AN: there is a couple of warnings in this chapter, Sirius is in a bit of a broody mood at times, and there is a little drinking, and at the end, there is a scene that's a little more than just kissing, not detailed but does hinat more happening. I think that's about it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or HP
Chapter 21 Grimmauld Place.
Sirius Black did not drive the four-hour drive back to Wales from King's Cross Station, instead, he drove the twenty-minute drive to Grimmauld Place, taken a short detour to buy what Sirius considered a six-pack of courage on his way, he then spent nearly an hour drinking a bottle of said courage while trying to work up real courage to go inside the house he hasn't stepped foot in for sixteen years, the last time he was here was after learning of Regulus's death, he showed up at a request from his mother, who had sent a letter to Sirius begging him to come to his brother's funeral, Sirius was stupid enough to accept the invite, because not only did he want to pay his brother respect, he was also wanting to find out what happened to him, plus he was foolish to hope the death of Walburga's favorite son would have changed her views, unfortunately, Sirius had been totally wrong, it had all been a setup, and the moment he opened those doors and entered his childhood hell, he was ambushed, and nearly half of the Black family started firing, spells, hexes, jinx, and curses at him, you name it they did it, and Walburga stood over him, demanding to know where Regulus's body was, and what Dumbledore and the Order did to him. All while keeping Sirius under the torture curse.
Unfortunately, the only things Sirius found out that night was his family truly hated him, and they, too, had no idea what happened to Regulus; the only reason they knew he was dead was that a death date had appeared under his name on the family tree, and instead of taking their anger out on the ones who did it, they decided to blame his death on Dumbledore. Sirius had been lucky to escape with his life. When he showed up at James's after leaving Grimmauld, Sirius had been a wreck, had injuries all over his body, was shaking, crying, and in so much pain he could barely move; he had refused to allow anyone to touch him until Lily hugged him and refused to let go, then James joined in, then Remus and they all stood there holding him until he calmed down, then James had him lay on the couch and Remus healed his wounds while Lily fed him potions. James was pacing the floor mumbling individual threats at every Black family member he could think of. When Loki showed up and took one look at the shape Sirius was in, and demanded to know who did it; James told her, and Loki left without another word. Sirius never asked her where she went that night, and Loki never volunteered that information, but Sirius had a good idea considering the ones who had tortured him, including Walbuga Black, had been found mysteriously dead the following day, by Sirius's father who was returning from wherever the hell he had been the night before.
Sirius has since concluded that Regulus got in over his head as a Death Eater and wouldn't do some of the unmentionable things Death Eaters were known to do, and tried to back out and they took his life because of it. Even though Regulus went along with their family's bias, deep down, he was still the kind, sensitive little boy Sirius knew before going to Hogwarts; he witnessed his brother call Muggle-borns mudblood, but that was as far as Sirius ever saw him go, he never physically harmed anyone. So, Sirius knows Regulus would have never wanted to take a life or anything of that level. Sirius still blamed himself. If he had just tried talking to Reggie at school or Owling him when he left home, maybe Reggie would have known he could come to Sirius for help; he would have protected him and kept him safe and alive. He wished he knew who killed his brother so he could kill them.
Sirius drank the rest of his courage, tossed the bottle on the passenger side floorboard, opened his door, grabbed the six-pack, and got out of the car. He didn't even bother casting the spell to keep himself dry as he strolled toward Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Oh, how Sirius would love to burn this place to the ground, but due to all the enchantments and protective spells put on it by Orion Black, and the previous family that owned it before him, it was not possible. Grimmauld was a house that was five generations old; Sirius inherited the place along with the rest of the Black family riches in 2004 when his father finally croaked due to old age; Sirius was in Azkaban at the time, so the house fell in disrepair and Sirius didn't give a damn, he hoped in the next few years the dump caved in on itself.
Sirius stood at the door for a short moment before pulling his wand out of his pocket and tapping the door in a specific pattern, he heard the many locks on the other side turn, then clicked, and the front door opened, and taking a deep breath, Sirius stepped in.
