Chapter 2: Sirius's Plan

Harry made his way to the kitchen. He didn't know if Sirius would be there, but it was a good place to start. The house was still gloomy and dusty. It was like they were fighting a losing battle. He thought he'd just call Dobby and be done with it. Maybe the elf would know others that needed work.

The stairs had been spelled not to creak when you went down them. He still had to sneak past Mrs. Blacks portrait. He was almost tempted to set it off, just because. When he got to the kitchen, he didn't see his quarry, but Mrs. Weasley was there. So, he ducked out before she noticed him. He didn't want to hear her complain that he had been hiding.

He then made his way to the study, which is where he found Sirius and Remus. They had their heads together, like they were plotting something and were working out the logistics. It reminded him of the many times he had caught the twins doing the same in the common room.

"Sirius," Harry said, making the men bump heads, causing him to chuckle. "Sorry," he said, making his way towards them. "I was wondering if I could ask you a favor?" he asked his godfather, sitting in an armchair across from him. He nodded towards Remus, but it was obvious that he wanted to be alone with the other man.

"I'll just go," Remus said, with an air that he really didn't want to.

"I'll see you later, Moony," Sirius said when he noted that Harry wanted to talk to him alone. "Do you have an issue with Remus?" he asked, not sure what was up with that. He thought the two got along pretty well.

"A small one. I'll probably get over it by myself. It's just that it took him so long to tell me he knew my dad. The year was almost over when he did. I feel like he should have told me at the beginning," the teen explained, pulling on his sleeve in discomfort. He wasn't mad at Remus, just disappointed. "I don't trust him with my secrets," he added, a pleading look in his eyes. Not puppy dog, but asking for understanding.

"I guess I can see that. I'll talk to him. He really does care about you," Sirius said, settling back in his chair. "So, pup, what did you need?" he asked his godson now that the emotional stuff was over.

"I have a dilemma. Well, not a dilemma, per se, more of a tricky problem," Harry started, thinking on what to say and how much to tell.

"Go on," Sirius said, leaning forward intrigued.

"You know that doxy that I told you about?" the teen asked, picking a thread on his oversized pants. They weren't near as bad as the ones from Dudley, but these had fit him better until he spent the summer at the Dursleys. Bastards.

"Yeah, what about it?" Sirius answered, not sure what Harry needed with a doxy.

"I found out that they have become sentient," the teen said, leaning forward a bit like he was sharing a secret. "I want to give them a mobile place to live, so they can help me every now and then," he explained in the broadest terms.

"A mobile home?" was the confused reply.

"Yeah, something I can carry. I know that they will need someplace stable, but I need to be able to get to them at a moment's notice," Harry said, getting excited about his plan. "The queen says she needs dark magic, so I thought a bag with some of the junk you've got laying around. I'll help in any way I can."

"Okay, but my question is, why?" the confused dogman said, lifting an eyebrow and tilting his head in confusion. "I mean, they are pests."

"They're sentient," he said, again. "I mean, can you imagine what it would have been like if I had an organized army of doxies, that could think for themselves, with me when Volde… You-Know-Who came back. All the Death Eaters would either be dead, or very sick," Harry said, all but bouncing in his chair. His joy at something that might be helpful, or even funny was showing. "Heck, even Voldy would have been ill."

The image of those full-grown wizards trying to escape an army of doxies filled his mind. He chuckled to himself, and he thought of all the chaos he was going to create.

"Yeah, that would have been a riot," Sirius agreed, he imagined just that, and it was hysterical. He then got thoughtful. This was the happiest he had seen the kid since he got here. There were many things that could carry a large number of creatures. "I got an idea, but I want to meet them first," he finally said, getting up as if to go right this minute.

"They are on the fourth floor," Harry explained, heading to the door. He was more than willing to get help. He just hoped the queen was receptive.

It opened before he got there, and Mrs. Weasley was standing there, looking like she was upset about something. She glared at Sirius and nodded to Harry. "Dinner is done," she said, all but storming out of the study.

"Do me a favor, and don't make her mad. I have some plans, and she'd just mess them up if she was mad at you or me," Harry said when his godfather got abreast of him.

"Fine, I'll behave, but only because you asked," the man said, leading them to the kitchen. He was not happy with the harpy, but he'd behave for Harry.

Seated around the large rectangular table, or getting the dinner, was all the Weasley kids, minus Percy and Charlie, the two Weasley adults, Remus, what looked like a large pile of rags, and a few people Harry didn't know. He sat at the far end next to Sirius and Remus.

"Harry, where have you been?" Hermione asked as soon as he sat.

"Hiding from you," he replied, noting Mrs. Weasley and the twins were bringing dinner.

"There is no reason to be rude," the girl sniffed, giving him a stink eye.

"I wasn't," Harry said, ignoring her sniff. "You asked a question; I gave an answer." He watched the twins almost spill what they were magically carrying, making their mum angry. "Just because you don't like the answer, doesn't make me rude."

"Harry, I was only concerned about you. You were so angry when you left," she tried again, this time sounding far less demanding.

The twins finally sat down, having listened to Molly yell at them for about a minute. They never let the woman faze them for long. Her howlers were a running joke in Gryffindor. Well, not when they were aimed at Ron, but the twins never let those letters bother them. They tried to get her to send as many as possible. They had a betting pool going on.

The pile of rags moved, and he now knew it was a man. A very dirty man. One that Aunt Petunia would never have in her house. Harry did wonder who the man was, but his hand crept to his money pouch. The guy just gave off those vibes.

"I'm still angry," Harry said, going back to the conversation, and serving himself up some onion soup. There was also some salad, a pork roast, and potatoes. He got some from all the serving dishes. There was a ranch dressing, so he grabbed that too.

