The problem of getting Sirius out of Grimmauld Place became markedly more urgent when a spooked Peter Pettigrew reported on an angry Walburga Black creeping into her son's room while he was drugged senseless and attempting to carve some kind of runic curse into his chest, rubbing her own blood into the scratches. The magic didn't take, fortunately, because of a protective tattoo Sirius had presciently acquired the first time he had run away from home. Orion Black also put an aggressive stop to his wife's activities quite quickly. However, even if the curse didn't work as intended, it still left a nasty new flesh wound much larger than the original scratches, and the episode had led to Narcissa Malfoy discovering Peter's presence as the horrified young wizard was attempting to administer first aid. Surprisingly, Narcissa actually decided not to tell her uncle about Peter. This was because she took the opportunity to interrogate Peter about who might have been the object of the memory Sirius had sacrificed, something Peter had discovered the very first day he was in the house, totally by accident. Narcissa was miffed Sirius had not bothered to inform her of this important fact, but agreed to quietly help get him out of the house to a more healing environment anyway, on the condition she retained complete access to him wherever he went. If it weren't for Narcissa's help, they likely would have taken weeks or months to identify the two specialty potions Alphard Black was brewing for Sirius. The original recipes were obscure, and both were heavily modified to address the extreme effects of the Ritual of the Feasts of Innocents.

It was an entirely foreign experience to Alastor Moody, and Albus Dumbledore, to be the distraction on an Order mission, but that essentially is what they were on the appointed day. They were both attending the first meeting of the full Wizengamot since the fall of Voldemort, the assembly called in order to hash out how exactly to deal with all the known Death Eaters and sympathizers and also the timeline for de-escalation of wartime security measures. Since it was the full Wizengamot, Lord Orion Black would have to be in attendance, as would Narcissa as the Malfoy representative, nicely diverting suspicion from her. Walburga Black was currently locked up in the cellar on Orion's orders. There would never be a better time for Sirius to move.

The final plan was almost embarrassingly simple. Sirius had escaped from Grimmauld Place the last time by transforming into a dog and digging his way out beneath the back garden wall. As no one had yet successfully invented an anti-animagus ward, Orion had simply warded the garden and every door and window against dogs to get around that problem. He had not warded against a house elf transporting a dog, however. Thus, before she left for the Wizengamot, Narcissa would order Dobby to bring Sirius to visit Lucius Malfoy that day, in dog form, and not to say anything to Walburga or Orion Black about it should they ask him later. Peter would hitch a ride in Sirius' shaggy coat. Remus Lupin had volunteered to overdose on Dizziness Draught, and James and Euphemia Potter and Aberforth Dumbledore would accompany him to St. Mungo's so they could carry Sirius and Peter out in the old suitcase Aberforth occasionally used for smuggling purposes, the inside of which was the size of a Gringott's vault. They were counting on James' status as Narcissa Malfoy's second cousin and Lucius' third cousin once removed (through Lucretia's side) to get into his private room.

It was up to the kids and civvies, now, and Alastor was restless in his chair, listening to politicians argue with eachother. Waiting. Currently, Lord Black was winning the arguments. Barty Crouch had proposed all the trials continue in the same vein as the wartime tribunals had, totally run by the DMLE. Orion Black had reasoned that the emergency measures Crouch had empowered himself with must now expire and transition to peacetime rule of law. While the entirety of the Wizengamot need not oversee every single trial, there should instead be a subcommittee of five members, to ensure fair and impartial justice with due process.

When put to the vote, the Wizengamot naturally elected to keep themselves in power. Lord Black graciously nominated Lord Bartemius Crouch as the first committee member and proposed chair. He was quickly confirmed. Lady Elaine Avery then nominated Lord Black, who was also voted in unanimously despite his demurs. Lord Nathaniel Selwyn nominated Lady Narcissa Malfoy, to ensure fair representation of the younger and female demographic, he said, and so the third seat was taken. Albus Dumbledore quickly nominated Lady Augusta Longbottom, recently released from the hospital, before any more of Black's stooges could speak, and she won her seat. Augusta nominated Lord Torquil Travers, but Selwyn interrupted and nominated Elaine Avery at the same time. Lord Black's followers and the neutral witches carried the vote.

