The Cave and Some Company

Chapter 40

Tuesday, January 7

"Harry!" exclaimed Sirius with a frown as he looked into the mirror, surprised that he was calling him so soon. It had only been a couple days since he had left for Hogwarts.

Harry got straight to the point. "Sirius, do you know anything about Horcruxes?"

Sirius' eyes widened. "Where are you right now? Are there people around you?"

"I'm in my dorm. It's empty and I put up a muffling charm so it's safe," said Harry shrugging, before asking doggedly, "But does that mean you know what it is?"

Sirius looked at Harry contemplatively. "Dumbledore's been teaching it to you in those lessons, I presume?"

"Yes."

"He did mention it to me," said Sirius with a nod. "But I think you must take this slow, Harry. Dumbledore means to teach you something out of those lessons and he will explain it to you soon."

Harry looked really curious now. "Why are you all mysterious? Is it that dangerous?"

"Dangerous and Dark magic, Harry," said Sirius, quite seriously. "You don't want anyone around you to hear about it. Although, I don't think any school student could know. Even I had no clue about it before Dumbledore told me."

"He showed me a memory of Voldemort when he was in school as Tom Riddle," said Harry. "Slughorn was his professor."

Sirius' eyes widened. "Blimey! I knew Slughorn was old, but old enough to be Voldemort's teacher?"

"Or Voldemort is younger than you think," smirked Harry.

"What was this memory about?"

"Riddle asked Professor Slughorn about Horcruxes," said Harry matter-of-factly.

"And?" asked Sirius, surprised. "What did Slughorn say to him?"

"That's the problem," sighed Harry. "Apparently, Professor Slughorn was so ashamed of it that he tampered with his own memory before he gave it to Dumbledore."

"Hmm, let me guess," said Sirius, making a show of thinking. "Dumbledore wants you to get it somehow from Slughorn?"

Six months ago, Sirius would have been upset with the way Dumbledore was 'using' Harry. But his knowledge about the Horcruxes made him quite understanding of why Dumbledore would use any means possible to get the information now.

"Yeah," said Harry glumly. "I don't see how I could get it from him when Dumbledore himself couldn't."

"But you're Harry Potter," scoffed Sirius, very much aware of what Dumbledore was intending. "Slughorn would give it to you if you simply went up and asked it of him."

"That's what Ron said," said Harry, shaking his head. "And I did try that. He shut me out, very rudely might I add."

It sounded to Sirius like that memory was very important to Slughorn if he could do that to Harry.

Harry was saying, "—and I was wondering if there was a spell or something that could make him reveal that memory."

"There's always Veritaserum," suggested Sirius off-handedly, knowing full well that it was impossible to use.

"But that's illegal. And Dumbledore said it would be pointless using Veritaserum or any other method that would divulge the information by force, as Slughorn probably knows all of its antidotes and keeps it handy on him."

"Then I don't see what you want from me, Harry," said Sirius, shaking his head and at a loss. "Clearly, Dumbledore wants you to get it from him because he knows Slughorn would be rather fond of you. If there was a spell that could help, Dumbledore would have used it himself."

"You're no help at all!" said Harry, frustrated.

Sirius sighed. "Look, Slughorn adores famous people and someone like you, who is famous as well as the son of his favourite student…"

"He liked my mum a lot, didn't he?" interrupted Harry, a frown marring his forehead.

"Yes," nodded Sirius before adding dismissively, "Lily respected him too, but I personally can't see why she tolerated such a—"

"But that's an idea!" exclaimed Harry. "I could ask to talk about her or something. I don't think Slughorn would want to see me alone just yet. I'll let this rest for a while before I ask him again. Or maybe I will go to one of those wretched parties after all. I don't care if I'd have to reschedule my Quidditch sessions."

Sirius shuddered. Rescheduling Quidditch for one of Slughorn's parties sounded very extreme in his opinion. But he supposed, desperate times called for desperate measures.

oOo

Saturday, January 11

"Have you Obliviated Mundungus?" asked Dumbledore, watching Sirius fastening his travelling cloak as they stood on the threshold of Potter Manor.

"I've dealt with him," said Sirius with a nod.

He had not, in fact.

