The next day, Harry took his time getting up. It was strange how relaxing it was to be with Sirius, Remus, Fred, George, and Ron, but how difficult it was to be with Draco. Harry reluctantly got out of bed and walked to the kitchen in pajamas.

"Good morning," Sirius said cheerfully. "Are you still a kid today?"

"Only until we meet the Malfoys," Harry said. "At that point, I'm going to have to stop being a kid and go back to being the faker I am in school."

"We're meeting them at twelve," Sirius said. "We'll go out to eat with them, and after that we're going to hang around their house."

"Good," Harry said. "I need to figure out how to steal the diary."

"Let's do something fun for the morning," Sirius said, "Since we won't be having a fun afternoon."

"How about we go flying?" asked Harry.

"Sounds good," said Sirius. "First, eat breakfast and get dressed."

After a morning of flying, Sirius apparated Harry to the restaurant where they were meeting the Malfoys. Harry jumped back in surprise when she saw Rita Skeeter sitting at the table next to the Malfoys. Sirius followed his gaze. He put his arm around Harry and walked him over to the Malfoys.

"Hey, cousins," Sirius said. "I can't believe it takes our kids becoming friends for us to get reacquainted."

"Sit down," Lucius said gracefully. "I'm glad our kids get along so well."

The conversations at lunch were mostly boring adult talk. Harry and Draco didn't have much to say to each other. Rita kept looking at them and writing things down. When they finished eating, she finally approached them.

"How does it feel to be free, Mr. Black?" she said.

"I was free for several months already," Sirius told her. "Why are you asking me now?"

"I see you're getting reacquainted with family," Rita commented.

"That's good," Sirius said. "Otherwise, I would think you're blind and deaf."

Harry and Draco snickered.

And here's the famous Harry Potter," Rita said.

"Where?" Harry asked.

Lucius took it upon himself to make the introductions.

"This is Rita Skeeter," he said. "She writes for the Daily Prophet."

Sirius put his arm around Harry again.

"This is my wife, Narcissa, my son Draco, Narcissa's cousin Sirius Black, and Draco's friend Harry Potter."

"Would you mind answering some questions for the prophet?" Rita asked.

"I believe I would mind," Sirius said. "I'm here to get reacquainted with cousins I haven't seen in years, as well as to meet my godson's friend and his family. This isn't a press conference."

"How does it feel to live with Sirius?" asked Rita.

"Awesome," Harry said.

"Is he a good father?" Rita asked.

"He's the best," Harry said.

"How did you know you-know-who was at Hogwarts?" Rita asked.

"I don't reveal my sources," Harry said.

"Do you remember your parents?" asked Rita.

"Do you remember yours?" Harry asked back.

"Where did you live for the last ten years?" Rita asked him.

"I'm not discussing it," Harry said. "I want to see Malfoy manor already. Knowing Draco, it's probably very impressive, and I can't wait to see it."

"Thank you for your time," Rita said.

The Malfoys, Sirius, and Harry traveled together to Malfoy manor.

"Wow!" Harry said looking around. "This house is stunning!"

The Malfoys smiled proudly and showed Sirius and Harry around. When they got to the drawing room, Harry stopped.

"There's something under here," he said.

He tried not to notice the shocked looks on everyone's faces. Sirius recovered first.

"Why don't you and Draco go outside and play quiddich or something?" he suggested.

"I didn't bring my broom," Harry reminded him.

"I have extra," Draco said. "And I have a huge quiddich pitch."

As Harry and Draco left the room, Sirius addressed the Malfoys.

"I'm sorry about that," he said. "Harry loves exploring. He doesn't realize that secret rooms are meant to be kept secret for a reason, if there really is one there. I'm not giving him a chance to find out. I have no problem with him exploring every inch of Black manor, and he claims he found secret rooms in Hogwarts, but obviously he can't explore your house without permission. He isn't used to magical houses and tends to get carried away."

Meanwhile, Draco couldn't believe Harry knew their secret room.

"How did you know there's a room there?" he asked.

"I felt it," Harry said. "What's down there?"

"My dad's private stuff," Draco said.

"Oops," Harry said. "I guess I shouldn't have mentioned it."

