Please read and review, the next chapter is one of my favourites!
Horcruxes – Suddenly Regulus prodded his shoulder and he looked his way even though he could not see the man beneath the invisibility cloak. "Who's that woman over there?"
Sirius rolled his eyes, he would bet every knut he had that Regulus was pointing to someone, there were lots of women here, "where?"
"Standing a couple of paces from Fudge, she is dressed entirely in tight pink clothes that don't suit her, looks vaguely like a toad. She looks like she must smell of cats, I think I can see cat fur on her, doesn't it get your hunter blood pumping?"
Sirius had to smile at that, ever since he had told Reg of his ability to turn into a dog, he had not stopped joking about it. The description was not one that could match many people, Sirius soon caught sight of her and told Reg so. "I can see her; she does look weird in that garb." He wracked his brains for a name, he had seen her before, and been told her name, or heard it somehow, but for some reason it would not come to his mind. The unmarked death eater his magic prompted as it stirred from his subconscious to help him. Ah, of course, perhaps he should target her next, although she did not seem beyond redemption somehow, at least, not as evil as some of the death eaters out there. "Dolores Umbridge," he said as the name all of a sudden leapt onto his tongue. "Her name is Dolores Umbridge, the unmarked death eater, why?"
"Look at her chest," he said.
"What are you talking about? Her tight pink outfit certainly accentuates them, but not only is she old, they are minuscule!"
"Look at the necklace, you dirty minded fool," Regulus hissed, "I doubt she knows what it is, and I have no idea in hell how she got a hold of it, she probably thinks it is just a pretty trinket, but she is wearing Salazar Slytherin's locket."
Sirius focused on the locket that hung like an amulet round her neck, Reg would not mistake the little piece of silver he died for, "oh, so she is."HH
How on Earth did she get a hold of that, he had no answer for his magic, or Merlin or whatever that voice was, and no, he was not crazy for hearing them. Unbidden, an image of the Nott's house bare and empty, stripped of anything of any value even though it had not been long. Regulus was right; it was strange for that to be the case as most death eaters are also from rich and influential families. They could not possibly need or even desperately want to take the stuff in the house to pawn or sell; in fact the Malfoy family would think it downright demeaning and ludicrous to do so. The face of an entirely different greedy bastard came to mind a snarl ripped from his throat, he could not believe he did not think of it before, "Fletcher," he growled lowly.
That man was unstoppable. He was an annoyance enough so that he did not have many friends and far too many enemies. After all, the quickest way to lose a friend is to lend them money; although why anyone would be idiotic enough to lend money to Fletcher he'd never know. When he was not drunk he was actually a good fighter and that was why Moody took him on as an apprentice and seeming as he somehow managed to not steal anything from him in that time he successfully became an auror and joined the Order of the Phoenix. Sirius was pretty sure the real impress was from being able to avoid jail for so long. Of course if he was ever caught he'd probably never go to Azkaban but some other less dreadful institution.
Sirius would not be surprised if he was the first one on the Nott's house once it was vacated, and that meant he'd entered Grimmauld Place too. Most of the jewellery and such was hidden and had protective wards on it, but the locket, that would have just been lying on the table when Regulus went there to drop it off before escaping into the background to recover from whatever semi state of being the dark magic had sent him into. The only thing that would have registered in the wanna-be crooks mind was the fact that it was made of silver, had an intricate design, included snakes and would appeal to a Slytherin mind. Damn that man, he could have sold it to someone overseas or something, and then he would be at a loss.
"What should we do about it?" Regulus questioned, "should we get it now, or target her separately later?" Sirius thought about it, both would work, probably, but when an opportunity is presented to you, one should never tempt fate. He did not know where she lived so he would have to work that out and then target her. But that day or two days could be better spent looking after Harry if he just got it now. His little diversion that was impossible to take down while he was still here was keeping everybody occupied and everyone was in disarray, she might not even notice. Hell, he could probably divest Fudge of his socks and vest and he'd still just stand there staring at the mortifying scene above him, he would not even twitch. He crooked his finger in a 'come hither' motion towards the woman whispering accio locket, nothing happened.
