Year of the Cat

by red-jacobson

A Response to "His Most Loyal Pet" challenge, Harry/Bellatrix/Multi. During Prisoner of Azkaban, Bella also uses her animagus form to escape at the same time as Sirius. This has an incredible impact on Harry Potter's life. Grey Harry/Dark Bella/Dark Narcissa. Also, what the heck is going on with Hermione?

17. Chapter 17 Cat In A Carriage

STORY TITLE: Year of the Cat

PART: 17 of ? Cat in a Carriage

AUTHOR: Red Jacobson ( )

DISTRIBUTION: Archive of Our Own, Hentai-Foundry, Questionable Questing,

DISCLAIMER: None of the Characters You Recognize belong to me, they all belong to JK Rowling and her publishers.

SUMMARY: A different take on the Prisoner of Azkaban, as Cat Animagus Bellatrix Lestrange escapes at the same time as Sirius, with a very different goal in mind!

FEEDBACK: Of course! It Makes Me Write Faster

RELATIONSHIPS: Harry/Bellatrix/Narcissa/Multi, Hermione/Fleur/Gabrielle, Harry/Hermione/Luna, Harry/Hermione/Lavender/Luna, Harry/Cho, Hermione/Susan/Hannah

RATING: NC-17

WORD COUNT: 6,

SPOILERS: None, if you don't know how the Harry Potter story goes by now, why are you reading this story?

WARNINGS: If You've ever read any of my stories, you know what to expect, Oral, anal, Femme-slash, Dom/sub, multiple partners, and Femme-cest. There is also partner swapping and slaves being treated as slaves, being made to sexually serve other characters.

AUTHORS NOTES: I've adjusted the dates of different events during the summer, both because the exact date Sirius escaped hasn't been provided, and also to give Harry more time in the Alley.

NOTE ON CHARACTER AGES: In this AU, Hogwarts starts at 14, so Harry is just over a month shy of his 16th Birthday when the story starts.

NOTE ON LEMONS: Not planning much in the way of explicit lemons in this chapter, need to move the story along so I can get them onto the Hogwarts Express shortly.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE DEPARTMENT: Senior Auror Connie Hammer, who makes a cameo appearance in this chapter, is property of Old Crow, used by permission

CASTING NOTE: Mary and Elizabeth Perkins are portrayed by Porn Actress Bree Olson

Narcissa Black Malfoy is portrayed by Porn Actress Devon

Lavender Brown is portrayed by Model Danielle Sellers

Parvati and Padma Patil are portrayed by Model Courtnie Quinlan

Fleur "Good Girl" Delacour is portrayed by Model Rhian Sugden

Gabrielle "Brat" Delacour is portrayed by Model Jurgita Valts

Daphne Greengrass is portrayed by Alexandra Daddario

Katie Bell is portrayed by Model Pia Marzo

Mei Chang is portrayed by Model Julri Waters

Pansy Parkinson is portrayed by Model Mellisa Clarke

Marietta Edgecombe is portrayed by Porn Actress Audrey Hollander

Patil Residence

443 Mountbatten Place

Clapham, London

Monday, August 30th, 1993

7:00 pm

Soon, all four of them were naked and relaxing in the sunken tub, and Mother Sampta turned to Padma and smirked, "So, daughter, what can we expect to happen when our Master takes us for the first time?"

Padma took a sip of wine and started describing what they had experienced since Saturday morning, although Mother Sira was fascinated by the description of the 'futa' spell, and Padma hid her smile, knowing that Sira was going to experience being taken with the spell before the night is over. It was when she described how Master and Mistress had her and her sister washing them, and then masturbating while they watched, and how they had her and Parvati describing their favorite fantasies, that both their mothers eyes glazed over and their hands dropped under the water and started moving. Padma had been expecting that sort of reaction, but both women were getting aroused by hearing how they would be dominated by Master and Mistress. Adding to the almost unconscious way both of their mothers were deferring to her, she wanted to test her idea, because if what she believes is true, the rest of the evening and tomorrow just got even more interesting. Letting both of the women satisfy themselves, Padma waited until Sampta and Sira's eyes cleared and handed each of them a sponge, and said, "You will be doing the same thing, so why don't you and Sira get started? One other thing, when any of us wash Master or Mistress, we use our mouths to make sure they are pleased, and that is expected of all the women, so show us that you know how to please them."

