Raven That Flies At Night: This one is for you :)

Unedited...

Chapter 10: Keeper Of The Stone

She staggered towards the entrance of the compartment and was instantly hit by the absolute mayhem that endured on the platform, with children and owls and cats squealing and yawping as they flocked around eager parents. The moment she stepped in front of the door, however, several heads turned towards her.

"Ah! There she is!" exclaimed Mrs. Williams, a slender, tall woman in her early-forties, who was almost an older version of Isabella herself, with the same hazel-coloured eyes and thick, dark brown hair that she had gathered up in a bun. She looked like she had been in deep conversation with Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Jones just a moment ago while the girls had huddled together on the side, anxiously searching Isabella's face for any sign of distress. "Izzy, dear! Oh, it feels longer than four months since you left home!" she gushed. "There's my darling baby," she said, greeting her eldest daughter with the biggest bear hugs of all time.

Still teary-eyed and still feeling like a highly volatile grenade that could go off any second, she hugged her back without a word, afraid she might burst out crying stupidly all over again. Looking over her mother's shoulder, she caught Lily's eye. Did she see us in there? she mouthed to Lily.

Chewing on her bottom lip, she nodded a little. She may have, Lily mouthed back.

She sighed in frustration but pulled herself together. "Hi, mum. How've you been?" Isabella said, almost lifelessly.

"Oh, just the usual, but enough about me," she replied impatiently before pulling back and gracing Isabella with a look that bordered on immense pride, mild concern and a deep sense of understanding. And what she said next completely knocked the breath out Isabella. "Everything is going to be just fine, Izzy darling... You're home now, so you won't have to do all the weight-lifting alone, you know..."

"What? No! No, no, no, mother... There's nothing wrong! Did you... Oh! No, mother, we were just... Arguing... It's stupid... You know how he is...!"

"Oh, but, of course there's nothing wrong!" she replied, chuckling uncontrollably at her teenage daughter, doing a terrible job at masking innocence. Isabella wanted to snort, but decided to simply roll her eyes. "All I'm saying is, you don't have to be brave all the time... Nothing that a hot pot of tea won't fix, innit? Now, come along, the girls are waiting to say goodbye to you..." she trailed off pulling a mildly embarrassed Isabella by her hand.

"A tiny request, if I may, Mrs. Williams," said Lily, as they got closer to the group. "Please could you throw a gallon of ice-cold water on Sirius's face when you see him next? All of Hogwarts will thank you," she sniggered, while Claiborne vigorously nodded her approval from Isabella's other side.

Smiling back wickedly, Mrs. Williams replied, "I shall have Izzy owl you all about it," making everyone laugh out loud around her, even Isabella. After a few more moments of cheerful tittle-tattle, it was time for everyone to leave. Hugging her friends goodbye and giving her love to the Evanses, the Parkers, the MacDonalds and the Joneses, Isabella turned back to her mother. "What are we waiting for, then? Shall we leave?"

"We can't leave, Izzy, not yet. Not without..." she stopped dead in mid-sentence, even as her eyes widened in happiness at something very tall standing right behind Isabella.

"Me?" said a voice.

She flashed a watery smile of happiness at Sirius, as if overwhelmed with joy at seeing her own son after a hundred years. "You," she said, before going around Isabella to greet him. "Not without you," she repeated and surveyed his handsome face even as Sirius chuckled down at her silly tears before wrapping his hands around her.

"Always the same reaction term-after-term! Aren't you bored of us all even in the slightest, Lizzy?" he chuckled while bending down to collect all of their luggage ('For the hundredth time, that's my mother!' Isabella hissed at him from the side).

"Oh, hardly! On the contrary, I sit in my kitchen counting the days before I see you children's faces again!" she laughed, gesturing wildly at Isabella to help him with the luggage.

Isabella quickly (and most begrudgingly) bent down to pick up her own trunk. "Well, I wish McGonagall were more like you!" Sirius laughed, swatting her hand away and picking it up himself (she did not miss the glare he held in his eyes as he did).

