The Final Task. Hadrian, by dint of being so far ahead in points, was going in first. Sirius was cheering him on and had already worked out a deal with Mammon regarding him working for the Mist as an informant.

No one ever paid attention to the random strays on the street.

It was hard to explain the sheer relief on the faces of the French girls when told that Mammon was openly speaking with "Housekeeping" about hiring them. While it did mean manual labor like cleaning, laundry, and cooking, it was still infinitely preferably to what they had waiting for them back in their home country.

And yes, there was a "handmaiden clause" that allowed them to tie themselves specifically to Belphegor and prevent arranged marriages without her approval.

In the words of Hadrian, Belphegor had gone from the "crown princess" to the "Cousin who was close enough to be considered royalty, but distant enough that they weren't likely to ever inherit in their lifetime".

Considering Bel openly considered Xanxus "king" of the Varia, that wasn't too far off the mark. Hell, Xanxus would probably love that description and Levi wouldn't question it at all.

Hadrian had no desire to pick up the cup. He wasn't Quality for nothing and this positively reeked of a trap.

He gleefully burned through the maze, his eyes black as night and dark as hell itself.

Warlocks were truly terrifying when before they Ascended. To Use without consequences, only to get even more powerful to the point of summoning the dead with a little use of Power...

There was a reason why Wizards feared them to their very bones.

Sirius shivered outside. Someone was Using and not exactly being subtle about it.

"What is it?" asked Mammon sharply.

"Someone is Using. Not Ascended, but still being pretty damn careless about it."

"Shishishi... Hadrian wants this over with so we can kill that Malfoy twit. Contract only lasts until the tournament has ended. Besides, he rarely gets to play," snickered Bel.

Sirius blinked, before he face palmed.

"Well at least he's not chickenshit about it like James was..." he muttered.

Honestly, James only had to take one look at the whole "black eyes" crap that came from Using to immediately declare it pure evil and refuse to have anything to do with it. He had been in total denial since it first started and it was a miracle no one had busted him for a Warlock years ago.

Sirius made a point to never let James know he continued his training, regardless of how he felt about his family. He was a Black, and not exactly raised on the whole "Dumbledore is always right" propaganda that was more or less shoved down his cousin's throat for years by Lady Prewett and the others that hung around Dorea.

Dumbledore didn't like the fact Warlocks were naturally more powerful than wizards, so he made them sound evil. It was ridiculous.

And Hadrian got a double dose of the Power because he came by it honestly from both the Potter and the Black sides when Sirius declared him his heir with his Power the day he was born.

Suddenly the Power cut off and the hedges slammed down.

There, holding the Goblet with an iron stick to cancel out any active or passive magic, was Hadrian looking decidedly bored with the whole thing.

He made sure his voice carried to Belphegor who looked positively eager to be set loose.

"You do realize you have exactly one hour to make up to Belphegor before she decides to go on a very long overdue killing spree of the inbred imbeciles who made some very unwise remarks about her, right?"

Sirius grinned.

By the time they left England there were quite a few unhappy old blooded families without heirs...particularly the Malfoy patriarch.

Belphegor had been particularly vicious and very creative when it came to displaying Draco's body after the multiple comments he made about her. He really shouldn't have called her a whore to her face.

"Voi! Anyone mind explaining why we have a bunch of witches in Housekeeping?!" complained Squalo.

"Ask the Prince. He brought them with him from England," said Levi.

"VOI! Where is that damn brat!"

"Shishishi... problem?" said Belphegor, hanging from the ceiling via wires.

"Why are there a bunch of French witches in Housekeeping?" demanded Squalo. Being hexed for his language was not a good way to start a morning.

Belphegor gave him an odd look... if by odd one took the fact their face went completely flat and didn't have the usual sadistic grin on their face and was completely serious for once.

"They agreed to come work under the Boss because I am a Prince. It was either that or a life that wasn't exactly worth having in a country that treats women as less than second class citizens."

Squalo stared at him.

"And how exactly did you explain to them how things work here?"

"They get to work in housekeeping and live however they please so long as they don't try to betray me or the Boss, and in exchange they serve under a 'king' who's currently indisposed until we find out how to free him. They seemed pretty pleased when I told them Boss is more likely to curse and possibly throw glasses or other things at them than treat them as badly as they were back home."

