Evan landed outside the front gates of his family's estate. Regulus must have thought he was being smooth when he subtly created the portkey and handed it to him, rather than allowing him to make one himself in his current state. Evan hadn't seen the need to point out that he noticed, instead taking the portkey without comment.

Seeing nothing out of place around the estate, he made his way towards the house. Upon entering, everything appeared dark aside from the first light of sunrise beginning to feebly shine through the windows. He began making his way towards the staircase to go to his room, when he caught sight of a light brighter than the sun at this hour dancing through the kitchen. Following the light, he found his father in his study looking grim.

"Father, you're up early," he greeted him.

"Late, actually. Where have you been?"

Evan raised an eyebrow before answering simply, "I was out."

"Clearly. Where?"

"I had business with Snape."

"Your business with Snape should have been resolved hours ago."

"It was. I found myself in need of a drink following the interaction."

"And you did not see fit to-"

"No, I didn't, father. I saw no need to check in whatsoever. I am an adult-"

"Adult or not, you should be more considerate. There are nights that you are out all night and it is unavoidable, that was not the case tonight. Think of all the worry you put your mother through. It was selfish of you-"

"Do not tell me what is selfish, father."

"I do not care how old you are, Evan. You shall be respectful. Your mother-"

"Mother is not the one waiting up for me, only you are. Perhaps it is because she has had more time to adjust to my coming of age over the past year," Evan answered pointedly. "She knows better than to bother waiting up for me. Now, if you will excuse me, I would like to go to bed."

"This conversation is not over," Durant said rising to his feet.

"It is for tonight," Evan said as he turned to walk out of the room. Before he could leave though, the doors of the office were slammed shut, magically sealing him inside the office with his father.

Sirius barely gave Regulus a chance to knock on the front door before wrenching it open to let him in.

"Where have you been? I expected you hours ago!"

"You really need to go easy on the overreactions, Siri," Regulus drawled as he walked inside the house, "I don't operate on your schedule."

Regulus took a moment to look around the sitting room he had entered into. The shabby room wreaked of transfiguration and what he could only imagine to be thrift shops.

"Nice place," he remarked with a smirk.

"At least it's mine," Sirius answered defensively.

"Well in that case," Regulus brandished his wand and made a show of casting various cleaning charms on the sofa before sitting down and shrugging, "I'd hate to catch anything."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Despite what you seem to think, there are far worse things than allowing an attractive female to touch your body, little brother."

"A lot can be said for having higher standards too though, brother. Don't you have a house mate?"

Sirius furrowed his eyebrows at the hasty change of subject,

"His name is Remus as you are perfectly aware."

"Exactly. And he's a werewolf, which means he can probably hear everything we are saying right now-"

A loud noise sounded from the back of the house and a moment later Remus was there, "How did you know that?"

Regulus cocked his head to the side, "Lucky guess?" He suggested.

"Sirius, I can't believe you told him! It took me over a year to admit it even to you-!"

"I didn't tell him-" Sirius objected.

"If it helps, I don't think it's nearly the secret you think it is," Regulus added completely unhelpfully.

Remus and Sirius stared at him, "What?" Remus asked.

"What do you mean it isn't a secret? Who else knows?" Sirius demanded.

"I haven't told anyone if that's what you're asking-"

"What makes you think anyone else knows then?" Sirius asked.

"Well… unlike your fellow Gryffindors it seems, most Slytherins are actually quite observant. There is also a school house solely intended for the cleverest of students. I wouldn't be surprised if the entirety of the Ravenclaw house noticed how your absences from class coincided with the moon cycle."

"An entire house?" Remus asked faintly before falling into an armchair heavily.

"Look at the bright side, Moony," Sirius said in an overly cheerful tone, "Rachel might already know about your furry little problem!"

"If she knows about it, there is no way she would-"

"As fascinating as Lupin's love life undoubtedly isn't," Regulus cut in irritably, "discussing it is not why I am here. Sirius?"

"You could try being a bit more sensitive, Regulus. You just told Remus half the school knew he was a werewolf."