"Blood traitor filth, the shame of my flesh, how dare you come here."
Startled, Sirius cursed and looked up at the sound of his mother's voice and felt a tremendous amount of relief when he saw it was only an oversize portrait of the bitch hanging by the landing that led down to the basement kitchen. Sirius ran a shaky hand through his hair, sat the six-pack on the bottom step, and pointed his wand at the portrait.
"Shut up, you old hag," Sirius shouted. A spell came out of his wand and hit the portrait with a bang, his mother squealed, and the curtains closed, and she went quiet; seconds later, the door leading to the basement kitchen opened, and Andromeda Tonks walked out, looking concerned.
"Are you alright?" Andromeda asked quietly; thunder rumbled outside, and rain was pouring down now; it was a bit chilly in the old dusty house.
"I'm fine," Sirius replied, glaring at the now silent portrait. "Thanks for coming. I know you hate this place as much as I do."
"Well, maybe not as much as you," Andromeda said, sticking his hands in her robe pockets, "I doubt anyone can hate anything that much."
Sirius laughed, bent down, picked up the six-pack, stuck his wand in his back pocket, then headed up the stairs, stirring up dust as he went.
"Where are you going?" Andromeda demanded, "I thought you wanted to talk."
"Library," Sirius replied, "Hurry up before that thing wakes again."
Andromeda glanced at the portrait of Wulburga Black, then followed Sirius up the stairs. When Sirius reached the landing, he avoided looking at the house elf heads on the wall and continued up the stairs until he reached the floor the library was on and went straight into it and set the six-pack on the table, then turned to face Andromeda who hadn't said a word while following Sirius up the stairs, besides their footsteps the only sounds were coming from the storm outside and the creaks of the old house settling.
"Hang on, " Sirius frowned, "Shouldn't Kreacher be popping up to tell me what a horrible son I am?"
"I ordered him to clean the attic and stay out of our way," Andromeda said, "I know you hate that elf."
"Thanks," Sirius said, taking his jacket off, "Being back in this hell is bad enough without putting up with his bile." He tossed his coat on the back of a chair, then turned to the books on the shelves, wondering where to look first.
"Sirius, if this place bothers you so much, then why come back here?" Andromeda asked. "You could have easily asked me to meet you anywhere else."
"I needed a place to tell you something without the risk of being overheard," Sirius said, walking over to the enhanced spell section, "Plus, I need the use of the library."
"Well, I am all ears. What was so important I had to come here to learn?" Andromeda asked; she waved her wand and cleaned the dust from a chair to sit down. Sirius came walking back over with an arm full of books and slammed them down on the table, making the dust fly everywhere; then grabbed a bottle of courage, opened it by hooking the top to the table and smacking it, then turned it up and drunk almost half in one go, then turned to Andromeda.
"Harry Potter is my son," Sirius said. Andromeda raised her eyebrows and pointed at the six-pack.
"How many of those have you had?" she asked; lighting flashed outside, and thunder rumbled.
"It's the truth; Harry belongs to Reigna Ikol and me; you remember her, right? I mentioned to you we are back together." Sirius sat the bottle down, took a seat, and as he started searching the books, he began telling Andromeda about how and why James and Lily adopted Harry, leaving out that Reigna was Loki, the God of Mischief that destroyed New York, because that wasn't his secret to tell.
"Why confuse this now?" Andromeda asked.
"Because," Sirius said, then paused momentarily, "You felt it too, haven't you? Something is happening. It almost feels like it did at the beginning of the war, people are disappearing, and the Ministry is ignoring the signs; then there was the attack at the world cup. Those people weren't Death Eaters, they had a different symbol on them, and two of those people were after Harry, after my son, they were siblings. I fought the girl, and she distracted me while her brother went after Harry."
"Was he alright?" Andromeda asked.
