Noble and Most Ancient House of Drabbles
Username: CypressWand
Position: Pride of Portree – Chaser 2
Character: Licorus Black (founder of the Black family tree)
Word count: 879
Warnings: None
Drabble: Nr. 1
Licorus Black and the Curious Muggle
'You appear to be looking for something, Sir.'
Licorus Black turned around on the balls of his feet and eyed the hawk-like, sharply dressed looking boy with great suspicion. 'I'd prefer not to waste my precious words on your kind,' he spat.
The young man did not seem to be taken aback in the slightest by the foul way in which mister Black spoke to him. Instead, a shimmer of curiosity flashed over the young man's pale blue eyes. He cocked his head and took a step forward. 'Saying your kind would imply that there is such a thing as my kind,' he said as though reading from a dictionary.
Licorus Black had always found Muggles to be a strange bunch, but the young man before him had to be the strangest one yet. 'Just bugger off lad, will you?'
'Judging by the state of your suit you have invested quite a bit of money in coming across as a man of power, and yet your vest does not match your jacket, not because you don't want to but because you don't know how to. The handkerchief in your pocket is a deep purple and your buttons a dark shade of green. A subtle yet remarkable combination of colours, as though you wanted to be recognised without drawing too much attention to yourself. The style of your moustache has gone out of fashion almost a decade ago but judging by your lack of response to that you don't seem to care and most certainly aren't from London. Your left hand keeps fidgeting with the right sleeve. Not because you are nervous. To the contrary, I believe you are a man who has very little to fear. You're hiding something up your sleeve. An object that may seem ordinary to me but something of great value to you. Also, who's the lucky lady, if I may be so bold to ask?'
Licorus opened his mouth to speak and closed it again as he was too perplexed by the amount of information the boy had been able to gather from merely looking at him. After a moment or two, he finally figured out what to ask in return. 'Are you a Squib by any chance?'
'I am well aware of the existence of witches and wizards in this world, Sir,' the boy answered. 'You're not the first one that I have come across. Not that anyone believes me, of course. I'm rather good at observing things, which is probably why I can see the magic that is happening right under my very nose when most of us Muggles can't. I shall go back to the very first question that I asked you, Sir. What is it that you are looking for? Considering the fact that you are to be wed soon and appear to have money to spend it has to be something of great value that you seek. Large, too. Is it a house you are looking for?'
Licorus nodded. He had never known a Muggle to hold any knowledge of the wizarding world, let alone a young boy such as the one that was standing in front of him. He had been taught by his father and his father before him that Muggles oughtn't be trusted, but for once, perhaps, he was willing to make an exception. 'Her name is Magenta Tripe and we are to be wed by the next full moon,' he explained, and noticed that he was no longer fiddling with the sleeve where he had hidden his wand. 'I am supposed to go visit a property on Grimmauld Place, but it appears that I have lost my way.'
'It's only a short walk from here,' said the young boy with a gentle bow. 'Follow me, Sir.'
Licorus followed the boy through several narrow streets he had never encountered before, and they stopped once they reached the London Borough of Islington.
'There are currently no houses for sale,' the boy explained, but number twelve doesn't seem to exist. The city council is writing it off as a mistake, but I think you and I both know better than that.'
'This ought to be it,' said Licorus once they had reached the place the young boy had spoken of. Right before their eyes, the walls started to rattle and shake until an entirely new house appeared between numbers eleven and thirteen.
'Thank you for the help, young lad,' said Licorus as he stepped towards the front door, and extended a hand, for the first time in his life he reminded himself, to the Muggle boy who had helped him. 'Pardon me for not introducing myself properly. My name is Licorus Black. I never did quite catch your name.'
'Holmes, Sir,' said the boy as he firmly shook mister Black's hand. 'Sherlock Holmes. I hope to be a detective one day.'
Licorus did not quite understand what young Holmes meant by a "detective", but that didn't matter. 'Have a good day.'
'Good day to you too, Sir.'
Licorus watched as Sherlock Holmes disappeared from the street, and knocked on the door of what was to be his future family's residency. It was then that he realised that the wand he had hidden up in his sleeve had gone.
A/N Licorus Black (Born 1808 – Died 1972), Sherlock Holmes (Born on the 6th of January, 1854, making him 16 years old in this story.)
A/N Just as a reminder, purple and green are the colours that wizards wear to recognise each other on the streets.