Chapter 48

A/n: As always this is a fanfic. I am a mere fan of JKR's work. I am not or have I ever claimed to be the owner of this world.

"Thank you," Sirius said breathing a sigh of relief.

"Can I ask what makes you so sure you will fail?" Lupin asked.

"Power is a seductive mistress. Men far better than I have failed."

"I've known you for a long time, Sirius. Power is never something you've sought."

"No, but I'm not exactly the paradigm of goodness either. I've made a lot of mistakes in my life and I can't afford to screw this up."

"Promise me you will go see Patrick before you start digging into this further? Something's off about this whole thing."

"You think Snape is lying?"

"No, I think Snape doesn't know what he's talking about. I don't pretend to be an expert on advanced Natural Magic but from what I've learned everything has a price. Going mad after the fact is a consequence of failing but it isn't a price. There has to be more to this spell. The Blood Rights required the sacrifice of the maternal line. And, all that did was give Harry extra protection from evil. You can't tell me a spell that grants the caster the power of nature itself doesn't need as great of a sacrifice."

"I didn't really think of that."

"Too caught up in the losing your mind aspect I'd imagine. Look I'm not saying Snape has sinister motivations here. He's a Slytherin. They aren't exactly known for risk-taking behavior. Especially when the risk has such drastic consequences. He probably genuinely believes that putting your soul at risk is a hefty enough price. It would be for him, but Natural Magic doesn't play by the rules of ordinary man."

"No, it doesn't" Sirius agreed thinking of Calist's story about her father.

"If I do this, you need to promise me something?"

"What?"

"Promise me that you will only do this if there is no another choice. This can't be about easing your guilt if you do this saving Harry has to be your only motivation. Love is the most powerful element and that is what you need to survive this. If you go in seeing this as your redemption you will fail."

"I know" Sirius replied.

"Harry doesn't need a martyr or a hero he needs a family. And right now you are the only one he's got."

Sirius pondered his former friend's words for a moment only to be interrupted from his reprieve by a knock at the door.

"If this heart to heart is over we have a meeting to get to," Lucius said from the doorway.

"Yeah give me a minute" Sirius groaned.

"Would you mind checking on Harry?" he asked the werewolf.

"No problem"

Sirius walked over to the bathroom and turned on the water. He hoped the cool water would be enough to wake him up. He looked in the mirror taking in his appearance. He looked the same really. A recent haircut had given his dark hair a slight wave. And, Lucius had insisted that his facial hair be kept neat and tidy but there was something different. He looked older, harder, wearier. Had he changed so much in a year?

"Kreacher has laid out Master's best robes for the meeting," the elf said appearing from nowhere.

"Thank you Kreacher," Sirius said with a slight nod.

"Kreacher could not help but overhear Master's conversation with the half-breed"

.

Sirius raised his eyebrow at the elf. He was getting better but he still had the nasty habit of referring to people by their blood status.

"Do not call him that!" Sirius snapped.

"Apologies Master but Kreacher only wishes to suggest that Master Harry may help keep Master focused on what matters. Master has kept the war and Master Harry separated but perhaps that is the wrong choice."

"I'm not sure what you are getting at, Kreacher"

"Just something to consider, Master," the elf said as he apparated out of the room leaving Sirius to ponder with his thoughts.

Sirius sat looking thoughtful for a moment before heading up to the nursery. Maybe Kreacher was right keeping the war and Harry separated wasn't getting him anywhere. If this was going to work Sirius had to remember exactly why he was doing this.

Sirius walked into the parlor holding Harry in his arms. The whole room turned to look at the pair and he saw Narcissa send him a worried look out of the corner of his eye.

Sirius cleared his throat as he walked to the front podium.

"Over half of the people in this room are only here by force. We have no bonds of loyalty, we don't share the same values, and many of us fought on opposite sides of the last war. How many of you can look to the person on your left and know for sure that they would have your back on the battlefield? We may make a fearsome team politically but I highly doubt that Voldemort will only attack us on that front. We need to find something that unites us, we need to find a way to be a cohesive unit. And I think I know how" he said gesturing to Harry.

"If you think we all care about the Potter brat…" snapped Goyle only to be cut off by a death glare from Narcissa.

"I'm not so foolish, but you do have a son Harry's age do you not?" the thick man nodded. "You were an adult when the war broke out in earnest. But, I can tell you that Voldemort is not above using children as a means to an end. He courted many a noble family for access to their heirs. Do you want to live in a world where Voldemort can readily access that which you hold most dear?"

He waited a minute hoping that his message was sinking in.

"I can not promise you that the war will never touch your children. War has a nasty habit of leaking into every aspect of your life. But, what I can promise is that if you follow me I will do everything in my power to keep your children safe from harm. I promise that I will never choose to put a child in harm's way." Sirius could tell that his words had struck a cord. He had the parents now he just had to get everyone else.

"Not everyone is this room has children, but everyone in this room has somebody they care about. Somebody the want to protect or someone they failed to protect" he said avoiding Snape's eye. "We do have something in common, though. Something far more powerful than any spell Voldemort has ever wielded. I'm giving you all the choice here and now. You can walk out of this room only bound by the confidentiality agreement, I free you of all other bonds. The choice is yours, you can choose to stand by and do nothing or you can choose to fight. You can choose to fight for those you love."