Well, it certainly wasn't as bad as it could have been. Alastor suspected Orion had wanted to take all the seats but Crouch's, probably filling the last with Lord Selwyn. And Narcissa would, hopefully, side with Sirius, if and when he got around to opposing his father about something.

The arguments turned to the Ministry's other wartime powers, including the holding of prisoners without hearing or bail and the continued authorization of Unforgivables against suspected Death Eaters. It was important, Alastor allowed, but it was also boring as a class with Professor Binns and looked to be just as productive too. Nothing had been decided after a good two hours of speeches and name calling, when Alastor felt a much-anticipated heat in his pocket. He surreptitiously pulled out the scrap of parchment Albus had enchanted with the Protean charm early that morning and read the message: Got him.

He looked up at Albus, who was already looking his way, though his head was politely tilted towards Minister Minchum who currently had the floor. Alastor scratched the right side of his nose three times, the prearranged signal to confirm the mission had been successful. Albus glanced away and, as soon as Minchum was finished speaking, called a recess, for which everyone in the room appeared mightily relieved.

Alastor hastened towards the door to intercept Orion before he slithered away. "A word with you, Lord Black?"

Orion stopped, smiling pleasantly. Alastor blinked. He had never seen the man up close and smiling before, and it was honestly weird how perfect and white his teeth were. "Nathaniel, could you accompany my niece for me?" Orion said easily.

"Of course. Allow me, Narcissa," Selwyn said, offering his arm. Narcissa took it, and nodded coolly to Alastor before sweeping away.

"What can I do for you, Auror Moody?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to let you know I got a message during the meeting. Your son arrived safely."

The false smile froze. "Excuse me?"

"Sirius. I assume he informed you of his travel plans? His host is a friend of mine and sent me the notification. A reasonable precaution in these trying times, I thought, since you as a civilian would not be able to receive outside messages in these chambers..." He grinned. Orion stared at him. "Oh, look, there's Albus and Barty. Would you care to join us for tea during the recess, Lord Black?"

"Thank you. I'd be delighted. A moment only. My wife is poorly the last few days, and I promised to check in this morning when I had the chance."

"Of course. Give her my best."

Alastor inclined his head as Orion Black hurried out of the room to figure out what the hell had been happening in his house while he was out. Now, they could finally bring the man to the negotiating table.

Sirius Black was not what crawled out of Aberforth's suitcase to sprawl on the floor of the home potions laboratory in Potter mansion. Rather, it was a large, shaggy-haired, black dog. It looked distinctly unhealthy and indeed vomited shortly after it emerged. Severus pinched his nose in disgust as the distinct odor of dog feces drifted over from the open case to add to the odious stench.

"And here I hoped Black might have been less of a disgusting animal in his animagus form," he muttered.

Peter Pettigrew scrambled out of the case next, as a human, not a rat. "Was he sick this morning, Peter?" Euphemia asked worriedly, kneeling down next to the dog and casting diagnostic charms.

"No, he was fine until we got to St. Mungo's. He started whimpering and puking while we were waiting in Lucius' room. I think he's having trouble changing back, now. At least, he wouldn't change back when I asked him to so he could talk with me and tell me what was wrong..."

"Shit!" Lily suddenly said next to Severus.

"What?"

"The Confectio Alchemes potion... did we test the modified version to see if it was poisonous to dogs?"

"...No."

"James! He's got to change back! Now! I'll help."

Lily, James, and Euphemia all pointed their wands at the whining dog and shouted "Homorphus!" The dog shuddered, enlarged, and reformed into the shape of a teenaged wizard on his hands and knees.

"Sirius! Oh, Merlin, are you okay?" James cried, crouching down next to his friend.

Sirius groaned and looked up at him through the long black hair hanging over his face. He had certainly gained the look of a Dark wizard over the last year, Severus noted, with the pale, almost translucent skin, sunken eyes, and general aura of wrongness. How much of that was actually from the magic he had been doing and how much was just from being sick, Severus could not guess. "James... never rescue me again. Your plans suck."

