CHAPTER : 79

It was a cold winter evening and a tired trio had just put Harry to bed. They were sitting in their favorite seats, sipping tea and relaxing.

"Hey, Remus," Hydrus broke the silence, "you're a researcher, right?"

"Yes," the werewolf answered tentatively at the gleam in the immortal's eyes. That look usually meant more work. Not that he had a problem with work, but getting the book store up and running had taken a lot out of him.

Sirius just sat back and snickered quietly. Remus had done all the research for the Marauders, so he knew that once Hydrus gave the werewolf something to look up, the man would be lost in the world of books.

"I have an idea," the time traveler said, "I was wondering if you could get with the Chocolate Frog Company and make a book on the people depicted on the cards. Put them in order of Hogwarts Houses or unaffiliated, for those that didn't attend. Add more descriptions as to what they did and who they are, you know, make it more of a history book geared towards teens."

"Why?" Remus asked, not seeing what good that would do.

"Well, most magicals seem to forget things like Merlin being sorted into Slytherin, or that guy, Paracelsus, who named and was a parseltongue, being an alchemist and a healer. If it's all in order then they can see that not everyone from that House or with such talents are evil," Hydrus explained, still going over the possibilities. "There are some Dark Lords and Ladies from other Houses, as well. It'll also show that blood doesn't matter, if you do the research to show their blood status. There are loads of things like that on those cards, but for some reason they aren't paid attention to. You can get the Company to tell you where they got their information and use those reference points to get the public to do some of their own research."

"That might actually work," the other man said thoughtfully. "I can do it on my down time. But, I might need some of your Death Eater money to pay them."

Hydrus waved that off as a given and the two settled down to discuss it more. Sirius added his own two Knuts' worth every now and then. It would take a while to get it put together, but they were hopeful for the summer.

The next day Sirius got a missive from his grandfather saying that they couldn't put off the meeting any longer. So dressed in their best robes, the two Blacks went to Arcturus's house.

The house was small for a Black home. It was only three stories tall and painted in a dark brown that was almost black. The trees formed a circle around it, casting deep shadows making the cloudy day even darker, like a large foreboding fence. The front yard was trimmed and flowerless. The path they walked up was dark grey gravel, with deep green bushes, that came up to their shoulders, lining each side. Hydrus had to wonder why the old man wanted his house to look haunted. The whole place made you feel like you were walking to your death.

Sirius used the large head shaped knocker to announce their arrival. A clean, yet, worn looking, house elf answered and showed them to the parlor.

Seated in a high wing backed chair sat a very old, emaciated, looking man. He was dressed in formal robes of green and silver. He was very pale, as if he hadn't seen the sun in years. His hair was streaked with grey and his face was lined with wrinkles. His grey eyes were alert and the set of his mouth was thin with repressed emotion. However, if you looked hard enough you could see he was once a handsome man. Power also radiated off him, he may look weak, but he was magically strong.

"Sirius," the surprisingly strong, deep, voice said, "it is about time you came. I told you I wanted to meet this young man weeks ago."

"We've been busy," the dogman defended. The two were still standing near the entryway, waiting to be offered seats.

"Yes, I have heard of all your exploits," Arcturus said, waving his hands for them to sit. "I have to wonder if you are actually going to do anything for the family. I trusted you to pull them together."

"Well, you see…" the chastised man tried to explain as they took the chairs indicated. "I did bring a few of the others and Andromeda back into the family and set up vaults for them and their children."

"Yes, you did, but what of your other great aunts, uncles and cousins? Your cousin Narcissa and her son?" the ex-Lord asked, shooting a disappointed glare at the youngest Black. He was thinking maybe he shouldn't have given up the seat quite so soon.

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