The Spy

Characters: Regulus Black, Sirius Black

Pairings: Jilypad (James Potter/Lily Evans/Sirius Black)

Warnings: None

Part 3 of the Asking for Help series

Part 1 - Asking for Help

Part 2 - Into the Cave

Reg's eyes fluttered slightly, as he was still sleepy, and he drank a bit of coffee. He grimaced. It still tasted incredibly bitter, nothing like the usually overly sweet wizarding drinks. He grabbed the sugar box on the kitchen counter and dropped a few into the mug.

Better.

He sent Sirius a sidelong glance.

He really wanted to ask him about what had happened in the cave — about what he'd seen because of the potion. He wasn't completely oblivious, so he knew who "Moony" was, but Sirius had always seemed extremely close to his friends and Regulus didn't know about anything he would've to apologize for.

"Sirius—" A sudden, burning pain ran through his arm and he gasped.

"What?" Sirius asked. Regulus clenched his fingers around his own arm, eyes wide, hissing under his breath. "What's wrong?"

He pulled his sleeve up. The Dark Mark, usually bright red, was slowly turning a deep black colour.

The Dark Lord was calling.

As far as they knew, nobody was aware of Regulus' betrayal, so he should still be able to move around as much as he wanted and stay safe, as long as they weren't seen together. Still, Regulus couldn't help but feel anxious.

Regulus looked up, meeting Sirius' eyes. He looked back expectantly.

"I have to go," he said, "or he will know."

He could see how conflicted Sirius was about this, so he didn't give him the chance to comment on it. He stood and took off the sweater and shirt Sirius lent him before finding the more wizard-y clothes he had been wearing when he knocked on his door.

"I'll see you later."

"Be careful," Sirius told him. "If anyone finds out, run."

Regulus nodded, and disapparated on Sirius' doorstep. He reappeared near the Lestrange home, where Death Eater meetings were always held.

"Hey!"

He almost jumped. His breath caught in his throat and he slowly turned around, forcing a smile to greet his friend.

"Good evening, Barty."

He hoped his anxiousness didn't show, but Barty winced. "Merlin, you look horrible. Do you ever sleep?"

"Sometimes," he answered, slipping into the conversation as easily as he used to. "When I feel like it."

Barty sniggered. They reached Lestrange Mansion's gates, and after a quick conversation with the iron handle, they walked into the park. Already, Regulus was relaxing. Lying came as easily as breathing to him, after all, except when it came to Sirius.

For some reason, Sirius always managed to get on his nerves and make him snap.

He could do this. He just needed to be as he always was.

"I didn't know they let you come. Aren't you supposed to finish school first?"

"I'll be starting seventh year, and I'm of age!" Barty protested. "And it's still summer break anyway. School doesn't start for another three weeks."

Regulus nodded absentmindedly. Barty wasn't marked yet, but it would happen soon. He felt a little guilty about it, too.

Ultimately, joining had been Barty's own choice, mostly to get back at his father, but it was his friendship with both Regulus and Evan that led him there in the first place.

"But your father might notice you're gone."

Barty let out a humourless laugh. "Right. He is at the Ministry most of the time and when he isn't, he basically forgets I exist. I could get marked today, he wouldn't even notice even if I was standing naked right next to him."

His shoulders dropped, and he looked so miserable Regulus wanted to hug him.

"You would think he would remember he has a son sometimes, you know? It's like his eyes pass over me most of the time," he goes on. "And when he notices I'm here, it's to say tell me to do better because it makes him look bad in front of his colleagues." He sighed and smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, I'm complaining about my father when you just lost yours and—"

"Don't worry," Regulus cut in. "Your father is…" He grimaced. "…not the best." He smiled at Barty. "How did you do on your exams, by the way?"

"I did pretty well! I'm really exited for the seventh year classes, especially in History of Magic. I mean, Binns is as boring as ever, but the books for the class are huge and not all about Goblin Rebellions—"

Barty's love for History of Magic was always astounding to Regulus and countless of other students, who had dropped it after their OWLs and never looked back.