The two of them played catch the snitch for a while. Harry caught it every time until he noticed Draco getting upset and decided to let him get it once.

When they went back inside, Sirius gave Harry a look.

"I'm sorry," Harry said. "Draco already told me I'm not supposed to be nosy at other people's houses. I just don't understand how these rooms are created. I tried to explore one at Hogwarts and discovered that it's unplottable, invisible from the outside, and requires specific thoughts. Other rooms and passageways have passwords. I don't care what's inside them; I'm just trying to figure out how things work."

"You should take ancient runes," Sirius told him.

"They don't offer it for first years," Harry said. "Besides I'm having a hard enough time keeping up with my schoolwork."

"It's an elective starting from your third year," explained Sirius. "Everyone needs to pick some electives."

"I would pick whichever ones give the least homework," Harry told him.

"That's a bad attitude," Lucius reprimanded.

"I can't let school work interfere with my quiddich career," retorted Harry.

"It's not fair that you get to be on the team in your first year," whined Draco.

"I know it's not," Harry said, "but Gryffindor hasn't won the quiddich come in so long, that Professor McGonagall insisted on making an exception. She didn't even ask me if I want to be on the team."

"Do you?" Sirius asked.

"Of course," Harry said.

"Too bad you're not in Slytherin," Draco commented.

"It's a good thing I'm not," Harry answered. "Isn't Professor Snape the head of your house?"

"He's not that scary," Draco said, "Especially to Slytherins."

"I'll take your word for it," Harry said.

"Anyone want snacks?" Narcissa asked.

"Dobby!" Lucius called.

A house elf appeared. Harry recognized Dobby but didn't show signs of recognition.

"Get snacks for Draco and his friend," Lucius ordered.

"Thank you," Harry said when Dobby gave him a snack.

"We don't thank house elves," Draco told him.

"Ask Sirius about that," Harry said, smiling.

"That was my attitude, too," Sirius said. "But then I noticed that my house elf was so much more eager to work and go the extra mile when Harry was around. He even wears a clean towel in Harry's honor and is so cheerful. He anticipates Harry's every need. I doubt his behavior will hold up when Harry is back in school."

"The way things are now is just fine," Lucius said.

"I'm going to resist the urge to test Dobby since I don't want him to punish himself," Harry said.

"What test would you do?" asked Draco.

"I would ask him to give me something that obviously belongs to your family; something secret that I shouldn't know about. If he gives it, that would prove that a basic thank you goes a long way. If he refuses, I know loyalty can't be bought with good manners. I wouldn't do it though," Harry said, "Because I don't want him to feel obligated to punish himself afterwards."

"I'm curious to see what would happen," Draco asked.

"Me too," said Harry, "but I'm still not trying it."

"Try it without us in the room," Lucius said. "If he gives it to you, he will get punished."

"I can't do that," Harry said. "If you would tell me that him giving it to me would result in his getting better treatment, I would consider it."

"His treatment is fine," Lucius said.

"Do you want to see my room?" Draco said, changing the subject.

"Sure," Harry said.

The two boys left the room and went upstairs. Once out of earshot of adults, they continued their discussion.

"Do you really think house elves are nicer if you're nicer to them?" Draco asked.

"I saw for myself," Harry answered. "You heard Sirius."

"So let's try it," Draco said. "My father doesn't need to know. If I see he gives it, I'll try to be nice to him."

"What about if your father wants whatever he gives me?" Harry asked. "Won't he get in trouble then?"

"So leave it here," Draco said.

"What if it's a dark object that should be destroyed?" challenged Harry.

"Is that what you think of my family?" Draco wanted to know.

"I sensed the darkness under the drawing room," Harry explained. "That's how I know there is something very dark under there. I don't know who put it there or why it was put there, but if it comes in my hands, I'm not giving it back."

"I'm curious to see what you are talking about," Draco confessed.

"But if we destroy it, we'll be in trouble with your father," Harry said.

"We could ask him about it," suggested Draco. "Pretend we went exploring ourselves."

"Let's ask Dobby first," Harry said. "I'll show you it would work."

"Dobby," Harry called.