An angry king who threw things and cursed, but didn't actually abuse his subjects? A major upgrade to Rasiel and the men back home.

"And what's your position in this 'kingdom'?" said Squalo, humoring the brat.

Belphegor shrugged.

"As the Kitty put it, I'm the cousin who's close enough to be considered royalty among the peasants, but distant enough that the odds of me ever inheriting the throne in my lifetime are next to nothing," they replied.

Which... did make a twisted sort of sense.

"So the witches are here to stay," stated Squalo, not exactly pleased with the news.

"Mammon doesn't seem to care since the repair bills have gone down, and Sorella is beyond happy that they'll have some actual potions to play around with and save on Flames," said Belphegor.

Squalo growled, but there was little he could do about it now.

Of course not all the news was as amusing.

"So let me get this straight... this Dark Lord that caused so much trouble over a decade ago somehow managed to come back and now the old goat expects me to ask him for protection? Is he fucking high or something?!" said Hadrian incredulous.

"Frankly I think so. I always thought those damn lemon drops were suspicious. To be perfectly honest I'm absolutely sure you'd kill anyone stupid enough to try that shit with you, or your friends would. I only agreed to come to get a free trip out of that damn house. Just because I let him use my old home doesn't mean I intend to live there," said Sirius.

Hadrian frowned.

"Tell that old bastard to find a new damn clubhouse. If he's so senile he thinks Warlocks are evil, who knows what he might do to the library and other artifacts."

Sirius snorted.

"I already made Kreacher move them to the main manor. He's just taking over the town house. I'm just happy my mother's portrait wasn't included."

Orion was not in fact the Head of the Black Family. His father was, and despite how Walburga might have felt about it Sirius remained the heir even after he left home. When the old man died, Sirius became head of the family, much to the woman's ire.

Which meant that only Sirius had access to the Black Manor, one he was more or less ordered to visit after he left to stay with the Potters.

Fortunately his grandfather had been very understanding why his heir had left and refused to be marked...with the agreement that Sirius never fall prey to the same idiocy that had befallen James.

They were from a long line of Warlocks and didn't take shit from anyone.

"Anyway, know where I can crash?" asked Sirius hopefully.

"If you're hoping to crash here, think again. My Clouds like to try and revenge prank me in an effort to create a weakness so they can take my spot," said Hadrian bluntly.

"Then at least let me instruct you in the way of the Marauder Way of Pranking. You're good, but you could be so much more...effective," grinned Sirius. Hadrian's smirk was just as evil.

"The clothes stay on until you're seventeen!" shouted Mammon from the corridor.

"Belphegor's giving Squalo headaches. I'm conspiring with your new wizard informant to make things more...interesting...for the Cloud division," said Hadrian.

"Mu. The repairs are coming out of your paycheck," said Mammon.

"They're really strict on the nothing outside of cuddling rule here aren't they?" said Sirius.

"That's only because neither Sorella or Mammon want to deal with an accidental pregnancy, and we have no idea how the boss will take it."

"So is this big sister of yours hot?" asked Sirius with a hopeful leer.

"Very hot. Too hot for you to handle," said Hadrian, sending Luss a quick text so he could fully "greet" the new informant. Mammon would take pictures too.

If he were Padfoot, he'd be wagging his tail at the prospect of meeting a 'hot' big sister type. Hadrian barely refrained from cackling.

Fifteen minutes later...

"AIIIIIEEEEE!"

"Shishishi..."

Mammon was not so subtly cackling their ass off while snapping multiple pictures. There was no way in hell Sirius was going to get rid of them all, especially since he barely knew anything about the internet.

Hadrian was howling at the look on the old dog's face. Totally. Worth. It.

"That was a dirty, uncalled for stunt. I approve!" said Sirius once he got over his shock. Definitely Marauder material right there. James must be rolling in his grave laughing his ass off at his old friend right now. And Lily was almost certainly chortling in amusement. "Prepare for payback."

"Bring it on old man. At least I don't have gray hairs."

"VOI! I am not old!" shouted Squalo, who had come to investigate what had made that racket to the point he knocked over the paperwork.

