Author's Notes:
Hi everyone! I hope you're all well during these COVID times. We've been keeping safe at home, just enjoying our time off. I've been playing a lot of Among Us lately. It's super addicting, not going to lie. I've also gotten an offer for some temporary employment that would turn into a permanent position should I pass the bar. I'm super excited because this is a really reputable firm and I have absolutely fallen in love with the other associates there. I'm super excited to start on Friday! Also, Midnitewanderer, I should apologize in advance for what I'm about to do to you this chapter…..
Reviews: Iwik: I would literally never know that English is a second language to you if you hadn't said anything. You write so well! I'm glad you enjoyed my Harry/Draco moment. I was worried how that would go over with the readers. I agree with you on the Remadora front! Jthomajba: lol the shipping is strong. And, no, probably not. Lily was the only woman for James and I don't intend on giving him a love interest any time soon. 1Jemmagirl22: Ha! Remus definitely has a terrible case of Martyr syndrome. He'll get over it in time though. Anixara: Thank you for pointing that out! I'm not sure how I'll fix it but you're right. It was further down than I looked previously. I'll have to think how.
Beer of the Week: Breckenridge Brewery's Vanilla Porter. This porter is dark and rich with amazing notes of vanilla throughout. It's reminiscent of a vanilla/chocolate mouse and makes an amazing dessert beer.
Posting Schedule: Once a week.
Thank you again for reading Ignoring Destiny! I can't wait to hit 50 chapters with you all!
Chapter Forty-Eight: Blood and Fire
Sirius stepped out of the fire place in Remus' suite at Hogwarts. He glanced around the sparsely furnished living room and frowned when he caught sight of the old chocolate wrappers on the coffee table. He recalled briefly Remus' old habit of eating chocolate when he was feeling down.
Concerned, Sirius moved more quickly throughout the suite, his mind racing. As he moved, his mind continued back to a place he wished it wouldn't have.
A young, less kept, Sirius Black strode into the 2nd year boys dormitory just after dinner late one Friday night. They had just returned back to Hogwarts earlier that week after being on their Christmas holiday. Sirius had spent his time locked away in the dank building he was forced to call home. He had, once again, suppressed the experience, preferring instead to utilize that energy into more productive means—like making others laugh.
He was silently planning a prank on Snivellus while he walked. He was trying to figure out how to transfigure his clothes into lady's knickers and bra when he walked past Remus' bed. He noticed briefly that it was covered in old chocolate wrappers. He didn't take much notice of it as Remus loves his chocolate, outside of the fact that there were wrappers everywhere and Remus was normally such a tidy person. Sirius shrugged, figuring that Remus would come back and clean it up later, and continued into the bathroom. The hot shower was calling his name right now.
Sirius stepped under the hot spray and sighed contentedly as he let it beat against his back. He was so absorbed in his own bliss that it took him several minutes to notice the quite, quick breaths coming from the stall next to him. He stood for a moment, listening, trying to place the sound—where he'd heard it before. Then his heart dropped to his stomach as he realized what the noise was. Or, more importantly, who the noise was coming from. He quickly turned the water off and tugged his boxers back on—not caring whether they got wet, knowing they would be anyway.
"Remus?" Sirius called from the other side of the curtain, "Remus I know you're in there."
He heard a loud sniff before Remus responded, "Uh, yeah, sorry. Am I taking all the hot water?"
Sirius rolled his eyes, "Come on, Rem. We all know, thanks to you, that the hot water never runs out. It was in Hogwarts: A History."
"Then what do you want?" He snapped, "I'm trying to shower."
"I want to know why the fuck you're crying in the shower. What are you some kind of Bird?"
"I'm not crying."
"You are," Sirius said softly, "I can hear you. What happened?"
"Nothing happened."
"Then what's wrong?"
"Nothing. Go away, Sirius."
"I'm coming in."
"No, you aren't! I'm fucking naked!"
"Yes I am!" Sirius said as he drew the curtain back. Inside the shower he saw Remus sitting on the floor under the spray, his knees drawn up to his chest and his head down, "Oh, Rem. What happened?"
