I apologize in advance for my French.

Dorcas Meadowes had mixed feelings about her current situation. On one hand, she had been Blackmailed into talking to Horace Slughorn. She had weathered that unpleasant task, sacrificing an entire afternoon talking to Slughorn for the brothers Black. On the bright side, she had then received an eviction notice from Regulus and shortly followed by the key to Sirius's flat. Now she had the flat all to herself for about a week, at which point Sirius would be moving back in. It would be exactly like old times, except Remus was off doing his tragic lone wolf thing and Frank was… Well, Frank was unavailable.

Still. Five glorious days to herself! She had spent them well. Sirius had given Dorcas temporary access to his bank account, so she had immediately started renting movies and watching television. Yes, she had marginally stayed in contact with the outside world thanks to Narcissa's obsession with shopping and Dorcas's negotiating skills, but it had been more of an excuse on Narcissa's part to buy Muggle haute couture. They both had known Dorcas didn't want to stay locked in a room in the basement and would have gone shopping with the Shopping Queen regardless, but Dorcas could have been a lot more disgruntled about it. However, Dorcas needed to do some research with regards to what she had missed on the telly.

Best of all as a result of her new accommodations, Dorcas could sleep in the spare room with no qualms. That was glorious. She didn't have to worry about anyone, and she could sleep in till the late morning and occasionally the early afternoon. She didn't have to prevent Regulus or Sirius from having a nervous breakdown. Ah, it was like heaven, except with endless credit and beer.

Dorcas did wonder what everyone was up to, but their business was probably boring. Regulus's cover story was apparently looking for Sirius, which Dorcas found endlessly amusing. Reggie was going to have one hell of a time explaining that to his older brother. However, Dorcas supposed that Regulus was spending time with his wife, who Dorcas had recently discovered was named Vesta. One of the brothers may have informed her earlier, but Dorcas had forgotten until she rediscovered the information. Well, Regulus might have been doing governmenty things, too, but Dorcas didn't think he was in a proper mental place for actual job-like activities, even if Reggie's multitasking skills had once been a thing of legend.

Sirius, on the other hand, was still at school, teaching or giving exams or whatnot. Dorcas had forgotten if they had exams before winter break or only at the end of the school year. She was pretty sure that it was only at the end of the school year and that the semester exam system was from horror stories she heard from university students (i.e. Lily, Remus, Regulus, etc.). Or she was blocking out the memories of Auror training. It might have been Auror training. Sirius would know. He never forgot anything.

Dorcas, however, was content not remembering. She would prefer not to remember Lily's smile or Fabian's antics or Marlene's crazy mothering habits or Caradoc's cat-like reflexes. Better to block it out and concentrate on the good news. Sirius was fine, and Regulus had finally developed a sixth sense for trouble, and… and that didn't make any of the others less dead.

Luckily, Dorcas knew where Sirius hid his hard liquor. She then settled down to watch a show called Law & Order. It seemed to be the only program that the channel showed, but she didn't mind. She would see Sirius and probably Regulus soon, and she could talk to them and forget again. And even later, maybe she could even serve up some revenge cold.

Hermione wondered if all boys were clueless and if they ever improved. Some did, but it was quite apparent that many didn't, although she supposed the faculty of Hogwarts were not the shining examples of mental stability she once thought they were. Binns could be excused, even though he was obviously refusing to acknowledge his lack of a pulse. Hermione really had expected better of Professor Vector, but she supposed prolonged exposure to Sirius was adequate to drive anyone insane. Not that Hermione had anything against Sirius, whom she had known was not quite sane for a very long time. She did figure that the reason Professor Vector was acting spare was that Sirius was so bloody clueless.

Hermione had likewise come to the conclusion that the only truly normal teachers in the entire school were Professors Sprout, Hooch, Flitwick, and McGonagall. Snape used to be on the list, but he was spending far too much time around that man related to Professor Vector. Professor Sinistra was the poster child of the scatter-brained, but Hermione had to correct herself and admit that Professor Burbage was okay, too. She still tried not to think of Trelawney. Hagrid wasn't really in the same category, but the only reason Hermione would consider Hagrid weird was his habit of finding dangerous animals adorable. Like giant three-headed dogs and baby dragons. (Hermione did agree about the dragon, not that she would admit that to anyone.)

Why had Hermione gone off on this tangent again? Oh, yes, Ron was absolutely clueless. Ginny had decided it was incurable, but Hermione hoped against hope. SPEW wasn't exactly helping things, but she knew she had to keep soldiering on. Yes, many house elves did seem to enjoy their jobs, but they should have equal rights under the law. Dobby was doing fine and enjoyed his clothes and new rights, but Winky had reacted very poorly and in the process had become an alcoholic. At least, Hermione assumed that an addiction so severe to butterbeer was alcoholism. She knew that the drink came in two forms, but she strongly suspected Winky favored the alcoholic one.

Hermione considered what Kreacher's reaction would be were he freed. Sirius had said giving Kreacher his freedom would probably give the house elf a heart attack in addition to being a risk to the Order. Hermione had tried to be nice to Kreacher, but he had only been abrasive in return. Sirius had ordered Kreacher to stop calling her names when he had overheard one of Hermione's attempts at talking to Kreacher. The wizard and the house elf seemed to ignore each other for the most part, although Sirius had told Kreacher to do whatever the house elf pleased, within reason. Reason, of course, was not selling out the Order to the Death Eaters or calling anyone racial slurs. Hermione wondered for a moment what Grimmauld would have been like had Sirius not been exonerated. She did not want to dwell on that thought.

