Harry Potter and the Blade of the Hero, Chapter 2
ahahahahahahahahaahahaha Im baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack
Yep, you thought i was gone, you may have thought it was over, :P it is not, so here you go, booyachasha
Chapter 2 The BLHWWWWWWFLP Black Marauders Unlimited
It was a beautiful morning in Grimmauld Palace or as it was now called the House of Black, Sirius had just had a long talk with Harry and was mostly caught up on all that had been going on. So now he had the luxury of inspecting his old house on his own. The remodeling and new furnishings fit it well; it no longer felt like the dreary, dark, evil place he grew up in. Now it was Harry’s house, though it definitely didn’t have the Potter flair to it, it was more of the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix than anything else. Time had passed, that idea became ever more clear as he finally stepped into the bathroom and prepared to take a bath. He looked himself in the mirror and saw the years had piled on, though he looked better than when he got out of Azkaban, he still looked older, he felt older. He poured a hot bath and soaked in the tub, dumping in different oils and soaps he had found that had a definite feminine influence to them, probably something Molly or some other girl had brought. Still those were the types of things he used to enjoy, back then when he was a student, before all the mess with Azkaban, before his best friend was killed, before he graduated Hogwarts, before he had that fight with…HER. He quickly shook his head as to get the memory out; it had been a long time since he thought of that girl, well any girl. But the veil was unforgiving; in there all he had was time and his thoughts, his memories, the good and the bad. And like Azkaban, he chose to focus on the good to try and keep his sanity. And in that time he remembered his glorious years as a student. The girls he had conquered, the pranks he had played, the mysterious seventh year that brought them together and then when he became a teacher lead them all wisely. Dumbledore had been a great influence, but that man whose name he no longer remembered; HE had been their true “teacher” and mentor. It was thanks to him that he took a chance and had the best or worst thing of his life happened to him, depending on how he looked at it. Then another thought crossed his mind, “It couldn’t have been the worst, not anymore anyways” he mumbled. Azkaban, the death of his friend, the veil, being on the run, all these things and many others had been far worst. No, by all intents and purposes, she had been the best, though the ending had sucked. He shook his head again and busted out of his reverie, he dunked his head under the water. He then proceeded to shampoo, condition, and treat it with the oils, soaps, and potions all around him. It had been a long while since had taken care to look his best, and now, free, and in this finally peaceful time, he decided to go back to being Sirius Black, the Marauder, and playboy extraordinaire. He shaved; he spent hours fixing his hair and finally took some clothes from Harry’s closet and dressed fashionably. When he finally looked in the mirror he had to smile, the devilishly sexy beast that he was, was back, and though older, the maturity had done him well, he looked like and older, dependable, roguish gentleman, in other words, tall, dark, and handsome.
So he exited the house for the first time in a long time and walked around the block trying to figure out what to do with his life. He didn’t have a job, and doubted he would get one no matter how well cleared his name was. He didn’t have any money, Harry had it all, and frankly he could keep it. He did have a nice home, at least it was nice now, he thought with a grin. So what to do with his life, what to do. And so he kept on walking and eventually he found himself right back in front of the House of Black. This pattern repeated for several days. He really didn’t feel up to facing the world yet, at least not till he had a solid plan, he knew that everyone would ask him what he would do now and it would hardly befit a Marauder to not have a plan. So he fell into a routine, no closer to figuring out what to do, that was until the day he came back from a walk. He still had no idea what to do as he walked to the kitchen to get a snack, it was then he noticed Fawkes was now standing on the back of one of the chairs and looking at him with curious eyes.
Sirius, once he got over the shock of having a phoenix in front of him, approached, “Hey there Fawkes, been a while since I last saw you. How have you been?” he asked knowing the bird was intelligent.
The phoenix replied with a sweet lingering sad note followed by a very cheerful energetic one.
“Yea I miss Dumbledore too, though it is good your feeling better” he replied surmising the birds meaning.
Fawkes sang another note and then extended his foot, in it was a letter.
“Ah I see” Sirius barked with a laugh and then took the letter and began to read.
Dear Sirius, (Finally I get to call you by your name, though Snuffles lives on in me, I guess I can call you Padfoot)
Dear Padfoot, (There you go much better)
It seems that while the world is saved from one problem, I might have unleashed one worst. Trust me the less you know the better. Basically now I have to go and resolve this issue as expeditiously and thoroughly as possible. Don’t worry I am with Axel, they guy I told you about, and he has a very good plan, and yes we will need help but not yet. (I know, bloody confusing isn’t it?).
“You can say that again, learned that proper from Dumbledore I guess” Sirius sighed. Fawkes trilled a note that sounded like a laugh. Thought he was concerned for his godson, he figured if he kicked Voldemort’s arse as well as he did, then he shouldn’t worry too much, so he read on.
(Learned that proper from Dumbledore it seems)
Sirius laughed and nodded,
In any case among the thousands of thoughts in my head I came to the realization that now you have absolutely nothing to do. That coupled with my brilliance and ability to solve one problem with another lead me to a brilliant deduction that is brilliantly brilliant as you can very well fathom.
“Yep, definitely a Potter, though some of me rubbed off on him. Otherwise he wouldn’t be truly brilliant, he would just think he is like Prongs” Sirius said out loud as he read on. Harry continued a rather interesting tirade on his own greatness that further proved that he had had a great influence on his godson.
Ok then, with the point of my brilliance out of the way I can now return to the lesser issue that is what I came up with. You see Padfoot, thanks to you, Dumbledore, and my parents I have become a very wealthy wizard, extremely wealthy, outrageously wealthy, mind numbingly wealthy, or just plain stinking rich. As such I have made several investments, investments that require looking into from time to time. Thought all are in very capable hands, I still feel that someone representing me should make sure they are being carried out in a way that befits the name Potter. That befits my name above all. I mean I am Snuffles now, and such a name deserves greatness such as me. So in order to keep my great name honored I have decided in my infinite wisdom to appoint you, my godfather, first man to escape Azkaban and only one to do it without outside help, great Marauder, inspiration to the Black Marauders, and all around the only person close to my greatness….
Harry went on another diatribe about both their greatnesses now. Sirius just laughed heartily and with pride as his godson so reminded him of both Prongs, but mostly himself. He truly had become a Marauder, what was better, a Black Marauder. Once again he finally reached an end in the diatribe and continued.
Right, now then to the lesser issue of what I am appointing you, if you want the job, and you probably do because it will save you from incredible boredom which is the greatest of tortures to a Marauder. As I said you will be the guardian of my affairs and look into all of them as well as finding new ways to invest my money. Among my interests there is Dragon Preserve, the Chuddley Cannons, and a large stake in one of the greatest business known to wizard kind, the WWW or Weasley Wizard Wheezes, THE prank shop, none other comes close, a true friend to all Marauder and Marauder wannabe, as well as anyone that just wants to have some good old fun. This last one will probably be your favorite as I have a couple of invention of my own that I came up with inspired by the Black Marauder brilliance which oozes from my pores…wait that might be sweat but still, in any case they are brilliant and you should check them out.
Attached you will find the necessary legal documentation for you to take charge. I have left instructions at Gringots to open a smaller vault for your expenses and to alert me every time it needs reloading. As to the money necessary to maintain my affairs, that is automatically deducted from my account. Any more money you need for new investments, just send me a letter as to the nature of the affair and the money necessary and I will owl the bank to make it happen. I trust you will find this arrangement to your liking. Also attached you will find a list of my general holdings as well as a bank statement to how much is in your vault so you won’t complain and how much is in mine so that you won’t say I’m giving you too much.
Sirius looked through the papers and found the statements, when he read his he almost fell backwards. That was a very large expense account. He had an idea of how rich the Blacks were, but he didn’t know they were that rich as to allow expense accounts that large. Harry had to be going overboard, at least that was what he thought until he turned the page, then he did fall over. “Two b..b..b…billion!!!!!!!! What the hell is going on?!?!?!?!?” Sirius shouted as his back hit the ground. When the shock passed he started to chuckle, then to laugh maniacally. Leave it to Harry to finally get what he deserved and not spend it all. And as he read the statement carefully he realized that while Harry had gone on some spending sprees, he had mostly invested, and had invested VERY wisely. Apparently ALL the Weasleys had done VERY well handling the responsibilities Harry had entrusted them with. The Twins had wiped away their competitors and were making a killing with their products. He would have to look more into that, because the gains were well beyond that of a simple prank shop. What’s more Harry had secretly gone behind their backs and done quite a bit of planning that would soon bring in exponential gains. As for the Cannons, under the leadership of Ron they had put together an extremely strong team and were close to winning the national championships as well as setting up a masterful merchandising franchise. The dragon preserve was more than self sustaining as it was generating a great deal of donations from different nations wanting their dragons to be taken care of by someone else. Charlie had done such a good job with Hagrid that some dragon keeping ranches that were used to keep the dragons in controlled captivity had shut down and had sent their dragons to Harry’s preserve which dragon rights organizations worldwide were praising increasingly. The donations were put back into making the Preserve bigger, bettering the living conditions of the dragons, and feeding the lot. Harry added some plans he had for more gains in the near future. On top of that Bill had intervened on Harry’s behalf in his free time and using his savvy and with the help of Percy in the Ministry had secured the rights to the Harry Potter merchandising franchise and was making a killing off all of it. Defeating Voldemort would probably prove to boost these gains through the roof. Harry in return was giving them an extremely fat commission for their work making Bill and Percy very wealthy wizards in his own right. As he read on he realized that, while the bulk of the slightly more than two billion was from the three different estates that had come together, Harry was solely responsible for not only earning back all the money he had spent, but adding nearly half a billion to what he had inherited all in a single year. There were few, if any wizards that could claim to earn half a billion galleons in a year. What’s more, Harry attached instructions to several investments he wanted to see put forth in the near future. As well as a plan that borderlined insanity but if it worked…well… “Damn Harry, you’re a genius” Sirius said with pride.