"I don't know if they did or not. I am simply hazarding a guess that there were at least a few other observant students amongst us."

"Why would you even say something like that then if you didn't know?" Sirius asked.

Regulus shrugged, "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst? At any rate, all of the death eaters know."

"What?" Sirius and Remus demanded together.

"Snape told them."

"And you didn't see it fit to tell us that before?" Sirius nearly shouted.

"What difference does it make? It's not as if he will be hunted anymore now because of it. He is already a member of the Order. If anything, the death eaters will be more hesitant to attack him. Though you and Potter might want to register as animagi with the ministry. I don't think Snape knew about the two of you, but Pettigrew does. If anyone from the ministry questions him-"

"Peter is no longer being held in Azkaban. Dumbledore told me while I was at Hogwarts earlier," Remus remarked dejectedly.

Regulus was not entirely surprised to hear that, "Was he released or did he escape?" he asked.

"If Dumbledore knew, he didn't say."

"I cannot believe this!" Sirius roared in outrage, "How can the ministry be so incompetent?"

"It's riddled with spies and people who are easy to manipulate," Regulus answered simply.

"It doesn't hurt that people are completely terrified right now. Regulus, I can't deny that I am impressed with you. First for finding a way out of the death eaters, even more so for choosing to stay here to fight alongside us. You and Sirius are far more alike than most give you credit for."

Regulus bit the inside of his cheek before answering, "If we are more alike than originally thought, it is as much of a compliment to Sirius as it is to me, I should think."

"You can think that all you want," Sirius snickered, "No one else agrees."

"Anyway, Sirius is now of the impression that I should leave the country. Save my own neck, and all of that."

"Really?" Remus asked with genuine surprise, "I was of the impression you were proud of him for wanting to fight."

"It's not that… I just," Sirius began awkwardly, "when it becomes known who he is, there will be no one with a bigger target on their back. If the death eaters acquire another spy-"

"Then we will all be in trouble," Regulus finished for him. "Sirius, will you please come back to where I am staying? I need to talk to you in private."

Sirius gave a manic grin before exclaiming, "At last, my little brother is going to ask me about the birds and the bees. I have long awaited this day to come!"

Regulus stood to leave. As he walked to the door he remarked, "If anyone needs that lecture," he nodded to Sirius, "I'd be surprised if there aren't at least one or two baby Sirius' running around by now- squibs, no doubt."

Evan wished he would have simply ignored the light shining through the kitchen and gone to bed. Turning back to face his father he asked, "What is it exactly that you wish to discuss?"

"I realize now, just how much has changed in the time I was away."

"Yes, a lot does tend to change in a year."

"Why is it that I heard about the death of Regulus Black from Lucius? I would have thought you would have been more affected."

"Affected by what? Grief? Emotion? Has the Rosier name been tarnished so deeply that we are expected now to have such weakness, father?"

"In public, no, but there are exceptions, Evan. Regulus was far more like family to you than anything else."

"Maybe, but now he's gone, so-"

"If I had known it would affect you so little, I would have killed him years ago." At Evan's look of shock he continued, "Did you really think you were the only one who noticed how his hand shook before inflicting punishment on 'innocent' people? Nor did I ever see him use an unforgiveable.

"He may have shared the proper beliefs of pureblood society, but he never truly embraced them. I knew it even before he joined the death eaters- as did you. He was a liability to you. I afforded him his life for your benefit and because you were discreet about helping him. Should it ever have become more obvious- I would not have hesitated to kill him."

"That's great, father. Do you expect me to thank you for your mercy?"

"You should, but I know better than to expect your gratitude. It's easy to see you are frustrated."

"Are you not? I would think you have even more reason than I."

"Choose your words carefully, Evan. The Rosier household does and will always support the Dark Lord."

"Of course we will, father," Evan answered sardonically. "The only other option is death."

"You are correct. Even if one found a way to deceive the Dark Lord temporarily, it would be exactly that. Temporary. I advise you keep that in mind, rather than create a false sense of hope for yourself- or for Regulus. Good night, Evan."