Sirius gazed around the room and saw people shooting each other wary glances but no one got up. He wasn't foolish enough to believe that he had won them over with a single speech. But he had sparked a flame in them. One he hoped he would be able to keep lit long enough to end the war.

Sirius was a passive observer the rest of the meeting choosing instead to sit back and observe the others. Lucius, as usual, had taken the opportunity to dominate the meeting. By the time the meeting was over Sirius' head was pounding. He gazed around the room, his nerves were fried. He felt a firm hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Brawin smiling at him.

"Kathleen's agreed to watch the kids tonight. Why don't we relax a bit? You look like you could use it. We won't go overboard this time, though" the Irish wizard said with a pointed look.

Sirius gave the older wizard a sly grin and nodded his head.

"See you around six?"

"Sure."

Sirius walked out of the room only to see du Valious and Remus talking in low voices in the hallway.

"Is something a matter?" he asked the pair.

"No, just having a damn of a time trying to track this Pettigrew fellow. The man seems to surface for a few hours and then go back into hiding almost a quick as he appeared. He has to be getting help from somewhere. Lupin has been trying to figure out what allies the man might have left." du Valious said gruffly.

"The problem is as far as I can tell he doesn't have any old supporters left. Everyone we know is accounted for" Remus said looking frustrated.

"I'll ask Lucius if he can think of anyone. He was in the inner circle if anyone will know it's him." Sirius supplied.

"That's not the only issue. He appears to be canvassing Alliance members houses." Remus said softly

"That's unnerving but not surprising. We weren't exactly quite about their reinstatement."

"That is true. Maybe I'm being paranoid but something just doesn't feel right." Remus said seriously.

"Clairvoyant you are not Lupin. I learned my lesson last time. All legit Alliances members are bound by the old ways and the confidentiality agreement"

"Everyone? You are sure of this?"

"Yes, everyone signed the agreement," Sirius said getting annoyed.

"Even Lucius?"

"Yes, even Lucius! Why would I have let Lucius off the hook?"

"Narcissa…"

"Narcissa is my cousin and I love her. But, that doesn't change the fact that her husband is a notoriously sneaky bastard. Lucius is useful, but I wouldn't have let him this far into my life without protection."

"You're right. I'm just on edge." the werewolf muttered.

The two wizards left the room together. But as soon as he was alone Sirius couldn't shake the feeling that Remus was right something was off.

Sirius walked back tp the parlor to go over the meetings notes only to see Lucius casually lounging in one of the chairs.

"You do realize you don't live here right?" Sirius said throwing the blonde wizard a slight glare.

"What's got you in such a sour mood? Trouble in paradise?" Lucius replied not missing a beat.

"I just have a lot on my mind," he said running a hand over his face.

"It is only going to get worse. If peace and quiet are what you wanted why on earth did you put yourself at the center of war?"

"I…"

"Had to protect Harry, I know" Lucius said cutting him off. "I wanted to tell you, you did good today. I think you managed to get to them. It was a smart move bringing up the children."

"And here I thought you'd think the whole thing was ridiculous. What is love compared to power" Sirius said.

"I may be a lot of things Sirius, but first I'm a father. I remember the days when Voldemort bounced around from noble family to noble family. I was sixteen the first time he came calling back when war was just whispers. When he started paying attention to me I was flattered that such a powerful wizard had taken any interest in me. My mother was horrified but my father was elated. I wasn't allowed to join up until I was eighteen but my father let me accompany the Dark Lord on various "business" meetings. I wasn't even seventeen the first time I watched someone get murdered. I'm not going to lie to you. Your world view and mine don't match, but I refuse to watch that man do what he did to me to my child. I brought you this" he said throwing a ratty old book on the table.

"Is this what I think it is?" Sirius asked.

"Yes"

"Narcissa and I were plotting to steal it."

"I'm aware. My wife is not half as sneaky as she thinks she is."

"Thank you."

"I'm not doing this for you, you realize?"

"I know, but thank you all the same." Sirius wasn't sure what else to say to the man. The blond wizard had just bared his soul to him, part of him wanted to leave it at that. "Voldemort taught me how to play chess. I never had the patience for the game Regulus used to beat me all the time"

"What?"

"He used to come over all the time. Personally, I think he was trying to collect all the heirs. James said he approached the Potters on more than one occasion. At least you had one parent that wanted to protect you, both of mine were vying for the man to take me under his wing. I only escaped because I was far too young at the time to be of any use."

"I don't want to be that parent to Draco. I don't want to be the kind of man who sells his only son for power and prestige."

"You won't be," Sirius said resting a hand on the other man's shoulder.

"Look, Brawin and I are having a few drinks tonight. Why don't you come and relax a little?" Sirius said not entirely sure why he was inviting the man.

"I don't want to impose"

"You are doing nothing of the sort. I meant what I said at the meeting. We all need to find some common ground. What better way to do that then over my father's stash of 1762 Elvish Bordeaux and I'm sure we didn't demolish all of the fire whiskey last night."

"Alright," the blond wizard conceded and with an audible pop he was gone.

Sirius headed to the kitchen to find Grimmauld Place's one and only telephone. If he was going to survive another night of drinking with Lucius he needed more than just Brawin with him.

"Hello?" said a voice on the other end.

"Lupin, why don't you and du Valious take the night off. A bunch of us are getting together for drinks"

"Are you sure?" asked Remus sounding completely bewildered by the question.

"Yes, I'm sure. Just come over Lupin."