“And there’s Lily” Sirius added with a sad smile on his face and a tear in his eyes. He had inherited more than his eyes from his mother, her intelligence, responsibility, business sense, generosity, and giant heart were not only reflected in his decisions, but also in his results.
Sirius readjusted himself on the chair and thought about it. “What do you think Fawkes?” he asked the phoenix.
The bird sang a long happy note.
“Yea sounds like a good idea to me as well. I mean really what else am I going to do? Harry is right, boredom is the worst thing that can happen to a Marauder” he said. Even if Harry is preparing for a fight, he hadn’t called for help yet, but he said he would when it was time. Besides Alexander Canem had proven to deliver on his promises, Harry had won, and he had done so in style. “Besides, this plan of his is so out there, that only a Marauder could possibly think of pulling it off. And by George or some other fat old bastard I damn well will” he said standing up with a new sparkle in his eyes. “But first..” he said with a wicked grin, “I am going to need some help” he said out loud.
With that he headed to the door with a plan already forming in his mind. He went to the garage and got on his motorbike, turned her on and sat for a second listening to her roar. “Hey baby, daddy’s back, now let’s go get the mean old wolf shall we?” he said with a grin and kicked in a gear. He started to ride on the ground but soon took off, an hour later he landed in a very old house bordering some woods, he silently landed and then headed for the door. As his fist came down on the wood it opened.
“Hey Harry, heard you coming, how have you…” Remus started to say and then laid eyes on Sirius and entered shock.
“Now Mooney why are you leaving poor Harry outside, invite the boy in. For heaven’s sake…” and then she saw him.
Sirius analyzed the situation quickly in his mind; he now realized they thought he was dead. The only logical and right thing to do was… “Boo, hey Moony I come to haunt your house from now till eternity, this should be a barrel of laughs Moony. I’m looking forward to living with you two. Tonks, I do hope you can keep it down at night cousin. I mean I know Mooney here isn’t that much of a lover, but I am planning to bring some ghost girls I’ve met around over to have a good time, if you catch my drift and the howls might spoil the mood. Well at least his howls, my howls are to be expected and downright required” he said with a large grin as he rocked back and forth on his heels.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, good Merlin, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO” Lupin screamed.
“WHY US? WHY US?” Tonks screamed to the heavens.
“AH I knew you would understand” Sirius said as he walked through the two distressed adults and patted them on the shoulders as he entered the house leaving them frozen in their woe.
It took them a minute, but Remus reacted first. “Wait a second, ghosts aren’t corporeal, how the hell did I just feel him pat my shoulder?” he reasoned out loud and then turned back to stare at his friend.
Sirius chose this moment to start laughing as hard as he could and rolling on the floor in his joy. “Still got it” he managed to say.
Tonks had unfrozen now and had started to piece everything together.
“How is this possible?” Remus whispered out loud.
“I’ll give you three guesses but it will only take you one to figure out who is brilliant enough to pull it off” Sirius replied as he was still on the floor laughing and wiping the tears from his eyes.
Tonks and Lupin looked at each other, “Harry” they said together.
“See told you, you’d get it in one” Sirius replied.
“But you were dead, I saw the killing curse hit you, and then you fell through the veil” Remus replied.
“Yea, but apparently that curse takes a few seconds to fully kill a person, I fell through before it did me in. The magic inside the veil is designed to heal and keep one alive as long as possible. So it undid the curse and kept me alive” Sirius explained what Harry had explained to him.
Remus and Tonks took that in and then Tonks jumped up and hugged her cousin. “I missed you Sirius” she cried into his shoulder
“And I missed you kid, though it seems like you’ve done well for yourself Nymphodora. You are getting married, though how good of a choice Remus is, is debatable.” he said with a devilish look.
Tonks started chocking him, “I warned you Sirius that if you ever called me that name again I’d chock the life out of you. And how dare you question my judgment!!!” she screamed.
Remus went to his rescue, “Now love, let’s not kill him so soon after we have got him back. He is a prat with a gigantic head, but we have always known that, it’s just who he is. I am sure he was only joking when he questioned your intelligence” he reasoned and Tonks let go.
“Actually, you got it wrong Nymph… I mean Tonks” he began and corrected as she gave him a death glare. “I was merely pointing out that given your fiancé’s history, his performance has come into question. I mean there was this time in Sixth year when…” but he never finished that sentence as Remus was now chocking him.
“You bastard, we had a deal, you swore never to mention that day again as long as I never mentioned Cath…!!!” Remus began but again did not finish because Sirius was now chocking him.
“Nevegh mentionth thathhh nameggg!!!” groaned Sirius as serious began to choke Remus.
“Stop chocking my fiancé!!!” roared Tonks as she also began to choke Sirius.
After a minute of insanity finally things settled down, mostly thanks to Remus leading cooler heads to prevail.
“Now then, your alive and well, and it is kind of you to let us know your alive even after the fact that you have been back for days now” Remus growled with an angry smile.
“Sorry, I have been extremely busy planning” Sirius replied looking a bit ashamed.
“Planning what?” Tonks asked.
“To have a plan” Sirius replied.
“What? That makes no sense” Tonks countered.
“Actually love, it makes perfect sense” Remus said looking at her earnestly.
“In what universe?” she replied.
Both Remus and Sirius looked at her as if she were mad.
“Don’t look at me like I am bonkers you’re the ones that are crazy” she added angrily.
“A Marauder always has a plan” both replied at her as if it were common knowledge.
“Ahh, I see, now it makes sense, your both just idiots” Tonks finally concluded with a grin.
“You are too, as I understand you are now a part of our merry band” Sirius replied with a malevolent grin.
“Drat I should have known that would come back to bite me in the ass” she grumbled.
“And what a fine ass it is” Remus said under his breath
“Eww, gross Mooney, she is like my sister” Sirius complained and mock gagged.
“You do realize we sleep in the same bed right?” Remus rebuked.
“So? What is your point?” Sirius replied.
“Well when a man and a woman are deeply in love they come together…” Remus began.
“Eww, bloody ugly mental picture. You bastard Mooney, not only that but you reminded me of that terrible day when James’s dad sat us down for that ‘talk’” Sirius growled.
“You two are retarded, but I am curious, who is this Cath you don’t want mentioned?” Tonks asked with an evil gleam in her eye.
“Nobody” both said in different tones. Remus contrite, and Sirius furious.
“Ok then, moving on” Tonks replied rolling her eyes.
“Yes, as I was saying, it is appreciated you coming to say hi, but I suspect you have another reason for visiting” Remus said raising an eyebrow as he looked at Sirius.
“Ah how well you know me Mooney” Sirius barked as he laughed, Remus just nodded and Tonks settled next to him. “Well it is something that I would rather discuss in private” he said looking honestly at his friend.
“I see, will you excuse us love?” Remus asked Tonks very nicely.
“I will excuse you all you want” she growled as she kissed him. Sirius made a face. “You on the other hand can kiss my ass” she said to Sirius without turning around.
“That is cold Tonksy, very cold” he said with a grin.
“Tonksy?” Remus asked as his wife had started processing how to respond.
“Well I can’t use my favorite cousin’s real name so I’m trying out nicknames” Sirius replied.
“Just call her Sunny, all the Black Marauders do” Remus suggested.
“Ah yes the Black Marauders, such a wonderful name, an act of brilliance coming up with that name it was, total brilliance” he mused to himself.
“Ok, I am leaving before I kill him, or his head gets so big that they air runs out in the room and I can’t speak” Tonks said as she kissed Remus and then left.
Both Marauders stared as she left.
“Is she gone?” Remus asked.
Sirius got up and went to check, then ran a spell to make double sure they were alone, then another for privacy. “Yea we are alone now”
Remus got up and dashed over to his friend and the two locked in a tight brotherly embrace.