"He was, just got cut; Reigny healed him," Sirius replied, "But those siblings had abilities I've never heard of; the brother, Harry told me he could run faster than the Hogwarts Express, just ran by him, sliced his arm, and was gone before Harry even realized what happened."
"How is that possible?" Andromeda asked.
"I don't know," Sirius said, "I was hoping to find some power-enhanced spell or potion in this book, the sister. She was even more powerful, more dangerous. She held her own against me and wasn't even using spells and claimed to have been going easy on me; mind you, I wasn't using my full abilities either."
"Who were they?" Andromeda wondered.
"I have no idea, they kept their face hidden, and I don't even have a name," Sirius said, "As I said, I was hoping to find some clue as to how they did it in these books. I doubt I'll find anything, but I thought it was worth a shot."
"Alright, cousin, I'll help," Andromeda said, opening a book. Sirius took another drink, pulled another bottle out of the pack, and slid it across the table to Andromeda. She looked at it a moment, then tapped the lid with her wand, opened it, and took a drink. "This is muggle beer."
"It is. I only needed a little something to work up the courage to come here, I didn't want to get drunk, and Muggle alcohol is too weak for us to get drunk on. The worst it can do is give us a little buzz," Sirius said.
"You must be awful disparate," Andromeda said, pointing at him with the beer, then took another drink. "To not only come here but to actually open a book and read."
"You're so funny, Annie," Sirius said, using Andromeda's childhood nickname; she smiled at him, sat the bottle down, and returned to reading. Two hours and three beers later, the two cousins emptied the entire enhanced magic section and found nothing that could give a person any special powers, nothing like the siblings had.
"Nothing, not a damn thing." Sirius cried out, tossing the last book across the room; the storm was still raging outside, which did nothing to help Sirius's bad mood.
"Sirius, we both know we can search every book in the wizardry world for something like that and won't find anything. No spell or potion exists that will give anyone abilities like that," Andromeda said. "The people you explained sound like something from a children's story."
"I know," Sirius sighed, running his hand through his hair, "I was hoping there was. So, I won't..." Sirius shook his head and didn't finish. It just further proved what he and Loki thought, that those two weren't from the wizardry world, but then who or what are they?
"Little cousin, I've been thinking, what if this guy wasn't after Harry, but his blood? You know a lot of dark curses and rituals can be done with someone's blood," Andromeda said. "And you said the first thing he did was cut him."
"Fuck," Sirius said, sitting back, "I should have thought of that."
"I am willing to help you protect your son from these people, but how can I when you don't even know what they look like?" Andromeda said.
"You don't have to worry about them. I'll handle that," Sirius said, "What I need from you is something else. And might be a little risky."
"What?" Andromeda demanded.
"I need you to befriend Narcissa, start hanging out with her so you can be near Lucius, and see if you hear any hint of Voldemort gaining power," Sirius answered. "Talk to their friends if you can. You're a Black and former Slytherin. Shouldn't be too hard to get them to believe you turn sides."
"Are you mad?" Andromeda demanded, "Cissy isn't going to want anything to do with me, and if Lucius was to catch me spying, that could put my family and me in danger."
"I wouldn't ask you if I didn't think you could handle it," Sirius said. "You know you just have to play Narcissa a bit, feed her some shit about how you hate me or something. It shouldn't be too difficult to get her to believe you."
"I highly doubt it," Andromeda said. She gave Sirius a long, searching look before she continued. "But I'll see what I can do and do some digging of my own. You were right. I have felt it also."
"Thank you." Sirius sighed. He grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair and pulled a hand-held mirror out of the inside pocket, and handed it to Andromeda, "It's part of a pair. I have the other one. Just say my name to get it to work. We probably should use them to communicate."
"Alright, I'll do that." Andromeda agreed, standing, "I probably should be heading out. Ted will start wondering where I am. Sirius, I don't like keeping things from my husband, but if you ask me to, I will."
