Rodrick walked down towards the common room, intent on finding Malfoy. It was the weekend, several days after the first Quidditch game, new information had come to light... Information he was itching to use. A day after the game, news of Black's freedom quickly soared through the country. Malfoy had been quite irritated by it but otherwise didn't show too much of a reaction.

He found a large number of student's sprawled all over the area, spying Malfoy sitting down in one of the sofas beside Nott, Rodrick sped up towards them, taking a seat in front of the blonde.

"Morning," Rodrick spoke up with a grin.

The two Slytherin's raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?" Rodrick remarked, the grin slowly fading.

"What happened?" Malfoy asked warily.

Rodrick blinked at the boy, "I am not allowed to talk to my friends? Without anything happening?" he deadpanned.

The three stood there for a few moment's before they snorted at the thought. Blaise had just shown up at this point. Rodrick turned to greet him. His attention was quickly turned back towards Malfoy as the blonde started to speak.

"So what's really going on then?"

Rodrick took a thoughtful look before asking the first question.

"When is the vote regarding Black's situation as heir?" He questioned. He noted with amusement how a small smirk slowly etched itself onto Nott, no doubt the boy understood the situation perfectly. Malfoy's face scowled slightly before he quickly fixed his expression.

"It's next week," Draco growled

Rodrick raised an amused eyebrow, "You don't seem happy about it,"

Nott chuckled at that, "He's losing a fortune, of course, he aint happy about it"

Blaise rolled his eyes, "You'll still be the richest student here, I don't know what your complaining about,"

The words seemed to put a light back on Malfoy's face, the moment it adopted a smirk Blaise regretted them.

"Why the interest anyway?" Malfoy drawled, he lazily stared ahead of him.

Rodrick shrugged, "I've got an idea, an idea that involves you voting for Black to regain his inheritance,"

Malfoy eyes darkened at that, the two Slytherins next to them were staring at this, their interest piqued.

"Why the hell would I do that?" Malfoy asked, his teeth set on edge.

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at him, "You'll lose the inheritance either now or later,"

Malfoy's expression didn't change, "Why would I willingly give it away then!?" he questioned, exasperated.

Rodrick's face took on a grin, "You get to beat Potter,"

"..."

"Sounds like a good deal" Nott spoke out amused, "Beat Potter by giving his godfather a fortune,"

Rodrick didn't pay any attention to the lanky Slytherin, he kept his eyes focused on Malfoy. "What do you say? You'll lose your fortune either way, at least get something out of it,"

Malfoy had a thoughtful look on his face. "Done," he remarked, relaxing back into his seat.

Rodrick's grin increased.

"Aren't even gonna ask what you're beating him at..." Nott remarked.

Malfoy shrugged, "Don't care, long as it's obvious,"

Rodrick laughed at that, "Oh, believe me, it'll be obvious enough,"

Malfoy's face slowly started smirking, "What about everyone else?"

Rodrick blinked at that, "What do you mean?"

Nott stifled a laughter before he added on, "Malfoy's vote won't be enough, you need to get most of the seats to vote in Black's favour,"

Rodrick frowned slightly at that, "And who hold's those seats?"

"Most of Slytherin," A voice behind remarked idly, Rodrick turned to find his eyes landed onto a Slytherin fifth year? he recognized him as one of the chasers.

Rodrick stared at the casual Slytherin, he was plopped down onto a leather seat idly reading a book. Two other fifth years beside him.

"Is there a reason people are listening to my conversations?" Rodrick remarked as he turned back to his friends.

The three stared at him barely holding the amusement in their faces...

Rodrick shrugged, "What ever," he remarked getting up.

Nott and Blaise turned up to gaze at him, "What are you doing?" Blaise asked.

Rodrick didn't answer, instead, he turned around to face the Slytherins in the common room. The other three watched in amusement as he let of a loud whistle to attract everyone's attention.

Needless to say, the peculiar orphan got everyone's attention quickly enough.

Rodrick eyed the number of eyes looking towards him, a small voice in his head told him this might not be the best idea. Coughing once, he quickly spoke.

"Can you all ask your families to set off a vote in favor of Black next week?" his voice echoed through the room. Most of the eyes stared at him for a few seconds.

"There's a vote next week?" One voice went out.

Rodrick stared incredulously at them, he heard more and more voices come out.

"What's the vote about?", "Wasn't Black in prison?", "Which Black is it?"

Rodrick eyes slowly started showing shock...

"Not all of us keep up to date with the rest of the world, hell, some of these families haven't taken their seat in the Wizengamot for a while," Malfoy pointed out. "If it doesn't affect them, they don't show interest," he added on.

Rodrick nodded warily at that before he raised his voice again, "So can you vote in his favour?" again pointing the question out towards the lot, once again to his surprise, most of them just shrugged it off, agreeing to him.

Sitting back down, Rodrick stared ahead to his friends, warily. "That was easier than I expected... They didn't even ask why, they just agreed," he said uncertain, confused.

The other three, however, had different expressions lining their faces. "Why are you surprised?" Nott asked.

Rodrick furrowed his brows at the question, "You have a habit of pulling stunts that help the house," Blaise remarked as well.

