They stepped out of the oppressive Black Ancestral Home, and the door closed automatically behind them.
The night breeze was cool. The terraced houses of Grimmauld Place stood silent in the moonlight, and the gap that should never have existed between numbers eleven and thirteen closed again, as though number twelve had never existed.
Sirius Black suddenly spoke. "Can I ask why you didn't agree to the conditions Phineas and the others proposed?"
Sirius would rather have died than let Phineas strip him of his freedom and lock him up as a breeding boar to carry on the family bloodline.
The mere thought of being imprisoned, coerced, and treated like a tool sent a chill through him.
Still, Lucien's offer to make clearing Sirius's name one of the conditions had surprised him.
Their agreement had only been that Lucien would help catch Scabbers, and Sirius would then give him the box Regulus had entrusted to Kreacher.
Lucien had no need to get involved beyond that, much less bargain with Phineas.
Sirius badly wanted to know whether Lucien had said that because he had foreseen some future, but he had already asked before they came here. All he had received was the standard seer's answer: when the time came, he would know.
Sirius did not actually care that much about having the charges against him dropped and his name cleared.
He only wanted to kill that filthy rat clinging to life. What happened afterward did not matter.
Lucien glanced at him. "There are several reasons. Which one do you want to hear?"
The corner of Sirius's mouth twitched. How could there be several reasons? Just how much had this man considered in those few moments? He took a deep breath and said helplessly,
"The main one."
"Because Harry is my friend,"