Sirius was back at Grimmauld Place by the time Harry got back just before five. He'd had fun flying around the Burrow with Ginny, Ron and the twins. The twins would have been phenomenal beaters, but they did a pretty good job of trying to trip up Ginny and her excellent chasing abilities.

After lunch Ginny had taken him down to Ottery St. Catchpole and they wandered around the village. She'd been right about her description, it did look like it came straight out of a Christmas card. There were kids tobogganing down the hills and skating on frozen ponds, building snowmen. He and Ginny built their own snowman and borrowed a sled from a kid to go down the hill themselves a few times.

He was so glad he'd had the forethought to bring along some Muggle money just in case since she had mentioned wanting to take him to the village before. Once their hands were completely frozen the money had come in handy when they holed up in a cafe for a hot chocolate to warm up.

It had been just an all-around lovely time.

"You look like you got some fresh air." Sirius commented and brushed the back of his fingers over his own cheek to indicate that Harry had gotten some color there.

"Yeah." He smiled. "The Burrow really is fantastic. We played Quidditch and Ginny and I went into the village and played with some kids. It was great!"

Of course, Sirius knew all about how great the Burrow life was. Even though Grimmauld didn't seem as horrible as he'd made it out to be, there was a wistful look about his face, one of longing to be back there.

"So." Harry sat down beside him on the couch. "How was it with Dumbledore? Did you hear back from the Goblin's yet?"

Sirius shook his head 'no'. "I watched him destroy the Diary. Let me tell you, there was most certainly a something in it. He used Fiendfyre, and it actually screamed." His eyes glazed over at the memory.

"The Diary screamed." Harry repeated in awe. "That's so weird."

"It was entirely terrifying, not going to lie." He heaved a great sigh. "But now we know it can be done. Albus is trying to find some way that we could possibly remove the piece of soul from the locket into something that isn't a 'priceless relic'." He used finger quotes. "If I had it my way, I'd take you there tomorrow to destroy the thing." Sirius paused. "And, now I know who Tom Riddle is. It's Voldemort's real name."

"Oh." Harry had wondered. It rather made sense that he'd use his own Diary rather than someone else's. Hermione and Ginny had been laughing about the thought of a child with the name Voldemort. He'd wondered then what his name had really been. Mike and John weren't particularly terrifying. Tom certainly wasn't either. "Do we know how many he might have made now? Did taking care of the Diary somehow let you know?"

Sirius shook his head. "No. But he did show me a memory." He cringed. "And we have a favor to ask of you."

Harry's eyebrows went up. "Okay." He was eager to help as much as he could.

"When I was in school, I had a Potions Professor named Horace Slughorn. He was always cultivating relationships with people who had potential to really be prominent in our world; Quidditch players, Politicians, wealthy people. Anyone who he could claim association with and seem impressive and what not."

"Okay." Harry said slowly, not sure how this related to him doing a favor.

"Your mum was one of his favorite students when I was at school, and you and I have a certain amount of notoriety behind our names." He led in. "This professor was also the same one that Tom Riddle had."

Harry sat up straight.

"Yes. I saw a memory today of a young Tom Riddle asking him about Horcruxes. The memory had been tampered with though."

"I don't understand." Harry cut in. "How did you 'see a memory'?"

"There is something called a Pensive. It allows you to view someone's memory, relive it in a sense. As I understand it, they are usually straight forward, but this one was altered. Slughorn was hiding what he'd actually said to Tom Riddle. After the kid asked him about them there was this fog and Slughorn was yelling that he didn't know anything about them, but it was clearly a cover up. Now Albus thinks that if you and I go and talk to him, he'll offer up the actual memory."

Harry stared at him processing that. A Pensive sounded like it could be pretty neat. He could relive all the highlights of his life? A winning Quidditch game, seeing Hogwarts for the first time. Watching what he did with Ginny yesterday sounded particularly appealing. Damn his brain for going there, but that would have been way better than looking at some of Seamus' magazines.

He dug his nail into one of his finger pads to cool his hormones. "So, because you are the first person to escape Azkaban, and I'm the first to survive the killing curse he thinks that your old professor will give us the memory? But, wouldn't he be rather old now? Would he even remember it properly?"

Sirius huffed a laugh. "Oh, he'll remember for sure. People don't forget things like that." He dug in his pocket and pulled out a scrap of parchment. "I have his address. I was going to write him and see if he'd be interested in going out for tea or something. I'd have to use your name, and I was going to make up a story about you wanting to hear about your mum." He asked as though it pained him.

"Oh." He paused. "Well. I mean, I wouldn't actually mind that. It might be nice to hear some stories about her anyways."

"You're sure?" He double checked.

"Yeah. Yeah, that's fine. Whatever helps." He said honestly.

"Alright then." He went to the writing desk in the corner of the room and pulled out some parchment. "Is Hedwig available?"

"She was out hunting all night. She's probably still sleeping in my room." Harry leaned back on the couch. It really didn't bug him that this Slughorn guy might only want to meet him because of the notoriety behind his name, but why that would mean that he'd give up this memory of the conversation with Tom Riddle, he didn't quite understand. Couldn't they just tell him that the Horcruxes were made and then, if he was any kind of a decent bloke, he'd give the accurate memory?

He hoped they wouldn't have to visit with him tomorrow. Neville was going to go over to the Burrow tomorrow. Ron sent him an owl and Harry was going to go over too and they were all going to hang out. Ginny said Kenneth was going to be there tomorrow too while Charlie was out doing some personal errands. It sounded like she had a big day of building snow forts lined up to occupy her nephew. Building snow forts sounded like something Ron, Neville and he could get in on.

"What's the smile?" Sirius asked from the desk looking back at him.

"I just had a really nice day. I was going to go over there again tomorrow. Neville will be visiting, and Kenneth."

"Sounds fun. I can go check on Remus then." He sealed the letter and handed it to Harry. "Mind coming back down after? I have some other stuff I wanted to talk to you about."

Harry nodded and headed up to his room. Hedwig was sleeping, he cooed at her until she awoke and gave her the letter and the address with some owl treats and she took off. He went back downstairs, and Sirius had a scotch in his hand.

"That a sign of an uncomfortable conversation ahead of us?" He joked, only half serious about it.

"Eh, awkward for sure." Sirius answered, holding up his glass to observe the contents as though judging if he'd poured enough.

