Bill Weasley gave Melissa Sharman a grin as he held the door open for her. She breezed past him with a smile of her own. They had been working together for just over six months and she had taken everything that he had to teach her without a problem. He could understand why the goblins wanted her to learn off Blake. They progressed further into the London branch of Gringotts bank and to the staff section to pick up their next job.

"Weasley," Goldsmith called out and Bill turned to the man with Melissa beside him.

"Yes, sir?" Bill asked.

The goblin held out a file with a sneer on his lips and the wizard took it in his hand.

"Sun will meet you at noon," Goldsmith said roughly, his eyes flicking to Melissa. "You are his until this is done, clear?"

Bill frowned and flicked the file in his hand open before his eyes widened.

"Yes, sir." Bill replied, faintly.

"Sirius Black has been informed," Goldsmith growled. "And Narcissa Malfoy."

"And Andromeda Tonks?" Bill asked softly as he looked down at the goblin.

"Yes, yes." The goblin replied with a wave of his hand. "Not that there is a blood connection there. Sun has already started the paperwork."

Bill gave a smirk to the creature and the goblin sneered back.

"Get it done, Weasley." Goldsmith ordered before turning on his heels.

Bill turned to Melissa in amusement and held out the file.

"We get to break into a dark family mansion," Bill announced with a grin. "Blake will be happy."

xXx

Harry was not happy as he sat in his seat at the café in London with Ry and Sirius across the table from him. Ry or Sirius would glance over at him every now and again and give him a smirk. Harry would glare back at them. He had gotten enough looks when he'd walked into the café with a black eye and the bruising on the side of his face. It hadn't helped when Ry took one look at him and burst out laughing.

"How are the renovations going?" Sirius asked with a snicker.

"Shut it," Harry snapped.

"I've heard they can be murder," Ry smirked.

"Shut it," Harry repeated.

"Yeah," Sirius added. "Worse when they are in a real, beaten up condition."

"One more word, Black." Harry warned. "And you will find yourself trapped in your Animagus form for a month."

Sirius barked a laugh as he shared a look with his godson.

"How did the roof even fall in?" Ry asked and Harry glared at him.

"One bloody spell," Harry muttered. "Only one fucking spell was holding it all up. All it took was me to touch it and it just fell apart."

"Much like the roof," Ry cried

Ry and Sirius dissolved into laughter as Bill and Melissa walked into the café and made their way over. Bill's eyes widened when they saw him and Melissa paused.

"What happened to you?" Bill blurted out, setting off Ry and Sirius into fits of giggles.

Harry slipped lower in his seat as he rubbed the side of his face with a groan, wincing slightly when he touched on the bruising.

"Dad came off second best to a house," Ry remarked with a laugh.

"And they have been teasing me since," Harry muttered. "I'm feeling ganged up on here."

Bill gave him a grin as he took a seat at the table. Melissa looked around at them all, looking put out.

"Melissa," Bill said, looking over at the woman. "This is Sirius Black and Harry Potter. Ry and Sirius this is Melissa Sharman."

Sirius jumped to his feet and held a chair out for her with a big grin on his face.

"Nice to meet you," Sirius purred and Ry gagged.

Sirius flicked his hand out and Ry pulled back with a grin. Melissa took the offered seat with a smile.

"Nice to meet you," Melissa replied with a smile. "Nice to meet you again, Blake and Mr Potter."

"Ry," Ry amended with a grin. "Now, I must be off. I'm due back at the Auror department."

Ry stood smoothly and adjusted his jacket. Harry gave the man a soft smile, knowing he was checking everything was sitting right on his belt and holsters. Ry glanced over at him and smirked.

"I hope this house behaves better than your own, Dad." Ry offered with a smirk.

"Get out of here before I call Kingsley," Harry growled. "I'm sure he's still looking for the person that broke into his potion's cabinet."

"Damn Draco," Ry grumbled. "He gets pissy and I have to start finding my potions somewhere else."

Harry gave his son a wink and Ry just grinned back before he walked out of the café. He focused back on Black, talking quietly to Melissa and the slight blush on her cheeks. He shared a look with Bill as the man placed a file on the table and Harry picked it up.

"I'm not looking forward to this," Harry admitted.

"Have they set off the curse?" Bill asked. "I thought this would be your kind of case."

"Not yet," Harry answered. "We're going to have to break through the warding, which is going to be a pain, for we don't have a blood relative to the Lestrange family, only Sirius."

The man looked over at his name and gave them a grin.

"The one and only," Sirius announced. "That's all you need."