Remus shuttered and curled into himself more, turning into a tight ball of anxiety as the hot water beat down on him.
Sirius simply sat beside Remus and put his arm around the sobbing boy as he forced himself to look straight ahead in case Remus decided to unfold himself. And they sat that way for a while, neither of them moving even when their skin began turning a dark pink from the heat of the water. Once Remus had finally relaxed, he looked up at Sirius, his eyes red and puffy.
"I'm a monster."
"No, you're not."
"I am. I almost killed my father during the last moon."
"Moony—"
"He came into the room in the early morning—he thought I had already transformed back because I was so quiet. I hadn't. I attacked him and he barely made it out of the room without being bitten or—or worse."
"Rem—no, listen to me, Rem it's not your fault. Your dad knows better than to go into the room before he's completely sure you've changed back. You aren't yourself while you're the wolf."
"Which is exactly why I tried to tell Professor Dumbledore I'm too dangerous to stay at school. He refused to either let me leave or to expel me. He believes I'm not a danger and that I will see that one day. He's wrong. If I'd kill my own father while I'm the wolf, I'd kill anyone."
"Yeah, you're dangerous while you're the wolf. But that's why Dumbledore keeps you in the shack—so everyone stays safe. Including you. You won't hurt anyone."
"I will."
"Rem—"
"Maybe not this time, or the next, but—one day—I will hurt someone."
Sirius snapped back to reality and shook his head. He could remember that day clearly because it was the day that he, James, and Peter had decided to become animagi. They wanted to help Remus understand he could be made safe—that he could be a werewolf and also a man. And it had worked for some time. And to this day he and James went with Remus during the moon so he wasn't alone.
He carefully pushed the door to the bathroom open—he could hear the shower running, the water falling inside of it.
"Rem?" he called, "Remus I know you're hiding in here."
"I'm not hiding. Go away."
"Nah, don't think I will," Sirius said as he leaned against the wall next to the shower.
"Don't you have a concept of privacy?"
"Never have, never will."
"Well, if you're going to stand out there, could you at least pass me a new bottle of soap? Mine ran out."
"Only if you tell me what's got your hippogriff."
"What do you mean?"
"I saw the wrappers, Moony."
"Uh, ok? What do candy wrappers have to do with anything?"
"Remus. What's wrong?"
"I—"
"And don't bother lying."
"Fine. Dora and I got into an argument the other night. She—she wants more than I can give her."
"What do you mean, Rem?"
"She—she wants a relationship. But you know I can't, I—Sirius I can't I'm too dangerous, too old. Too wrong for her."
"Oh shut up, Remus."
Remus was momentarily taken aback, his lips pursed, "Excuse me?"
"Excuse me," Sirius mimicked, "You're over here playing the bleeding martyr because, for some unfathomable reason, you think you don't deserve to be happy. So, you do everything you can to make sure you don't let yourself be happy. Clearly Tonks doesn't think you're too old or dangerous and, really, you're a prat for thinking you're too dangerous. She's an auror for Merlin's sake! If anyone can handle your furry problem outside of Prongs and myself, it's her."
"Being an auror would do her no good if I attacked her!"
"It would do her a world of good! I've done the training. She's more than equipped to deal with a rogue werewolf during his monthlies."
"My monthlies?"
"Yes—the full moon. Your monthlies."
"It's not a period, Sirius. You can't just call my transformations my 'monthlies'."
"I can and I did."
"Sirius—"
"Remus!" Sirius repeated in a high-pitched, whiney voice, "Just give the woman a chance. You clearly like her and she clearly does not give a single shit about you being a werewolf."
"I'm done having this conversation, Sirius. Why exactly are you here? Also, turn around, I'm getting out of the shower."
Sirius turned around and continued, "James says it's time. We're going to go this afternoon. Are you in?"
"To—yeah, yeah I'm in. Just us?"
"We think so. We should be able to handle anything that we could find. And we don't really expect to find anything, anyway. So why worry anyone, you know?"