“Moony” Sirius said.
“Padfoot” Remus said as tears began to exit both their eyes.
“I missed you, you sodden bastard” they both said in unison and then laughed through the tears.
They separated, then hugged again. Just then the door opened and they quickly separated.
“Bloody hell forgot my wand, for bloody crying out…what were you doing?” she asked as she saw them standing there looking guilty.
“Nothing” they both replied.
“Whatever” she said rolling her eyes and going to retrieve her wand before Disapparating from upstairs.
“That was close” Remus said.
“Yep” Sirius said as he looked the same way.
“Well then Padfoot take a seat and explain to me this great secret” Remus replied as he too took a seat.
“Well Moony, it seems our dear Snuffles has found himself more trouble” Sirius said sitting down and sighing grimly.
Remus just shook his head, “Bloody hell, that boy has never known peace” he growled.
“Yea, that is bloody true, I swear I wish I could just kidnap him and leave the world to its fate” Sirius commented as he crossed his legs.
“So we are going to go help him then? If that’s so why didn’t you want Nymphodora involved” Remus replied.
“Well we are helping in a way. Apparently the fight is still far away but Harry wants preparations made” Sirius supplied.
Remus signaled him to continue as he got up and brought over a couple of glasses and some firewhisky. “Something tells me we are going to need this” Remus supplied.
“Better bring the Icevodka instead Remus, we need something a bit stronger” Sirius said grimly.
Remus shuddered as he brought a different bottle and poured two glasses straight up. The glasses cooled under the liquid. “Continue then, what are these preparations?” he asked.
“Well that comes later, that is the secret part, the shadow to what we will be working on. Our cover objective, and what I will be needing your help on is something a bit grander” Sirius said with a smile.
Remus recognized that smile and downed his drink in one go and served himself another. “Bloody hell, Tonks is likely to kill me for this…or worst ask to join in” he growled knowing his friend and Harry were going to drag him into trouble.
The next day both of them stood in front of a massive skyscraper, the Warlock Building. Sirius had a giant grin on his face, and Remus looked with a calm visage.
“Padfoot relax” Remus stated though he was a tad bit nervous too.
“No, no, Moony, this is the start, it needs to be perfect. I would expect nothing less of a Marauder but perfection and that is what I will deliver to Harry. Now where is that bloody woman?” Sirius barked back.
Just then a very plain, yet lovely redhead approached them. “Mr. Lupin, Mr. Black?” she asked in a very sweet voice.
“Would you be Mrs. Hensen?” Remus asked politely.
“Yes I would, and I sincerely apologize for the delay, I was caught up with another client. They wanted to purchase some space in this building as well” she stated in her pleasing sweet voice just as Sirius was about to complain about her tardiness.
Sirius bit his tongue and then spoke up, “Well Mrs. Hensen, let us get on our way, I…I mean we have much to do and very little time” he said quite bluntly.
“Sirius behave” Remus growled in a low tone.
The girl laughed heartily, “Do not worry Mr. Lupin, I can understand the rush, and by all means call me Honey” she replied smiling at them honestly.
Sirius saw an opening, he approached and took her hand, “Honey, what a sweet name, you can call me anything you want, or better yet I will call you” he said in a seductive tone.
“Sirius” Remus growled in a low tone again.
“Mr. Black, please!!” she said blushing as his charm was already working on her.
“Damn, and I thought that old bastard was dead” Sirius said looking around. “Oh you meant me, call me Sirius, my father was Mr. Black” he said winking at her and chuckling.
Her face now matched her hair as she giggled, she cleared her throat to regain her composure, but still kept smiling, “Well then shall we go see the spaces I have available?” she replied.
“By all means lead the way, that way I can enjoy the fine view” Sirius replied as he bowed a bit and extended his hand to the side courteously.
“Sirius!!!” Remus growled louder.
“Not now Moony. I’m working my mojo here” Sirius whispered back.
“That’s what I am afraid of” he replied.
Sirius just waved him off as they went to the elevators.
“Oh yes, these spaces have a very good view, they overlook all of London. This is the tallest building to date in England. It was completed only 3 months ago and then enchanted by a team of professionals so that Muggles will not see it or come near it, even if they fly close to it they will be diverted by the spells” she said matter a factly.
“Wow, that is impressive. You sound very cultured, though I wasn’t referring to the view of the building Honey” Sirius said a she laid down a million Galleon smile.
Honey once again turned cherry red. Remus rolled his eyes, it was too late for the girl, had to feel sorry for Mr. Hensen.
“Sirius!!!” she squealed as she giggled and playfully hit him in the arm. The elevator rose to the 11th floor and stopped. She sobered up a bit and then spoke, “Well if you will follow me, I’ll show you the space I had in mind…” she began but was stopped by Sirius’s hand as he pulled her back by gently placing his arm around her waist and the other against the elevator exit frame.
“I was thinking something a little further up” he whispered in her ear and then pressed the button for the penthouse.
She closed her eyes and exhaled a controlled breath holding back the goosebumps the man caused her. There was a ding and the doors opened again and they exited the elevator. Sirius gently pulling her by the hand in her daze.
He looked around; frankly it was for show as he had looked at the place previously. “Excellent, I like this. We will take it” he said with enthusiasm.
“Huh, uh, ah” she stuttered and then shook her head to snap out of the daze she was in. She looked around and realized where she was. “Oh…that would be a problem, I am sorry to say that this property was taken off the market. In fact, it was taken off the market in the meeting I just came from with the White group” she explained.
Remus meanwhile, had been looking around and upon hearing her frowned, “This would have really done the trick too” he said as he observed that it had three floors and plenty of office space to rearrange.
“Now Honey” Sirius said in his most seductive and animalistic tone. “Did they perchance sign the paper and give you a down payment?” he asked smiling again.
“No..noo…not yet” she replied getting caught in his eyes.
“Then why don’t you help an old dog out, and maybe…we can help each other” he replied, the last part whispered.
Remus rolled his eyes again.
“A ma, ma, ma, me married” she replied but Sirius was already pulling her into one of the empty offices and shutting the door.
“Poor girl, poor husband” Remus said exhaling a sigh of frustration.
Moments later loud moans and screams of pleasure started to fill the floor.
“Bloody hell, poor me” Remus concluded as he cast a deafening charm on himself. He left and went to get something to eat. Then a few hours later he returned. His werewolf senses told him they were still at it, not that he needed them, the moans and screams had only gotten louder.
Remus chuckled, “He will never change” he said and then took a seat on the stairs and dozed off. He woke up later and the noise had stopped.
“…so we have a deal, double what they asked” Mrs. Hensen said as they door opened. She looked a bit ruffled, but had and even wider grin.
“Honey it has been an extreme pleasure doing business with you” Sirius replied as he kissed her hand.
“Yes it has, do let me know if you have any more…business you want to take care of” she replied in a seductive tone as she winked at him, kissed him and then turned around and giggled all the way to the elevator.
“Well we got our office space” Sirius said with a grin as he turned to Remus.
“I can see that, did you really have to go to such….extensive lengths Snuffles?” Remus asked grinning at him.
“You know me Moony, always have to go full speed or not at all” he chuckled in return.
“Yes Padfoot, I unfortunately do” Remus chuckled as he shook his head.
Business had been good to the Weasley Twins; they were busy setting up the new shop in Hogsmede. They had bought out Zonko's and were now refurbishing the building to their specs…and they were grandiose to say the least.
“So what do you think of the fake snakes over here?” George asked.
“Why my dear brother I believe that is brilliant” Fred replied.
“Tis as if we share one brain” George countered.
“True, though one must question the sanity of said brain” said Ginny who was spending her vacation helping them out.
“Ah our dear sister, how proud we are of you” Fred said as he hugged her from one side.
“Indeed brother, becoming a true Marauder. Brings tears to our eyes” George added as he hugged her from the other side.
“Took after us, what pride, what pride” Fred added as he fake shed a tear.
“They grow up so fast, now she is going to have to go at it alone. We expect much business from you sis” George followed.
“You being the last Marauder left in school. We will give you a nice family discount. Five percent should be enough” Fred continued
“Enough you two” she said shaking them off.
“Fine, let’s make it seven” George said.
Ginny glared at him
“Ok, ok, ten then” Fred finished
“Urgh you two are infuriating” Ginny said and stomped off.
“What bit her Quaffles?” Fred asked as he looked at his brother.
“Must be that she broke up with Neville over the break” George supplied.
“Must be, though she sounded like Minnie just now” Fred continued as he stocked the Ten tongue toffee on the shelf. Both brothers cringed and shook for a second.
It was at this moment that an owl landed in their shop carrying an envelope with a black seal.
“Uh what’s this? Fan mail?” George said as he took the letter from the bird.