Harry paused mid stride. "That mean I can have one too?" He tried.

Sirius stared at him for a long moment, considering. "Yeah. Try the firewhiskey though. The scotch tastes awful the first time."

Harry poured only an ounce of firewhiskey for himself. It was strong stuff. Then he settled in on the couch again. "So?" He prompted.

"Right. So, you know I'm your Godfather, and I'm working to officially adopt you, so I'd be your parent of sorts." He started. "And with that comes some certain responsibilities that James would have expected me to take care of. One of which is the one that I want to talk to you about, and it's going to be uncomfortable for the both of us. You are probably too old for it now, but. I. It has to be said. And I want you to feel comfortable talking to me about, you know. Anything." He rambled and gave Harry a look like he had been meant to follow all that.

"Huh?" He was confused. What responsibility?

Sirius sighed. "That made no sense did it?" He took another sip of his scotch and then blurted it out. "Are you having sex with Ginny?" He held up a hand. "Uh. Let me rephrase that. Um. Are you having sex? Let's pretend I don't know who with, if you are."

Harry's mouth hung open. His first reaction was to say that it was none of his business, but then. Was he going to try and give him the sex talk? He said something about being the 'parent'. It was a dad's job to give the sex talk to his son, wasn't it? He'd said it would be awkward. And Harry didn't want to talk about this with Neville or Hermione, he certainly wasn't going to be discussing it with Ron. And so, with a nervous inhale he decided to be honest.

"Yes." He blushed and his hand shook.

Sirius nodded. "Okay." he swallowed. "And, uh, has it been going on for a while? Have you been... cautious?"

"She's been on the potion for a few months, but we've been. It was." He coughed and took another sip of his drink. "It's been a week now since our first..."

"I see." He shifted around on his cushion. "And you two talked about it?"

Harry nodded. "And I made sure that she was okay with everything. Like, every new thing that we. Um. Tried. Like, making sure she didn't feel pressured or anything."

He was nodding. "Good. Good. And uh, were you able to." He tilted his head. "Did both of you wind up with the same reactions?" Harry snorted at the phrasing. Sirius chuckled then too. "Alright, no more beating around the bush. Did you get her to orgasm?"

Harry felt his face heating up, but if Sirius could plow through this, then he could manage too. "Not the first time."

"That's completely normal."

"I've heard. I nearly got her the second time, but then I had to. I used my mouth on her." He didn't know if he was oversharing.

Sirius sagged with relief. "Oh good. So, I don't have to talk you through that one." He smiled. "And you guys had done a build up to all this? Touched each other before and all?" Harry nodded. "And she was your first?"

"She was my first everything. I hadn't even kissed a girl before."

"Really? Any particular reason why not?"

That question would have embarrassed him more than the sex talk if he'd been asked at the start of the school year. But now with how great his first kiss had been he was glad she'd been his first. "No one else had caught my interest like her. I had a thing for a girl last year, but she had a boyfriend. It was only a small crush, nothing like what I felt for... her when I first saw her." He'd almost said Ginny's name, but stopped himself for both of their comfort.

"Must say, when Remus told me the two of you were together, I was over the moon." He looked back down at his glass with contention. "So, any questions then? You know about girls' cycles and all that?"

"Yeah. I figured that one out. Think I'm good. She's good at telling me what she likes." He blushed and took another drink. The firewhiskey had been a very good call.

Sirius made a face at the last comment. That hadn't been something he wanted to know about her.

()()()

It was a Saturday morning that the Goblin's had finalized the detailed inventory of possessions in the Black vault. It was a scroll seven feet long and with tiny printing. Harry let the owl into the kitchen while the two of them were sipping coffee and Sirius untied the scroll and let it roll out onto the ground dramatically.

"That's a lot of things in your vault." Harry took a cursory look at the contents from where he stood beside it, looking down from where he stood. It was a daunting number of items. No wonder Sirius and Remus couldn't get through it all. The scroll that he'd received for the Potter vault had been two feet at the most, but some of it had been listed as 'trunk' or 'wardrobe', so he still didn't know the full contents.

Sirius sighed and looked at the daunting list. "I suppose I should try and organize this all into different categories."

"Dumbledore must have some idea what the other objects might be, right?"

"Who knows with that man. He might have a list of potential contenders, but he has yet to share that information with me. He just said that it would most likely be some all-important item, like how the locket belonged to Slytherin."

"Did Slytherin have any other items that he was known for?"

"Not that I was aware of. All the Hogwarts founders had something though. Gryffindor had a sword, Hufflepuff had a cup, and Ravenclaw had a... tiara or something." He shuffled the paper down in his hands looking at more of the items. "I'll need a few pages of paper to sort this into." He started rolling the paper up.

"I can help if you like. It's still early, Neville won't be at the Burrow until around lunch."

"Sure. Let's move this into the dining room though. There's more table space there." He picked up his coffee and he and Harry moved into the back room. "Kreacher" he called.

CRACK

"Yes, Master."

"We will need a stack of paper and pencils." He ordered and the elf disappeared, returning only a moment later with the supplies. Sirius put the list on the table. "We'll split it in half in a moment. Let's figure out some different categories."

"It probably won't be any of the coins." Harry pointed out.

"No, nor the furniture." Sirius agreed. "Alright, so; Clothing, Jewelry, Books, Weaponry, Made of Gold, Made of Silver, Goblin Made." He started listing off and writing the titles at the top of separate pages. "I'm going to duplicate this list twice so we can scratch off as we go." He waved his wand two more seven feet parchments populated on the table. Sirius folded them in half and handed one to Harry. "You do the bottom of the page, I'll to the top."

Harry looked at the three and half feet in his hand. "Why'd you duplicate it twice then?"

Sirius shrugged. "Additional back up. And I'll have Remus double check it all. Add a section for 'Gems'." He said as he came across a singular gem.

Harry took his list to the other side of the table from Sirius and they worked quietly on separating everything. He had to add a section for Miscellaneous when he found there were several ornate urn's holding generations old Black relatives and stone figurines from the Ming dynasty.

"Um." Sirius called Harry's attention. His finger was on the list nearing the bottom of his half. "This says Chalice- Badger engravement."

Harry flipped his over to where Sirius would have been looking at. "Badger as in Hufflepuff?" He asked astounded. "You think?"

"I think... maybe?" His head was tilted, still looking at the parchment unsure. "It would certainly be worth a look."