Mundungus was yet to contact him, which meant Greyback had not been sighted in Borgin & Burke's. Sirius briefly wondered whether Mundungus had been caught by Death Eaters and if he was unnecessarily risking the Order members' lives by letting Mundungus roam free without Obliviating him. He felt the slight stirring of doubt and vowed to contact Mundungus himself once he returned home.

If Dumbledore knew he was lying, he did not show it nor did he press him. They took off to the gates beyond which Sirius Side-Along Apparated with Dumbledore to who knew where.

Sirius opened his eyes and was startled by the roar of the waves crashing against land. He and Dumbledore were standing on a cliff that overlooked the sea. Sirius looked over the edge of the cliff — there was a drop of about fifty feet. Dusk was approaching and the orange sun set fire to the tides below.

"What is this place?" asked Sirius finally.

Dumbledore, who had been watching the sea thoughtfully, looked at him. "You suggested that we try and search for the Horcruxes in every place that Voldemort is known to have lived, Sirius. As we seemed to have exhausted that list, I decided to look into the places that Voldemort must have visited in his lifetime."

"But he could have been in hundreds of places!" exclaimed Sirius. "Why here?"

"Because this is the place he had visited when he was in the orphanage," said Dumbedore, looking back at the sea. "I do believe he had never been elsewhere other than here during the first ten years of his life."

"They brought the kids from the orphanage here?" asked Sirius. It seemed too dangerous to bring kids to for a day trip.

"Not here, precisely. But to the village behind us," said Dumbledore, turning around. Sirius mirrored him and found the distant pinpricks of lights far behind.

"So, why are we here?" asked Sirius again, looking around.

"I took great pains in acquiring a memory from a Muggle woman who was once an inmate of the orphanage along with Tom," said Dumbledore. "All evidence suggests he visited this place alone or perhaps with one or two children and swam across. It would be a worthwhile use of our efforts to check this place."

"You're not saying we'll have to jump off the cliff or anything, do you?" asked Sirius, unable to stop himself from imagining Dumbledore jumping down the cliff for a swim in full robes.

"No. We can Apparate to that rock below," said Dumbledore, pointing to a dark outcrop of rock below the cliff, where waves frothed and churned against it. "But after that, I believe we will have to swim."

"Swim?" Sirius was instantly turned off by the idea of swimming in twilight, at the beginning of March too. He was certain it would be freezing below.

"Oh, yes," said Dumbledore, quite cheerfully for someone his age at the idea of swimming. "The first clue that Voldemort could be hiding something here is the presence of strong Anti-Apparition enchantments beyond the outcrop."

Sirius and Dumbledore Apparated on top of the rock and Dumbledore lit his wand as he guided them down, where the sea met the rock in a mass of jagged edges. Sirius was surprised to see a fissure on the wall of the cliff into which dark water was swirling.

"Inside?" asked Sirius unnecessarily. It already seemed the most plausible location by how ominous it looked.

"It seems to be," said Dumbledore with a sigh.

"Are you sure you can do this, Albus?" asked Sirius, a little worried.

"I am able," said Dumbledore with a nod, a look of determination on his face.

Sirius pulled out his wand with a 'Lumos!' and gave it to Dumbledore, who looked politely puzzled. The next moment Sirius had transformed into Padfoot and taken his wand from Dumbledore's hands with his muzzle.

He wagged his tail once and jumped into the cold water, looking back at Dumbledore as if beckoning him to join.

Dumbledore chuckled before snuffing out his wand light and thrust it into his pocket. He slid into the sea with an agility that beguiled his age and followed the wand light of Padfoot as they swam into the fissure.

After a moment, the fissure opened into a dark tunnel. The slimy walls were very narrow, only about three feet apart, but in his dog form he fit in comfortably. He could not say how it was for Dumbledore though.

Sirius could feel the land rising by the way his paws brushed the sea bed below. He emerged out of the water and dropped the wand from his mouth. Padfoot shook his body fretfully, droplets of cold water spraying everywhere, and Dumbledore joined him out of the water.

Sirius turned back to human and he was freezing cold! He hadn't felt it that much when he was a dog. He picked up his wand from the floor of the cave and quickly dried his clothes, just as Dumbledore did the same.

