The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black

by Chanvree

It is Harry's 5th year and Sirius Black has been hiding a lot of things from him. Voldemort's attacks are minimal compared to a new threat that wants to see the entire Noble House of Black utterly destroy.

6. The Pendant of Life

Chapter 6: The Pendant of Life

Upon Harry's arrival, he quickly learned that Sirius had locked himself in the room he shared with May. The house was now a beehive of commotion. It seemed that Alex had shouted at Mrs. Weasley for being nosy and locked himself in the study. Mrs. Weasley, upon seeing Harry immediately asked him if he was hurt. Harry could see that Mrs. Weasley had been very distressed about the attack especially since it had been close to home.

'Oh dear me…' Mrs. Weasley mumbled as she sat down to have a cup of tea, so as to calm her nerves down. 'Has anyone informed Dumbledore yet?'

'Not yet.' answered Lupin, who had sat across from Mrs. Weasley, at the kitchen table. Lupin took a sip of his tea before continuing, 'so far…Dumbledore is nowhere to be found. We suspect that he has gone to do something else.'

Mrs. Weasley looked a bit relieved and then she began to persuade Lupin to talk to Sirius about preparing May's burial. You could easily tell that Mrs. Weasley was not comfortable with the idea of having a corpse in the house.

Harry then went up to his bed and once he had sat down he couldn't find the strength to get up, or even move. His mind kept going over what had happened and it was driving him mad. He didn't know what to feel. Ron and Hermione thought that it would be better to leave Harry alone for the moment, so he could organize his thoughts. But Harry's peace didn't last long, for Tonks had come into the room after Ron and Hermione had left.

'How are you holding up, Harry?' asked Tonks as she sat beside him.

'Ok, I guess.' Harry answered truly not knowing what to say to her, for there were so many emotions going through him at once.

Tonks took a deep breath, 'I know that I am not the person you would normally talk to…but,' said Tonks running a hand trough her hair. 'I'm just as understanding as Sirius.' Tonks smiled.

Harry looked at her and grinned, 'Thanks, but I doubt that Sirius is known for being understanding.'

'True enough.' Tonks brightly smiled but then she shuffled her feet as she looked at Harry. 'I have been meaning to ask you something ever since we arrived from the drugstore.'

'I know what you are going to ask,' began Harry, 'the truth is that I don't know. At the beginning and even until today, I didn't like her and now…'

Tonks looked at him surprised and then hugged him in a mother like embrace, 'And you miss her?'

'No,' answered Harry, 'I only regret not taking the time to know her better. After all…she was my mother's friend.'

'Understandable,' said Tonks as she let go of him, 'but once you know her, you will surely miss her, you know.' she told him with assurance. 'May was a great lady even if you doubt that.' she told him as she looked at him. 'I guess will have to tell you what I know about her.'

True to her word, Tonks told Harry everything she knew. Harry learned that Sirius and May had begun dating halfway through their sixth year at Hogwarts but they later broke up. Harry also learned that Sirius never gave up on his relationship with May and that, in the end, they got back together again.

'Ever since then, they had been inseparable…well…except when it came to May's career choice. May wanted to be an Auror but Sirius wanted to keep her safe and the rumours that all the Slytherins were joining You-Know-Who didn't help their relationship. May had applied to become an Auror after graduating from Hogwarts at the Ministry but she had been refused because she was a Slytherin. Now here is where the tricky part comes in.' said Tonks grinning. 'May went to see Dumbledore to offered her services. As far as I know, she has never been an Order member even to this date.'

Harry was intrigued but he didn't need to tell Tonks that. Tonks had a feeling that she had Harry right where she wanted him and continued her story.

'Dumbledore was convinced that May would be the perfect choice for a plan he had been cooking up for a very long time. I know what you are thinking, Harry. How does little old Tonks, knows this whole thing?' Tonks looked at Harry tenderly with a sparkle of mischief in her eyes.

Harry just looked at Tonks with amusement. Harry knew that Tonks was right…after all he had his reservation about the whole story. 'Alright, how do you know?' asked Harry following her game.