"Uh. So, you, Remus and the House Elves were down there for a while and didn't come across it. And this list doesn't say where in the vault this might be." Harry pointed out delicately.

"Oh, buggering fuck." Sirius sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Yeah. We'll still need to scour the vault again to find this." He looked up at Harry with tired eyes. He closed his eyes to collect himself for a moment. "We should probably keep categorizing though, we're nearly done, and this might be a coincidence."

Harry held back his amusement with Sirius' reaction. At least if nothing else looked like it had the potential, or stood out to either he, Remus or Dumbledore, then they knew what they were looking for.

Both were near the end of their parchment anyways, and it only took another five minutes. Harry added his to Sirius' collection and Sirius took a look over what he'd written. "Well, I don't see anything that stands out to me on here."

"Not even the collection of bones?" Harry asked humorously.

Sirius cringed. "I don't want to think too hard about that. For all I know my cousin Bellatrix may have taken them from each of her victims as a 'trophy'."

Harry felt a shiver pass through him at that prospect. "I read a few stories about what she'd done. Neville had a hard time with those one's." He recalled the look on his friends face when the Daily Prophet with his parents' story was plastered all over the front page, above the fold.

Neville had told him before that his mum and dad were on the Permanent Spell Damage Ward in St. Mungo's, but not that they were there because of being subjected to the Cruciatus Curse for a prolonged period by Bellatrix Lestrange. Neville had spent some more time than usual in the greenhouses after that.

"I heard her ranting every now and then when I was locked up." Sirius admitted. "She still knew that Voldemort wasn't dead. I don't know if she knew about the Horcruxes or if she was just guessing or hoping. At the time I assumed she was a ranting lunatic." He said sadly. "Hind sight, eh?"

"What's next?" Harry asked. "Are you going to see if the others find anything in the lists, or just go straight to Gringotts? One of the Goblin's might be able to tell you where the Chalice is."

He gave him a pondering look. "Kreacher, Dobby." He called.

CRACK. CRACK

"Yes, Master."

"Dobby is here sir."

"Can either of you feel it when you are in proximity to these evil items?" Sirius asked them.

"Kreacher could not wear the locket. It would make one very angry." Kreacher told them. "It would corrupt the feelings."

"The Diary would make you withdraw into yourself, Master." Dobby said. "One would be compelled to write in it."

"Is that why Ginny would have written in it?" Harry asked suddenly.

Dobby shook his head. "It is not all at once. It is prolonged contact."

"Oh." Harry's shoulders sagged. It just had been her split-second decision and impulse control that made her write in the Diary. He's hoped for a moment there it was the compulsion charm or whatever, but he had been touching it longer than she and he hadn't wanted to write in it.

Sirius patted him on the shoulder in a conciliatory gesture. "Don't worry about it, Pup. She didn't get hurt." He piled the papers together to straighten them out.

"Yeah." Harry conceded. It had just been a lapse in judgement, and everyone was fine.

()()()

He knocked on the door to Amelia's flat and took a moment to observe the little touches she added to the exterior of her door. This wasn't the swankiest of London apartment complexes, and it wasn't a strictly magical building either. He wouldn't have considered hanging a wreath outside his door or having a door mat in the corridor if it was his place, but to each their own. Maybe she thought it was something that Muggles did?

He heard her on the other side of the door shuffling closer and made sure he was giving her the most charming of smiles through her peep hole. He could imagine the look she was giving him through the door. Like she was both amused and rolling her eyes at him.

The bolt turned and he was let in. "Hello, love. Had a nice Christmas?" He greeted her.

She did not look amused, nor was she rolling her eyes at him, she also wasn't yet dressed for the day. Still wearing a pale purple bath robe, it was thin enough that it clung to the pajama's underneath. She looked a little less vibrant than usual without her make-up on, but he still thought she looked wonderful and rested with her hair lanky and slightly ruffled and a mixture of uncertainty and embarrassment at her state of composure.

"I wasn't expecting you." She said, turning back down the hallway to her kitchen. "Coffee?" She called out behind her.

He hadn't seen her for a week and a half and had been rather hoping she'd be more excited to see him. Perhaps wantonly throw herself at him and demand he satisfy her. This was okay too; he was up for a challenge.

"Coffee would be nice." He replied and kicked off his boots, padding his way down to her sitting room.

"Here you are." She held out a mug to him. "I'll be back in a moment." She told him quickly and turned away from him, heading to her bedroom.

His brow furrowed at that. She wasn't going to get changed what she? Was she being shy? He put his mug down on the coffee table and followed her into her room. He wasn't going to let her think he didn't find her attractive in her current state. Her door to the bedroom wasn't completely closed, so he nudged it open.

"Sirius, I was going to make myself somewhat presentable." She complained. She'd untied the sash on her robe and was half way through taking it off. He could see her pert nipples through the well-worn cloth of what was presumably her favorite Saturday lounge around bed clothes.

He stepped up beside her. "Let me help you with that." He purred. He pulled her robe down her arms. She had goosebumps again, that was really her only tell that he was arousing her; other than... He stepped behind her and lowered his mouth to her neck, kissing, licking and sucking as she swayed slightly, her breath hitching.

His hands went to her hips, fingers running along the elastic of her bottoms. On his third pass along the waistline he dipped both hands into them. One hand went to massage the inside of her thigh, the other to massage her folds. She was only slightly wet; he could fix that.

She let out a moan. "I'm. I wasn't expecting." Her head leaned to the side to allow him more access to her neck and she stepped back, closer to him so his hands would require less reach.

"I've missed you." He kissed up her jaw line to nip at her earlobe. "Have you missed me?" Her bum rocked back against his erection. "I'll take that as a yes." She was getting properly wet now. It was so warm and inviting.

She sucked in a breath and went to pull away from him. "I'm a mess right now. I've. I wasn't expecting."

He pulled her back against him. "I don't care." She hadn't groomed for him, that's what she meant. He could feel the course hair against his one wrist and on the fingers of his wandering hand, but it didn't concern him. She had been completely manicured every time they'd been together, done the whole push-up bra bit and tasteful make-up. He was equally as turned on with her as she was right then as he had been. She actually tasted better now with out her perfume dabbed on her neck. "Could do you like this." He thrust against her. "Bend you over the bed?"

