PB14

Disclaimer – I own none of the Potterverse – JKR does.

Chapter 14

Severus read that morning's Daily Prophet with satisfaction. Sirius Black was finally being of some use. Rita had been persuaded to hold off on the headlines 'too make a greater impact'. Now, two weeks after school had resumed, Sirius had appeared a few places, raving about not having had a trial and that Peter Pettigrew was alive and a danger to Harry Potter.

Public response was mostly "scoffing at the madman", though Ministry Personnel who were already looking for 'the person who'd not gotten a trial' for Minerva were now trying to unearth Sirius Black's files and were becoming suspicious that he might be the one she'd meant.

Severus and Lucius had arranged for Rita to 'just happen' to be in Dovetown at the same time as Sirius. Dovetown was a mostly muggle town with an area owned by wizards – an area with aversion charms and disillusionment to prevent muggles from bothering them. There was a very nice Italian restaurant in the town that wizards and witches from around the entire country came to. They did a brisk business and Sirius Black had shown up in all his ragged glory while Rita – and her photographer – was there.

Sirius had wept - loud enough to be heard throughout the place - that his poor godson Harry Potter was in grave danger. He tore at his hair and howled that Peter was the traitor – that he'd never been given a trial or an opportunity to give evidence with veritaserum … as he was willing to do even now.

He'd disappeared just as the Aurors the maître d' had summoned arrived. Sirius, luckily, had a wand – 'stolen' from a polyjuiced Lucius during Sirius' first appearance in Diagon Alley. 'Lucius' had complained loudly before leaving by a convenient floo.

Rita had gotten some interesting pictures and had quoted Sirius Black's every word. She speculated in her front page article about what it would mean if Peter was alive. She also quoted a few ministry workers – who remained anonymous – that they'd been set the task of finding out about a prisoner in Azkaban who had not received a trial … by a Hogwarts Professor. There now seemed to be no sign of any trial transcripts for Sirius Black, and he perhaps was correct that he'd never been tried.

Rita went on at length, going over how the courts even at times of great upheaval were supposed to work. After all, even the LeStranges and some of the most nefarious of the Death Eaters had had trials – some had lasted for days. True, Sirius Black was considered the very worst, as he had betrayed the now sainted Potters … but he should have had a trial, even if a very short one.

She also speculated about Peter Pettigrew, quoting an Auror named Dawlish who had been overheard on several occasions at various wizarding bars boasting about being with Madame Bones when informing Harry Potter and the other occupants of the Malfoy Estate of Black's escape. The story of James Potter and the other animagus' had spread quickly … including the tidbit of Peter being 'a rat'.

Severus watched with rather dark amusement while Minerva began to pale and look sick, and Albus looked thunderous. Severus caught a glance from Harry and allowed a smirk to slip out briefly. Harry grinned and elbowed Draco who beamed happily at his own paper. The Headmaster and Minerva got up from the table and Severus rushed out a side door – this was a meeting not to be missed.

Severus scurried quickly into the hidden corner in Albus' office. The little meeting was already not going well. Minerva had to admit that she'd been looking into getting Sirius his trial … after all, Albus was so busy, and this way he need not be involved.

Albus ignored her tearful pleas and was shouting that she had betrayed him. "… you went and freed Black … I know you must have …" Albus paced, paying no attention to her denials. "If I decided Black was to be freed – it should have been by me … I needed him loyal to me, so that my plans for Harry would not be thwarted by him." Albus actually growled, while Minerva watched him in bewilderment. "Now he's running around loose … shouting out things I needed kept under wraps until I revealed them. Exposed by me at the right time – the facts would weigh in my favor, and the blame shifted to Crouch or others. Now they'll look at me, instead."

"But, Albus … Sirius was in Azkaban … and innocent …" Minerva bleated weakly. Why wasn't Albus concerned about this? Minerva had blind spots – not many, she was usually rather pragmatic. None the less, Albus was her one big blind area. This heartlessness toward her favorite Gryffindors was tearing holes in her carefully crafted vision of him.

