Chapter Nine: Taking Action
Sirius
August 1978, Hambleton Hall, Kent
Sirius crouched in a bush, Disillusioned. He'd considered transforming into his Animagus form, for extra concealment, but he had decided the ability to react quickly with magic was more important and besides, his eyesight was shit as a dog.
His legs were beginning to hurt.
Severus Snape was taking a whole long lot of time about whatever he was doing. Fucking Snivellus.
Sirius was incredibly tempted to curse the man with something at least borderline deadly, if not outrightly so. He knew what the man did for the Order in future. He struggled to see that as important compared to the outright fucking betrayal of telling Voldemort all about the prophecy that would lead him to try and kill Harry. Fucking Snivellus.
They could get themselves a new spy, for all he cared, he wanted rid of Snape.
However, Sirius had promised his imaginary Remus that he would exercise caution tonight, and his imaginary James that he would get Snape properly some other day. He had a job to do today. However fun it would be, hexing Snape even with something funny and not at all deadly would ruin it. He needed to remain unseen.
"Besides, Yaxley, I do not think what the Dark Lord has asked of me is any of your business." Snape's voice was crystal clear from where Sirius was hiding, and dripping in contempt. The pair of Death Eaters were standing just inside the gates, watched by one of the Lestrange brothers. Sirius would have recognised which one up close, but the light was tricky.
If Sirius hadn't known better, he'd have said the man had no sense of self-preservation. Yaxley had been a Death Eater for some years now, and Snape was a much newer recruit as well as a half-blood with a Muggle father to Yaxley's pureblood heritage. True, he wasn't a family of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, as Sirius' mother would have been the first to point out, but he was still much higher in status in the world inhabited by blood purists. Yaxley would have seen himself as above Snape in many ways.
"What the Dark Lord wants is very much my business," said Yaxley. "But for now I don't have the time to teach you exactly why I am right. The Dark Lord awaits, and I for one don't wish to sample his displeasure."
"And I don't wish to see a mess on my carpets," chuckled the Lestrange.
Snape turned, his black cloak swirling behind him, and began to stomp up the gravel path to the house. Yaxley followed, leaving the Lestrange alone at the gate.
Sirius' legs really did hurt.
Despite Yaxley's protestations about needing to get up to the house quickly, not a lot was happening, and Sirius knew there were more Death Eaters to arrive. He hadn't come for the view of the house. He'd seen it enough times. Hambleton Hall had been the location of many a boring dinner party of his father's friends and acquaintances, or his mother's gossiping circle of pureblood wives. He'd even attended Bellatrix's engagement party here.
That was not a night he wanted to remember.
Most likely a lot of the other people that had been present didn't want to remember it, either.
Now, the old house had become a meeting place for Dark wizards, and, if their intelligence from the last war had been correct, frequently hosted Lord Voldemort himself. Sirius could only assume Bellatrix had a lot to do with that. The Lestrange brothers were into Voldemort, that was evidently the case, but Bellatrix had always seemed to have a bit of an excessive love for old snake-faced.
She would absolutely be the type to host parties in his honour and to love every second of getting to lord it over the other Death Eaters.
Not many people in his family were great. The bar was pretty low, if Sirius was absolutely honest. But Bellatrix pushed things a bit too far even for the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.
He tried to stretch his legs out without either falling over backwards or making a lot of noise. Lestrange was still on the gate, wand visible, and over in the trees on the other side of the entrance path he knew would be James Potter, one of the Prewetts, and Marlene McKinnon. He'd forgotten exactly which Prewett had been sent on the mission.
Sirius had never been much of a one for reconnaissance missions. He'd fucked one up pretty badly, or would do in about a month, and that had got him out of a fair few of them afterwards.
Moody had accused him of fucking it up on purpose for exactly that reason.
He'd shouted a lot about 'responsibility' and 'doing things we don't like for the good of everyone' and 'entitlement'.
Sirius had felt that very unfair. This war was something he had taken incredibly seriously. He and his friends were in danger, and he wasn't going to have risked their lives just to get out of sitting on his arse in a field or behind a wall or lurking under a bridge or whatever this week's hiding spot of choice was. He hadn't wanted to endanger anyone on that mission, he'd made a mistake.
Even if he had complained about said mission for six solid hours to James and Peter beforehand.
Alastor Moody might not have appreciated Sirius' subsequent rant about exactly how seriously he was taking it, either.
They'd all been so on edge, all of the time. Everyone had been almost looking for a reason to blow their tops at one another, because a bit of shouting and righteous anger at someone else did usually make you feel calmer for a little bit afterwards even if that wasn't why you'd done it in the first place.
This was just dull.
