"Mr. Black, please wait a moment. Our boss will be here soon!"
Puzzi was trembling slightly; the man before him was a notoriously dangerous fugitive!
"Why do I need to wait for your boss? Gringotts used to open the vault as long as the person and the key were correct, regardless of the client's identity!"
"But, sir, Gringotts no longer exists. This is Heaven and Earth Bank now…"
Sirius irritably gulped down the tea in front of him. It was good tea, but it couldn't soothe his awful mood. The raid on the Gryffindor dormitory last night had failed at the last moment when he was discovered, just shy of killing that traitor! Now, Peter Pettigrew must be on his guard, and capturing him would be extremely difficult!
He slammed the teacup back down, causing a sharp clatter.
His sudden movement startled Puzzi. 'Oh, boss, please hurry! This man is terrifying!'
The door opened, and someone walked in.
"Puzzi, I'll take over here!"
Puzzi looked immensely relieved, bowed respectfully to the newcomer, and said, "Yes, boss!"
Puzzi quickly left.
Sirius looked at the newcomer in surprise.
"You're the boss of Heaven and Earth Bank?"
"Is there a problem?"
"I didn't expect the boss of Heaven and Earth Bank to be a famous singer!"
Audrey smiled, "There are many things you wouldn't expect!"
She comfortably sat down opposite Sirius. "Mr. Black, what brings you to Heaven and Earth Bank this time?"
"I want to withdraw money."
Audrey chuckled. "This isn't Gringotts anymore, so the rules are different now. Are you aware of that?"
Sirius frowned, impatiently saying, "Stop beating around the bush, just say it!"
"Our Heaven and Earth Bank is a newly established Wizarding bank, and our foundation is weak. We need to maintain a good relationship with the Ministry of Magic," Audrey casually fabricated. "Therefore, compared to Gringotts, we are more law-abiding. And you, Sirius Black, are a notorious fugitive. If you were in my position, what do you think you would do?"
As she spoke, Audrey pulled out Sirius's wanted poster and waved it at him. The poster showed a ferocious-looking Sirius constantly striking a roaring pose—though, on closer inspection, Hydrus's own wanted poster from back then was much cuter!
Black immediately stood up, on guard, his eyes narrowed into slits. "Are you planning to arrest me and hand me over to the Ministry of Magic?"
"No, no, no, you are a major client of ours. Why would we do something that damages our own credibility?" Audrey smiled brightly. In Sirius's eyes, she looked like a little cat that had stolen a fish. "What I mean is, opening your vault despite the pressure from the Ministry of Magic carries an enormous risk for us. And, in my opinion, the Ministry of Magic is my dearest friend and relative, my flesh and blood, my source of livelihood!"
She gave a crooked smile.
"So, you have to pay more."
Sirius was dumbfounded. After all that buildup, he had expected something more serious. Was that all? Was he really short on money?
"Fine, how much do you want?"
Audrey leaned back on the sofa, stroking her chin. Truthfully, she hadn't decided. The talk of extra payment was merely her indulging in a meme from her previous life.
Audrey considered it and finally said, "I have a friend named Nymphadora Tonks. Her mother…"
"Andromeda," Sirius said painfully. "Yes, she is my cousin, and like me, she was disowned by the family."
"I'm glad you remember," Audrey smiled. "Would you be willing to return the portion of the Black family inheritance that should belong to Mrs. Tonks? After all, being kicked out of the family just for marrying a Muggle-born wizard is quite outrageous."
"Yes, I agree with your point of view; the Black family rules are completely wrong," Sirius nodded repeatedly in agreement. "But I've been disowned myself. I have no right to inherit the Black family's property, and I can only use my own private funds. What right do I have to distribute the Black family estate?"
"No," Audrey shook her head. "The first in line to inherit the Black family estate, according to the Ministry of Magic registry, has always been you. Your parents never disowned you."
Sirius's eyes widened, a look of disbelief on his face.
But the next moment, his expression drastically changed: "Wait a minute, that doesn't make sense!"
Audrey cocked her head. What, the Gryffindor hothead, the Black family lunatic, was starting to talk about logic? She was curious to hear what logic he had!
"Even if Nymphadora Tonks is your friend, you don't need to go to this extent for her! The price you're paying is the danger of having your new bank shut down by the Ministry of Magic!"