"Did you tell Albus?"
"No, and we're not going to unless we find something."
Remus walked around Sirius, a towel around his waist, and nodded, "I agree. Though I'm not a fan of hiding any advancements from Albus, I agree that we should wait."
"Good. Now put some clothes on. We have to dress like muggles. We'll see you back at the manor."
Back at the Manor James was hurriedly gathering supplies for their trip to Little Hangleton. Even though they were fairly certain that they weren't going to find anything of interest there, he wanted to be prepared for any possibility. He had managed to gather a few extra wands, a sneakoscope, several antidotes to poisons (including a bezoar), and an invisibility cloak. While he had been gathering everything, he had realized that his cloak was missing. He had mentally filed that information away, intending to look into the issue at a later time.
He was just grabbing a few books to bring with them when Sirius stepped out of the fireplace, an annoyed look on his face. "Hey! Did you get Moony?"
"Yeah, he's on his way."
"Did something happen?"
"He's just PMSing."
"Uh," James voiced, "Care to elaborate?"
"His monthly is coming up in a few days and he's PMSing."
"His mon—Sirius, Moony is a man. You—you're aware of that, right?"
"Yes."
James frowned when Sirius didn't elaborate further, "So—how is he experiencing a woman's bodily function?"
"He's not. He's having his monthly. His monthly transformation? You know how he gets—moody, irritable, hungry, tired, horny, that sort of thing."
"That's oddly specific."
"Remus was oddly specific in his woe's about Tonks."
"His woe's about Tonks?" James asked, confused.
"Oh, yeah, his commitment issues."
"This again?"
"Yeah. Get this, she knows he's a werewolf, doesn't care, but he still claims he's too dangerous and old for her."
"I mean, I get the age thing, but if she doesn't care—and who's he kidding? Tonks is an auror! She's quite capable of handling herself if there were ever an issue."
"That's exactly what I told him. He wasn't buying it. she'll wear him down though—Tonks gets what she sets her mind on."
James ran his fingers through his hair, today was not going according to plan at all, "Ok—ok. When is he going to be here?"
As if on queue, the fireplace in the library lit up with green flames and a besmirched and moody werewolf stepped out of the flames.
Remus did a quick cleansing charm while James attempted to avert his eyes from the growing tension in the room. He continued to shove objects into his overly small, but surprisingly large, bag.
"So," Remus started stiffly, "Little Hangleton? I would have appreciated some notice that we'd be going today before Sirius barged in on my shower."
"You walked in on the man while he was showering? Tsk tsk, Sirius. Bad dog!" James added playfully.
"Hey! I'm hurt."
"At least he didn't call you a bitch," Remus added off-handedly.
After another hour of witty banter and the collection of "necessities", such as the bag of crisps and pop that Sirius insisted they needed, they were ready to head to Little Hangleton. The three of them stepped out of the boundaries of Potter Manor and disapparated.
The three men looked around the little lane once they appeared just outside of the town of Little Hangleton. They looked up and down the deserted lane before turning to one another.
"So," started Remus, "We're looking at the Gaunt house and the Riddle house?"
"Yeah. And maybe we should check out the gravesites. Voldemort could use his family's bones for a number of dark spells," Sirius added thoughtfully.
Remus frowned, "How do you—"
"Trust me, I know." Sirius replied gravely.
James eyed Sirius suspiciously but nodded and began making is way down the lane, "Where should we go first? Gaunt is closer."
"Why don't we start at the Riddle house and work our way back?" Remus suggested.
They all agreed and began making their way down the lane. It wasn't long before they came across the grey, dilapidated house of Gaunt. They all eyed it suspiciously as they passed by and continued up the lane to the grand house on the hill they knew would be there.
After several minutes of walking, they arrived in the town of Little Hangleton. It was a pretty and quiet place. James could see why someone would want to settle down in the area. The houses were arranged in neat rows, their colors matching and the fronts all the same. Small shops were nestled about and bustling with activity as they passed by. They quickly made their way across the town square and up the hill to the large house that sat atop it.
