A/N) I just wanted to quickly say Sirius doesn't trust Dumbledore as much because he doesn't want the Headmaster having full control. There is a story reason why Sirius feels he has to do this by himself and it will be explained. Turning down Dumbledore's aid of using Fiendfyre is more to do with that than Sirius being stubborn. There will be explanations! As for the Marauders not using Fiendfyre to destroy Horcruxes - its dark magic something which I think they would avoid using even if they could use it. Hermione did in canon and since it is very dangerous magic I think it is reasonable to say the Marauders would not want to risk using it.

Twisting Time

Chapter Fifteen

Thursday 8th May 1986

Since speaking to Dumbledore two days ago Sirius had been planning his trip to Little Hangleton to find where the Gaunt family had once lived. Unfortunately when the Headmaster had gone to look up the exact location of the house, the school records did not yield the address. They later found out Voldemort's mother had never attended Hogwarts and nor had her father though his paternal grandfather had, being the last Gaunt before Tom Riddle arrived to enter the halls of Hogwarts. The only reason Dumbledore had known the Gaunts had resided in the area was because the school records had given a estimation as to where they had lived but never an exact address when offer letters had gone out to the latest Gaunt descendants.

Consequently Sirius couldn't just Apparate to the area. He would have to explore, perhaps enquire with the local Muggles about the family, though he suspected since they were descendants of Slytherin they would have kept to themselves and not sullied themselves with Muggles. However he hoped some still remembered them even though the Gaunts had last resided in Little Hangleton more than fifty years ago.

They had decided to drive to Little Hangleton from Oxford which wasn't too far further north as Sirius didn't want to draw attention to themselves. They were dressed in Muggle attire which was something Sirius had gotten used to over the years. He rarely wore robes as it helped him keep a low profile though he was now looking for a new home and had subsequently not returned to his home in Oxford since Harry's kidnapping, choosing to sleep in Grimmauld Place, no matter how much he loathed the place.

Lily had learned to drive as a means of keeping in touch with her heritage and her sister. Though Lily and Petunia Dursley had been close as children, now they were much older, their relationship still remained strained however the cracks had closed over the years and Petunia had begun to reach out to her sister, though contact remained minimal. It was the reason Lily had chosen to learn to drive because she wanted her sister to see her as normal and her efforts were helping to heal the wound which had opened between them when Lily had been accepted to Hogwarts.

The journey to Little Hangleton took them just over an hour and a half before Lily parked the car up behind the church. They had decided to go Muggle just in case Voldemort had set up any magical traps that could be set off by the mere presence of people Apparating into the area. The last thing they wanted was to spring any unwanted traps. At least by going Muggle they might avoid any nasty surprises Voldemort had left behind.

Little Hangleton was a village, not as small as Godric's Hollow, but it still seemed to have a good number of residences. Above the village on a hill sat The Riddle House, the home they knew where Voldemort's grandparents and father had lived before they had died. The house overlooked the village and some of its windows were boarded over and tiles missing from the roof. Ivy spread unchecked over its face. Long ago the house would have been fine-looking but it was now damp, derelict and unoccupied.

"Could Voldemort have hidden it in the Riddle House?" asked Lily. "I mean it is deserted…"

"I doubt it," commented Remus as he scrutinised the building. "It's not Voldemort's to own. The house is registered with some Muggle businessman."

"I know Voldemort used The Riddle House in my old timeline to hide there the year leading up to his return to his body…" explained Sirius, "but I cannot see him keeping anything of valuable in a Muggle dwelling he likely hated and only used because it was necessary. If anything, the residence of the Gaunt's would be the ideal hiding place. Not many people would connect Voldemort to them."

James cast his eyes around. "We know they lived near the village…"

Sirius moved towards the pub. "We need information. Especially since the school records did not give us an address. I didn't know addresses could be hidden from record though it does make sense. We'll head to the Pub. I would imagine the place we are looking for is outside the village. I doubt anyone of Slytherin's line would ever live with Muggles though it is surprising they lived in close proximity with them."

