《••••••••••••••••••••》
A Song of Lightning and Fire
Arc I: Hogwarts
Part IV: The Last Wish
《••••••••••••••••••••》
A week after Harry had left for Hogwarts, Sirius was starting to get really worried about his Godson. It was irrational, to an extent, but he had constant urges to pull him out of the School and homeschool the kid himself.
Of course, he wouldn't actually do that, but if Harry kept going on adventures like a search for The Cursed Vaults, one could not possibly blame Sirius for having these occasional urges. It was a good thing Albus was there along with Harry and Ginny, otherwise Sirius would be constantly worried for his safety.
He wondered how Molly Weasley was taking the news. She had a reputation for being rather overprotective, and Sirius couldn't even imagine what must be going through her head when Ginny must have told her the news.
He couldn't fault Harry or Ginny, though. If he was their age he would have jumped on the chance to find something like that. Especially if Dumbledore and a really cool DADA Professor would be helping.
Currently, Sirius, Remus, and Marlene were sifting through the Public records at the Ministry of Magic, trying to find a mention of Tempest Labs.
Their mission had to stay on the sidelines until Sirius got his prosthetic hand, and even then, it was still quite difficult for him. He was not used to this hand, and even if he was, the Doctors and Magismiths had told him that under no circumstances was he to use Magic- Wandless and/or with a Wand- with that hand until they gave him the all clear. Thus, he was stuck using his left, and since he wasn't ambidextrous, he felt like he was like a First Year all over again.
"Found it!" Remus called, unknowingly interrupting Sirius' train of thoughts, and waving him and Marlene over.
"It's in Manchester," Remus said when they were all hovering over the Parchment he was holding.
"What do they make?" Marlene asked, frowning.
"Potions," Remus replied dryly. Sirius and Marlene shared an eye roll. "Sorry. They make Nutritional Potions on order, mostly. But they're also known to dabble in Healing Potions if the price is right."
"Do they have an address?" Sirius asked.
"Must be here somewhere…" Remus replied off, running his finger down the parchment. "Aha!" He cried. "Here. Ambience Alley, Building 4."
"Who owns it?" Sirius asked.
Remus flipped a page, and then swore. "Narcissa Bloody Malfoy," he said.
Sirius and Malrene sighed as well, but no one said this would be easy. "Alright," Marlene said. "We need a plan. A good one this time."
"Don't remind me," Sirius muttered to himself. The guilty looks on the others' faces brought him back to reality. "Sorry," he said with a wince.
"No worries," Marlene said, plastering a smile on her face as Remus nodded along with her.
"So… the plan?" Sirius asked in an effort to redirect their awkward silence into something productive.
"Yes! Of course," Marlene said. "Er… we should go for a visit, I reckon. All of us this time."
Sirius nodded. "How are the Potions looking?" Remus asked.
"They'll last another day if they haven't spoiled already," Marlene said. "We should probably brew new ones."
Remus nodded. "I'll get on that," he said.
"I'll get on planning routes," Marlene said.
"I'll help," Sirius said to Marlene, who shot him a thankful smile. Truthfully, Sirius' intentions for working with her were more for the fact that they would get to spend some time alone than the actual planning itself, but he would keep the information to himself for now. It really wasn't the time yet… but maybe in the future… if she felt the same as he did… there could be something there.
《••••••••••••••••••••》
"... and this means that we'll be able to come out of the Ventilation Shaft here," Marlene pointed to a spot on the map just behind the building that was across the Tempest Labs building.
Sirius nodded along as she was speaking. It had been two days since they'd discovered where the Labs were, and he and Marlene had just finished formulating the plan. Now they just had to implement the plan and break in for a look at a later date. Or the same date, depending on how their plans went.
"Then I guess we're done here," she said, a disappointed tone to her voice.
"I suppose…" he said, trailing off, not wanting their time to end.
"Do you want to go out?" Marlene asked suddenly.
"Er… yes?" Sirius asked more than said. What was she asking him for exactly?
"The Fish and Chips place?" She asked. It wasn't the actual name of the restaurant, but she liked to call it that.