Harry groaned and could feel a headache coming on already as Black gave him a lopsided grin.

"The goblins aren't paying me enough," Harry muttered.

Bill and Sirius barked a laugh as Melissa looked between the three men. Harry gave her a slight grin and passed the file over to her.

"The Lestrange family home," Harry declared. "Sirius is the closest magical connection due to being the Head of the Black family, through Bellatrix. I'm sure if we look hard enough we will probably find some blood connections to the Lestrange family due to the nature of purebloods and inbreeding-oi!"

Harry rubbed his leg from where Sirius had kicked him and gave the man a lopsided grin.

"Watch it, Sun!" Sirius growled.

"I'm just putting it out there," Harry said, mildly.

"You are pureblood on one side of the family too," Sirius reminded him with a smirk.

"At least my father looked outside the pureblood pool," Harry bit back.

"Oi!" Bill yelped. "I'm pureblood!"

"How is Fleur?" Harry asked mildly and casually shifted his leg to the side as Sirius tried to kick him again.

"Her sister's baby is due soon," Bill muttered, then shivered. "I feel for her husband."

Harry snorted as he pulled himself up in his seat and looked around. He held his hand out for the file in Melissa's hand. The woman passed it over with a smile.

"So," Sirius said with a sly smile in Melissa's direction.

"Black," Harry warned.

"I was just going to mention that I work at Hogwarts," Sirius stated with a sniff. "As a real Professor, not just a fly in like you were."

"Severus was a professor," Harry reminded him as he looked the file over. "And Dracka had your position before you, so really, they didn't have high standards for that post."

"They still talk about Snape in hush tones to the first years," Sirius mentioned with a grin. "If you don't follow the rules, the dungeon bat will get you."

"I think Severus wore it as a badge of honour that he was more feared than a vampire," Harry replied in amusement and the other men laughed as Melissa watched them with a soft smile. "Should we get going?"

xXx

"How's she going?" Harry asked Bill as they stood out the front of the Lestrange Family home.

Melissa and Sirius were looking at the gates while the two curse breakers watched them carefully.

"Very well," Bill replied. "She's a very smart woman. You rarely have to show her what to do twice. Very by the book and has problems looking outside the box. She's talented but isn't intuitive when it comes with trying something different. Once she finds a way that works she doesn't try another way."

"Can she work with her dark magic?" Harry asked.

"It still slips away from her."

"She's still young," Harry remarked. "It takes time for that magic to settle."

"Twenty-one," Bill replied. "She had her birthday last week."

"Family?" Harry asked in interest.

"I think it's just her," Bill answered. "She doesn't talk about any family or friends…or her past in general."

Harry's eye caught on Callum Genger as he apparated in and watched in interest as Melissa spotted the Dark Wizard. She stepped back from Sirius while her hand slipped down to her wand. Callum looked her over with a sneer on his face. Bill moaned when he spotted the man.

"Did you have to call him?" Bill groaned.

"I needed those stones," Harry replied in amusement. "Ah, fuck."

Harry jumped forward quickly as Callum drew even with Melissa. Harry could see the woman standing there with her wand out and pointed at the other man while Callum just sneered. Sirius just stood back, for once, showing sense as he watched the two Dark Wizards eyeing each other off.

"Oi!" Harry shouted out and flared a light magic barrier between the two.

Both Dark Wizards jumped back with a yelp as Sirius barked a laugh.

"Ha!" Sirius barked. "Serves you right, Genger!"

Callum sent a glare at Sirius and Harry could feel his dark magic brushing against his shield. He drew even with the Callum and smacked him on the back of the head. The man yelped and ducked his head before he turned on him with a glare, then froze when he saw him.

"Blake?" Callum uttered and turned his back on everyone to focus on him.

"What's going on here?" Harry demanded.

Callum's eyes flicked to Melissa before focusing back on him.

"Nothing," Callum replied with a smirk, but his eyes were focused on the bruise on his face. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing," Harry echoed with a wink.

"Blake," Callum growled and flared his dark magic.

Harry grabbed a hold of it mildly and cast it to the side as he flared the light magic in his barrier. Callum pulled his magic back sharply and wrapped it around himself as he looked at Harry warily.

"Can someone explain what's going on?" Melissa asked from the other side of the barrier and Callum and Harry looked over at her. "What's a Dark Wizard doing here?"

"He works for me," Harry explained with a grin. "Callum Genger meet Melissa Sharman."

Callum and Melissa eyed each other off before Callum stepped forward and held out a hand and Harry dropped the barrier.

