The Vow And Its Consequences

Chapter 35

Destroying The Diadem

Sirius scrambled to his feet when Severus and Lucius walked outside, through the back door - where he was sitting just thinking. Harry was still terrified of him, nothing he did helped any, and it wasn't something he was used to. Harry had loved him as a child, but that couldn't be said anymore. With the problem gone, he knew he wouldn't be welcome in Prince Manor anymore. Snape hated his guts, and Harry couldn't care less, he felt as though his heart was breaking, and nothing could possibility put it together again. He had lost nearly everyone he cared about, only Remus was left, he so wished he knew what to do when it came to Harry.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, staring at them, his blue eyes dull and lifeless.

"Back up," said Lucius, as always not one for small talk, as he placed the Diadem on the grass, which had barely recovered from the last doubt of fire blazing that had burnt it - he Hufflepuff chalice. He didn't remove it from the velvet box it was in just in case it was cursed. Swirling his wand in the correct directions he spat out "Fiendfyre!" at the offending object watching as it fled his wand, but Lucius cut it off quickly, watching as the small snake-like flame consume the Diadem, causing it to scream out in agony before it became a mangled mess of silver.

Both Severus and Lucius hissed in pain in unison, only Lucius grasped his arm in agony, Severus was more composed or perhaps more used to pain than Lucius was.

"Was that…" questioned Sirius, wide eyed.

"It was." stated Severus sharply.

"Oh," squeaked Sirius surprised. "Aguamenti!" the sizzling sound of the flames dying out met their ears.

"It looks like we are getting close to having found them all," said Severus grimly. Staring at Lucius' arm as he rolled up his clothes to view the Dark Mark. It wasn't gone completely, but it was faded greater than ever, never before had destroying a Horcrux caused them pain. Was it a backlash or had all the Death Eaters felt it? Were they twitching in anticipation thinking the Dark Lord was close to coming back? Or were they terrified since they hadn't done a single thing to help? It brought them feral satisfaction at the thought of them all scared out of their wits.

"I wonder if he felt it," said Lucius, hoping that he had, he hoped the Dark Lord was feeling everything and knowing his end was close at hand.

"He will have," replied Severus surely.

"If only we knew how many others we have to find," muttered Lucius as he turned around and walked back into the manor. It was rather chilly outside; he didn't want Harry catching a cold. If they had to cancel this weekend, Draco would be inconsolable - he was so looking forward to meeting Harry even knowing that Harry might be a little timid to begin with or the entire time, they just didn't know. He couldn't blame Harry for any reaction he did have, the poor child had been beaten on by the children his own age. Hopefully with Draco being so thin like Harry would help and he wouldn't see his son as a threat. "If we can find any, I mean this was our last suggestion…there's nothing else."

"We still have Slytherins Locket to find," Severus pointed out mildly, but he understood Lucius' concern, since he was drawing blank himself at possible locations now.

"Yes but it could be anywhere in the UK, Sev." said Lucius desperately. "If he knows someone is destroying them he might come back here desperate to come back and some fool might be stupid enough to find an answer."

"True," mused Severus, he hadn't thought of that possibility.

"I had one, Bellatrix had one…and we both received special training…" mused Lucius as he entered the living room.

"As did I," Severus pointed out, not really paying much attention to his rambling.

"The only other was Regulus Black…" said Lucius, giving Black a glance as if suspecting the wizard would start shouting and yelling but he didn't. In fact Black didn't react at all; it may as well have been as if he hadn't spoken at all.

"Severus is it even safe if Harry keeps this wand? Shouldn't we put it away until he's older and understands the consequences of using magic?" asked Minerva.

"I know not to use magic without daddy," pouted Harry, "I'm a big boy!"

"That you are, but magic is very dangerous sometimes," explained Minerva, "Even for adults."

Harry looked at the stick, no wand; they were calling it a wand. It felt light and funny in his hands, but it made his tummy feel happy. He could turn into a kitten without it, so scrambling to his feet, he handed the wand trustingly over to his daddy still smiling. "You keep it, daddy, I'll be fine." he said solemnly.

"Draco could learn a lot from you little one," said Lucius crouching down in front of him, a very small smile on his face. Draco wanted a wand; in fact he had demanded one for the last year or so. He constantly tried to take his or Narcissa's but their wands was too important to leave lying around so it wasn't something his son found easy to take. "I am very proud of you. I am sure your father is as well."