Thankfully, Ginny saved Hermione from her dark musings and asked, "Hermione, what exactly is so interesting in the passing countryside? I know Ron and Harry are off defending your honor against Malfoy, Neville's asleep, and Luna's off 'exacting retribution on the war goddess and the platyroo' for one reason or another, but I'm still sitting here."

A little embarrassed, Hermione sighed and explained, "I was just thinking about everything, you know? How some of the teachers seem to be more on edge this year, my complete and utter failure to raise enrolments for SPEW." She smiled and admitted, "At least the DA's going well."

Ginny nodded sagely. "Yes, it is," she said, as if they were conspiring. "Can you believe that Umbridge has been given as much power as she has been? I mean, she's as much as fired Trelawney, which isn't too much of a travesty, but that's not the point."

Hermione knew what most had been outraged by: the dissolution of all clubs, including Quidditch. It had been Umbridge's rather unsuccessful attempt to curb the surprise attacks the twins and Lee Jordan had been springing lately. Umbridge had figured the actions were a result of inter-house cooperation, which was true, but the students used Arithmancy class to develop tactics instead of Umbridge's club theory. Of course, the Defense Association was formed as a result of the Inquisitorial order. Harry suggested the name because the initials could be mistaken by Umbridge to mean "Dumbledore's Army." Hermione had said that in addition to planning how best to subvert Umbridge they should at least make some effort of practicing what the club title implied. Hermione had even gone as far as to suggest that they be even more subversive and actually ask permission as a club to form, just to grind salt in the wound.

Of course, they had to find a faculty advisor (otherwise known as the adult coconspirator whom Harry, the Weasley twins, and a good half of the DA had suggested). Unfortunately, Sirius had said no, adding something to the effect that every good secret society worth their weight in gold didn't look to be above board. Hermione figured it had more to do with the fact that Umbridge could legitimately hold Sirius responsible for whatever the DA did, and if Sirius were sacked like Trelawney had been, then Umbridge would probably become the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. "Ginny, do you think that Sirius was right not to get mixed up in the feud between the DA and Umbridge?" Hermione asked pensively. "I have a feeling that he might have been, but I think he wasn't saying everything."

"Well, I agreed with the initial idea that we go legitimate, but Sirius was the worst idea for faculty advisor. We should have gone to McGonagall," Ginny replied confidently. "You've noticed that she thinks Umbridge is a blight. I mean, she's more subtle than Professor Sinistra, but if you look very hard, you can tell." Ginny paused, though, when she thought about what else Hermione had raised. With a grimace, Ginny continued, "In reply to that other thing, yeah, I think something's up. Honestly, I don't think he's coming back for the next semester."

Hermione's shoulders sagged, and she said, "So you picked up on that, too? I was hoping it was a figment of my imagination. I mean, why would he—" Hermione realized that was the real reason Sirius had refused to help the DA become a legitimate club. "Ginny, that's why he didn't want to get involved with the DA, isn't it? He's leaving."

"Probably," Ginny agreed. Honestly, Hermione had actually enjoyed Defense class this year. She still thought Professor Lupin was a better teacher, but she was under the impression that Sirius thought so, too. "Who do you think's going to replace him?" Ginny asked. "As Harry reminds us all incessantly, Snape's been after the job for years, but Umbridge was second in line to have gotten the job this year. Also, if Harry turned out to be right—Merlin forbid—then who in the world would teach potions? Oh my God, I might actually have to pay attention."

"I don't know, but I don't think Sirius would leave if Umbridge were the only option," Hermione said. "For all we know, he might even have asked Professor Lupin to replace him."

Ginny considered that for a moment and replied, "I don't think we'll be that lucky." Both girls were silent for a moment before Ginny asked, "Hey, Hermione, when do you think Sirius would tell all of us he was leaving? I mean, we both think he's not going to come back next semester, but he didn't say anything on the last day of classes."

Hermione grimaced and replied, "Well, I don't believe he particularly wants to think about it, either. For all we know, Dumbledore might have been the one who suggested that Sirius take time off." Ginny looked at Hermione in surprise, so Hermione explained, "He's not completely right, you know. In the head. I'm not saying Dumbledore would make him step down, but all this might have been too much, too soon."

Ginny looked confused but reasoned, "So you're saying that Sirius might have some unresolved issues that would prevent him from teaching. Or something." Hermione nodded, so Ginny thought about it for a moment before declaring, "I don't think that's it. Sure, Sirius probably has issues up the wazoo, but I think he's been doing fine, aside from all the idiot rumors my brothers seem intent on spreading. If Dumbledore's involved at all, I'd say Sirius has been sent off on a mission for the Order. Same thing happened with Hagrid."

"That's true. It could fit, too," Hermione admitted. Actually, what she had suggested before could be a good cover for an Order mission. Sirius had been frequently seen around that man related to Professor Vector. Maybe they were working together? "Harry said Sirius was gone during the afternoon for a couple days at the beginning of the month," Hermione mentioned, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. "Professor Vector took a couple of days off around the same time, too…"

Ginny raised an eyebrow before grinning. "So you do think they're together," she concluded triumphantly. Hermione was about to protest, but she gave it up for lost. It was true, after all. At least according to Ron, who felt he was very unlucky this year for that exact reason. Ginny continued, "You think they're going to elope or something? That would be bloody brilliant. The curse of the Defense post continues!"

Hermione sighed and corrected, "No, I don't think they're going to run off together. That's far too cliché. I was thinking about Professor Vector's cousin. She was attacked by some Death Eaters at the beginning of the month, which was why we didn't have Arithmancy for a couple days, so I thought there might have been a correlation."

Ginny nodded, not believing her for a second, until she seemed to realize something and her eyes widened like saucers. "Hermione, you heard about how the wife of some American muckity-muck was attacked on the twenty-ninth of November, right?" Ginny asked hesitantly.

