Rita lived in London. Her apartment was not too far from the Ministry. She stood in her living room, gazing out her window. Andromeda was right to suspect nefarious activity. The staff at the Daily Prophet has all been spoken to. They were told in no uncertain terms they would be sacked and criminal proceedings would begin against them if any of them even went near the Ministry. This was something unheard of in the Prophet's history. Never before had the press been banned from the Ministry. Rita was, by nature, a very curious woman. She had barely slept in the night wondering what was the reason for all the cloak and dagger business.

She needed to know for her own peace of mind exactly what was happening and the Tonk's had just given her that push she needed to take the risk. The incentive of writing an official Bellatrix expose was simply the icing on the cake.

She focused on her very illegal and very unregistered Animagus form. She transformed into a beetle and a minute later she flew out of the window and across the park.

She made her way to the telephone box that marked her way inside the Ministry and spied a tall man in an expensive suit entering it.

'Bingo! Rita thought, 'Looks like he is on official business.'

Without him noticing she glided underneath his briefcase and clutched herself to the leather.

She heard him dial and then the familiar voice of the automated operator spoke, 'Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please specify the nature of your visit.'

'This is Bill Wetherby, from the American Ministry of Magic. I'm here to deliver in person the records your Minister required.'

This was spoken in a soft American drawl. Possibly East coast Rita thought. She had several cousins in Maine whose dialect sounded very similar.

Rita thought quickly. This was a very unusual procedure. It was almost unheard of to ask a Witch or Wizard to do this. Especially an American who would have to make the long trip over. Port-keys and the floo could only do so much.

'He must have taken one of those big flying bird machines,' she thought. Normally owls dealt with the records. Even confidential ones. She stayed very still so was unable to make out his face.

Strangely, a human voice took over. Rita was startled. In her numerous visits to the Ministry, she had never heard an actual human voice speaking in the telephone box.

'Thank Merlin you're here, Bill. It's Amelia. No-one's following you, are they?'

'Amelia Bones,' Rita knew her voice instantly. Amelia's booming, strong voice was as distinctive as Gilderoy Lockhart's blonde mane. Her voice would echo off the walls when she raised it even a little. In all her life she had never once heard Amelia sound nervous. She was always the one in charge. Always composed. Rita herself was becoming rattled every moment that went by.

'Hi, Amelia. No, not that I'm aware,' Bill spoke back.

'Good. We'll send you down. We'll meet you in the foyer. Wait there for us.'

She hung off as the lift took them directly down.

A few moments later the doors opened inside the Ministry as Bill walked out. Rita clutched tightly onto the briefcase. She heard Amelia and several other people approach. Greetings were murmured as they were moved into a large room with a dark table in the middle. Rita discreetly flew onto the sideboard before the case was put down on it. She hid behind a stack of books as she peeked around to see who was in the room and a moment later, hid again.

'Oh my!' Rita thought. It was very much the major players moving around the table. They were all seating themselves down as Bill was taking the requested records out.

She didn't recognise Bill. He was a tall, well-built man. Middle-aged with dark hair and clean-shaven. He had the typical look of an Auror.

She did recognise all the others instantly. Dumbledore sat down opposite looking more weary and worried than she had ever seen him. That was the moment when a brief panic rippled through Rita. Dumbledore and she had had their disagreements over the years. He thought she should exercise more discretion and dignity which she adamantly disagreed with, but she had always respected him. He had always seemed to exude an otherworldly strength. A natural leader. Above it all. This was the first time she had ever seen him looking more like an everyday human who had had a very, very bad day.

Barty Crouch sat next to him looking bewildered. His son being revealed as a Death Eater a few days before had shaken him to his core. Whatever was happening now looked like it had him on the ropes.

Rita peered back round. To the left of the table, she could make out a dishevelled Sirius Black. He looked like he had done ten rounds with a heavyweight boxer, but it was definitely him. She would recognise his gorgeous tousled locks anywhere. The bruises on his face looked a few days old and he wasn't in chains. In fact, there didn't appear to be any guards anywhere in the room. Obviously, evidence had come to light that acquitted him.

'The Tonk's will be relieved to know he isn't in Azkaban,' Rita thought. However, from what she was seeing, it seemed there were other problems. Like the others, he seemed to be distraught over something. He had his elbows on the table and his face in his hands. His eyes looked bloodshot and he kept grabbing at his hair. Rita made a note that the people in the room were the more decent, credible members of the Ministry. Although the inclusion of Barty seemed questionable. His recent tribulations were fresh in everyone's mind.

Though Rita, on what she had seen over the years, seemed to think in Barty's case, it was more exceptionally bad judgment than anything more sinister than that.

Millicent Bagnold, the current Minister for Magic sat opposite Bill. She was looking at him unpack his briefcase with an expression of trepidation. Gareth Greengrass sat rigidly next to her. Rita had never seen a man look so nervous. He had the expression of someone walking the Green Mile. His eyes, like the Minister's, were staring at the paperwork being put onto the table.