Albus looked at her, as if only now noticing she was there. He could see he was losing her – or at least she no longer was viewing him as infallible. She'd never have sprung Sirius behind his back in the past. Now she was arguing about his tactics and objecting to the … sacrifices … that needed to be made. Of course it was sacrifice of a Gryffindor that she objected to, but still. He needed an unquestioning pawn at his side … not someone who did things without his say-so.

"Minerva …" Albus bestowed a not-so-kindly look on her. He knew how to play her, and he needed her somewhere being useful instead of stabbing him in the back. "This mess regarding Black is of your making …" He waved off her continued protests of innocence as irrelevant. "… Black needs to be brought under control. You know most of the Aurors since so many are former Gryffindors and people do listen to you. Damage control is needed and that will likely take up a great deal of time. You will need to step down as Deputy Headmistress … you will be too busy tracking down our errant animagus and getting him to fall into line."

Minerva's eyes flew open wide in horror. "But, Albus … who will take the position …?" Her eyes narrowed in hate. "… you aren't going to give it to that, that … Slytherin?"

Albus smiled slightly. "But with him as Deputy, I can assign him duties that … later … may implicate him in unfortunate events – like poor Harry Potter's death. After Voldemort kills him, anyone bearing the mark will again be suspect and I might find that I have been deceived by him, after all. And of course double agents are notorious for playing both sides."

Severus listened intently. In the past he'd have been thrilled to hear about his upcoming advancement. Watching Minerva's smirking face while she contemplated his upcoming Azkaban confinement took the shine off it.

All this could be of use, of course. Albus blaming Minerva for Black's break-out was spectacularly opportune for them – Albus was ridding himself of his right hand and they hadn't needed to do anything at all. Not to mention Albus was placing Severus where he could do the most good – good for Harry, anyway.

Albus started doing up the paperwork for switching Deputies while Minerva sulked, and Severus took his leave. Albus had no intention of ever placing Minerva back in power. She had become too clingy for quite some time and now with her questioning him, she needed to go. Ousting her as Deputy was first on the list … and it was better if he had her cooperation in it.

Replacing a teacher in the middle of the year was a bother … although he had a lot of practice with doing so every year with the Defense position. He had a long list of potential candidates for that – none were very good, but that was all for the best as well.

The Transfiguration position, though – his own old position was one he wanted to keep in preeminence in the wizarding world. Having Hogwarts transfiguration classes the best in the wizarding world was a part of his legacy. He would replace Minerva before the next year started, even so. He would have plenty of time to find an excellent new Transfiguration Professor.

Minerva slunk back to her office, fuming. She was supposed to persuade Sirius to turn himself over to Albus, so Albus could 'bring him to the Ministry to be exonerated', making Albus look like the hero. The problem was that Albus still believed she had helped Sirius escape – and therefore would know how to find him. It was just too bad for Minerva that she did not, she thought angrily.

Severus 'happened' by while Minerva looked over an Atlas of Britain and Scotland, feeling that perhaps just stabbing at a spot with her eyes closed was her best bet for starting the hunt.

Severus halted in the doorway for a moment and then ambled over to gaze at the map in apparent interest. "Planning a trip Professor McGonagall?" He asked brightly. He watched her hands clench a bit and then relax.

She decided to go with the cover story they had decided on to hide her disgrace with the Headmaster. "Yes, as a matter of fact … The Headmaster is entrusting me with an important duty – to track down Sirius Black before he gets hurt and see him to the safety of The Headmasters protection." She took a deep breath while Severus watched, quite amused at her obvious discomfort. "And since you are here, I may as well let you know that I need to relinquish the duties of Deputy Head to you while I do this … I am sure it is only temporary, of course." Damn Albus for insisting she tell Severus … rubbing salt into the wound.

