As always, a massive thank you to Ambush99 for betaing this chapter!
Wow, chapter 28 and nearly 80,000 words. I honestly never thought this fic would be this long and there is still a lot more to come! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, followed and favoured. I hope you enjoy this instalment!
Chapter 28
He sat on the floor, surrounded by books and pieces of parchment, and smiled as he re-read the note.
Mate,
I'm bored. I'll come over to yours later and drag Moony with me. It's been a while since we were all together. Please transform! It'll totally freak him out when he sees you and Lancelot.
See you later,
James
After the evening in the pub a couple of weeks ago, he had agreed to see Mrs. Clarke's house, or rather James had dragged him there. It was on one of the side streets leading out of the village, backing onto the common. Reluctant at first, the place quickly grew on him and he found himself agreeing to rent it from her. Before he knew it he had agreed to adopt her dog, Lancelot. She had said he needed a young person to walk and run with him, and he, Sirius, was the perfect person. Which led him to his current situation: leaning against the sofa, attempting to write the doctrine, whilst Lancelot jabbed his wet nose into his neck.
"I've already fed you boy," he said, reaching behind him and scratching the dog's ears. "It's just you and me, so you can't pull that trick on me."
His ears pricked at the sound of two familiar voices. "Bene servetur," he said, as he lazily flicked his wand at the parchment and directed it to a secret cabinet. "Showtime boy," he said with a grin. The first time he transformed in front of Lancelot, the dog had been mildly bewildered. But this bewilderment quickly gave way to excitement, the two deerhounds spending hours running in wild circles in the large garden at the back of the property. Sirius had thought at first it would be easy, after all his human form was pretty fit and his animagus form was used to taking on a fully grown werewolf, but god was he wrong. However, as the days went on he became fitter and fitter. That, coupled with picking Lancelot up each time they apparated. He had taken to taking Lancelot to work with him. He knew the dog had a massive calming influence on him, and he hoped it would have the same influence on his colleagues.
"How is he?" Remus asked, as they walked down the road towards the house. "I was getting really worried about him. I thought, well…"
"You thought he was going to have a breakdown? Yeah," James sighed. "You and me both. No, he's good, really good. The place has done wonders for him."
"How did you persuade him to move out?" Remus asked, as they turned down the garden path leading towards the cottage.
"Well if you hit a block of wood with a blunt chisel enough times, eventually it'll get through," James said as he knocked on the door. "Yo mate! We're here. I've brought beer and mum's steak pie."
"Wait, you're just going to walk in there? What about security?" Remus exclaimed as he reluctantly followed his friend in.
"Mate, this is Sirius. He has some seriously impressive wards around here. Shit I've never seen before. He's upped the wards around my place, our parents and several others. He's going to do the same with you. Anyway, forget it. Let's not think about the war now, let's pretend we are eighteen again, and messing around."
"Padfoot," Remus said shaking his head as he eyed the deerhound in front of him. He frowned as an identical dog appeared. "Mate, what the hell is happening!"
"What?" James said innocently.
"I'm seeing double!" Remus said, utterly bewildered. "What?" he growled as he watched James cracking up.
"Your face!" Sirius laughed, as he transformed, almost doubling up as he looked at his friend's face.
"You utter bastards, the both of you!" Remus growled, his eyes glaring at his friends. He took a moment to look at his friend properly. After Sirius returned, at first he had looked terrible; a thin, wasted wretch of his former self. As the weeks and months went on, he had gained weight and grown stronger and fitter. But the strain on his face and the haunted look in his eyes had never left him. It seemed to add years to him. But now, he looked young again, his eyes were bright and full of life. His grin was wide, and spread across his face. His gestures were big and wild, it was almost as if he was twenty again.
"Sorry Moony," Sirius said, grinning broadly as he hugged his friend like a long lost brother. "I just had to. You should have seen James when I first met Lancelot, that's his name by the way, he freaked out and I hadn't even transformed!"
"Lancelot?"
"Yeah, my dog. He's nervous about meeting new people," Sirius said noticing the dog's reluctance.
"Or he can sense the wolf."
"He probably can. Like he sensed Padfoot."
"But you're the same bloody breed!" Remus exclaimed.