She whimpered. They hadn't gotten too acrobatic in their ventures as this was still rather new, but he felt like a horny teenager right now, and a vantage point like the one he'd have if she was bent over while he fucked her was beyond appealing. It had been a decade and a half of celibacy before she'd come along. A week with out her had been too much.

"Yes?" He walked her forward toward her queen-sized mattress slowly, moving each of her legs forward with a gentle nudge from one of his own. His wandering hand slid up her front to massage her breast and twist one of her pointed nipples between his thumb and forefinger. He felt her clench around the finger he had slid inside her at that.

She liked it.

He removed his hand from her shirt and used it to undo the button on his jeans, shoving both they and his pants down just enough for his erection to spring free. Amelia hadn't said anything but took it upon herself to lean forward and brace her hands on the mattress waggling that lovely ass at him just enticingly enough. He pulled down her bottoms, she hadn't been wearing any knickers and his view was unhindered; her dark pink folds glistening in wait.

He circled the head of his dick around against her center and she rocked back slightly, covering his tip in her wet. Then he plowed into her.

The loud groan that emanated from her mouth was a mixture of pleasure and pain. Bent at this angle it could easily be both painful and a mind shattering amount of fantastic. He thrust a few times, not as deep and not as fast as he wanted to while she adjusted her position.

She was on her tip-toes when he first entered. He moved forward with her as she climbed onto the mattress on her knees to compensate for the height difference and make it more comfortable for her, all the while still moving in and out of her. Her groan of satisfaction with the new position was all the go ahead he needed.

Fucking her into the mattress like this was going to set him off quickly. On a whim he let go of her hip and pulled his wand out of his back pocket. Whispering a spell to set the tip vibrating he leaned forward and pressed the length of it against her lower belly, the tip vibrating right against her clit.

"OH FUCK!" She cried.

"Yeah. Hold that there darling." He growled in lust and resumed thrusting frantically in time with her cries.

Watching himself disappearing inside her and feeling the slight vibration was putting him over the edge.

He tried to hold back a little longer for her, but it was a lost cause. He let off a long drawn out groan as he kept shooting off inside her. It was such a satisfying orgasm. If he stopped now, he would have been able to bask in it, however she wasn't there, and he wasn't soft yet.

He kept up with determination. His jaw set and he tried to use all his waning energy to keep up a steady rhythm. There was about thirty seconds left before he was entirely useless from the waist down. He was sliding inside her with great ease now that his own fluids had mixed with her own. Sirius concentrated on the erotic sight before him, willing himself to stay hard but it was a losing battle.

Finally!

She clenched around him and let out her victorious groan. He stopped thrusting and ground into her as she rode it out, wanting nothing more than to fall on the bed beside her, banish his clothes and have a nice nap.

Amelia removed his wand and placed it on the bed beside her as she sagged down closer to the mattress.

He picked up the wand and cleaned up the result of their coupling and tucked himself back into his pants, zipping up his jeans and pulling her bottoms over her lovely bum, then lay down beside her to catch his breath.

He could really do with getting in better shape. That wouldn't have taken so much out of him fifteen years ago.

()

He didn't know how long he'd fallen asleep for. Couldn't have been too long considering the amount of light coming in through the window and illuminating his eye lids. It wasn't enough though, and yet he'd come here for more than just a primitive and satisfying shag so he reluctantly got up.

His feet were still on the ground and his clothes all on. Looking over to his side where Amelia had been, he saw nothing but the rumpled sheets she'd been on.

With a wipe of his hand down his face he pulled himself up into the sitting position. He'd only been here once before, but it had been dark, and he'd left before the sun was properly shining in the morning, so he didn't have a chance to take in the room properly.

For someone so polished and no-bullshit, she was a bit of a slob. There were clothes littering the perimeter of the floor and surfaces completely cluttered with various items; receipts, bracelets, nail polish and the like. And a mirror was on the floor leaning back against the wall with a half circle of cosmetic products lain out in front of it. She must have sat there to put on her war paint in the morning.

He was pretty sure it didn't look like this last time, no matter how dark it was some of this would have stood out.

He rubbed his eyes and yawned, giving a stretch over his head. Standing up, he gave a lean this way and that to work out some of the kinks in his back and re-align his spine before heading back out to the main area.

"Hello." Amelia smirked up at him from her spot on the couch. She had a cup of coffee in one hand and a book in the other.

"How long was I out for?" He glanced around at the walls for a clock. He could have pulled out his wand and cast a Tempus charm, but that was all the way in his back pocket.

"Only about a half hour." She picked up her own wand from the coffee table and cast a spell at his forgotten cup of coffee. Steam came out of the life-giving liquid and he picked it up with a grateful noise and took up in the cushion opposite hers on the couch.

He took a sip and looked over at her properly. She'd changed and added a bit of color to her cheeks. He'd thought he made it clear he didn't need all that to find her appealing, not that he didn't appreciate the effort she put into her appearance, but it wasn't necessary. She'd been having a lazy day around her flat and he'd intruded, they weren't about to go out on the town.

"How was your Christmas?" Sirius asked as his first sip warmed its way down into his belly.

"Traditional." She replied. "Went to my parents where the rest of the family was. Spent time with my niece at the spa the day after, now it is already a distant memory after working yesterday." She rested her head back on the cushion contently.

"Ah, yes. I've heard of this 'work' business you speak of." He nodded with a smirk. "Dreadful, is it not."

"I think you will find that it gives a lot of the general public both a purpose and a roof over their heads." The corner of her mouth was twitching up and her eyes had just the subtlest bit more of a twinkle to them.

"Hmm. Purpose you say?" He teased. He'd wondered what to do to fill his days, but there wasn't a particular occupation that he was gravitating towards. Professional lay about was getting a little old. Horcrux Hunter was a prospect on the horizon though.

His next stop was to go and see Albus with his list after checking in on Remus, but first he wanted to ask a favor of his lovely lady.

"I hate to potentially make you work on the weekend, but any idea." He set down his coffee and pulled out the sheaf of adoption papers. "Who I should contact to get this expedited?" He held the paperwork out for her.

She sighed regretfully and took the papers from him, reading through quickly. "Of course, you got Dumbledore to sign off on this." She smiled. "Well, normally I would say Imelda Hopkirk, she's an Executive Assistant for a few higher ups, but most of them are at odds with him and his backing could potentially slow down the process." She squinted in thought and worried her lips going through the mental list of potential paper pushers. "Harley Gordon." She settled on with a nod. "She's with Wizengamot Administration Services through my Department. That'll get the ball rolling quick enough." She handed it back to him.

