SIRIUS WAS CONFUSED. Growing up, Kreacher had always been loyal to the prejudice beliefs of the family. He nodded his head to agree with insults or even threw out some of his own. And over the years, he had received praise from Walburga and Orion countless times. Sirius remembered all those times and he remembered how many times he had been called a 'blood-traitor' by the house-elf when he was forced to come home from Hogwarts during the summer holidays.

Kreacher was one of the reasons why Sirius hated coming home. Every time the house-elf dared to insult him if Sirius retaliated, he found himself in trouble, whether it was getting yelled at or being told to stay in his room. Kreacher had been untouchable despite being one of the worst ones that tormented him. And no matter what mask Kreacher was attempting to wear since they arrived at Grimmauld Place, Sirius wasn't buying it.

Making dinner for the group left Sirius paranoid, believing that the food would be poisoned, so he checked every meal. Not to mention, Kreacher did show his true colours, especially when he was around Charlus. He loved insulting him when he knew that Charlus couldn't hear him and believed they were alone. That was usually what set Sirius off, threatening to kick Kreacher if he continued but Charlus always stopped him.

"Why do you defend that thing?" Sirius asked at one point, completely exasperated. "He's been insulting you since you've been here."

"You think I don't know that?" Charlus countered. "Do you think Kreacher is the first to say something nasty about me, knowing I can't hear him? Come on, Sirius, you know as well as I do that he's not the first and nor will he be the last."

"That doesn't make it right!"

Charlus grabbed one of Sirius' hands, trying to calm him down as quick as possible. Harry was in the kitchen with Lyall, Remus, and Maeve, and he didn't need to hear Sirius getting upset.

"Of course it doesn't make it right. But I'm not going to let it bother me either. I don't value Kreacher's opinion. Just like how I never valued your mother's opinion when she called me a 'circus act.' It's silly really and only shows how ignorant they are. But the more you react, the more they are going to do it. Kreacher has been getting a reaction out of you since you were a boy, stop letting him bother you."

If only it were as easy as Charlus was putting it, but Sirius had a hard time letting it all go.

"I fucking hate that house-elf with a passion. He gave me hell when I lived here and now that we're back here, it's like picking up where we left off. If he wasn't the one taking care of my mother, I would have blasted him out of here as soon as we arrived."

"We'll only be here a little while longer," Charlus said in a promising tone. "Maeve's father has been working to draw up some papers that we can take to court. Then it won't matter if Fudge or Dumbledore tries to retaliate, they won't have any legal grounds to stand on. We'll be free to go where we want and we'll take Harry far away from him, and we'll all be happy. Doesn't that sound nice to you?"

"Of course it does," Sirius grumbled before letting out a heavy sigh, " I'm sorry, I just hate being here. Every bad memory seems to just play itself over in my mind every time I pass a room. It's almost as bad as being in Azkaban again."

"SIRIUS!"

Sirius jumped at the sound of his mother screeching his name from upstairs. Thankfully, Charlus didn't have to suffer through it whenever she decided to call out for him or Kreacher. He thought about ignoring her, but Charlus released his hand and glanced in the direction of the staircase.

"Is she calling you?"

"No-"

"Sirius...."

With a disgruntled look, Sirius made his way up the stairs, leaving Charlus behind. He wished his husband could understand that he wasn't looking to better the relationship between him and his mother. He wouldn't care if Walburga died in her sleep overnight, he didn't care at all. And yet, Charlus and Maeve insisted that somewhere, deep down inside of him, there was just a little hint that still cared. After all, the first place Sirius had thought of when it came to the escape was the Grimmauld Place.

Entering his mother's room, Sirius found Walburga lying on her back, propped up by several pillows. She looked absolutely furious as she glared at him, and Sirius noticed the streams of tears on her face right away.

"What do you want?" Sirius asked her. "You don't have to scream like a banshee around here."

"Did I hear you correctly?" Walburga said. " Being here is almost as bad as being in Azkaban?"

Sirius rolled his eyes as he turned away from her. " Yes, you did hear correctly. I only remember this place being a prison when I lived here. Constantly being locked away in my room, all the happiness being sucked away from me. Seemed like a fitting comparison to make."

Walburga let out a sharp laugh. "You really are ungrateful," she told him, " even after I allowed you and those people to stay here, have Kreacher make your meals, you still find room to complain?"

"You think a nice gesture or a fucking meal is going to erase everything you did over the years? Ungrateful? I'm ungrateful because Kreacher continues to insult my husband. I'm supposed to thank him graciously every time he feeds us now, while still insulting us. And you, after everything you did to me, I'm supposed to drop down to my knees and thank you for allowing us to stay here?! I WON'T!"