Sirius looked around himself. They were standing inside a cave, considerably larger than what Sirius had expected. Sirius felt like there was something piercing in the cold air; if he were a dog right now, he was sure his hackles would have risen at the unwelcome feeling.

Dumbledore had his wand lit again as he held it high and observed the walls and the ceiling.

"Why do I have such a foreboding feeling?" asked Sirius, quite rhetorically.

"I must say your instincts are right. There are traces of Dark magic here," said Dumbledore.

"This can't be it though, can it?" said Sirius. There didn't seem to be any Horcruxes hidden around; granted, there were not even any hiding spots around him. "There must be something beyond?"

Dumbledore didn't answer as he approached the wall of the cave and caressed it with his blackened fingertips, murmuring words in a strange tongue that Sirius could not understand. On an impulse, Sirius turned back to a dog and sniffed the air.

It was eerie alright and he caught on to a trail of scent that reminded him vividly of Albania. He paused in front of the wall on the right of Dumbledore and barked once to attract his attention. Dumbledore looked up from his position and walked towards him, running his fingers backward and forward over the particular spot, until finally he stopped, his hand pressed flat against the wall.

"Well done, Sirius," murmured Dumbledore appreciatively. "We go through here."

Sirius turned back to human again and suppressed the redundant "How?" that was on the tip of his tongue and watched as Dumbledore stepped back from the cave wall and pointed his wand at the rock.

For a moment, an arched outline appeared there, blazing white as though there was a powerful light behind the crack. Sirius was half-hoping a door of some kind would emerge, the same way it had happened in Albania, but the arch simply shimmered before disappearing.

Sirius watched interestedly as Dumbledore seemed to be looking at the wall intently. "How predictable, Tom," he said finally as he raised his withered hand and Sirius was surprised to see that there was a bleeding, jagged cut on his forearm. "The tunnel is not exactly the right fit for an adult human," he explained in answer to Sirius' questioning gaze.

Dumbledore brushed his injured forearm on the rock surface and then drew his wand over it, healing the wound. Sirius waited with bated breath as he and Dumbledore stared at the wall.

The blazing silver outline of an arch appeared once more, but it did not fade away. The rock within it simply vanished, leaving an opening into what seemed to be total darkness.

Sirius glanced at Dumbledore, who met his eyes before nodding. Wordlessly, they stepped into the archway, wands lit and at the ready.

They were standing on the edge of a great black lake, so vast that Sirius could not make out the distant banks, in a cavern so high that the ceiling too was out of sight. A misty greenish light shone far away in what looked like the middle of the lake; it was reflected in the completely still water below. The greenish glow and the light from the two wands were the only things that broke the otherwise dense darkness.

Sirius wandered forward to the edge of the lake, his footsteps echoing through the cavern, and felt the hair on his arms erupt in goose flesh at the sight before him. There were piles upon piles of pale, lifeless bodies inside the water, reflected off of his wand light.

"Uh…" Sirius turned to look uneasily at Dumbledore who had joined him by the edge of the lake.

"Inferi," said Dumbledore distastefully. Sirius felt sick at the sight – never before had he seen Inferi in the flesh. He was already wishing to get out of the place as fast as he could.

He looked at Dumbledore and whispered, "Where do you suppose the Horcrux is?"

"Obviously, over there in the middle of the lake," said Dumbledore, looking at the greenish glow in the distance.

"But how do we get there?" asked Sirius. "I'm not swimming inside that," he added, pointing at the water below him.

"I don't think the Inferi are here for the sole purpose of deterring us from getting into the water," said Dumbledore gravely.

Sirius frowned, "You mean they are part of the protection for the Horcrux?"

"It seems only plausible," said Dumbledore. Sirius did not want to know what the Inferi would do to protect the Horcrux and he hoped he would never find out.

Sirius wondered if they could conjure a boat of some kind. He pulled out his wand and muttered the incantation with a wave of his wand. A simple boat made of wood appeared on the water but before Sirius had even dropped his wand the boat vanished into thin air.

Dumbledore, who had been watching him hopefully, seemed undeterred as he said, "This can only mean that Voldemort would have some way of reaching it, if he ever wanted to check on it for himself." He nodded at Sirius, "Give me a moment."