"Of course," Sirius said. "You know how much I love them."
"Best things the Miggles made, honestly," Marlene said, waving her Wand and storing the plans in a cabinet in the Living Room.
"You haven't tried Burgers or Pizza then?" Sirius asked.
"What's that?" Marlene asked.
"Oh," Sirius chuckled. "Only the best things you'll ever have in your life."
"What?"
"Screw Fish and Chips for tonight," Sirius said, holding out his arm. "You, my Lady, are having your first taste of a Burger."
Twenty minutes later, Sirius and Marlene were sitting outside Barnaby's, a pub that he, Remus, and Harry had found during the Summer when Harry had been horrified to learn that Sirius and Remus had never tried a Burger.
"This is so good!" Marlene gushed through a bite of her Burger.
Sirius smiled. "Glad you like it," he said, making a mental note to thank Harry.
"Magicals are missing out," she added. "Seriously, the Muggle food is amazing. Much better than the roast Chicken in the Daily Prophet canteen," she did an all over shudder, causing Sirius to laugh.
"How did you find this place?" Marlene asked, taking another bite.
"Harry was horrified to learn I'd never had any Burger," Sirius said. "At the time, I just thought he was just being overenthusiastic about it."
"Then you came here and your world turned upside down?" She asked with a smirk.
"Pretty much," he chuckled.
They ordered a glass of wine each, and just chatted about nothing and everything. It felt good, Sirius would admit. Just two people in their early 30s having a good time… that was until the waiter told them that they would be closing for the night.
Sirius and Marlene split the bill, and they began their walk back to Grimmauld Place. "I've got to take you out for Pizza," Sirius said. "You'll love it."
"I'm sure I will," she replied, placing her hand on his arm.
"Can I ask you something?" She asked when they were standing outside the door to Grimmauld Place..
"Hm?"
"Why did you never ask me out again after that first time?" She asked, causing Sirius to freeze like a deer in headlights.
"What?" Sirius asked nervously, hoping he'd misheard it.
"You know what I said," she said, taking a step closer to him.
"Would you have said yes?" Sirius asked.
"Honestly? Yeah," Marlene answered. "I would have."
Sirius' eyes widened. "And now?" He asked, wanting nothing more than for her to say 'yes'.
His prayers were answered when she nodded and said, "Yes."
"Seriously?" He asked, his heart beating a mile a minute.
"Yeah," she said, biting her lip and looking down. "I know a lot has happened. You and I… we've both changed. We're different people now, and while I do think we should get to know each other even better, I still want to give us a chance if you're up for it."
"I would love that Marlene," Sirius said. He opened his mouth again, but their moment was interrupted when Remus opened the door.
"What are you two doing out there?" He asked. "And where have you two been? I've been looking for you for ages."
"We were at Barnaby's," Sirius said. "What happened?"
"Barnaby's? What were you doing… Oh!" Remus said in sudden realization.
"Yeah," Sirius replied with a grimace.
"Sorry," Remus replied, wincing. "I just wanted to tell you that the Invigoration Draughts are ready. You two can leave whenever you want now."
《••••••••••••••••••••》
Ambience Alley was a place that the rich Purebloods frequented quite a lot, which was why Sirius supposedly knew everything about it, including where the building was supposed to be.
They had all lucked out since Tempest already had an inspection lined up for the 15th of January. Remus, Marlene, and Sirius had snuck into the Ministry and stolen, sorry, borrowed the Inspectors' uniforms so that they could get a Free Tour of the place.
They entered the building under disguises, and Remus used his hearing- sharpened beyond measure due to his Werewolf side- to search for any heartbeats that were more nervous than they should be.
He found none, so he decided to smell for any ill intentions, and again, he found none. He focused on where Sirius and Marlene were standing, and decided to follow their conversation for now.
"... and would it kill her to just fucking get here in time?" He heard Sirius finish his sentence.
They were in a room with a desk across from the entrance and couches on either side of him, along the yellow walls.
A few moments later, a woman- around her mid 30s- with shoulder length dark hair, wearing a Lab Robe, along with a pair of black trousers walked in and made a beeline for them.