There was a steady stream of Death Eaters arriving by Apparition, greeting Lestrange at the gate, and heading up to the mansion. This he had known would happen, from the information James had given him. The Order members positioned here had managed to get the names of over thirty-five Death Eaters going inside the mansion, which had formed the basis of the hit-list that had been used over the next three and a bit years.
The Order members had also managed to get themselves involved in a small fight and nearly got themselves discovered, a fact Sirius was hoping to exploit.
In a gap between Death Eaters, Sirius was convinced he heard something moving in the bushes behind him. Almost like something was moving.
He ignored it. The most likely explanation was an animal. They were in the middle of nowhere essentially, after all. If it wasn't that, then one of the Order members was lurking on this side. After all, James had said he'd been in the trees, but Sirius couldn't remember what he'd said about the others.
There was another crack of an Apparition, and Sirius involuntarily tipped forward slightly. It was almost time.
In front of him appeared his brother, Regulus.
The boy looked much as Sirius remembered him. A slight build, neatly cut black hair, and a long, pale face with features similar to Sirius' own. Where Sirius was shorter, Regulus was tall. He wore a long black cloak held with an ornate clasp, clearly well made. His sleeves were rolled up, showing clearly that he did not yet wear the Dark Mark on his arm.
The perfect little pureblood heir, here to make Mummy and Daddy proud. They'd have been beaming with pride when they saw him off, most likely.
The heir himself looked nervous as hell, chewing his lip and spending far too long rearranging the folds of his cloak.
If it all went as Sirius knew it would, Regulus would linger to talk to Lestrange. A couple more Death Eaters would arrive, and then a fight would break out between them and the Order members. Then, and only then, Sirius would act.
"Good evening, Rabastan," said Regulus, politely.
"Evening, Black. You showed, then?"
"I wasn't aware there was any doubt that I wouldn't." Regulus' voice was icy, the way they'd been taught as children to respond to those they considered beneath them or who were casting aspersions.
"I hear things, Black. I'm in the confidences of many influential people. I know things you could only dream of."
"If that's what it takes to make you feel important."
Sirius was distracted from the conversation by another noise behind him. Either this was an incredibly stupid animal, or an incredibly stupid Order member. The Death Eaters would curse quicker than you could say 'I'm a fucking fox, idiot' if they heard anything suspicious, and ask questions later.
Or just Vanish the evidence and get on with their days, if the subject of the curses was beyond questioning. Maybe brag a bit up at the mansion later.
He could sympathise with their movement, though. Crouching had been a mistake. He was fairly sure his left leg had gone to sleep completely, and he needed to move it now. If he needed to fight and fell over on a dead leg, well that was mission over.
A quick wiggle, and he had some feeling back in it at any rate. There had been a bit of noise, but less than whatever else was here alongside him had made.
He tuned back in to the conversation, reminding himself of the need to pay attention.
"Well, Black, you'd better put your wand where your mouth is tonight, then."
"Rest assured I will, Lestrange. If you don't believe my commitment to the Dark Lord, that lies with you. The Dark Lord's opinion of me is the only one that matters."
Yes, because you don't care about your brother's opinion, Sirius thought. He stabbed the grass with the end of his wand, digging it down into the dirt.
"Bella says you need to prove yourself."
"I have done what is in my power, being until recently underage and under the Trace. And I'm awaiting my chance to do more now I am free of that little restriction. Or would you have preferred I was caught instantly?"
The best bit about Death Eaters was that none of them trusted one another. The Order, however haphazard some of them were and however much Albus occasionally attempted to withhold information, at least tried to work together. Death Eaters were constantly trying to get higher in Voldemort's estimation, and they were generally more than willing to trample someone down with the proverbial Hippogriff if they thought it would help.
Rabastan Lestrange was clearly one of those.
With a loud crack, a third Death Eater arrived to disrupt Regulus and Rabastan Lestrange's argument. James' voice sounded in Sirius' head as he eyed the new arrival.
"Dolohov was there", James had said, sitting in the kitchen at the Order's current headquarters nursing a pint of mead and his injured arm. "Great ugly brute, he is. He nearly took down Marlene, some purple curse that I didn't recognise the incantation for, it was only a lucky block that saved her. She says she didn't block it, but she must have done instinctively. Bloody lucky. The first one seared into a tree and the whole thing went down instantly. It was something else. He did my arm in too, though that was that Snape spell."
"Good evening," said Regulus to the new arrival. "I don't believe I've made your acquaintance." He held out his wand hand to Dolohov. Oh, he really was the perfect little pureblood. It made Sirius want to puke a little bit.
"Antonin Dolohov," said the man, extending his own hand. "You must be the decent Black. I had the pleasure of meeting your brother a few weeks ago."
There was a funny flicker in Regulus' eyes at that.