Black stepped forward. "I've felt like your scent has been familiar since you walked in! I must have smelled it somewhere! But when I was imprisoned, you were very young, so there shouldn't have been any interaction between us! So…"
"Who exactly are you?"
Audrey blinked. This was an unexpected development. It wasn't strange for a hothead to think; even Guo Jing occasionally tricked people. But sensing her scent? That was too much—did he have a dog's nose?
…Oh, he was an Animagus dog. Never mind.
"I am someone who values friendship very highly," Audrey explained. "Dora is a very, very good friend of mine, and money is just a number to me; I actually don't care about it (Author: Heh, woman...). She might not accept an outright gift, but a distribution from family property is perfectly reasonable."
"No, no, no…" Sirius shook his head repeatedly. "Although that's a large sum of property, it doesn't match the risk you're taking. No one would do this much for a friend…"
Audrey interrupted him, "Not even between you and James Potter?"
Sirius froze, his expression turning painful. He covered his face with his hands and collapsed back onto the sofa powerlessly—if he could exchange all his property for the lives of his best friend's family, he would!
Audrey hadn't expected Sirius to be so sharp. She quickly changed the subject to focus Black's attention on James Potter, hoping he would forget his suspicion about her identity.
Sirius suffered for a while, then suddenly lowered his hands, staring intently at Audrey, which gave her goosebumps.
"I remember! You are Hydrus Lestrange!! I smelled your scent in Azkaban!!"
Damn it!
"You're Bella's daughter, so helping Andromeda makes sense!!"
Sirius, who had been extremely tense, suddenly relaxed. Audrey asking him to gift property to Andromeda showed that this girl deeply valued kinship.
He was her uncle! She definitely wouldn't hurt him!
Audrey certainly wasn't trying to harm Sirius. Her purpose for this trip was simply to warn him not to cause trouble at Hogwarts—because the chaos he was creating was affecting her sleep!
Audrey's face rapidly shifted, restoring Hydrus's appearance.
"Your dog nose is repulsive. Smelling a young girl's body odour and announcing it aloud is extremely rude, and it is a completely perverse thing to do. Do you know that?"
Sirius had been scolded by his niece, but he couldn't talk back. Not only because she was right, but also because he needed her help… he hadn't retrieved his Galleons yet!
However, what he wanted to know now was how his niece had become the boss of Heaven and Earth Bank! If he remembered correctly, less than a year ago, she visited Bellatrix in Azkaban for the Lestrange family vault! Clearly, the Lestrange family's reserves wouldn't be enough to buy the entire Gringotts.
He was curious but didn't dare ask. For some reason, Sirius couldn't feel like an elder at all in front of this niece.
"Hydrus, uh, my vault…?"
"I can open the vault for you, but there are a few conditions:
First, remember to give the money to Aunt Andromeda;
Second, keep my identity a secret outside;
Third, no more recklessly breaking into Hogwarts and causing chaos!"
Sirius shook his head firmly, "No, I must have my revenge!"
"Peter Pettigrew?"
Sirius's eyes went wide. His face, weathered by the torturous life in Azkaban, was filled with shock.
"How do you know?"
"How I know is irrelevant to you. I just hope you stop causing trouble at Hogwarts. It's just Peter Pettigrew; you can easily catch him at the Weasleys' during the holidays. Why risk sneaking into Hogwarts?"
"Alright, I promise not to cause any more trouble, but you can't stop me from watching Peter, I'm afraid he'll escape!"
"Handle it yourself, but if Hogwarts is destabilized again because of you, I will immediately seal your vault!"
Sirius nodded hastily.
Hydrus tossed him a wand. "Take it. Oak, with a Phoenix feather core."
Sirius took the wand, and a warm feeling surged in his heart. His niece actually knew the material of his preferred wand; if anyone said she didn't care about family, he'd be the first to argue with them!
Indeed, Hydrus was extremely good to her relatives, even Lucius Mallefoy benefited greatly because of Aunt Narcissa.
Not to mention this cousin-uncle.
However, if she wanted a family atmosphere like the Weasleys, it would be a long and arduous journey. Her biological father was a crazy terrorist, her biological mother was a psycho, her adoptive father Lestrange was a cuckold who hated her mother, and Aunt Narcissa had turned into a Malfoy…
So, she could only work on Aunt Andromeda and Sirius!
Wait a minute, did she forget something?
Darn it! Isaline!
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]