"Perhaps they had larger dwellings," noted Remus, "before they lost the money and prestige that came with them being one of the old Pure-blood families. Rumour has it they did squander their fortune and since they married cousins they never gained any inheritance from other Pure-blood families. They declined and as a result became poor enough to live in poverty. Their idealism destroyed them in the end. I imagine it is a fate that could potentially greet other Pure-blood families that believe in blood purity."

"Like the Blacks," smirked Sirius. His family had fallen into the shadows by the time he had escaped Azkaban though they still had the money resided in Vaults.

They entered the village pub and walked to the bar. Whilst James ordered the drinks, Sirius and Lily talked to the locals. An elderly husband and wife sat at the bar, gently sipping from their glasses.

"We're touring the area," began Lily, "and we're wondering if you could help us? We are looking for family."

The husband spoke first. "Our family have lived here for generations. If you're looking for family we'll be able to help."

Lily smiled. "Thank you. We have family that used to live in the area here. We're looking for their old home. But we know they were probably quite poor and didn't socialise much. They are distant relatives of ours and we are trying to trace them. Just to try to connect our family tree, you see?"

The old man's eyes shut and he let out an audible sigh. "You're not talking about them are you?"

"Them who?" Sirius leaned forward interested as James placed a glass in front of him and sat down with Remus.

"There was a family of quite crazy people who used to live here… The daughter ran off with the son of the Riddle family. Caused quite a scandal in the village," the lady explained. "I was only a very small girl but I remember it well. It was the talk of the village for months! Then the Riddle's son arrived home and claimed he had been bewitched! They kept mostly to themselves… The Riddle's were not very popular around here but no one dared to cross them. They were murdered, you know, and the culprit has never been caught!"

"Ah Carey, we all know who did it but withou' evidence…" the man spread his arms.

"So who was the daughter who ran off with the son?" asked Remus. "My friend here," he pointed to Sirius, "believes he may be related to them."

Sirius pulled a face. "From what you've said it sounds I'm very unlucky to even be distantly related."

"Oh they were crazy," agreed Carey, shaking her head, the small amount of wrinkles on her face belied her age. "They seemed to hate normal people and attacked us if we went anywhere near them. Had a strange fascination with snakes too."

"Yeah," Carey's husband agreed, "nailed one to the door to their little hovel."

"Last we heard the place had long been abandoned. We never even got their names. If you are related to them you won't find them. Unless you can find the kid who the daughter apparently had with the Riddle's son. They'd be in their sixties now. But no one has ever seen the kid. Some doubt the kid ever existed."

Sirius resisted the urge to say he had met the man but it would be too complicated to explain. "Do you know where they lived?"

The man nodded. "Sure. When I was a kid I once went close to the place. The crazy son chased us away. My memory goes a bit hazy there…"

Sirius recognised the signs of a modified memory-charm. Clearly Voldemort's maternal family had harmed any Muggles that came close to their property and the Ministry had to have intervened.

"Never wanted to go back since. It's about a mile away. Go back out the village and follow the country lane. It will curve to your right and then to your left to a gap in the hedge there. Follow the dirt track and you'll find their dwelling. Now I tell my own children and grandchildren to never go there." The older man shook his head. "Glad they're gone now though. Thankfully their insanity is at an end. Can't imagine how crazy their kids would have been if the son or daughter had really bred."

Sirius winced. Voldemort had certainly inherited the nastier side of his maternal family. Clearly he had taken their insanity to new levels – though the traits of his Muggle father seemed to have prevented the more unstable genetics from the Gaunt side being carried over. Voldemort was a dangerous person and he was clearly intelligent, something which the latest generations of the Gaunt family had lacked. Voldemort may have hated his heritage but without his father he certainly would not have had the intelligence or the patience to take over the Wizarding World or try to anyway.

Somehow the brutal combination of Slytherin's genes and Muggle genes had created something truly evil.

"So no one has even tried to get into their home even after they've left?" asked James.