Padma heard a gasp of surprise from her twin, but their mothers just accepted the sponges and soaped them up before starting to clean her and Parvati, there was no question in Sampta's eyes, just acceptance of her duty. Padma gave a sigh of pleasure as Sampta's tongue circled each nipple, toying with the rings piercing her, while the sponge was moving between Padma's legs, cleaning her lotus. She glanced over at her twin and saw that her sister was already starting to drift away under Sira's gentle washing, and Padma nudged her, she had to be ready to take control of Sira, if possible. Her twin wasn't as strong as Padma was, but hopefully, she was strong enough since Sira wasn't even close to being as strong as Sampta, so Parvati should be fine, and if Padma needed to, she was sure that she could dominate both women. Of course, the older women and possibly Parvati, are the only ones she would even attempt to dominate, because, even as strong as she is, both Master and Mistress put her to shame, and that was fine, she couldn't even picture trying to dominate Master unless she wanted to experience 'correction' instead a play spanking, and she didn't get any pleasure out of the extreme sensations like Lavender does.

She relaxed and enjoyed the feeling of Sampta's treatment, and when she put the sponge down, Sampta moved to spread her legs, and Padma hid her triumphant grin as she raised herself out of the water and onto the edge of the tub. Looking over, she smirked at the look of shock on her twin's face, turning to an excited smile and she lifted herself out of the water and spread her legs. Padma leaned back and closed her eyes, a sigh of pleasure escaping her lips as she felt her mother's tongue licking her swollen lips, and swiping across her clit. Sampta kept licking, swallowing Padma's juices, before sliding two fingers into her pussy and curling them, sending jolts of pleasure rocketing through her body. She murmured encouragement and one of her hands moved to softly stroke Sampta's hair. She had no idea how long Sampta had been licking her, but Padma could feel the pleasure building until it burst through her concentration and it felt like her body exploded from the force of her orgasm. She could distantly hear a girl's voice cursing and crying out, and absently realized it was her own voice before another wave of pleasure rolled over her and she drifted away into her Happy Place. As she was letting go, she heard Parvati crying out the same way, and Padma was pleased before she stopped thinking about anything but the way she was feeling.

Eventually, she became aware of herself again, and Sampta was still slowly licking her, letting her come back to awareness gently. Reaching down, she pulled Sampta up so the older woman's face was on a level with hers, and pulled her close, her lips capturing Sampta's, demanding entry, and claiming the woman, Sampta opened easily and started kissing back. Padma dropped on hand to the water, and slipped between Sampta's thighs, her fingers pressing through the swollen lips, pumping steadily while her thumb teased Sampta's nub, making her moan into Padma's mouth and clench around her thrusting fingers, until Sampta stiffened, breaking the kiss as she shuddered, the pleasure washing over her until she collapsed bonelessly against Padma. Grinning, she looked over and saw Sira in the same condition, and a surprised look on Parvati's face.

When their mothers were aware again, Padma said, "Now that you've enjoyed yourself, I think we're clean enough, let's take this to your bedroom." Sampta nodded and stood up, her shaking legs making her brace herself until she was steady, and stepped out of the tub, grabbing a large towel, when Padma was standing in front of her, Sampta immediately started drying her, while Sira did the same for Parvati

She grinned slightly, amused at how quickly the two of them submitted to her, and wondered if they were even conscious of what they were doing. Once Padma and Parvati were dried, Padma dropped her wand into her hand, and cast the 'futa' spell on herself, nodding that Parvati did the same thing, Sampta and Sira both noticed the new appendage, and Sampta started to lower herself to her knees, but Padma stopped her. When the older witches were looking at her curiously, she said, "One very important rule that Master and Mistress both insist on, is proper grooming, which means no visible hair on your body below your eyes." As she was speaking, Padma dropped her wand into her hand and used the shaving and banishing spell on both women, leaving their pussy completely hairless.