"She can be trusted to keep this quiet?" He wanted assurances. If the Daily Prophet caught wind of him trying to adopt Harry, then there would be speculation as to why, at his age, Sirius would bother with adoption. He could just picture the headline; Wrongly Convicted Azkaban Escapee to Adopt Boy-Who-Lived.

Amelia reached over and stroked his beard. "I'd trust her to keep it quiet even if her job wasn't on the line."

Sirius placed a kiss to her palm. "Who would she take it to for final authorization?" He wanted to make sure that the channels this Harley Gordon had to go through weren't going to spill as well.

Color rose in Amelia's cheeks and she cleared her throat. "That would be me." She admitted.

"You?" He asked astounded. "You could sign off on this? Make it legal?"

"Yes." She picked her cup back up. "But." She prefaced. "You have to go through the proper procedure, or it will look like favoritism."

"What if I offer to make you cum again? Right now?" He waggled his eyebrows at her and tried to pull off his most charming of smiles.

"You think I'm that easy to corrupt?" She asked, knowing full well that he was just teasing. Her foot went to his crotch.

Sirius winced slightly at the pressure she put there. "Sorry darling. Not as young as I once was." He took her foot in one hand and kneaded the insole with his thumb. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of her foot rub. "Was thinking of using an alternative method." He set his cup back down and began rubbing his way up her calf.

"Actually." She stopped him. "That area's been thoroughly satisfied. But I wouldn't say no to more foot massages." She gave him a demure look and batted her eyelashes at him.

"As the lady wishes." He raised her foot to his mouth and gave it a kiss before setting to his task and filling her in on his Christmas, up until coming home from the Burrow.

()()

It was one o'clock when he left her flat with her a big puddle of relaxation on the couch from his pampering. He apparated from the stairwell of her building to Remus' front yard.

Remus had taken up his father's home after he passed, his mother having died when he was eighteen. It was a small two-bedroom, one bath cottage in Northern England, near Durham. He knew there was a reinforced room in the basement for Remus' earlier transformations before Wolfsbane had been invented. Sirius remembered watching his friend suffer through the change and was so grateful that there was now a potion that could make it all easier for him. Sirius was rather itching to go for a run with him again one of these times. Remus may not have had the presence of mind for it, but Sirius and James had had great fun running around through the forest on those nights.

It looked like the walk-way hadn't been shoveled in two days, which was accurate. As Remus' nearest neighbors were a full acre away, he pulled out his wand and banished the snow piling on the walkway from the rural lane and knocked on the door.

It took a few minutes for the very tired looking Remus to open the door. "Why didn't you Floo?" He asked, ushering him in to block out the cold once more.

"Wasn't at home. Lady friend isn't hooked up to your grate." He shrugged off his new jacket. It was the one that Harry had given him and was quite comfortable and the warming spells had done their job against the cold wind coming off the cold wind from the field the other side of the lane way.

"Going to tell me who she is yet? It's been nearly a month now." Remus asked and led him into the sitting room.

"No." He smiled. "We're too casual for it to be made public." He took up in an armchair on the other side of his fireplace. Looked like Remus had been invested in a book when he'd come to the door.

"Everything go okay?" He indicated to the bags under his friends' eye.

Remus shook off the need for worry over him. "I'm fine. Just awake most of the night, can't pull off that all night partying like I used to." He explained. "Where's Harry today?"

"The Burrow. Neville Longbottom was heading over there. They are building snow forts and behaving like kids." Sirius beamed proudly.

"Good." Remus gave a soft smile. "What else?"

"Well, it's been a busy few days." He pulled out the list of items from the Goblins. He'd been careful to keep that paperwork in a different location than the adoption papers lest he accidentally hand Amelia the wrong stack. "We took care of the Diary, and by 'we' I mean Albus did it while I watched in awe." He told him while Remus started leafing through the sheets of paper and stopped to looked up at him, eyes full of questions. "Fiendfyre. The thing burned to a crisp and there was this... scream and billowy black smoke that came out of it. If we can figure it out, maybe Albus will let you observe this next one."

"I would want to see that." Remus admitted and looked back down at the sheets. "Anything on here jump out at you?"

"Yes." Sirius leaned forward and rustled through them to get to the right page. "There." He pointed. "Chalice- Badger engravement. Sounds like it could be Hufflepuff's cup."

"Wouldn't that be-" Remus cut off, pondering.

"Too easy?" Sirius offered. "Well, we'd still have to find it in the vault, so let's hope. But there is also a bit of cutlery down there." He turned Remus' attention to the 'Weaponry' page and pointed out all of the swords. "One of those could be Gryffindor's sword as well. And." He flipped to the 'Jewelry' page. "One of these crowns and tiaras could be Ravenclaw's."

Remus sighed. "So, there are still a few different things we would be looking for."

"Yes. And I was wondering if you were feeling up to a trip to the Headmasters office? I know he knows more about all this than he'd letting on. He must have a list of possible items, maybe even some more memories from Tom Riddle he had locked away."

"More memories? And he know's who Tom Riddle is?"

"Yeah." Sirius filled him in on the vision from yesterday with Horace Slughorn and what Albus had asked of him.

"Hmm." Was Remus' only response. "Well." He said after a minute of contemplation. "I think a spot of lunch is in order before we head to Hogwarts." He got up and they headed into the kitchen.

()()()

Again, the gasp was unnecessary. Going into and coming out of a Pensive did not obstruct one's air supply but for some reason his body told his mind that watching the visions was suffocating. Sirius sighed and looked over to Remus, trying to gauge if his mate's reaction to all those memories was the same as his.

His first reaction was anger. Albus Dumbledore had been sitting on this information and could have been recruiting old Order of Phoenix members to hunt down these items over the past decade. He knew that Tom Riddle had gotten the Gaunt ring from Marvolo Gaunt. It was on his finger in the Slughorn memory. There was no way that that wasn't one of the Horcruxes now. And there were over one hundred rings in the Black Vault that could be that one.

Remus was ready with the questions though. He went to sit at the chair in front of the desk, looking a little less energetic than he had before they went into the memories. "Have you looked for the ring yet? Or the cup?"