“Must be, oh how I love fan mail, lets read it” Fred replied.
The twins opened it and as they read down their faces changed from surprise, to anger, to joy, then to outright evil smiles and laughs.
“My dear brother, it appears that there is a new wind approaching” Fred began.
“Indeed brother, I can feel it too, and it doesn’t smell like shite to me” George continued.
“True, it seems to be a very fresh and quite intriguing scent” Fred countered as both began machinating at the news.
Hagrid, Charlie, and Sandra, his new girlfriend who he had met when Harry dropped by with her for his NEWT, were all having breakfast on the dragon preserve.
“You know that there Horntail has been rather mellow since Harry and Shadow had a go at him” Hagrid commented.
“Poor thing, must have been scared out of his mind” Sandra said as she shoveled more food on Charlie’s plate. She and Molly had met and Molly had instantly loved her and had given her instructions on how to best take care of Charlie, the first of which was keep him well fed.
“Thanks love. Well what you expect Harry is very frightening” Charlie said chuckling as he shoved the food into his mouth with wanton disregard. He inwardly cringed as he thought of the day he had brought her over to meet his parents. Molly and Ginny had nearly danced with joy, in fact, he was sure they did when they were away from prying eyes. After the initial shock they then proceeded to interrogate the poor girl, which wasn’t so bad because she interrogated them right back on all things Charlie. The three instantly became a cohesive unit plotting to control his life.
Sandra smacked his arm playfully, “I meant Shadow, though from what I’ve seen and what was printed in the Prophet, Harry is a force onto himself” she replied.
“Aye that he is, still remember when I went to pick him up, he was a wee little feller” Hagrid said with a tear in his eye.
“Yea, and now he is the mysterious hero that vanishes after he almost singlehandedly saves the day” Charlie said with a chuckle.
It was at this point that two owls swooped down and perched in front of them with matching letters.
“What’s this? Guess we have some mail to read” Charlie commented.
Hagrid and Charlie grabbed the envelopes, ripped them open and read. Soon both raised their eyes at each other as if to confirm what they had read.
“What’s going on?” Sandra asked as she looked between them.
“Nothing love, just some business that we have to take care of” Charlie said enthused.
“Yea, important matters” Hagrid said with a tear in his eyes and a big smile.
Bill and Percy where having lunch with Fleur at her restaurant.
“So Fleur how has business been recently?” Percy asked politely.
“Pewrcy, I have told yew to call me sister” she said with a smile, “And it has been vewry good. My new idias have helped bring in a wider variety of costumer. It also helps that we rid ourselves of that fool” she added and ended with a note of bitterness.
“Now now love, he has gotten his just deserts. The Twins have been making his life a living hell. They give me weekly reports on all the things they do to the poor man” Bill replied.
“I unfortunately get them as well, I think they are starting a Weasley sibling newsletter with it” Percy said annoyed.
Fleur smiled evilly, “Good, he deserves it” she said as she held her belly.
“Now love, don’t go filling your head with bad thoughts, it is bad for the baby” Bill said as he kissed his wife and warmed her smile to kindness.
“I love you so much Bill” Fleur said with a smile.
The announcement of the first addition to the new generation of Weasleys had been very well received. Molly broke in tears of ecstatic joy at the fact she would be a grandma, Arthur had smiled at the prospect as well, Percy had given him a proper congratulations, Ron had smashed his back heartily along with Charlie and lit the man a cigar to celebrate, which promptly blew up. The twins being the responsible party for this ran for their lives as they plotted how they would abduct the child, raise it to be like them, and then leave it to wolves to raise till it was time for Hogwarts, that way they would have a worthy successor for their legacy at Hogwarts. Ginny had crushed Fleur in a hug before she chased her brothers along with Molly screaming “You will do no such thing you irresponsible, morally reprehensible…” among other things, the culminating in “If you ever even look at him funny we will curse you so bad you will wish you were never born”
“I’m extremely glad for the both of you” Percy said formally as he sipped his tea.
“Thanks brother, I am sure you will share our luck someday” Bill replied
Percy smiled, cleared his throat and continued, “Yes, now let’s get back to what we were discussing. We need to decide on the new line of merchandising for Harry, the public is demanding it” he explained.
“Quite, though I sometimes seriously question the sanity of all the people that buy this junk. I mean really, Harry Potter knickers, who in their right mind would buy some of those?” Bill commented.
Fleur had a brilliantly seductive smile, letting all the Veela in her out. She leaned in to her husband and then whispered, “Well Bill, vhy don’t you take me back to the storage closet and you can find out”
Bill’s eyes went wide as his pulse shot up as he turned to stare at his wife. “You’re bluffing” he said in shock.
She just raised an eyebrow and made her smile more devilish, “Am I? They looked fun and comfortable so I took a pair from the samples” she giggled in his ear.
Bill’s smile grew and began to get up; forgetting Percy and the conversation entirely till two owls flew in with matching envelopes. This pulled him back as Percy was already opening his and reading it quickly. He was shocked and chagrined at first but as he re read he smiled as did Bill as he finished his.
“Brilliant, absolutely blood brilliant” Percy said in a rare moment of candor.
“Indeed brother, indeed” Bill replied and then followed his wife to the backroom with a wider smile and a skip in his step.
Ron was in the middle of watching practice with the Cannons.
“Bloody hell man, move faster there Bailey. Gregory, you call that a save? Hilbert, hit that Bludger like you have a pair” Ron screamed from the stands
The Cannons had grown accustomed to his rants and raves during practice. At first they had been annoyed; some were completely new to the team having been bought from other teams. Ron had assigned them a tough coach, but as the owner he was relentless. Wilsons, the coach, merely sat back and ran his practice with a grin on his face. He would ignore Ron with ease now, besides, he knew the bloke was right and his constant badgering was helping him more than any assistant coach ever would and all that badgering was NEVER directed at him. He just smiled and earned his enormous paycheck. The team had rebelled only once, just once. Ron had complained at the Keeper and he had proceeded to challenge him to do better. Ron got up on his new Firebolt MK, courtesy of Olivander who had finally started to make them himself, got up and put on a 20 minute demonstration of Keeping skills that had the Keepers on the team worrying for their jobs. From that point on, NO ONE argued with Ron about his rants. What’s more, through them they had improved so dramatically that they were now in the championship game and all had already been approached by the English team about trying out for the National squad for the World Cup.
It was in the middle of his ranting that an owl dropped an envelope with a black seal on his head. He picked it up, read through it angrily and then midway slowed down and re-read it with eyes wide, he re-read it a third time just to be sure he wasn’t being thick and then sat down in awe.
“Bloody hell” was all he said.
And so one week later, the Floo on the Penthouse office of the Warlock building began to flare like wild. Remus welcomed every guest one by one and sat them at the conference table; it was huge and circular, like the round table with an empty space in the middle to walk through. The entire décor of the office was black, the furniture, the chairs, the decorations, and so was this giant table of black marble.
“Ok it seems we are all here” Remus finally said as he looked around the room. Only two chairs remained empty.
“What is this about Remus?” Bill asked bluntly.
“Yea, Moony, is it true?” Ron asked as well.
“Well, why don’t we let our dear CEO, idiot, and dictator answer that” Remus replied.
“I resent that Moony, I am not an idiot” Sirius said as he made a grandiose entrance and took his seat. Remus’s comment didn’t detract from the shock of seeing the man alive.
“Sirius, is it really you?” asked Percy in shock.
“How is this possible?” asked Bill.
“Well how it is possible is thanks to the very man we are here to discuss. Or better said, whom I am here in representation of” replied Sirius.
“Huh?” said Seamus in clear confusion. He had only come because the letter said that this was about Snuffles, Harry’s Marauder name.
“So our great partner has done it again” George began.
“Bringing back the dead, I wonder if we can market that?” Fred replied.
“In any case, the world has one Marauder back” George rebutted.
“Indeed a most joyous occurrence” Fred replied.
“Huh?” said Neville who had been silent up till now. He had also come because of his Marauder duties.
“Enough, why don’t we let Sirius tell the story, he does so love to talk about himself” Remus supplied.
“Oh Moony, you know me so well” Sirius said drying a mock tear. “Well then let us begin with how I got back and what I have been doing up till now…” and he then told them everything up to the point where he got the letter.
“Ok that explains how you are here and alive” Bill supplied.
“Sucks we can’t market that” Fred said disappointed.
“Oh well, still we can tag it onto Harry’s name. Bringer back of those that crossed the veil or something” George countered.
“Quite right brother” Fred countered.
“Hey that matter would fall under merchandising Harry’s name, which is our department” Percy replied as he stared down his brothers.
“But it’s our idea” both Twins replied with wicked grins.
“Now now, calm down people, this ties into exactly why we are all here” Sirius said raising his voice and letting out a doglike laugh.