Sirius watched on his face contorted in agony just watching it. Harry even let Lucius Malfoy near him, he hated it, and his heart felt as though it was being ground up by a pestle in a mortar till it was naught but dust. He knew they weren't doing it on purpose, even if a small childish part of him wished they were. Sirius made a feeble attempt at putting up a mask on his face as Minerva stared at him with an odd look in her eye.

Harry leaned in and gave Lucius (his new godfather) a quick hug before scampering off to the sofa again. Lucius stayed were he was stunned, before he stood back up. Harry didn't like people touching him, and he certainly didn't get very…hands on with people. With the obvious exception being Severus, he was clingy with him and obviously let Severus touch him. Even Minerva hadn't received even a hug from Harry yet, and Lucius couldn't help but feel inordinately pleased and smug neither of which played across his face. He was definitely getting better; he had a good feeling about the play date between Harry and his son now.

"I think it's time to do some learning, don't you Harry?" asked Minerva, making it sound like a suggestion.

Harry looked at his dad who gave him a nod, only then did he eagerly nod his own head, as he jumped from the couch leaving behind his favourite book. He was already in the office where they usually did 'learning time' as Harry liked to think of it.

"Shall I bring Remus in with me?" in her own way asking Severus for a decision on whether or not Remus should or could teach Harry. The child would need to get used to him, and of course Remus would need to know how she chose to interact with him so not to confuse him when he took over. She could try and teach him while at Hogwarts, since she was assumed she would be headmistress, it would leave her with a lot of free time.

"Very well," conceded Severus grudgingly. There weren't very many alternatives right now, with everything going on and he certainly didn't trust a stranger in his home let alone with Harry. They were getting closer to putting an end to Voldemort before it got worse. In case Lucius' thoughts were right, they had to be on the look out for any others that came their way.

"If Regulus was getting private training from HIM why would he get cold feet?" asked Sirius, restarting the earlier conversation he had not been part off.

"Where did you hear that?" asked Lucius, giving Black a strange look.

Sirius blinked, "It's just my own thoughts, I think he got in too far, didn't realize what the hell he was getting into. You should see my brother's room, he has collages of newspaper clippings what Voldemort and the Death Eaters were doing, even after he joined he put stuff up…then all of a sudden it stopped and it was months upon months before he went missing. I know you might think he was all bad…but my brother did have morals you know…"

Severus and Lucius both gave him pointed looks, basically telling him to remember who he was speaking to. They had both been Death Eaters, both had regretted their decision. Unlike Regulus though, Lucius hadn't done anything about it, just continued on hoping for the best. Severus however, had quickly put himself at the mercy of Dumbledore. A wrong decision, he should have gone straight to Lily…made her see, maybe then Pettigrew might not have been chosen - perhaps then they would have used him. Unfortunately there was nothing he could do about it now; he would just have to do his best by Harry for both their sakes.

"Did Regulus have any real friends?" enquired Lucius speculatively.

"Other than Death Eaters, no, and his cousins." replied Sirius, surprised that his question was being thought about seriously.

"You don't think…?" started Lucius.

"I honestly don't know…there could be other explanations." said Severus knowing what the wizard was thinking.

"He went missing in…"

"Yes, around that time." stated Severus.

Sirius stared between them feeling as though he was intruding, they knew each other well enough to know the others thoughts. Even he and James or he and Remus had never had that, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

"The prophecy, do you remember the reaction everyone had…" added Lucius.

"I can't remember Black particularly at the meeting…"

"Oh, he was there, I remember it, Severus can I use your Pensive?" asked Lucius.

"Good idea, follow me," said Severus standing up, "You too, Black."

Sirius scrambled to his feet, his heart pounding, he wasn't sure if he wanted to see his brother at one of those meetings. Knowing and seeing were two different things altogether, he had accepted or maybe just imagined that his brother was good in the end - he didn't want this memory conflicting with the image he'd built up. He followed them to his office where Remus and he had both viewed the memories of Harry, which were no longer in the pensive he observed as it was brought out.

Lucius closed his eyes and thought very determinedly on the memory, it wasn't a good one - he could remember his own terror. His wife had been pregnant at the time, also with a boy. He couldn't have been more relieved when Narcissa went into labour on June fifth. Once he had the memory on the end of his wand, he placed it in the pensive, clearing his throat giving a small nod.