"Nothing happened," Regulus echoes his thoughts, Sirius did not deign it with an answer, it was the bloody obvious it hadn't worked. He frowned, she must have some sort of protection on it, she must have paid a hefty price for that 'necklace' but she had plenty of money and he needed it much more than she did, it was clear she at least took care of her possessions and took various measures to protect them. That was ok, there was more than one way to rid someone of their valuables, muggles did it all the time. "What do we do now?" Regulus asked, knowing that trying himself would not only yield no other results but get him cuffed by his older brother for even thinking it too. "Walk up to her and take it off her neck?"
"That's not a bad idea," Sirius mumbled, "wait here and make sure the display is upheld, I'll get the locket." Silently and still invisible he slipped from his brother's side and made his way towards the woman making sure he did not bash into anyone on the way. He slipped behind her, she was standing still at least, thank heaven for small mercies and wrapped his arms around her as if he was about to embrace her, but of course, he did not touch. He put one hand underneath each side of the chain and gently started to lift. "Keep looking up," he mouthed to her though of course it would make no difference. "That's it, I'm not doing anything, I'm not even here, just keep looking up at that wonderful display up there, that's a good toad."
Just then somebody came barrelling towards him and he side stepped to avoid a full on collision but his arm slipped and came to rest on Umbridge's breast. He immediately retreated and let Umbridge turn her rage onto the man who had apparently touched her inappropriately and while the man desperately tried to defend himself Sirius cursed silently. Well there was nothing else for it, after a quick charm to make the locket as invisible as he was he reached up and snatched it hard. The chain she had put it on snapped immediately and it was clear that in the middle of her argument she felt it and put her hand to her chest, just to find there was nothing there. She screamed for her locket but was ignored as at the moment it was not really a pressing matter. Sirius did not stick around to hear the drama and made his way back to his brother.
"Smooth," Regulus said and Sirius could hear the smirk in his voice, "you just yanked it from around her neck," he noted.
"I did try another way first," Sirius defended, though he was not quite sure why he felt the sudden need to. "I do not completely lack subtlety or flair, there just was no another chance to complete the matter delicately and I lacked the patience. Come on, we can't apparate here, there are wards up, let's go outside and get out of here." He grabbed his brother's arm in one hand and the locket in the other and made his way to the door at the far end of the room. Unseen and unnoticed the door opened and then closed seemingly by itself. The two started running along corridors and through doors, in and out of the staff, making sure not to bash into any of the dazed men and women talking animatedly about what they'd seen earlier, most of them had come from the meeting hall.
Once both Black brothers were a street away they apparated to land in Grimmauld Place front room where they both promptly doubled up with laughter. "The look on Fudge's face," Regulus gasped around panting breaths, "as he stood there floundering, looking at the scene above him, it was priceless, I can't wait to do it again."
"It is not always as easy as that," Sirius managed to contain his amusement down to chuckles. "I have wanted to see the minister look like that for some time. So many people saw that one, but the next display should be even bigger, I'm already plotting who next to target."
"Don't do it without me."
"You proved to be very good; I would love to have you accompany me again."
"Good," Regulus suddenly seemed hesitant, "could you perhaps give it a rest for a couple of weeks, I need to go away for a while?"
This certainly caught Sirius' attention, "What? Why? Where would you go? How long will you be gone? Will you come back? What about Harry and the horcruxes and the revolution and me?"
"Calm, Siri, I only want to go for a couple of weeks, a month at most, I'll be back before you know it. The Black family own apartments scattered around the place, I'll take refuge in one of them for a while, and why I'm going is my business, though I mean no offense. You and Harry can survive without me for a couple of weeks I am sure, you were going to survive the rest of your lives without me when I was believed dead after all, though it touches my heart to know I'll be missed. Just keep the porch light on for me ok?" Sirius just nodded dumbly knowing that he could not really ask his brother to stay if he was dead set on leaving for a little while.