Rodrick face still didn't change, "Even then... To agree immediately is a little..."

"You are helping the house right?" Rodrick heard the fifth year? Behind them speak again, his name was Cassius Warrington if he remembered correctly. Rodrick nodded his head towards the chaser.

Cassius shrugged at that, "Then there's no problem," That small bit of information seemed to spread through the house.

Rodrick relaxed back into his seat, still confused about the whole ordeal. "I didn't think I had this kind of reputation," he muttered mostly to himself, he wasn't sure how he felt about it, after all... He'd managed it without a name.

Malfoy looked at the black-haired youth amused, "I think it might have something to do with one of the rumors surrounding you,"

Rodrick tilted his head at that, Luna and Astoria had told him some of the rumours... They were disturbing... Very disturbing. "which one exactly?" he asked warily.

"The one about you being a dark lord," Malfoy finished.

'Of course, that rumour existed as well...' Rodrick thought irritated.

The two Greengrass girls slowly came into the room surrounded by a group of the other third-year girl's, ranging from piggie to Bulstrode. Daphne spotted Rodrick before she moved towards his group, Tracey, and Astoria behind her.

"Morning," she started off, as she took a seat beside the boy. Astoria took a small free spot next to her while Tracey had the unfortunate luck of sitting beside Nott. She chuckled when she saw how uncomfortable both boy and girl appeared to be.

"Hello Greengrass," Rodrick remarked.

"Aren't you gonna ask her family? And the other girl's for that matter?" she heard Blaise say. Daphne turned her gaze towards Rodrick at that, curious.

Rodrick face scrunched up in thought before he turned towards Malfoy, "You ask the other girl's, they're more likely to listen to you," he remarked.

Malfoy's face scowled for a second before he shrugged and got up, accepting the strange compliment.

Rodrick watched idly as Malfoy walked towards the others.

"Ask me about what?" Daphne remarked once Malfoy was out of ear shot.

"Rodrick here wants everyone to vote in Black's favour," Nott remarked.

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him, "I guess I could ask them to do that... Is there any reason?" she questioned.

Rodrick eyed her amused, "You know you're the first person to ask me that... Besides Malfoy,"

Daphne blinked, "So what is the reason?"

Rodrick grinned, he quickly moved towards her before whispering his plan in her ear.

Daphne's eyes widened before a frown took over, "That's so evil! And I am pretty sure counts as Cheating! Not to mention unfair!" she started off.

Slowly it dawned on her, "That's so Slytherin," she added on.

Rodrick grinned as he relaxed his head back into the sofa.

Nott had an intrigued look on his face, "What are you planning exactly?" he decided to finally ask.

"He plans to mock the entire school system," Daphne remarked with a frown.

"When you put it like that, it makes it sound even better," Rodrick started laughing.

...

Rodrick stared up at the stone gargoyle, amusement lining his face as he uttered the pseudo password.

"Horcrux," just as before, the Gargoyle quickly shifted to let through the Slytherin third year. His eyes landed on the sole occupant of the room, a small measure of relief showed up at that. He took a seat before his attention swept towards the headmaster who had a frown marring his face.

"Hello, Headmaster," Rodrick greeted cheerfully.

Dumbledore sighed, "I must ask you to avoid using that word as a password," he spoke up with a frown.

Rodrick shrugged, "It's the only one I can remember, besides I don't see the harm in it"

The frown increased at that, "I'd rather not have student's start looking into what a Horcrux is..." Albus admitted.

Rodrick raised an amused eyebrow towards the old man, "I think you'll find that if anyone is likely to create one it's me..." he had to hold back a laugh as he watched the headmaster's twinkle disappear.

"Rodrick that's rather disconcerting for you to admit," Albus remarked, his mind whirling about the kind of repercussions... However his worries disappeared as he heard the boy start laughing.

"Sir, I am the most likely to create a Horcrux out of the students here and I doubt I'd be capable of such a thing," There was a sparkle in the boy's viper eyes as he spoke. Albus had to control himself from reading the boy's mind knowing how it would end. He had been considered for Ravenclaw, he was capable of learning from experience.

"I see..." Albus spoke, sighing, "Was there something you wished to discuss with me?" he watched in amusement as the boy plopped a sweet into his mouth.

Rodrick nodded, "It's about Black's fortune vote," he remarked lazily.

Albus' eyes widened slightly at the topic, "What pray tell did you want to discuss?" he knew about the specifics... The vote was most likely going to fail, Sirius wouldn't get his fortune for a couple years. It was disconcerting considering he'd already given the go ahead for Black to take Harry Potter for Christmas. Considering he might not have the ancient families house protections... It was rather dangerous... It was the boy's words here that had stopped from rejecting it in the first place. If Harry Potter did indeed need to die to get rid of that Horcrux, then there was a small chance of him rejecting the Prophecy when he found out, if he was convinced he hadn't lived his life properly to give it up. It was a somber thought... He would try and find a way to avoid the boy dying but if it was inevitable, it was only fair to let him live what he had left. He'd already failed too many people already...

