Growing up Pureblooded

A Secret Agent

Whilst the boys endured their lessons with Cassiopeia every morning, Sirius took advantage of the opportunity to visit Remus. The werewolf was unemployed at the time, and so he was more than happy to spend his mornings talking with his old friend over a couple of bottles of butterbeer. "How are you holding up, Padfoot?" Remus asked him one day. Sirius shrugged. "Well enough. I'm mostly exhausted." Remus nodded. "I'm not surprised, what with all the work you've been doing." He smiled wryly. "Who would have guessed when you were sixteen that you'd happily step into the role of Black paterfamilias?"

Sirius grinned. "Not yet, Moony. Grandfather's still breathing, last time I checked." "Acting paterfamilias, then." Remus furrowed his brow. "How's that bit going? It can't be pleasant for you, being stuck back with your family." "Well, staying with the family was one of Aunt Cassie's conditions for letting me take charge of Aries," Sirius explained. "I knew what I was in for. But it's actually not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I think all of us have mellowed out a bit." He chuckled. "Though you might want to ask me again in a few months. I haven't been back in England that long."

"It probably helps that some of your more unpleasant relations are gone," Remus pointed out. "That's true enough. I'd probably go barmy if I had to live with my mum again, or if I had to play nice with Bella. I nearly went mad just staying at Grimmauld Place with Grandmamma." He paused reflectively. "There's one other thing." "What's that?" Remus wondered out loud"Before, when I ran away, I didn't have anything in common with my family," Sirius said. "Now we all have one thing in common." Remus understood. "Aries."

"Exactly. I didn't think it possible, but they mostly seem genuinely to care for Aries." Sirius chuckled. "Even Aunt Cassie, in her own perverse way." Remus grimaced. "I don't think she's capable of caring for anyone." "You're just upset because you were on the receiving end of her interrogation techniques." Sirius said chuckling. "She used the Cruciatus Curse on me!" Remus exclaimed. Sirius shrugged. "To be fair, Moony, at the time she thought you and Dumbledore were plotting to steal Aries and send him back to live with those filthy Muggles." "You've been spending too much time with your family, Padfoot," Remus observed. "You're picking up their expressions." "Can you think of a more apt description of the Dursleys?:" Sirius demanded. "You know as well as anyone how terribly they treated Harry." Remus conceded the point. Sirius changed the subject.

"I wish you'd let me give you some gold," Sirius said with a pout. "This place could use some repairs, and with Granddad gone I am now fabulously wealthy." "As it just so happens, Padfoot," Remus replied, "I've inherited something of a fortune myself." That caught Sirius off guard. "Really?" He asked astounded. "Apparently James and Lily wanted me to inherit all their gold if anything happened to Harry." Remus stated

Sirius nodded. "That makes sense. So why haven't you done anything with it?" Remus said quietly. "It doesn't really belong to me," Remus said. "It belongs to Aries." Sirius snorted. "Aries has more than enough gold coming to him as it is." "You might have other children, you know." Remus reasoned. Sirius smiled wistfully. "Unfortunately, Moony, as embarrassing as it is for me for an old ladies' man like me to admit it, Azkaban has made that rather...unlikely." Remus turned crimson. "I see."

"Even if I did, Aries's going to be quite comfortable off," Sirius pointed out. "He's only getting everything from Uncle Alphard, Granddad and Grandfather through me, of course, but Aunt Cassie has no children, so she's decided to leave everything directly to Aries. Uncle Marius has told me he's planning on doing the same thing-his only son died years ago. At this rate, Aries is on track to become one of the wealthiest wizards in Great Britain. So you can use Harry's gold guilt-free." "It's not right," Remus said quietly. "That gold should go to Aries, not to me. I've managed until now, and I suspect I'll keep on managing perfectly well." Sirius sighed. "If you say so, Moony." He paused. "There's something else we need to talk about, by the way." "What's that?" Remus questioned.

"I'm concerned about Dumbledore," Sirius replied. "I was watching him at the Ministry, and he seemed to be looking at Aries far more often that I should like." "Do you think he suspects the truth?'"Remus asked. "I hope not."Sirius responded. "Why don't we just tell him?" Remus suggested. "We can tell him what happened with you and Peter, and show him how happy Aries is. Maybe he'd go along with everything." Sirius snorted. "I'm sorry, Moony, but I lost all faith in Dumbledore's wisdom when I learned how hard he fought to keep me in Azkaban." "To be fair, he thought you were guilty." Remus defended. "He could have spoken with me first," Sirius growled. "From what Lucius has told me, Dumbledore's given Snivelly far more of a chance than he ever gave me. Besides, look at what he did to Harry!"

Remus sighed. "I can't say I'm all that happy with Dumbledore, either, at the moment." He paused. "So why do you think he was watching Aries?" "The truth of the matter is that I have no clue what he's up to, and I don't like it," Sirius replied. "I want to do something to remedy that." "What do you have in mind?" Sirius gave Remus a mischievous grin. "Ever fancy becoming a secret agent, Moony?"