"Whyever for?" she asked, leaving the food for a moment. "We explained why we couldn't contact you." She put her fist on the table to show that she was just as peeved as he was.

"And I told you it was twaddle," he said, shoving a bit of potato in his mouth.

"We could not go against Dumbledore."

"Look," Harry said after he swallowed, "I'm not having this fight with you at dinner. The Dursleys may not have taught me much, but they did say that arguments at the table are bad manners. I happen to agree." He then bit into more of his delicious meal. "Great as ever, Mrs. Weasley," he said, patting the corner of his mouth with a napkin.

"Thank you, dear," she said, but was looking between the kids like she didn't like the tension.

The rest of dinner was spent in near silence. Most of the talk was about mundane things. Anytime Sirius got that look in his eyes, Harry stomped his foot. There would be no more arguments at the table.

"Come on, Sirius, I have something to show you," Harry said as he got up from the table. It was only a matter of moments he was out the door.

"Alright," Sirius said, also getting up and following the teen just as quickly.

"What…" was all that was heard from the kitchen as they all but ran up the stairs, waking the portrait, but not stopping. They started laughing and soon were on the fourth floor.

"So, where are these smart doxies?" the dogman asked, looking at the cleaner part of the floor.

"Follow me," Harry said, making a 'come on' motion. "Be nice, I want them on my good side." They made it to the end of the cleanish hall and Harry opened the door.

The doxies were running drills. It was quite a sight to see them flying in formation, and making attacks on what appeared to be a rat. There was one that was making noises, Harry guessed it was in whatever language they used. The two sat and watched, until they were noticed.

The squad almost broke rank when the leader shooed them back. The leader made a motion, and one did break off and fly into the bed curtains. The queen soon flew out and hovered in front of Harry.

"Did you find us a place?" she asked, surprised how quickly he came back.

"No, not yet. My godfather wanted to meet you," the teen said, waving to the shocked man.

"Then why did you bother us?" she asked, not liking being disturbed for petty reasons.

"He can do more magic than me, and he knows all the dark magic in the house. It's his house," Harry explained, motioning Sirius forward.

"I have a few ideas," the man said, peering at the tiny queen, like one would a… well, smart bug. "How are you speaking English?" he wondered, knowing that doxies were insects, they might have some intelligence, but a spoken language, that was blowing his mind.

"There is a very evil piece of magic in this house. The longer we're exposed to it, the smarter I become. I can read, I taught myself that and your language," she said with a sniff. "My family is also smarter, but they cannot speak, or read."

"What about the ones we killed earlier. The ones downstairs?" Harry asked, thinking they were not smart at all.

"Those are the exiled. They did not get smarter and refused to conform. There is no queen down there, so they were strays, I guess you can say. I hated doing it, but I could not have fighting among my people," she said, her voice wistful.

"So, Sirius, what are you thinking," Harry said, sorry he had brought it up.

"One of my relatives tried to be immortal. He got a bit of dementor's cloak, I thought I could use that to make a bag, and I can put an undetectable expansion charm on it. We can throw the whole bed in it. That and there are loads of dark objects that can be added to the bag," the older man explained, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Oh, that sounds good," Harry said, looking to the queen.

She flew there with a contemplative look. "Will we not be sad all the time?" she wondered out loud.

"No, you might feel cold but not by much. A heating rune can be added to something if that bothers you," Sirius said, still thinking of what else could be done.

"What evil object are you talking about, and do you want it in there?" Harry asked, snapping Sirius out of his thinking.

"It is in the large cabinet in the study. The one with all the objects," she said, tapping her chin. "I think it is the necklace. However, I cannot be sure," she added, still thinking on the feeling of the things in that cabinet. "I think you should add it. If only to remove it from the humans. But I want it in a box, so it doesn't affect us anymore than it already has. It is evil," she reiterated.

"I'll have to look at it," Sirius said seriously, no pun intended. If there was evil in the house, it had to be dealt with.

"That sounds like a plan," Harry said, grabbing his godfather's elbow and turning to leave. "You guys stay here, and don't come out. What do you eat anyway?" he stopped to ask.

"Dust mites," was the answer, which was good. That meant they would be able to feed themselves. "Rats if we're hungry enough." That would still be easy. The pet store sold them. Hedwig ate them from time to time, when she didn't feel like hunting, which wasn't often. Mostly in the summer. She was a snowy owl; heat didn't agree with her.

"Good to know," the teen said, propelling Sirius out of the room.

"That was different," the man said, putting a ward up at the end of the hall. Only he and Harry would be able to come up here now.

"Yeah, thanks for thinking of something. I was worried I would screw it up," Harry said, going down the stairs to the room he had chosen.

"Why aren't you sleeping with Ron? Molly is all bent out of shape about that," the dogman asked, following him in. "This is an old guest room. Family, of course," he added as an afterthought.

"He couldn't be bothered to contact me this summer, I can't be bothered to talk to him now," the teen said, sitting on the bed and waving Sirius to the only chair. "What can you tell me?" he asked, crossing his legs under him in Indian style.

"Not much," the man confessed, crossing his leg one over the other, with his ankle resting on the opposite knee. "Dumbledore is keeping everything close to chest. I can tell you there's something at the Ministry that they are guarding. It's in the Department of Mysteries." He got a thoughtful look in his eyes as if to think of what all was down there. "I reckon it might be a prophecy, but I don't know for sure."

"Great, my luck it was made by Trelawney," Harry moaned, not sure how to take that.

"You're probably right. James had such luck," Sirius agreed, then went on to tell the boy some stories about his dad's hijinks in school. They had a quiet, fulfilling night.