Tonks got up and did a twirl, 'About how Sirius and May got together, that came from Lupin. As for the rest, I figure you will be the best person to give Sirius this.' Tonks said sheepishly as she handed Harry a small and heavy bag of money.

'What's this?' question Harry as he held the bag of money.

'May's salary…about $1,500 galleons to be exact. I believe this the salary she never got when she left England. Dumbledore asked me to deliver it and when I asked him why, he only told me that he had been a crazy old man when he had hired her. Then I asked him if May had been a teacher and his answered had been no. You see, Harry, during May's time…no one…and I mean no one hired a Slytherin except for You-Know-Who. Anyway, it would be a great favour if you could do this for me. Now that she is dead I suppose that it would have to go either Sirius or Alex…but I don't have the heart to do it.'

'That's why you came to see me?' asked Harry getting mad at her. It seemed that Tonks sense that she was in danger because she quickly left the room before Harry could say another word. Harry looked at the bag of money in his hand, feeling the weight of it as he pondered on his next course of action.

Supper had been very quiet and no one said anything. Until Mrs. Weasley came out of the kitchen carrying plates of food and ordering the twins to take it to Sirius. Everyone found the request to be odd since there was enough food for two people.

Mr. Weasley look distress as he took one sip of tea before clearing his throat, 'Harry, have you seen Sirius ever since the accident?' Mr. Weasley whispered to him as if afraid to be overheard. Harry shook his head. 'Pity! Sirius could use your support you know…especially now since…he has gone a bit mental.'

In truth, Harry had no desire to see Sirius at that moment and according to Hermione it was because Harry felt guilty about May's death. Thankfully, Ron change the topic of conversation by informing him that Alex still refused to leave the study room.

'Mental that one!' Ron exclaimed as he eyes open wide as he began to tell his story about how Mrs. Weasley had told him to get Alex for supper. 'He threatened to kill me if I ever try to disturb him again.'

Hermione had told Harry that Alex had buried himself in Ancient family books. 'Sirius once told me that his father had forbidden him to read them. Sirius had suspected that the books contained very powerful spells. In other words…' Hermione began wrinkling her nose in suspicion, 'those books contain the most darkest spells known to the wizarding world. I bet that not even the Restricted Section at the Hogwarts's library doesn't contain such books.'

Their conversation was interrupted by Dumbledore and Snape's arrival. Both of them where drenched by the night's rain and they didn't look very happy at all.

'Where are they?' Dumbledore asked very calmly but in his eyes had the look of anger and impatience.

'Upstairs.' said Mrs. Weasley as she began to pick up the plates from the table.

Dumbledore nodded and began to make his way up the stairs with Snape at his trail. Ever since then, Harry had not either seen or heard from Dumbledore or Snape. Harry later learned from Hermione that Dumbledore had been angry with Sirius and May for their carelessness for Harry's safety, but Hermione also told him that he was mad about something else too, something that had to do with Crok.

It was Friday night and Harry had not been able to sleep at all. This was not surprising, since he had not been able to sleep for the past three nights. For every time Harry closed his eyes he always ended up seeing May. In his dreams she would always be pushing him aside and saving his life over and over again. Falling asleep for Harry was an agony that was ten times as worse than having his mind linking to Voldemort.

Harry had enough and needed to speak to Sirius. Harry thought that by talking to Sirius, the feelings of lost and anger would stop flowing through him. Harry felt that if he didn't do something soon he would burst.

Harry quickly made a grab for his glasses and quietly left the room, but before leaving he quickly made a mental note that Alex was not again in his bed. Harry was not surprised, for Alex was still in the study where he had been for the past of couple of days.

Harry approached Sirius's room and saw that it had been left open. Harry adjusted his glasses as he took a peek inside the room. The room was a dark, for there was not even a single light to illuminate the state of the room and it reeked of decay. As Harry opened the door even wider, the light from the hallway penetrated the darkness of the room giving him a glimpse of the state of the room.