Dobby immediately appeared.

"You called me, Master Harry?" Dobby asked.

"I'm not your master," Harry said. "You don't have to obey me."

"Is there something I could bring you?" Dobby offered.

"I don't want you to get in trouble," Harry said.

"Even if I have to punish myself, nobody would notice," Dobby said. "I always have to punish myself for something. One more punishment won't make a difference."

"I don't want you to punish yourself for something I ask you," Harry said. "If you can't do it, I won't get upset at you."

"Now I am curious," Dobby said. "What does master Harry want?"

"I'm not your master, but I was wondering about a diary under the drawing room. It used to belong to Voldermort. Would you know if it's still there?" Harry asked.

"I'll get it," Dobbby said.

"Thank you, Dobby," Harry said, "But only if you're sure you won't get in trouble for it."

Draco looked shocked when Dobby came back a minute later with the diary.

"Now Dobby has to shut his ears in the oven," Dobby said.

"Please don't," Harry said. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt because of me."

"You are very kind, Harry," Dobby said. "I have heard of your greatness, but of your goodness, I never knew."

"How does the diary work?" Draco asked.

"Whoever confides in the diary gets possessed by Voldermort," Harry told him.

"Let's ask my father about it," Draco said.

"Don't mention Dobby," Harry reminded him.

"I won't," Draco told him. "Hopefully, we won't get in trouble for exploring."

The two boys went downstairs where Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy were talking to Sirius. When they saw the diary in Draco's hands, it was hard to say who was the most surprised.

"Did you go down there?" Lucius asked.

"I'm sorry," Draco said. "I wanted to show Harry where the room is. When he saw the diary, he said it belonged to the dark lord and should be destroyed before it ends up in the wrong hands."

"The diary is harmless," Lucius assured him. "All it has is instructions to open the chamber of secrets."

"Not really," Harry said. "Voldermort made it after opening the chamber, but the diary itself has the ability to possess whoever confides in it for a long enough time. If the person confides too much, Voldermort himself could step out of the diary. I don't think anyone in this room wants that to happen."

"Can I try it?" Draco asked.

He opened the diary, took out a quill and wrote "Is this really the dark lord's diary?"

The writing appeared underneath.

"Who are you?"

"My father was a faithful follower," Draco wrote back. "You left this in his possession."

"What am I doing now?" the diary wrote back.

"You were kissed by a dementor," Draco answered.

"Are you trying to open the chamber of secrets?" the diary asked.

"Are you really able to come out of the diary?" Draco wanted to know.

"You would need to share all your secrets with me for that to work," the diary wrote.

Draco looked around the room.

"Harry's right," he said. "But whoever writes in it would have to reveal every secret in order for the dark lord to return."

"How do we destroy it?" Lucius asked.

"Don't you want him to return?" Draco wanted to know.

"He would be angry at me if he returns," Lucius said. "I didn't support him after his downfall."

He glanced at Sirius and Harry to see how they were reacting to this information. Neither one of them seemed surprised.

"I think I should discuss this with my family," Lucius said, hoping Sirius and Harry would take the hint and leave.

"I already had a house elf destroy two objects like that," Harry told him. "One of them was at Black manor, and the other one was hidden at Hogwarts. Kreacher used fiendfyre to destroy it, but basilisk venom would work too."

"If you'd like, I can call Professor Dumbledore," Sirius offered. "You could pretend you didn't know it was there. He can guide you in destroying it."

"I think I'll leave Dumbledore out of this," Lucius said.

"Dobby," he called. "Destroy this diary."

Dobby looked at the diary and it burst into flames. He quickly put out the fire before it spread. Blood poured from the diary.

"Clean up the mess," Lucius snapped.

"Thank you, Dobby," Harry said. "You just destroyed a powerful piece of dark magic that would have allowed Voldermort to come back to life. Good work!"

"Yes, thank you," Draco said. "My family really appreciates what you did."

Lucius and Narcissa gave Draco strange looks.

"I don't think Harry is a good influence on Draco," Lucius said.

"I think he's a very good influence," Sirius corrected. "He's a good influence on me, too."

Sirius and Harry were in good moods when they returned to Black manor.