"Well, yes. It was in the Daily Prophet and everything. Apparently the woman had been visiting her sister when it had happened and was hospitalized for at least two weeks. From the way it was described in the paper, it sounds like the ambassador made no friends when she sent her aide to the Ministry," Hermione relayed. She had wondered why Ginny thought of that. The two incidents couldn't have been related. Could they? Hermione questioned, "You don't think she and Professor Vector's cousin are the same person, do you? That would make the ambassador's aide that man who was in the Hospital Wing for two weeks."

Ginny was absolutely stunned and exclaimed, "You mean he's that bloke who ran around the school like a loony while Sirius, Lupin, and Snape had to track him down? Merlin's holy socks!" Despite being stunned at the apparent revelation, Ginny continued, "That makes sense, actually, because then Sirius could be working with said bloke on a mission for the Order." Hermione made a noncommittal sound in agreement, which prompted Ginny to say sneakily, "So you really do think Sirius and Professor Vector are together?"

Hermione groaned in frustration before protesting, "It was Ron's idea in the first place!"

"What was Ron's idea?" Harry asked, back from waging war with the Slytherins. Ron was absent, so Harry had probably returned for backup. Hermione decided she had the worst luck, or Harry had the luck of the gods.

"Hey, Harry," Ginny chirped. Hermione sent her a warning glare. Ginny was looking slightly demonic, so Hermione wasn't sure if she could trust Ginny to keep her mouth shut about Ron's brilliant deductions. Granted, faced with Ron's boggart, Harry had decided that Ron had an overactive imagination and that he should have stuck with spiders. Ginny decided to spare Hermione's sanity and be beneficent, because she continued, "We were just talking about what we were going to do over Christmas when we're at Grimmauld."

"Oh, well, I was sent back from the front to report that Draco's barfing slugs and ask for orders," Harry said, feeling slightly silly. Hermione didn't blame him. She wondered who had sent him, because that communiqué didn't sound like Ron. Harry had used his vast powers of observation and continued, "Hey, don't shoot the messenger. Luna said it. She was there because she apparently had some unfinished business with some first-years who now are mostly green."

Ginny nodded and explained, "Apparently the girl—her name starts with an A, possibly; I can't remember—but she and her friend, that skittish blond boy most of the Slytherins seem to ignore or have disowned, were rather mean to Luna a couple of days ago, so she's been plotting her version of revenge." Ginny paused for a moment before asking, "Can they still speak English?"

"No. They're speaking foreign languages. The boy sounds like he's speaking Russian, but the girl's speaking German," Harry replied with a shrug. "Luna was very thorough. I wouldn't want to be them right now. That Gryffindor girl from the train at the beginning of the year started to tell Luna off, though, after the Slytherin girl rushed off to fetch her."

"Her name is Gemma, Harry," Hermione reminded him for what seemed like the umpteenth time. "How do you keep forgetting this? You've spoken to her at least twice during meals this year, in addition to that one time we passed her in the hall." Harry seemed to try to remember, and Hermione continued, "In any case, what exactly does Luna want us to say?"

Harry answered, "I don't know, and I don't pretend to know. Luna seems to be happy playing General Montgomery. I think I'm going to retire from the battle; Ron was thinking of retreating, too." He sat down next to Hermione, who was across from Neville, and asked, "So how much of Grimmauld do you think we're going to be attempting to retake over the holidays?"

Ginny groaned and said, "I hope we'll be spared the bother. I swear to Merlin that Kreacher's been putting more dust around when nobody's looking. It's the only explanation." She rolled her eyes and continued, "I don't know how you can talk to that house elf, Hermione. He's the most belligerent being I've ever met, the Amazing Bouncing Ferret included."

Hermione decided to spare them the lecture about SPEW and admitted, "Kreacher is difficult to talk to, but I don't think he'd purposefully make the house dirtier. He kept the master bedroom spotless, after all. There was a massive doxy infestation, but keeping that house clean must be no mean task for a single house elf."

"More work for the rest of us, then," Ginny complained darkly.

Harry nodded in agreement and said, "Well, on the bright side, this year's actually been pretty good so far, aside from the house-cleaning. I mean, hey, no one's tried to kill me yet!" Hermione groaned, and Ginny tried not to laugh. Harry continued reflectively, "Actually, it's sort of sad when you judge how things are going by whether or not there's been an attempt on your life."

Hermione was about to comment when Ron burst into the compartment and quickly shut the door behind him. Neville woke at the noise, looking confused, so Ron quickly explained, "You don't want to know." There were sounds of fighting from the corridor and a shout of "Vive la résistance! La république endurera! Périssez, vous collabos!" Ron reiterated, "You really don't want to know."

Despite her brother's warning, Ginny asked, "Was that Luna?"

"Ouais ! Je rentrerai avec la fille d'Aschere ! Il faut que nous punissions la déesse de la guerre, le troisième et le furet rebondissant ! Ah ! Vous démons ! Ne courez pas ! Est-ce que vous vous sentez d'avoir de la chance ? Bien, vous sentez-vous, vous punks ?"

Neville raised an eyebrow, and Ginny muttered, "Never mind."

Gemma wondered why Professor Black was standing at the front door, apparently working up the courage to knock. He was being quite silly, if anyone thought to ask Gemma. However, no one did. She was sitting on the couch in the front room, reading. Macha was glaring at her from across the room, still angry about the day before. Gemma hadn't meant to laugh when Luna had extracted her revenge upon the three Slytherins, although she had been laughing more about the donkey ears Luna had bestowed upon Malfoy than Macha's fate. As far as Gemma was concerned, Smith had received what he deserved. She didn't much like him. Leo vaguely agreed, but he kept his mouth shut about it. Speaking of Leo, he was also in the room, but he was trying not to become involved in the silent argument between his sister and his cousin.