Harry quickly understood the smell didn't come from a decaying body but from the mess of the room, which contained plates of untouched food from more than two days that had begun to decompose. May's body was nowhere to be found and even Sirius was gone.

'They are downstairs.' Harry heard a voice tell him, which made Harry jump. Harry turned around to find Hermione and a sleepy Ron beside him.

Hermione's face was red, and Ron who was still between dreamland and the real world was sporting a red mark on his left cheek. Harry was about to ask them what had happened but Hermione spoke quickly.

'Let's go.' Hermione whispered to them as she began to walk ahead of them.

'What happened?' mouthed Harry to Ron.

Ron grinned before answering, 'I accidentally kissed her' Harry lifted an eyebrow at him. 'I thought it was a dream!' Ron said defensibly.

Once they had arrived downstairs, they began to make their way towards the study, from which a strange humming sound was coming. Harry looked at Hermione questionably but she said nothing. Upon entering Harry saw that the room was bathed in candlelight. There was not a single spot in the room that didn't possess a candle.

'You came!' said a cheerful voice. Harry turned around to see that Sirius had closed the door behind them and what was worse…Sirius was wearing his best clothes again.

It was Sunday night and again Harry couldn't sleep, this time it was not about May's death but of the scene he had witnessed on Friday night. Harry couldn't believe that Hermione had dragged him to see the extent of Sirius' madness. Both Harry and Ron had stopped talking to her since them. It had been horrifying to see a skeleton dressed in silk robes surface from the ashes of the fireplace. Another, to have the skeleton pronounce Sirius and May legally wed according to the laws of the dead and of the living.

The whole experience had left Harry very worried about Sirius and his own insanity. Harry turned to the other side just to come face to face with Ron. Poor Ron, ever since that night Ron had not been able to sleep on his own bed. Harry quickly got up from his bed, making sure he didn't wake up Ron. Every night Harry would wait until Ron fell sleep before going to Ron's bed. Why couldn't Hermione sleep with Ron instead of him? Harry wondered as he made his way towards Ron's bed.

In the morning, Harry had come down for breakfast and found that Alex was eating with them. He looked as arrogant as before but this time he looked different.

'Hermione would you mind helping me with something?' Alex asked very sweetly. Hermione almost choked on her food before nodding. Alex grinned and thanked her before quickly finishing his breakfast.

'Harry dear, do you mind taking this to Sirius.' pleaded Mrs. Weasley as she held a tray of food for Harry to take.

Harry nodded and took the tray from her and began to make his way towards Sirius's room. Upon approaching, Harry heard Sirius talking to May, as the door of their room was left half ajar. Harry could see that May was laying on the right side of the bed still dressed in her wedding gown as Sirius sat in a chair beside her. Harry knew that the only reason why May's body had lasted this long was because of a preservation spell that Sirius had placed on her.

Sirius who was now laying his head on the lower part of May stomach, continue to talk to her. 'Do you remember that time when you tried to free me from Azkaban?' said Sirius to May as he run his hand on the upper part of her stomach. Sirius then laughed, 'you came dresses as a Dementor and half way through prison you tried to kiss me…that was a dumb move you know. Then there was the time you came dress as Crouch, the Minister of Magic…again not a smart move!' Sirius grinned, 'Getting caught by Dumbledore…kissing almost at the dropped end of the Island was not as romantic as I had expected. The look on Dumbledore's face had been priceless…specially since you still had ten minutes left out of the Polyjuice Potion.'

Harry grinned and could only agree as he pictured the scene, the look on Dumbledore's face would have been surely priceless.

Sirius smiled bitterly, 'I guess this is goodbye all over again…isn't?' Sirius continued as he placed a small kiss on her stomach before looking at her peaceful face. 'At least you are leaving as my wife and nothing less than that. I know that I have been a torn at your side but I care for you deeply…'

Hermione's POV

Hermione who had been helping Alex with a sentence that he had written in Latin, kept looking at Alex who was going over the Black's library books like a maniac for the thousandth time. She was really growing tired of it…especially since Mrs. Weasley had given her the charge of putting all the books away.