"—there's even five whole chapters dedicated to Hogwarts. It's not as complete as Hogwarts: A History of course, but it offers a different viewpoint, and a small genealogical tree for each Founders. Did you know Rowena Ravenclaw had a daughter named Helena? There isn't a single mention of her in Hogwarts: A History, not to mention that really cool story about the lost Ravenclaw Diadem—"

Founders' genealogy? That was pretty neat, and probably much more interesting than whatever Binns had to say, and it had probably loads of information about affiliated families and…

And heirlooms.

"It sounds really interesting," Regulus said in a laid-back tone. He smiled. "I think I'll get a copy. What's the title?"

"I knew it!" Regulus fought the fear rearing its head, but Barty didn't sound accusing, just really exited. "I knew you would be interested! It's A Complete History of British Magical Society, by Archie Knowsalot. You can borrow mine, if you want?"

"Don't you need it for you summer work?"

He deflated and grimaced. "Oh. Right."

Despite Barty's enthusiasm in his studies, he was also a master procrastinator and always did his homework at the last minute.

"Thank you anyway," Regulus said. Barty nodded quickly, and they didn't speak another word. They entered the meeting room and sat in empty chairs, and immediately Regulus felt the tension returning.

The Dark Lord was an excellent legilimens. Any slip up could get Regulus killed — or worse. He couldn't let anyone see how nervous he truly was, so he took in a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He did a mental check of who was here, trying to see if the Dark Lord trusted anyone here enough to give them a Horcrux.

Besides Barty and, further on his left, Evan, Regulus recognized Snape, Lucius, Avery, Mulciber and of course, Bellatrix herself and her husband. Seating at the end of the table, the Dark Lord was already there.

"So?" he asked once everyone had settle down, his voice smooth and commanding silence.

"We were completely overwhelmed during out last raid." Avery fidgeted in his chair. "There were casualties. Two dead, three captured."

"My Lord," Barty said. He squared his shoulder, trying to appear bigger than he was, with little success. "My father, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, has authorized the use of Unforgivable Curses on us. We need to be more careful from now on."

"It's a war, kid, what do you expect?" Bellatrix laughed. "Those who die are just weak."

"Our only concern is Dumbledore," the Dark Lord went on, twirling his wand between his fingers. "And the Muggle-loving fool will never allow his followers to kill." He stopped, looking at all of them pointedly. "My spy in the Order of the Phoenix informed me that they were trying to contact the werewolves."

Ah yes, the spy. Another subject Regulus wasn't sure how to bring up with Sirius.

For the past few weeks, the Dark Lord had bragged about having an inside man in the Order of the Phoenix. It was one of the reasons for Regulus' reluctance to go to them, despite Sirius' wishes.

Sirius was an extremely friendly person, with only a few exceptions, and he trusted the Order, so Regulus was sure he would deny it point blank.

Yes, he had told he was proud of him, and he acted a little friendlier since what happened in the cave but…Regulus wasn't certain how long it would last if he started implying his friends weren't trustworthy.

"My spy also informed me that the blood traitor Benjy Fenwick discovered some of our members identities, despite our usual precautions," the Dark Lord went on. "Mulciber, Avery, you will take care of him. Something to say, Rosier?"

"Alastor Moody, the Auror, also put many of our own in Azkaban," Evan said. "I believe it would be wise to get rid of him." The Dark Lord turned his glowing red eyes on him, and he stiffened. "Of course, it is up to you, my Lord."

"You should watch your tone, Rosier," the Dark Lord said softly. "However, you are right. You'll be the one in charge of it."

"Yes, my Lord."

The meeting went on, and Regulus filed everything he heard for later, memorizing target names and locations. Then, the Dark Lord stood, calling everybody's attention.

"My friends," he declared. "It's time to take a step forward in the cleansing of our society. For this, we need to start at the root of the problem. We will strike on September the first, right as the Express leaves the station. Find the Mudbloods, and make sure they never step a foot into Hogwarts." He paused, looking over them, standing tall. "Hogwarts belongs to us, and we will take it back from those who dare soil it."

