Disclaimer: I don't own it.

Author's Note: Thanks again to all of you lovely, lovely people who reviewed! In this chapter, you'll learn the secret of the house. Read on!

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After the car was parked in the drive and Sirius got out, he craned his neck to take in the whole of the manor's façade. It was made of dark stone, vines snaking up the sides in a few places, some of the windows darkened with drapes, others staring out like blank eye sockets. Then, Sirius did a double take to one of the second floor windows. He could have sworn he had seen a face through the glass, but when his eyes returned to the site, there was nothing there. Sirius dismissed it as a glare from the blinding afternoon sun.

He made his way to the trunk of the car to retrieve his suitcase; the moving van would arrive tomorrow with the rest of their belongings. He pulled it out and followed Regulus and his parents through the double dark-wood doors that opened through to a grand entrance hall. The floor was a shining white marble and an elegant crystal chandelier hung from an impossibly high ceiling. Two sweeping staircases, each leading to separate second floor wings, on opposite ends of the hall cascaded down to meet and merge into one near the bottom. Their brownstone in Boston had been gorgeous, yes, but it was definitely not on the same scale as the manor.

Sirius was shaken from his reverie by his mother's voice, "The second floor wing on the right hand side belongs to your father and I, you boys can squabble about who gets the other second floor wing and who gets the one on the ground floor."

"Well, Reg, I don't care, so pick which one you want," said Sirius dismissively. He just wanted to get to his new room and take a nap.

"I'll take ground," said Regulus. No doubt because of the fact that it was easier to sneak girls in and smoke without his parents' noticing. Sirius stood in the entryway a few moments longer, watching his brother retreat through a set of doors on the right and his parents walk up the stairs and disappear around the corner, before climbing the stairs himself and making his way to his room.

Sirius came to a stop at the end of the hall, where there was a set of large dark-wood double doors. He pushed them open to reveal his new bedroom. It was very spacious with high ceilings and a dark-wood floor. To his surprise, the room was fully furnished, complete with all dark-wood chairs, an armoire, a desk, and a stunning, intricately carved four-post bed with dusty hangings and bed sheets. It was one of the most old-fashioned rooms he had ever seen and he loved it.

He crossed to the window and opened it, the light, warm breeze playing with the yellowed curtains. He turned on the light and gazed around the room again, taking it all in. It was beautiful, but needed some work. But Sirius didn't mind this; without friends to hang out with, he needed something to fill this void. That peeling wallpaper would definitely be the first to go, along with the curtains and bed hangings. He would not be sleeping in that bed until all the dusty cloth and the mattress were replaced with dust-free counterparts, so as not to have a sneezing fit. It looked as though he'd be sleeping on the floor at least for tonight.

He left his room and took a peek in two other rooms down the hall. The first was completely bare save a few racks; this was most likely a closet. Good thing it was big because Sirius had a LOT of clothes. The other was a bathroom, complete with all the bathroom necessities. It was possibly one of the oldest looking bathrooms he had ever seen; it contained a claw-foot tub with a showerhead hanging directly overhead. It was very rusty; he'd need a new one. The mirror was extremely cracked, mostly in the center as though someone had struck it. Suddenly, Sirius felt the prickling of hair on his neck as the sensation that he was being watched came over him. He shook it off and proceeded down the hall. Next, he came upon another empty room, and across from it, a door that would not open. He shook the handle several times, but it still wouldn't budge. He thought vaguely of asking his father for the set of keys later.

For some reason, Sirius didn't feel so inclined towards a nap at the moment. He felt a sudden pressing need to get out of the house and out into open air. Perhaps he would walk into town; it was only 1:30 and town was just a mere mile up the road. He could tour the rest of the house later. He returned to his room and dug in his suitcase for fresh clothes. He undressed to his underwear and caught his reflection in the full-length mirror in front of him.

There were no discrepancies that Sirius was very attractive; he had longish, silky, black hair, silvery gray eyes, high, aristocratic cheekbones, and a straight nose. His body was well toned from weight lifting and running and he carried himself with a dignified posture. It was for these reasons that Sirius received a lot of unwanted female attention. Well, to be fair, he'd caught some guys staring too, and that was definitely an upside. Too bad he could never act on it. Life was so unfair.

Sirius dressed, bolted down the stairs, threw open the doors, and stepped into the warm sunlight. He took a deep breath and started walking down the drive. After about a mile's walk, he arrived in town. It seemed so incomprehensively small compared to Boston, but it was a nice change. The town was very quaint, a stereotypical New England small town. Probably due to the fact that it was a sunny, Friday afternoon, the collective mood of the people on the street seemed almost overtly cheerful.

Sirius then spotted a hardware store and was reminded that he needed a showerhead. After purchasing it, he stepped outside again. As he did, a group of three teenage boys and a girl passed by, talking animatedly to each other and paying him no notice. The girl was very pretty, with long, dark red hair and shocking, emerald eyes. A boy with a mop of messy black hair and hazel eyes behind round glasses had his arm around her shoulder. Another boy, who was slightly pudgy with blonde hair and watery blue eyes, was laughing at something the black-haired boy had said. And then there was the last boy. He was shockingly beautiful, but in a very masculine way, with light brown hair that flashed gold in the sun and the most stunning golden amber eyes that Sirius had ever seen. He was not engaged in the conversation like the others and the look on his face suggested that his mind was far away; the expression was enticing to Sirius and he felt the urge to know what the boy was thinking.