'You should go and help him.' Ron told her.

Hermione looked at him and was almost tempted to throw her notebook at him. 'What do you think I have been doing?' she asked him. 'Doing…that's it!' exclaimed Hermione as her eyes sparkled with triumph.

Ron just looked at her like she had just gone mental. Hermione then got up from her seat, which was besides Ron and made her way towards Alex. Why hadn't she thought of it before? Hermione wondered as she quickly annotated the right word in the notebook.

'Alex I found your mistake.' Hermione informed him as she placed the notebook in front of him. Alex's full attention when strait towards Hermione, his attentiveness unnerved Hermione a bit. 'The sentence that you had before said "Facio ab vita necnon obitus, placere recidivus is cor vivificus" but there was just a single mistake in the sentence… according to my ancient runes books, one single grammar mistake can make everything go wrong in a sentence. You will see what I mean…the word restore is redintegro and the one you had was recidivus, which means restored. Thereby…'

'Hermione you are a genius!' exclaimed Alex as he quickly got up from his seat and place a big kiss on her lips!

Hermione just stood there looking at him wide-eyed and unable to speak. The book that Ron had been holding dropped on the floor with a big smack, which brought Hermione back. Hermione face was a red as Ron's hair and Ron looked like he was ready to kill Alex, when they heard Alex say something the Latin sentence at aloud.

'FACIO AB VITA NECNON OBITUS, PLACERE REDINTEGRO IS COR VIVIFICUS!'

Alex had been holding the emerald pendant in his hand as he chanted the words. Then the pendant began to glow green, which engulf the whole room with its light. "VIVIFICUS!' shouted Alex again and this time the pendant began to float out of his hand and into the air. The pendant began to spin in circles until an image was seen leaving the pendant, which was engulfed in a green light.

Hermione swore that she saw the face of a green tiger emerge from within the pendant. As soon as the ball of green light had left the room the pendant stopped spinning and the room was back to normal, except for the pendant, which had broken itself into millions of pieces.

Harry's POV

Harry was still standing there watching as Sirius said his good bye to May. It seems that today was the day that Sirius was going to have her cremated. Harry had heard Fred and George joke around about having May's ashes all over the house but Harry had no idea of how true those rumors were.

Harry saw Sirius stand up and raised his wand just to put it back down again. It was easy to understand that Sirius was having a hard time. Harry wished he could show his support but at the moment he was bit too much of a coward to do so.

'Flagrare flebilis.' Harry heard Sirius. 'That's all I have to say.' Sirius whispered to himself. Sirius took two deep breaths before raising his wand to point it a May. "Flagrare…'

That was all Sirius could say when a ball of green light emerged from the stairs and straight towards the room. Harry was almost knocked down by the power being emitted by it. Sirius had to move away, for the ball of green light had roared at him before going straight into May's body. May was then engulfed in a green cocoon, which lasted a few seconds.

After the light had disappeared, Harry could see Sirius shaking his head uncontrollably, 'Merlin…please…no…not her…NOT HER!' he shouted as he move back slowly, holding his wand as if to attack.

May's mouth opened as she took a deep breath of air and then her eyes slowly opened.

In front of Grimmauld Place

A man around his mid twenties stood between number 11 and 13 Grimmauld Place. He ran a hand trough his black mane of hair as he smiled. Bright brown eyes flashed with contentment.

'Now it begins.' the man whispered.

A fog appeared out nowhere engulfing him but the fog didn't last long for it had left in the same way that it had come. A cat now stood in place of the man. The cat hissed before continuing his way.

Harry's POV

'Sirius,' May whispered in disbelief as she saw Sirius.

Harry knew that May had died thinking that Sirius was dead and this is why she looked so happy to see him.

May smiled at Sirius and began to make an effort to hug him but she stopped. Sirius had now surrounded himself in circle of fire as he back away from her even more. May also backed away and looked away from Sirius as tears ran down her cheeks.

'Leave this place.' Sirius commanded, 'and don't you dare say my name again!'