"You can tell him," Sirius said. "Harry wants to meet you guys, and the poor kid grew up in a family that was the muggle version of ours. They hated and bullied him because he had magic. Harry wants a family that cares about him, he knows Reingy, and I do, but I've seen how he watches the Weasleys. He wants more family than just us."
"Then he'll get it," Andromeda said, "Ted is not one to turn away family, and Nymphadora has always wanted a sibling. I think she'll settle for a little cousin."
"Thanks," Sirius said, grinning. Andromeda looked around at all the books with a thoughtful looking.
"You know, if You-Know-Who does return to power, we probably should try and find out how he survived the killing curse backfiring on him so, we can figure out how to take him out. I think I'll take some of these books home with me and look into that for you."
"Good idea, and once I find out who these siblings are and why they want Harry or his blood, I'll join you in your search. I'll take some books home with me also." Sirius said.
Andromeda stuck the mirror into her pocket, then she and Sirius went in search of some trunks, found some in the attic, and had to fight with Kreacher over them after dumping the things out of them so they could use them. Sirius and Andromeda then carried them one by one back to the library, filling up the four trunks with books. Then Sirius and Andromeda carried them outside, where Andromeda put her hood over her head and turned to Sirius.
"You need me owl or call on this thing," Andromeda said, taking a mirror out of her pocket and holding it up.
"You do the same," Sirius said. Andromeda stuck the mirror back in her pocket and gave Sirius a quick hug, and then apparated away, taking two trunks with her. Sirius went back inside Grimmauld Place to retrieve his jacket, being as loud as he could purposely be so he would disturb his Mother's portrait, then slammed the front door loudly on his way out, laughing when he heard Walburga start to screech.
Sirius loaded the two trunks into his car, then took off back to Loki's cottage, getting there in half the time due to using a spell to make the car go fast. When he arrived, it was still raining, but the storm was moving out, and Sirius decided to wait until tomorrow to unload the trunks. Sirius instead went into the cottage, took a shower, put on his sleep clothes then fixed himself some dinner.
As he sat at the kitchen table eating had became annoyed at how quiet the cottage was with both Harry and Loki at Hogwarts, it made him feel a little lonely, and he hated being home alone. It was so boring with no one to talk to. Sirius looked down at his tattoos, then glanced to his left arm, where the new tattoo he got over the summer was. On his wrist, he had paid a tattoo artist to tattoo a Snitch. The tattoo artist didn't know what it was, of course, but thought the design was cool. Sirius got it not because Harry was a seeker but because it was symbolic. Sirius felt like he could relate to a Snitch. They are kept locked away until they are needed in a game, then let out to fly free, only to be captured and locked up again. That's what happened to Sirius. He lived in the prison of Grimmauld Place for sixteen years, finally got free, only to be captured a short while later, and locked up again for twelve years in Azkaban. It reminded Sirius not to take his freedom for granted because it could get snatched away again at any moment.
Sirius scowled and crossed his arms; being at Loki's cottage alone was bringing out Sirius's broody side, and going to Grimmauld place did nothing to help his mood. He hated this side; he preferred to be careful and make a little mischief. Sirius glanced over at James's invisibility cloak lying across the back of the sofa, and a smile formed on his face as he suddenly got an idea.
Sirius put his boots back on, then his jacket, grabbed the invisibility cloak and apparated out of the cottage right into Hogsmeade. Sirius slipped the cloak on, went to Honeydukes, carefully removed the glass from the cellar window, then climbed through it. Sirius went over and pushed a create of snacks of the trap down, opened it, and climbed in, then quietly walked the long tunnel leading to Hogwarts, he came up on the statue of the humpback witch removed the cloak, folded it neatly, then hide it in the tunnel before making his way to Loki's living chambers, where he knocked once, before opening the door and walking in.
Loki had been sitting at the table reading a book about the magical government when her door opened, and she looked up to see Sirius wearing nothing but his leather jacket and pajamas, walking in with a big grin on his face. Loki closed her book, laid it on the table then stood.