There were a few cheers in the crowd. Regulus didn't join in, but he still managed to keep a straight face.

Children. They were going after children.

"Of course," he added, "I am aware of the difficulties we might encounter. The train is a small, enclosed space, so a limited number of us will go. We will have to act quickly. Bella, Crouch, Black, Avery, Rosier, Malfoy and myself will take care of it."

Crap. Now he was signed up for it. He could turn it to his advantage, but he still didn't want to murder kids.

"Yes, my Lord."

The Dark Lord smiled — showing off sharp, white teeth. "Good. The six of you will come back tomorrow night to discuss our strategy."

It took about half an hour, but soon the meeting was over. Regulus sighed in relief when he stepped out of the Lestrange home, and Barty patted him on the shoulder.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he lied.

"You're not. Look." He twisted his fingers, "I'm not sure what's going on with you, but I know you. It might be because your father died like, two weeks ago, and now we're going to target kids, that's just added stress."

"You're right," Regulus lied. "And I think this raid is a disaster in waiting, but there is no changing the Dark Lord's mind."

"And you shouldn't even try."

Barty and Regulus stopped and turned around. Evan glared down at him. "I know that you're good at planning things, Reg," he said, "but this is something you shouldn't run your mouth about."

Good at planning was kind of inaccurate. Regulus just disliked being taken by surprised, so he always tried to think ahead.

Lately he hadn't been doing a good job of it, though. Most of his plans before going to the cave hadn't involved Sirius. He hadn't expected him to go fetch the locket with him. At best, he'd thought he would go alone and come back with the locket as proof that he was telling the truth.

Now that they had the locked, he was moving forward blindly. He hated it.

"Evan —"

"Don't "Evan" me!" He sighed, and his glared eased. "Look, King's Cross security is probably being improved as we speak. But I'm sure it'll be taken into account during the planning, as well as the Aurors' new orders. It'll be fine, Reg, just keep quiet, okay? If the Dark Lord even think you're doubting him, he'll kill you."

"I'm not doubting him," Regulus protested. "I just have legitimate concerns which, I'm sure, will be addressed in the meeting tomorrow night."

"I'm glad."

It was impossible to miss the relief in Evan's voice. "Don't worry," he said. "I'll keep my mouth shut." It seemed to satisfy Evan, who smiled and ruffled his hair. "Hey! Don't do that!"

Barty laughed. He seemed to be less worried too. They left the mansion's ground and stopped right after the anti apparition charms disappeared. "I've got to go. Summer homework."

"Don't half-ass it," Evan warned. "I'll know."

"You can't, you're not even in school anymore."

"So?"

Barty rolled his eyes and grabbed Evan's arm. He didn't have an apparition license yet, so he needed to Side-Along with someone else, usually Evan.

The three of them disapparated.

"Good evening, Mother," he said when he entered Grimmauld Place.

Warbulga stood from her chair, putting her tea down. "Regulus, you are home. Were you at a meeting?"

"Yes, Mother," he answered.

She walked closer to him and put her hand on his cheek, smiling down at him. Regulus returned it, but it came out forced. He wasn't used to her smiling at him.

"You will do great things, Regulus," she told him. "I'm proud of you."

Hearing those words didn't feel as nice as he thought they would.

Regulus had spent years trying to make his parents proud, to make them see him and not a better behaved copy of Sirius. All he had gotten when he took the mark was a curt "good" and that was it. At this point he had practically given up until he was given the opportunity to prove his loyalty to the Dark Lord.

A while ago, he would've given anything to hear it from her.

Today they just made him feel sick.

"Thank you, Mother," he said softly. "I'm afraid I won't stay long. I'm spending the night with a friend."

"Oh, is it the Crouch boy again? I heard he finally got himself together and started working for the Dark Lord. Is it true?"

"He did, Mother. I just need to drop by the library for a minute. It's for homework."

"So, you're helping him? Not surprising, I also heard his grades were disappointing at best—"

He went up the stairs and into the library, ignoring his mother's ramblings. He pulled the books he had used to find out about the Horcruxes out of their shelves. There were only two, as information on them was either scattered or non-existent, but he hoped it would be enough.