When she was satisfied that they would meet Master and Mistress's standard of groom, she moved to the bed and sat down. Parvati was still looking dazed at what they were doing but still followed her sister's lead. Padma spread her legs, letting the magical cock stand tall and proud. Meeting Sampta's eyes, she nodded, and Sampta lowered herself to her knees on the carpeted floor and moved between Padma's spread legs. Padma watched as her mother stroked the shaft, before using her tongue to lick the shaft and bulb, before taking the whole thing in her mouth, closing her lips and sucking as she pulled back. Padma nearly went boss-eyed from the sensations, and the only thing she could think of, was now she understood why Master and all the men and boys she'd heard of were so enthusiastic about getting a knobber. She wondered if she'd be able to function when she buried herself in Sampta's cunt or arse? With a mental shrug, she'd just do the best she could to hold out, doubtless, she and Parvati would get more than enough experience once Master completely claimed their mothers. But she could worry about that tomorrow, she had something a lot more fun to focus on now.

The four of them fell asleep in a tangle several hours later, they were all wearing completely satisfied smiles on their faces.

When they awoke, Padma was pleased, and a little bit relieved that Sampta and Sira dropped back into the submissive mindset role, and was really looking forward to watching Master and Mistress enjoy Sampta and Sira as they completely claimed them as concubines. Of course Master would want to watch her and her twin on their knees licking their mothers, that was almost a given after watching Cho and Lin loving each other and how much they enjoyed it. Checking the time, it was almost nine o'clock, so she slid out of bed, waking the others to start the day.

YOTC & YOTC & YOTC

Tuesday, August 31st, 1993

Daily Prophet

Special Edition

Former Head of DMLE, Escaped Death Eater Sentenced to the Veil of Death

This afternoon, Courtroom Ten at the Ministry of Magic was the scene of a trial that would have seemed impossible even a month ago. But things have changed, and former Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Bartemius Crouch was in the prisoner's cage, while his son, Bartemius Jr, who was a convicted Death Eater believed to have died in Azkaban years ago, was very much alive, and chained into the cage right next to his father. The elder Crouch willingly accepted a dosage of Veritaserum, waiving his right to refuse it, and the story came out, how his wife was dying, and under the guise of a compassionate visit, used poly juice to leave his wife in Junior's cell, while Junior, disguised as his mother, and held under the Imperious Curse by his father, left the island prison, and Bartemius Junior was found dead in his cell the next morning, and buried outside the prison walls. Ever since that day, the younger Crouch was kept under the Imperious Curse, and covered with an invisibility cloak and watched over by an elf.

The multiple uses of the unforgivable curse would be enough to see the former DMLE Director sentenced to spending the rest of his life in Azkaban, but when it was discovered that he, along with the former Minister for Magic, Millicent Bagnold sent multiple wizards and witches without a trial, or even being questioned. This came to light when Sirius Black managed to escape earlier this summer, an examination of the records showed that there were seven other wizards, and four witches locked up with no trial. Interestingly enough, all but one of the falsely imprisoned witches and wizards were members of families that opposed the former Minister or DMLE Director. The only exception was Sirius Black, and he was a perfect scapegoat for the betrayal and murder of James and Lily Potter. Minister Bagnold is unable to be questioned about her part in this travesty, having died in 1989.

After questioning the elder Crouch, there was a very short deliberation before finding him guilty of all charges and sentenced to the Veil. Crouch Jr was already convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, as an escapee, his sentence was an automatic death sentence. Both sentences are to be carried out at sunset this evening. Minister Fudge released a brief statement (reprinted on page 3), stating that the Crouch and Bagnold vaults will be heavily fined to pay reparations to the newly released prisoners, who are all undergoing medical treatment for the effects of the Dementors, as well as other physical and mental damages.