Severus, Lucius and Sirius placed their wands above the shimmering memory and were pulled into it. They were able to see it as though it was a 3D projection, and didn't have to stay focused on one person they could freely move around. Sirius quickly found his brother, not even paying Voldemort the slightest bit of attention. Staring at him sadly, with tortured eyes.

"He looks…" began Sirius, not able to put it into words.

"Well?" barked Severus irate.

"Defeated," whispered Sirius.

"So he was wavering by this?" stated Lucius.

"I…I think so," said Sirius, not one hundred percent sure.

"Such a fool," said Severus bitterly, staring at his younger self, who was unaware of his presence or what the future held in this memory. If only he could go back and do things differently, but life didn't give second chances like that, no his redemption came in the hands of a child called Harry, his son.

Suddenly when Voldemort made his proclamation about going after a prophecy child, the reaction was immediate. Sirius finally understood their earlier words, he could see the shock, distaste and horror in most peoples faces. There was one person…no four, that didn't seem unduly upset about it either - he knew them all and wasn't surprised. The three Lestrange's and of course Crouch - non more vocal than Bellatrix. She wished to do it for him, and that truly made Sirius sick. She was twenty years old, and she was willing to end the life of a baby, oh she was a wretched woman.

"He's wavering but I can't spot any sign of him making a decision to leave," said Sirius, who was once again staring into his brother's eyes. Thankfully they remained still during Death Eater meetings; otherwise he would have found the entire experience dizzying.

"So it wasn't this one," said Lucius thoughtfully, "I wonder if anyone else received something…perhaps I should pay a visit to the Carrows." he mused.

"The Carrows?" cried Sirius, there had never been any suspicion on them - despite the fact they'd been Slytherins which was surprising.

"We may as well leave," said Severus wryly, they weren't going to get anything out of his memory.

They were just about to do that when Severus stopped suddenly, as Voldemort spoke once more.

"Regulus stay behind." hissed Voldemort.

"Quiet," said Severus immediately, trying to pick up any sound that Lucius may not have consciously picked up as he left the meeting. He was just about to give up when he heard a few words before they were ejected.

"Did either of you hear anything after the Dark Lord demanded he stay behind?" questioned Severus immediately.

"Yes," replied Sirius at the same time Lucius said "No."

"In Azkaban you need to be able to listen for anything…feet thumping on the floor, things like that…since I spent so much of my time as Padfoot. He spoke about needing to borrow something…" explained and said Sirius.

"A House-Elf." finished Severus, curtly.

"Kreacher?" said Sirius, confused. "He wouldn't have let that happen, he loved that damn thing, he wouldn't even let our parents shout at it."

"You don't say no to the Dark Lord." Lucius told him sharply.

"Kreacher's insane, I doubt he remembers anything about back then." said Sirius, dismissing the idea of even calling Kreacher.

"How so?" enquired Lucius frowning, it wasn't like House-Elves to go insane, they pined, yes, defied orders sometimes, yes, but insanity? No, at least not unless they were seriously tortured he couldn't see it.

"A letter from my father before he died…while I was in Azkaban." explained Sirius grimly; he didn't like talking about his damn parents.

"Call him," demanded Severus.

"I just told…" argued Sirius.

"Now." barked Severus, "If there is a possibility of him knowing something we must use it. Obviously Regulus liked the little thing, perhaps he told him things he didn't tell any other living soul. We may get the name of someone who has a Horcrux do you understand?" his patience totally worn.

"Alright," said Sirius reluctantly, "But don't say I didn't warn you, he's a vulgar little bugger and extremely prejudice."

"Just like you then?" sneered Severus rolling his eyes.

Sirius swallowed thickly, well that statement was a little accurate, and he had been prejudice. Not anymore, he couldn't be if he wanted to be in Harry's life. Sighing softly, "I know I was a dick, and I am sorry about how I was…if I could change it I would." he confessed.

"Seven years of putting up with you, I hardly think a simple sorry is going to cut it." snapped Lucius, defending Severus.

"No, no I guess not," said Sirius wearily.

"Forget about it, just call the House-Elf." added Severus, closing the door to his office and putting up a silencing spell so whatever came their way - Harry wouldn't hear it. Without the silencing spell there was a chance he actually might since he was only a few doors down the hall.

"Kreacher!" demanded Sirius, grimacing in distaste, he didn't think he'd ever have to deal with the diminutive creature again but here he was.

Will Kreacher tell them or will the dark lord return due to the House-Elves duplicity? R&R please :D and sorry for the long wait!