Harry would miss his uncle Reg and Sirius would miss his brother, but as long as he did not stay away long then he guessed that was ok. "If you are way for longer than a month I'll track you down," he said, it was more of a promise of protection than a threat but Regulus smiled in good humour all the same. This made Sirius sigh in relief, that mean whatever he was going away to do, it was most likely not something dangerous or his smile would have faltered guiltily. Reg knew Sirius hated him doing anything dangerous without telling him first so soon after getting him back more or less from the dead and Reg did not mind being sheltered until Sirius was assured that he could look after himself just fine now.
Reg pulled his brother into a quick one armed hug, "I'm not about to kill myself Sirius," he said with a smile, "promise."
"Even so... Kreacher!" The elf appeared with a pop. "I want you to go with Regulus for a while whatever he's doing make sure he'd looked after.
Regulus smiled again, "having Kreacher would actually be a very good idea," he said but they both apparated before Sirius could ask what he meant.
Now Lucius Malfoy, Mr and Mrs Nott and the Lestrange brothers are all locked up and in Azkaban. Where will this mysterious Vigilante strike next? With the fall of You Know Who there has been an uprising against his former rule, somebody not only has a grudge against former and current death eaters but has the courage and power to act on it. Some say that the vigilante is the murderer Sirius Black fighting back out a guilty conscience, or maybe he is not the murderer we think he is and he is out to imprison those who should have locked up in his place. Some death eaters who previously pled 'imperio' such as Mr Crabbe and Mr Goyle have turned themselves in so they do not have to face his ire, smart men.
After running into him personally I can verify that the vigilante is indeed Mr Black, or at least, Mr Black assures me he is the vigilante. He has vowed not to cease, what he calls his revolution until all of the death eaters he knows about are locked up where they deserve and he urges the ministry to start doing their job instead of leaving it to him. Mr Black claims he is innocent and was imprisoned wrongly, and after research I can verify that he was not actually ever given a trial. He says he shall catch Peter Pettigrew, the man he claims framed him for the betrayal of the Potters and the murder of the thirteen muggles, himself, and he'll prove his innocence to everyone once and for all. I would just like to say I would not want to be Peter Pettigrew or the minister of magic right now if he is telling the truth...
Sirius snapped the paper shut with a satisfied smirk, that was all he wanted for now. He took a sip of hot chocolate before placing it back on the coffee table by his side. It was too sweet for his liking and the marshmallows melting on top creating froth was doing nothing to alleviate that either. Still, coco was his trademark drink, not very intimidating of course, not like fire whiskey or even coffee, and cigarettes were popular too, but coco was something he actually liked, and his unexpected hostess did not have any so he had to make do with a substitute. It had been three weeks since capturing the Lestrange brothers, Regulus had returned three days ago with a very distraught house elf but the elf refused to tell him anything and just buried himself into doting on Harry and Regulus to recover, the best medicine for a house elf.
"My, my Rita, you have done an excellent job." He turned to the terrified woman sitting on her chair by her beloved quill, "you have done everything I could have hoped for with your article." The woman, who was still terrified of him from last time relaxed slightly at his smile, assured she was not going to die today after all. Sirius could not help but smirk at the power he held over so many people, it was with the instrument of fear true, like Voldemort used, but it was power nonetheless and he was not using it for evil not great evil anyway, it was to vanquish greater evil. It made him feel otherworldly, which in a way he guessed he was, with his unlocked power and being the descendent and quite possibly true heir of Merlin himself.
The thought was not all that comforting; after all, ultimate power leads to ultimate corruption and all that. Power and influence was how he got locked in Azkaban with no trial and power and influence was how he was fighting this revolution and how he was going to dig his name out of the mud. This revolution of his was the best sort of medicine for the bitterness and anger he felt from being locked up. He felt as if he had some sort of dark passenger within him now, that was the voice of his magic and it whispered to him all the time. It hummed contented at his most when he was either with Harry or beating a death eater, crumbling Voldermort's nation before he found a way to once again rise to power.