"So, Dumbledore thinks he knows where a horcrux is, but hasn't gone to check yet? He must have a good reason-" Sirius said from his perch on the couch of their Uncle Alphard's sitting room.

"Why? Why does he have to have a good reason?" Regulus asked.

"Because… it's Dumbledore-"

"Well if you want to follow him around like a mindless puppet I won't stand in your way. With the help of Evan, I think I actually figured out the place he was referring to anyway."

"Rosier helped? Wait, if you know where the horcrux is, why are we still sitting here?" Sirius asked rising to his feet.

"Well… I did have to tell you first, and some semblance of a plan would be nice."

"How did you prepare for the cave?"

"I knew what protected the locket from Kreacher." I also had no plans to survive, he added to himself.

"We don't have that luxury this time. We'll just have to wing it. Where are we headed?"

"Let's just think things through for a minute. Its early morning now. I know the structure that Dumbledore suspects to contain the horcrux is not a safe house for death eaters as he suggested. Beyond that, I don't know much about it. There is a large house that overlooks the shack that I have been to before. As such, it is possible that other death eaters could be there. Voldemort himself could be there for all I know-"

"I'm not afraid of facing him, and if you are, this is probably your last chance to leave."

"I'm not leaving, but I don't want to draw attention to what we are doing either. The plan has to be to get in, take what we need and get out with no one else being the wiser."

"We have no guarantee of when a good time to go is. Not unless Rosier-"

"We can't involve Evan. After considering all of our options though, I have two ideas that might work. The first being that we wait until the next time the Order is called into an attack and go then-"

"We can't not help the rest of the Order, they are shorthanded already," Sirius objected.

"Yes, but this is more important. The more death eaters involved in that attack would mean fewer available for us to run into."

"What's the second option?"

"If my speculations are correct, the next death eater patrol should be scheduled for Friday night. Not all of the death eaters will participate. Likely only one senior death eater, and certainly not Voldemort. Still, it would lessen the number of potential death eaters we would have to contend with."

"What are we supposed to do until Friday then?"

Regulus shrugged, "I would suggest research since we still don't know what objects were made into horcruxes, but as I have already looked through every possible book I can think of that might be beneficial, we will likely just have to improvise once we get there."

"My specialty," Sirius grinned.

The next couple of days passed without consequence for the Order. They had been called into assist in two different attacks with death eaters. Both times they arrived too late to do more than help with clean up. If this week was any indication to the efficiency of the Order, Regulus didn't know why all of the members hadn't resigned already. It was beyond frustrating to be so helpless.

He had caught sight of the Minchum girl in the infirmary earlier in the week. She looked as if she hadn't slept at all since the incident with Bellatrix. Likely from boredom, his mind kept wandering back to her throughout much of Thursday. Something about his cousin being responsible for her nightmares made him feel obligated to help her somehow.

Thursday evening found Regulus surrounded by various other Order members congregated in the infirmary of Hogwarts. Regulus saw the Minchum girl was sitting up in bed watching all of them. Once again, she looked as if she hadn't been getting much sleep. It occurred to him then why he kept thinking of her. He had something that might help her.

A few moments later, Sirius made his usual announcement that he was going to go for drinks in Hogsmeade. Regulus looked around the group, interested for once in who was going because Rachel was there. Apparently Madam Pomfrey had banned her from working for the rest of the week after her ordeal on the train.

"Rachel, this might be your only opportunity for some fun with all of your other obligations. Won't you please do us the honor of coming with us?" Sirius asked grandly.

"Yes, Rachel, do come with us," James added with his near cheek-splitting grin.

She looked around the room to see nearly everyone watching her and flushed slightly, "Yeah, sure I guess."

"Splendid," Sirius announced clapping his hands together. At the same time Potter patted Lupin on the back. Could they be any more obvious? Lupin for his part looked slightly mortified.

"And you, Marcus? You are certainly past due to come out with us."