As reported yesterday, after being found not guilty, Sirius Black addressed the press briefly, thanking Minister Fudge and Director Bones for making sure justice was done, and ensuring it can't happen again. At this point, he was escorted to a private floo and left the Ministry.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Deputy Headmistress' Office

Tuesday, August 31st, 1993

Early Afternoon

Minerva opened the door to her office and stepped inside, planning to go over her lesson plans for the first years, wanting to make sure they were just challenging enough to hold their interest, but not so challenging she would lose the students, especially if she had more of them on the level of Crabbe and Goyle again this year. Those plans changed when she sat down at her desk and saw the multiple envelopes from Gringotts. Opening the first, she saw that it was a concubine contract between Parvati Patil and Harry James Potter, for the Peverell family, and the next was for Parvati's twin Padma, but she is the consort for the same family. What in the world was going on with Mister Potter? She hadn't been surprised at his actions after his birthday, almost every wizard and witch did something very similar. A reminiscent smile formed as she remembered her own birthday, and how she had celebrated. But most people calm down after a week or so and go about their lives, but not Potter, and how many families is he responsible for continuing?

Shaking her head, she opened the next envelope, and it was for Lavender Brown, but no family name was listed yet, so apparently he hadn't found a witch that was compatible with whatever family magic was involved. Opening the last one, she frowned slightly, she didn't have a problem with Miss Parkinson being in a contract, but that she was listed as part of two families, the Potter didn't surprise her, but how on Earth did he claim the Slytherin family? Noticing that there was another page to the contract, she turned it over and started reading. She was puzzled at the mention of claiming Slytherin by Right of Conquest, as far as she was aware, he had only faced You Know Who twice, once when he lost James and Lily, and again when he was possessing poor Quirinus defending the Philosopher's Stone. When was the third time they faced each other? The notice also stated that Mister Potter hasn't officially named his Lady Slytherin, and once she is known, Miss Parkinson will move from the Potter family to the Slytherin family.

Writing quick notes to Filius and Andromeda, she called for an elf to deliver the messages and then go back to his duties. With a wry grin, Minerva wondered if she was going to be receiving a contract for a Hufflepuff since Mister Potter seemed to be collecting the whole set. A few minutes later, just as Filius and Andromeda were taking their seat, another Gringotts' envelope appeared in the center of her desk. With an apologetic smile, she opened the envelope and looked at the two names, before laughing helplessly and writing a note to have Pomona join them.

"I'm sorry about that, it's just that I've been getting notifications of status changes from Gringotts all afternoon, and all but one of them is for Mister Potter, and they were for girls in three of the houses, none from Hufflepuff, but this was a line continuation for a Hufflepuff family! That's why I laughed, I just can't believe this is happening. Granted, James would be bouncing off the walls and ceilings and floors if he was the one with all the families to contact." She chuckled, "I doubt Lily would be quite as excited about the idea." There was a knock on the door, and Pomona came in, taking the available seat and looking around curiously.

Looking at the Hufflepuff Head of House, Minerva said, "Thanks for coming, Pomona, I've already started to explain to Andromeda and Filius, that I've been receiving notices from Gringotts all afternoon, almost all of them are Concubine contracts, and all but one are for one of my Gryffindors, Mister Potter. I just a few minutes before I sent you the note, received another contract, but this is for a Line Continuation between Potter and one of your Hufflepuff's, who already has the family concubine chosen."

Pomona smirked, "Let me guess, Bones and Abbott? I've ended up hearing far more conversations between the two of them about what they would love for Harry to do to them, and what they would do for him, than I really want to be aware of. So who else is Harry collecting?"

"We were just getting to that, Pomona, and I'm curious who he would be close enough to in Slytherin to get them naked." Andromeda said as she set her cup of tea down, "I really hope it's one of the pureblood princesses so I can imagine the look on Severus' face that Potter is getting one of his snakes and there's nothing he can do about it!"

Minerva's lips twitched slightly, before handing the Parkinson contract to Andromeda, "Does she qualify, Professor Black?"

Andromeda whistled softly when she saw the name, "Actually I'm happy that it's Pansy who's contracted, because with Draco and Lucius both dead, she doesn't have the protection of their reputations, and from what I've heard she and Draco had been throwing their weight around in the dungeons. Since she was going to be alone in the dorms, I'm sure that there would be several of the older students who would demand that she make apologies, both on her knees and bent over a convenient piece of furniture. I'm going to be doing my best to put a stop to it, but having her show up wearing the Potter Coat of Arms on her robes would make it clear that she is basically untouchable."

Minerva stared at Andromeda for a long moment, before saying, "Are you telling me that the girls in the Slytherin dungeons have been being abused and nothing has been done about it? Filius, Pomona, did you know about this?"

