Disclaimer & A/N: Sadly I wish I could say that I could claim these characters, but I cannot. This plot is all mine though, lovely plot bunny. Written for sick-atxxheart's The Safe House Challenge on HPFC. I hope you enjoy.

A House is Not a Home

"You fool! Now they'll find us…" Sirius snapped at the petite witch. There was no age difference despite the fact that she looked quite a bit younger due to her small build and girlish features. The Death Eaters had been released from Azkaban; the Dark Lord was on the move again, and only now had she come clean, admitted that one of the death eaters knew the Order's whereabouts, Augustus Rookwood, a longtime enemy of them all, most especially of the small witch in front of him. Why would she tell him the location; was she tortured? If not, she was about to be.

"Black, do not use that tone with me." The witch, once notorious for her sharp tongue and short temper, now held an even tone, even as she was unjustly under fire. "I knew full well what I was doing. But do not chastise me just because I had once loved and you have not." She knew it was a low blow, but her pride was hurt; and if she could have, she would have searched him out; her fiancé of nearly twenty years now, but he had been locked up for so long, and the Dark Lord had risen again. It was just too dangerous.

"So, because of love, you are willing to throw everything away; you are willing to sacrifice every one of our lives for a man you once hated with every fiber of your being?" Sirius was angry now, she could see it in his eyes, not to mention the color rising in his cheeks. But it couldn't be helped, she meant every word. In school, he had been the one to get all the girls, he was a spoiled brat, but it was because of this that he never got close to commitment with any one of them, that he ended up alone and in Azkaban.

"He won't give us away." She snapped back. The young witch had never really favored Sirius Black to being with, but when he went around accusing her unfairly, she could only take so much.

"Ah, Sirius and Emmeline, I see the two of you still have not settled your differences." The calm, commanding voice belonging to Albus Dumbledore interrupted their spat as he stepped into the room. "But the matter at hand should require the two of you to cooperate for now. "Emmeline, I know you would like to trust Augustus, and that you'd like to believe his priorities haven't changed during his stay in Azkaban, but sadly, Azkaban, as we've seen, can do things to change a man." There was an irritating sympathy in his eyes, but it did its job of neutralizing the witch's anger.

Emmeline's head dropped, her brown locks falling into her face, unwilling to let them see the tears forming in her eyes at that moment. She'd known it was possible, but she hadn't wanted to accept it, to believe it was possible. Nobody got the honor of seeing her so vulnerable, the only person who'd ever seen her cry was Augustus, willingly anyway. The only other person who'd seen her cry so fervently, not by choice, was Dumbledore. And perhaps he'd have done so on this day, but no, Emmeline Vance would not have Sirius Black see her cry.

"Now, we've got a job ahead of us." He spoke sternly. "We need to find a new location to meet, another safe house for the Order." Dumbledore's words spoke of finality. Now if Augustus came looking for her, he'd never find her. Any hopes of seeing him again, and oh how her heart yearned for him, were crumbling right before her. "And since it appears you are the only two here as of yet, I trust that the two of you shall have no trouble in making the accommodations we'll be needing." Good old Dumbledore, leaving no question in the matter, but no overwhelming command either, a way of making other do as he willed them to.

Sirius spoke, obedient and undermined, obliging for the both of them in a task neither of them really wanted to do. "Of course, we'll be done by the time the others arrive." Emmeline's head slowly moved back up, the tears gone from her eyes, any traces willed away. And her eyes, though sparkling with anger, nodded in agreement with his words.

"Good, good; very good. I have some business to attend to, so I'll be stepping out for a little while. I trust everything shall be ready to go when we meet again." The twinkle in his eye said he knew there was nothing to worry about. And with that he was gone, out of sight and out of mind.


Two hours had passed since then, and neither one of them wanted to cooperate with the other. Sirius was mad about having to leave his home, the only place he'd ever called his own, and that wretched Kreature would be coming along. Emmeline was more upset about his earlier accusations and couldn't bring herself to find any decency in a man that not too long ago been just fine with ignoring, and he back. But now, well, she found herself in constant conflict over what he did and said, not like he really mattered anyway. Emmeline had been more irritable ever since the Azkaban break, and she had many reasons and it was her right. Then again, Sirius had reason to be irritable too, his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange had just been let loose on the wizarding world once more, on of the most notorious killers aside from the Dark Lord himself.

Perhaps she shouldn't have come down on him so hard, but it was his fault, he was the one who brought up Augustus, and now, he was all she could think of. Emmeline couldn't focus on finding another location. Her flat was too small, and Sirius, well this was already his house. That meant they were starting from scratch. Surely some of the others would have offered up their homes, but they weren't here, now were they?

"Look, I don't like this anymore than you do, Black. But we have a job to do. I can't stand you, you can't stand me. Now that we've settled that, I will not apologize for telling Augustus where we met, he was a different man once." Emmeline didn't know why she was being so kind, giving him any sort of explanation, or as it was meant, an apology. "But I think it's only fair if we find a new spot as Dumbledore expected. Then the transition can be made much more easily when the others arrive."

Sirius, surprisingly had no biting comment to make, he was deep in thought, his eyes lucid and that far off look where his cold, strong gaze normally sat. So, lightly, she lifted a small hand and waved it before his eyes, causing him to snap back to reality. He seemed rather, off, not at all in the same spirits as earlier. Emmeline thought she just might fancy the irritating Sirius than this hollow shell of a man she saw now. Perhaps this is what Azkaban did to a man, after all, he'd only just escaped.

"The Tonks, Andromeda and Ted, they will take us, I'm sure." Andromeda was Sirius's other, also slightly older, cousin. It seemed she had been estranged from her family as well, she remembered her from their Hogwarts days, she did seem awfully nice enough. But from what she had once understood, she had not really condoned the war that they all entered into so unknowingly; that was why, she Ted had told her once, that they had moved to a small little place in France, away from the war and out of sight. They couldn't just thrust themselves upon them unwillingly, it wasn't right.

"Sirius, you're not well. Perhaps I should make arrangements else…"

"No." He snapped at her, the fight back in his eyes, whatever had been troubling him moments before gone from his mind. "Andy and Ted would be glad. I've already spoken to them." When he could have possibly spoken to them, unless… had he gone to them earlier, when he first realized they would have to move, before he'd confronted her? In that case, why had he let them sit here fuming at each other, really? "They would be happy to help. We'll have to move quickly though, they still want to remain undetected."

Why was he telling her this? So everything was set… except for Harry. They were supposed to be going for Harry later, and there was a chance that word could have leaked. If they all came, they'd be lead right to the Tonks residence and they will have failed.

"What are you proposing, Black? That we go behind everyone's back and get Harry ourselves? That's preposterous, what if they catch us?" Emmeline's temper flared again. He was such a bloody git; he never did change, never did grow up.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Black said nonchalantly, cool and indifferent. Didn't he care if he died? Then again, what did he really have to live for? Wait a second, when did Emmeline start taking out her frustrations on him, even if she never liked him much? Nevermind that now, this was something stupid for them to do. Did he just want to be hailed hero?

A/N : Reviews would be very much appreciated, I'm trying my hand at the Harry Potter Generation for the first time as I usually write Maruaders Era or Next Generation. I'd love any and all feedback.