Staring at the boy in front of him, his resolve regarding Harry Potter and his godfather living their lives steeled itself again.

Rodrick hummed a quiet tune as he contemplated his words, "I have an offer for you," he decided to say.

Albus raised an eyebrow at that, "An offer you say?"

Rodrick nodded again, "Sirius Black needs his fortune... After all imagine how much it would help us in dealing with Voldemort..." he started off, he watched as Dumbledore's eyes swiftly reacted to the name, no doubt his mind slowly taking in the words.

"Yes... I can see what you mean," Dumbledore replied, he felt unease in his stomach when he considered it... if Voldemort came back soon... they would need all the help they could get. The Black fortune could be unbelievable help with the war... Plus it would also mean Harry was safer if they kept to the Black family home "What is this offer pertaining to?" he asked carefully... A small part of his mind had already figured it out.

"What if I told you, I could get the vote to land in Black's favour?" Rodrick spoke, a sparkle in his eyes.

Albus' eyes were hidden behind a mask, his mind, however, was quickly whirling around trying to see the whole picture... It would be unlikely for the boy to manage that... He knew very well that most of the seats fell into Slytherin, he also knew how difficult or costly it would be to get all of them to agree to the same thing... What the boy was offering required al- Albus mind stopped as he stared at the boy in front of him... It would require influence... He'd never actually considered the level of control the boy had in his house... it was both intriguing as well as worrying.

"What is the other side of the offer?" Albus asked, once again the irritating twinkle present in his eyes, if the boy could actually manage it... the Black fortune would be available before Voldemort could return unless he'd planned to come back next week...

Rodrick grinned. "I want the house cup,"

Albus Dumbledore did a double take at that. "Forgive me... I am not sure I heard you correctly..."

Rodrick's grin grew, "I want the house cup for this year. Assure me of that and I'll get you the Black fortune,"

Albus frowned, this was the last thing he expected... Honestly, he had no idea how to feel about it. At all. "That is rather..." he wasn't even sure what to say about it either. "Unfair," Albus settled for that word, the moment he said it he knew it was a mistake.

Rodrick started laughing, "Forgive me professor, but it's simply Slytherin,"

Albus sighed, it was true... Each house had their own way of going after the cup... Hufflepuffs did it by been model students, Ravenclaws did it by their grades, Gryffindor's did it with actions and Slytherins were supposed to be cunning... Like the boy in front of him.

"The house cup is supposed to be earned through achievements..." Albus started off weakly, knowing it wouldn't stick.

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at that, "You can hardly expect me to get them all to agree just because I said so," he surprisingly lied, "I need to offer all of them something otherwise they'd lose their trust in me, house cup fits into that category," he finished.

Albus eyed the boy in front him tired, "It would be much easier to believe that if you weren't smiling so much," he remarked, causing the boy to let off another laugh. He cursed his self-control when he heard the boy's next words.

"It's for the Greater Good Headmaster. Give Slytherin the house cup this year for the Greater Good,"

...

The trial would go on to have the biggest twist in Magical Britain's history. The entire court voted in agreement for the same thing. That had never happened before.

Sirius Black had been left in complete shock ever since seeing Malfoy willingly although begrudgingly hand over the entire Black fortune. Perhaps the most surprising part was that Albus Dumbledore hadn't been in court, he'd only recently found out that Dumbledore was not in fact chief warlock anymore.

That still didn't compare to Malfoy's actions.

He had wanted to investigate that phenomenon before a letter from Dumbledore had explained everything. Apparently, the old man had called in a favour. Whatever it was, it must've been big to have convinced Malfoy. Even out, of course Dumbledore seemed to still have a hand in it... It also meant Sirius Black owed a favour to the headmaster... Thinking about it, he realized he owed a favor towards a particular Slytherin although that was definitely justifiable... Owing someone a favour definitely beat living in Azkaban. He had a strange feeling regarding the headmaster though, somehow either he didn't believe he owed him one or he felt that whatever the man would ask of him... Wouldn't be worth the Black fortune... He quickly shrugged that off, he had things to do.

He knew Harry Potter would be rather happy with the turn of events, in fact, he himself was quite happy with the outcome... He could afford a better lifestyle for the both of them, plus the sudden fortune meant he could afford another part of his plan to help give Gryffindor it's lead... Ever since the 300 points boost to Slytherin Harry had been somewhat moody regarding the points... He'll be happier to know his house still stood a chance!

If only he knew.

...

When Albus Dumbledore saw the newspaper, he sighed, at least the letter to Sirius Black would make more sense, he'd sent it off earlier expecting the vote to be successful, all the signs certainly pointed towards that... Albus almost chuckled at the thought of Black receiving that letter after losing the vote, remembering his deal his mood dropped once again. He turned towards Fawkes and found amusement lining the bird's face.

"I had hoped Gryffindor would win..."

The bird scoffed.

Albus Dumbledore frowned, "Who are you rooting for?"

The bird's screech shook Dumbledore to his core.

"That is quite rude Fawkes! Gryffindor certainly does stand a chance against Slytherin!"

The bird had the audacity to ask him the chance of Gryffindor winning this year.