"And a dog's genealogy is derived from a wolf at some point, so what's the problem?"
"It's not the same!"
"You think too much, Moony," Sirius said as he bent down and scratched behind the dog's ears, seemingly whispering to it. "Go on then," he gestured to Remus.
Remus held out a hesitant hand, allowing the dog to sniff it. Watching the dog wag his tail, he took this as a sign it was okay to pat Lancelot.
"I told you he was a good judge of character," James said as he leant against the wall. "He always growls at Fudge."
"Really?" Remus replied, scratching behind Lancelot's ears. Watching his friends nod, he found himself grinning. "You're a good boy then. We don't like that pompous twat."
"That he is," Sirius said with a soft smile. "Shall we head outside? We've got to enjoy these evenings whilst we still have them."
"Of course," Remus said guardedly.
"Because we live in England and it's September," Sirius said shaking his head. "Before you know it, it'll be dark and raining the whole time." He stopped and lobbed a tennis ball as hard as he could.
"He's faster than you," James observed, watching Lancelot fly across the ground after the ball.
"Piss off," Sirius joked. "Anyway Moony, what are you doing next moon?"
"Well," Remus started. He watched as his two friends exchanged meaningful glances. "No, it's too dangerous."
"What, more dangerous than when we were a couple of fifteen year olds roaming the grounds?" James stated.
"I've built wards around the garden; no one will see or hear us. You won't be able to escape."
"What about you?"
"I don't know about Prongs, but I had my mandatory medical the other day and I've never been fitter or healthier than I am right now."
"What about, I don't know," Remus said, flabbergasted.
"Lancelot will stay at James' and Lily's."
"What?"
"If he sees the wolf attack Padfoot, he'll attack the wolf. Just like he'll attack anyone who attacks me. It's his instinct, someone is threatening his pack," Sirius said simply, as he picked up the ball Lancelot had dropped at his feet and lobbed it down the garden again. "Just as I would do if someone attacked him, you, James, Lily, Harry or Mum and Dad, because they are my family."
"So, it's settled. You'll be here on Wednesday. Face it Moony this will be the most sensible and safest of moons we would've done," James said, grinning as he watched his friend slowly nod. "Yup, definitely faster than you," he stated as he watched Lancelot seemingly glide across the ground.
"Guys, I don't like it. I don't want you to be in danger because of me!"
Sirius laughed. "You're kidding me, right? Voldemort wants to kill me personally. This has pissed off my cousin to no end, as she wants to do it. The only thing stopping her is it will kill off the slim chance she has of sleeping with the bastard. Malfoy wants me dead because he hates my guts and he thinks if I'm dead the title will go to his son. What the stupid bastard doesn't know is I've named Harry as my heir. Who else wants me dead? Basically every single death eater. Voldemort wants James dead because some deranged seer dreamed up a prophecy naming a child born at the end July as his equal. Then Dumbledore, in his divine wisdom, thought he was referring to Harry. Bingo, Harry, at not even a year old, is on his hit list. So risk? Do you really want to have that conversation with me?"
"Sirius, I'm sorry okay. Just with everything going on-"
"You need your friends. Yes, I know, you told me enough times and I know it took a while but eventually-"
"Eventually we got through that thick skull of his," James cut in. "So don't you even consider locking yourself away in that shack up north! We dealt with a werewolf when we were fifteen for fuck's sake."
"The wolf is bigger now! It's stronger!"
"Obviously," Sirius said rolling his eyes. "And you know what, so are we. I've never been as fit and as strong as I am right now. Isolating yourself is the worst thing you can do, trust me on that. How many times did you tell me to move out of that house, to move near family and friends? I know this will sound hypocritical from me, but it's high time you listened to your own advice. Believe me it is the best thing I did."
"Okay," Remus said quietly.
"Good, now we've got that settled, who wants a beer?" James said standing, handing his friends a couple of bottles. "I'm sorry if it came across harsh, but we're worried about you mate. We've seen what the wolf does to you if it's left alone, and we're not going to let that happen."
"Thank you," Remus said slowly. He looked down to see Lancelot's head resting in his lap.
"He wants you to throw the ball for him," Sirius suggested. He watched his friend throw the ball down the garden. "Mate," he said shaking his head. "We really need to work on that throw of yours."