Sirius stifled a laugh. James would have been the type who would have tried.

"No. The stories scare people enough that everyone worries trying to visit would set off a bunch of curses. 'Course everyone knows magic 'aint real but some of the stories around them…" the elderly man said, shaking his head.

The Muggle's information did indicate there were spells in the area to prevent people from approaching the home. Sirius wondered if they would be affected or if it just applied to Muggles. He finished his drink and thanked the couple for their time.

He led his friends out of the pub and glanced back at the hills. Somewhere up there was the ancestral home of the Gaunts. "I think we have enough information to find the place… but I worry there will be protections on it… The snake nailed to the door bothers me… What if Voldemort has used it as part of its protection? What if we need to speak Parseltongue something which none of us can do."

James clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't be negative. We'll work it out. Come on, we've got a Horcrux to find."

Sirius sighed. "If there is a Horcrux. We do not know for sure."

He hoped there would be but there was no guarantee.

They followed the instructions given to them and together the three Marauders plus Lily made their way up the hillside leaving the village of Little Hangleton behind them. The Manor was on the other side of the valley. As they moved up the lane it curved to the left before they found a gap in the hedge. The gap was only small but enough for a dirt track which was boarded by higher and wilder hedgerows to continue onwards.

Sirius stepped first and pulled his wand from his pocket. His feet crunched on the dried dirt and he motioned for James to stand beside him whilst Remus and Lily remained further back as all four moved slowly forward. The new path they walked upon was quite crooked, rocky and a few small potholes had opened up. The track sloped downhill and Sirius felt an uneasy feeling come over his stomach as his eyes settled upon a patch of dark trees.

He shivered.

"Padfoot?" James asked hesitantly, his hazel eyes watching his best friend carefully.

"Dark magic…" Sirius croaked. "I can feel it." He always had an aptitude for it having grown up with such a dark family. He could sense it well. Something was wrong. "It is in the air, all around us… This place is cursed…" He moved back a step.

From their position they peered through the trees, seeing a building resting half-hidden amongst an array of tree-trunks. The walls were mossy and the roof had a lot of tiles missing. Nettles wound up the building, coating it in thorns.

"If this place is cursed how are we going to get inside?" asked Remus from behind Sirius.

"I'm not sure…" whispered Sirius. He was beginning to wonder if it would have been wise to ask Dumbledore to accompany them.

"We need to break the curses down," stated Lily. "But I'm not attuned to dark magic… I can sense something is wrong but not enough to tell what curses…"

Sirius tilted his head to the side. "I can sense some of them but not all of them… Only way to know for sure is if someone walks right into it."

"No one is stupid enough to do that!" shouted James.

"No, not stupid, crazy maybe," grinned Sirius and took three steps forward and was suddenly hit by a world of pain.

"SIRIUS! YOU IDIOT!" bellowed James as he watched his best friend fall to the ground, his body writhing and screams were being torn from his throat. He started to move forward but strong arms hauled him back.

"PRONGS!" chastised Remus. "Don't go and do the same thing!"

James shook his head, muttering under his breath.

And then the screams stopped.

Sirius lifted his head from the earth and breathed a sigh of relief. "That wasn't nice," he said weakly, his body shaking.

James glared at him from a distance. "Was that the Cruciatus?"

Sirius nodded and glanced around the area leading to the Gaunt shack. "This place is filled with suspended curses. You'll be hit by them if you are detected."

"What if one of the defences is the killing curse?" asked James.

Sirius rolled his eyes and slowly got to his feet. "It is impossible to suspend the killing curse. However with every other curse you can." He pointed towards the Gaunt home. "This whole area is filled with suspended curses. If we want to get in there we have to get through this web and the only way of doing so is sending one of us in to take each curse."

James folded his arms across his chest. He hated Sirius' plan. "Why can't we take it in turns?"