"Nice to meet you," Callum offered and Sirius snorted.

"Genger doesn't like to play with others," Sirius said mildly while he stepped forward, took the man's hand and pulled him in for a hug before stepping back.

"Black is too friendly with everyone he meets," Genger drawled. "How he doesn't have little Blacks running around, I have no idea."

Sirius gave the man a sly grin.

"There's a spell for that-" Sirius went to say.

"You work for Blake?" Melissa cut across Sirius as she shook Callum's hand.

"I keep his office in order so that his boss doesn't yell at him," Callum said, mildly.

"Doesn't stop him," Harry muttered.

Callum gave him a smirk, his blue eyes shining but they kept straying back to the bruise. He reached out and touched his fingers gently to Harry's face.

"Right there?" Callum asked in concern.

"Sure," Harry answered with a grin.

"House fell on him," Sirius commented with a grin and threw his arm over Harry's shoulders and he winced. "Bit of a mishap with…what was it, Blake, one spell?"

Harry casually brought his elbow back and caught the man in the ribs. Sirius yelped and released him as Bill strolled over to the group. The curse breaker looked them all over in amusement.

"You know," Bill stated mildly. "It's too quiet when you're not around Blake."

"You mean boring," Harry amended with a smirk. "I could get Callum to help you out, he gets in even more trouble than I do."

Callum gave him a smile and Harry grinned back while he brushed his magic softly against the man. Harry looked over at Melissa and could see that the woman was a little put out by everything.

"So," Harry announced. "Back to business then?"

Bill gave a laugh as Harry strolled up to the wards alone. He slipped out of his shoes, socks and jacket. Standing in just his jeans and black shirt as he closed his eyes and slowed his breathing down. The three men and Melissa were quiet behind him as he grounded himself before opening his mind to the magic.

He frowned at the magic he saw, he could clearly see the blood wards and some darker wards but nothing like what he was expecting. He stepped closer as he brought his hand up and touched on spell work, like a spider web before him. He let the magic slide through his fingers before closing his eyes and picking up the wards.

He could feel the dark magic brushing against him gently. He carefully looked through all the wards that had been laid and there were many that had been laid over the centuries. Someone hadn't looked through the wards for a while and he could feel a few brittle links and wards that needed renewing. He softly broke through what he could, that wouldn't cause too many problems, and channelled the magic down into the ground. He worked away for a while getting rid of what he could, before pulling back.

He blinked his eyes open, still seeing the magic and glanced over at the group behind him, then looked back. Dark magic is what he could see first, which wasn't surprising with two Dark Wizards standing there. He could pick up Sirius's slight dark magic and Bill's light magic but Harry's eye was drawn to Callum and Melissa. How close in power they were and he felt a coldness in his stomach.

"You're creeping us out, Blake." Sirius remarked.

Harry gave him a grin then dived deeper into the magic sight until the world around him disappeared into the shadow world and Sirius cursed at him. He tilted his head slightly as he watched the magic play around Callum's form and the man flared it out slightly, making Harry grin. The other man then pulled it back so that he could focus and he looked over at Melissa. He watched the way that the dark magic played along her skin, close to her form and he frowned slightly. It was completely under her control and yet Bill had told him that it would slip from her.

"Done?" Callum asked. "Or would you like me to cast a dark creature for you to look at? I'm getting quite good at a shadow cat."

Harry pulled back from the magic and rubbed his eyes slightly then winced at the pain in his right eye.

"You shouldn't do that," Callum remarked. "Makes it worse."

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "I remember."

The two men shared a look before Callum pulled out a small trunk from his pocket and placed it on the ground. He resized it before opening the lid as the others crowded around. Callum pulled out a large stone as he crouched before the trunk.

"One stone charged with corrupted dark magic," Callum announced as he stood with a grin.

Melissa pulled back from the stone sharply.

"Death magic," Melissa whispered.

"Dark Arts," Harry amended.

"Your work?" Melissa asked and Harry looked up sharply but she was looking at Callum.

The man glared at her and Harry could feel the dark magic building. That was the problem when two Dark Wizards would come together. Much like dark and light creatures they would clash.

"My work," Harry declared and Melissa started and looked at him. "The stones."

Callum barked a laugh and the dark magic around them disappeared as the man clapped a hand to Harry's shoulder in amusement.

"I drew off the corrupted magic into those stones," Harry clarified as he picked up another stone and stood. "From a Dark Ritual, fun days."

"From Malfoy manor?" Sirius asked as he looked at the stone and Harry passed it over.

