AN: This is a short chapter and I am so sorry. I hope you enjoy it though. As always I don't own Harry Potter, that would be JK Rowling.

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Chapter 29: Padmus Marius McGrimm

Personally, I'd have welcomed a dementor attack. A deadly struggle for my soul would have broken the monotony nicely.

~Sirius Black~

"So? What do you think?" Sirius had donned the robes his grandfather had provided, standing before him for inspection, his back to the full-length mirror he had been working in front of for over an hour.

It had been an amusing hour for Arcturus, aware that both his grandsons were arguing over their appearance and it had devolved into a war of who could make their face look more crazy. The various expressions of outrage and frustration on each of his grandson's faces, as one would turn his hair orange, or grow their eyebrows down to their chins, or transforming their lips into those of a seductive female making kissy faces at the mirror was more than humorous, which finally undid him and he couldn't help but laugh.

Interspersed between the face changes there would be mocking and self-annihilating mutters. It was like watching a madman. If he didn't know what was happening, he would be very worried about Sirius's sanity. He was worried about Sirius's sanity.

Having served as young Sirius's personal sounding board for the past few weeks, he knew…. KNEW, that the possession was harming the boy's psyche. He had a lot of unnecessary worries though and he was able to assure him, that fate would not allow him to be harmed beyond repair. Because he was being possessed by an older version of himself the damage would be minimal, and they had some kind of authorization from the powers that be, which should be reassuring. Regardless it was wearing on the boy and he judged they didn't have long before his time-traveling grandson would be gone.

Time. They really didn't have a lot of it. He shook himself from his reverie and stood moving towards his grandson, running a critical eye over what would become the final version of his persona incognito, his eyes traveled critically over Sirius's face. Inspecting every minute detail like a drill sergeant inspecting one of his troops. "Too perfect."

Sirius scowled and turned back to the mirror. "I am not giving myself an ugly mole!"

"How about a scar?" Arcturus suggested, "A scar with a story. Maybe you got it while in the Jungles hunting for lost Mayan temples with Marius?"

Sirius got an interesting look on his face then, he looked haunted almost, but turned back to the mirror, lifted his hair, and concentrated on his reflection with almost a pained expression. Upon his forehead, a lightning-bolt-shaped scar appeared. For a long moment, he stared at his reflection. Something… profound seemed to settle on his face. "I shall bear your scars," he muttered softly. "Let it be me." He stepped back from the mirror. An inexplicable expression on his face.

"Sowilo means 'sun' and represents victory and protection." Arcturus nodded taken with the odd expression on his face. Sirius barked a laugh. "That's what I'm hoping for." He nodded, "So. I'm going shopping. Don't wait up." With that Sirius moved to the fireplace, scooped a handful of powder up, and tossed some in, "Diagon Alley" He articulated, and in a flash of green his grandson was gone.

Arcturus sighed and then laughed settling back into his chair. He looked back at his latest project that he had brought from Grimmauld Place. It was now hanging on his wall, as he repaired it. The family tapestry. He was furious at its condition. Scorch marks on a priceless artifact? That wasn't even how you removed someone from the tree, and it certainly wasn't how you treated Black heirlooms.

He shook his head, "What was that woman thinking?" For day's he had been restoring the magic in the tapestry and grafting back in branches. Marius's branch specifically. His eyes traced his brother's line, to finally rest on Padmus's name, in satisfaction.

Marius's branch was huge compared to the rest of the branches, and again he recognized how few pureblood families had more than one or two children. There were exceptions, but not many. The point was driven home when he could see it with his own eyes on the tapestry. Marius had nine children and sixteen grandchildren. And there were great-grandchildren on the way. Over half of them were magical. All but two had decided to shun the magical community and refused wands. Refused wands! He wondered idly how many more families like Marius's existed? Magical children born to squibs or ancestors of squibs. He suspected most Muggle-borns had magical ancestors.

A smile that was designed to send his enemies running for the nearest exits brightened his features. For once, he was actually looking forward to the Wizengamot. His inner Marauder, the one that Sirius was just starting to recognize, was just itching to come out and play. "Cat. Meet mouse." He grinned settling back to inspect the tapestry for other flaws he had missed.

Diagon alley was much quieter than it had been during Sirius's last visit. He moved through the sparse shoppers without garnering any attention. He skipped Madam Malkins and instead went to Magical Garb and Sundries, a shop that catered to a younger crowd. The shop was empty of customers and he was able to be waited on quickly.