"Why, I hope you stop giving your teachers so much trouble. Now, hurry along, Mr. Williams is waiting for us in the car. You know how he gets if we kept him waiting too long in all this madness. Oh, and your mother has sent a chauffeur-driven car to pick you up too, Sirius, dear. I suggest you drop your bags in there and ride back home with us in our car as per usual... And you told me Regulus was going to spend his holidays at your cousin's this time, didn't you? I must write to him too, the poor child... Oh, and Angela is so excited to see you two, she hasn't slept in days...!" she ranted away absent-mindedly, even as Sirius and Isabella followed her in absolute silence, both secretly simmering in hurt.

Some Christmas this was going to be...

- oOo -

"But I don't want Ryan, I want Sirius!" Angela squealed, prompting to Isabella to go, "Shhhhhh! Can you not be quiet?"

It was well past bed-time that night and Angela had sneaked into Isabella's room to sleep next to her sister, as usual.

"No! I want Regulus to be my big brother and that can happen only if you and Sirius are married! Oh, everything's ruined! Ruined!" she wailed, burying her face in her tiny hands. "I am going back to my room!" the ten-year-old protested crossly.

"Nooo! Angie, I haven't seen you in SO long. Besides, you know how scared I am of the dark... Please don't go!" Isabella fake-whined that her little sister naively fell for.

Angela huffed loudly. "Alright, fiiine... I'll protect you..." she said, rolling her eyes as if her staying was the biggest luxury she could give Isabella right now.

"Thank you," she said happily, as Angela flocked back on her bed. "And I am sorry, but I really like Ryan... Oh, and I've told him so much about you and he loves you already! He's nice, Angie. Just like Sirius..." Isabella said, flashing her widest and fakest of smiles, hoping that that would be enough to convince her sister. In all honesty, Isabella was more worried about getting Angela's blessing than her own parents'.

Even in the darkness, Isabella could see Angela's face fall. "So, Sirius and Regulus will never become part of our family?" she asked, pouting heavily to stop the tears from rolling down her face.

"Don't be silly now," Isabella started, despite battling a heavy heart herself. "They're Purebloods, Angie. You don't know what that means in the Magical world. Haven't you met Mrs. Black? I'm a Muggle-born. Him and I never stood a chance... The sooner you understand that, the better..." she said, wrapping her hands around Angela's neck. And despite feeling a burning rage for Sirius, she couldn't help but wonder if he's alright in that madhouse of his just about now...

- oOo -

Isabella didn't know what hit her when, on 23rd morning, just a day after they had stepped out of the Hogwarts Express, a sound as that of a bullet fire, enough to make her jump to the ceiling, awakened her followed by loud, excited squealing.

"It's Mary and Clay! It's Mary and Clay!" Angela screeched, jumping up and down on the bed, managing to fully wake her up now.

"Yes, it's US!" squealed back Mary and ran straight into little Angela's arms. Mary was so tall that she and Angela were about the same height now. "Oh, how I mished my cuddle-bunny! You're sho cute, I could you eat up!" Mary spoke through her teeth, making Angela squeal like mad in fake fear and run about the room like a deranged monkey.

"Hello, there, sleepy-head," said a much calmer voice that Isabella was greatly thankful for.

"Travel okay?" Isabella yawned happily, finally managing to sit up straight on her elbows.

"You could say that," she said, flopping next to her on the bed whilst gracing her with a look as if she expected Isabella to sprout a second head any time soon. "So... You really think you can stay away from that plonker forever?" she asked, a question she fully knew the answer to.

Isabella rolled her eyes. "Had to jump straight to that one, didn't you? You got here two seconds ago!" she said, half-smiling, half-glaring.

"Well, Izzy, the reason she got to it right away is because," Mary started, still chasing a hysterical Angela around the room, "he's here..." she sang, finally wrapping her hands around the tiny body of Angela and winning the fight.