Severus snorted. Lily, meanwhile, ducked down with a test tube, grabbed Sirius' hand, and pricked his finger to take a blood sample. Sirius shifted around until he was sitting on the floor and able to support his head on one knee but otherwise ignored her. He did not look at or greet anyone else, just took deep breaths and occasionally shuddered. "James, find a bezoar just in case. Sev, let's see what kind of poison we've accidentally activated in his bloodstream."

"Oh, I suppose. At least we already know it's deathcap based. But if it's not a lethal concentration, I vote we just let nature take its course."

Lily rolled her eyes and cast a muffling charm. "That's mean. Look how miserable he is."

"Yes, I know, and I'll own up to schadenfreude. But I promise the suggestion was practical. We could well make things worse if we add too many potions. This is the subject of my research, remember. A bezoar would probably neutralize the Confectio Alchemes too, and didn't you hear what the Headmaster said happened to Livius d'Borgia when he was being treated for this wretched little dementor ritual with just the Napenthea Pharmakon rather than combination?" He ignored his friend's flux of expressions and started setting up for a poison identification procedure.

Severus was blissfully alone in the his own research lab in the late afternoon when Richard Avery's owl winged in and dropped a scroll on the work table. He happened to be at a stopping point, fortunately, and snatched up the letter. It was unusually short, and Richard's normally fine calligraphy worryingly shaky.

Severus,

Sorry to put you in the middle of this, but could you please set up a meeting for me with the Potters? My owl couldn't get through to James, wherever he is. Let them know it's on behalf of Lord Black, but I'll be alone. You don't have to come. I don't want you to be in danger.

Richard

Severus swore softly. He put the active experiments into stasis, grabbed his cloak, and headed back to Potter mansion. He found everyone but Aberforth still clumped around Sirius Black in the living room, of course, talking in low voices around him while he leaned on Peter's shoulder and stared miserably into the middle distance.

"There has been a development," Severus announced. He pulled out the letter and handed it off to Lily, who was nearest.

"Well, they know he's with us," she said after a moment, extending the letter to James. "Should we take Headmaster Dumbledore up on his offer to move him to Hogwarts?"

James and Euphemia read the letter silently, and Sirius even picked up his head to look over James' shoulder. The little color that he had regained fled. "Oh, Richard, what has that bastard done to you?" he murmured. "Did you write back yet, Snape? We should set up the meeting as soon as possible."

"I don't think we should respond, Sirius," James said. "That'll as good as confirm where you are."

Sirius and Severus both snorted in derision. "Not writing back would be even more suspicious," Severus informed him.

"And there's no knowing what my folks might do to Richard or Regulus or Narcissa if they think I'm hiding from them behind you or Dumbledore. I won't abandon them."

"Okay, yes, of course," Euphemia said soothingly. "Lily, dear, could you see about getting in touch with Alastor or Albus himself?"

"We are not waiting for Albus bloody Dumbledore to dither about," Sirius snarled. "Snape, go write back to Richard or floo call him right away and arrange to meet him somewhere neutral, then bring him back here. Check for tracking spells and use multiple apparitions to hide the trail, in case my dad tries to tail him. James can always ward him out again after he leaves."

Everyone looked over at Severus, who raised one eyebrow. He wasn't about to jump to Sirius Black's orders just because everybody else did, not even for Richard's possible discomfort. Sirius flinched and looked away again. "Please."

Severus smirked. "Very well. I'll be back shortly." Hands in his pockets, he swiveled about and headed back out. It would be indiscreet to try to floo call Richard from the Potter's house.

Richard appeared utterly relieved when Severus reached him through the floo at his home. He quickly agreed to meet Severus in an alley near the Lahore Kabob restaurant in muggle London. Indeed, he got there first, since Severus had to stop by his apartment and assume an appropriate disguise on the way, swiping a hair off a random muggle in the street. He subtly checked Richard for tracking spells from the entrance to the alley before approaching him. "It's me, the one that hexed Bulstrode when he tried to give you a swirlie in second year. What class were you late to your first week at Hogwarts?"