As far as Gemma knew, Uncle Terry was rushing around the house, doing Aunt Vesta's bidding. Gemma could tell he was coming apart at the seams. Even Diana had noticed, and as a result wouldn't stop apologizing for not more than she had during the Death Eater attack, but it sounded like she couldn't have helped Aunt Vesta more than she had. Gemma had overheard her mum talking to Diana, and apparently that really dangerous lady Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange, had been one of the people who hurt Aunt Vesta. Gemma didn't ever want to meet that woman, and she had the feeling that Uncle Terry was really scared of her, too.

Finally, Professor Black muttered something to himself and knocked on the door. Gemma didn't move to go answer. Macha noticed Gemma's lack of reaction and assumed it was only Diana at the door, having forgotten her keys, and so Macha wandered off, presumably into the kitchen. Leo, in his typical fashion, followed his sister with an apologetic glance towards Gemma, who continued to read.

Gemma's mum, on the other hand, raced down the stairs, completely unaware of Gemma's presence in the front room. Gemma couldn't see past the Christmas tree, but she supposed that her mum was fixing her hair, because her mum paused for a moment before opening the door. "Ah—Sirius, I wasn't expecting you," her mum said, thankfully not as socially impaired as she could be. Gemma had half expected her mum to ask what he was doing at the house. On the bright side, she'd actually formed a complete sentence.

Professor Black wasn't nearly as eloquent at the moment, because there was a noticeable pause before he spoke. "Well, I… I was going to call, but if you're busy, I'll just go," he said haltingly. Gemma heard the snow crunch as he turned to leave.

"No," her mother said. Gemma could only assume her mum had grabbed Professor Black's wrist to stop him, because she couldn't see him out the window. That, or Professor Black had just stopped. "No, I didn't mean that. I was just surprised," Gemma's mother clarified. There was some more silence before she continued, "Why don't you come in? It must be freezing outside."

"Um, thank you," Professor Black said. He must have stepped through the front door, because Gemma heard the door shut shortly thereafter. Gemma wondered why he was behaving as if he were embarrassed. That wasn't like her professor in the slightest. What reason did he have to feel that way? Wasn't he going out with her mum? "I thought I should drop by to tell you in person," Professor Black began, sounding reluctant. "White's probably told you about his plan, right?"

Gemma's mother was silent. What were they talking about, anyway? What was Uncle Terry up to this time? "Yes, he mentioned he was going to do something damnably stupid," Gemma's mother told him, starting to sound like she didn't like the direction in which the conversation was heading. Gemma didn't, either, but she was in no position to say anything. She was eavesdropping, after all. "You're going to help him, aren't you?" Gemma's mother continued, now definitely sounding upset, but she seemed to have been expecting what Professor Black had said.

"I'm sorry, 'Sia. I have to do this," Professor Black said, sounding upset, too.

"Why?" Gemma's mother demanded. "Why do you have to go? You said you wouldn't! You promised, Sirius!" she continued, sounding somewhere between angry and scared. Gemma started to doubt the intelligence of her decision to remain in the front room. Maybe if she jumped behind the couch, no one would notice. She decided that it was better to do so regardless. No one noticed her move. Gemma continued to wonder what her mother and Professor Black were talking about.

"I'm not going to leave, 'Sia," Professor Black tried to reassure her. He stopped again to gather his thoughts before continuing almost painfully, "I'm not returning to Hogwarts for the second semester, but I'm not leaving. As far as the Ministry knows, I'm on psychiatric leave because of post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor's guilt, or whatever's wrong with me, and I realized that I need to sort all of that out." Gemma wondered how much it cost him to admit that, because it sure sounded like it did.

Surprised, Gemma's mother repeated, "You're going to get help?" It sounded like she sat down on the stairs and sighed. "I didn't think you would," she continued softly. She laughed bitterly and assumed, "You're only going to therapy because it's a cover, aren't you?"

"I've handled it all just fine up until now, haven't I?" Professor Black demanded harshly, sounding surprisingly defensive.

Gemma's mother definitely sighed this time, and Gemma could easily imagine her frowning severely and covering her mouth with her hand. Very quietly, her mother countered, "You've never been able to deal with it, Sirius. You weren't able to cope with what happened to James and Lily; you weren't able to deal with what happened to Dorcas or Marlene or Fabian or Gideon." Her voice turning steely, Gemma's mother continued, "And you certainly weren't able to cope with your brother's murder or what your mother put you through."

At that point, Gemma realized Macha and Leo had had the right idea. They got out while they still could. She really did not want to overhear an argument between her mother and her teacher, and it seemed like there was one brewing, even if Professor Black was still silent. Maybe that was what Gemma found unnerving; that he was still silent. "Did I ever tell you what happened the summer fifth-year?" he started quietly, confusing Gemma. Shouldn't he have lost his temper? Or been even slightly angry? Or anything? "I tried to kill myself, 'Sia. Dad ruined one of his suits trying to keep me alive, there was so much blood. He's the one that suggested I run away. He didn't want to see me hurt anymore, I guess. I wouldn't have gone, otherwise, because I was a self-destructive coward, but if I'd stayed, then—then maybe Reggie wouldn't have been hurt." Professor Black made a kind of hurt noise before he tried to explain, his voice thick with far too much emotion for Gemma's liking, "I know I can't deal with any of it, but, Goddamn it, I don't think I should." Gemma barely heard Professor Black murmur, "I just want it to go away, 'Sia. God, it just won't go away."