"Well, I am quite honored …" Severus gave her a smile that was more a show of teeth. "… I am quite happy to take up your duties … of course if you need even more time, I'm sure that Professor Babbling would be happy to take your duties as Head of House as well … it would be pity if that were necessary, of course." Severus watched with satisfaction as she flushed with temper, although her eyes flickered nervously … she was likely hoping Albus didn't think of that as well.

Minerva scoffed and then answered, grinding the words out with anger. "What do you know of pity … do you even know the meaning of the word, Professor Snape?"

"No, not really … it's just a figure of speech …" Severus answered, no longer amused. "… my Professors never taught me – or showed me - what it meant." Severus turned around with a snap of his cloak, disappearing down the hall with his emotions at a boil.

Severus retreated to his own office and took a few minutes to meditate, recovering his calm and returning his resentment at old injuries to the past where it belonged. Then he wrote a note to Lucius to let him know the latest event to unfold.

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Narcissa and Lucius laughed over Severus' letter all the way to Grimmauld Place. Sirius was meeting them to search for the horcrux they hoped was hidden there. Several of the Death Eaters that they had talked to had remembered talk of Regulus 'turning traitor' and being killed – and whispers of a dark artifact.

Sirius felt conflicted. He'd considered Regulus a die-hard blood purist and dark wizard. The idea of him betraying Voldemort seemed too good to be true – and if true, Sirius would have to once again mourn the loss of his brother.

Once they entered the Malfoys stopped laughing and looked around in horrified disgust. Even Sirius, after all his years in a filthy Azkaban cell was a bit put off by all the dust and dinginess. Narcissa yelled for several of her own house-elves who arrived with squawks of horror at the sight of the dingy house.

Kreacher appeared and started to protest, until he caught sight of 'Narcissa … a true Black heiress'. The old house elf muttered about the shameful son who dared show his face … Sirius Black and looked at Lucius closely, trying to decide if he belonged there. The portrait of Walburga awakened and started yelling, and Narcissa hurried over to shush her, reassuring the old hag that she was setting things to rights.

Sirius grimaced and sneered at the old elf, who had always hated him. Narcissa had made him promised to leave the talking to her. Severus arrived and he and Sirius started searching for a Horcrux, while Narcissa and Lucius quizzed Kreacher about Regulus.

Severus and Sirius had agreed that they both were dedicated to saving Harry – and the rest of the wizarding world from both Voldemort and Dumbledore. Sirius knew Severus had a despicable and possibly unforgivably heinous plan to eliminate the pair of them and he only hoped that the Slytherin swine succeeded – and allowed him to participate in it in some way.

Still, the two of them tended to cheerfully snipe at each other whenever they could do so without upsetting Harry, Draco or Dudley. The boys didn't quite understand that the back and forth insults and sarcasm were there way to work through any lingering anger.

They started their search, working their way from the cellars and going up. It took time, as there were simply so many objects that dripped with darkness. They were fairly sure that they were looking for a necklace of some sort … but there was a lot of ugly jewelry stored in the house, ranging from neckwear that looked like collars, endless variations of beads of all lengths, torques and chains, some chokers – a few of which they were sure actually would choke the wearer. There was a box full of nothing but different pendants – some were cheap looking and others were obviously very valuable gems.

A few were dark enough that neither of them was sure if they were possibly a Horcrux or something else … though they could think of nothing that could be darker. They carefully hovered the suspect items into a bag, hoping nothing would interact. They got to the first floor and avoided the library where there could hear a tearful Kreacher talking to Narcissa about a cave somewhere.

The drawing room had six frantic house-elves working on cleaning a decade of grime from the windows facing the road. It had once been a beautiful room but the entire house seemed determined to reflect the overwhelming depression that exuded from the painting of Walburga and the house-elf. Not to mention the sheer number of dark magic present made darkness hang heavy in the air.

One wall in the drawing room was floor to ceiling glass cabinet full of objects – Orders of Merlin, old wands that were encrusted with jewels or made from crystals, grimoires … and various items of jewelry. They started on the items and Sirius barked for Snape to not get caught up with reading the grimoires.