"He's what?!" Isabella asked, sitting bolt upright in her bed and looking between Mary and Claiborne with her mouth hanging open. Claiborne was nodding silently at her with a smile that made Isabella's stomach squirm uncomfortably. Mary and Angela had finally stopped running amok in the room now, something Isabella was secretly glad about. "Sirius? He's here? In my house?"

And soon enough...

"What's taking you lot this long? Breakfast was ready an hour ago!" came a male voice through the door and Isabella was sure her stomach had entirely melted into the bed when she saw his face stick in through the door. Like a bolt of lightening, she yanked her bedcovers up to her chin just in time. "Have I slogged and slogged for nothing?" he said, sounding a tad bit over-dramatic while stepping fully into the room wearing an apron.

"So sorry to disappoint you, Lord Black!" Mary squeaked sarcastically and followed it up with a clumsy courtesy. "But we were just talking to your dear love-bug about your very public discord in the train yesterday and, oh, what a sight it was to watch her burn red in the face! So, naturally, we were a tad bit distracted," she piped in one breath, making Isabella instantly wish she hadn't invited her rotten friends for Christmas at all.

Sirius simply stood there, biting the inside of his cheek to keep himself from bursting out laughing. "Yeah, you can forget about food for the rest of the day, MacDonald!" he said, roughly swinging his hand around her neck, making her squeal. "And don't call her that!" he added in a quieter voice as the two of them left the room. "Get down, right away, Clay!" he called over his shoulder. "And bring that potato-face along too!" Isabella heard him say from the stairs.

If Isabella knew one hard-hitting truth about Sirius, it's that, he tended to be over-the-top happy like this only when he's secretly hurting beyond measure. And if he's spending Christmas here instead of at his own house, she knew without a doubt that yet another fight had exploded between him and his mother the previous night.

~oO 30 minutes later...

"You know, had I known you lot are going to be here this Christmas, I might have called the lads over too!" Isabella heard Sirius tell her mother as she entered the kitchens (she had taken extra care to dress up this morning). "'Cause frankly, one shouldn't be around so many females all at once!" he guffawed only to get pelted at with button mushrooms by Claiborne and Mary.

"Well, I think you're forgetting one little detail, Black. This isn't your house to invite whoever, you know?" said Claiborne.

"Are you forgetting that I'm the most loved person in the Williams' household, Clay?" Sirius shot back with a triumphant smile making Mrs. Williams chuckle nervously because Isabella slammed the skillet so hard on the stove at the comment, it could've brought the whole house crumbling down. "I can do whatever I want! Right, Lizzy?" he continued, acting like he hadn't heard anything at all.

"Absolutely, dear," she said, giving Isabella a warning look while Sirius triumphantly stuck his tongue out at her from behind Mrs. Williams.

Grinding her teeth in irritation, she dropped a whole bag of mushrooms onto the skillet and turned the heat on.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered-yelled to Sirius as she sautéed the mushrooms most noisily. Sirius didn't say anything and continued to work on the grilled tomatoes. "You fight with your mother again?" she pressed on.

"Oh, so now we're talking again?" he asked icily, giving her a side glance.

"Don't be a prat, Sirius," she whispered back and assaulted mushrooms once again. Oddly enough, she was more than aware of four sets of eyeballs keenly watching the two of them.

"Oh!" Sirius said, a bit more loudly than now than earlier, much to her horror. The girls all exchanged awkward glances at each other, but her mother hummed away, seeming completely unperturbed by the whole thing. "Wow, really nice. You ask me to piss off out of your life and I'm the prat? I'm curious. Do you think at all before words come out of your mouth?" he yelled, this time fully turning around to face a mortified Isabella. Everyone visibly stiffened in the kitchen, but Mrs. Williams mutely brushed away their fears and continued to serve them all breakfast as if Sirius and Isabella didn't even exist.

Isabella was stunned at his response and gaped stupidly for a moment, quite unsure how to retaliate to that. "Well... You hurt me...!"

"My god, would you. Grow. UP? Yes, I hurt you and guess what? There are going to be so many more who'll eventually hurt you a lot more! Are you going to toss all of them away too or are you going to learn how to actually deal with the bloody issue?"