Sirius made sure to stay as far away from the water as possible, and watched as Dumbledore walked around the lake, murmuring things again. After a long time that seemed like hours to Sirius, Dumbledore finally exclaimed in surprise.

Sirius hurried towards him, his footsteps echoing noisily. He was surprised when he saw a thick, coppery-green chain, extending from the depths of the water into Dumbledore's clenched hand. Dumbledore tapped the chain, which began to slide through his fist like a snake, coiling itself on the ground with a clinking sound that echoed off the rocky walls, pulling something from the depths of the black water. A ghostly, green boat broke the surface and floated, with barely a ripple, toward the place on the bank where they stood.

Sirius did not ask how Dumbledore had found the boat. He had resigned himself to the fact that Dumbledore knew more than he let on. He looked at Dumbledore. "It's rather small."

"I suggest you take to your Animagus form," said Dumbledore. "It will be rather cramped."

He gestured for Sirius to go in first, who turned into Padfoot and leaped into the boat noiselessly. Dumbledore stepped in after him, coiling the chain onto the floor, and immediately the boat started to move.

There was no sound other than the quiet rustle of the boat's prow as it pushed against the water. It moved without their help, heading straight towards the green glow. Soon they could no longer see the walls of the cavern; they might have been at sea except that there were no waves.

Then suddenly, the boat stopped

Padfoot growled as his hackles raised and a great churning sound filled the air.

It was like the worst nightmare. Throngs of pale, ghost-like bodies in half-decay rose up all around them, rushing straight towards their boat. Padfoot barked as the hands made to grab for him when Dumbledore raised his wand like a lasso and a ring of fire surrounded their boat, temporarily keeping away the Inferi.

Sirius had a quick brainwave to propel the boat magically, but for that, he needed his wand. He turned back to his human form and there was barely enough space as he stood on the boat. He pointed his wand at the boat thinking, 'Locomotor—'

But before he could finish the spell, the boat had started sinking. Sirius swore as he saw the pale hands of the Inferi trying to drag the boat down from inside the water.

"We need to get out of here!" yelled Sirius over the roaring fire and the sloshing water as he looked at Dumbledore, who was frowning in concentration, still keeping the ring of fire around them. It would become completely pointless once they drowned.

"We should swim," said Dumbledore shortly as water started to fill into the boat.

"WHAT?" yelled Sirius in alarm and his echo rang through the cavern.

But Dumbledore had already jumped into the lake and Sirius could do nothing but follow him. The water was cold, but the icy panic that numbed his mind was even worse as he swam as fast as he could. The fire had gone out and the lake was completely dark again.

Terror gripped his heart when hands from inside the water grabbed him. He yelled but he found himself gulping mouthfuls of the icy water. He tried not to think about the dead bodies that had stewed in the water for years, lest he lose his lunch at a very inopportune moment.

He tried to shake the Inferius off, but dead as they were, they had a surprisingly strong grip. He pointed his wand blindly behind himself, 'Relashio!'

He felt the grip loosen but again and again another pair of hands took hold of him and dragged him down with them. He threw spell after spell that would banish them and even tried 'Protego Incendium' that he had discussed with Harry in what seemed like years ago, sitting in their living room. But, the water simply extinguished the fire before his wand had even conjured it.

About a dozen Inferi were around him, hands choking him and dragging him down. He was certain this was going to be his end and regretted not having talked to Harry before leaving. He tried very hard to kick the Inferi off and in that brief moment, saw Dumbledore struggling against them just as much when Sirius saw him pointing his wand inside the water.

Sirius knew it would be useless. He'd already tried — but then an enormous mass of fire in the shape of a bird erupted out of his wand that the water did not extinguish. Sirius threw a 'Difffindo!' at the nearest Inferius having him in a chokehold and it fell back into the water. He swam towards Dumbledore, around whom there were mercifully no Inferi, protected by the fire.

Dumbledore kept his wand raised, and the fire-bird which Sirius now assumed was Fiendfyre, flew around them in a large circle inside the water as if it were air. He couldn't bring himself to worry too much that it was Dark Magic when the Inferi scrambled backwards, trying to get away from the fire as they sank into the depths of the lake, unmoving again.