As quickly as the group had come, they had gone, not glancing at him once. They were all wearing backpacks; they were most likely on their way home from school, and Sirius wondered if he might see them there on Monday. He would definitely make a point of introducing himself to the amber-eyed boy. It was in Sirius' nature to be friendly and outgoing, and after all, he had been one of the most popular guys at his old school, so he was looking forward to meeting some new people come Monday. As he watched the group's retreating forms, he felt a sudden pang for his friends. He had never felt so alone in his life.

He then noticed that he had been standing stationary on the sidewalk for quite some time, so he started up the street again. He wondered if he should just go home, but it seemed foolish to walk all the way to town for a stupid showerhead. He spotted a small café and decided to get some coffee.

He walked in and found a small table near the window. As he sat down, a waitress sidled over to him. She looked to be in her mid-forties, but was quite attractive nevertheless. She had curly red hair, sparkly blue eyes, and a smiling, good-natured face.

"Hi, my name is Rosmerta, what can I get for you today?" she recited with a smile. "I suggest an iced coffee, the weather's much to warm for hot."

"Um, I'll take that then, thanks," said Sirius.

Rosmerta returned a few moments later with the coffee and laid it on the table; Sirius thanked her.

"Oh, it's my pleasure, honey!" she exclaimed. "It's so nice to see manners in a boy your age, that's such a rare quality nowadays!" Sirius smiled at her and she continued, "And you're quite a handsome one too, if you don't mind me saying, I bet the girls just love you!" Sirius blushed slightly at the last comment. "You don't look very familiar though, are you visiting?"

"Uh, no, actually my family and I just moved in to the manor house about a mile up the road," said Sirius.

"Oh right, I heard that someone finally bought the old Wellington place. It's beautiful isn't it?" said Rosmerta. "At least the outside is, I don't know about inside. No one's lived there for two years, I imagine there must be a few cobwebs!" She had a nice laugh; Sirius could feel himself warming up to her more and more.

"It's pretty dusty, yeah," said Sirius, "but my mom's hired a few day maids and they start tomorrow, so hopefully I'll quit sneezing soon."

Rosmerta laughed that laugh of hers again and said, "Do you mind if sit down?" Sirius shook his head no, he didn't mind. As she sat she said, "I can take a break. After all, I am the boss."

"This is your place?" inquired Sirius.

"Well, it was my mom's, but it went to me after she died, so my husband and I own it now. Best things like this stay in the family," she said.

Something Rosmerta had said before came floating suddenly back to him. "Before, you called it the Wellington Manor. I didn't know it had the same name as this town," said Sirius.

"Well, back in the 1800's," said Rosmerta, "a family by the name of Wellington settled out here with a few others. The Wellingtons were a very rich family; I think they came from old money in addition to the cash that Nathaniel Wellington made off his business deals with different trading companies. Anyway, Wellington started building the manor while more people came to live in the area. He founded this town and was recognized as its chief citizen, so the town was named after him." Sirius had always loved history and found this particular anecdote quite intriguing. She continued, "Actually, I could tell you quite a story about that place, but I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"Well, now that you've said that, you can't back out of telling me now!" said Sirius indignantly. She looked hesitant, but he egged her on until she caved in.

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you. But first I have to ask," she hesitated, "do you believe in ghosts?"

Sirius didn't quite know what to say to this. Ghosts? The manor had ghosts? Not that he was scared of ghosts, or even truly believed in them for that matter, but he decided to go along with her anyway. "I don't know, I've never actually seen one."

"I really shouldn't tell you this, but the story's so famous in this town that you'd find out anyway, especially since you live in the manor," said Rosmerta. "Well, Nathaniel Wellington had a son, named David. It was common knowledge that they never got along; Nathaniel never thought that David was good enough. It really didn't help matters that Nathaniel was a devout Protestant and thought anyone who didn't believe in the same things as he did was going straight to hell. And this is where the story gets foggy, because no one knows for sure. It was common knowledge around town that David was supposed to be married to the daughter of one of Nathaniel's rich business associates, but David was widely believed to have been in love with one of their servants, Rebecca Smith, and was even thought to have been sleeping with her as well. That was just the last straw for Nathaniel. Someone of his stature would suffer great shame from the fact that his son was fornicating with a servant. Rebecca and her brother lived in a small cabin near the barn, and one morning when she and her brother didn't show up to do the chores, another servant went to their cabin to find them. He went inside to find Rebecca and her brother both shot dead in their beds. Most think Nathaniel did it, but there was never any proof for his arrest. When the news reached David he was beyond distraught. Three days later, they found him dead as well, but this was a suicide. Hung himself from the rafters in Rebecca's cabin. They never found a suicide note; some even think that David had identified his father as Rebecca's murderer, and Nathaniel had stolen it to hide his guilt. Well, after that, there's been all these supposed sighting's of David's ghost haunting the manor, mourning his lost love Rebecca. It's a terribly tragic story, but I wouldn't fret over ghosts; I mean, I hardly believe in them myself."

If Sirius had been speechless before, it was nothing compared to how he felt now. Sirius insisted he was fine as he made an excuse to leave, thanked Rosmerta for the coffee, paid, and left, but his mind painfully reminded him of the face he thought he had seen from the window and how he had felt as though he was being watched. Could the house really be haunted? Sirius scolded himself for being scared of a dumb story; after all, what old house hadn't seen any deaths? Nevertheless, he decided to sleep in the car tonight.

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Author's Note: Well, hope y'all enjoyed chapter 2! Sirius will officially meet Remus next chapter, just so you know I haven't forgotten about him! Review please, and constructive criticism is always welcome.