It was certainly a grand home—they could tell that it was once owned by a wealthy person. The house was enormous with arching doorways and long, engulfing windows. The house was painted in what used to be a brilliantly bright white with deep grey accents along the windows and door. Now that time had ravaged the building, the exterior walls resembled more of a yellowish-brown color than the original white. The men looked at one another before heading up to the grand entryway. They tried the door knob, it was locked.
"Alohomora," Remus said as he moved his wand in the air. They heard a deep unlocking sound as the deadbolt moved, allowing them access to the building.
They looked at one another one more time before entering the building. As they walked, Sirius performed a charm to make their footsteps silent to listening ears just in case anyone happened to be in the building. Though it looked deserted, they didn't want to risk being caught by muggles.
The inside of the house was dark and dank. What had once been a grand entryway was now a ghost of its former self—it's wallpaper peeling off, the rug full of dust and debris, and the paintings on the wall faded with age and sun.
They quickly made their way through the lavishly furnished house, inspecting each room with careful and tedious scrutiny. Each room performing a battery of spells to determine whether dark magics were hidden within the bowels. When they finished the last room, they had to determine that there was nothing within the house. At that point, they inspected the grounds while under a disillusionment charm.
They carefully avoided the caretaker's house which had a plume of smoke billowing from the stack on the roof. Though their inspection yielded no results, they were pleased with the effectiveness of their search. Finding nothing only makes them get closer to finding something.
They quickly made their way back down the lane to the house and to the Little Hangleton graveyard. There they found the headstones for all three Riddles that were killed that evening they had heard about from Dumbledore. None of the graves seemed disturbed but Sirius insisted on conducted a few tests before they could move on. He completed several intricate movements with his wand while mumbling something in a language that Remus and James didn't comprehend. When nothing happened, Sirius seemed satisfied and allowed them to leave the area.
As they walked through town again, they decided to stop for a bite to eat at a local pub. They were hoping to get more information about the Riddles and the Gaunts.
Sirius managed to charm a waitress with what he claimed were his dazzling good looks, Remus and James suspected some magic had been involved somehow, and convinced her to join them for pint and talk about the local history and gossip.
"Well, you see," the waitress said in a loud whisper, "The story goes that the Gaunt girl tricked Tom Riddle into marrying her. Some suspect she drugged him and had her way about with him. Then she lied and said she was pregnant with his child in an attempt to get him to marry her, they say. Well, when he found out she wasn't really pregnant that charade didn't last any longer and he came back home.
"Riddle claimed she had done some sort of magic spell on him, a love potion he claimed. That's why so many think she drugged him. I personally think he fell in love with her but, when his parents threatened to cut him off, he left her. Money does that to people, you know. But who knows. Maybe she really was a witch. We'll never know as she never came back. People say she died or disappeared in her despair over losing out on the Riddle fortune."
"And what happened to the Riddles?" Remus inquired.
"Oh, well, you'll know they all died at dinner one night, I suppose?" when they all nodded, she continued, "Well, no one knows how they died or who did it. No one was ever caught. But, of course, people talk and suspect. Frank, the gardener, he was the lead suspect for a while. That is until the doctors couldn't prove how the Riddles all died. Scary, really. It seems they just—keeled over, dead as doornails and the like. No evidence of poisoning or physical wounds of any sort. It's as if three perfectly healthy people just—died."
"Was there anyone who could have benefited from the death of the Riddles?" Sirius asked seriously.
She shook her head, "No. There were no heirs to their fortune or property and they didn't have a quarrel with anyone in town. Well, except the Gaunts, I suppose. They mustn't have been none too happy to have the only daughter run off with the son of the Riddles and then disappear. You know, I sometimes wonder if Tom Riddle didn't kill that girl. It's the only reason I can think of why she never came back. She would have had rights to some of his fortune, having been his wife and everything."
"Did Tom seem different after his return?" James asked.
"Oh yes. From what my mother told me, as I wasn't born yet, you see, he was a different person when he came back. More reclusive, easily irritable and always looking back over his shoulder like someone was following him. You'd think the Gaunt woman was going to come kill him, you would."