"I plan to take a trip to the Riddle family home and hoped that one or both of you might accompany me." He requested. "From what we heard from Kreacher about the cave, I believe that if there is one there, there will be traps and enchantments protecting it."

"Of course, I will go with you." Remus answered immediately and turned to Sirius.

Sirius pursed his lips. Of course, he was going too. There wasn't any way he was going to pass up the chance to make sure a thorough search was done, no matter how much he trusted Remus. Albus was too secretive. He knew knowledge was power and he wanted to keep most of that power to himself. Remus was more trusting of him than Sirius.

It wasn't as though Sirius thought Albus would do anything to harm Remus, but he wouldn't put it past the old man to put memory charm on Remus to 'protect him' or some such nonsense.

"I'm going." Sirius told them.

Albus nodded his head and gave an appreciative smile. "And, have you heard back from Horace yet?"

"Not yet. I have heard back from the Goblin's though. That's what we really came here to talk to you about." He didn't want to pull out the list from his pocket for Albus to look over himself. If he'd seen all the memories and what Albus knew of the potential objects used, then showing him his riches wasn't going to do anything. "Now we know that he had access to the locket and the Hufflepuff cup, but do we know anything about Ravenclaw's tiara, or Gryffindor's sword?"

"Ravenclaw's diadem has been missing for centuries. Her daughter stole it and hid it away, that was the last it had ever been heard of." Albus answered, unconvinced.

"I thought about that." Sirius pointed out. "And you know that Ravenclaw's daughter is here, right?"

"Yes." He nodded, he had properly introduced himself to all the Hogwarts ghosts when he took over as Headmaster. "You think that she would have told him? She is notoriously mute when it comes to the subject of her mother."

"From what we just witnessed." Remus chimed in. "He had a way with getting things out of people. He may have easily flattered Hepzibah Smith, but you believe he tricked Horace Slughorn into telling him about Horcruxes. There is a chance that he played the sympathy card with her and got it out of her."

"That is true." Albus pondered. "The Gryffindor sword though, that one will not be found in your vault."

"You know where it is?" Sirius asked in surprise.

He gestured to the wall behind them. Both Marauders turned around in their seats and peered at the shelves behind them. There, on the third shelf, behind a few Order of Merlin's of various class, was a sword.

"You are sure that is it? Not a replica?" Remus wanted assurance.

"I have had Flitwick examine it. It has been there since I became Headmaster, and it would have been most unwise for Tom Riddle to have placed his Horcrux in it."

"Why is that?" Remus asked.

"There is a legend around the sword that it goes to those showing true bravery and loyalty in times of need. If a true Gryffindor was in peril and asking for help, the sword would go to them."

"You don't believe that?!" Sirius wanted to laugh.

"How do you think I came to be in possession of it?" Albus challenged gently.

The men exchanged a look. Sirius was dubious but chose not to say anything more about it. This was the man that defeated Grindelwald after all. If he said it was an almighty 'Apparating' sword, then okay.

"Shall we try and have a chat with the Grey Lady then?" Remus suggested.

The Library, Great Hall, and Ravenclaw Tower were searched with no avail. It was as they were headed back to check some of the classrooms that she had been known to visit that they came across her. She was on the seventh floor, gliding in the direction of the Ravenclaw common room.

"Lady Grey." The Headmaster greeted her. She inclined her head and made to continue her way. "I wonder if you will indulge us to occupy a moment of your time."

Sirius hadn't taken the time to really notice her before. She had been a rather beautiful woman. Her corseted dress gave way to the silhouette that lay underneath, her long hair pinned back from her studious face hung elegantly down her back. Even these hundreds of years later her looks were timelessly beautiful.

She came to a stop beside them, saying nothing but allowing them the opportunity to speak their piece.

"This is a delicate matter, and we hope that you will allow us to preface our question for you. Giving great thought-"

"Did you tell Tom Riddle where your mother's tiara was hidden? We think he found it and used Dark Magic on it." Sirius cut Albus off. They didn't need to dance around the question all day.

Her transparent eyes widened in shock before narrowing angrily at them. A snarling look came to her pursed lips.

"You did." Remus asked, amazed.

"Please." Albus asked. "If you know where it is, we must destroy it. We will try to find a way to preserve the diadem, but we must destroy the piece of dark magic with in it."

Her head tilted slightly, shoulders dropping a fraction before standing impossibly straight. "I had... no idea... He was... flattering. He seemed to... understand... to sympathize..." She admitted to them.

"Many have fallen victim to his manipulations. There was very nearly a generation lost to his attempt to gain control of the Wizarding world. I myself gave him far too many chances." Albus admitted to her. "Please Helena, Grey Lady. If you believe he found the diadem, do you know where he might have hidden it?"

She wrung her hands together. "You wish to destroy it."

"If he did to it what we think he did, then it has to be destroyed." Remus told her empathetically.

"We will try to remove the dark magic. Keep the diadem intact." Albus assured.

She shook her head. "No. Too many have tried to gain the knowledge from it. It holds great power. Too great. My mother was capable of dealing with the power it provided. I was not." Her mouth curved into a sad frown, looking back over her shoulder. "It should be destroyed."

"Where did you hide it?" Albus asked.

She turned back to face him. "It doesn't matter. It isn't there anymore."

"He did find it then." Albus said sadly.

The Grey Lady nodded and looked over her shoulder once more. Sirius looked through her to the wall behind. That was roughly where Dumbledore had created the room to destroy the Diary. "It's here?!" He asked, astounded.

She turned back to Sirius, giving away nothing.

"Is it here? Do you know how we can find it in... there?" He gestured through her.

Still she betrayed nothing of and answer through her expression.

"What if we promise to destroy it?" Remus offered. "You could watch us do it."

That had her visibly considering it. She assessed Remus, taking in his clothes, the age lines appearing at the corner of his eyes, the bags under those eyes and his clothes. She then did the same to Sirius, and finally Albus. "You value the history of the diadem too greatly to risk destroying it." She told the Headmaster. "You are the head of this school. Something belonging to one of its founders you would fight to preserve."

"We could make him take an Unbreakable Vow." Sirius offered.

Albus shot him a bewildered and furious look. Of course he would be vehemently against that. He did want to preserve the power of the tiara, it was a priceless relic but there could be replicas made that would not be the cause of a war.

