( Greengrass Manor )
"Good morning Nicholas; I trust you are well today?" Sirius greeted politely as the pair of Lords sat down in the living room to discuss upcoming business.
Smiling back at his friend and good natured political ally, he answered, "Yes, I'm quite well, thank you Sirius. Yourself?" he replied cheerfully, as he sipped on his extra strong morning tea.
"I can't truly complain," Sirius replied, as he helped himself to some of the tea on offer. "How is your family?"
Smiling back, "Astoria is excited about finally getting her wand, I'll tell you that! She has even stolen mine a few times to 'practice.' I'm considering getting her a couple of tutors to help prepare her for Hogwarts, just like I did with Daphne," he offered back fondly. "I heard about Harry successfully becoming an animagus. That is an amazing achievement for one so young. You must be very proud," paying Sirius' godson a genuine compliment.
"Indeed I am, although I too was rather surprised at his success so soon. In fact when he was just discovering his form, he told me he was 'just a cat.' You can imagine my shock and astonishment when I saw him transform into a several hundred pound tiger!" Sirius offered with a carefree chuckle, before his face turned serious.
Noticing the sudden earnestness in Sirius' posture, he realized that something was wrong and it was time to get down to business, "Something on your mind Sirius?" Nicholas asked.
Nodding, "Yes, a very serious matter," Sirius replied. His curiosity was stirred.
Putting his teacup down on the table, he put on his game face, "What's the serious matter you're talking about?" Nicholas asked.
"I just found out who hired Peter Pettigrew to kill Harry," Sirius voiced evenly, but coldly, an undercurrent of tightly controlled rage detectable in his voice.
"Peter was hired?" he questioned, wanting to confirm what he had just heard, since his own sources all indicated that Peter was acting alone.
"Indeed, I think you can guess who hired him," Sirius remarked, the silent challenge clear, as his mind jumped into gear.
A good couple of minutes passed before he hissed his answer to Sirius' question, "Lucius." Sirius nodded grimly in response, confirming his answer.
"Do you any evidence of this?"
"Yes, but it's weak. However, there are plans to change that," Sirius confirmed, with a hint of anger slipping into his rigid posture. "I have a plan in motion with Madam Bones. We intend to catch Lucius in the act. But you know as well as I do just how greasy Lucius is and how far his gold spreads within the Ministry. I would ask your help to ensure that when Lucius is finally caught and brought to trial that he receives true justice, rather than buying his freedom like he did before."
He didn't have to think long at all to know what his answer would be, after all, Lucius had been a thorn in his and his family's side for decades; this was a perfect opportunity to finally and permanently deal with the Malfoy family without any major risk to his own. It also had the side benefit of assuring a closer friendship, backed up by action rather than just words, with Sirius and indirectly Harry.
With Harry a dual heir, as well as coming to be seen as a prodigy of magic, not to mention the boy's ambitious plans already in motion, this could lead to a powerful alliance stretching long into the future with an up and coming power broker of magical Britain. "I think I can do that," Nicholas readily agreed.
"Thank you," Sirius replied, his posture relaxing at the favourable answer.
"You're welcome, my friend. Lucius has been a thorn in my side for many years," he admitted freely, as he reached back for his teacup. "It would be wonderful to finally deal with him. So when does this plan take place?"
"Within the next couple of days..." Sirius replied, causing him to blink a few times in shock at how quickly things were moving.
He considered Sirius' shocking, but cryptic response, "I see. Is there anything else I should know?" he asked, wanting to get as many details as possible so that he could take proper advantage of the unfolding drama.
"We know that there is going to be an attack on Harry, to take place tomorrow. Harry is going to fake his death with the help of some polyjuiced aurors stationed within Hogwarts," Sirius offered, the pieces starting to fall into place.
"Ah, how very clever of you," he expressed, after some thought.
"Thank you," Sirius replied, giving a soft nod of his head.
He smiled back at Sirius. It was now time to ask his price; in other words what he wanted in exchange for his assistance in this matter. Considering their interests aligned so well, and both knew it, it would be imprudent to ask for too much. After all, there may come a time when he would need to ask Sirius and Harry for a favour and either believing they had been taken advantage of in the past would not serve his or his family's long-term interests.
"When Lucius is finally removed and arrested his Hogwarts governor seat will be forfeit. It will need filling with a suitable candidate..." he said leadingly, Sirius nodding in understanding. "I trust that you will support my wife's bid for appointment to the school's Board of Governors?"
"Of course, my friend," Sirius replied with a smile. "I trust that you will keep what we have discussed to yourself."
"Naturally, there is no profit in it if it is shared around," he replied with a mischievous smile. Well pleased with the outcome of the conversation.
...
( Hogwarts )
He wasted no time as the pointless lesson finally ended, his textbooks quickly being thrown into his bag before he marched straight out of the history of magic classroom. He expertly and efficiently made his way towards the school library, with the goal of hopefully catching Penny there so that they could talk.
While they were still on sour terms with each another after their falling out, with his fake death happening soon he was hastily taking steps to get his 'house' in order before he was gone. One such problem with his 'house' was Luna, as he thought about the bizarre first year Ravenclaw that he had successfully mentored for the last half a year.
The first year Ravenclaw had been unofficially under his protection, under his proverbial wing as it were, and he wanted to make sure that there was another student in place to keep an eye on her and protect her whilst he was gone from Hogwarts.
Given her number one ranking in her year, coupled with her at times off-putting demeanour, he wouldn't put it past the rank and file Ravenclaws to act against her out of jealousy when she didn't have a strong patron to look out for her.
"Slow down Harry," Padma requested, as his first friend struggled to keep up with his fast walking pace.
He forced himself to slow down, "Sorry, but I need to get quite a bit done today," he offered in explanation, as he navigated his way through the castle, before he quickly sidestepped another group of older students milling around.
She finally caught up with him, "What do you need to get done?" Padma asked.
"Homework, to start... I also have Quidditch practice after dinner as well as my normal training with Tonks," he offered back in hurried explanation, but at the same time making a concerted effort to avoid giving away any important details.
Accepting his explanation for what it was, they passed another group of students, "Do you have any plans for tomorrow?" Padma enquired.
He then saw where this conversation was actually going, "Besides avoiding Lavender? I don't know," he joked, an easy, but charming smile on his lips, hoping to distract his friend. "I'm skipping our DADA lesson; I don't want anything to do with what that idiotic fraud is planning for Valentine's Day."
"So you're not going to ask anyone out on a date?" Padma asked, he caught a hint of red on her cheeks.
"Nope," he replied firmly, knowing that it would be a major disappointment to Padma, since she clearly wanted him to ask her out. Unfortunately, he was faking his death tomorrow, so that was going to ruin the day anyway, so why bother?
He listened with some sympathy as Padma gave him a disappointed, "Oh," but continued to make his way up another flight of stairs. "I'm going to see if I can't find my sister," she said, before quickly running off.
...
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