The other heads of house shook their heads, and Andromeda grimaced, "From what I found out after talking to a few of the girls who left after taking their OWLs, that it's been going on since at least Slughorn's time. As members of the Black family we were protected, and when there were complaints made, they somehow disappeared before reaching either the Governors or the DMLE, and the complainers found their life even more difficult. When Snape took over the Head of House position, from what I was told, things got even worse. Slughorn, for all his faults, never personally touched the girls, not like Snape, who had 'special detentions' with girls in their third year and older."

Minerva paled, before reaching into her bottom desk drawer and pulled out a brown glass bottle and four tumblers. With shaking hands, she removed the top of the bottle and poured the liquor into each of the glasses, sliding them to the other three before slamming the drink back, flame bursting from her mouth as she coughed. The others cautiously sipped their drinks and waited for Minerva to pull herself together. One more cough and she looks at Andromeda, "Please tell me, did Albus know about it?"

Andromeda shrugged, "No one I spoke to said anything, but the way the complaints disappeared is more than a little suspicious, don't you think?"

YOTC & YOTC & YOTC

Department of Mysteries

Death Chamber

Tuesday, August 31st, 1993

Sunset

Sirius stood at the back of the chamber, his 'Patrick Foote' appearance in place. Amelia had recognized him when he came in, but other than a brief nod, didn't acknowledge him, there would be time later to decide if he wanted to try and get fit enough for the Aurors again. Even though it was all on Crouch and Bagnold, he still was more than a little angry at Dumbledore and the rest of his Auror squad for not digging into what happened, that they could believe he would have betrayed Prongs or Lily. He would have died first!

There was movement off to the side, and Crouch and his son were walked to the Veil, the old man expressionless as he stepped through and was gone. Barty Jr was struggling, fighting every step of the way, and if he hadn't been silenced he would have been yelling at the top of his lungs that the Dark Lord would destroy them all! It took three of the hooded Unspeakables to throw the lunatic through the Veil, and then the curtain was stilled, and the witnesses walked out, the photographer and reporter for the Daily Prophet taking their time as they left. Shaking his head, he still wasn't sure why he bothered to come, but it seemed right that he witnessed the man take his punishment.

Narcissa was sitting, wearing his favorite outfit, her skin, and nothing else when he stepped out of the floo. His mood improved immediately, and with a wave of her wand, Narcissa made sure he was as naked as she was before stalking toward him, a predatory smile on her face.

Dinner was late that night.

St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries

Janus Thickey Ward

Tuesday, August 31st, 1993

Two Minutes After Sunset

The nurse looked through the window at the two people laying in their beds, other than the rise of their chests or the blinking of their eyes, you would have thought they were dead. They had been in those beds for so many years, the Healers and staff were just waiting for them to pass through the Veil, they weren't responding to any of the treatments, no matter what they tried. At the moment, the two of them had a visitor, a tall, slender young man, a huge smile on his face as he sat in the chair between the two beds, talking to the two of them.

"… And I may have been shocked and embarrassed when I first started watching those memories, but after this weekend, I'm very glad you left them for me. I got a chance to put those lessons to use sooner than expected, thanks to Harry Potter, you see, I'd gotten a letter on Friday afternoon inviting me to meet him at the Leaky Cauldron on Sunday afternoon, he had a late birthday present for me. I was surprised because, while he and I were friendly enough, he was closer to Ron Weasley and the rest of the Quidditch Team, but anyway, Saturday morning started the best weekend of my life, because Gran came bursting into the Greenhouse where I was working, and she showed me the Daily Prophet, with a big picture of Bellatrix Lestrange laying on the ground after she'd been kissed by a Dementor! Since the other two Lestrange's died the night she managed to escape, that means there's only one person left that hurt you so badly, and he was on trial this morning. I'm hoping he gets the kiss as well, so that all of them are paying the price., But, the next afternoon, I meet up with Harry, and after he and I took a trip to Ollivander's to get a matched wand, I'd been using Dad's wand, in his honor, but it never worked properly for me. Harry grinned as we left, saying that was the little birthday gift, and he walked me up the stairs to his room at the Leaky and opened the door. Laying on the bed was a girl I'd fancied for a couple of years, and she was wearing nothing but a smile! I was nervous at first, but then your lessons came back to me, and I was able to drive her out of her mind with pleasure. Heh! She actually made a comment about putting the word out about how I treated her, and considering she is one of the biggest gossips in the school, I can see being very busy this year!"

