Ultimatums

Chapter 55

Narcissa knocked on the door of the quaint cottage she'd been given the address to. She held her Draco in her arms, rocking him back and forth and shielding him from the wind.

The door opened, Hermione standing there with a wide grin. She was wearing missmatched pyjamas and her hair was hidden behind her bonnet, but to the ever glamourous Narcissa she had never looked more beautiful. "Come in, come in!"

She stepped aside to let the older woman past. "Sit down, I'll go get Reg, he's upstairs with Ly. I think they're colouring or something"

Narcissa nodded before realising Hermione was in the kitchen. "Alright. I'm sorry I haven't seen you or let you meet Draco, its Lucius. He won't let me go anywhere with him without a chaperone, even in the house."

"Merlin knows why you're still with that ghastly man Cissa, he's stealing your privacy. Stay here"

Hermione brought in tea and scones Regulus had made. It was a cry for help he said.

"I can't. I'm his wife and Draco is Lucius's son" Narcissa spoke like she'd told herself this over and over again.

Footsteps thundered down the stairs.

"Cissa!" Regulus exclaimed, taking the strides to reach her and sit beside her. She crumpled in relief as he wrapped her in a hug, careful of the baby. 

"Meet your nephew Reg"

She handed him over with a deft carefulness, cradling his head.

☏

"What did you say this is for again Pads?"  James asked as they walked through Little Hangleton.

Sirius tried to look at him over Dorcas's head, but the height difference wasn't so different and her mass of curls got in the way.

"Just a favour my brother asked me for. I'd forgotten about it, but I was going through some old letters and I remembered"

James nodded, not wanting to say anymore about it. Dorcas however, didn't not get the memo that the conversation was finished.

"It's such a shame what happened with him, Sirius, it really is. He was so young... and you could tell how in love he was from just one conversation" she said, looking around and the shops. "I'd wanted to meet up with him again after Marlene ruined it, but of course..."

Remus cleared his throat. They were nearing the end of the town, toward the woods.

"Well thanks for the eulogy, Dor" Sirius said sarcastically "seeing as I didn't get to hear the original one"

If it wasn't so late, the men would've seen Dorcas blushing. Remus sighed.

"So how are you and Marlene?" James asked, flicking at Sirius's ear. 'It wasn't Dorcas's fault, she was just trying to be nice' was the message he tried to communicate but Sirius ignored him. He just tightened his grip on Remus's hand and pulled them along.

"Oh it's awful. She's been acting so horrible recently, and I know she's worried about her parents and little brother, but her snapping at me all the time is really taking it's toll you know ?" Dorcas sighed. "I think she's going into hiding with them"

James nodded sympathetically and Sirius assumed he was giving her advice. He didn't know because he was tuning them out.

The branches and wild bushes clawed at their clothes and threatened to trip them up, but soon enough the house was in sight.

The house was so worn down it barely resembled a living space at all. Even though it was night, you could tell by the dense trees that hardly any light graced the shack. The roof was close to concaving and it's walls were covered in vines and weeds.

Sirius put an arm out to stop them. "We need to check to see what type of wards have been put up."

James sent him a questioning glance. What did Regulus want here? He feared it was some sort of dark magic, but he didn't want to voice his concerns just yet. They turned to Dorcas who already had her wand out ready.

When she was finished muttering Latin and Greek, she shuddered. "We're lucky you thought to check" Dorcas said slowly. "A few steps more and we would've been hit with the Entrail-Expelling Curse. What are we doing here, Sirius?"

Sirius shook his head, ignoring her question and marvelled at the spell work. Working a curse as intricate as that one into the wards was something he thought only someone like Dumbledore could do. Evidently his friends thought the same. "Take them down then"

"No. Tell us why we're here" Dorcas stepped into his line of vision.

"Take them down" Sirius countered, his expression uncontrollably rearranging itself into the Black glower. Dorcas shivered ever so slightly but held her own, not backing down.

James put his arm on his friend's arm but Sirius shook him off. "C'mon Pads"

Remus intervened "look, the quicker we get what we came for we can go. And then we can explain. Right Padfoot?"

Sirius stuck his hands in his pockets and grunted a supposed response.

Dorcas gave him a final dirty look and began working a small hole in the wards.

"Try and be undetectable, Dor, we don't want them to know we're here" Remus said gently.

Everything was piling up to be more suspicious, but the hole was made all the same and the group slipped through.

Sirius led the way into the shack. "This used to belong to the Gaunts, the last known direct line to Salazar Slytherin."

"Of course. Your brother's ghost has sent us on some Slytherin death trap mission" Dorcas muttered. "What're we looking for?"

"Something that's being protected."

Remus moved into the living room and started to send small sparks around it. He aimed to set a trap off but nothing happened. Dorcas went to go upstairs, her foot touching the first step.

Vines grasped her ankles, pulling her down and scorching her skin. She let out a scream and another vine came out and sealed her mouth. Dorcas tried to get her wand arm free, but the vines only pulled tighter.

James sent jets of blinding light at her continuously, the vines backing away a little. However, it gave Dorcas the room to wiggle out her arm. She made cutting motions with her wand, severing the vines and littering the filthy floor with them.

Sirius leant against the doorframe. "So it's under the boards"

He levitated them up, suspending the rotting wood in the air. It wasn't long before he found a golden ring box. James bent to grab it, but Remus pulled him back quickly. "Don't touch it"

Sirius retrieved the mokeskin bag Regulus had gave him and levitated the box inside. "C'mon let's get out of here"

☏

James and Lily sat cuddled up in an arm chair, a blanket wrapped around their shoulders. Dorcas sat on the floor by the fire, and Remus and Sirius nursed hot chocolate to keep them warm in the Potter Manor.

"Go on then" James prompted gently.

Sirius exchanged a glance with Remus. They'd come up with a story, but was it believable?

"Well" Sirius started "Reg had wanted to propose to Nita for a while, and the ring in the Gaunt shack was the one he wanted to give her."

He stopped there and the rest of them of them looked at him expectantly. When he didn't continue, Lily asked "why that ring in particular?"

"Said it had a story behind it or something. They'd read about it in Hogwarts and it was the kinda thing a man does when he wants to seem thoughtful"

Dorcas scoffed.

"What" Sirius looked at her with a challenge in his eyes but she didn't say anything.

Everyone asked questions, and Sirius deflected like a pro. But the Gryffindor alums were suspicious, and they were determined to find out what their friend was up to.