Sirius held his gaze. "The tiara is too dangerous. I agree with her. I'll give you another one if you so desperately want it. Hell, I'll give you matching gems and you can re-create one. This one is already tainted." Sirius argued.

"You are positive you know where it is?" Remus stepped between the two feuding men to address her.

"I've kept my eye on it, lest someone else come across it." She admitted.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Remus asked. "It had been nearly forty years now, hasn't it? If he came to you as a student?"

Her expression turned remorseful. "I swore to never give my trust away like that again." She turned to Sirius. "An Unbreakable Vow. I will guide you to its location only after he swears it." She nodded at Albus.

Sirius bit his tongue. He wanted to ask what it was about he and Remus that made them worthy of her trust, but perhaps she had retained the stories of Albus Dumbledore over the years. He was 115 after all, that was a good percentage of her afterlife to have him around. She must have known what a great wizard he was.

Both Sirius and Remus turned to Albus. The snitch was within his reach (AN-trying to go for 'ball was in his court'), if he even decided he needed some time to 'think about it' she could change her mind. And if he took too long to decide while they stood here, that could make her keep it to herself as well.

Albus agreed, with great difficulty showing through his forced nod of assent. Sirius stepped forward and held out his arm. "Remus, if you will."

Albus clasped his arm around Sirius' extended forearm and Sirius grasped his hand around Albus' as Remus moved to stand beside them, wand at the ready to perform the vow. Lady Grey came to the other side, standing poised and determined to not change her mind.

"Do you Albus Dumbledore swear to do everything in your power to destroy Ravenclaw's Diadem?" Remus asked.

"I do."

"Do you Albus Dumbledore swear to destroy Ravenclaw's Diadem at your earliest, safest opportunity?"

"I do."

"Do you Albus Dumbledore swear an Unbreakable Vow that you will not look for alternative methods to preserve Ravenclaw's Diadem, but to destroy it within minutes of its discovery, or lose your life?"

Albus sucked in a breath through his nose. Sirius held tighter to his arm. "I do."

A band of gold wrapped itself around their joined arms as Remus finished the spell sealing the vow.

"It is in the Come and Go Room." Helena told them. "Call it into existence and I will guide you to where he placed it."

Albus released Sirius' arm and turned on his heel to pace the short distance of the corridor three times before the door appeared.

Gringotts and Hogwarts. Of course, two of the Horcruxes were stashed away in locations of magical significance. Sirius had seen the memory from the orphanage Tom Riddle had grown up in. Those two places must have been the pinnacle of what it meant to be a wizard in his eyes.

Lady Grey led the way through the room that appeared. There was all manner of items collected in this room. It was vast and contained aisles of discarded or useless flotsam that must have dated back to the time of Helena Ravenclaw in the flesh. It reminded him somewhat of his vault. No doubt that even if they knew the tiara was in this room, they could have spent years trying to locate its exact coordinates.

"Did you know all of this was here?" Remus asked Albus. They too were trying to keep up with Lady Grey whilst their eyes took in the plethora of items around them.

"I did not. It makes sense now why the House Elves knew all about it. They must have been storing discarded furniture and the like in here for ages." There were aisles running through the collections, no noticeable categorization of like and like objects.

Lady Grey led them down one such aisle and halted abruptly. Sirius was mere inches away from passing through her before realizing. Remus bumped into him, but they managed to steady themselves.

"There." She said bitterly looking off to their right at the base of a bust sitting atop a dresser with missing drawers. It was wedged between the bust and a lamp beside it. An oval shaped sapphire donning the peak, just as the pictures depicted it when it was atop Rowena Ravenclaw's head.

"Do it or die." Lady Grey directed at Albus.

He nodded and reached out for a pointer stick resting beside the dresser, using that to thread through the ring of the diadem and bring it back to himself.

"You are wise to not touch it." She commented before her face turned dark and her voice harsh. "Now destroy it!"

Albus nodded solemnly. "I need just to convert the room once more, then I will use Fiendfyre, as I did with the last Horcrux." He turned and led the way back out the room.

"Is it true?" Sirius asked Lady Grey. "About the Bloody Baron?"

She regarded him a moment with pursed lips. "He haunts me still all these centuries later." She stated woefully. "I cannot escape him even in death."

"And you couldn't move on? To some other plain of existence, or whatever it is that comes next?"

"Perhaps I will soon." She ruminated. "Even all this time later, I am still unsure as to how it all works. Whether it is my unfinished business keeping me here, or if it was a choice I made. Perhaps I was cursed for my poor decision, or I had an excess of magic at my time of death. Perhaps I have still to expel the lasting magic left in me. I have not met a ghost that is much older than I."

"You still look good." Sirius offered. She gave him a wry look. "I don't know what the Bloody Baron looks like under his hood and chains, but was he really so horrible?"

"To me he was. I was promised to him, as soon as my studies were complete, I was to wed him. But I did not care for him, I could never have cared for him. Least of all now. When he killed me, it was an accident. An overreaction on his part to my vehement denial of any romantic feelings toward him."

"And then he killed himself because of it?" He asked. They were getting near the exit. Remus was listening from just ahead of them but saying nothing.

"The rumors are true. Even in my time gossip was an exciting pass time. The story had reached the castle before I returned as the apparition I am now. The story has been shared throughout my mother's house as a part of the first years initiate night. It is no surprise that its tale has spread to the other houses."

They exited the room and Sirius closed the door behind him, watching it disappear. Then Albus began pacing again.

"You are notoriously silent, why are you so willingly telling me this now?" Sirius asked.

She gave him a serene look. "The last time I told that story it was to a villainous individual. As I hope that this will be my last telling I want it to be to someone who is not deceitful."

He could tell that despite the surety that was in her statement, this was her most wishful thinking. "And if the diadem is destroyed and you are still as you are?"

The new door was before them, Albus opened it and they followed through, Sirius guided Remus to stand at the back by the wall.

"There will be no need for me to tell the story again." She said sadly, standing beside the pedestal that Albus lay her mother's precious object upon.

"All ready?" Albus asked her.

She gave a stiff nod. Albus steadied himself a moment before he lassoed his wand above his head once more casting the ribbon of fire around the pedestal, and like it had with the Diary, the diadem was encircled with the knot slowly tightening inward around it.

