Sirius opened his eyes to find that Fawkes had drifted back up to the ceiling. He heard voices coming from the kitchen. His aunt and cousins must have arrived.

"Sirius!" His aunt Hermione rushed towards him with open arms. Sirius shuffled his feet and looked down at the ground as he was swept into a tight hug. He didn't quite feel in the mood for hugs.

Hermione must have sensed this, so she quickly let go, and instead looked into Sirius' eyes and gave him a warm smile. It was an invitation: to talk, to relieve himself of some of his more complicated emotions. Sirius looked back at her, communicating with her that he would indeed accept her invitation, and that they would talk later.

Sirius turned to his two cousins with hair as auburn as his own, though much curlier. The twins smiled at Sirius. He relaxed a little and smiled at them. Morgan rushed over to him immediately, squeezing Sirius' hands. Her twin brother Nicholas grinned broadly at him. But Sirius was still feeling a bit out of sorts. He forced a smile and nodded at Nicholas.

Hermione turned to Ron and kissed him on the cheek before running to Ginny and giving her a hug. Ginny then gave her a significant look that implied the intentions of more secretive discussion. Hermione nodded and turned to the three teenagers.

"Alright, we have things to discuss, so why don't you show your cousins around, Sirius?" Hermione said in her characteristic commanding tone. Sirius merely shrugged and motioned for Nick and Morgan to follow him. The twins rolled their eyes at their mother in union, and reluctantly followed Sirius into the living room.

"Excited for school?" Morgan asked once they had reached the living room in an attempt to spark conversation. Sirius shrugged. Morgan and Nick were two years older than Sirius, going into their sixth year, and in Ravenclaw.

"Sirius?" Morgan's voice was gentle and characteristically feminine. Sirius snapped back to life.

"Yeah?" he asked quickly. Morgan spared him an odd look before continuing.

"Well, how has your summer been?" she asked softly.

Sirius knew what she was really asking; she wanted to about his father. There was an awkward pause, and Sirius wasn't quite sure what to say. On the wall behind her, was the clock where his father's hand was still fixed on Mortal Peril.

"It's been ok," Sirius said offhandedly. Morgan didn't look convinced. She sighed and, fixing a determined look on her face, stared straight into Sirius' eyes, attempting something like Legilimency and failing miserably. Sirius blinked. He didn't need nor want to tell her anything. Nick, the sensible one, must have felt this tension.

"Morgan, leave him alone," he said bluntly. Morgan bit her lip and turned to her twin brother. A strange expression passed over her face, but Nick rolled his eyes.

"Me and Morgan will go unpack our stuff," Nick concluded of the silent conversation between Morgan and he, leading his sister gently away from Sirius.

Sirius stood still, staring up into the rafters, looking but not quite seeing anything.

"Sirius?" A voice broke his thoughts. It was Hermione.

"Oh... hello..." Sirius said quietly. Hermione walked over to the couch and sat down, motioning for Sirius to sit. He did.

"I can be honest, or I can be vague. Which would you prefer?" Hermione's voice was firm.

"Honest," Sirius said; if there was one thing he hated, it was ambiguity. "Your father has been missing for three months," she began, "with little reason as to why. As you may or may not know, your parents, as well as Ron and I, your uncle Fred and uncle George, Luna Lovegood --- Ginny's had her round for tea several times, I'm sure --- Neville Longbottom and a few others are all part of something called the Third Order; it's a defense organization that spawned from something we began at Hogwarts called 'Dumbledore's Army',"

Sirius raised his eyebrows, "What does The Third Order have to do with anything?"

Hermione gave a painful smile, "Quite a bit," she said simply.

Sirius bit his lip.

"The Third Order formed right after Albus Dumbledore's death. Your dad, Ron, and I went out to seek Voldemort while the rest --- your mother included --- stayed as lookouts at Hogwarts. Ron and I stayed with Harry for five years, searching for Voldemort's Horcruxes," she paused, looking at Sirius. But Sirius knew what a Horcrux was. His father had kept one of them --- a locket. Sirius nodded. Hermione continued:

"Harry was determined to find Voldemort and destroy him, but after a point, he had to go on alone; Ron and I could no longer help him. And so for six years, Harry was gone. And when he returned, it was with news that Voldemort had been destroyed. Harry was incredibly weak. He was hospitalized at St. Mungo's for months. But he healed. All was well... for a while," Hermione sighed, "Ron and I got married, and soon after, your parents did as well. Voldemort was gone for good, his supporters were in Azkaban. Everything seemed fine," She gave Sirius a significant look, "For thirteen years everything seemed fine. But a year ago, the Third Order discovered something. We discovered something terrible. We had believed that Harry had destroyed Voldemort... But we were wrong. Though Harry had destroyed all of Voldemort's Horcruxes, and then successfully vanquished Voldemort, there was something that, until recently, the Third Order failed to realize. Lord Voldemort had created an heir. He sealed one last, tiny fragment of his soul into an heir. Voldemort may not be entirely gone; that tiny bit of Voldemort's soul may have already merged with the heir's own soul; Voldemort's fragment of a soul also has the potential to overtake the heir's soul,"

Sirius' mouth fell open. He was shocked, "Who's the heir!"

Hermione shook her head gravely, "We don't know. All we know is that this heir was created shortly before Voldemort's death. So it's logical to conclude that this heir, this chid of Voldemort, is about your age..."

Sirius was thunderstruck.Voldemort's reincarnation was walking upon the face of the earth. How could it possibly be? Voldemort had destroyed the very fabric of Sirius' life. It was because of Voldemort that Sirius had no father... a mourning mother... a life destined for misery...

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Sirius, "What if the heir goes to Hogwarts!" he exclaimed.

Hermione bit her lip, 'It's possible,"

"Does the heir know he's the heir?" Sirius asked quietly.

"We're unsure. But most likely not. The heir's natural soul was pure at birth, and should he desire, the heir could destroy Voldemort's fragmented soul without causing much damage too himself; I'm quite sure Voldemort would not have wanted that..." Hermione said.

"Who are the parents?" Sirius asked.

"We don't know. However, they, I'm sure, know that their foster child is the heir of Voldemort, so they must have been Voldemort's most loyal supporters,"

Sirius nodded, lost in thought, "Does Dad have the power to destroy the heir?"

Hermione looked constrained, "I don't think he can... The heir still has his own soul; a soul that is innocent. Your father cannot destroy him without significant damage to himself."

Sirius looked up at Fawkes on the ceiling: silvery and translucent, as ghostly as a whisper in the dark. Something had occurred to Sirius. Something that made his mind race and his heart shrivel. His father would go to any lengths to destroy Voldemort. Harry Potter would even sacrifice himself... But he would never hurt an innocent...

"Hermione," Sirius whispered.

"Yes?" she said gently.

"If Dad killed himself... The Prophecy would fulfill itself... And should the Prophecy be fulfilled, fate would allow itself to occur... And should fate occur... " Sirius couldn't continue.

"A new fate will arise." Hermione finished for him. Her eyes were filled with the deepest sadness. Something about her voice told Sirius that Harry Potter was gone. That he would be gone forever. Fawkes gave a solemn cry and drifted slowly down to Sirius.