With renewed energy, both of them swam back towards the entrance of the cave. Dumbledore still had his wand outstretched as they got out of the water, the Fiendfyre circling them. Once he was certain the Inferi would not rise again, he waved his wand and the firebird vanished.

Sirius looked at Dumbledore worriedly. "What do we do now? We can't swim all the way back there!" he said, pointing to the distant green glow.

"We will have to come another time," said Dumbledore, sighing. He looked exhausted from the combined effort of the Fiendfyre and the swimming.

"Do you think you can swim again?" asked Sirius. There was still the tunnel outside that they had to swim across to reach the outside of the cliff face.

"I will have to anyway," said Dumbledore resignedly. They walked together up to the sealed entrance and Dumbledore was already pointing his wand at his blackened hand when Sirius interrupted, "Save your strength for later, Albus. I can take care of it this time."

Dumbledore nodded in gratitude when Sirius noticed a particularly sharpened edge of a rock near the banks. He pressed his finger against the edge and drew it slightly to get the blood flowing. He looked back at the lake, now looking surreally calm, not at all like minutes before when hundreds of the living dead had risen out of it to drown them.

God, he was going to have enough nightmare material for days.

oOo

Monday, February 10

"Explain again why you want me to come with you?" asked Hestia, only slightly annoyed despite her words. She was disguised using Polyjuice again as a petite woman with brown hair, much shorter than her usual height, which she found very uncomfortable. "Clearly, I'm not needed in your off-the-record dealings with Mundungus."

It had been nearly five weeks since they had met Mundungus and he had not had any information for them until today. He had apparently contacted Sirius by sending a Patronus, who had in turn asked Hestia to accompany him.

"You never know when you could be attacked. It's best to have backup even if it seems unnecessary," said Sirius simply, a lit cigarette in one hand as usual.

Hestia would have believed that he was simply taking precaution if she had not witnessed how lax he was about such things when they had first met Mundungus in Knockturn Alley.

Sirius let out a puff of smoke and Hestia wrinkled her nose. "Must you always smoke?" she asked testily.

"Must you always pry?" retorted Sirius, not without amusement. Hestia decided he was a lost cause and wisely refrained from commenting as they walked together through Knockturn Alley.

They reached the closed shop of Cobb & Webb's, and wordlessly, Hestia moved to stand guard outside the same alcove as Sirius hid behind it and waited.

"What if he doesn't show up?" asked Hestia, merely for the sake of breaking the silence.

"This is Mundungus we're talking about," said Sirius. "He's not going to pass up an opportunity for more gold."

"Did someone say gold?"

Mundungus had crept up from behind and thrown an arm around her, causing Hestia to jump in alarm. She shook off his arm with such force that he nearly fell over and scowled at him, raising her wand threateningly.

Despite her treatment of him, the oblivious idiot grinned. "I'm sure there was a differen' girl the last time, mate. This 'un looks better," he said, looking her up and down. "Why d'you bring 'em along anyway? Not complainin', though. I like the view," he added and Hestia jabbed her wand into his chest forcefully, trying hard to keep from talking, lest she reveal herself.

"That's none of your business, Dung," snapped Sirius, beckoning Mundungus to join him in the alcove with a jerk of his wand. "What have you found for me?"

Mundungus did not answer but was eyeing Sirius' cigarette. Sirius looked annoyed as he threw away his fag and pulled out a new one, handing it to Mundungus, who quickly lit it with his wand.

"This is good stuff, mate," said Mundungus appreciatively. "Where didja get 'em?"

Sirius snarled, "If you don't start talking within the next five seconds—"

"Alrigh', alright!" said Mundungus, raising his hands defensively. "I tried to keep watch like you said," he said with a great sigh. "Didja know how much time I coulda spent doin' other things? I coulda made cauldrons of money if I hadn' wasted—"

"Yes, yes, we know what a loss it is to the economy without the illegal money that you could've earned," said Sirius exasperatedly. "Get to the point!"

"Lucky for you, Greyback dropped by yesterday."

"At Borgin & Burke's? What did he do?" asked Sirius, knitting his eyebrows together.

"Threatened 'im, that werewolf did," grunted Mundungus. "'e was scared witless, Borgin was, when Greyback said he'd drop by on the next full moon."