"So sorry I'm late," she said. "We were making some refreshments for you. My name is Janice, by the way."
A man holding a tray with three glasses of some kind of juice walked toward them. "Here you are Sirs and Madam," he said.
"Thank you," Marlene said, accepting the drink. "But see that it doesn't happen again."
Remus didn't smell anything off, so he too decided to go and have a sip as well, prompting a hesitant Sirius to do the same. The drink was actually good, and non-alcoholic, which he supposed made sense since they were inspection officers…
"Come," Janice said. "I'll give you the tour."
They followed the woman from the reception area and into the elevator on the left side of the room, pressing the button to the First Floor.
The elevator doors opened into a large room with white floorings and a light brown colored wall. There were lots of desks and cubicles around the room where people were writing with quills or typing on typewriters.
"This is our Marketing sector," Janice said, walking out of the lift. "This is where they also do all the Posters."
She gave them a quick walk around, and a peek into the Artist's Section, where three people were waving their Wands and trying to replicate a picture.
She then led them to the Second Floor, which was considerably more interesting since this was where the Research and Development Sector was.
They were led into a white corridor with six doors. Three led into Labs for Healing Potions, the other three led into Labs for Nutritional Potions.
"Where would you keep your files?" Remus asked, causing the woman to frown at him suspiciously. "I am an Inspector. It's not like I'm going to rob you."
She seemed to relax a bit after that, but Remus could smell that she was still apprehensive. Finally, she spoke. "They're underground," she said with a sigh.
Remus nodded and Checked an Imaginary box on his notepad like it was the answer he'd expected. He noticed Sirius and Marlene do the same. "And where do you store your Potions?" Sirius asked.
"In our Warehouse, of course," she said. "We're not idiots."
She continued the tour, showing them inside the Labs, and Remus saw that most of them were filled with cauldrons and recipes. Again, the three of them scribbled down imaginary lines, and ticked imaginary boxes, while crossing out one or two.
Janice led them up on the Third floor which was mostly legal stuff that went right over Remus and Sirius' heads, but Malrene seemed to be able to keep track of what Janice was saying.
Eventually, the mind boggling tour of the Third Floor ended, and Janice led them down toward the reception area again. But unfortunately, they had a surprise waiting for them.
Two men, dressed in Inspectors Uniforms were standing outside the building, Wands out and looking ready to murder the Security Wizard right there.
"Oi!" Sirius shouted at the actual Inspectors.. "Who are you?"
"Who are we?" The man grunted. "We're the actual Inspectors. Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"We…" Remus trailed off, not knowing what to say next.
Thankfully, the matter was taken out of his hand when Marlene ran toward the side exit, dragging him and Sirius with her. The Security Wizards tried to intervene, but Remus cast three Stunning Spells in rapid succession, two of which hit their mark.
Sirius tried to cast a Spell on the third man, but he missed, and the man landed a Stinging Jinx on him.
Marlene drew her Wand and blasted the door open, and soon after, Remus felt himself being twisted through the air, and the compressing feeling of Apparition overcame him.
《••••••••••••••••••••》
"I don't think they'd keep something like an Orc producing factory in their main building," Sirius said, grimacing when Remus dabbed his face with Antiseptic.
"I don't either," Remus said. "But it's still worth checking out. There was something about the way Janice hesitated. I'm telling you, there's something there."
"I'm with Remus on this," Marlene said, taking Sirius' hand as he winced again. "There's no way they're going to hide something like this in a separate location. The Warehouses are too far away."
"But it's the main building," Sirius insisted. "People work there," he added.
"Do you really think Malfoy cares about people?" Remus asked. "I'd bet you anything that Janice was a Talon, or a Transfigured Death Eater."
"Maybe," Sirius said. "I'm still not sold on it, though."
"At least come with us to check it out tomorrow," Marlene said.
"Of course I'll come with you lot," Sirius said. Like he'd ever leave a lead alone. He just wasn't sold on it being a solid one.
The next day, they were able to sneak into the Building using Bolt Cutters and a Lock Pick, something Sirius had learnt to use just to pass off his Muggle hating Mother.