"So, who owns the Riddle house now?" Remus inquired.
"We don't know. Someone apparently bought it about 13 years ago as an investment or tax break or something. But no one's lived in the house since. The only person to set foot on the property since it was sold is old Frank who was kept on as a gardener. To be honest, I don't know that the knew owner knows that Frank is still there or that he takes wages. The gent never did come see the property before buying it."
"Are there records of the sale?"
"I'm sure there would be. Probably at the Mayor's office across the street. She should be in until 5pm if you wanted to pop in. I'm sure she could give you more information."
"Thank you for all your help," Remus said as he handed her some muggle money to pay their tab, "Have a nice evening, Miss."
The three of them quickly left the pub and looked at one another.
"So," James said, "Should we pop in to look at the land records?"
"We may as well," Remus said, "It's right there."
Sirius agreed and they quickly made their way across the busy street and into the Mayor's office. The office was sparsely decorated with sharp, clean furniture and paintings. The building was comprised of three total rooms including the waiting area, the bathroom, and the Mayor's office space. They walked up to the receptionist's desk and smiled brightly.
"Good morning," Sirius said in a soft and silky voice, "We were hoping to inquire about the old Riddle house and who the current owner is?"
The secretary looked up at the three men and furrowed her brows, confused, "The old Riddle house? Hmm—Let me take a look here," she turned and began looking through the computer on her desk, searching through hidden folders and documents, "Any reason you're looking into that house?"
"Its colorful past," Remus said before the other two could speak, "We're writing a book about the murder."
"Oh what about the murders?"
"The mystery of them. How they died and who may have killed them. That sort of thing. So, any information?"
"Oh, right, yes. It says here that about 14 years ago a man named Matthew Smith bought the house and has owned it ever since. Hmm, funny, there isn't any more information about this man. Just a name and purchase agreement—he paid cash. Wow, a lot of cash."
"Thank you for the information," Remus said, "We'll get out of your hair now. Have a nice day!"
As they left the muggle secretary was still reviewing the document, mumbling to herself about missing information and missing dates.
Once they were outside they began making their way to the Gaunt house at a brisk pace, Sirius spoke first, "So, we're in agreement that a wizard bought that house under an assumed name, right?"
James and Remus nodded as they walked but neither said a word.
As they approached the Gaunt house, more closely this time, each of them could feel the approaching sense of electricity in the air that marked the use of magic. They carefully and discretely drew their wands and held them in front of themselves, preparing for the worst.
"I thought the son had died a few years back," Sirius whispered.
"That's what I was told," James replied gravely, "Carefully. We don't know what kind of traps could be laid out. Wait! Homenum revelio."
When nothing happened, James nodded and they proceeded through the old, rusted gate and up the broken and grassy path. Sirius slowed as they grew closer to the door, it was almost as if he could taste the dark magic—taste that rusted, wet flavor that always came with the inky blackness.
Just as James' hand reached out to grab the door knob, Sirius' arm shot out and stopped him, his eyes wide and dark, "Stop. Don't touch it."
"What's wrong?" James asked as he slowly withdrew his hand.
"Sirius?" Remus said slowly as he reached his hand out to grasp Sirius' shoulder.
Sirius slowly stepped forward and pointed his wand at the door knob and said, "Eloszlatni," while moving his wand in an almost loopy, zig-zag formation. James and Remus watched in shock as the handle glowed a deep, dark purple before wisping away into nothingness.
"What in the world—"
"What was that?" James asked as he turned to Sirius, "I've never seen a spell like that."
"That was something I learned in—in auror training. It's standard."
James shook his head, "No, I never learned that when we were in training."
"Ah, well—I, well I kind of went back to training. I sat for my test about two months ago and passed. I've been training to be field ready. I should be starting work in a few weeks."
Both James and Remus' mouths dropped open, their absolute shock, that they had missed such an important and exciting development in their friend's life was absolutely unbelievable.
"And when exactly," James said slowly, trying to contain himself, "were you going to tell us about this?"