Harry couldn't understand what was happening. May was back from the dead, which completely a miracle and Sirius was acting like if it had been a curse.

'I understand…forgive me…I won't bother you again.' May whispered as she wiped her tears away and her face hardened as she got up from the bed.

Harry could tell that May was weak because she had a hard time standing up, but that didn't stop her from reaching the door as she stumbled towards it.

Once May reached the door she looked at Sirius one more time. 'This is nothing knew isn't it Sirius…you always end up sending me away. This is why I hate you.'

May opened the door wider and found Harry standing by the doorway. Harry saw the coldness in her eyes; all the love he had seen in her eyes every time she looked at him was all gone. The manner she had looked at him had made Harry's body go completely rigid, for that was the same stare that Voldemort had given him a few months ago.

'Hereby, I…Mayan Lee Aztec, denounce my guardianship to you, Harry James Potter…forever!' May snapped at Harry with a coldness he had never heard before, not even from Snape.

Harry's eyes almost watered as he heard the words she had uttered to him. Harry wanted at the moment to yell at her that she had made a promise to his mother and to him. But the words had died in Harry's throat and he didn't know what to do. May quickly left Harry and began to slowly make her way towards the stair as she used one the walls for support.

'Mom you are back!' Alex exclaimed as he run up the stairs.

'Alex stay away from her!' Harry heard Sirius say. Harry saw Sirius run out of the room, just to trip on the tray of food that Harry had put down on the floor. At the moment Sirius had looked at Harry with a face of a broken down man.

Alex hugged his mother not really caring for what Sirius had to say.

May then turn towards Sirius, 'Don't worry Mr. Black, you will still be allowed to see your son, when I'm not around.'

'Mom?' asked Alex feeling confuse as he look at both of his parents.

'Alex stay away from her…she is a monster.' Sirius commanded trying to get up from the floor.

'We are leaving honey.' May said angrily to Alex as she began to descend the stairs.

'Wait,' Hermione said as she reached the top of the stairs. 'What kind of spell was that?'

Alex grinned, 'A horcrux. Should we go mother.'

'A horcrux?' asked Sirius in a whispered as he stared at May.

'Let's go.' Said May to Alex, who quickly began to help her down the stairs.

Harry saw Sirius get up from the floor and entered his room. The door was slammed so hard that it almost made Harry jumped. Harry could hear Sirius destroying everything within the room because of the noise of vases being broken could be heard.

Ron had gone after Hermione, who had left for the study because she needed to look something up. Harry knew what she going to look up but at this moment what worry Harry, where the screams of frustration and bitterness coming from the room in front of him. He was about to leave when he heard that everything had gone very quiet in Sirius's room. Harry then heard someone come up the stairs very slowing. May had slowly climbed trough the stair and there was look of determination in her face.

'I forgot my purse and my wand.' she informed him as she slowly made her way towards the room in front of him.

Once May had opened the door, Harry could see that Sirius was sitting in the middle of the bed, his legs were crossed in front of him as he played with a wand. Harry was not able to see Sirius' face but something told him that something was not right.

May took a look at Sirius, after she saw the destruction in the room, 'Where is my purse and I will be needing my wand back if you please.' May demanded as she stood in front of him and extended her hand as if to grab the wand that Sirius was playing with.

Sirius laughed at her as he moved the wand away from her reach. 'If you want it…come and get it.' Sirius teased her.

May was not amuse, 'Fine, keep the wand!' she told him angrily as her cheeks became flash and her eyes sparkled. 'But there is one thing that I will not leave behind,' she warned him, 'and that is my purse! So, get off it!'

Sirius grinned, 'Come and get it.'

Harry blinked, what was Sirius playing at? Harry then grinned as he saw May make an effort in getting on the bed and trying to push Sirius off her purse, on which Sirius was sitting.

'My life is in there…you…you bloke, so get off!' May told him as she tried to move Sirius aside.

Sirius just kept grinning at her feeble attempts to get him off. 'As your husband…I find that your…treatments…leave much to be desired.' Sirius teased.