"Where would I hide an Orc making device if I were a Snobby, Stuck up Nonce," Sirius muttered to himself.
"Probably a hidden floor on the elevator," Remus said. "Not really much scope for anything else is there?"
They entered the elevator, and Sirius reached out with his left hand, trying to feel any Traces of Magic. He found some toward the top and reached up with his left hand, pulling the hatch in the roof down.
"Well, well," Remus said, nodding at the hatch. "Lookie here."
There was a button in the hatch, and Sirius pressed it, causing the lift to close down and plummet down to the ground much faster than it normally would.
Sirius, Remus, and Marlene grabbed onto the railing and tried to steady themselves with some success. Eventually, the elevator slowed and stopped. The doors opened, admitting them into a dimly lit corridor with oil lamps hanging on either side of it.
"Why, this isn't ominous at all," Remus muttered sarcastically.
Sirius ignored his comment for now and walked forward, aware of Remus and Marlene following him. He opened the door at the end of the corridor, and felt Enchantments all over his skin, making the hair on the back of his neck stand. He reckoned there must be Sterilising Enchantments over the doorway.
The Room they were in was dark with stone floors, but Sirius could hear some machines running, and he could hear the sounds of pumping and gurgling. There was a sudden hammering sound that made him jump nearly ten feet in the air.
The three of them lit their Wands, bathing the room in light. Sirius could see a huge cylindrical Tank filled with black colored liquid. The Tank had transparent pipes coming out of it that led the liquid into a machine that had more pipes coming out on the other side leading the liquid into a wall.
Sirius knew that there was probably more going on on the other side of the Wall, but there was no visible way to get in there. He tried reaching out with his Magic, but it was of no use. He couldn't sense anything on the other side.
"Where do we go from here?" Sirius asked them.
He saw Remus move forward toward the Machine and try to stiff something, but then he shook his head. He tried pressing his ear to the machine, but the Hammering sound came again, and Remus jerked back as though he was burned.
"It's going down," Remus said, rubbing his ear. "I can hear the liquid flowing. And that sound came from below as well."
"There's nothing here, though," Sirius said.
He saw Marlene walk toward the wall and start knocking at it, while listening attentively to the sound. He realized she was trying to find if there was a hollow entrance behind it, and he started doing the same.
"Guys, over here!" Marlene said, waving them over. "I think I found it."
They walked over to the wall and found that it was, indeed, hollow. Sirius drew out his Wand- barely remembering to use his left hand- and gave it a flick, casting the Runic Revealing Spell. The Wand vibrated, but nothing happened, except for a rumbling sound being heard.
Sighing, he tried doing the full Wand Motion, and this time he found success, but he didn't revel in it. This hand problem was getting really annoying.
The Runes on the door were complex, and beyond anything Sirius knew, but luckily, Marlene was an expert in Runes, and so, she was able to understand most of it.
Sirius watched her observe the Runes as she bit her lip in concentration, trying one or two Runes at a time, or drawing one and stopping mid way, only to continue or scrap her work. She truly looked like she was born for this kind of thing, which was why he couldn't fathom why she had ever chosen to be a journalist. But it was her choice, and he didn't want to tell her what to do, so he kept his mouth shut.
His thoughts were interrupted as he watched the wall crumble to dust in front of them, revealing a long hole that stretched downward. Sirius cast a Wand Lighting Charm and detached the orb of light from his Wand, sending it down to measure the depth.
The Orb kept on descending down until it appeared like a small dot to them. Gulping down his unease, Sirius cast Carpe Retractum at the roof, barely being able to hit the target.
He jumped down, and swung toward the wall, stopping his momentum. He jumped off the wall and fell for a little more time before he halted himself using his feet. Remus and Marlene followed him, and they kept on doing this until they reached the bottom of the tube.
They landed on what Sirius recognized as an Elevator roof. Only, they were on the outside of the room. He reached out with his Magic, and clenched his hand into a fist. Immediately, the steel on the roof bent to his will, and he slashed his hand to the side, causing the roof to be ripped apart, and fly off to the side.