Richard smiled shakily. "Charms. I'd insulted your mum, and you put me in a full body bind and left me in the dorms to wait for an upper year to rescue me." He gestured. "Polyjuice?"

"What else? Come on." Richard took his arm gratefully. Severus apparated them both to a bus stop in Liverpool he used to take on day trips with Lily over the summer, then to a parapet at Lancaster castle inaccessible to the public, then to the site of the theater the Death Eaters had burned down in October, still cordoned off with yellow caution tape, and finally back to the grounds of Potter mansion.

"Again, sorry about this," Richard said as they crossed the lawn. "I swear I won't let the Blacks retaliate against you."

"Oh? And how are you planning to manage that? Isn't it standard modus operandi of the Sacred Houses to strike against each other through their lower class allies and dependents?"

Richard winced. "Yeah, it is. And they do know about you, unfortunately. Sirius' mum is a better Legilimens than I've ever encountered before other than the Dark Lord himself. But I told her you hadn't set up that other meeting deliberately, that Potter had just followed you and butted in because he's your employer and a berk and knew I was connected to Sirius. And she knows I refused to help them get Sirius out, so she's not actually mad at me about that..." He trailed off. They both knew mere explanations weren't real protection, if it came down to it.

"Well, after all, there's no way you could all marry your cousins if you engaged in real blood feuds against each other," Severus needled. Richard winced again.

There was a bit of a ruckus as soon as they opened the front door, and Sirius staggered into the foyer with James and the others at his heels. He immediately clutched onto Richard, inspecting him with a fierce expression.

"He Crucio'd you?!" he shouted by way of greeting. It was mildly disturbing he could identify Cruciatus curse damage just from looking, Severus noted.

Richard winced a third time. He was positively twitchy today. "Your mum, actually. Lord Black let her out to come get Reg and look for you while he was stuck at the Ministry. She was mad as hell when she broke through my Occlumency shields and saw I let Reg come with me to a muggle restaurant..."

"I'm going to kill her."

Richard rolled his eyes and put his trembling hands on Sirius' shoulders. "No, you're bloody well not. I can handle your mum. She's not as bad as the Dark Lord."

"Yeah?" Sirius said skeptically. "How long did she hold the curse for?"

"Not long."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not."

"You are. The shakes don't last more than a few minutes usually, yet here you are."

"I'm just a wimp."

"Sirius, let's sit back down," James said cautiously, tugging gently on his elbow.

"Did you take anything for it?" Sirius asked anxiously, ignoring James. "You should take a calming draught. And a muscle relaxer. Are your fingers tingly?"

"Sirius, I'm fine. I'll take care of it later. And Reg is fine, too. She didn't hurt him. What I need is for you to calm down so we can all sit in the other room and talk."

"I'll go get him the potions," Severus interrupted.

Sirius startled and stared over Richard's shoulder at him. "Who the bloody hell are you?"

Severus grinned. He had almost forgotten he was wearing the body of a middle-aged Asian woman. "Lily's matron-of-honor. Here to go over plans for the final dress fitting. Excuse me."

Author's note: I could only do so much wallowing in Grimmauld before moving him back out, lol. Canonically, Loxias was a Dark wizard who controlled the Elder Wand for awhile, before either Livius or Arcus killed him and took it. In my AU, Livius took the Elder Wand from Loxias by defeating him with the Ritual, but then he died shortly thereafter when he went mad and his friend/coconspirator/healer Arcus killed him in self-defense. Arcus detailed the potions he had attempted to use to save Livius and where he figured he went wrong, and both Alphard and now Dumbledore have access to those texts (Dumbledore might have had to go through Slughorn or Crouch). The two mystery potions I took the names, though not the recipes, from actual history. The Confectio Alchemes was a general restorative tonic in the Middle Ages, and the Nepenthea Pharmakon is from the Odyssey, a potion to relieve sorrow. Although the original Nepenthea Pharmakon basically caused you to forget your sorrows, and since people using the Ritual of the Feast of Innocents have already forgotten way too much, the recipe naturally needs to be modified to avoid that.

And Snape is a little shit to everyone, not just the Gryffindors, because he can and it's funny.

Thanks for the reviews. Will continue with regular Saturday updates again.