"Did you see what he was interested in?"

"Dunno mate, I hadta escape. Some ministry blokes decided to raid Knockturn Alley at the time."

"And they didn't notice Greyback?" asked Sirius, raising his eyebrows in disbelief.

"They usually ignore Borgin & Burke's. They've been around for a long time, see. I think Borgin bribes 'em. Can't blame 'im," added Mundungus as he shrugged sympathetically.

Sirius scowled, "Tell me you found something useful!"

"I think 'e mighta mentioned a cabinet. Can't be sure," he added, scratching his head. "He mighta meant carbuncle for all I know."

Sirius pressed his fingers over the bridge of his nose and exhaled, looking visibly irritated. "So all you have for me is that Greyback might have mentioned a cabinet? And you expect me to pay fifty galleons for this?"

"A deal is a deal, mate," said Mundungus immediately. "No backin' away now."

"True," nodded Sirius. "My only consolation is that you won't remember most of this."

Mundungus gaped in confusion, "Wha'?"

'Obliviate!'

It took almost a whole minute to finish Obliviating him. Hestia supposed making someone forget about an entire year's worth of Order meetings would, of course, take a while. And before Mundungus' expression had cleared, Sirius dropped a bag of gold by his feet and dragged Hestia away from there.

"You didn't have to give him that gold," ground out Hestia. "He didn't give us anything useful at all!"

"A deal is a deal," echoed Sirius. "Besides, he just lost some of his memories. Don't you think he deserves some compensation?"

Hestia pursed her lips, feeling slightly sorry for Mundungus despite herself.

"Where are we going?" she asked as she saw Sirius duck into a narrow alleyway.

"I'll have to disguise myself first," said Sirius, taking out a small vial from his robes containing what appeared to be Polyjuice Potion and took a gulp. "Enough for half an hour, I reckon," he added after he had transformed.

Hestia felt a little unsettled seeing and hearing him. He usually never disguised himself, preferring to Disillusion instead since it was very clear the Death Eaters knew he was part of the Order. The average-looking Muggle man with grey hair before her spoke in a deep voice so unlike Sirius, "I won't take more than ten minutes."

"I need to go to Gringotts," said Hestia, who had decided when Sirius had called on her that it would be safer as long as she was in Diagon Alley with someone.

Sirius nodded, "Why don't you go ahead? I'll wait outside Gringotts when I'm done."

They parted ways after that, Hestia heading to Gringotts and Sirius to Borgin & Burke's.

oOo

Borgin & Burke's was empty when Sirius entered and the bell tinkled to announce the arrival of a new customer.

"Good morning," said Sirius, nodding his head politely at the old shopkeeper.

"Morning," came the less-than-enthusiastic response.

"Mr. Borgin, I presume?" asked Sirius redundantly. He had been good friends with his father.

"And who are you?" said Borgin, looking at him suspiciously, but Sirius looked back coolly.

"An interested buyer."

After Sirius had stated his budget, Borgin seemed to be genuinely happy for a customer and he showed Sirius around, explaining the things he had in store – a skull turned upside-down containing what looked suspiciously like blood, jars labelled as containing bone ash, spiked instruments and leering masks lined the wall. Sirius kept his eyes peeled, but there was no sign of any cabinet on display. What if it had been moved elsewhere?

Borgin was saying, "So what would you like to buy, Mister—?"

"Gray," he supplied before asking, "You don't suppose you have any magical cabinets, do you? I seem to recall one from years before and yet it seems to have vanished. Was it purchased?"

Borgin turned pale as he stuttered, "Y-yes — I'm afraid we don't have any vanishing cabinets, Mr. Gray. But we do have vanishing flasks, perfect for storing and transporting dangerous potions—"

"No, I'm not interested. Perhaps another day," said Sirius smoothly as he hurried out of the shop.

Was he mistaken or had Borgin just mentioned that the cabinet in question was a vanishing cabinet?

Sirius reached the marble-columned building of Gringotts and waited outside pacing as he pondered what a vanishing cabinet had to do with all of this. He knew they were all the rage during the First War. People could slip inside when a Death Eater attacked their homes and turn up later when the attack was over. And if Harry had heard right, there had been two of them. Sirius had not a clue what a boy of Malfoy's age would want to do with two vanishing cabinets.

