this if you haven't read STG. Brief overview- Sirius is free, Fudge is dead (yay), harry is living w/ Si & Ed, uuhm.... not easy to explain ten chapters in three lines you know!
****
Sirius set down the last few packages on Harry's bed. Edea had locked herself in her attic study, and Remus was talking to their new house elf.
"Well, where do you want to start?" Sirius pointed at the boxes, "The paint will paint itself, the shelevs with put themselves up, there actually isnt anything you need to do, other than point your wand at the box."
"Where'd Edea go?" Hary frowned
"Up to her muggle-system-central room." Sirius shrugged, "She's got this passion for everything muggle. And she's in there all the time when she has a bit of time to waste."
"Like Ron's dad?"
"Not really, she doesn't collect things, otherwise the garden would be full of cars, believe me."
Harry laughed, remembering Ron's dad's obsession with plugs and batteries.
"Having fun?" Remus walked into the room. "You got a good little elf there,"
"We have house elves?" Harry's eyes widened.
"Only two." Sirius answered, "Minko and Tinko... or something."
"Don't tell Hermione, for hell's sake." Harry shuddered, remembering S.P.E.W.
"They're pretty good, keep themselves hidden and everything. Moony just likes talking to them, don't you?"
"They can be very interesting." Remus nodded, defending himself from the inevitable pounding of laughter from Sirius.
"I wouldn't call them interesting... more... odd." Harry immediately thought of Dobby.
"Well i guess if you've no been brought up with elves they do seem slightly strange." Remus agreed.
"Did my parents have them too?" Harry asked cautiously
Sirius frowned thoughtfully, "I can't remember seeing any, but then again if you don't see them that means either they're doing their job properly, or there are none."
"They did." Remus countered.
"Don't tell me, you talked to them.." Sirius cracked up again.
"Well..." Remus blushed slightly.
***
Ludo Bagman moved his things into Fudge's old office, one witch was busy scraping off Fudge's name from the door, and another was placing Bagman's quidditch trophies on the cabinet shelf.
"Isn't this just.... grand!" Bagman clapped his hands in delight. "Well, theres going to be a little less pompousness and a little more *FUN* around here."
A few of the aurors outside the door rolled their eyes as Bagman started to hum the Wimbourne Wasps theme tune.
"This.... IDIOT has to be the worst failure the ministry has ever appointed." Mad-Eye Moody growled at Xanthe Langlay.
"Oh i dont know..." Xanthe smiled weakly, "He's quite charming."
"Charming he may be, but he won't get the job done."
***
Edea laughed, throwing the Daily Prophet to Sirius who was eating breakfast the next day, "Lok who they've appointed..."
"Bagman as Minister." Sirius read the headlines, "Oh well... it'll mean more emphasis on magical sports i suppose."
"Wasn't he a death eater?" Harry looked up from the note he was writing to Hermione.
"You got it." Edea nodded, "He charmed his way round the jury very successfully, and i guess he charmed his way into the Minister Of Magic's job too."
"You're working for him... oh this is... rich," Sirius giggled.
"Sirius? was that a giggle i heard?" Remus picked up a piece of toast.
"Uh, no. of course not." Sirius smirked. "If i see auror training has suddenly taken aboard a quidditch team, i'll cheer you on Eds."
"What, and get my face smashed in by a bludger, nooo thank you." Edea rolled her eyes. "I am never, i repeat- never picking up a bat and swinging it in mid-air again."
"You played Quidditch?" Harry asked with interest.
"We did. Let me give you a team listing..." Sirius smiled, "seeker was james naturally, beaters - Eds and me, chasers were the Dimble triplets, and the keeper was Arthur Weasley, well until he graduated, then we managed to get Mooney on the team."
"Don't remind me." Remus groaned. "I'm really not the sporty type..."
"RUBBISH!" Sirius sprayed toast crumbs everywhere. "You were great."
"You had the best broom!" Edea grinned, "No one else had a Nimbus 1500."
"Apart from Snape." Remus added.
"That doesn't count." Sirius waved his mug, "We hexed it too much so it went slower than a shooting star."
"Very true." Edea smiled, "Not that we'd admit to cheating..."
"It wasn't cheating, it was... decreasing the variables." Sirius said thoughtfully.
Harry attached a note to Hedwig's leg, and there was a flurry of white as Hedwig flew out of the window.
"Decreasing the variables my ass." Edea grumbled
Remus coughed and looked in Harry's direction, Edea went slightly pink, mumbling soething that sounded very much like 'bugger off'.
***
"m...Master?" Wormtail entered the dark room, the windows veiled with black velvet.
"Wormtail.. did you succeed?"
"Y..Yes Master... I have located the boy."
"Good." Voldemort sounded pleased, if such a thing was possible. "We shall be patient and wait for the full moon. It should lower their support. The wolf will scupper their plans."
"Such... amazing ideas my lord... truly amazing." Wormtail bent down to kiss Voldemorts robes.
***
"Right." Sirius said matter of factly, once Remus and Harry had disappeared out into Hogsmeade.
"You're going to show me how i can get plane tickets on this internetty thing."
"Okay." Edea sat down, connecting her computer to the internet, "You see this thing?" She pointed with the mouse, "You write in what you want to find, and it'll come up with answers, so we write say... New York." The screen flashed up with answers. "See, then you just pick airports, and a time, and you get the tickets when you appear at the flight info desks."
"Where the hell did you learn all this?" Sirius said amazedly as she typed in a few more destinations.
"I had a good ten years to find something to occupy myself. Aurors weren't in a great demand after Voldemort's defeat was finished with." Edea looked up at Sirius. "I had time to live in a muggle town just like a muggle would. I took classes, did things muggles were so fond of, met other muggles with the same interests. I even went as far as to set up a business."
"What kind, magical?"
"Nah, there was this appointment in the job section of the paper for a radio broadcaster assistant. So i took that, learnt what there was to it, but it got a bit boring, so with all the new music groups needing management and recording studios i set up 'StarDuCruet Records'."
"You? Set up a record company??" Sirius sounded amazed. "That's so not your style."
"Actually i quite liked it, it earned me a fortune."
"Hence the nice car." Sirius put two and two together.
"Exactly." Edea looked at the screen, "Anyway, Harry's birthday, where were you thinking of taking him?"
"Somewhere exotic. Caribbean or somewhere. Jamaica."
"Jamaica." Edea nodded, "You go there as a fugitive?"
"Indeed." Sirius grinned. "I needed somewhere completely the opposite of Azkaban, they don't have any windows there, just slits in the wall, you couldn't really see much of the sea, or anything else, but you could see the stars. Funny that. I didn't stay long in Jamaica, i kept seeing the same stars. Well obviously, you can't change the stars. But it reminded me of that hellhole."
"You know, they have the Quidditch championships in Australia this year." Edea noted with interest that Sirius' eyes brightened up at that.
"Okay, we're going there. Make it so we see the finals."
"The finals are on August the second." Edea tapped in. "So we could go say... on July the twenty ninth and leave around the fourth of august. Uhm... we'll have to change flights... okay. we are go."
"Class." Sirius grinned wider, "Don't tell him, okay? We've got to get notes out to the Weasleys and Hermione's parents, do they even take owl post?? Is there a full moon then?"
Edea who was very used to Sirius's quick fire questioning answered them in one breath. "Okay, you write them, yes they do, and no."
***
TBC