Neville was trying to think of something else to talk about, when there was a change in his father's breathing, fearing the worst, he moved closer, only to see his father's eyes looking back at him, and there was awareness in those eyes! Hearing the change in his mother's breathing, he turned and saw she was awake too! His father was trying to say something, but his mouth was dry and couldn't work properly. When Neville realized what the problem was, he transfigured some paper into cups and filled them both with water from his wand. Lifting the cup to Frank's mouth, Neville helped him to slowly drink it and then did the same for his mum.

He couldn't believe it was happening, but he pinched himself, so he knew he wasn't dreaming. The first thing he thought of, was contacting his Gran because she needed to know, but as he was standing up, the door to the room burst open and two Healers rushed in and got him out of the room. Neville stood by the door, almost in a daze, before remembering he wanted to contact his Grandmother, and he went hunting for an available floo. Augusta was skeptical at first, not willing to believe that they were awake after all these years, but eventually, Neville convinced her, and a few minutes later she was striding out of the fireplace and moving with purpose to her son and daughter-in-law's room. The door was open and she could see the two of them sitting up on their beds, more animation in their faces than she had seen since that horrible night they were attacked. She must have made a noise because Frank and Alice both looked up, and Augusta staggered, trying to make her legs move, but she couldn't move, she couldn't make herself move at all, she couldn't breathe, her heart was pounding, come on, move, they are right in front of you! She tried to lift her foot to move forward, and she suddenly felt dizzy, and it was going dark, the last thing she remembered was Frank calling her name as his arms caught her, and it was all black.

Augusta heard voices talking softly, one of them was Neville's, but the other two voices were people she never thought she would hear their voices again, forcing her eyes open, she saw the most beautiful sight, Frank and Alice with their arms around Neville, all of them smiling and she felt herself smiling back. She didn't know how or why now, and she didn't care, she had her family back and that was all that mattered.

YOTC & YOTC & YOTC

Wednesday, September 1st, 1993

12 Grimmauld Place

London

11:30 AM

Sirius stood at the door to the house he grew up in, fighting against the memories of his first 16 years, his mother screaming, and her lovely choice of curses that went right to the edge of the Unforgivables without crossing that line. Didn't mean that, just because the curse was cast using the command word Torqueo and not Crucio didn't mean it hurt any less. Narcissa was standing beside him, and put her hand on his shoulder,

"Look, I know this is hard for you, I'm not thrilled about being here either, but you will be making sure that Regulus didn't die for nothing, and you can take a look at the place to see if you want to clean it up to live in, or to have the goblins sell and you buy another place. You know you can stay with me for as long as you like, the place does seem empty when it's just me and Dobby."

He forced a grin, "Tempting, very tempting, especially if you keep wearing what you wore last night!"

Narcissa gave a throaty chuckle, "We'll have to see about that, but I'm sure you won't have problems with finding willing women to slip between your sheets, if I remember right, you never slept alone more than one night a week, and you've got the whole 'tragic hero' mystique, breaking out of the impenetrable prison because your God son was in danger? You'd get a Vestal Virgin to drop her knickers! But, we still need to take care of this."

Sirius grimaced, but nodded, "I hate it when you're right, Cissa, you know that, don't you?" She didn't answer, just smirked at him, and he raised his hand that had the Head of House Ring and touched it to the door handle. A spark of magic leaped to the handle, and with an audible 'click!' the door opened slightly. "Well, Gryffindor's Forward, I guess" Sirius muttered, pushing the door further open, and stepping inside. As he crossed the threshold, the curtain that covered his mother's portrait flew open and she started screaming at him, and calling for Kreacher to eject the intruders, until Sirius pushed forward and put the ring directly in front of the painted face. Walburga's portrait went silent, and Kreacher, who was standing in the shadows lowered his hands and shuffled forward. Sirius wanted nothing more than to kill the demented elf for what Hermione said he had done in the future, but pushed it aside, this was too important.