"I was hoping you'd show up here," Loki said, walking over and putting her arms around Sirius, then kissed him. She was surprised when Sirius kissed her back hungrily, and she pulled away and looked up at him questioningly. Something was bothering him, she could tell, but instead of speaking, Sirius began to kiss down her neck while he took off his jacket.
"I can only stay the night," Sirius said, letting his jacket drop to the floor, then put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him, his lips going back to her neck.
"Sirius, darling, stop for a moment, please," Loki said, pulling away. Sirius did as she requested and looked up at her.
"What?" Sirius asked, letting go of her waist.
"Is something wrong?" Loki asked, "You seem so...needy."
"I missed you, that's all," Sirius answered, reaching for Loki again; she put her hands on his chest and stopped him.
"You saw me three days ago. Surely you didn't miss me that much in just three days," Loki said.
"I went to Grimmauld Place," Sirius admitted, and Loki's eyebrows rose.
"Why in the nine realms did you go there?" Loki demanded, reaching up and pushing Sirius's hair out of his face.
"I needed the library." Sirius said, shrugging, "You know I said I was going to find out who those siblings were and put a stop to them. I still hate being in that place, and it was of no help, I found nothing useful, though I did find out my stupid mother had a portrait of herself hanging on the wall, and it threw out the same insults she did when alive."
"And now you need reassurance you're still loved," Loki said, stepping closer to Sirius. She put her arms around him, kissed him, then began to kiss down his neck; Loki paused and looked back at him. "You went there for the library? You, Sirius Black, were reading books?"
"What can I say? You're rubbing off on me?" Sirius teased, putting his arms around her waist and pulling her to him; his lips returned to her neck. "I bought two trunks full of books home," he said between kisses, "You can have them when I'm done with them; hell, you can have the whole Black family library if you want it. I'm just going to let the whole house rot along with everything in it anyway."
"Thank you," Loki said as she began unbuttoning his shirt.
"I really did miss you," Sirius told her as Loki pushed his shirt off. He captured her lips in his and gave her a deep passionate kiss, one hand moving up to the zipper on the back of her jumpsuit, and he started pulling it down.
"I know," Loki replied when the kiss ended, and she began to kiss and nibble on Sirius's neck.
"I love you, Reigny," Sirius said as Loki's lips reached his ear.
"Use my name." Loki requested in a whisper, then started kissing down his jaw.
"I love you, Loki," Sirius replied. A small moan left Loki's lips, and she straightened up and gave Sirius another passionate kiss; Loki's jumpsuit dropped to the floor, she pulled away to step out of it, then, smiling, she grabbed Sirius's hand and pulled him toward the bed.
A few hours later, Sirius lay awake in Loki's bed, with one arm around her shoulders, his other arm under his head. Loki lay on her side, facing him, with her arm laying across his stomach and her head lying on his bare chest. She wasn't too happy when Sirius had told her before she fell asleep that this would probably be the last time he'll get to visit for a while, that he probably won't get to write, and for her and Harry not to write him until Sirius writes them, unless it was an emergency, his reason was that he would be in the muggle world. People would get suspicious if owls kept bringing him mail. He was going somewhere where people couldn't find out he knew where Loki was. If he got captured and an owl showed up from Loki, they could get caught, and he'd be damned if anyone locked Loki up or took Loki away from him. Tomorrow he'll recruit Moony's help, and they'll be leaving the country for a while. Sirius hoped he wouldn't be gone that long, but what he was planning would take time; he had to case the place out, watch who comes and goes, check it over, find the security system, and figure out a way in without being caught, that was what James's cloak is for. Hopefully, Sirius will be back by at least Halloween and still be in one piece.
AN Hope you liked that chapter, I know it might seem like its dragging a bit, but I didn't want to jump right into Harry's name coming out of the goblet, and don't worry by the end of the fourth year he'll finally meet the Avengers I've had the idea of when and how since starting this story and I actually already wrote that chapter.