He jumped down the hole, and was immediately assaulted by a pair of Stunners which he was able to block using a Shield Charm. Sirius retaliated with a Well Placed Petrificus Totalus, and he was pleased that his opponent went down.
He didn't think they were Talons, though. Just Security Wizards trying their best. Remus and Marlene hopped in after him as three more Security Wizards rushed into the room.
They were quickly able to incapacitate them, the Security Wizards being no match for their combined Skill or Sirius' Power. They bound and Stunned all of them, just for good measure, and they hid their bodies in a Broom Closet.
Sirius and the rest walked out into the corridor, and opened the door at the end of it. Sirius only had a moment to prepare when an Orc swung an Axe at his head.
This time, he wasn't going to fall for it, though. He ducked and drew out the Sword from the Orc's sheath, not wasting a Second to immediately back the hell away from the abomination.
The Orc followed him and tried to kick him, which left the Orc's head wide open for Sirius, who swung his own blade. The sword cut into the Orc's neck, causing a Black colored liquid to pool out of its body.
The Sword was stuck in the Orc's neck, but it didn't look like the Orc would be getting up anytime soon. He tried pulling the sword out and succeeded just in time as a group of at least half a dozen Talons came charging out of the door.
Sirius threw the sword at one of them, who was taken by surprise and wasn't able to do much more than watch as the blade pierced his heart.
Unfortunately, Sirius didn't think that he would be able to help much in a Duelling Fight since his hand was busted. But that didn't stop him from trying.
He cast Reductor Curses, Bludgeoning Spells, Stunning Spells, and a few Grey ones like the Conjunctivitis Curse, but most of them either missed or were blocked because they were too slow.
He watched Remus go down after getting hit with a Stunning Curse by the Talon he had taken out, which forced him and Marlene to fight side by side, four against two. Marlene landed a Stunning Spell, but Sirius was hit with a Bludgeoning Curse on his Shoulder, his knee, and finally, his face.
Sirius spat on the floor and cursed as his whole face burned. Bludgeoning Curses were an advanced version of the Bludgeoning Spell which allowed the caster to control the Spell after the initial impact to do more damage on another body part.
He saw Marlene get hit with a Cutting Curse on her arm, and all thoughts of pain flew out of his head. He stood up on shaky legs and thrust his hand forward, lashing out with his Magic.
The Talon went flying back and hit his head on the doorframe with a sickening crack and didn't get back up. Sirius pulled out the Orc's axe and swung it at the remaining Talon's leg, severing it clean off. He raised the axe before the Talon could get his bearings and cut the man's head off.
Marlene was able to land a Full Body Bind Charm on the remaining Talon, and Sirius immediately moved to wake Remus up as Marlene poured Dittany over her wound.
"Alright?" Sirius asked Remus.
"Fine," he said, blinking his eyes and reaching for an Invigoration Draught. "Just need some energy is all."
Sirius nodded and turned his head to Marlene who was closing up the wound on her arm. "You guys can stay back here if you want," he said, a feeling of guilt making itself known in his stomach.
"We're coming," Remus and Marlene said. "We're too far in mate," Remus added. "Besides, I can't abandon you like that. James would have my head if he were here."
Sirius gave a rueful chuckle but didn't object his point, ignoring the pang in his heart when he heard James' name. They entered the room at the end of the Hallway. There was a bridge of sorts in front of them with railings to their left, and when they turned in that direction, they couldn't hold their gasps even if they would have tried.
There was a Huge Cavern to their left, large enough to hold four Hogwarts Great Halls. The walls, the floor, and the ceiling seemed to be made of only brown rocks.
There were cylindrical tanks filled with a gooey substance that had something inside of it. This something was an Orc, Sirius realized as he squinted at the Tanks. This must be how they were made, but who was running all of this?
They walked down the stairs and Marlene started clicking pictures of the Tanks and the floor they were on as Sirius and Remus went about setting their Erumpent Potions about the room, which would blow up when any Spell was cast on them.
A Spell coming from their right caused Sirius to duck. The Spell flew over his head and bounced off of the tank, not even leaving a scratch.