Sirius outlined his idea for his costume and was fawned over by a trio of helpful witches who were excited about the project but not quite as excited about the short timeline. After taking his measurements they picked out the materials that would make up the costume. Looking at the rendering, Serious smiled and said, "Divine." He complimented them and they arranged for it to be delivered.

He then went through the racks and made some more hefty purchases. When he left he was dressed to the nines in a magical dragon hide overcoat coat. It fit him snugly in the torso, with a high collar and flared loosely around his knees offering him freedom of movement. It was trimmed in silver braiding and was the color of night. A white silk poet's shirt and form-fitting black leather pants tucked seamlessly into black dragonhide boots. He'd been suckered into getting his hair trimmed and styled and looking at himself in the mirror he had to admit he looked good, in a roguish pirate sort of way. He tipped the sales girls and left making his way to the magical menagerie.

The interior was dark and the soft hoot of owls greeted him. Kneazles eyed him suspiciously and he smiled thinking of Crookshanks. He walked to the back where he knew the reptiles were kept. Siri felt having a real snake to study would assist him in his transformation so here they were, hunting down a pet snake for his younger self.

The snakes were in individual tanks and there was quite a variety. There were long ones, fat ones, large and small. There was also a large selection of lizards. But Siri spied the snake he wanted right away, though it didn't look exactly like his animagus form, it was close. 'You know, you could just study the family magic totem and not have to worry about taking care of a pet.' older Sirius noted, but his younger self practically growled at him, to stick his nose out of it. So he let Siri purchase the snake. The shopkeeper had told them that she was a Coral snake. Very poisonous. There is another snake that looks almost exactly like it, but it wasn't poisonous. Sirius bought a book about his pet and how to care for it, a magical snake tank that included built-in habitat runes. as well as a package of stunned mice. Already Siri was trying to come up with a name for her.

He caught sight of his reflection in the mirror and smiled, "He really did look roguish. He caught the eye of several young and even older witches and he flirted outrageously. His younger self seemed to pay more than the normal amount of attention to these interactions. Watch and learn little marauder. Watch and learn. He took a late meal at the Leaky, lightly interacting with the wizarding populace he came in contact with. Padmus McGrimm took his opportunities where he found them. Those he had impressed remembered a tall, handsome, dark, cultured, mysterious stranger. An obvious pure-blood if they ever saw one.

He floo'ed back to Black manor before curfew, changing back into school robes and his eleven-year-old body, storing the new clothes in the trunk's walk-in closet. He could almost hear James cheering that he was becoming more like Batman every day. He quickly set up Sinistra's tank in the living area and activated the habitat runes. Giving her a mouse and waking it up with a tap of his wand so it would be at least somewhat fun to catch. He chose not to watch the snake, which Siri had named Sinistra, eat it and headed up to his dorm.

It wasn't until he was about to go to sleep that he let himself think about the scar. Somehow the inclusion of it felt right. It would serve to remind him that there really were some things worth dying for. He briefly wondered what Fate thought of it and then decided he didn't want to know.

He couldn't help but imagine her with Umbridge's face and demeanor. 'Hem Hem… that's one change too many Mr. Black. Crucio!'

Sirius shuddered remembering Harry's struggles with that bitch when she took over the Defense post. He couldn't remember what had happened to the woman, it might be one of the memories Death took. Which was too bad really, he'd like to know if she got hers in the end. She currently was a few years ahead of him, in Slytherin. She was a particularly irritating student who he had pranked on more than occasion in his last go around. He wrenched his thoughts away from that horrid example of humanity. Eventually, he had to employ occlumency to get any kind of sleep.

AN: The next chapter will be the much-awaited Malfoy Masquerade Ball. I hope you are enjoying the story. Please leave me a review.

I've had several folks let me know that I need to proofread this piece and how often I keep misspelling names. I'm terrible. I need to go chapter by chapter and do a thorough proofreading job. At the moment the muse keeps prodding me to write new chapters and I still have to go through and edit. So, it's a juggle.

I want to thank everyone for reading. The story has had 37K hits so far and it's overwhelming and wonderful.

Just so no one flames me, the Black family tree is AU.

Someone asked me if Arcturus was married to his cousin Dorea Black. Nope. I just changed her first name. Sirius's parents are first cousins though.

Thank you again for reading.

If you are interested in being a beta reader for me, drop me a line. I'd rather it be someone who loves the story to begin with, rather than just randomly finding someone to do it. So... let me know :)

I estimate that we are about halfway through the book? Maybe? Hard to tell, it depends on how far I jump him forward and how many jumps.