“What do you mean? What’s all this about?” Bill asked now, and everyone quieted as they waited for an answer.
Yep, you thought i was gone, you may have thought it was over, :P it is not, so here you go, booyachasha
Chapter 2 The BLHWWWWWWFLP Black Marauders Unlimited
It was a beautiful morning in Grimmauld Palace or as it was now called the House of Black, Sirius had just had a long talk with Harry and was mostly caught up on all that had been going on. So now he had the luxury of inspecting his old house on his own. The remodeling and new furnishings fit it well; it no longer felt like the dreary, dark, evil place he grew up in. Now it was Harry’s house, though it definitely didn’t have the Potter flair to it, it was more of the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix than anything else. Time had passed, that idea became ever more clear as he finally stepped into the bathroom and prepared to take a bath. He looked himself in the mirror and saw the years had piled on, though he looked better than when he got out of Azkaban, he still looked older, he felt older. He poured a hot bath and soaked in the tub, dumping in different oils and soaps he had found that had a definite feminine influence to them, probably something Molly or some other girl had brought. Still those were the types of things he used to enjoy, back then when he was a student, before all the mess with Azkaban, before his best friend was killed, before he graduated Hogwarts, before he had that fight with…HER. He quickly shook his head as to get the memory out; it had been a long time since he thought of that girl, well any girl. But the veil was unforgiving; in there all he had was time and his thoughts, his memories, the good and the bad. And like Azkaban, he chose to focus on the good to try and keep his sanity. And in that time he remembered his glorious years as a student. The girls he had conquered, the pranks he had played, the mysterious seventh year that brought them together and then when he became a teacher lead them all wisely. Dumbledore had been a great influence, but that man whose name he no longer remembered; HE had been their true “teacher” and mentor. It was thanks to him that he took a chance and had the best or worst thing of his life happened to him, depending on how he looked at it. Then another thought crossed his mind, “It couldn’t have been the worst, not anymore anyways” he mumbled. Azkaban, the death of his friend, the veil, being on the run, all these things and many others had been far worst. No, by all intents and purposes, she had been the best, though the ending had sucked. He shook his head again and busted out of his reverie, he dunked his head under the water. He then proceeded to shampoo, condition, and treat it with the oils, soaps, and potions all around him. It had been a long while since had taken care to look his best, and now, free, and in this finally peaceful time, he decided to go back to being Sirius Black, the Marauder, and playboy extraordinaire. He shaved; he spent hours fixing his hair and finally took some clothes from Harry’s closet and dressed fashionably. When he finally looked in the mirror he had to smile, the devilishly sexy beast that he was, was back, and though older, the maturity had done him well, he looked like and older, dependable, roguish gentleman, in other words, tall, dark, and handsome.
So he exited the house for the first time in a long time and walked around the block trying to figure out what to do with his life. He didn’t have a job, and doubted he would get one no matter how well cleared his name was. He didn’t have any money, Harry had it all, and frankly he could keep it. He did have a nice home, at least it was nice now, he thought with a grin. So what to do with his life, what to do. And so he kept on walking and eventually he found himself right back in front of the House of Black. This pattern repeated for several days. He really didn’t feel up to facing the world yet, at least not till he had a solid plan, he knew that everyone would ask him what he would do now and it would hardly befit a Marauder to not have a plan. So he fell into a routine, no closer to figuring out what to do, that was until the day he came back from a walk. He still had no idea what to do as he walked to the kitchen to get a snack, it was then he noticed Fawkes was now standing on the back of one of the chairs and looking at him with curious eyes.
Sirius, once he got over the shock of having a phoenix in front of him, approached, “Hey there Fawkes, been a while since I last saw you. How have you been?” he asked knowing the bird was intelligent.
The phoenix replied with a sweet lingering sad note followed by a very cheerful energetic one.
“Yea I miss Dumbledore too, though it is good your feeling better” he replied surmising the birds meaning.
Fawkes sang another note and then extended his foot, in it was a letter.
“Ah I see” Sirius barked with a laugh and then took the letter and began to read.
Dear Sirius, (Finally I get to call you by your name, though Snuffles lives on in me, I guess I can call you Padfoot)
Dear Padfoot, (There you go much better)
It seems that while the world is saved from one problem, I might have unleashed one worst. Trust me the less you know the better. Basically now I have to go and resolve this issue as expeditiously and thoroughly as possible. Don’t worry I am with Axel, they guy I told you about, and he has a very good plan, and yes we will need help but not yet. (I know, bloody confusing isn’t it?).
“You can say that again, learned that proper from Dumbledore I guess” Sirius sighed. Fawkes trilled a note that sounded like a laugh. Thought he was concerned for his godson, he figured if he kicked Voldemort’s arse as well as he did, then he shouldn’t worry too much, so he read on.
(Learned that proper from Dumbledore it seems)
Sirius laughed and nodded,
In any case among the thousands of thoughts in my head I came to the realization that now you have absolutely nothing to do. That coupled with my brilliance and ability to solve one problem with another lead me to a brilliant deduction that is brilliantly brilliant as you can very well fathom.
“Yep, definitely a Potter, though some of me rubbed off on him. Otherwise he wouldn’t be truly brilliant, he would just think he is like Prongs” Sirius said out loud as he read on. Harry continued a rather interesting tirade on his own greatness that further proved that he had had a great influence on his godson.
Ok then, with the point of my brilliance out of the way I can now return to the lesser issue that is what I came up with. You see Padfoot, thanks to you, Dumbledore, and my parents I have become a very wealthy wizard, extremely wealthy, outrageously wealthy, mind numbingly wealthy, or just plain stinking rich. As such I have made several investments, investments that require looking into from time to time. Thought all are in very capable hands, I still feel that someone representing me should make sure they are being carried out in a way that befits the name Potter. That befits my name above all. I mean I am Snuffles now, and such a name deserves greatness such as me. So in order to keep my great name honored I have decided in my infinite wisdom to appoint you, my godfather, first man to escape Azkaban and only one to do it without outside help, great Marauder, inspiration to the Black Marauders, and all around the only person close to my greatness….
Harry went on another diatribe about both their greatnesses now. Sirius just laughed heartily and with pride as his godson so reminded him of both Prongs, but mostly himself. He truly had become a Marauder, what was better, a Black Marauder. Once again he finally reached an end in the diatribe and continued.
Right, now then to the lesser issue of what I am appointing you, if you want the job, and you probably do because it will save you from incredible boredom which is the greatest of tortures to a Marauder. As I said you will be the guardian of my affairs and look into all of them as well as finding new ways to invest my money. Among my interests there is Dragon Preserve, the Chuddley Cannons, and a large stake in one of the greatest business known to wizard kind, the WWW or Weasley Wizard Wheezes, THE prank shop, none other comes close, a true friend to all Marauder and Marauder wannabe, as well as anyone that just wants to have some good old fun. This last one will probably be your favorite as I have a couple of invention of my own that I came up with inspired by the Black Marauder brilliance which oozes from my pores…wait that might be sweat but still, in any case they are brilliant and you should check them out.
Attached you will find the necessary legal documentation for you to take charge. I have left instructions at Gringots to open a smaller vault for your expenses and to alert me every time it needs reloading. As to the money necessary to maintain my affairs, that is automatically deducted from my account. Any more money you need for new investments, just send me a letter as to the nature of the affair and the money necessary and I will owl the bank to make it happen. I trust you will find this arrangement to your liking. Also attached you will find a list of my general holdings as well as a bank statement to how much is in your vault so you won’t complain and how much is in mine so that you won’t say I’m giving you too much.
Sirius looked through the papers and found the statements, when he read his he almost fell backwards. That was a very large expense account. He had an idea of how rich the Blacks were, but he didn’t know they were that rich as to allow expense accounts that large. Harry had to be going overboard, at least that was what he thought until he turned the page, then he did fall over. “Two b..b..b…billion!!!!!!!! What the hell is going on?!?!?!?!?” Sirius shouted as his back hit the ground. When the shock passed he started to chuckle, then to laugh maniacally. Leave it to Harry to finally get what he deserved and not spend it all. And as he read the statement carefully he realized that while Harry had gone on some spending sprees, he had mostly invested, and had invested VERY wisely. Apparently ALL the Weasleys had done VERY well handling the responsibilities Harry had entrusted them with. The Twins had wiped away their competitors and were making a killing with their products. He would have to look more into that, because the gains were well beyond that of a simple prank shop. What’s more Harry had secretly gone behind their backs and done quite a bit of planning that would soon bring in exponential gains. As for the Cannons, under the leadership of Ron they had put together an extremely strong team and were close to winning the national championships as well as setting up a masterful merchandising franchise. The dragon preserve was more than self sustaining as it was generating a great deal of donations from different nations wanting their dragons to be taken care of by someone else. Charlie had done such a good job with Hagrid that some dragon keeping ranches that were used to keep the dragons in controlled captivity had shut down and had sent their dragons to Harry’s preserve which dragon rights organizations worldwide were praising increasingly. The donations were put back into making the Preserve bigger, bettering the living conditions of the dragons, and feeding the lot. Harry added some plans he had for more gains in the near future. On top of that Bill had intervened on Harry’s behalf in his free time and using his savvy and with the help of Percy in the Ministry had secured the rights to the Harry Potter merchandising franchise and was making a killing off all of it. Defeating Voldemort would probably prove to boost these gains through the roof. Harry in return was giving them an extremely fat commission for their work making Bill and Percy very wealthy wizards in his own right. As he read on he realized that, while the bulk of the slightly more than two billion was from the three different estates that had come together, Harry was solely responsible for not only earning back all the money he had spent, but adding nearly half a billion to what he had inherited all in a single year. There were few, if any wizards that could claim to earn half a billion galleons in a year. What’s more, Harry attached instructions to several investments he wanted to see put forth in the near future. As well as a plan that borderlined insanity but if it worked…well… “Damn Harry, you’re a genius” Sirius said with pride.
