"What am I doing here Black?" Severus Snape asked, in a bored voice from where he stood leaning against the wall.
"We couldn't have met downstairs, or in any other room but this one?" Remus asked, from where he was wedged between some old brooms and a few rotted cauldrons.
"Where's the fun in that?" Sirius laughed as he looked around the small closet the three grown men had arranged themselves in.
"I fail to see the fun in this," Severus commented.
"Everyone thinks Ginevra is dead, even Arthur- although he hasn't admitted it for Molly's sake," Sirius grumbled.
"She's not dead."
Severus Snape let the banter between his old school rivals fill the silence in the small closet as he took in his surroundings. The three of them were crammed into what looked like a makeshift hording area. The floor was cluttered with dirty clothes, and musty blankets. Brooms were leaned haphazardly against the walls, and a few picture frames were lined up in the corner across from where he stood.
"What am I doing here?" Severus asked again, interrupting the two friends.
"Is that a picture of your mother?" Remus asked, when he looked down as saw a picture of a blonde woman- a considerably younger Walburga Black than the grey haired woman who screeched on the tapestry downstairs.
"Probably, I found this room when I watched Kreacher slip in here, I don't think I even knew this closet was here," Sirius stated.
"He sleeps on moldy blankets with a picture of your mother?" Remus asked appalled.
"Good news, there's one of Regulus too," Severus pointed at the picture in the middle of the floor.
"He's been hording things in here, it's rare to find that dedication from a house elf amongst pure blood families," Remus commented suddenly becoming fascinated with the junk that littered the floor. "He was a little too obsessed with your mother, he's even got her jewelry in here," Remus pointed out, kicking a gold locket over with his foot.
"Wait I've seen that before," Snape called, leaning over carefully and snatching up the locket.
It was heavy gold, with a light coat of dust surrounding the green jewels that formed the shape of an S.
"I'm sure my mother wore this at some pretentious pure-blood ball," Sirius said, dismissing Severus.
"No, it wasn't your mother who I saw with this locket, it was Regulus."
"My brother had an odd taste in accessories,' Sirius shrugged, trying to steer the conversation back to Ginny.
"No the last day I saw Regulus he had this locket clutched in his hand, he told me he was late-"
"Late for what?" Remus asked.
"I don't know, the Dark Lord killed him that night-according to Lucius though, he was poisoned."
"So this locket is a clue!" Sirius exclaimed excitedly, reaching over and snatching it from Severus's hand.
"A clue for what?" Remus asked skeptical, "This locket doesn't prove Ginevra is alive."
"But how did it get here, if Regulus appeared in front of Voldemort with a locket before he died, but that locket is here, how did it get here?" Sirius beamed excitedly. His eyes shinning bright in the darkness of the closet.
"You think Ginevra brought it here?" Remus asked, the skepticism obvious in his voice.
"How else could it have gotten here?" Sirius asked, not containing the grin that spread across his face.
"Perhaps the house elf that's been hiding it in his nesting area?" Severus commented, his eyes remaining on the locket.
"I think there's something in it," Sirius commented, as he tried to pry the locked open.
Remus reached over, taking the locket from Sirius and turning it over in his hands before he too tried to open it.
"It's heavier than a normal locket, it's real gold, but it's strange-" Remus commented his voice trailing off as he flipped the locked over and over again in the palm of his hand.
Severus pulled out his wand, silently waving it over the locket.
"Whatever is in it, it doesn't seem like it was meant to come out," Severus added.
"So it is a clue!" Sirius grinned.
"A clue we know nothing about," Remus said thoughtfully as he tried one last time to pry the locket open before he handed it back to Sirius defeated.
"Ha! But you do agree that it's a clue," Sirius grinned closing his hand around the locket as he broke out into a smirk.
"Perhaps Kreacher knows where it came from?" Remus asked as he and Snape lite their wands and scanned the closet for any other treasures.
'I know it's ridiculous, but I feel like it's almost beating," Sirius said, unclenching his hand to look at the locket shinning off the light of Remus's wand.
"That is ridiculous," Severus responded putting out his light along with Remus.
"Perhaps it's time to get out of here, I'm afraid I might smell like Kreacher now," Remus spoke from the dark.
"Nasty blood traitors, oh my poor Mistress!" a hoarse voice muttered from the hall.
Without a word Severus crossed the room and pushed open the door and came face to face with Kreacher.
"See Mooney, even Snivellus know's it's a clue," Sirius whispered back excitedly as if he was a first year again and just found out their was extra pudding for dessert.