May stopped pushing him, 'Husband?' May question then her eyes widen as realization hit her like a ton of bricks as she looked at what she was wearing. She then looked at Sirius with horror.

'Wasn't you who said to me "over my dead body" when I asked you to be my wife a couple of weeks ago?' leered Sirius. May slowly nodded, still horrified at what Sirius had done. 'Then,' Sirius began, 'everything you own and everything you have is entirely mine.'

May's cheeks became flushed, 'you will pay for that!' May hissed.

Sirius just smirked when May launched herself at him. Sirius quickly outmaneuvered her attack by quickly grabbing her by the shoulders and hurling her against his lap. It took May a few seconds to realize what had happened but it was too late for she now was left quite defenseless in Sirius' arms. May struggle against Sirius' bear hug but not matter how much she tried she could never get out of it.

'Tell me that you love me,' coaxed Sirius and place a kiss on her right temple.

'I hate you!' May hissed as she continued to struggle against Sirius.

'I will take that as a yes!' grinned Sirius as he heard her groan in frustration.

At this point in time Harry though it would be best to leave them alone, for he knew that Sirius could hold his own. As for May, all he could was to pity her for marrying such a stubborn man, but then again it's not like she willing married him. Harry shook his head, if she only knew how they got married, she would literally flip.

'Tell me something…how does it feel to give up Harry all over again?' Harry heard Sirius asked May. Harry quickly retraced his steps as he took a peek at them. At this point in time May had stopped struggling and had completely yielded to Sirius.

'I never gave him up!' May denied, 'not until today.' May quietly whispered.

'Yet you left him behind when you left the country.' Sirius touted her as he strengthened his hold on her because she had begun to struggle again.

'It was against my will!' she screeched at him. 'Seven times I tried and seven times I got caught by Dumbledore. Even with you I kept getting caught. How dare you tell me that I left him behind! On my last attempt I made myself look like Petunia, who was simply taking little Harry for a walk. I was even on airplane with him when Dumbledore showed up out of thin air and took him from me!'

Sirius laughed, 'So…I'm not the only man who has ever foiled your plans.'

May grinned, 'You are not the only one who has a knack for them, you know.'

'So what are you going to tell Harry now?' Sirius asked as he placed a soft kiss in her cheek.

'Nothing. I have given him up and that's how it is going to stay. Besides, it is not like he likes me, or anything. I know that he hates me and he will always hate me.' May said softly.

Sirius sat her properly and hugged her as she cried softly in his shoulders.

'You know…' May began, 'That reminds me.' May then punched Sirius in the stomach, which only made Sirius chuckled. May stared hard at Sirius, 'I'm leaving you for good this time. So please…give me back my purse.' May said with determination in her voice. Sirius had stopped smiling and looked furious with her. 'I have resigned my position as guardian…there is nothing now that can stop me from leaving.' May then place her hand underneath Sirius to reach her handbag.

May's hand didn't get far for Sirius had grabbed her roughly and had began to shake her like a rag doll until she was looking at him. 'You have forgotten wife, that I can stop you.' May's eyes widen when he had began to kiss her with such hunger.

Harry looked away quickly just to face Alex, who was looking at him.

'Well?' Alex asked lifting an eyebrow. Harry just smile and continue on his way having the satisfaction that Alex was just as red as he was. Harry had not noticed when Alex had arrived but the colour on his face had told him that Alex had been there long enough.

The past couple of days passed like a blur to Harry for everything was right again with 12 Grimmauld Place, well as normal as it could get. May and Alex didn't leave the house for they where still there and Sirius couldn't be happier. Sirius and May had been like honeymooners for the past week that it had even made Mrs. Weasley sick to her stomach.

May would politely talk to Harry once in a while but would avoid the whole issue of guardianship with him. Harry, on the other hand, wouldn't have minded if she was still one of his guardians but after a long talk with Sirius, Sirius had confessed to him something important.

'You see Harry,' Sirius confessed late one night after everyone had gone to sleep. 'The one who refused to be your guardian was May Aztec but…my wife Mayan Lee Black is now your guardian by marriage. You see Harry…no matter what happens…you are literally stuck with us.'