"I was talking to this old fucker," said Hadrian, eyes gleaming.

"Oi! I'm only 34!" protested Sirius.

"Long, those 34 years," said Hadrian sagely.

"Why you little..."

"Who's this trash?" demanded Squalo.

"Sirius Black, falsely convicted Wizard, and the kitten's magically bonded Godfather," said Mammon.

"And he's here why?"

"He came to warn Cheshire that the 'dark lord' was back and that the goat might try to kidnap him and claim protection," said Mammon.

Squalo's eyes glinted with violent glee. Anyone stupid enough to take their Cloud officer was going to have their asses handed to them and that was before the Prince brat got involved. Never mind what the rest of the Officers would do to anyone that Stupid.

They might argue with each other all the time, but they'd be damned if they lost one of their own to some civilian fuckers who clearly had no proper concept of what "safe" was. They were assassins. Safety was an illusion with them!

Sirius eyed Squalo and "Sorella" before nodding with approval. His godson might not have a "safe" or "friendly" life, but at least these people understood what loyalty was and wouldn't hesitate to help kill or hide the bodies if it meant protecting Hadrian.

A pity more of the Order weren't like that, save for those like Moody.

Meeting Remus was... interesting. He positively froze when he got within three feet of Belphegor. It was hilarious.

"Padfoot..."

"Yes Moony?"

"Why didn't you warn me his betrothed reeks of blood and death?"

"Because then you would have brought more people," deadpanned Sirius. "Belphegor is perfectly harmless so long as you don't annoy them and are properly respectful. On an unrelated note, they're also pretty likely to bite someone's head off if they take the fact you're a werewolf personally."

"Shishishi... The wolf looks rather jumpy," snickered Bel.

Remus shuddered. And this was the girl his pup was going to marry later?

"Well that was irritating," said Hadrian, teleporting with Mammon straight from the Italian Ministry. It had taken a while for news to reach them that he was back.

On the plus side he had more or less been told he was free to do whatever the hell he wanted so long as he didn't break the Statute of Secrecy, didn't kill anyone in the Italian Magical Community without an active Contract, and agreed to stay the hell out of their Ministry unless he was there for official business.

No way in hell did they want anyone who worked for the Varia joining the Ministry in any official capacity. They weren't stupid like the English.

Remus stared at him for a second, then made a choked sound the second he saw Mammon.

"Oh dear sweet Merlin, why the hell didn't you warn me he was friends with Viper?" said Remus in a horrified voice.

"Viper?" said Hadrian.

"I go by many names. Hello again Lupin, or should I call you John?" said Mammon bluntly.

Remus made a pained noise.

"Okay, I have to hear this," said Sirius grinning evilly.

"I may or may not have supplied Wolfsbane to him a few times when he was working in Mafia Land as an informant," said Mammon.

"You charged me twice what the potion was actually worth!" said Remus.

"Yes, but I never took advantage of the fact you were a werewolf or went higher than double the value," said Mammon bluntly.

"Wait, Mafia Land? As in you had underworld contacts and didn't tell me?" said Sirius with glee. Straight laced Remus working for the mafia? How was he not going to abuse his teasing rights for this?!

"Who else would hire someone with no real identification who couldn't work for a few days a month like clockwork?" scowled Remus.

Hadrian snorted.

"We have blackmail pictures of Sirius meeting Sorella," said Hadrian.

"Share. Now. Or else he'll never shut up," said Remus.

"Shishishi, why don't we take him to meet Sorella to get a proper physical. I'm sure they'd be happy to inspect a werewolf!" said Belphegor evilly. Sirius nodded emphatically.

An hour later...

"AIIIEEEE!"

"VOI! GOD DAMMIT, WHOEVER SCREAMED THIS TIME IS GOING TO GET MY SWORD UP THEIR ASS!"

Hadrian and Sirius cackled. Though he had to admit, their reaction to Luss' personal collection for his rather disturbing fetish was even funnier.

A pity Draco was in too many pieces for them to bring home to Sorella. He was Luss' type and he would have probably enjoyed the nice present from them. Not to mention the sheer fun they could have had sending hints of what happened to the idiot's body back to his parents for mental trauma.

Sirius laughed his ass off once he got over this newest shock.