Isabella didn't say anything and simply glared back at him whilst actively ignoring the silent sniggers coming from the onlookers.

"You know, you don't get to be this mad at me for no reason...!"

"NO! I get to be mad at you because I thought I meant a lot more to you!" he yelled back so loudly, Isabella was positive even her father had heard them now all the way in the living room. "And frankly, if it's this easy for you to cut me out of your life, I don't understand why you were so upset about what I said in the first place!"

And with that, he dumped his plate with whatever food he could get his hands on and slumped hotly in the chair closest to him.

For a fleeting second, she lost all track of what this whole fight was about or whose turn it was to be mad at whom! Also, she didn't know why he was this angry...

"He got into a terrible row with his mother last night because he declined the Lestranges' invite," her mother appeared out of nowhere and whispered in her ear, as if she'd heard Isabella's question.

"So, that's where Regulus is? At the Lestranges'?" Mrs. Williams nodded. "Let me guess, she asked him to leave the house because he refused to spend Christmas at his cousin's?" Isabella asked, feeling her temper rise at once.

Her mother nodded again. "So, be nice to him, dear," she said, watching Sirius shove truckloads of food into his mouth with a sad smile.

Time seemed to gallop by after that big showdown in the kitchen. Over the next two days, the Williams' household witnessed complete chaos as every member, including Mr. Williams, busied themselves with odd chores ranging from doing the laundry, washing the dishes, scrubbing every inch of every floor until the whole house was squeaky clean, buying any last-minute trinkets that would eventually adorn the massive Christmas tree that Mr. Williams and Sirius helped set up in one corner of the living room and by the time it struck 10'o clock on 24th evening, everyone was exhausted beyond belief.

Lily arrived at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning and brought a whole country's worth of things in her tiny little travel bag, filled with presents for all. And even as all the children sat down to rip open their gifts that morning, all went to hell because, Sirius wouldn't STOP conveying his feeling of utter and complete betrayal about not getting a gift from Isabella to such an extent that she was sure he'd given Lily enough ammunition to last a lifetime! And, as if things weren't bad enough already, Claiborne felt it absolutely necessary to make Lily aware of the fact that Sirius 'thought he meant a lot more to Isabella' making her go nuts with laughter.

And in all that time, Sirius and Isabella actively took every step to avoid running into each other so much that even her father, who is almost always blind to such things, started to suspect if something was going on between them.

"You know, Sirius," Mr. Williams started as everyone hungrily gathered around the dining table for some tea and biscuits that day. "if I have learnt anything about women at all in all this time," he said, gesturing to his wife and two daughters, "and this is coming from personal experience, so listen carefully. We rely on logic," he said, gesturing to Sirius and himself, "while they rely on tact!" he said, pointing at the rest of the room, whilst stifling a smirk. "So, I'd say it's always better to let them win a squabble no matter how nonsensical their argument may be!" he concluded strongly, instantly prompting a volley of protests from all the women around them, while Sirius shook his head in mock-disbelief.

"SO unfair!" he called out over and above the clamour around him.

"Oh! Such hosh-posh!" Mrs. Williams exclaimed and all the girls growled in agreement; except Isabella, obviously. She was drowning in embarrassment because, never in her wildest dreams had she imagined being the topic of discussion—on the kitchen table—involving a fight—with a BOY!

"Anyway, what I don't understand," the handsome Mr. Williams continued, still sporting a comically confused expression on his face, "is that, if she's so mad at the poor lad here, what am I to do with the Triumph that we ordered...?" — Isabella's hands flew to her face almost instinctively.

"The what?" asked Sirius.

"RICHARD!" bellowed Mrs. Williams as the rest of the Williams girls battled with mind-numbing shock at what their father had done.

"FATHER! What in the world is WRONG with you?" Isabella whisper-yelled, horrified beyond words at how thick her father was.

"But... He..." Mr. Williams stuttered looking scared, knowing fully well he'd committed a ghastly 'crime' in the girl-world. "I thought..."

