The Darkest Star | Sirius Black |

7

James felt slightly appalled as he and Sirius set foot inside Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. Even though it was dark, the only source of light being their wands, the tepid atmosphere was enough to make James shiver. Sirius noticed James' reaction and smiled wryly.

"Well this is it. I've finally brought you to my house," he said, disgust underlying his voice.

"Welcome to the Most Noble and Ancient House of the Blacks." He flicked his wand and the entire hall was filled with light.

"Well, we can certainly vouch for 'ancient' and 'black', can't we?" quipped James as he brushed his index finger against a nearby wall. The part he had brushed off looked exceedingly bright compared to the rest of the wall which was dark and grimy. James rubbed off the grime from his finger with a slight look of revulsion. He turned towards Sirius who was looking at him oddly.

"And 'noble' too!" grinned James, gesturing towards Sirius.

Sirius smiled, punching James on the shoulder. He motioned for James to follow him indicating that he be careful where he stepped. But the next step James took, there was a squeal of pain and the ugliest looking house-elf emerged from under a small cupboard, nursing his hand. Apparently he had been hiding beneath the cupboard but his hand must've been out as James had clearly trodden on it.

James was aghast. He was ready to apologize when Sirius spoke.

"Kreacher!"

James regarded Sirius with mild surprise. Sirius' tone was cold and harsh, something which he usually reserved when he talked about his family and how cruel they were being.

"Master."

There was equal hatred in the elf's voice too.

Sirius glared at the house-elf for a moment and then turned to James. "Come on. I'll show you my room.

"That is all? You aren't going to say anything else to the elf?" asked James in a quiet voice, as he followed Sirius.

Sirius simply shrugged. He led James through a dark flight of stairs, walking past what looked like a number of severed heads placed on spikes. James shuddered.

"I understand now why you weren't so keen on this place."

Sirius didn't reply, instead walked at a brisk pace taking him all the way to the topmost landing where there were only two doors. The door nearest to them bore a nameplate which read 'Sirius'.

Sirius turned the doorknob and opened the door gesturing for James to come in. James couldn't help but gasp. The room was vastly different when compared to what little he had seen of the rest of the house. It was quite spacious with a large bed located at the centre. Though there was a huge layer of dust engulfing everything in the room, James could see that it probably had been quite beautiful. On a table in the far corner, was a photo frame lying on its face. The walls were fully plastered with Gryffindor banners, a large amount of motorcycle posters and also huge posters of bikini-clad Muggle girls. James smirked at Sirius but immediately stopped when his eyes caught the only Wizarding photograph on the wall. It was a photo of the four of them Marauders, standing arm in arm and laughing, not having a care about the world. It brought a sharp pang of pain to James' chest as the past flashed through his mind. Sirius must've sensed this for he gripped at James' shoulder in reassurance.

"It's a pretty unplottable place. A bit of cleaning and we can make this a decent place to hold meetings. What'd you think?"

James had to agree. He knew that Sirius' family were pretty, well, serious about security and being undiscovered by the Muggles hence, the place was very well protected. Moreover, it would be great for Sirius as he would be in a manner, contributing to the Order. He nodded at Sirius.

"This will probably do. I'll speak to Dumbledore. We'll-"

There was a loud thud and a grunt of pain from outside the room. Sirius, immediately alert, rushed out of the room with James by his side. To their astonishment, they found the house-elf, Kreacher, fallen down with a huge stack of books scattered on top of him. The books, which were leather bound, must have been heavy as Kreacher was finding it difficult to move them and lay flattened against the floor.

"Where do you think you are taking all these?" asked Sirius, sharply.

"Kreacher is cleaning," croaked the house-elf.

"I don't remember you to be one to crack jokes, Kreacher!" said Sirius.

"Kreacher is astonished that Master has the ability to remember anything at all," countered Kreacher.

James couldn't help but laugh. "Nice! Even the house-elf!" he snickered.

Sirius threw him a scathing look before proceeding to pick one of the books from the floor. The cover was black in colour and devoid of any lettering. He opened the book and there on the first page was the title.

"James?"

James came nearer to Sirius and peered over his shoulder to get a look at what Sirius was holding.

"Horcruxes? What on earth are Horcruxes?" asked James.

"No idea," replied Sirius.

Instead of delving further in to the book, he picked up another one which was bound in red leather and the words 'Rhyfel: The Forgotten History', was emblazoned in golden letters. Another book, which was similar to this read 'Chwilfrydedd: The Buried Truth'.

James leaned forward and picked up one, which like the first had no words on the cover. He dusted it and flipped through the book.

"This is a book on goblin wars," he said.

"Really?" asked Sirius, interested. He dropped the books he had been holding, which fell on top of Kreacher who had just managed to get on to his feet. Sirius ignored the yell of outrage from Kreacher and grabbed the book out of James' hands. James, who was looking mighty uncomfortable at Sirius' actions, recovered the books on the floor so that Kreacher could get to his feet.

"Where did you find all these?" asked James to Kreacher in a gentle voice.

"Kreacher does not know this person who is talking to him. He talks to Kreacher as if he owns him. How rude!"

"SHUT UP!" snapped Sirius, who was now regarding Kreacher with the deepest loathing.

"Where are you taking all these books to? Whose are they?"

As much as Kreacher hated Sirius, he couldn't disobey him and it was with extreme difficulty that he answered.

"They are Master Regulus' books. Kreacher doesn't know what vile things Master Sirius will do to his things. So Kreacher is keeping them safe."

At the mention of Regulus, Sirius' face went white. "Where are the rest?"

"These are all!" replied a reluctant Kreacher.

"I forbid you to remove anything from Regulus' room. Do you understand? Now leave!" seethed Sirius.

Kreacher, who was now looking a little frightened, nodded before leaving. They could hear him muttering under his breath but not audible enough to make sense of what he was saying.

"Why would Regulus have such books?" asked James. He too had gone very pale upon the mention of Regulus' name but Sirius hadn't noticed.

"Who knows what goes on in a mind of a Death Eater?" scoffed Sirius.

James sighed heavily.

Sirius looked up at that. "Are you alright?"

For a moment, James looked as if he wanted to tell Sirius something. But then, he simply nodded and proceeded to walk down the stairs.