While Maeve had left the kitchen area to speak with Charlus and Remus was talking over his father about something he didn't understand, Harry found himself becoming a little bored. Since arriving at Grimmauld Place, he had been confined to the kitchen or the living room. He eventually learned that Sirius' mother lived upstairs and she liked to yell a lot. But he was still curious as to what else was upstairs, leaving him to slip away to explore while the adults were preoccupied with other matters.

He ventured up the stairs, shuddering at the sight of house-elf heads that lined the walls. He ran up the rest of the way and heard Walburga and Sirius yelling back and forth at one another down the way. There was another set of stairs that he ran up quickly before he reached two rooms that were across from each other.

Picking one at random, Harry walked in to find a bedroom that was decorated in emerald and silver draping that covered the bed, the walls, and the windows. Clearly, no one had been in the room for quite some time as it was covered in dust and cobwebs, much like the rest of the home. And perhaps for good reason as there was a sign over the threshold that read: Do Not Enter Without the Express Permission of Regulus Arcturus Black.

Not bothering to heed the written warning, Harry started walking around the room. There were papers scattered on the floor, the bed was left unmade, and objects that hadn't been moved in a while as they collected a snowy layer of dust over them. But as Harry placed his hands on a small table, he came upon a chess set.

He had never played before, but he had watched Uncle Vernon lose to one of his co-workers that had been invited over to dinner once. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the chess set in front of him, but as he playfully moved a piece on the board, he watched as it moved back. Curiously, Harry moved it again, only to watch as the black pawn piece returned to its original place on the board.

Harry then grabbed one of the white pieces on the board and moved it, but it moved back to its original spot as well. Scratching the top of his head, Harry didn't know if there was some magical rule that prevented him from playing with the set.

"The little half-blood insists on moving the pieces in the wrong direction. "

While Charlus couldn't hear the argument upstairs, Maeve could and it only seemed to be getting worse. She was just about to tell Charlus that they should probably intervene when she heard Sirius calling her name. Immediately, she grabbed Charlus' sleeve and urged him to follow. The entire time they ran up the steps, Maeve could hear the sound of Walburga coughing as if she were hacking up one of her lungs.

As soon as they reached the room, she could see Sirius at his mother's bedside, attempting to assist Walburga, who was turning blue in the face.

"I-I-I don't know what happened," Sirius said, almost sounding like a child, " she was yelling at me and the next thing I know she's coughing and...I don't have my wand on me, it's downstairs and-"

"Sirius," Charlus calmly pulled him out of the way, " give Maeve room to work."

Maeve quickly moved in and pulled out her wand to clear the obstruction that was preventing Walburga from breathing properly. All the while, Sirius continued to apologise, claiming that he didn't mean to get her so worked up to the point where she got into a violent coughing fit. All Charlus could see was the pure fear on Sirius' face, reiterating that he and Maeve had been right all along.

Even if Sirius was angry with his mother, he clearly didn't want her to die and he certainly didn't want their last words exchanged to be that of an argument.

Suddenly, Sirius heard the sound of his mother gasping for air as her airway was cleared. "Mother-"

"Her airway was blocked by sputum," Maeve told him, "she's fine for now, but she obviously has a lot of phlegm in her lungs. Her airways are highly inflamed, making them extremely narrow, to begin with. I don't have much to work with to create a draught to clear away the phlegm but I think I can make something to reduce the inflammation. For now, I think it would be best to let her rest. Any overexertion might send her into a coughing fit again."

It was nice to have some medical reassurance, but it was also Maeve's way of politely telling Sirius to get out of the room before another argument erupted between him and his mother.

Charlus took it upon himself to lead Sirius out of the room and head back downstairs. All the while, Sirius continued to apologise, not to Charlus, but to his mother. Remus and Lyall came to investigate what was going on and to deliver the news that they didn't know where Harry was. He had been there one moment and was gone the next.

To save himself from pulling out his own hair, Charlus told Remus and Lyall to take Sirius downstairs and make him a nice warm cup of tea, while he looked around the home for Harry. More than likely, boredom and curiosity had gotten the best of his nephew and he had decided to explore. Which would have been fine if they were in a normal home, but the upkeep of the Grimmauld Place had fallen with Walburga's declining health, leaving it to be hazardous if one wasn't careful.

After checking each room, Charlus ascended the final staircase to search. He remembered one time of Sirius telling him that he and Regulus had their bedrooms on the topmost floor of the home. And to his relief, he found Harry in Regulus' room of all places, seated at a tiny table with a chess set in front of him. But that wasn't what confused Charlus the most, it was the fact that Kreacher appeared to be teaching him how to play.