"What... Is going on...?" Sirius asked, looking equally mortified of the reaction this was garnering.

"It was meant to be a SURPRISE, daddy!" squealed Angela as she jumped up and down in her seat in uncontained agitation. "It was going to be our Christmas present to Sirius and Regulus this year!" she wailed only to get nudged at by Isabella.

"Stop blurting out more, Angela!" Isabella chided, but sighed knowing all's ruined already. Looking across the table she found Sirius smiling cheekily at her and it was SO annoying, she half-wondered if hexing all his teeth off would get classified as a crime at all.

"So you got me a present," Sirius stated plainly, not even attempting to hide the raw happiness he was deriving to look at her boiling face of defeat.

"And a big one at that," Mr. Williams added with a smile whilst giving him a knowing look.

"Thanks a lot, dad," she said dryly.

~oO 26th December, 1975 - 5:10 AM

Isabella woke up really early the next day and found herself choking to death between three very heavy sleeping bodies, all stacked on top of each other on her tiny bed. A warmth spread through her as she realised just how lucky she was to have these dorks as her best friends.

Alice, though, she thought to herself. The two of them had maintained a cold distance with each other ever since that incident with Lucius. She quickly made a mental note to ask Mary if Alice was planning on turning up at all and decided to end this stupid fight with her right away, because in all honesty, she really did miss talking to her and it felt unnatural that she now had only three friends instead of four.

Mary doesn't make it obvious, but it was almost a universal truth that Alice and Mary were so close, they were practically sisters. There was not one thing about Alice that Mary wouldn't know. Smiling to herself, she quietly untangled herself, slid off the bed and tip-toed out of the room to get some peace and quiet before all hell broke loose in a few hours.

The beautifully decorated Christmas tree came into view as she climbed down the stairs, glimmering and shining its light on a sleeping Sirius, who was curled up on her couch in the living room. And even as she noiselessly crossed him, she noticed how his legs were so long, they hung off the sides of their massive couch and had to everything in her power to not burst out laughing.

Flocking down noiselessly next to the tree, she quickly rummaged through all new presents that had arrived late in the evening earlier that day. Several boxes had her name on it, but the one that she was most interested to unwrap right away was the one with the name 'Lucius Malfoy' inscribed in beautiful gold lettering on a red wrapper. The idiot liked to taunt her 'Gryffindor-ness' at every possible opportunity, didn't he?

Leaning against the French-windows next to the tree, she tore the wrapper open as noiselessly as possible and nearly gasped at the beautiful vintage, globe castle of Hogwarts with snow-covered mountains and turrets; it even had a tiny Quidditch pitch with tinier players happily whizzing about the globe! The quality and the detailing on the castle was so on-point, she was sure this must have been very, very expensive.

'Wanted to give you something that reminded you of everything you loved dearly… It changes seasons and is magicked to imitate the landscape of our school day-after-day. Oh, also the tiny players? I had them make one like me and one like you, so we can play Quidditch in this little globe forever.

Happy Christmas, Bella, and please don't lose your hair over how expensive this may have been—you're worth all the gold I spent on it.

P.S. Thanks for the Wardian case. Are you TRYING to turn me into a pteridomaniac? Just kidding. I'll take good care of the ferns.'

Isabella's eyes were watering now, her hands clasped tightly over her mouth to save herself from bursting out laughing. Typical Lucius. Never openly funny, but can drive anyone crazy to the point of stuffing one's face with slugs!

Just as she was placing her gift by the window, however, something suddenly caught her eye: a streak of light flashed before her eyes, spiking up her curiosity instantly... Something about it screamed 'Magic' and it felt very, very unnatural and out-of-place. Jumping up to her feet, she looked into the silent night, her senses fully alert now. At first, she passed it off as just a large trashcan, but as she looked more carefully, her heart skipped a beat when she realized it was actually a person—bent double with age, but standing stalk-still with the help of a large cane. Who was it? And why were standing outside her house? Were they waiting for someone? It surely did look like it…

Giving Sirius one sweeping glance, she pulled her wand out, threw a coat over her shoulders, and silently slipped out through the entrance. Her teeth started to chatter the minute she stepped out in the cold, making her reconsider her decision entirely, but the sight of the old lady standing there in the middle of the road, covered in snow and with nothing but a black shroud over her shoulders made her want to know more.