As soon as he was out of the house, he turned into an alley and Apparated again, this time in Sirius' neighbourhood. He slipped the key Sirius had given him into the lock and opened the door.

Sirius wasn't there, and Regulus dropped a book on the table and opened the other, looking for way to destroy the locket sitting on the table.

They always gave it a wide berth, but it made the both of them nervous.

He couldn't concentrate on the books. He still needed to find a way to break the news to Sirius about the spy, and it wasn't going to be easy.

He groaned and let the book fall on his face. The door opened, and he lifted it slightly.

"Oh, you're already back?" Sirius said. He held up two plastic bags. "I bring food, by the way. Chinese take-out. You hungry?"

"Yeah," Regulus said, pushing himself in a seated position. He stood and followed Sirius to the kitchen to help him with the food.. "And I've got…news."

Sirius put the bags on the kitchen counter. He turned to him, studying his face intently.

"Is it bad?"

"A bit of good, a lot of bad." He scowled. "We will need to get to Flourish and Botts tomorrow to get a book recommended to me. According to Barty, it has a comprehensive family tree for all four Hogwarts Founders. It could get us on track with Slytherin heirlooms."

Sirius nodded. "That's pretty neat. Coffee?"

"Yes, thank you. I also stopped by Grimmauld Place." Sirius was getting ready to scold him, but Regulus rolled his eyes. "I have to go back to avoid suspicions, I can't stay here all the time you know? Anyway, I stopped by the Black library to get those books too."

He showed him the one he'd been reading, as well as the one on the table. "Hopefully," he added, "they'll tell us how to destroy Hocruxes. I already know they need to be irrevocably damaged but nothing much on how to do that."

"We could experiment. Not here though, it's too small and it would attract attention."

"We will have to find something for that. Do you know any place that's not too frequented yet rather easily accessible, and where nobody would investigate strange noises and lights?"

It was rather specific, and this kind of place probably wouldn't be easily found. Maybe they would've to cut back on the accessibility part—

"Actually, I do," Sirius said, looking thoughtful. "And I'm pretty sure you do too."

The coffee maker finished spitting the drink out, and Regulus took two mugs out of the sink. He washed them quickly and poured some coffee in it, handing one to Sirius. Then thought back on the places he knew, but nothing came to mind, so he sent Sirius a questioning look. "I do?"

"The Shrieking Shack," Sirius elaborated. "Everybody thinks it's haunted so no one would bother looking to closely."

"Isn't it a little too close to Hogwarts and Hogsmeade? And the ghosts could talk."

"There are no ghosts in there. It was just the place Remus used for his transformation."

Remus Lupin, the werewolf. Regulus pinched the bridge of his nose. Of course, it made sense. Why didn't he realize it before?

"All right, we will check it out. Now, do you know a Benjy Fenwick?"

"Yup, know him all right. He's a fun guy to hang out with, if not a little serious. Why?"

"He discovered the identities of several Death Eaters. They're going to kill him. The Dark Lord put Mulciber and Avery on it."

Sirius frowned, oddly serious, probably committing the names to memory. "Okay, I'll make sure we keep on eye out for them. Anything else?"

"Evan Rosier was tasked with the elimination of Alastor Moody."

"Ha!" Sirius laughed and slid a box of food to Regulus, who blinked in surprise. He had expected worry, not laughter. "As if Moody would go down so easily."

"Don't underestimate him, Sirius. Also, more importantly…they're planning an attack on September 1rst, a few minutes after the Express' departure from the station."

Sirius' laughter immediately stopped, and he stared at Regulus, eyes wide. "They're targeting the Express? The kids?"

Regulus nodded. "Yes. I don't know who will be involved yet, or how the Dark Lord is planning it. I'll tell you as soon as I know, but we'll have to be careful. If words comes out that the Order was forewarned, he'll know there's a traitor. And the possibility will be limited to the number of participants—"

"How will you know, then?"