Crouching down, he looked the elf in the eyes, and in a softer voice he said, "I know you don't like me, Kreacher, but you loved Master Regulus, didn't you?" Not waiting for an answer, he continued, "I just found out the truth of what happened to Regulus, and what he ordered you to do. I'm here to help you complete the order, it wasn't your fault that you haven't been able to destroy it, Regulus didn't understand what he was asking you to do. Will you let us help you? Once it is done, you will be able to hold your head up and be a proud Black elf."

The look of hope on the old elf's face was heartrending, and Kreacher nodded, sharply, before disappearing with a 'crack!' and reappearing a few seconds later cradling the Slytherin Locket in his hands. Sirius reached into a pocket and pulled out a sheathed dagger, and a crystal globe. Holding out the sheathed dagger, Sirius said "Be very careful with that dagger, it's coated with Basilisk venom, and when the locket opens, no matter what you see in the locket, you must stab it with the dagger, that will destroy it, and finish Regulus' last order." The elf was nodding, a look of determination on his face, holding the dagger by the handle, as Sirius set the crystal globe on the ground in front of the locket and tapped it with his wand.

The globe went foggy for a second before the image of Harry appeared and a hissing noise was heard. When the hissing stopped, the locket popped open, and Sirius saw the figures of James and Lily staring at him in disappointment, "Your brilliant plan got us killed Padfoot! And you weren't there to do your duty for Harry, were you? I hope you are proud of yours —"

The figures disappeared with a scream as the blade of the dagger pierced the center of the locket, and Kreacher pulled back and stabbed it again, and a third time, a maniacal grin on his face, "For Master Regulus!" he kept repeating with each thrust of the blade, until the locket was destroyed, and Kreacher slipped the dagger back into its' sheath and set it on the floor, before standing straight, and the years seem to fall away, leaving his eyes clear and, with a wave of his hand, the filthy pillowcase was replaced by a clean, bright white one. The elf also looked cleaner as he turned to Sirius and said, "Thank you, Master, how can I help you and Mistress Narcissa?"

Sirius was amazed at the change in the old elf but managed to tell him to start cleaning the house, and he would bring other elves to help him because the house needs to be livable by Yule. At his nod to Cissa, she called for Dobby, while Sirius called for Winky since the elf was given to him as part of the reparations from the Crouch estate. The elf was still adjusting to the change, to being bound to another family, but fortunately, thanks to Hermione's information, he knew what to say to help her accept her new family.

The three elves started cleaning immediately, with Winky stopping after cleaning the kitchen, and with Sirius' Gringotts' key, went shopping and soon the smell of freshly brewed tea came wafting into the front of the house. Narcissa noticed and smiled down at Winky, lifting a cup and taking a sip, surprised that it was prepared exactly how she liked it. "Very good, Winky, how did you know my preferences?"

The elf was almost blushing from the praise, but managed to say, "Winky asked Dobby how you and Master like your drinks, and your favorite foods, so you can have a nice lunch soon."

Sirius was standing by his mother's portrait, and having a quiet conversation, and surprisingly enough, Walburga's eyes were welling with tears, and they were running down her cheeks. He turned away and wiped his eyes, before seeing Winky holding up a cup to him, he was just as pleased at having it prepared properly and told the elf so, before going back to his conversation. By the time Winky had food prepared, the conversation with Walburga was finished, and he and Narcissa took seats at the table, waiting for Winky to serve.

After they had finished the soup, Narcissa said, "Can you tell me what you and your mother had to talk about for so long? I don't think I've ever seen the two of you go more than 5 or 10 minutes without a fight breaking out."

Sirius wiped his face with a napkin and nodded, "It surprised me too, but she had never been told what happened to Regulus, just that he had died, and when I told her what had been found out about Voldemort's blood status, she wouldn't give him the time of day for being a blood-liar, and being responsible for Regulus' death."

Narcissa nodded, "Not too surprising, if more of the Traditional families were aware of his muggle father, it would have dried up his support before he even got started. So why is it such a big secret?"