Hiding in the shadows, she moved as noiselessly towards the woman as possible, until she was only ten feet away from her, and waited with bated breath, wand at the ready.

The sky was turning a deep shade of blue now, and the sun was approaching fast, but the witch seemed to be in no hurry to leave, still standing stalk-still for several more minutes. Isabella was starting to feel really stupid about herself now and was about to turn back when something thick and black, like tar, dropped on the snow-covered road, several feet ahead of the old lady. She froze in pure horror as she saw a second and a third drop of black oily liquid that started to sizzle and boil against the cold surface. A second later, it started to splutter and spew a thick black smoke that rose up in the air, swirling and curling into itself until it solidified to reveal another dark figure in its wake.

Isabella's heart started to hammer hard against her chest as she watched the second dark figure look up straight into the face of the old lady, before taking a step towards her. This was definitely Dark Magic and Isabella was officially starting to sink into full-blown panic at the revelation. As if working on its own accord, her legs started move backwards, trying to take her as far away from this scene as possible. She hadn't taken two steps when a pair of hands appeared out of nowhere and wrapped tightly around her mouth, making her melt entirely in fear.

'Who are you? LET ME GO!' she screamed into his hand, but not a sound was heard.

"Stay quiet, you idiot!" Sirius whispered into her ears and did his best to stop her from madly flailing her hands. And she didn't know why, but it took her several moments to realise it was just Sirius before she finally calmed down and froze in place.

"What the hell is happening here?" she heard Sirius whisper to himself as the two hooded figures drew close to each other.

Looking up and surveying the place around them, the second figure finally spoke. "Why'd you summon me here?" To her utter astonishment, it sounded like a little boy!

The old lady didn't say anything and continued to simply stare at the little boy through glassy eyes. Without a word, she merely raised her hand and pointed straight at a house on her right. Isabella followed the woman's hand and realised she was pointing at her house.

"That's ridiculous!" the young boy sneered (behind her, she felt Sirius's body tense a bit as if he instantly recognised that voice). "The Keeper of the Stone couldn't possibly be in there," the boy continued, sounding a bit too confident for his age. He took another step closer and knocked his hood off to reveal his face. "You're lying. Because, that's where my friends live," Regulus said, coldly nodding at the house. "And they're Muggles."

"Sirius, what the hell is going on? Go get him...!" she whispered urgently.

"Not yet. I want to know what this is about," he whispered back.

The old witch latched on to the little boy's gaze and a slight smile cut her features. "She's the Keeper... And the Stone belongs to her." the lady whispered, still pointing at Isabella's house, sending an odd shiver down her spine.

"She... What?" Regulus stuttered, still unable to come to terms with this new piece of information. "You mean, Izzy?" he squeaked incredulously, bewildered beyond expression. "But... Does she have it with her right now?"

"No... But, you can tell your Lord that as long as she's alive, he can never have the Stone."

His eyes widened in shock. "H-How dare you?" Regulus growled, greatly taken aback at her bold defiance. "The Lord hasn't given you a choice in this matter, you old hag! It's an order and all orders MUST be obeyed. That is, if you don't want to die a painful death...!"

"I don't take orders."

"Just tell me where the Stone is and be off!" Regulus yelled breathlessly. "He won't hurt you, I promise," he begged, sounding an awful lot like a little child sent to deal with matters far out of his concern. "He just wants the Stone... Please...!" his voice trailed off as if he was already starting to regret coming on this mission.

"Sirius! DO SOMETHING!" Isabella whispered-yelled at him, feeling more pity than fear for him right now, but he firmly shook his head.

"Trust me... There's more..." he whispered back, alert as a gundog.