Sirius automatically rubbed his shoulder. He well remembered that little skirmish. Sirius, Remus, James and Peter had been tasked with causing a diversion so a few of the more experienced members could get inside a building. They'd done it a little too well, and drawn six Death Eaters down on them. He could still feel the break in his collarbone Dolohov had given him, especially when it was cold.
"I trust you gave him what he deserved," said Regulus, the flicker gone and his voice almost too even.
Fucking bastard. Sirius had half a mind to turn right around now and go home.
"Oh, I gave him enough to think about for now," said Dolohov. His smile was uneven, giving him a distinct sense of untrustworthiness. "I'll go back for that dirty blood traitor and his little pet half-breed some other time."
"Perhaps Black could solve that problem for us himself," said Lestrange.
"I plan to do whatever the Dark Lord most needs of me," said Regulus.
Well, at least Regulus hadn't exactly agreed to go out and kill him, Sirius thought. That had to be something.
He wondered what the three men would do if they knew the Sirius Black they were discussing was so close by. They hardly would have expected him to be. Regulus knew he'd never been able to hold himself back, and would have fully expected a hidden Sirius to have burst out of hiding by now, wand aloft and fighting.
It was quite interesting acting like someone else, for a change.
Hard fucking work, though. He couldn't understand how people could do this all the time.
A light was making its way down from Hambleton Hall itself towards the gate. It was a conjured light, not a spell Sirius knew to be Dark in nature. Perhaps the caster could lend it their own style, though, as the light glowed an ominous green instead of any colour of light Sirius had seen before.
When he saw who was carrying it, the colouring made sense. Rodolphus Lestrange, Bellatrix's husband.
"Bella says you're to come up," he said to the group. "She's particularly anxious to see you, Regulus."
'I'm waiting for Nott," said Rabastan Lestrange.
"He won't show," said Dolohov.
"He will," said Rabastan, with confidence and a slight cackle. "I promised to curse him worse than the Dark Lord would if he didn't."
"Bella is getting impatient," said Rodolphus.
"Bella's always impatient." Sirius very much doubted Rabastan would have said that to her face.
"That's my wife you're talking about."
"What's that?" Rabastan Lestrange was staring at the bushes on the other side of the gate to where Sirius was hidden, his wand outstretched.
"Animals, no doubt," said Regulus. "If you'll insist on living in the middle of nowhere, you'll get animals."
"Yeah, well, they're getting bolder. Not the first time I've heard them out here of late."
"Move somewhere sensible then."
"When I marry, I'm tempted. Leave Bella and my brother to it." Rabastan glared again in the direction of the noise. Rodolphus curled his lip, clearly unimpressed with the way his brother was discussing him and his wife.
A crack of Apparition, and yet another Death Eater arrived on the path in front of the gate.
"Nott," said Lestrange, inclining his head ever so slightly to the small, rat-faced man.
"Lestrange," said Nott, with a larger nod. "Lestrange. Dolohov. Black."
"Have you quite finished here?" asked Rodolphus. "Bella and the Dark Lord are most keen to get on to get on with the business of tonight."
"Come along, guest of honour," said Dolohov, to Regulus. "We can be your escort. I hear that's something you pureblood require at important events."
Four of the men made to walk off, but Nott hung behind. His small eyes were trained on a gap in the trees.
"What's that?" he asked, sharply.
"Likely more animals," said Regulus. "Rodolphus is right. Our presence is required in the Hall."
"Did you check, though?" asked Nott. "Fat bunch a trouble we'd be in if there was intruders, tonight."
"Check if you want," said Regulus, looking bored.
Sirius, as quietly as he could, reached for his wand. There was another movement in the bushes behind him.
He hoped he wouldn't regret ignoring that.
Rabastan Lestrange and Nott were approaching the bushes now, wands in hand. Regulus hung back, affecting a relaxed demeanour. Sirius thought that his brother clutched his wand a little too tightly, and that his face was too set to be as unconcerned as he was playing.
"There's nothing, lads," said Nott, making to turn around.
Sirius let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding.
"Hang on," said Rabastan. He prodded something with his foot, and there was a thud and a crack of a branch. "Intruders. Invisible."
Simultaneously, Sirius and the five Death Eaters leapt into action. Creeping to the north, he slipped past the gateway and hugged the outer wall of the Hall's grounds, staying out of the line of fire. He wanted to be able to work spells without a danger of hitting any Order members through the line of Death Eaters, and he needed to be close enough to Regulus.
As he moved, he felt a tug on the back of his jacket, and brushed it off.
Hermione would kill him, when she found out about this. He wondered how long he could hide it from her.