He used to dislike this woman, thought she was a vile liar, and she was still a vile liar but he found himself with the stirrings of gratitude, not just for her, but for the papers who employed her and the mindless population that read and believed everything she wrote. Now that she was writing truth he found himself for the first time grateful how everyone believed her. He was an interesting topic, he was dangerous, he was mysterious, and he had done things nobody had ever done before, give a little time and he could be summed up with one word: irresistible. People could not help talking about him, spreading the word, stories and myths escalating and escalating until he himself turned into some sort of legend, and that was just the way he wanted it.
"You have instilled fear in those who need to fear my ire, some have already turned themselves in, and you stirred doubt about my criminal tendencies, you even made the minister uncomfortable, well done, very well done." Sirius Black was incredibly happy with this article, it was all he could have hoped for and more, it was definitely a good idea to go to Rita all those months ago. "I think you deserve a reward." He was thankful that the fear of him had actually made some death eaters turn themselves in, it was only Crabbe and Goyle, strictly small league sheep who no longer had Malfoy to protect them but it was something, Parkinson should follow. There were still a few he'd have to deal with personally but the ministry might start doing their job by then.
"I knew it was a good idea coming to you, one of my better ideas if I do say so myself." He crooked his finger in a 'come hither' motion, "come over here, I have a present for you," he smirked. Rita Skeeter who sincerely doubted the seriously dangerously sexy and seriously dangerous everything else man had any sort of present for her she might like, gulped as she complied. She knew not to question his tone, the last time he'd visited her she had ended up almost impaled by a knife with his impressive display of wand-less magic and she had still not quite gotten over it. Her steps were slow and halting but soon enough she had risen from her chair and was but a pace away from the man who was standing by her bed.
He towered almost two heads over her and was bulging with muscles, magical energy tangible in the air around him. Dangerous, if she had to choose one word in that moment to describe him – that was what she would choose, danger seeped from his every pore. She wished she was not as heartless as she was before no matter how popular her false gossip was, she was pretty sure this dark avenger had chosen her for that reason, not just that everyone read her work. He was the bringer of Just Desserts after all and she would gladly give up her income, give up her career so she did not have to endure these terrifying visits. She may not have believed he had committed the murders he was arrested for, but he had certainly done everything since and that was why she was so scared of him.
"Turn around," he ordered once he deemed her close enough. She really did not want her back to him but again she did not think she really had much of a choice so she did as she was bid. She heard the soft footfall of Sirius closing the distance behind her and let out a frightened gasp and wince as she felt cool metal on her neck. She glanced down and saw much to her surprise that he was not about to draw patterns into her skin with a blade after all. It was a necklace, a fine golden chain with a ruby encased with silver petals hanging from the end of it; it was beautiful and must have cost a lot of money. She seriously doubted that money was a problem for Lord Black but it was not something you could get anywhere, it must have been specially made, and he was giving it to her.
"It was my mothers," he told her as she fastened the necklace and took a small pace backwards. "I was going to pawn it seeming as neither I nor Harry really want to wear something like that." He grabbed her by the shoulders and swivelled her round so he could see how it looked on her. "Just because I am giving you this does not mean you mean anything to me or that I even like you. It is a relief to give something of hers that is of any worth away to someone really, I hated the bitch and the feeling was mutual. "It is easily worth three hundred galleons, it is one of a kind, keep it if you want or sell it and go on a nice holiday somewhere. It does look nicer on you than it ever did when it was infrequently worn on that she-bat anyway."
Rita was not going to lie; it really didn't make her like the necklace any less, in fact in her ears it sounded like he was trying to justify why he was giving it to her. Sirius fingered it briefly, as if saying goodbye to the jewel, maybe it did mean something to him after all. "Peter is scared of me," he said suddenly, "he'd always been scared of me, even in school. He was intimidated by how powerful James and I were, and Remus for that matter. But he did manage to turn..." he broke off and chuckled, "I can't believe I almost told you that," he said to himself. "When I find him he will know fear like never before, but I can't find him, I don't even know where to start looking and I don't think I can ultimately prove my innocence without him."
