"No, that is not it!" Sirius said, frowning, a rare look of panic on his face. "I tried to persuade him to give up his identity as a Death Eater, but he was too stubborn; I also tried to persuade him to leave Grimmauld Place with me, to leave those toxic ideas, but he was too cowardly..."
"Sirius Black, you do not understand one thing! What I am discussing with you is never a personal choice, but the safety of the family!"
Draco took a deep breath. "In those particular circumstances, the Black family was already firmly tied to the Dark Lord's cause. The Black family needed a descendant to step forward and take responsibility for all of this, regardless of honour or disgrace, success or failure."
Sirius fell silent, looking at the boy opposite him...
He continued in a cruelly calm tone, "Sirius Black, that descendant... it was either him or you. You ran away, he chose to stay. You call him a coward, but what is courage?"
"I cannot understand this kind of courage. I still think it is foolish."
Taking a large gulp of his drink, Sirius said, "The so-called 'courage' of the Slytherins is nothing but a form of cowardice. It is nothing but prolonging life, surviving in the cracks, and contributing to the spread of toxic ideas."
Draco glared at him, feeling that his painstakingly crafted speech had been completely misunderstood.
"Yes, you deserve to be reckless and impulsive, spending eleven years in Azkaban! Your mother died with no one to claim her body, and the family business was left unattended!
Even after your release, you still shirk your responsibilities as godfather, letting your enemies who betrayed your friends roam the world, hiding in your room drowning your sorrows in alcohol. Is this what you call courage?" he said scathingly. "If that is the case, then the courage of the Gryffindors is nothing more than self-deception! What makes you so noble?"
Sirius's face darkened.
Draco thought he would be angry and furious, but to his surprise, the man opposite him showed a numb and indifferent expression.
"That is right," he chuckled, a weariness on his proud face revealing a deep exhaustion. "I never claimed to be noble. Nor am I brave. In fact, the Sirius Black of the past is dead... along with James Potter... at the age of twenty-two. What lives now is nothing but a walking corpse, not the brave Gryffindor of the past."
"It seems that what happened to Harry's father has been a great blow to you. I am very sorry about that." After a pause, Draco said, looking at the Black family heir before him.
Sirius Black, a once-promising but now hollowed-out prodigy. He had been such a dazzling and intelligent young man, the most spirited presence at Hogwarts, possessing a fiery passion that the cold Slytherins could not comprehend.
However, his brilliant life had come to an abrupt end when he entered Azkaban at the age of twenty-two, and he spent the best years of his life amongst the Dementors.
In his previous life, his father Lucius had only stayed in Azkaban for a year before he was already haggard.
What kind of tragic past had Sirius Black endured all these years?
Forget it, why bother arguing with him? Draco was too lazy to keep arguing.
"Yesterday is gone. You are not alone. You still have Harry to take care of. How long are you going to stay so downcast?" He suppressed his temper and could not help but add a few words.
He simply could not stand the half-dead state of the man opposite him.
In his past life, Sirius Black had escaped Azkaban alone and lived a life of hiding as a wanted criminal, like a stray dog.
In this life, he had cleared his name and was innocent. He could have accomplished so much more instead of wallowing in the past and living such a miserable and dejected life.
"I know. I am just having trouble getting over it right now," Sirius murmured.
"I will not give you any of that 'time heals all wounds' nonsense. You need to pull yourself together! Whilst you are spending your time reminiscing about the past, your dear godson... James Potter's son... could be in danger. Is that something you want to see? Do you want to regret it when it is too late?" Draco pressed.
Sirius looked up at him, his face showing exhaustion and weariness.
"And then there is your 'old friend'... Peter Pettigrew... who is getting closer and closer to Hogwarts. Whatever he is planning, I believe it is so important to him that he can overcome his fear and face the challenge head-on. Do you not want to catch him and avenge Harry's parents?" Draco continued to provoke him.
These words clearly had an effect.
A flame reignited in Sirius's lifeless eyes... a raging fire intertwined with resentment and the desire for justice.
That is the kind of expression a member of Black family should have.
"I know Peter Pettigrew; he would not dare go to Hogwarts and kill someone," he said dismissively.
"What if he has ulterior motives? He has been on the run for a while now... who knows if he might have been misled by some desperate Death Eater during that time?" Draco asked tentatively.
"It is not impossible." Sirius finally started to think. "If that is the case, then it is not Peter Pettigrew's personal act, but rather a planned move by the Death Eaters. In the end, it all comes down to that damned Voldemort."
"Do not call him by that name!" Draco said irritably.
"Coward! Wimp! Incompetent wretch!" Sirius said defiantly, glancing at him sideways. "Someone like you thinks he can destroy Horcruxes? You do not even dare tell your parents what you are doing."
"What, are you going to betray me? Tell my parents that their son is a traitor to the pure-blood cause? Tell my father, a former Death Eater, that his son betrayed his former master? Would you be happy if my mother suffered the same fate as great-aunt Walburga?"
Draco glared at him, thinking he was the most ungrateful Gryffindor in the world.
"On the contrary, I will never tell them. I will help you." Hearing his words, Sirius's face showed a childlike smile, and his eyes flashed with a strange light. "You fool... cowardly Slytherin! Timid Slytherin! I will help you."
Now it was Draco's turn to become a statue.
The reversal was so dramatic that Draco almost lost control of his facial expressions.
"What should I do? What can I do? Tell me." Sirius looked directly at him.
"Is this some kind of trap? Something to get back at me? Like what you did to my mother?" Draco asked menacingly.
"Absolutely not. Listen, I am sorry about what happened with your mother," Sirius said seriously. "At that time, I did not know what you were doing behind the scenes. If you were in my position... knowing that Hufflepuff's cup was suspicious, and there was only one way forward... what would you have done?"
Draco remained silent.
If he were in Sirius's position... he would certainly have used every means to take that Horcrux from Narcissa.
After mentally reviewing the situation, Draco realised that there was indeed no better way.
However, for the time being, he could not accept that his family had been deceived, nor could he accept that his family might face retribution someday as a result.
After a long pause, Draco finally said to Sirius, "I have decided to let bygones be bygones. However, do not meddle with my family again, or we cannot work together."
"Understood," Sirius said lazily, extending his hand to the boy in front of him. "Cooperation?"
"Cooperation." Draco hesitated before extending his hand and shaking it.
"Now, tell me. What are you and Dumbledore planning to do next?" Sirius licked his lips. "Horcruxes... besides Hufflepuff's cup and the locket... there are probably others, are there not?"
Draco looked at him in surprise. How did he know everything?
"No need to be so surprised. The way you destroyed those Horcruxes was far too practised." Sirius's eyes were sharp, and his expression was calm.
"Back then, you were very certain that the Basilisk fang could destroy the locket. It was as if it had destroyed other Horcruxes before. Since it has destroyed other Horcruxes before, it means that there are more than just one or two. There must be others that have not yet been discovered and destroyed."
"That is right. We suspect there might be other Horcruxes." Draco said quickly, his heart filled with astonishment at Sirius's keen perception.
"We are looking for a ring... Marvolo Gaunt's ring. And Hepzibah Smith... she might be a key to understanding Tom Riddle... the Dark Lord."
Upon hearing this, Sirius Black revealed a dangerous smile, like an assassin who had found his target.
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