"Piss off Padfoot, your dog's faster than you," Remus countered with a slight grin.
He opened his eyes slowly. He knew it had been a full moon last night, but somehow it didn't feel like he had transformed. Firstly, he wasn't lying on a cold, hard floor, covered in his own blood. He looked down at his body, apart from the bandage around his forearm, and his shoulder aching, he felt fine. Well, sure he felt tired but, all things considered, he felt okay. He sat up slowly and rubbed his face, allowing his senses to slowly wake up. The wolf ears picked up a radio in the background, playing rock music. He frowned as he tried to figure out where he was. His memories after transformations were always hazy at best. Rock music could only mean one person. Tonks liked her Indie music. James liked metal. Whilst Sirius had always been banging on about the latest rock band, whether it be wizard or muggle.
Standing up, he took a moment to test his strength. It was a little on the weak side after a transformation, but this time it didn't seem to be as bad as normal. Sensing he wasn't going to pass out anytime soon, he made his way downstairs.
"Remus," Sirius said looking up. "How are you, mate?"
"Good," Remus said, almost not quite believing himself. "Fuck, Sirius! Your arm!"
"What?! That?" Sirius said pointing to the scratch marks on his upper arm. "It's nothing."
"No, I-" Remus started.
"No," Sirius cut in. "The wolf did it and anyway the bruise on your shoulder is worse. I'm sorry about that. As I said, Padfoot is a lot stronger. The wolf was getting out of control and Padfoot had to knock him down. After that I think the wolf recognised Padfoot and Prongs, because it was fine."
"I'm sorry all the same," Remus said shaking his head. "But we're not schoolchildren anymore. You could've been hurt!"
"See this scar here," Sirius said pointing to the still livid and deep scar on his arm. "That's from my cousin. I think I said Voldemort thought a Muggle was hotter than her, it obviously pissed her off. This one here," he said as he pulled up his shirt and pointed to the jagged scar on his rib cage, "is from my dear mother. A pure goblin silver dagger apparently. She was attempting to bleed the evil from me. By evil she meant my beliefs that muggles, half-bloods, werewolves etc are witches and wizards and are equal. This one here," he said, lifting up his hair to reveal a long, pink scar running along his skull. "Well that was from Voldemort. He was a little bit annoyed I wouldn't tell him where James was. Stupid bastard, as if I'd betray my friends. I've got numerous others, some I have no recollection of getting, but none were from the wolf. After I got back, you were always there for me, I'm never going to forget that."
"You turned into animagi for me!" Remus countered.
"Yeah, because that's what friends do for each other. Anyway, once we establish neither of us is going to rip the other's head off, after that it's good fun."
Remus nodded, finding a small smile growing on his face. "I know, it is. I just, well I don't like the fact you two put yourselves in danger because of me."
"Mate, believe me I understand. I hate having to send people into harm's way, but it's my job. I know there may be a time I will have to sacrifice the few to save the many. When that time comes, I don't think I'll be the right person to make the decision," Sirius said shaking his head, as he placed a mug of steaming tea in front of his friend. "You and I have been exposed to the true horrors of this world. We know and understand what that sacrifice involves. Others, that includes James, well they haven't and I don't want them to be. James does his best to understand, but he can't. I'll do everything in my power to prevent people from being exposed to those horrors. And if getting a little bit banged up every month draws those horrors a little further from your door, then I'll do it."
"How did you and I become friends?" Remus said smiling. "I mean our backgrounds couldn't more different."
"You seemed kind and had a great sense of humour. Plus we were both looking for escape; you from the wolf and I from my family," Sirius said simply. "Anyway, mate you must be starving. What do you want to eat? I can heat up some sausages, add bacon, beans, a couple of eggs. A proper breakfast. How does that seem?"
"It sounds great! Thanks, Sirius."
Remus leant back and stretched. The breakfast had been fantastic and it seemed to have somehow eased his aches. "Mate, that was amazing. Thank you!""
"Don't worry about it," Sirius said, barely looking up from the paperwork.
"Sirius, what are you working on? Order stuff?" Remus said frowning, looking over at his friend.