Sirius ran a hand through his hair and collapsed onto the bed drawing his knees up to his chest, brows knitted in thought or confusion. "What about you?" He said suddenly, "do you think I'm a murderer. I know I did not give you any reason to believe otherwise last time I paid you a visit, in fact I think I might have blatantly said I was, I certainly told you to call me one." Rita was not sure whether or not he was actually looking for an answer or whether he just wanted to talk to her he didn't really seemed bothered by her silence. "I am a murderer you know, I killed Gate Master, and there are a load of people in Azkaban I plan to kill because they are pure evil and I now know that prison isn't as secure as people like to think. I just didn't kill Peter and those muggles."
Even though she wasn't going to say anything Rita felt her mouth moving before she was even really aware of it. "I don't think you did it." She really didn't, it was the way he was acting, causing this revolution the fact it was no secret Harry was with him and the pure raw emotion in his eyes. If he really did it then why tell her otherwise, her of all people? Yes she believed, knew, had seen firsthand that he was dangerous, that was not up for debate. But she could not believe he had turned dark, not if he was hunting death eaters, she could not believe he had betrayed his best friends, she never did, and for some reason she felt as if she should say so, so she did. "I know you are dangerous, but I don't believe you killed them or betrayed Lily and James."
Sirius stopped his pacing in front of her to regard her. "You hesitated when I came to see you when I first broke out almost a year and a half ago now," he recalled suddenly. She needed to be reminded to what he was referring. "I told you to call me a murderer but you hesitated, why did you do that, was it because you were scared of me?"
Rita shook her head, "it was because I was scared that I gave in."
Sirius smiled at her a small real smile. "Thank you Rita. I need to get home."
"Looking after Harry right?"
"Yes, among the few." He walked over to the window which was how he made his dramatic exit last time, where his motorbike was.
"You can use the door," Rita offered.
"Doors are for people with no imagination," he smirked as he half jumped, half fell out of the window and landed onto the motorbike and flew away into the night.
"Sirius, bad news," Regulus exclaimed as soon as he walked through the door.
"Then don't tell me now," Sirius said shortly, taking off his cloak and throwing it, leaving it to hang itself up by the door. "I've had a wonderful evening."
"It concerns Harry."
"Everything does," he sat down, "go on then, what's up."
"I know what they horcruxes are, and a few ways to destroy the ones I can find."
"I thought that would be good news." A pause, "hang on, that's what you went away for wasn't it, to dream, being ill, you did that for me, for Harry, didn't you?" Another pause, "that's why you took Kreacher and why you said it would be a good idea. Oh you didn't have to do that Reg, it hurt you, but I am so glad you did. Why didn't you tell me once you got back, that was days ago? You have no idea how worried I was when you were away and how relieved I was when you got back looking no worse for wear than a little pale."
Regulus answered none of his questions. "One of them is the locket, well you know that. One of them is Helga Hufflepuff's cup; another is Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem. One of them is a diary he kept when he was still at school, the location of that is unknown. Another is his pet snake, Nagini, one of them is a ring, and the seventh and final horcrux, I'm so sorry Sirius, it's Harry."
Sirius blanched, he meant to say 'what do you mean' but what came out was "how do you know?"
"I didn't know at first, I didn't recognise the aura, all I knew was that it was familiar, and I thought it might be because he's family at first, but now I know, what I feel around Harry is the same as what I feel around the amulet, the same buzz of dark magic. The seventh horcrux is in him; well it's in his scar, so there might be a way..."
"To destroy it without hurting him," Sirius finished for him. He sighed heavily, "let's look on the bright side, we know what they all are now and we can start on finding them and getting rid of them. Do you know what it takes to destroy a horcrux?"
"A number of things will do, a powerful spell, a curse of some sort, or poisonous substances, very poisonous substances."