"Because, Prongs, each of us have our own strengths," explained Sirius. "I have the ability to detect dark magic because I grew up in a house full of it. Lily has the ability to pull charms, spells and curses apart and she's damn good at knowing the counter-curse to anything invented, even dark magic ones, which I suspect she learnt from her Slytherin friend." He glanced at Remus. "Moony is excellent at defending against the dark arts. And you, Prongs, have a wide range of knowledge of lots of different curses you've come across in your job. I'm the best one to walk into this trap because I can sense it and can try to avoid the worst spells. I went for the Cruciatus instead of the throat-cutting spell."

"You did what?" gaped James.

Sirius pointed to the right, a few steps from where he now stood. "Throat cutting spell right there. Do not walk in that area. I know we can heal throats being cut but I'd rather not have to deal with it after I've told you where you should not walk," grimaced Sirius. "In fact…" He waved his wand and a giant red cross spread across the area Sirius had indicated. "There. This is your route. Avoid the giant cross."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Lily quietly. "Trying to get through these curses?"

Sirius nodded. "The amount of spell work proves he hid a Horcrux here otherwise we wouldn't be facing this tangled web of spells. Why would anyone ward this place like this if they didn't have anything to hide?"

Remus grimaced. "Sirius has a point. We may not like it but this trap proves we have to investigate. One of us has to step into each of these curses whilst the other three work out what they are and stop them."

James groaned. "Does it have to be Sirius?"

"Yes. My plan. My rules."

James was not happy but he kept his comments to himself. Sirius had already moved again, slowly putting one foot in front of the other as he searched for the right path through the web of spells.

The four worked in tandem. A variety of curses had been placed around the area, most of them dark spells. Sirius was knocked unconscious several times, he nearly choked to death and he was very nearly electrocuted if he hadn't ducked in time. Each of them had played a pivotal part in getting Sirius through the web intact. Thankful he had survived with minimal pain, though he did sport quite a few scratches and blood. His hair was singed and a few strands stuck up, mimicking James's locks.

Once a path had been cleared to the house, the four of them approached, noticing the dead skin of a snake still nailed into the doorway.

James shuddered. He hated snakes.

"Lily," whispered Sirius, "do you think you could check the door for us?"

The red-haired beauty nodded and James watched as his wife approached the door and raised her wand, beginning to mutter underneath her breath. He couldn't hear exactly what she said but Lily stepped back within a few minutes and nodded at Sirius with a satisfied smile on her face.

"All clear. The door isn't even locked," she said.

Sirius swallowed and reached out for the door handle, clenched it tightly in his fist and pushed the door open, erupting into a coughing fit as dust coursed up his nose and into his body.

James moved forward and dragged him away. "You okay?"

Sirius nodded. "Yeah. Should have expected it really. No one has been there for years. It was always going to be dirty."

James shook his head. "Bit unusual the door is unlocked."

Sirius frowned. "No. Not really. Voldemort will do the unexpected. How many people would persevere through that?" He pointed back to the clearing. "If we didn't have a reason to get in here I would have turned away. If anyone has come up here in the time since it has been empty then they would have been driven away by the curses."

"Unless you're crazy," grinned Lily.

Sirius chuckled. "That is true." He looked back towards the door. "Prongs, how would you like to take the lead?"

"What are you sensing?" asked James wearily. Sirius was the leader.

"Nothing. That's what worries me."

"And you are sacrificing me?" James raised one eyebrow, surprised by his best friend's daring.

"Yes." Sirius laughed.

James shook his head and stepped inside the house. It was filthy. A large heavy coat of dust was scattered everywhere, combined with a horrible musky smell. He wretched but managed to prevent himself from making any further noise. Part of the roof at the back had fallen in turning the house into a ruin.

As he scanned his eyes around the room he noticed some of the floorboards seemed to look different. Holding his wand in his right hand, James approached carefully with Sirius behind him. "Is it just me or do the floorboards look different?"

"They look a bit loose," agreed Sirius.

James waved his wand. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Two loose floorboards levitated upwards and James directed them down to the side.