"God, no nothing that exciting," Sirius said, waving his hand. "Budget review. The part I hate about being the boss."
"Oh, sorry Sirius I didn't mean to ask," Remus said quickly.
Sirius looked up. "What do you mean?"
"It's just, well it's Ministry, and I. Well, my kind, they-"
"What the fuck Remus?! Seriously mate, what the hell!"
"I know you don't care, but the Ministry…"
"Actually Remus, I need your help. You are far better at this numbers and legal stuff than I am," Sirius said, as he got up and walked over to his friend. "What the hell do I do with all of this?!" he exclaimed, gesturing at the paperwork. "I've been looking at it for hours and I still cannot make any sense of it!"
"Sirius, I cannot. I don't have the clearance."
"Well I am giving it to you. Please Remus, I need your help!" Sirius pleaded.
"Okay," Remus said, as he started to go through the paperwork. "It seems to be pretty robust."
"I guessed that, but you know there are going to be budget cuts!"
"That's when, my friend, you need to look outside your budget," Remus said with a sly smile.
"What?"
"Your current budget covers everything. Sure, you could do with a bit more money, but who couldn't. This is when you look at this budget," Remus said as he pulled the leather bound, heavy set book towards him.
"Mate, that's the whole Ministry budget!" Sirius exclaimed.
"I know," Remus said slyly. He grinned. "We need to look at the little funds, the ones the Ministry puts to one side."
"Remus…"
"Hush now, young Sirius," Remus said, holding his hand up.
"You both realise I am older than you!"
"Ummm," Remus said, distractedly. "Ah! That should do it. The CP2N."
"The what?"
"The CP2N is, well it appears to be Ministry slush fund. It appears the Ministry are cutting a knut from each galleon, and swindling it into the 'CP2N' budget," Remus exclaimed.
"Okay, that's great but how the hell do we get access to it?"
"We ring fence it and divert the funds to your department."
"Okay, but surely Fudge will notice and shut the fund down. He'll just shut it down and start a new fund," Sirius said, as he started pacing. He grabbed the bag of dog food from the countertop and filled the bowl. "Lancelot, here boy." He smiled as the dog bounded in.
"You two make a good team," Remus commented.
"We do," Sirius replied, as he stroked the dog's back absentmindedly.
"When do you need this?"
"Monday," Sirius replied looking up. "Mate, you don't need to do this now. You had a rough night, just take a break or something."
"Sirius, I'm fine. It wasn't a bad transformation and I slept well. Plus." He stopped and sighed, running a hand through his greying hair. "I feel like I'm doing something useful."
"Moony? Mate, do you really feel like that?"
"Don't worry about it," Remus dismissed.
"Moony, you were there for me when I was rambling god knows what. You sat there and listened to me, when god knows what I was talking about. Talk to me, I'll listen," Sirius urged.
"Sirius this is different, you were traumatised!"
"Moony…"
"You and James have jobs, and that's, well, I wish I could do something like you two," Remus started.
"I know it doesn't help you, but you have a bloody good mind Remus and it's the Ministry's bloody loss. You are far brighter than me, and probably James as well, you just lacked confidence. I swear James and I got better grades because we had more flare, that's all. You are bloody smart, look what you are doing with this budget. I could never do this," Sirius said, as he patted Remus' shoulder. "Look Remus, how about you come and work with me?"
"I cannot step into the Ministry."
"And that is bloody stupid. But you don't need to."
"Sirius, I don't need your charity."
"It's not bloody charity. I need someone smart and outside the Ministry to review stuff, and I need that person to be someone I trust," Sirius said as he sat shoulder to shoulder with his friend. "I pay Dung for information. Every single Ministry department has people on the outside advising them."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Look, if, well let's assume for a moment Peter wasn't the traitorous bastard he was, I would have got him some job to help him out, but not with you. If our world didn't have this ridiculous prejudice against werewolves you would have a decent job within the Ministry." He looked up, hearing a ringing sound from the other room. "Bollocks, I've got a call on the floo network, I'll be back in a minute."
Remus watched his friend storm back into the room a few moments later. "Everything okay mate?"
"Fucking Fudge," Sirius swore. "The fucking bastard moved the budget meeting!"
"When?"