Remus was focused on what was happening with the Fiendfyre, but Sirius couldn't pull his eyes away from Helena Ravenclaw. Her attention was rapt on the diadem and she was getting close enough to reach out and touch it. She had no reason to fear the Fiendfyre and he was fascinated as she placed her transparent hand over the ring of metal, grasping it as though she had corporeal form.

Her eyes closed as her hand passed through, then flashed open once more. The flames were touching the outside of the diadem now and it began to rattle. "Here she comes!" She called ominously. "Mother!" She cried just as a black smoke erupted upwards from the center of the pedestal. The smoke grew and encompassed nearly a meter diameter around the pedestal, blocking out their view of what was happening with it.

One more cry erupted and a moment later and both the smoke and Helena Ravenclaw disappeared.

Sirius blinked a few times to try and see if his eyes were playing tricks on him. She was gone. She could have just run through the wall when the smoke plumed, but he somehow doubted that was the case.

And the room was sweltering. The flaming lasso still raging and curling in around the now warped metal. He wasn't extinguishing the flame like he had last time. Albus had both his hands on his wand. He was shaking slightly from the energy of keeping the flames in control, but he wasn't calling them back.

The two remaining Maurauders turned to each other in concern. Remus clearly didn't like the look on Sirius' face telling him that this is not what had happened just yesterday. Albus Dumbledore was struggling to keep the whole room from being engulfed in flames. They couldn't get any closer to him lest they break his concentration, but they would surly liquefy or turn to ash if he didn't stop the flame soon.

Sweat was pouring down their faces, Sirius could feel the drops catching in his eyebrows and beard. This space was too small.

"Aguamenti" Remus shouted, pointing his wand at the ribbon of flames.

"Aguamenti Maxima." Sirius joined him.

There was a hiss, but the flames were still there. Still contained to that area. They kept casting the spell. Jet after jet of water was hitting the ribbon. The temperature of the small space still on the rise.

"You aim for the pedestal, I'll aim for just in front of his wand." Sirius told Remus entering into panic mode. His friend was not in the best of health before, now he would most certainly need a replenishing potion if they made it out of there alive.

"3, 2, 1" Remus counted out and they both put as much power behind their spell as they could. The combined jets along that length of the fire was enough for Albus to recall the mere two feet of flame still coming from his wand. Upon its extinguishing the old man collapsed to the floor. Remus rushed to him while Sirius pulled the door open before helping pull Albus out to the corridor. They got him outside the room, Sirius kept the door to the room open with his boot and looked back at the diadem, now a mangled heap, but one that he could not touch with his bare hands, so he dared not summon it to himself.

He thought quickly about what he could use to contain the overly heated metal and his eyes rested on Remus' horrible sweater vest. "Sorry mate." He said before grabbing hold above his pocket with one hand and gripping the top of the pocket with the other and yanking down. The pocket came off, and the length of fabric below it.

Sirius darted into the room and folded the material over several times in his hand before quickly picking up the diadem and darting back out into the hallway, letting the door close this time.

The metal was burning through the material and making it catch fire when he threw it to the ground and it bounced once, the fabric completely melting. Remus cast another water spell and it put out the flames with a hiss.

Sirius fell back against the wall, sinking to the floor beside Albus, who was still not awake. "He alive?"

"Yes. Just unconscious." Remus put his fingers to Albus' pulse point.

"You answered before checking for a pulse?" Sirius panted. That had taken more out of him than he'd initially thought. Now that he was sitting down and had time to catch his breath it was like his heart was beating even faster than it had been in the moments before.

"His chest is moving. I'm checking how fast his pulse is going." He bit back.

Sirius didn't take it personally. He was exhausted and sweaty. When one is this uncomfortable, they tend to get snippy. Remus would be in even worse shape than him.

"Professor Lupin?" A girl's voice had the two men looking down the hall. She was maybe fourteen with brown hair plaited to the side. She looked suitable alarmed at the state of her Defense Against the Dark Arts professor with a ripped vest, sitting exhausted on the floor next to her passed out Headmaster and man she may recognize as an ex-convict.

"Miss McInnes." Remus recognized her. His voice sounded steadier than Sirius could have managed. "Nothing to panic about, but could you please go to the hospital wing and get Madame Pomphrey for us. Ask for three restorative potions to be brought to us."

Her eyes went wide, but she asked no questions before turning back down the hall towards the Hospital wing.

"Help me prop him up?" Sirius asked. They grabbed Albus under the arms and had him leaning back against the wall as upright as they were going to manage, he kept lilting to the side when they weren't holding him. "Should we try to wake him, or wait for the Matron?"

"I say wake him now." Remus voted. "If he wakes, he might not realize he's safe at first. I don't need Poppy or Esther seeing that."

Assuming Esther was the girl, Sirius nodded and pointed his wand at Albus. "Enervate."

He flinched awake and lifted his wand arm again as a jerk reaction.

"No!" Remus and Sirius both yelled.

"It's over. The Horcrux is gone." Remus tried placating him.

"Albus. Put the wand down!" Sirius was kicking himself for not thinking to remove his wand first. What a stupid move!

His periwinkle eyes were moving all over the place, trying to find a place to settle. Remus moved so that he was directly in front of Albus' face, a foot away. "Relax. Poppy is on her way." Albus wheezed a few times and shivered, but he was able to focus on Remus' face and lowered his wand. "There we go." Remus took the wand between his fingers delicately and removed it from his grip.

That dealt with Sirius looked over to where the diadem was. It was still steaming in the evaporating puddle on the floor. He shot another spout of water at it. It didn't hiss as much as it had, but he doubted that they'd be able to touch it before Poppy reached them.

"Think you can get out of the rest of that sweater vest?" He asked Remus, who was still staring at Albus, trying to gauge his level of coherency.

Remus looked over to Sirius, then to the diadem. "Hold him up?"

Sirius did as asked while Remus shrugged out of his jacket and unbuttoned the vest and handed it over to him, taking up his place again keeping hold on Albus.

Sirius did a few tentative touches with his vest wrapped hand to test how hot it still was. It had cooled considerably. He picked it up properly and wrapped the scraps of cloth around it, then sat back against the wall with it on the floor between he and Albus.

Remus sat down on the other side of Albus and they each used one shoulder to keep the Headmaster propped up.

"I believe." Albus whispered. "That we may." he took a breath. "Have to find a... different method... for the others." he rasped out.

AN- Sorry all, not any Hinny in this chapter.