After that bit of knowledge Harry began to see May like a mother for she was as close to a mother as he will ever get. But Harry had one small problem if he was going to be seeing the Blacks as his new family and that problem was called Alex. Alex was the brother that Harry wished he never had. After May's return, Alex had begun to act like his old normal self.

What was worse, Hermione would blush every time Alex's name was mention or when he was nearby. When Harry asked her about how Alex had brought May to life she completely told him to bugger off. That had come as a surprise to both Harry and Ron.

'She is smitten with the prat.' commented Fred upon seeing Harry's and Ron's stunned faces.

'But who could blame her...right Ginny?' asked George to Ginny, who was entering the study. Ginny just turned red and exited the room as quickly as she had come. Both Harry and Ron vowed to protect both girls from Alex, especially after Ron had told Harry that Alex had kissed Hermione.

Since then, Harry and Ron never took their eyes off Hermione but Ron took his job too seriously for he never left Hermione alone. As for Ginny, it was Harry's job to keep an eye on her until school started, but she made sure to make his job even harder. For Ginny would sneak away from his watchful to go flirt with Alex. This made Harry's blood boil for he had already warned her about Alex.

Soon the month of August was almost finished when the letters from Howarts arrived. Harry was surprise to learned that both Ron and Hermione were made prefects, and that had made Harry very jealous but tried not to show it. He always knew that Hermione would make a perfect prefect but he was not so sure about Ron. For Ron was not your heroic type, per se.

As for their schoolbooks, which Mr. And Mrs. Weasley had gone to buy for them, had almost caused a fight between Sirius and May. May had insisted on buying the schoolbooks herself and Sirius would insist that Mrs. Weasley should go instead. In the end, Sirius won by picking May up unceremoniously over his shoulders and carrying her up the stairs. Mrs. Weasley had shaken her head and left with Mr. Weasley to buy the books.

It was Sunday morning and the house was a beehive of activity as everyone try to get everything ready for Hogwarts. Both May and Mrs. Weasley were yelling at everyone to get themselves in gear for there was little time left before they need to be a King's Cross station to catch the Hogwarts Express at platform nine and three-quarters at eleven
o'clock.

Once they were ready to leave, Mr. Weasley had separated everyone into groups with the only exception that May would not be accompanying them to the station. But Harry and Alex didn't get to leave until May had said her goodbyes.

'This is ridiculous!' protested Alex but May just smiled at him with a twinkle in her eyes.

'You surely don't expect to see a woman walking down the streets of London, who has been declared by both Muggle and Wizards alike to be dead…now do you? Beside not even a tiger would be welcome.' May told them as she waved goodbye to them.

Before Harry could ask what she meant, Mrs. Weasley had pulled him out of the door and into the street, where 12 Grimmauld place vanished from view. Harry just smile as he looked at Sirius, who had transformed into animagus form in order to walk them to the station. But behind Harry's mind was the image of May before she closed the door of them. Harry remembered seeing something long and white with black stripes behind May, which wagged back and forth giving the appearance of a tail.

SOMEWHERE NEAR HOGSMEADE

Crok entered an old cabin house which was surrounded by trees. The cabin was small, but it was sufficient for his needs. Crok entered the kitchen, which also served as the dining and living room area. He put his wand, the Daily Prophet and a bag of pictures down on the table. He went to the small bathroom which lay opposite his bed to relieve himself, and a few seconds later he was back at the table, spreading open his copy of the Prophet. Crok grinned as his brown eyes sparkled with amusement as he read one of the articles:

"SIRIUS BLACK STILL AT LARGE!

The Ministry of Magic has refused to comment on why they closed the case of Sirius Black after just reopening it. Sirius Black is still as guilty as before. Please inform the Auror office if you see him, but please don't try to confront him."

Crok laughed, "Poor things…now the both of you can't get out," he said as he posted Sirius' article right beside the article that announced May's death, which hung on one of the kitchen walls.