Growing up Pureblooded

To Do List

     At four o'clock in the afternoon, Aries and Draco found themselves standing in front of an enormous painting depicting the famous myth about how Pallas Athena, the goddess of wisdom, created the owl and gave it to the wizards of Athens so that they could use it for carrying post, thus earning the right to have the city named for her. (Poseidon, according to the myth, had created the hippogriff as his gift, which the wizards found to be somewhat less useful, given the hippogriff's propensity to eat people who were overly eager to get their letters.)

     "Jamais pur," Draco said, and the portrait swung open. The boys stepped inside. Sirius had not been lying in his note. His quarters were simply amazing. They stepped into a spacious sitting room, decorated exclusively in red and gold. There were several large bookshelves filled with everything from heavy leather-bound tomes to Muggle paperbacks. The walls were hung with photographs of Sirius and James, all the Marauders together, and Sirius with Harry and Draco. Behind the sofa hung large photographs of Sirius and Narcissa at their wedding, Sirius and James at James's wedding and Sirius and Harry at Harry's christening. A portrait of Regina Malfoy hung over the crackling fireplace, just above a mounted and stuffed rat, giving Sirius an easy way to communicate with the rest of the family, since she had portraits at all three of the family homes.

     "Good afternoon, boys," Regina greeted them. "Good afternoon, Aunt Regina," Draco said politely. "Hello, Mum," Aries replied. "Where's Dad?" A booming voice from the other room gave Aries his answer. "So, the prodigal sons have decided to come visit me after all?" Sirius said, stepping through the door on the left wall of the sitting room. "What's your excuse, you good-for-nothing miscreants?"

     Aries smirked. "We were orchestrating a prank on Ron Weasley and Seamus Finnegan." "Was it a good prank?" Sirius inquired suspiciously. "The best," Draco said. "It's actually ongoing." Sirius grinned. "Those are always the most fun." "So does this count as a 'sufficiently-persuasive explanation'?" Aries asked cheekily.

     Sirius paused in reflection. "I suppose so," he said, tousling the hair of both his boys. "But I expect you to come by and see me every day for the rest of the year." "I think we can manage that," Draco said with a smile.

     Sirius waved them through the door into a small private dining room, where a table was set with a very elaborate tea. There were a dozen different sorts of sandwiches, along with cakes of various types and countless little hors d'oeuvres. To top it all off, there was, naturally, a very high-quality pot of tea.

     They sat down at the table and tucked into their repast. "So what is this prank you two are pulling?" Sirius asked. "Well, Weasley and Finnegan have been accusing us of being wannabe Dark Lords for ages," Draco began.

     "So we thought we'd turn the tables on them a bit," Aries said. "We're making them think that our Muggleborn friend Dean Thomas is the actual Dark Lord, and we're just his followers." "And they're falling for it?" Sirius asked.

     Draco nodded. "We've got them quavering in their boots at the name of Lord Mini-Mort."
"Mini-Mort?" Sirius chuckled briefly, then his expression turned grave. "Speaking of Dark Lords, that's actually part of what I wanted to discuss with you both tonight."  Both boys leaned forward and listened, all thoughts of pranks completely forgotten for the time being.

     "I'll be taking over most of your extra training," Sirius went on. "One of the things I want to work on is the Animagus transformation." Both brothers' eyes lit up. "Really, Dad?" Draco responded with glee. "That's brilliant!" "I wonder what kind of animal I'll be," Aries said.

     "We'll see," Sirius replied. "But you both need to realise that this will be a lot of work. It isn't at all easy. It took us a couple of years to manage it." "But we'll have you helping us, Dad," Aries pointed out.

     Sirius smiled. "That's true. That should make it somewhat easier for you." He cleared his throat. "There's one other thing that we need to take care of this year," he said, glancing meaningfully at Aries. The dark-haired boy frowned. "The Horcruxes," he said. Sirius nodded. "The Horcruxes. What do you remember from your time in Riddle's head?"

     Aries took a deep breath. "Riddle made five Horcruxes, and hid them all over Britain. The first, the diary, has already been destroyed. There are four left: a cup that belonged to Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem, a locket that belonged to Salazar Slytherin and a ring that belonged to the Peverells." Sirius let out a low whistle. "It's impressive that Riddle managed to get his hands on so many rare artefacts."

     "Well, it's not as though he has any scruples about doing whatever it takes to get what he wants," Draco snorted. "Indeed," Sirius agreed. "So where are they hidden?" "The diadem is hidden here at Hogwarts," Aries explained. "It should be easy enough for us to find and destroy. The locket will be harder to get to. It's hidden in a remote location, and behind some rather heavy protections. The ring is buried under a hut near Riddle House, also under some pretty nasty curses." He sighed. "The hardest to get will be the cup."

     "Where's the cup?" Draco asked. Aries frowned. "At Gringotts," he said. "Riddle entrusted it to the care of Bellatrix Lestrange."