The old witch shook her head just a little. "She... Is the Keeper," she repeated and smiled. Her face was SO old and wrinkly, it was almost painful to look upon. "She," she simply said and this time slowly started to turn her head to her right. "You," she said, now staring straight at Isabella in the shadows! Both Sirius and Isabella nearly jumped up in fright as the old witch's eyes locked on to them. "As long as a Haden is alive, no one shall ever possess the Stone..." she rasped, smiling terribly.

"NO! You lie! How... How am I to say that to them?!" Regulus yelled nervously, almost shaking in undulated fear. He still hadn't noticed the two of them in their hiding spot. "Just... Just give it to me or...! Or I'll hurt you...!" he said and swiftly drew out his wand.

Isabella was almost about faint in panic as she envisioned this whole thing rolling out of control when...

"Alright, that's enough!" Sirius yelled, and in the blink of an eye, he had leaped out of the shadows and stepped between the witch and his brother, his wand pointing straight at the old hag's face. Something clattered to the floor at that moment, and Isabella didn't even have to look to know that Regulus had dropped his wand at the sight of his murderous brother. Sirius's left hand had instinctively shot out to shield his Regulus from harm as he glared daggers in the witch's direction. "I don't know what this is about... but you better leave my brother alone or watch my destroy you," Sirius growled as he twisted his wand into position.

"Sirius, don't do anything STUPID now! We're still underage, we can't use Magic outside of...!"

"Shut up, Izzy," he said, never taking his eyes off the woman. "Who are you?" he finally asked.

"The Stewardess of the Stone," she replied calmly, still not making any sense whatsoever. "And you're one half of The Pair..."

"What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?!" he yelled, inching closer to her still.

The old witch merely chuckled to herself, sounding more dangerous than ever. Locking her eyes with his, she finally wiped her face of all emotion and shook her head. "You shall know when the time is ripe."

Sirius's eyes immediately darted towards Isabella in confusion who returned it with a bewildered shrug.

"Our paths are destined to cross one more time," she spoke again, drowning them all further in a pit of confusion. "Not too long from now," she said and smiled eerily. Before anyone could even grasp what she had said or understood what it all meant, the old witch raised her hand, clicked her fingers together and disappeared instantly in a puff of smoke, leaving them all in a complete daze.

And just like that, the spot where she had stood was now empty, without even the slightest trace of her existence up until a second ago. A cold breeze blew over their faces as the three of them slowly collected themselves.

"What just happened..." Isabella asked shakily, finally breaking the ice, bewildered beyond belief. "What the hell, Regulus?" she yelled, suddenly remembering the height of his stupidity.

"Sirius... Izzy... Wh-What are you... What are you two doing here...?" he stuttered even as a murderous-looking Sirius inched closer to him.

"Answer her," he said, looking deadly. "What the hell WAS that?" he bellowed. "So, that's what you've been invited to the Lestranges' house this Christmas, eh? To learn Dark Magic? To get you brain-washed and pull you over to the Dark Side... and follow orders like this?" he roared and grabbed hold of Regulus's robes before glaring into his face in pure rage.

"No... No... Leave me alone! You won't understand!" Regulus screamed, sounding like a very stupid thirteen-year-old.

"You IDIOT! Do you not understand what this is about?! You're underage to begin with and yet, they make YOU run their errands?! You can barely defend your pet RABBIT! Do you realise this kind of thing could've got you KILLED?!"

"NO! Let me go!" he screamed and shoved his hand into his pocket to pull out a black slimy substance and threw it into his mouth.

"NO! Regulus, what are you doing?" Sirius asked, horrified, and even as he struggled with him to get him to spit it out, his brother had started to turn a deep shade of black and his entire body started to started to liquefy. It was almost terrible to watch Sirius struggle to keep Regulus's once solid body together as it continued to melt away in his hands until all that was left was a puff of black smoke. Regulus had returned to the Lestranges', most likely to report back everything the old hag had said.

"It's a lot bigger than we thought," Isabella whispered, still staring dumbfoundedly at the place where Regulus had disappeared.