GOOD DOG || Sirius Black

(Forty Eight: The Man with Two Faces)

The Shadow Man sat in a room not entirely unlike the one New was being subjected to.

The main differences lay in the conspicuous lack of any furnishings- even New's uncomfortable metal table with its two interrogation chairs were absent. In response to this obvious denial of human rights, the man himself was sat cross legged, pressed right into the corner. His hands were folded neatly in his lap and his eyes were closed, though his pupils fluttered wildly behind the shuttered lids, the only true tell that of the his consciousness.

The door creaked open with a reluctance that told of the instigator's nerves.

Sirius Black swallowed as he beheld the dimly lit room, and the even less illuminated figure in the corner. What struck him first was the off-white onesie the Shadow Man wore, a far cry from the eloquent tailored suits of the man who held the lives of hundreds of people on his conscience like an accessory.

A slow smile stretched the man's face, like a knife wound widening. But he said nothing and did not open his eyes even as Remus Lupin silently slipped inside behind his friend.

"Howard Potter." Sirius said thickly.

At that, the Shadow Man's eyes flickered open, "Pardon?"

"That's your name. It's outside the door." Sirius' shock apparently prevented him from computing anything more than simple sentence structure, "Potter?"

"A bastard uncle of your friend." The Shadow Man clarified dismissively, "Though it has precious little to do with anything else. I never met my half brother's child before he arrested me, so familial affections were not precisely my principal concern in the big reunion."

His clear blue eyes glittered with a light that was not altogether unfamiliar to Sirius, though hit an innate sense of wrongness when coupled with the malice drawn in lines around them. Any sense of James Potter was warped into something dark and mildly irritating.

Remus took the initiative, standing straighter as he said, "What have you done to Alex?"

"No doubt doomed her to a young an unfortunate death." Howard Potter didn't move his eyes from Sirius' face, "I think the better question is what have I done for everyone else?"

"What?" Sirius asked blankly.

The Shadow Man drew his leg up for him to rest an elbow on, "My nephew's mudblood girlfriend, Miss Fawley's similarly born associate- you'll have to remind me of their names. They may not have been alive in a year. Or two. It doesn't matter really, does it? The point is I prevented their deaths."

Remus raised a sceptical eyebrow, "So we're meant to believe you're a good guy now because you roofied a teenage girl, resulting in the murder of seven separate people?"

"Don't fool yourselves." The Shadow Man snorted, "I'm not trying to save the world, or fight the nasty men who hurt people. I am doing this for one purpose only- to stop the Dark Lord."

Sirius narrowed his eyes, "Why?"

"I had a husband." Howard said simply, "Did Miss Fawley tell you, I wonder?"

"You murdered him." Remus exposited flatly.

Howard smiled amicably at that, as if he thought Remus' straightforwardness endearing, "Yes, well, Death Eater views on homosexuality are almost as grim as their views on mudbloods. He was required for cover when I was maintaining a public image, but I retreated into the shadows and he wasn't... necessary anymore."

"None of this explains anything." Sirius responded tersely.

Not that the Shadow Man seemed to care.