"That's the one," Harry confirmed. "Okay this is going to take a while. You lot might as well have lunch or whatever."

Harry took the stone from Sirius and walked back towards the gate. He settled on the ground and crossed his legs as he placed the stone near the gate. He opened his mind and focused on the magic before him. He forged a link with the stone and wards and set to work. Everything else falling away behind him as he focused his mind on what he had to do.

xXx

Melissa frowned as she looked over at Blake while she sipped on her coffee and tried to work out what he was doing. She could feel the magic around the man but couldn't see what he was doing and it both fascinated and frustrated her. She had never seen someone work like he did as he sat there in the cold in just his shirt and pants.

"Interesting?" Bill commented and she jumped. "Sorry."

"Yes," Melissa replied to his question. "What's he doing?"

"He's linking the wards that he can pick up to the corrupted magic of the stone and draining off the magic," Bill answered. "He can relink the magic back through the stones to make it easier for us to pass over the threshold."

Melissa snapped her mouth closed when she realised that she had been gaping. She flicked a piece of hair behind her ear to cover up her reaction as Bill gave her a grin.

"You'll get used to him doing magic you've never seen before," Bill commented. "Then he will do something new and shock you all over again."

Melissa looked back at Blake and frowned. Struck again by how normal the man looked just sitting there. If it weren't for the pulse of magic that she could feel. She wouldn't have thought much of him.

"How's he going?"

Melissa and Bill started and looked over to Severus standing behind them and he smirked at them.

"Still talking to the wards?" Severus added with a fond look in his eyes as he glanced at Blake.

"For the last four hours," Sirius added in. "Are we sure he hasn't just fallen asleep?"

"I dare you to go check," Severus offered silkily and Melissa shivered at the tone in his voice.

Sirius bark a laugh before bitting into an apple.

"What are you doing here?" Sirius asked while he chewed and Severus sneered.

"Basic manners wouldn't go amiss, Black." Severus drawled.

Sirius gave the man the finger before striding back to the table set out with the food.

"Did Blake call you?" Bill asked.

Severus gave Bill a smirk.

"I thought it would be prudent to check up on what he was doing," Severus replied and Melissa shivered as the man's dark eyes fell on her. "Ms Sharman, how are you?"

"Well, thank you." Melissa answered, standing up as tall as she could.

She felt small beside the tall man and wondered how Blake felt since he was a similar height to her. She relaxed slightly as the man's eye landed on Blake again.

"The vampire's not with you?" Bill asked.

"He has a hellhound problem to work out," Severus remarked.

"Ah," Bill stuttered. "Blake?"

Severus smirked in reply and gave Bill a wink before moving over to the food table. The two curse breakers turned their attention back to Blake but he was still just sitting there.

xXx

Harry pulled back from the magic, once he had everything tied in correctly and the stones were glowing softly in the afternoon sun. He stretched his back while he leaned back on his hands. A mug suddenly appeared in front of him and he followed it up to Severus's dark eyes.

"Ah, my love." Harry muttered and grabbed the mug.

"I won't take offense that you were talking to the coffee," Severus drawled with a smirk.

Harry gave him a big grin.

"You know I love you too," Harry replied with a wink.

"Am I first or second in line?"

"To coffee?" Harry questioned innocently and Severus barked a laugh and held out his hand.

Harry took the man's hand and pulled himself to his feet.

"You're cold," Severus pointed out.

"Am I?" Harry mused then shivered and Severus gave him a fond look. "Did you come to check up on me?"

Severus just gave him a look he knew well and Harry grinned then looked around.

"Five hours," Severus answered his silent question. "Black has wondered off somewhere. I'm sure we'll be able to find him by the yell of outrage as he gets in trouble with someone."

Harry slipped his phone out of his pocket and sent the man a text to meet back here tomorrow morning. He didn't bother to read the text that came back. He knew it would involve swear words.

"Took longer than I thought to get everything into place. No one has looked at these wards in a very long time," Harry remarked and rubbed his temple. "Are Bill and Melissa still around?"

"They have set up a few tents," Severus told him. "Are we camping here?"

"If you want," Harry suggested. "Would probably be easier."

Severus just sighed and Harry gave him a grin. The younger man knew what his kind of world involved by now. Camping was just one side of it. Harry looked back at the mansion in interest and could feel the unease in his stomach. Walking into any dark house, was dangerous, but the Lestrange were not known for their sanity. Harry was sure that this house could reflect that personality even if the Lestrange line was now dead. The mansion before him was still very much alive from the magic layered there over the centuries.