"We'll see," he answered vaguely. Sirius nodded as if his answer were of no consequence. As he led the group out though, he threw a look in Regulus' direction that clearly indicated he had better meet up with them or else face his wrath later.

Regulus had his doubts though. He was pretty sure that enduring Sirius' wrath would be better than witnessing the shamelessness that was about to be thrown down by the remaining marauders in effort to impress Rachel. The two of them hadn't spoken properly since she learned of his real identity. He knew she was probably expecting him to initiate a conversation, and was possibly even expecting an apology. Unfortunately, what she likely wanted to hear an apology for and the things he felt most guilty about, were not the same things.

When the Order members were finally out of sight, Regulus walked towards the little girl,

"Miranda, right? She nodded, "Do you remember me?" At her slightly disgusted look he added, "Anything I said to Bellatrix was meant to distract her from you. My name is Marcus, by the way."

"You knew I would be rescued?"

"I hoped you would be, yes."

"Well… thanks... So… why are you talking to me instead of getting drunk with your friends?" she asked with a slight grin. Apparently Sirius' voice carried well.

"Dumbledore mentioned you were having bad dreams."

"My father tells me I just need to get over it," she answered dejectedly.

Regulus scoffed, "There are plenty of grown men who are terrified of Bellatrix Lestrange."

"You're not."

"That's… different. Anyway, I thought I might be able to help."

"How?" she asked skeptically.

"Do you know much about ancient runes?"

"Not much, I've thought about taking that class when I get to third year."

"I highly recommend it. It's possibly the most beneficial class I ever took in school."

Regulus then summoned a shrunken box from his pocket. Resizing and then opening it, he revealed a leather bracelet with two symbols on it. Turning it to the first he said, "I won't go into detail as you will learn all of this in class gradually and it'll be less confusing, but this," he said indicating the first rune, "is meant to protect against bad dreams and evil spirits." She examined the black symbol closely as Regulus added, "In my experience, it's completely useless."

The little girl laughed, "So, how is ancient runes the most beneficial class you ever took then?"

Regulus turned the bracelet and showed her the other rune, which was deep red, "This is a similar rune, made more effective because it has been infused with blood from the offending being-"

"Bellatrix?"

Regulus nodded vaguely. Actually it had been infused with Andromeda's blood, but he knew from experience that it was a close enough match to reap the benefits. His uncle Alphard had enlisted his cousin Andy's assistance in making it after the last vacation he ever took with their family.

"How did you get her blood?" she asked clearly repulsed by the idea of being so near any part of her.

"I found some of it dried on my shirt after the train incident," he answered before quickly changing the subject. "What is your favorite color?"

"Why?"

"Well this bracelet isn't particularly girly. I thought I'd try to make it a bit more feminine," Regulus answered uncertainly. If she was creeped out by the blood maybe this was a bad idea.

Her eyes widened comically, causing Regulus to have to look away so as to not laugh, "Is it for me?" she asked.

"That's why I showed it to you- only if you want it though, of course."

She smiled slightly, "Can I keep it like this? I like the way it looks."

"Mm… you'll need to keep it disillusioned- or at least hidden if you do that," though he certainly hoped she wouldn't come in contact with anyone who could recognize it anytime soon.

"Why?"

"You haven't taken ancient runes yet," he answered simply.

"I could say someone gave it to me. If it were a boy it would even explain why it isn't very girly."

Regulus chuckled, "Who? Aren't you a little young for boys to be giving you jewelry?"

The girl raised an eyebrow that clearly got her point across. Seriously?

"I think an exception can be made for the reason I am giving it to you. Though your father might disagree. With him being the minister and all-"

"I'm kidding," she laughed, "I'll keep it hidden. Thank you- for this," she said as she admired the bracelet.

"You're welcome. Good luck," Regulus told her awkwardly before leaving.

If he were honest, he was a little sad to give up the bracelet. Not because he needed the runes, but because his deceased uncle and estranged cousin had made it for him. The bracelet maintaining its original appearance somehow made him feel better about giving it up at least.