"Like what?"
"I don't know."
"Well that helps. Do you know where any of the horcruxes are?"
Regulus slowly shook his head, "sorry Siri, I'm not given that information, I do know some are at Hogwarts, I feel the energy near there, but exactly where they all are and how to get them, I just don't know."
Sirius just nodded, deep in thought, then suddenly his eyes gleamed, "I've got an idea."
"What's the idea?"
"There is a place in Hogwarts on the third floor, a hidden chamber called the room of requirement where you can get whatever it is you desire as long as it exists and is in Hogwarts somewhere. It is the perfect place to hide things, including yourself and once you find it you can access what you want as long as you know what it is you desire. James and I found it in our fourth year, it is how we did so well in our exams, we'd pull all nighters studying in there with all the books and potions ingredients and material we could want. We never told Remus or Peter about our find although I'm not sure why, but now I'm telling you. Do you remember when you and I found the mirror of erised in our second year?" He continued, sounding excited now, "I'll bet you anything that's in the room and I'll bet you anything the horcruxes are hidden in that."
Regulus went wide eyed, "that means Dumbledore knows about them," he said calculatingly. "The dreams showed me Hogwarts, just an image of it and I just know at least one of them is hidden there, Dumbledore with all of his knowledge must know if a piece of Voldemort is hidden in his school, he could have hidden it himself. But then again, Voldemort once went there too, he was going by the name whilst he was still a student wasn't he? Still, it must be worth asking him, or getting someone else too, how about we ask Snape for help, he still feels he owes you for saving his life and then just letting him go without even obliviating him? If you prove your innocence to him via veritaserum or something Dumbledore must prove to be a powerful ally."
"That is a good idea," he said quietly, "he would be a powerful ally, but I don't want to double cross him and I will in the end if I pretend to be working with him."
"Why? Surely not revenge, I mean, yes he saved Severus from Azkaban even though he did sort of deserve to go there while he pulled no strings to save you, a man who could very well be innocent and with his knowledge he must still know it is a possibility. But Sirius, this man could prove to be very dangerous, while he is an enemy he is very dangerous. Besides, we need to know the things he must have knowledge of, and he is far too strong for even us to kidnap and interrogate, even with Snape's help in that department instead, although whether he'd do anything adverse to the headmaster is not very likely."
"Calm down Reg, it's just that he is not a very good headmaster. Soon I am going to move onto the political side of this revolution and that means sorting out the corrupt ministry and the minister. While I am at it I am going to sort out Hogwarts too. Because the minister is so incompetent, Dumbledore has been picking up the slack and for that I am grateful but it is not his responsibility, not now I'm here to sort out the problem rather than lessen its effects. Dumbledore is focusing too much time on the Order and the government to care about his students. There are dangerous things in the forest that could kill a trained wizard and he sends them there for detention with just Hagrid and his umbrella for protection. It would be great for him to carry on his other responsibilities but I think he should retire from the school."
"How are you going to ensure that?"
"I won't need to. Once I have caught Peter, and mark my words I will find him eventually, I will have a huge sway in the ministry, everyone will love me for doing what the law was too full of loopholes to do and feel too sorry for me because of my unjust time in Azkaban to press charges because of it. Fudge will be hated, more than he already is for being so wrong and for continuing to hunt me after he knew I was innocent, as will the people closest to him such as the ones responsible for running trials, like the one I was denied and following his decisions blindly instead of protocol. Seeing who still follows Fudge after our dramatic display in the ministry hall with the Lestrange brothers, is a great way to see who the death eaters are."
"It really is ironic who Fudge's last lines of defence are."
"Everyone is against him, he is dying under the press and the strain, having the ministry in disarray can only be beneficial to me."
"Doesn't that mean Dumbledore will be picking up more slack?"
"It hardly matters all that much, Minerva picks up his slack, as much as she can and the only extra commitments she has are the Order, which won't be needed in a year or two and the Griffindor house which have prefects to look after them anyway."