Curses were flying everywhere. Nott was firing them wildly into the trees, not aiming at anything particular and going for quantity over any particular power behind them. The two Lestranges worked together, covering for each other which allowed them better accuracy against their invisible opponents. Dolohov was almost lazy, but Sirius knew he was dangerous.
Regulus fought as if this was his first proper battle. Sirius had seen his brother get into fights at school, including with him and his friends, but this hadn't prepared Regulus for the realities of a duel where one side was invisible and both were fighting to seriously injure. He was holding his own, and unlikely to go down, but he wasn't going to be taking anyone with him.
The invisible Order members were giving as good as they got.
Careful not to be detected, and therefore give away his advantage that nobody knew he was there, Sirius began to add his own spells into the mix.
He shot a Stunner at the Death Eaters, causing the two Lestranges to leap out of its way and pause in their spellcasting. He used the break to send a series of branches to fly at their ranks. The aim was not to cause damage, as such, but to cause enough confusion that he would be able to get in amongst them.
There was another tug on his jacket. He twisted, to use a Severing Charm on whatever had got itself stuck there. He was halfway through the incantation when there was a scream from the Order's side and a purple curse was flying into their midst. Sirius ran forwards, half losing his jacket to the increased tugging.
The purple curse from Dolohov hit a tree and the whole thing disintegrated in front of Sirius' eyes. That almost threw him. So did the hiss of 'don't you dare!' in his ear, which he thought he must be imagining.
When the second purple curse left Dolohov's wand, Sirius threw the strongest Shield Charm he could muster in front of where he believed the Order members were. The curse and the shield collided, causing a rebound. Dolohov threw himself to the floor to avoid his own spell, and Sirius with a shaking wand Stunned him where he lay.
The seconds after that were chaos. With one of their own down, the Death Eaters doubled the intensity of their fighting. The air was thick with curses, and Sirius heard the shout of "Crucio!" from the Lestrange brothers more than once. The Order weren't dropping their end, but lacked the usage of Unforgiveables.
Sirius held back for a moment. He'd protected Marlene, which he had wanted to ensure happened, and now he wanted to wait. James said both he and the Prewett had uncloaked, and he was intending to use the disturbance that caused to act.
He was distracted by another hiss in his ear.
"Sirius fucking Black, I don't know what you're planning but you're going to stop right now."
It appeared he was doing a shit job at hiding this from Hermione.
"Trust me," he hissed back.
"I will not," she said. Her hand made contact with his arm, and he yanked it away from her before she could try anything stupid like Apparating him from the fight. Running forward, he felt the pull on his jacket again and realised it must be something to do with her.
He had no idea how she'd followed him. He'd deal with that later.
One of the Lestranges was down, wailing on the floor with some kind of pus-filled blisters over his face. James' work. Sirius had laughed when James said he'd used that spell. Moody had huffed, saying the time for third-year hexes was past.
James' cloak was off. He tumbled forwards, almost losing his glasses, but recovered fast and managed to prevent the blistered Lestrange from getting back up. He was the prime target now, as the only visible Order member, and Sirius stepped in to help his old friend.
It was comforting just fighting alongside James, even if only Sirius knew he was there. It would be better if they could go back to the head quarters together later and share that mead. He'd have to settle for what he could, which was protecting his friend.
Sirius got the other Lestrange nicely distracted with some interesting Transfiguration, making the ground around him transform into a bed of snakes. That would keep him busy for a moment.
Regulus, assuming James had caused that, aimed green flames at him in response, which James leapt away from. Instead, the fire collided with a patch of air next to him, and within less than a second a flaming invisibility cloak was flying through the air and Gideon Prewett was revealed. Not everyone could tell the difference, but Sirius had always been able to.
"Sectumsempra!" shouted Dolohov, and James' arm was opened from shoulder to wrist in a single slash. Blood spattered against Sirius.
The warmth of his friends blood on his face made something snap within Sirius. He roared and started forwards, throwing every spell he could think of into the depleted Death Eater ranks and completely ignoring the strength of the pull on the back of his jacket. Regulus fell to one of Sirius' spells, and Dolohov to something cast by Gideon Prewett, and Nott to a spell that could only have been cast by Marlene McKinnon, the only Order member remaining out of sight.
Regulus and Dolohov were struggling back up, Nott remained down and screaming. Sirius was still charging, most of the way to his brother when there was a final tug on his jacket and then the feeling of a body barrelling into his own from behind.
He was on the floor, inches from his brother's legs as Regulus pulled himself to his feet. Sirius scrabbled in the dirt for his brother, as on his back Hermione swore softly into his ear and reached for a decent hold on his body.
Sirius felt the distinct feeling of Apparition, and tried his last hope.
"Accio Regulus!"
His stomach was whirling, his body being squeezed away from the fight, and his hands were empty except for his wand.