Sirius straightened and cast three Stunners in Retaliation. The Talon dodged all of them, and then tried to run as he caught sight of Remus and Marlene, but it was of no use. Sirius caught him with a Carpe Retractum, pulling the man back before he could even run more than a few steps.
The man thrashed and writhed, trying to escape, but to no avail. Perhaps seeing that he had no other choice, he shouted something in a strange language. Immediately, a blaring alarm sounded.
"Shit," Remus said, recognizing the lockdown procedure. "Let's go before the Wards kick in."
They nodded and Marlene grasped the man's hand with hers before she pulled on her Portkey back to Grimmauld Place. Sirius saw the Talons come into view when Remus went to do the same, but they couldn't do much as Sirius too, activated his Portkey, casting a Stinging Hex at the Potions before getting sucked into the Vortex and reappearing at Grimmauld Place.
《••••••••••••••••••••》
Sirius, Remus, and Marlene had quickly Stunned and tied up the Talon while they prepared to interrogate the man. They took great pride in the fact that they were able to even get one of those bastards on their own, remembering how hard it was to do so in the last War.
They had him tied to a chair in front of a table in Walburga and Orion Black's old bedroom. Kreacher had turned the room into an Interrogation room, something Sirius was quite grateful for.
"I'm pumping him with Veritaserum now," Marlene said.
They nodded in acceptance and Marlene held the man's chin up, forcing his mouth open and puring three drops of the Potion on his tongue. She then jabbed her Wand at the man, waking him up. He jerked and frantically turned his head from side to side, seemingly trying to find an escape.
"What's your name," Marlene asked in a distorted voice. They were using disguises so that they wouldn't be identified.
"Alexi Fawley," the man replied with an accent.
"What is your job?" Marlene asked.
"Orc maker," he grunted, grimacing when the answer left his lips. If looks could kill, Fawley would have killed them all about 10 times by now.
"And how do you make these Orcs?" Sirius asked, cutting to the chase. The memory of what Theo Nott had told him about not knowing what Orcs were came to his mind, and he wanted answers as soon as possible.
"Black Blood," he grunted. Sirius frowned for a moment before a horrible sinking sensation made itself known in his stomach.
It couldn't be…
"Whay did you say?" Sirius asked.
"Black Blood," the man grunted again.
He remembered that Veritaserum could only get him one or two worded answers, so he raised his Wand and pointed it between the man's eyes, waiting until they locked with his. Legilimens, he cast.
He was assaulted with an obscene amount of visions, but he quickly searched for the ones about Black Blood.
"Blood of a Black is useful," a muscular looking man with a moustache said. "They've bred with so many… monsters, that we can easily make our Orcs if we get a steady source of that Blood. It's the only way, and it's the only thing we're missing."
"Capturing Sirius Black seems a tedious task," a thin man said. "Why go through the trouble? Let's just capture a Werewolf or something."
"The Blacks already have the mixed blood," the muscular man grunted. "Alexi, find him. Capture him. By any means necessary."
"Where will we keep him?" Alexi asked.
"Azkaban," the muscular man suggested. "I have Draught of Living Death for him in the Lower Levels. Well set up a Shell Company, and go from there."
Sirius withdrew himself from his mind, and the man passed out due to the rough use of Legilimency, hell he might have even been dead, or a vegetable, but Sirius didn't care. He needed space. And he needed it now.
"What's wrong?" Marlene asked as he got up. Remus had gone over to check the man's pulse.
"Black Blood," Sirius grunted.
"Sorry?" She asked, frowning in confusion.
"Black Blood," he repeated. "My Blood. They used it to make the Orcs."
《••••••••••••••••••••》
A/N: I'm not happy with this Chapter either lmao. But it's more due to the fact that I've pretty much lost all inspiration to write the filler in this Part. I'll try better in the next Chapter, but rest assured, you are getting a damn good Hinny adventure in Chapter 44, and a rather shocking Chapter 43, no matter how long it takes me.
As always, please leave reviews. It always helps no matter how much or how little you have to say.
I'll see you guys in the next Chapter!