Sirius didn't have an answer, but he did make a mental note to find some documentation and let the news slip out over the next few months, so if they aren't able to prevent the Dark Idiot's return, he won't have any supporters left.

YOTC & YOTC & YOTC

Hogwarts Express

Kings Cross Station

Wednesday, September 1st, 1993

10:45 AM

Remus was standing in the compartment he'd chosen, specifically so he could see when the students came through the barrier onto Platform 9 3/4. He knew he was stupidly early, but Moony was still restless after last night's full moon. He was just grateful that Poppy and Andromeda had found a combination of potions that relieved the pain the next day, otherwise he would be sound asleep in his seat. He had been here for nearly an hour already, so anxious to see Harry in the flesh after so many years. Even if he couldn't let Harry know that he was friends with his parents, he would still get to see him. Although, with Padfoot free, he could get in contact with the mutt and explain why he wasn't taking care of Harry as they all swore to, and then they could figure a way to get Harry asking the right questions so they could get around those damnable restrictions from the Ministry. One thing he really wants to do, when he can talk openly with Harry, is find out just what the hell happened during the last two years at Hogwarts. There were too many strange coincidences and that gauntlet that three first-year students were able to get through. If Albus was determined to keep the Philosopher's Stone safe, why didn't he just lock it in his office and drop a Fidelus on it?

And how could a fucking basilisk of all things be roaming through the Castle and petrifying students, cats, and ghosts, and other than Fudge and Malfoy dragging Hagrid off to Azkaban, the Ministry didn't do anything? From the descriptions of the first two attacks, on Mrs Norris and then on the Creevey boy, it should have been obvious to anyone with more than two working brain cells what was happening. And they had the victim's ghost from the last time the Chamber was opened, why didn't anyone think to talk to her before Harry and Ron had their 'Eureka!' moment? And Fawkes showing up to save the day with the Sorting Hat, just because Harry showed loyalty to Dumbledore? Pull the other one, it's got bells on it!

He was going to keep a sharp eye out this year for any danger to Harry or his friends, if something happens for the third time, he was going to treat it like Goldfinger in the James Bond book, 'Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action.' But who was the enemy? He really hoped it wasn't Albus because he owed the man too much, but if the old man was putting Harry and the other students in danger for reasons of his own, no debt in the world would make him overlook that!

Movement on the platform caught his attention, and the first thing he noticed was a group of female students, all of them attractive, and, he needed to take a closer look, but yes! Several of the girls had the Potter Coat of Arms on their robes. He didn't see Harry yet, but it was only a matter of time, the Chinese girl must be the Cho Chang that Filius and the others were talking about, and the identical twins both have a Coat of Arms on their robes and so does the dreamy looking blonde, but he didn't recognize the heraldry. Finally, Harry came through the barrier, a cat carrier in one hand, and his trunk rolling alongside. There was also a girl who has to be Hermione Granger, there was a closeness between her and Harry that spoke to a much deeper relationship than just shagging, and after some of the comments Minerva and Filius had made, he was very curious to see if she's really that much like Lily.

Harry and the others moved to the side, apparently waiting for someone, and sure enough, a gangly redhead came hurrying through the barrier and was greeted enthusiastically by Harry and Hermione. So this is Ron Weasley, the third member of the 'Golden Trio' and Wormtail had been hiding as a pet rat, he hoped Sirius was going to do something nice for Ron to make up for the shock. The three of them, and the girls were moving toward the steps to board the train, when there was a disturbance, a boy about Harry and Ron's age, in Gryffindor robes, ran up to them, a huge smile on his face as he started talking to Harry and the others. The others started smiling as well, and a couple of the girls hugged the boy, Remus was very curious what that was all about.

Remus straightened his robes as best he could, and watched for Harry and the others, he was just hoping to get a closer look at him, but then Harry and Hermione were coming down the passageway, and they both looked up and saw him, and then they smiled! Harry actually smiled at him, not a polite stranger smile, no, he was happy to see him, but how?

He stepped back into the carriage, and Harry and the others followed him until there was no more room, but then Harry pulled an envelope out of his robes and held it out to him, "Padfoot says 'hello' Uncle Moony."

End Chapter Seventeen