Gemma decided the sounds she heard next weren't sobs. Boys, especially grown men, didn't cry. Wasn't that a rule or something? Gemma heard her mother stand and walk over to Professor Black. Sounding slightly muffled, Gemma's mother murmured, "Sirius… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have brought it up."

Some time passed before Professor Black seemed to have regained control of himself and said levelly, "No. No, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have said anything." It sounded like he had stepped back and sighed. "I shouldn't have broken down like that, either," he continued, sounding angry with himself. "I've completely fucked this up, haven't I?"

Gemma assumed her mother smiled reassuringly before she gently replied, "No, Sirius, it's not your fault. It was stupid of me to assume you were going to drop off the face of the earth again." There was a second of silence before Gemma's mother continued, "I think I may know why you're doing this, Sirius, and if I'm right, I understand."

"It's what got Reg killed," Professor Black murmured.

"I figured as much," Gemma's mother softly replied. She sighed and asked, sounding slightly desperate, "You're staying in London, though. Aren't you?" Gemma was surprised by the tone of her mother's voice. It sounded like her mum wasn't going to chase Professor Black away. On the contrary, really. Of course, her mum had told her that the two of them had always been close. On the other hand, Gemma was slightly afraid because of what Professor Black had said. How well did her mum really know him if she hadn't known about something as important as what he had said only moments before?

"Yeah, I am," Professor Black admitted, sounding very serious. "White thinks what we're looking for is still in Britain, so London's as good a place to live as any."

"Oh," Gemma's mother said, sounding apprehensive. Hesitantly, she asked, "You will visit, right?" Gemma didn't like the fact that her mum's voice sounded so fragile when she had asked that, but neither did appreciate the implication that her professor wasn't going to be coming back to teach for the second term. "Or at least write?"

"I—Of course, 'Sia. I'll visit. I don't know when I'll be able to visit, but I will," Professor Black replied. Gemma wondered if he was always sounded so depressed when talking to her mother. "I promise I will."

"Good. I'll hold you to that, Black," Gemma's mother said with a note of finality. There was another pause—Gemma was getting tired of these damned pauses; what was so bloody important that they wouldn't speak properly about anything—before Gemma's mother continued with some reservation, "Look, Sirius, I need to tell you something. When the war ended, I—"

Gemma couldn't hear what followed, because the unholy racket her uncle made as he essentially tripped down the stairs covered what her mother said. She could tell that Uncle Terry was the distraction simply because he was simply the only one who could have made that much noise. He was pretty much an utter loon sometimes. "Er—Hi, guys," Uncle Terry said nervously, ostensibly being stared down by Gemma's mum and Professor Black, both of whom were not particularly pleased with him. "I'll just go now," he said quickly, having caved in to the combined glares of Gemma's mum and Professor Black.

Oddly, however, he then stepped into the front room and stopped in front of the couch as Gemma's mum and Professor Black went into the dining room. Uncle Terry stood there for a moment before leaning over and saying, "It's okay, Gemma. You can come out now." He was smiling kind of sadly, but otherwise he seemed pretty relaxed.

Gemma stared at her uncle, wide-eyed. She glanced quickly in the direction of the dining room. "Are you sure?" she asked quietly. "I don't want Mum to think I was eavesdropping on purpose, but I couldn't just stand up, 'cause she and Professor Black were talking about very serious things, and then Professor Black mentioned he'd tried to kill himself this one time, and I decided it would not be the smartest thing in the world to show myself then." Gemma continued to stare at her uncle, really afraid of what he was thinking.

Uncle Terry, on the other hand, looked kind of distraught, which Gemma found confusing. However, Uncle Terry smiled again almost immediately, causing Gemma to wonder if she had imagined her uncle looking so sad. "Yes, Gemma, it's all right," he said gently. "Hey, do you want to come with me to go get dinner for your aunt? She desires Thai food. That said, your cousins said they wanted pizza earlier, and Diana called and said pork ramen will suffice." Grinning in one of his ridiculous moods, Uncle Terry asked, "So what say you?"

"I'll come," Gemma said with a slight smile. She stood up and jumped over the couch. Feeling a little better, she asked her uncle, "Why do you insist on acting so crazy?"

"It's your father's fault. He went and drove me insane," Uncle Terry replied with a grin, ruffling her hair. Gemma's eyes widened. Did her uncle say what she thought he did? She had thought he knew who her father was! (Gemma chose to discount the possibility that her mother was refusing to talk about. It would be doubly weird were what her mother denied true, because Uncle Terry was completely insane and couldn't be right about anything by definition.) Uncle Terry raised an eyebrow when he noticed that Gemma had a shocked look on her face. With a laugh, he told her, "Go get your coat, petite gemme. We can stop by that French bakery you love so much."

Gemma sent her uncle an irritated look. Damn him for bribing her with French pastry.

Terry was relieved that he had managed to convince Gemma to leave the house. He had heard what passed for conversation nowadays between Sirius and Artemesia and figured that Gemma was probably still in the front room, listening. As a matter of chance, Vesta had asked him to go out and get her dinner. Of course, as he had walked down the stairs he had heard Artemesia about to admit that Gemma was Sirius's daughter, hence Terry's spectacular fall down the stairs. Artemesia had just stared at him before shaking her head. Sirius, of course, had stared at him with the expression he always used when Terry did something idiotic. However, Artemesia seemed to have realized why Terry had fallen down the stairs and had taken Sirius into another room.