And there was a more confusing observation. It was only Greyback who had mentioned a cabinet – he could have easily tried to buy one for completely different reasons. Hadn't the boy used a necklace to curse that poor girl? Why would he want another cursed necklace to stay in the shop? Unless he planned to curse Borgin himself.

He was back to square one again with no idea what Malfoy or Greyback had in store. He supposed he could ask if Harry had heard or seen something regarding Malfoy, but he knew Harry. He would probably take it as permission to investigate Malfoy and the last thing Sirius wanted was for him to get entangled with a Death Eater. Merlin knows that boy found enough trouble without Sirius' help.

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he jumped in astonishment when a scream pierced the air. It was a good thing he had jumped too as a Stunning Spell just missed him by an inch and went whizzing by his ear. He whirled around, pulling out his wand.

Three masked Death Eaters had surrounded him out of nowhere, in the middle of bleeding Diagon Alley.

People were already screaming and running away when Sirius began to duel them. He was outnumbered three to one and had time to only be on his defensive, casting shields as they took the volley of spells thrown at him. He knew he had to Disapparate, but Hestia was still inside Gringotts and he couldn't leave her alone.

He ducked as his shield faltered and a hex thrown right at his face missed by inches.

Enraged, he yelled 'Stupefy!' but the Death Eater had anticipated it and jumped out of its way.

He saw a horde of Aurors Apparating onto the scene just as Hestia came running out of Gringotts, blanching at the sight before her. Sirius wasted no time in sprinting towards her; he grabbed her hand and Disapparated.

oOo

"What just happened?" asked Hestia, panting as they entered Headquarters together at a run, afraid to stand in the open. It took a moment for her to realize that Sirius was still holding her hand from when he had Disapparated with her. A second later he had let her go as he walked to the dining area.

"They just attacked out of nowhere!" answered Sirius, looking dishevelled as he took off his cloak and draped it over the back of his chair.

"They're attacking publicly now?" said Hestia, alarmed. "And we were disguised! They couldn't possibly know who you were!"

"I think they must have watched me in Borgin & Burke's. Or— oh, bugger!" exclaimed Sirius, slapping his palm to his forehead. "It was Borgin that alerted them! He must have realized I was asking unnecessary questions."

Hestia narrowed her eyes. "Really, Sirius. I thought you knew better than to ask him directly about the cabinets!"

"How else was I supposed to ask?" retorted Sirius, looking broodingly at the wall and they descended into silence.

"Why do you care what Greyback is buying at Borgin & Burke's anyway?" asked Hestia curiously.

"It's nothing," said Sirius, shaking his head dismissively. And before Hestia could pester him further, he quickly summoned Kreacher and asked for tea and scones to be served, effectively closing the discussion.

Their disguises had worn off by the time and they talked pleasantly for a while, discussing that day's Daily Prophet before Hestia announced that she had to go home as she had work.

Sirius, looking like himself again, frowned. "I can't believe I've never asked this before, but what do you do?"

Hestia shook her head, amused. "I work part-time for Whizz Hard Books as a copy editor. It's quite interesting and it gets me by every month," she added shrugging.

"It must be nice having a job," remarked Sirius.

Hestia looked back at him with raised eyebrows. "Maybe you should get back into one. It would do you well."

"I wouldn't know. I haven't worked a day in my life," said Sirius smirking.

Hestia rolled her eyes. "It must be nice being rich."

"It's easy," said Sirius, flatly. "Get yourself wrongly convicted for fourteen years and I'll see if you can say it again."

"Oh, do you have to bring that up?" groaned Hestia rather good-naturedly but Sirius seemed a bit taken aback as he stared at her with something akin to surprise. She coloured under his gaze when Sirius stood up suddenly. Hestia thought he looked rather put-out.

"I'll best be off too. Have a good evening," said Sirius offhandedly, putting on his cloak as he walked out, leaving Hestia wondering if she had missed something.

oOo

A/N: Huge thanks to my beta-reader evadnekapaneos! I love how meticulous you are!

Thank you for taking the time to review and adding to alerts. Unless you are a writer yourself, you have no idea how much happiness it brings me ^ ^