"He wants me in, with five others. Barty, Evan, Bellatrix, Lucius, and Avery. We have another meeting tomorrow night." He ate some of his noodles. It didn't taste bad. "It's actually a good thing that the Dark Lord is sending me too. It means I have access to information I would normally not be able to obtain."

"You'll be able to back us up when during the fight too."

"No." Regulus shook his head. "It'll immediately out me and I won't be able to pass more information."

"And how many people will die if you don't fight with us?"

The harsh tone made Regulus flinch back, and he glared at Sirius. "How many people will we save if I can continue to spy for you?"

"We can find other ways to do that than letting people die."

"I'm not talking about letting people die, but—" He let out of noise of frustration. "We are at war, Sirius, we can't risk—"

"Risk what?"

Risk losing inside information. Risk dying when you could fight another day and help more people. To risk everything… His mouth snapped shut, and he looked away, greeting his teeth.

War meant sacrifices and collateral damage and people you couldn't save. Thinking that you could help everyone was naive, if not dangerous.

Fighters were more useful alive and fighting again than dead and never saving anyone else.

He didn't say it.

Right now, he depended a lot on Sirius — he listened and believed him, kept his secrets, took the information, and was helping him looking for the Horcruxes. Sirius could drop abandon him any moment, tell the Order, tell anyone and Regulus would die. Maybe he would be able to run for a while, but few people could escape the Dark Lord.

As much as he wanted to fully trust Sirius, he had to stay on guard.

"I'm sorry," he said instead. "You're right."

He didn't want to push his luck.

Sirius looked at him in silence for a moment, as if he was trying to figure out what Regulus was thinking. "I'll talk to the Order this afternoon," he then said, his mouth full. "We will have time to prepare and—"

"You can't tell them outright. First of all, it would raise suspicion and they would question how you know that. Two, it'll inevitably go back to the Dark Lord."

Sirius narrowed his eyes and swallowed what he had in his mouth. "Inevitably?"

That was the moment. Regulus fidgeted a little. "Because the Dark Lord has a spy in the Order."

Nothing happened. Sirius just stared at Regulus. "Oh," he said.

"Oh?" Regulus repeated. "That's it?"

Sirius ran a hand through his hair. "I—" he sighed. "As much as I don't want to believe that one of them could…you know—"

"Betray you?"

"Yeah." He put down his fork and started walking in circles in the kitchen. "And you've yet to lie to me about the Horcruxes, and the cave, and…why would you lie about that, you wouldn't get anything out of it—"

Technically, Regulus could get a lot of things from a lie like this one, but he thought better than telling Sirius that.

"Who is it?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know. I've never seen them, and the Dark Lord never told anyone their name. It could be anyone, which is why you will have to be careful with the Order. We can't trust them."

Sirius sighed. "The Horcruxes, the raid, now this. We won't be able to handle it just with the two of us."

"We don't exactly have another option."

"We have to talk to James. He and Lily will help ."

"But what if it's one of them?"

"They're my…friends," Sirius answered, and Regulus narrowed his eyes. That was a little lie. "I would trust them with my life. They refused to joined once already. And James is married to Lily, who is a Muggleborn, remember?"

Regulus raised his hands as if it would help him make his point. "And Snape is a half-blood and still pining after Evans, it doesn't mean anything—"

"No," Sirius snapped, and Regulus winced and took a sip of his coffee. "No, you don't get it, it can't be James, or Lily."

"You're missing the point!" Regulus snapped back. "I'm not saying it's them for sure, I'm saying you can't known if it's them or not. You can't know who it is, which is why you can't trust anyone in the Order! One of them, someone you know, and like, and trust, is a traitor."

"Do you trust me?" Sirius asked, seeing his hesitation.

"Yes."

Almost.

"Then I swear to Merlin we can tell James and Lily."

He seemed very sure of himself, and in their current situation, where Regulus offered valuable information, he had no reason to willingly set him into a trap. Regulus bit his lips, turning the spoon in his mug. It tingled obnoxiously.

"Okay," he conceded. "But only them, and no one else."

Thanks for reading! This is the third part of the "Asking for Help" series

Don't hesitate to leave a review!

~Bye