That said, Terry hadn't been able to school his expression when Gemma told him she had heard about one of Sirius's suicide attempts. Artemesia would never have mentioned that, so Sirius had to have said it. Terry just hadn't been able to keep from remembering when his father had run down the stairs, covered in blood, and ordered him to go stay in the kitchen until he came back. Terry remembered visiting the hospital the next day, too. Sirius had been so pale and refused to make eye contact with his younger brother, much less speak to him. Sirius ran away a couple weeks later.

Thankfully, Gemma didn't try to figure out why Terry had been a little distant for a moment, and it had been relatively easy to bribe her out of the house. Gemma had the same weakness for obscenely buttery crescent rolls that her father had. Fine, so Terry liked them too, but that was beside the point. Of course, it boggled the mind how he had managed to end up carrying the Thai food, pizza, and some general groceries while Gemma only had the bag from the bakery. Terry found this vastly unfair.

Gemma was on her second croissant when they returned to the house. Diana approached Terry immediately and demanded her ramen, only departing once she had complained about Artemesia's requisition of the dining room. Terry internally groaned at that while Gemma made off with the pizza and groceries. He went upstairs to deliver the Thai food to Vesta only to discover she was in fact downstairs in the kitchen with everyone but Artemesia and Sirius. Vesta then told him to go drag Artemesia out of the dining room, giving Terry the feeling that Artemesia and Sirius had continued to have a rather tumultuous conversation after he left.

Apparently Terry was feeling particularly suicidal, because he did indeed go to knock on the door to the dining room. He was trying not to think about what would await him if he were just to walk into the room. However, Sirius opened the door, looking vaguely confused, and asked, "White? What do you want?"

Terry raised an eyebrow. That said, he knew that this was par for the course, but it was his imperative to give Sirius a hard time. "Well, I live here, and I was just going to see if Artemesia would like any dinner before the three teenagers and the starving grad student eat everything in the house," Terry explained, wondering what in the hell Sirius and Artemesia had been talking about.

Before Sirius could reply, Artemesia stalked past him, silently fuming. Terry chose not to make a smart remark, which seemed to be the wise course of action. "I told her I was going on leave, White," Sirius explained before Terry could ask. "She got pissed off at me because I don't want to actually try to work things out with a psychiatrist unless it involved medication."

Terry cursed mentally. Artemesia hadn't told Sirius about the kids, then. He couldn't have let Gemma find out that way, but Terry had caused the argument to escalate instead of letting it defuse itself. If Artemesia had told Sirius… Damn. Terry was about to ask what exactly had happened when he noticed something looked a little off. "Your shirt's buttoned up wrong," Terry observed. Sirius had always had the tendency to button his shirt lopsidedly when he was distracted. When he realized what exactly his observation meant, Terry groaned and exclaimed, wishing his imagination wasn't quite so overactive, "In the dining room?!" Realizing how loud he had said that, Terry hoped no one in the kitchen had heard him.

Face flushed, Sirius protested, "Hey! Firstly, that's unsanitary. Secondly, do you really think we'd do that in the dining room when we're only a couple rooms away from her bedroom?" He stared at Terry like the latter was insane and shook his head. Looking down, he said, "Shit, you're right. I did button my shirt wrong. Have I been walking around like this all day? God dammit."

As Sirius fixed his shirt, Terry asked, chagrined, "So, Artemesia was in fact pissed at me, wasn't she?" Judging by the fact that Sirius didn't deign to answer and looked vaguely amused by the question, Terry continued fatalistically, "Oh, goddamn shit bugger fuck."

"White, you were doomed already," Sirius mentioned nonchalantly, checking he hadn't buttoned the shirt wrong again. He had in fact done so in the past (Terry could attest to that). "She's going to have a very long talk with you about when not to interfere in a conversation."

Generally frustrated, Terry snapped back, "Well, if Artemesia'd noticed that Gemma had been in the front room when she first came downstairs, then I wouldn't have had to interrupt." And Terry should not have said that, not at all. He had the luck of the bloody gods today.

Sirius blanched and managed to say, "What?" Clearly, he did not want to believe what Terry had just said, and to tell the truth, Terry wished he were lying, too. Sirius continued, still shocked, "You—you mean she heard—She heard it all?" His face was ashen as he remembered, "Oh, God, I mentioned I'd…"

"She heard everything, Sirius," Terry affirmed reluctantly, looking off to the side. Why could he not keep his mouth shut? Apparently if he wasn't trying to hide something of international importance, Terry was the worst person at keeping secrets in the entire bloody world. That, or he had issues lying to Sirius. Actually, the latter made more sense. Nineteen years of ingrained habit were hard to break. "She seemed more upset for you than afraid of you, if that helps any," Terry added weakly.

Sirius hesitated before he asked, "What did you tell her?"

Terry bit his lip. Shit. Well, why start lying now? He'd already dug himself a grave. Might as well fill it up, too. Terry steeled himself and replied, "Well, I tried to explain that you hadn't had a good home life growing up and that what you were talking about was a lot more complicated than it sounded."

Acidly, Sirius said, "I take it Reg told you about all that, too?" Oh, fuck. Terry did not want to be the cause of an argument between the two of them. It would be far too surreal. Plus, he had suffered enough conversation about himself in the third person.

"No. I had a feeling, and you've a tendency to oversimplify painful memories," Terry explained, hoping that would be enough to keep Sirius from getting angry with him, as in Regulus. Terry was okay with Sirius being angry with Terry, because he could fix that rather easily, but he couldn't talk Sirius out of being angry with Regulus without telling him the whole truth, which would end with Sirius never speaking to him again. Ever. Hence why he was going to try to defuse the situation first.

Sirius looked skeptical, but he let Terry's explanation pass. Grimacing, he said, "Well, I suppose that's fine. What you said to Gemma, I mean." He seemed conflicted for a moment but continuing a little wistfully, "She's a good kid. Smart, too."