Sirius shrugged, "Probably when I actually went back. I just—I've needed to move on for a while and I think I'll do the most good in the auror office. But, lately, I've been debating going into the Department of Law Enforcement so I could help write new laws and stuff."
"So, let me get this straight," Remus said quietly, "You went and sat your exams, have been going to trainings, and are about to start field work, and we haven't noticed?"
Sirius shrugged, "I've been keeping it pretty under wraps."
James and Sirius both hugged Sirius at the same time, both giving him whispered congratulations and promises of a huge celebration sometime after today. Sirius blushed a little at the unexpected excitement and praise but hugged his friends back. He wasn't sure how they would react to this change in events and, honestly, it had been giving him anxiety for a few weeks now. But now that it was out in the open and they knew, he felt relieved beyond belief and ready to be done at this ugly old house.
"Let's finish up here so we can go have a beer, ok mates?" Sirius said with a smile as he pushed the door to the house open.
As soon as the door swung open, they could feel the staleness in the air, tinged with the electric feel in the air that they had felt upon walking onto the property. It was stronger now, and Sirius could tell it was radiating from one particular point in the middle of the room. precaution proceeded him as he waived his wand in the air and performed several complicated movements meant to reveal any traps or spells that would impede or injure them should they move forward. When he was satisfied that there were none, he carefully stepped into the old ruin and walked slowly towards the radiating darkness.
James and Remus followed behind Sirius, their wands raised, white light emanating from the tips. They stepped carefully as they tried to avoid the various rotted floorboards that would surely lead to a broken bone or worse as they walked to the center of the room. Sirius knelt down and carefully circled his wand over a spot in the floor as he mumbled some complicated words. A small section of the floor glowed white for a moment, then dimmed, leaving a white spot on their vision.
Sirius carefully levitated the chunk of floor away from what seemed to be an empty space beneath it. Further inspection revealed a small, ornate wooden box. Sirius carefully levitated the box out of the hole and sat it on the floor of the shack and looked at it curiously.
"Remus, do you recognize these runes?" he asked.
Remus frowned and held his wand closer to the box, "Yes. Give me a moment and I can tell you what it says."
Remus inspected the box for several minutes, using his wand to turn it in the air in front of him before setting it down, "I believe the box is enchanted. Whomever opens it and wears the object concealed inside of it will be infected with a flesh-eating spell. It's slow acting but will surely kill the wearer within hours. We'll need the counter-spell before we can risk opening it."
"Oh! I brought a book. Hold on," James quickly dug out one of the many books he had brought with him. This one was entitled Counter-Curses: A Better Solution to Black Magic; he opened it and riffled through the pages, "You said flesh-eating? Would that be the Arabic, Spanish, or Egyptian version of the spell?"
"I think Egyptian based on the runes surrounding the box."
James nodded and laid the book out as he held his wand, "Hopefully I do this spell correctly," he carefully waived his wand around the box as he said various words that Remus and Sirius didn't recognize. When he was done, the box burst open, the lock breaking and the lid falling back, clattering against the floor.
"Well, I think you may have done it, mate," Sirius said as he looked into the box.
Inside the box they found a golden ring with a square, black stone set in the center. On the stone was some sort of insignia that James felt like he had seen before. It looked like some sort of triangular eye but he couldn't quite place where he had seen it. Without thinking, without testing to be sure the curse was gone, he reached out and grabbed the ring and held it up to his eyes to look at it more closely.
"James!" Sirius screamed as he grabbed James' wrist.
James looked at his hand in shock as a creeping blackness began making its way down his fingertips at an alarming rate.
"Sirius, do something! He'll die if it spreads!" Remus yelled.
Sirius forced James' hand to the floor, the ring knocking out of his fingers and clattering somewhere into the darkness. Sirius raised his wand and looked his friend in the eyes—James could see panic and sadness there as well as a determination that he hadn't seen in so many years.
"I'm so sorry about this, James."
Sirius pointed his wand at James' hand and suddenly, all James knew was pain and blood.
End Notes:
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