"I have to admit, I never expected you would agree to come out with us," Remus remarked to Rachel as they walked towards Hogsmeade together.

Rachel smiled, "It's a good thing Sirius asked when he did then," because if I still thought Regulus was dead, I definitely would have said 'no', she added to herself.

After a slightly impregnated pause, Remus asked,

"Have you always wanted to be a healer?"

"Actually, no. My mother used to work as an unspeakable at the ministry. Uncovering the mystery of what it actually means to be an unspeakable always intrigued me. She wasn't supposed to talk about her work so I've never heard much about it."

"What made you want to become a healer then?"

"My father was a healer. He passed away a couple of years ago... the ministry was attacked while my mother was at work. She managed to contact him. He got inside and somehow got her out… she doesn't really talk about it. I know she pleaded with him to leave with her but he wanted to try to help more people… Anyway, I felt like the best way to honor him was by following in his footsteps as best I can."

"That's- I'm sorry, Rachel. I didn't mean to bring up-"

"Thanks but… it's okay, you just asked a question. It's hardly anything to apologize for."

"Well… its lucky you were taking all of the classes necessary to become a healer already- I mean aren't healing apprenticeships difficult to get?"

"I was already taking all of the right classes, my grades were another story. While I had consistently finished in the top five of my year, my father had finished first in his- and as you said, healing apprenticeships are extremely competitive. I spoke with Professor Flitwick and asked him what I needed to do to ensure I would be accepted into the program. He said the only way for me to be guaranteed a spot would be if I finished first in my year. After looking over all my grades, it was my Arithmancy and Ancient Runes scores that left me slightly behind some of my classmates. Conveniently, Professor Flitwick had been able to convince the student who had the top score in both of those classes to tutor me."

"And you ended up finishing ahead of the person who tutored you? Impressive."

"Mm," Rachel answered vaguely. She had been far too upset with Regulus over their breakup by the time they had received their final scores to ask him about that. For him to have taken more classes than her and to have finished first in their year for six of their seven years of schooling should have placed him above her by insurmountable odds. She wasn't entirely sure she could have mathematically beaten him unless he had actually failed at least one of his NEWTs.

"What about you? Have you always wanted to… um, sorry what is it that you do again?"

Remus' cheeks reddened noticeably, "Oh, I...well…"

Realizing her blunder, Rachel pressed her palm to her forehead, "Well of course you don't have time to work with everything you do for the Order. I don't even know why I asked that," she said in what she hoped sounded genuine and not condescending. He really was a nice guy- and probably didn't have a past so complicated it would require him to fake his death.

Remus asked her another question but she didn't hear it. James Potter was now walking between them with an arm draped around each of their shoulders.

"So Rachel, what do you think of the Order so far?" he asked.

"I'm glad to feel like I am trying to be useful. Though it's frustrating that we aren't able to do more," she answered honestly.

"Yes, the death eaters care nothing about being discreet, so the attacks are usually easy to track. Unfortunately, they are destructive enough to cause plenty of damage before we can get there- Hey Pads!" James greeted Sirius who was walking away from Hogsmeade in order to walk with them.

"Prongs, Moony," he greeted before turning to her, "Rachel," he said while grinning manically and throwing an arm around her, "You and I really must talk."

Trying to walk with both James Potter and Sirius Black's arms around her shoulders was extremely awkward and annoying. She ducked under their arms and walked back towards Remus who was watching them with reddened cheeks.

Sirius and James shared a glance before turning back to Remus and her.

"Terribly sorry," Sirius smirked.

"Yes, we didn't mean to interrupt anything," James added. The two of them then turned and quickly walked ahead of them.

Rachel watched them disappear inside their destined bar in bemusement.

"Sorry about them," Remus said, "They just… well there really isn't an excuse."

Rachel smiled, "I suppose you are used to their antics by now," she said as they followed James and Sirius inside.

As much as she didn't want to care, she couldn't help but look behind them to see whether or not Regulus was coming.