Terry wasn't sure who he was more frustrated with: Artemesia, for failing to repeat what she had said, or Sirius, for failing to connect the bloody dots. It wasn't that difficult, for Merlin's sake! Then again, Artemesia might have sworn Sirius to secrecy. Terry considered that possibility for about half a nanosecond before deciding that his initial thought was probably right. Plus, even if Artemesia had sworn Sirius to secrecy, she would have told him who already knew or very strongly suspected. Terry fell into the latter category. Artemesia really had never told him the truth flat out, although her frustrated declaration of "What do you think, you bloody idiot?" the first time he had seen her since his supposed death had been pretty clear. Because she never bothered to correct him, he assumed he was right. Of course, whenever Mrs. Vector interrogated him, Terry had pleaded the fifth. Artemesia's mum was actually kind of scary. Finally, Terry replied, "Yeah, she is. Gemma's a sweet girl."

Sirius nodded, and the two of them were silent for a moment. Truthfully, they were silent for more than a moment. The silence was now bordering on awkward. Artemesia, however, came back to the end of the hallway that the door to the dining room was on. She looked between them and sighed. "You two are idiots," she muttered before turning to Terry. "I forgot to say something to you before rushing off: please don't tell anyone."

"About what? That you're going out? Was that supposed to be a state secret, because everybody knows," Terry reminded them, wondering when they had fall through a hole in the time-space continuum and landed back in secondary school. As Terry tried to keep a smirk off his face, Sirius sent him an annoyed look. Ignoring his brother, Terry turned back to Artemesia and admitted, "I wasn't planning on saying anything, whatever it is you're actually alluding to."

Artemesia arched an eyebrow. "I'm not half as useless as you think I am. We're not incapable of conversation, despite your constant interruptions," Artemesia commented. Well, now Terry felt like an idiot. Was his timing really that bad? Wait. Interruptions? As in plural? Oh, hell. She was going to kill him. Artemesia smiled, probably internally laughing at him, and said, "Still, thanks, Terry. Oh, and I, uh, need to ask a favor. I know you were going to drop by Melbourne tomorrow, but could you go and take all the appropriate Christmas presents with you?" She looked rather nervous.

"Which Melbourne?" Sirius asked, disliking that he was out of the loop.

Simultaneously, Terry and Artemesia answered distractedly, "Australia." Sirius raised an eyebrow, and Terry explained, "I'm taking a portkey to see my nephew. He lives with Artemesia's parents." Smooth, Black. Real smooth. Hell, he was spending too much time with Sirius again. It was starting to affect the way he thought. Then again, maybe he hadn't said such a faux pas. Sirius didn't seem very surprised, and Artemesia didn't seem to want to strangle him, either. Terry decided that it might be best to stay silent and let Artemesia handle this.

Sirius, however, was the one who spoke first. "Right. 'Sia was just mentioning that earlier," he informed Terry, who was now utterly confused. He glanced over at Artemesia, who was staring at him as if encouraging him to continue. Terry had an idea of where this was going. Damn it, he didn't need to be babysat. Granted, Terry understood the rest of Artemesia's motives for convincing Sirius to visit Melbourne with him. Terry just wished Artemesia had warned him first. "She also suggested I go with you," Sirius continued.

Artemesia looked slightly frustrated and covered her face with her hand. Obviously Sirius was supposed to say he came up with the idea instead of blaming it all on Artemesia. To be honest, it was nice to know that the two of them were driving each other insane again. Terry took it as a sign that things were going back to normal. Trying to keep a straight face, Terry had to respond, "Are you serious?" He continued, "On second thought, don't answer that. The idea might not be too horrible, but—"

"I know. Unnecessary attention, the spy thing, etc.," Sirius acknowledged, cutting Terry off. Clearing his throat, Sirius continued, "Look, we've technically met socially now. The spy thing shouldn't matter. For all anyone knows, Artemesia suggested it, which she did—" She slapped him on the back of the head. "—And I deserved that. I mean, it's not so odd I'm going with you. The most logical explanation is that we've been sent off to do last-minute holiday errands, because that's, you know, true." Actually, Sirius had a point; Terry hadn't expected that.

Terry wasn't sure if he was going to agree to the suggestion until Artemesia implored, "Please, Terry. Just let him go along. For me?" The look on her face made one thing clear. She hadn't told Sirius about Peter yet. That might have been for the best, seeing as Peter was under the impression that his father was Terry's brother. (Was it still an impression if it were true?)

Realizing that the best course of action would be to just go along with the plan, Terry broke down and agreed, "Fine." He sighed and asked Sirius, "You sure this is all right? I'll probably be down there for about half a day." For some reason, he felt the need to add, "And if you really want to, we can take Dorcas along with us so she doesn't set your flat on fire."

Sirius replied, "Thanks. She would have been greatly displeased if she had learned that we went to the land down under without even mentioning it to her." He paused before asking, "You do know about her obsession with kangaroos, right?"

Terry nodded, trying not to remember. (The incident he had in mind included a single red kangaroo and the entire Slytherin quidditch team right before the final match between Slytherin and Gryffindor for the House Cup. He'd caught the snitch, as usual, but Gryffindor had won. By seven hundred points.) "It's a good idea," Terry informed Sirius. "I'll meet you and Dorcas tomorrow, then, at six in the morning at the Ministry." Sirius nodded, so Terry said, "Well, I'm going to go eat dinner. See you."

As Artemesia didn't try to stop him, Terry walked back down the hall. He did hear Artemesia ask Sirius to stay for dinner, but Sirius said he didn't want to intrude. Typical. Terry wondered exactly what they had talked about after he had gone with Gemma, but his musings didn't matter in the long run. At the end of the hall, he turned back to catch Sirius kiss Artemesia goodbye. Well, that was progress, at least. They deserved to be happy.