“And there’s Lily” Sirius added with a sad smile on his face and a tear in his eyes. He had inherited more than his eyes from his mother, her intelligence, responsibility, business sense, generosity, and giant heart were not only reflected in his decisions, but also in his results.
Sirius readjusted himself on the chair and thought about it. “What do you think Fawkes?” he asked the phoenix.
The bird sang a long happy note.
“Yea sounds like a good idea to me as well. I mean really what else am I going to do? Harry is right, boredom is the worst thing that can happen to a Marauder” he said. Even if Harry is preparing for a fight, he hadn’t called for help yet, but he said he would when it was time. Besides Alexander Canem had proven to deliver on his promises, Harry had won, and he had done so in style. “Besides, this plan of his is so out there, that only a Marauder could possibly think of pulling it off. And by George or some other fat old bastard I damn well will” he said standing up with a new sparkle in his eyes. “But first..” he said with a wicked grin, “I am going to need some help” he said out loud.
With that he headed to the door with a plan already forming in his mind. He went to the garage and got on his motorbike, turned her on and sat for a second listening to her roar. “Hey baby, daddy’s back, now let’s go get the mean old wolf shall we?” he said with a grin and kicked in a gear. He started to ride on the ground but soon took off, an hour later he landed in a very old house bordering some woods, he silently landed and then headed for the door. As his fist came down on the wood it opened.
“Hey Harry, heard you coming, how have you…” Remus started to say and then laid eyes on Sirius and entered shock.
“Now Mooney why are you leaving poor Harry outside, invite the boy in. For heaven’s sake…” and then she saw him.
Sirius analyzed the situation quickly in his mind; he now realized they thought he was dead. The only logical and right thing to do was… “Boo, hey Moony I come to haunt your house from now till eternity, this should be a barrel of laughs Moony. I’m looking forward to living with you two. Tonks, I do hope you can keep it down at night cousin. I mean I know Mooney here isn’t that much of a lover, but I am planning to bring some ghost girls I’ve met around over to have a good time, if you catch my drift and the howls might spoil the mood. Well at least his howls, my howls are to be expected and downright required” he said with a large grin as he rocked back and forth on his heels.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, good Merlin, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO” Lupin screamed.
“WHY US? WHY US?” Tonks screamed to the heavens.
“AH I knew you would understand” Sirius said as he walked through the two distressed adults and patted them on the shoulders as he entered the house leaving them frozen in their woe.
It took them a minute, but Remus reacted first. “Wait a second, ghosts aren’t corporeal, how the hell did I just feel him pat my shoulder?” he reasoned out loud and then turned back to stare at his friend.
Sirius chose this moment to start laughing as hard as he could and rolling on the floor in his joy. “Still got it” he managed to say.
Tonks had unfrozen now and had started to piece everything together.
“How is this possible?” Remus whispered out loud.
“I’ll give you three guesses but it will only take you one to figure out who is brilliant enough to pull it off” Sirius replied as he was still on the floor laughing and wiping the tears from his eyes.
Tonks and Lupin looked at each other, “Harry” they said together.
“See told you, you’d get it in one” Sirius replied.
“But you were dead, I saw the killing curse hit you, and then you fell through the veil” Remus replied.
“Yea, but apparently that curse takes a few seconds to fully kill a person, I fell through before it did me in. The magic inside the veil is designed to heal and keep one alive as long as possible. So it undid the curse and kept me alive” Sirius explained what Harry had explained to him.
Remus and Tonks took that in and then Tonks jumped up and hugged her cousin. “I missed you Sirius” she cried into his shoulder
“And I missed you kid, though it seems like you’ve done well for yourself Nymphodora. You are getting married, though how good of a choice Remus is, is debatable.” he said with a devilish look.
Tonks started chocking him, “I warned you Sirius that if you ever called me that name again I’d chock the life out of you. And how dare you question my judgment!!!” she screamed.
Remus went to his rescue, “Now love, let’s not kill him so soon after we have got him back. He is a prat with a gigantic head, but we have always known that, it’s just who he is. I am sure he was only joking when he questioned your intelligence” he reasoned and Tonks let go.
“Actually, you got it wrong Nymph… I mean Tonks” he began and corrected as she gave him a death glare. “I was merely pointing out that given your fiancé’s history, his performance has come into question. I mean there was this time in Sixth year when…” but he never finished that sentence as Remus was now chocking him.
“You bastard, we had a deal, you swore never to mention that day again as long as I never mentioned Cath…!!!” Remus began but again did not finish because Sirius was now chocking him.
“Nevegh mentionth thathhh nameggg!!!” groaned Sirius as serious began to choke Remus.
“Stop chocking my fiancé!!!” roared Tonks as she also began to choke Sirius.
After a minute of insanity finally things settled down, mostly thanks to Remus leading cooler heads to prevail.
“Now then, your alive and well, and it is kind of you to let us know your alive even after the fact that you have been back for days now” Remus growled with an angry smile.
“Sorry, I have been extremely busy planning” Sirius replied looking a bit ashamed.
“Planning what?” Tonks asked.
“To have a plan” Sirius replied.
“What? That makes no sense” Tonks countered.
“Actually love, it makes perfect sense” Remus said looking at her earnestly.
“In what universe?” she replied.
Both Remus and Sirius looked at her as if she were mad.
“Don’t look at me like I am bonkers you’re the ones that are crazy” she added angrily.
“A Marauder always has a plan” both replied at her as if it were common knowledge.
“Ahh, I see, now it makes sense, your both just idiots” Tonks finally concluded with a grin.
“You are too, as I understand you are now a part of our merry band” Sirius replied with a malevolent grin.
“Drat I should have known that would come back to bite me in the ass” she grumbled.
“And what a fine ass it is” Remus said under his breath
“Eww, gross Mooney, she is like my sister” Sirius complained and mock gagged.
“You do realize we sleep in the same bed right?” Remus rebuked.
“So? What is your point?” Sirius replied.
“Well when a man and a woman are deeply in love they come together…” Remus began.
“Eww, bloody ugly mental picture. You bastard Mooney, not only that but you reminded me of that terrible day when James’s dad sat us down for that ‘talk’” Sirius growled.
“You two are retarded, but I am curious, who is this Cath you don’t want mentioned?” Tonks asked with an evil gleam in her eye.
“Nobody” both said in different tones. Remus contrite, and Sirius furious.
“Ok then, moving on” Tonks replied rolling her eyes.
“Yes, as I was saying, it is appreciated you coming to say hi, but I suspect you have another reason for visiting” Remus said raising an eyebrow as he looked at Sirius.
“Ah how well you know me Mooney” Sirius barked as he laughed, Remus just nodded and Tonks settled next to him. “Well it is something that I would rather discuss in private” he said looking honestly at his friend.
“I see, will you excuse us love?” Remus asked Tonks very nicely.
“I will excuse you all you want” she growled as she kissed him. Sirius made a face. “You on the other hand can kiss my ass” she said to Sirius without turning around.
“That is cold Tonksy, very cold” he said with a grin.
“Tonksy?” Remus asked as his wife had started processing how to respond.
“Well I can’t use my favorite cousin’s real name so I’m trying out nicknames” Sirius replied.
“Just call her Sunny, all the Black Marauders do” Remus suggested.
“Ah yes the Black Marauders, such a wonderful name, an act of brilliance coming up with that name it was, total brilliance” he mused to himself.
“Ok, I am leaving before I kill him, or his head gets so big that they air runs out in the room and I can’t speak” Tonks said as she kissed Remus and then left.
Both Marauders stared as she left.
“Is she gone?” Remus asked.
Sirius got up and went to check, then ran a spell to make double sure they were alone, then another for privacy. “Yea we are alone now”
Remus got up and dashed over to his friend and the two locked in a tight brotherly embrace.