"A fucking hour from now."
"Then you'd better shut up and let me get on with this," Remus replied with a raised eyebrow. "Go play with Lancelot or something,"
"Right," Remus said handing the documents to his friend an hour later. "I've done the best I can in an hour. You just need him to sign this document."
"Isn't that coercion?" Sirius said as he took the paperwork from his friend and stuffed it into his bag.
"It's not coercion if he's too stupid not to read what he's signing," Remus said with a grin. "Now, you get to that review and get that bastard to sign it."
Sirius laughed. "Mate stay awhile, at the very least stay tonight. Make yourself at home. Watch some crap daytime tv or something."
"Go Sirius!" Remus laughed.
Sirius grinned. "Cheers mate. Come on Lancelot, let's go," he said, somehow managing to catch the deerhound as he ran and jumped at him. "See you later, mate," he managed, struggling to hold the dog, before disappearing on the spot.
He gently ruffled Lancelot's fur as they stepped off the Apparation point. "It wasn't that bad boy, was it?" He straighten up and nodded at the wizards stationed in the Apparation Room. "Morning."
"Good morning Mr. Black."
He lightly shook his head as he walked out the room. He still couldn't get used to people addressing him so formally. It had been months since Moody's death, yet he still kept looking around for the older man. Waiting for people to ask Moody the questions, not him.
"Allie," he said, addressing one of the department's newest recruits. "Good morning."
"Good morning," Allie replied, slightly nervously.
"I'm sorry we haven't had a chance to catch up this week, I've been rather slammed with this damn Ministry paperwork," Sirius explained.
"It's okay, I understand."
"Would Friday suit?"
"Friday would be great."
"Get it in my calendar before someone else does," Sirius said. "Oh, can you take Lancelot to my office, I've got the budget review meeting in a couple of minutes."
"Of course, but I thought the review wasn't until Monday," Allie replied, taking Lancelot's lead.
"It wasn't, but the Minister decided to move it forward to today."
"Oh, well good luck," Allie replied. Being Muggleborn her exposure to magical politics was somewhat limited. Her knowledge of the Minister was limited to her former classmates and current colleagues, none of whom held the Minister in high regard.
"Thanks," Sirius said, as he started to walk away. "I'll need it." He stepped into the lift and sighed. He was beginning to get used to the responsibilities that came with the role, and to some degree the politics, but the administration… well, he was utterly clueless. Why hadn't he thought of Moony before? The man was seriously intelligent and had the patience to deal with the infuriating, small details of the Ministry's policy and budget. A degree of patience he did not possess.
"Ah, Mr. Black. There's nothing to worry about, it's just a little budget review," Umbridge said in her sickly sweet voice.
Sirius had wondered how to handle himself in the review, but now he knew. If Umbridge and Fudge were going to treat him like a simple child, he would act oblivious to the inner workings of a budget review. "Thank you, that's so kind," he replied, adding a smile for good measure. "I don't really understand these review type things."
"Oh?" Fudge replied, barely able to contain his joy.
"I found some of the old paperwork and updated it to the best of my ability but, well as I said, I don't really understand how these budgets work," Sirius added, as he eased them into the trap.
"Well, we can just sign it off. I think that's best. These budgets are very complicated," Umbridge reassured.
"Oh thank you," Sirius replied, as he slid the paperwork over, setting the trap. He smiled as Umbridge and Fudge quickly scratched out their signatures without looking at the document.
"Now Mr. Black, if you'd just paid a teeny bit more attention, you would know we are making budget cuts. That means you will have less money, so you won't be able to buy as many things," Umbridge said in her sickly sweet voice.
"Oh I noticed."
"I thought you didn't know anything about budgets," Fudge started hesitantly.
"If I had patience I could probably figure it out, but instead I consulted people who knew about 'budgets', basically accountancy geniuses. They discovered the CP2N, you know the Ministry's slush fund. The one where you are cutting a Knut off each Galleon." He stopped and watched their reactions. "The document you just signed has channeled the funds to my department. The second document has ring fenced the funds for the next five years."
"But…" Fudge spat.
"As always, Minister, Ms. Umbridge, it's been a pleasure." He stood, nodding at each of them in turn before heading out the door.