Sirius stepped past James and knelt down beside the hole James had made. He reached in and lifted out a plain box. He shivered.

"Padfoot, what is it?" Though James could guess what his answer would be.

"Dark magic…" was the response. "Something evil is inside this."

"A Horcrux?" enquired Remus.

Sirius swallowed. "Maybe. It feels evil enough." He set the box down on the floor and turned to Remus and Lily. "Would you two like to open it?"

Remus and Lily raised their wands; both coming closer to the box as James and Sirius moved aside.

They worked in silence using non-verbal spells. Both Remus and Lily excelled at them and they had worked together often enough in school that they didn't need to talk about what each other needed to do. They just knew it instinctively.

There was a loud click and the box flipped open.

The stench of darkness wrinkled out into the air.

Inside was a gold ring, inset with a black stone engraved with a strange symbol, though it was one James recognised immediately, but he kept silent.

Sirius reached out, his left hand reaching for the ring…

"Don't!" cried Lily, grabbing his arm. "Can't you feel it?"

"I…" Sirius shook his head.

James narrowed his gaze. "Did it call to you? The ring?" He had a suspicion and he didn't like it.

"I…" Sirius was struggling to speak; his face had gone stark white.

"It's definitely a Horcrux," noted Remus. "But it is something else too, isn't it Prongs?"

James swallowed. "It is. One of the Deathly Hallows."

"That's just a myth," replied Remus. "A children's tale."

"A story it may be but the objects are real. My invisibility cloak is one of them. It's been passed down in my family from the youngest Peverall brother," explained James. He rarely told anyone this however Sirius had known the truth. And Lily had guessed. "I think this ring is one of them – the stone in it matches a description of the ring my father told me about when I was a kid."

"I don't think Voldemort would know its significance," muttered Sirius quietly. "The ring is an heirloom of Salazar Slytherin. He is a descendent of a Peverell brother too… It makes sense for the objects to continue until the present day. But since Tom Riddle was raised in an orphanage he would never have known the significance of the ring." Colour was coming back into his cheeks now.

"There is a terrible curse upon this ring," said Lily. "I don't think anyone should touch it." It was sound advice. Her green eyes sought out Sirius. "Are you really fine?"

James focused on his friend. He would have to talk to him in private. He had a feeling he knew why Sirius had acted the way he did as soon as his eyes had set upon the ring. But now wasn't the time to discuss his suspicions. "What are you going to do with the ring? We have no means of destroying it yet."

"I know." Sirius bit his lip. "I think we need to hide it in my vault with the other one. We'll destroy it when we can. Hopefully it won't be long until we can get out hands upon a few Basilisk fangs."

Remus flipped the lid down and locked it. Sirius bent to pick it up but then stepped away.

"Considering my reaction just now it is probably best if someone else carries this," suggested Sirius.

"I'll do it." James hoisted the box into his arms and followed his friends back out onto the dirt track.

They had retrieved another Horcrux but even James knew they still had more to go. This was only the beginning.

To be continued...

Please let me know what you think!

I wanted to try something different with the Horcrux protections... and I figured a web of dark spells would be Voldemort's style... The majority of people wouldn't continue through it... Sirius is just one very stubborn individual...

It is suggested that Merope and Morfin Gaunt were home-schooled and never attended Hogwarts so I have slightly edited the previous chapter to reflect this. It is also likely Voldemort's grandfather did not attend either. This is also why the Gaunt's actual address is not in school records as I'm sure Dumbledore would have made the connection between the Gaunt family and Voldemort quite early on - so why didn't he search it earlier in canon? I figured there had to be a reason and its likely school records are kept for a certain amount of time and then destroyed... Hence why it took Dumbledore years to find the Gaunt shack and uncover the ring... But I suspect he was able to find out the rough area of where they dwelled...

James knows about the Deathly Hallows and as a descendant of one he would also recognize the stone/ring for what it really is...

Sirius is attracted to the Ring... but why?

The next chapter will be posted next Tuesday!

Until then,

the-writer1988