“Moony” Sirius said.
“Padfoot” Remus said as tears began to exit both their eyes.
“I missed you, you sodden bastard” they both said in unison and then laughed through the tears.
They separated, then hugged again. Just then the door opened and they quickly separated.
“Bloody hell forgot my wand, for bloody crying out…what were you doing?” she asked as she saw them standing there looking guilty.
“Nothing” they both replied.
“Whatever” she said rolling her eyes and going to retrieve her wand before Disapparating from upstairs.
“That was close” Remus said.
“Yep” Sirius said as he looked the same way.
“Well then Padfoot take a seat and explain to me this great secret” Remus replied as he too took a seat.
“Well Moony, it seems our dear Snuffles has found himself more trouble” Sirius said sitting down and sighing grimly.
Remus just shook his head, “Bloody hell, that boy has never known peace” he growled.
“Yea, that is bloody true, I swear I wish I could just kidnap him and leave the world to its fate” Sirius commented as he crossed his legs.
“So we are going to go help him then? If that’s so why didn’t you want Nymphodora involved” Remus replied.
“Well we are helping in a way. Apparently the fight is still far away but Harry wants preparations made” Sirius supplied.
Remus signaled him to continue as he got up and brought over a couple of glasses and some firewhisky. “Something tells me we are going to need this” Remus supplied.
“Better bring the Icevodka instead Remus, we need something a bit stronger” Sirius said grimly.
Remus shuddered as he brought a different bottle and poured two glasses straight up. The glasses cooled under the liquid. “Continue then, what are these preparations?” he asked.
“Well that comes later, that is the secret part, the shadow to what we will be working on. Our cover objective, and what I will be needing your help on is something a bit grander” Sirius said with a smile.
Remus recognized that smile and downed his drink in one go and served himself another. “Bloody hell, Tonks is likely to kill me for this…or worst ask to join in” he growled knowing his friend and Harry were going to drag him into trouble.
The next day both of them stood in front of a massive skyscraper, the Warlock Building. Sirius had a giant grin on his face, and Remus looked with a calm visage.
“Padfoot relax” Remus stated though he was a tad bit nervous too.
“No, no, Moony, this is the start, it needs to be perfect. I would expect nothing less of a Marauder but perfection and that is what I will deliver to Harry. Now where is that bloody woman?” Sirius barked back.
Just then a very plain, yet lovely redhead approached them. “Mr. Lupin, Mr. Black?” she asked in a very sweet voice.
“Would you be Mrs. Hensen?” Remus asked politely.
“Yes I would, and I sincerely apologize for the delay, I was caught up with another client. They wanted to purchase some space in this building as well” she stated in her pleasing sweet voice just as Sirius was about to complain about her tardiness.
Sirius bit his tongue and then spoke up, “Well Mrs. Hensen, let us get on our way, I…I mean we have much to do and very little time” he said quite bluntly.
“Sirius behave” Remus growled in a low tone.
The girl laughed heartily, “Do not worry Mr. Lupin, I can understand the rush, and by all means call me Honey” she replied smiling at them honestly.
Sirius saw an opening, he approached and took her hand, “Honey, what a sweet name, you can call me anything you want, or better yet I will call you” he said in a seductive tone.
“Sirius” Remus growled in a low tone again.
“Mr. Black, please!!” she said blushing as his charm was already working on her.
“Damn, and I thought that old bastard was dead” Sirius said looking around. “Oh you meant me, call me Sirius, my father was Mr. Black” he said winking at her and chuckling.
Her face now matched her hair as she giggled, she cleared her throat to regain her composure, but still kept smiling, “Well then shall we go see the spaces I have available?” she replied.
“By all means lead the way, that way I can enjoy the fine view” Sirius replied as he bowed a bit and extended his hand to the side courteously.
“Sirius!!!” Remus growled louder.
“Not now Moony. I’m working my mojo here” Sirius whispered back.
“That’s what I am afraid of” he replied.
Sirius just waved him off as they went to the elevators.
“Oh yes, these spaces have a very good view, they overlook all of London. This is the tallest building to date in England. It was completed only 3 months ago and then enchanted by a team of professionals so that Muggles will not see it or come near it, even if they fly close to it they will be diverted by the spells” she said matter a factly.
“Wow, that is impressive. You sound very cultured, though I wasn’t referring to the view of the building Honey” Sirius said a she laid down a million Galleon smile.
Honey once again turned cherry red. Remus rolled his eyes, it was too late for the girl, had to feel sorry for Mr. Hensen.
“Sirius!!!” she squealed as she giggled and playfully hit him in the arm. The elevator rose to the 11th floor and stopped. She sobered up a bit and then spoke, “Well if you will follow me, I’ll show you the space I had in mind…” she began but was stopped by Sirius’s hand as he pulled her back by gently placing his arm around her waist and the other against the elevator exit frame.
“I was thinking something a little further up” he whispered in her ear and then pressed the button for the penthouse.
She closed her eyes and exhaled a controlled breath holding back the goosebumps the man caused her. There was a ding and the doors opened again and they exited the elevator. Sirius gently pulling her by the hand in her daze.
He looked around; frankly it was for show as he had looked at the place previously. “Excellent, I like this. We will take it” he said with enthusiasm.
“Huh, uh, ah” she stuttered and then shook her head to snap out of the daze she was in. She looked around and realized where she was. “Oh…that would be a problem, I am sorry to say that this property was taken off the market. In fact, it was taken off the market in the meeting I just came from with the White group” she explained.
Remus meanwhile, had been looking around and upon hearing her frowned, “This would have really done the trick too” he said as he observed that it had three floors and plenty of office space to rearrange.
“Now Honey” Sirius said in his most seductive and animalistic tone. “Did they perchance sign the paper and give you a down payment?” he asked smiling again.
“No..noo…not yet” she replied getting caught in his eyes.
“Then why don’t you help an old dog out, and maybe…we can help each other” he replied, the last part whispered.
Remus rolled his eyes again.
“A ma, ma, ma, me married” she replied but Sirius was already pulling her into one of the empty offices and shutting the door.
“Poor girl, poor husband” Remus said exhaling a sigh of frustration.
Moments later loud moans and screams of pleasure started to fill the floor.
“Bloody hell, poor me” Remus concluded as he cast a deafening charm on himself. He left and went to get something to eat. Then a few hours later he returned. His werewolf senses told him they were still at it, not that he needed them, the moans and screams had only gotten louder.
Remus chuckled, “He will never change” he said and then took a seat on the stairs and dozed off. He woke up later and the noise had stopped.
“…so we have a deal, double what they asked” Mrs. Hensen said as they door opened. She looked a bit ruffled, but had and even wider grin.
“Honey it has been an extreme pleasure doing business with you” Sirius replied as he kissed her hand.
“Yes it has, do let me know if you have any more…business you want to take care of” she replied in a seductive tone as she winked at him, kissed him and then turned around and giggled all the way to the elevator.
“Well we got our office space” Sirius said with a grin as he turned to Remus.
“I can see that, did you really have to go to such….extensive lengths Snuffles?” Remus asked grinning at him.
“You know me Moony, always have to go full speed or not at all” he chuckled in return.
“Yes Padfoot, I unfortunately do” Remus chuckled as he shook his head.
Business had been good to the Weasley Twins; they were busy setting up the new shop in Hogsmede. They had bought out Zonko's and were now refurbishing the building to their specs…and they were grandiose to say the least.
“So what do you think of the fake snakes over here?” George asked.
“Why my dear brother I believe that is brilliant” Fred replied.
“Tis as if we share one brain” George countered.
“True, though one must question the sanity of said brain” said Ginny who was spending her vacation helping them out.
“Ah our dear sister, how proud we are of you” Fred said as he hugged her from one side.
“Indeed brother, becoming a true Marauder. Brings tears to our eyes” George added as he hugged her from the other side.
“Took after us, what pride, what pride” Fred added as he fake shed a tear.
“They grow up so fast, now she is going to have to go at it alone. We expect much business from you sis” George followed.
“You being the last Marauder left in school. We will give you a nice family discount. Five percent should be enough” Fred continued
“Enough you two” she said shaking them off.
“Fine, let’s make it seven” George said.
Ginny glared at him
“Ok, ok, ten then” Fred finished
“Urgh you two are infuriating” Ginny said and stomped off.
“What bit her Quaffles?” Fred asked as he looked at his brother.
“Must be that she broke up with Neville over the break” George supplied.
“Must be, though she sounded like Minnie just now” Fred continued as he stocked the Ten tongue toffee on the shelf. Both brothers cringed and shook for a second.
It was at this moment that an owl landed in their shop carrying an envelope with a black seal.
“Uh what’s this? Fan mail?” George said as he took the letter from the bird.
“Must be, oh how I love fan mail, lets read it” Fred replied.