"I at least am aware of my priorities, Black. We need to get rid of the last Horcrux to defeat the Dark Lord and assist Harry." Severus sniffed superiorly.

Sirius scowled. "Well, what do you think my priority is, then?" He immediately winced, realizing he'd given the Slytherin a perfect opening. He'd been in Azkaban too long if he was leaving himself wide open like this.

Severus smiled a bit. "Well, I've always thought it was availability of women …" With such an easy mark Severus couldn't work up the energy to fire off a truly devastating verbal volley.

Sirius shot a glare at him anyway, "No …" he sputtered, uncomfortably aware that between Azkaban and being on the run that even Snape might be getting more action than him.

Snape smirked and picked up another necklace to inspect. "Did I get the gender wrong?" He asked with artificial sweetness.

Sirius huffed in outrage and then barked another laugh. "It's been a decade, but if I recall correctly I preferred those of the female persuasion. Maybe when this is over I'll get to remind myself of their charms ... repeatedly."

"Ten points from Gryffindor for an appalling display of wishful thinking … Oh, wait you're not still a horny sixth year … I keep forgetting when you insist on sounding like one." Severus snickered.

Sirius sniffed, "Just for that … I won't snag one for you as well. I was sure that I could find a witch that was nearsighted enough to be willing to go on a double – date."

Severus actually laughed at that, making Sirius smirk in triumph. They had almost worked their way through the first cabinet by then, when Severus suddenly halted. His Mark had flared into painful life as he reached for the next necklace, a locket that looked rather old. The gold was dingy – obviously had not been cleaned in a while. A stylized S was picked out in deep green emeralds. It was obviously what they were looking for.

"Sirius, would you get Lucius and Narcissa?" Severus asked in a chill voice.

Sirius caught on quickly and ran for the Malfoys and soon they were huddled around the necklace that Severus hovered to a nearby table. Kreacher caught sight of it and yelped.

"That is the necklace Regulus asked me to destroy." Kreacher whined, thumping his head on the floor in misery. "I tried and tried … Kreacher could not do it …"

Narcissa quickly caught Sirius and Severus up on the tale of the Horcrux. Sirius sighed. So his little brother had tried to make at least one thing right when he realized that the Dark Lord was not what he said he was.

"Kreacher, I promise we will destroy the necklace as Regulus asked." Sirius disliked the elf, but Kreacher had tried to help Regulus and perhaps he could be turned around a bit.

Kreacher looked up at Sirius doubtfully. "Does master mean it?" He asked without much hope.

"Yes … we are working at defeating the Dark Lord that killed our beloved Regulus." Sirius managed to say it without sneering. Regulus may not have stuck with the Dark Lord, but he'd certainly believed in blood purity. "We will avenge him … and we're going to see to it that Dumbledore doesn't get his way, either."

Kreacher perked up at that. Master Sirius might be learning to be a proper Black after all.

The Malfoys took the necklace to be destroyed after instructing the house-elves to continue with the cleaning, though they could trade out with other elves – taking turns in shifts. Hopefully it wouldn't take longer than a few months to get it habitable.

Severus prepared to return to Hogwarts, satisfied that the last Horcrux besides the ring was gone. Albus was intending to get the ring that weekend, and then the race would be on. Voldemort – Quirrell would soon want a chance at the Stone, so the other plans needed to be in action.

The end would be near for them, and Harry would finally be safe.

"I think I'll show up at a Quidditch match, next." Sirius mused. "Or, if I can track the Aurors I'll find Moody and run off with his fake leg in my Grim form."

Severus paused at the floo. "Well let me know – I'll alert Rita. I want a picture of Moody if you get his leg."

"So Rita likes you then?" Sirius leered a bit. "Well, don't do anything I wouldn't do …"

Severus threw the powder down. "Well, that should be fairly easy, Black. Try not to cause an insurrection while you're out there."

"I'll try, but I can't promise anything." Sirius waved him off cheerfully.

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A/N – Short, but I'm hoping to get things wound up a bit.