With a shadow of a smile, Terry walked into the kitchen.

Leo wished he weren't so angry. He knew he was irrationally angry, but he couldn't calm down. Leo knew his reaction was normal. After all, his mom had been hospitalized as a result of a Death Eater attack, and everyone was acting like nothing had happened. His sister had distracted herself and moved on, but Leo knew that might have been for the better, even if she did pick fights with older Slytherins in her free time. Gemma seemed a little upset, but Leo figured that had more to do with that argument between her mom and her mom's new boyfriend. Leo wouldn't begrudge Diana acting normally. She was generally unflappable. Aunt Artemesia was lost in her own little world, but that was because her boyfriend had visited. The worst was Mom.

Leo didn't understand. He really didn't. His mom pretended nothing was wrong, especially around his dad, who rightfully blamed himself. His mom should have been angry with his dad. After all, his mom's injuries were his dad's fault. However, Leo's mom pretended nothing had happened and, even worse, seemed to have forgiven Leo's dad. At least Leo's dad had the decency to blame himself.

Ignoring his father's new attempt to talk to him, Leo continued to chew his pizza angrily.

His father seemed to realize that Leo was refusing to talk to him and addressed Macha instead. Leo's mom looked concerned, but she didn't comment or ask what was wrong. Gemma seemed disapproving, but she was always like that these days. Macha kept going on about how Gemma was constantly annoyed with her because she was in Slytherin. Leo agreed with Macha, but he did partially agree with Gemma. Macha was changing, and Leo didn't like what he was seeing. She was becoming a girl he didn't quite know anymore.

When dinner was over, Leo stomped up the stairs. He knew his action was not particularly subtle, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Leo wondered who, if anyone, would come up to talk to him. He heard someone padding up the stairs. Well, apparently his father did see fit to chastise him. What an honor.

Leo had left open the door to his and Macha's room, but his father stopped at the doorway regardless. He seemed hesitant to speak. When Leo still refused to speak first, shi father sighed in defeat. "Leo, what's going on?" he asked, already sounding guilty. "I know you've been upset with me, but… What's wrong?"

As if he didn't know. Leo glared at the floor between his bed and Macha's. "It's your fault," he said darkly. "It's all your fault."

Leo's father frowned and sat down on Macha's bed opposite Leo. "You mean what happened to your mother," he murmured. He looked off to the side before he began, "Leo, you have to understand, what Bel—Lestrange did… Well, it was my fault."

Leo had hoped his father would have tried to deny it, but he had been upfront, like always. It made him so much harder to hate. Leo kept staring at the floor and asked quietly, "Does Mom even know?"

"She knows why she was targeted," his father reassured him. He grimaced as he realized, "But that's not what you meant, is it, Leo?" Leo noticed that his father looked even more upset than Leo had thought he would, but his father deserved it. "No. No, it's not," his father said, answering his own question.

Leo decided to cut his father off before he had to listen to any excuses and explained, "I was really angry when some of the Slytherins started picking on Macha. Gemma told me you had gone to Hogwarts, so I went through the yearbooks to prove you weren't a liar. When I found the truth, I didn't really mind, because, well, you're different. Then Mom got hurt, and…"

"You knew it was my fault," his dad concluded, staring down at his hands, guilt written all over his face. Leo thought it cost his dad to admit, "They hurt your mother, because I'm not doing my job well enough." Leo's dad took a steadying breath before he smiled weakly and continued, "Leo, you've every right to be mad at me. I just want you to know I never wanted this to happen. Your mum and I never quite decided when would be the right time to tell you and Macha the truth about my family, but when I was transferred—"

"Dad, I don't care about that," Leo interrupted, trying to hold onto his anger. He didn't want to stop being angry and start thinking about what really bothered him. His dad seemed to notice and moved to sit next to Leo. Oh, Leo hoped he didn't look upset as he was starting to feel. However, he stammered, "If—if the Death Eaters hurt Mom, then—then they have to know about you, right? What—what if they go after you next?"

His dad looked vaguely surprised. "Oh," he said, probably scrambling for what to say. After a moment, he just wrapped an arm around Leo's shoulders and said reassuringly, "Leo, you don't have to worry about me. I know what I'm doing. Besides, your uncle would kill me if I got into any more trouble with Bella, and I'll be damned before they hurt you or your sister."

Leo curled up against his dad and murmured, "I still don't like it."

"Neither does your mother," his dad mentioned under his breath. With a sigh, he admitted, "And neither do I, really, but I have to do this. I've waited too long. Please, Leo, don't worry. I'll be fine." Leo wasn't sure he really believed him, but he did know his dad didn't want him to be upset.

"You swear?" Leo asked, clinging to his father. He knew whatever promise was made might be empty, but in this case he would rather hear wishful thinking than the truth.

His dad grimaced and held Leo close to him, seemingly unwilling to reply. After a moment, he did reply with conviction, "I swear, Leo. Everything will be fine; I promise."

Leo wasn't sure why he started crying, but as he cried on his father's shoulder, he was surprised to discover he really did believe what his dad had said, even if it was far more likely that nothing would ever be fine again. After he had calmed down and his dad left to talk to his mom, Leo realized why his dad had sounded so convincing. His dad needed some hope, too.

Notes: Updates may become irregular. I have a really demanding schedule this semester at college. So, if I'm a bit late with the next chapter, you'll know why.

Coming Soon: Sirius, Dorcas, and Regulus go to Australia, a batty old lady holds court, and a thirteen-year-old is given some answers from his uncle.