The twins opened it and as they read down their faces changed from surprise, to anger, to joy, then to outright evil smiles and laughs.
“My dear brother, it appears that there is a new wind approaching” Fred began.
“Indeed brother, I can feel it too, and it doesn’t smell like shite to me” George continued.
“True, it seems to be a very fresh and quite intriguing scent” Fred countered as both began machinating at the news.
Hagrid, Charlie, and Sandra, his new girlfriend who he had met when Harry dropped by with her for his NEWT, were all having breakfast on the dragon preserve.
“You know that there Horntail has been rather mellow since Harry and Shadow had a go at him” Hagrid commented.
“Poor thing, must have been scared out of his mind” Sandra said as she shoveled more food on Charlie’s plate. She and Molly had met and Molly had instantly loved her and had given her instructions on how to best take care of Charlie, the first of which was keep him well fed.
“Thanks love. Well what you expect Harry is very frightening” Charlie said chuckling as he shoved the food into his mouth with wanton disregard. He inwardly cringed as he thought of the day he had brought her over to meet his parents. Molly and Ginny had nearly danced with joy, in fact, he was sure they did when they were away from prying eyes. After the initial shock they then proceeded to interrogate the poor girl, which wasn’t so bad because she interrogated them right back on all things Charlie. The three instantly became a cohesive unit plotting to control his life.
Sandra smacked his arm playfully, “I meant Shadow, though from what I’ve seen and what was printed in the Prophet, Harry is a force onto himself” she replied.
“Aye that he is, still remember when I went to pick him up, he was a wee little feller” Hagrid said with a tear in his eye.
“Yea, and now he is the mysterious hero that vanishes after he almost singlehandedly saves the day” Charlie said with a chuckle.
It was at this point that two owls swooped down and perched in front of them with matching letters.
“What’s this? Guess we have some mail to read” Charlie commented.
Hagrid and Charlie grabbed the envelopes, ripped them open and read. Soon both raised their eyes at each other as if to confirm what they had read.
“What’s going on?” Sandra asked as she looked between them.
“Nothing love, just some business that we have to take care of” Charlie said enthused.
“Yea, important matters” Hagrid said with a tear in his eyes and a big smile.
Bill and Percy where having lunch with Fleur at her restaurant.
“So Fleur how has business been recently?” Percy asked politely.
“Pewrcy, I have told yew to call me sister” she said with a smile, “And it has been vewry good. My new idias have helped bring in a wider variety of costumer. It also helps that we rid ourselves of that fool” she added and ended with a note of bitterness.
“Now now love, he has gotten his just deserts. The Twins have been making his life a living hell. They give me weekly reports on all the things they do to the poor man” Bill replied.
“I unfortunately get them as well, I think they are starting a Weasley sibling newsletter with it” Percy said annoyed.
Fleur smiled evilly, “Good, he deserves it” she said as she held her belly.
“Now love, don’t go filling your head with bad thoughts, it is bad for the baby” Bill said as he kissed his wife and warmed her smile to kindness.
“I love you so much Bill” Fleur said with a smile.
The announcement of the first addition to the new generation of Weasleys had been very well received. Molly broke in tears of ecstatic joy at the fact she would be a grandma, Arthur had smiled at the prospect as well, Percy had given him a proper congratulations, Ron had smashed his back heartily along with Charlie and lit the man a cigar to celebrate, which promptly blew up. The twins being the responsible party for this ran for their lives as they plotted how they would abduct the child, raise it to be like them, and then leave it to wolves to raise till it was time for Hogwarts, that way they would have a worthy successor for their legacy at Hogwarts. Ginny had crushed Fleur in a hug before she chased her brothers along with Molly screaming “You will do no such thing you irresponsible, morally reprehensible…” among other things, the culminating in “If you ever even look at him funny we will curse you so bad you will wish you were never born”
“I’m extremely glad for the both of you” Percy said formally as he sipped his tea.
“Thanks brother, I am sure you will share our luck someday” Bill replied
Percy smiled, cleared his throat and continued, “Yes, now let’s get back to what we were discussing. We need to decide on the new line of merchandising for Harry, the public is demanding it” he explained.
“Quite, though I sometimes seriously question the sanity of all the people that buy this junk. I mean really, Harry Potter knickers, who in their right mind would buy some of those?” Bill commented.
Fleur had a brilliantly seductive smile, letting all the Veela in her out. She leaned in to her husband and then whispered, “Well Bill, vhy don’t you take me back to the storage closet and you can find out”
Bill’s eyes went wide as his pulse shot up as he turned to stare at his wife. “You’re bluffing” he said in shock.
She just raised an eyebrow and made her smile more devilish, “Am I? They looked fun and comfortable so I took a pair from the samples” she giggled in his ear.
Bill’s smile grew and began to get up; forgetting Percy and the conversation entirely till two owls flew in with matching envelopes. This pulled him back as Percy was already opening his and reading it quickly. He was shocked and chagrined at first but as he re read he smiled as did Bill as he finished his.
“Brilliant, absolutely blood brilliant” Percy said in a rare moment of candor.
“Indeed brother, indeed” Bill replied and then followed his wife to the backroom with a wider smile and a skip in his step.
Ron was in the middle of watching practice with the Cannons.
“Bloody hell man, move faster there Bailey. Gregory, you call that a save? Hilbert, hit that Bludger like you have a pair” Ron screamed from the stands
The Cannons had grown accustomed to his rants and raves during practice. At first they had been annoyed; some were completely new to the team having been bought from other teams. Ron had assigned them a tough coach, but as the owner he was relentless. Wilsons, the coach, merely sat back and ran his practice with a grin on his face. He would ignore Ron with ease now, besides, he knew the bloke was right and his constant badgering was helping him more than any assistant coach ever would and all that badgering was NEVER directed at him. He just smiled and earned his enormous paycheck. The team had rebelled only once, just once. Ron had complained at the Keeper and he had proceeded to challenge him to do better. Ron got up on his new Firebolt MK, courtesy of Olivander who had finally started to make them himself, got up and put on a 20 minute demonstration of Keeping skills that had the Keepers on the team worrying for their jobs. From that point on, NO ONE argued with Ron about his rants. What’s more, through them they had improved so dramatically that they were now in the championship game and all had already been approached by the English team about trying out for the National squad for the World Cup.
It was in the middle of his ranting that an owl dropped an envelope with a black seal on his head. He picked it up, read through it angrily and then midway slowed down and re-read it with eyes wide, he re-read it a third time just to be sure he wasn’t being thick and then sat down in awe.
“Bloody hell” was all he said.
And so one week later, the Floo on the Penthouse office of the Warlock building began to flare like wild. Remus welcomed every guest one by one and sat them at the conference table; it was huge and circular, like the round table with an empty space in the middle to walk through. The entire décor of the office was black, the furniture, the chairs, the decorations, and so was this giant table of black marble.
“Ok it seems we are all here” Remus finally said as he looked around the room. Only two chairs remained empty.
“What is this about Remus?” Bill asked bluntly.
“Yea, Moony, is it true?” Ron asked as well.
“Well, why don’t we let our dear CEO, idiot, and dictator answer that” Remus replied.
“I resent that Moony, I am not an idiot” Sirius said as he made a grandiose entrance and took his seat. Remus’s comment didn’t detract from the shock of seeing the man alive.
“Sirius, is it really you?” asked Percy in shock.
“How is this possible?” asked Bill.
“Well how it is possible is thanks to the very man we are here to discuss. Or better said, whom I am here in representation of” replied Sirius.
“Huh?” said Seamus in clear confusion. He had only come because the letter said that this was about Snuffles, Harry’s Marauder name.
“So our great partner has done it again” George began.
“Bringing back the dead, I wonder if we can market that?” Fred replied.
“In any case, the world has one Marauder back” George rebutted.
“Indeed a most joyous occurrence” Fred replied.
“Huh?” said Neville who had been silent up till now. He had also come because of his Marauder duties.
“Enough, why don’t we let Sirius tell the story, he does so love to talk about himself” Remus supplied.
“Oh Moony, you know me so well” Sirius said drying a mock tear. “Well then let us begin with how I got back and what I have been doing up till now…” and he then told them everything up to the point where he got the letter.
“Ok that explains how you are here and alive” Bill supplied.
“Sucks we can’t market that” Fred said disappointed.
“Oh well, still we can tag it onto Harry’s name. Bringer back of those that crossed the veil or something” George countered.
“Quite right brother” Fred countered.
“Hey that matter would fall under merchandising Harry’s name, which is our department” Percy replied as he stared down his brothers.
“But it’s our idea” both Twins replied with wicked grins.
“Now now, calm down people, this ties into exactly why we are all here” Sirius said raising his voice and letting out a doglike laugh.
“What do you mean? What’s all this about?” Bill asked now, and everyone quieted as they waited for an answer.