'Is it all there?' Amelia questioned, 'The true original copies? It has all been verified? she spoke rapidly but Bill didn't take offence at her questions.

He smiled gently at her.

'Yes, Amelia. For better and for worse, all of you will finally have the truth,' Bill said to the room in his soft voice.

'For better?' came Sirius's deep, gravelly voice. 'How can any good come from this?'

'Nothing is set in stone, Sirius,' spoke Dumbledore gently, 'We can speculate of course, but these records we have will only show us the cold hard facts, not the future.'

Sirius leaned back in his chair and gulped air. His body trembled, 'All this time. All this time and I didn't have a fucking clue,' he snapped, 'Hayley knew deep down something was not right. A woman claiming to be her mother would visit her in her dreams. She would barely speak. Hayley thought her mind was snapping.'

'None of us could have known, my boy,' Dumbledore whispered, 'I did not see this. Don't berate yourself. Tom himself did not know this until a week ago. Greta could not have foreseen this. She did not know what Tom would become.'

Sirius looked at Dumbledore with his grey eyes flashing, 'You're wrong. I think Gareth knew,' he glared at Gareth with a particularly malevolent look. He in turn sunk deeper into his chair, running his hands through his sandy hair. His slim face looked taut.

Dumbledore sighed as the others around the table turned to Gareth. Each of them with accusing looks on their faces.

'There is no denying this now Gareth,' Amelia stated, 'We have all the evidence. We need to know the truth.'

Gareth trembled. All his worst fears were happening in front of his eyes.

'Why?' Dumbledore asked simply. Gareth opened his mouth to speak, then shut it. He went to sip a glass of water as the other Wizards and Witches around the room gazed at him.

His hand shook as he moistened his mouth. He began again.

'It's not what you think. I'm certainly not a Death Eater. Neither is Hayley. We would both take Veritaserum and state that all day if that gives you peace of mind.'

Sirius shook his head with disdain.

'We have no allegiance at all to him. I abhor his violent methods. I'm a Greengrass. We have made it a point to never take a side for twenty-five generations, to the general annoyance of every family in the Wizarding World, and we're not about to start now.'

Gareth ran his fingers through his hair again to try and calm himself. He was normally an assured man, but right now, with the heavyweights of the Wizarding World all staring at him, he knew he was out of his depth.

'With that being said, as a member of the Sacred twenty-eight, we do understand the importance of lineage.'

Sirius pouted, 'Of course you bloody do,' he muttered.

Gareth bit his tongue, 'It doesn't mean that any Greengrass is going to go out murdering in the name of Pureblood ideology. We drew the line centuries ago. It's medieval.'

Some of the people at the table shifted uncomfortably. The blood issue was always a touchy subject. Of course, they were all very supportive of the Muggleborns and Half-bloods. Sympathetic even. But the fact was being a Pureblood offered certain prestige and opportunities. The hierarchy was what it was and Purebloods were almost considered Royalty. The older the line, the better. It certainly wasn't something many in their own world gave up lightly. They also had to think of their own children.

Gareth continued, 'Greta and I were close. Twins. We could read each other's thoughts when we looked at each other. She wanted to see the modern world. She dated Martin Selwyn for a time at school but she wasn't ready for marriage and motherhood. With both our mother and father both passing away so young the immediate pressure was off. Martin was a gentleman about it. He wanted to wait a while as well before marriage too. He understood the pressure. They did care for each other but neither of them was madly in love. He suggested that if she returned in a few years and if they were both single they would make a go of it. Not too romantic, but they genuinely liked each other and it would buy them both some time to explore other avenues. They knew it was only a matter of time before the Pureblood families would start to put the pressure on. It was almost as if it was the law. Choose one of their sons or daughters and produce at least an heir and heiress by the age of twenty-five or be prepared to be exiled from Pureblood society. She had inherited a property in America and left as soon as possible with my blessing. She needed to live a little. Go out dancing, exploring, having adventures when she still could. She had always intended to come home. Just, she said it would be on her terms when she wanted. Except, when she did return, it wasn't,' Gareth's face darkened.

Dumbledore's eyes closed in contemplation. He could see immediately where this tale was going. The other people around the table were also showing signs of clarity.

'She would write to me, of course,' Gareth continued, 'Lively letters at first. She was enjoying herself. She had made some friends. Then she started mentioning a young man she had met. English, like her. He had been a Hogwarts student, like her, and they had both been in Slytherin, and he wanted to see the world too and really live life. What an incredible coincidence. Truly, fate had brought them together, how romantic,' Gareth said bitterly.

All eyes were on him.

'He was so, so handsome and sweet, Greta told me. So funny and kind. He really understood her. He wanted to wait until she was ready for motherhood too. No, of course, he wouldn't rush her. He was older than her,' Gareth said in a sardonic tone, 'He seduced her swiftly. He could read her like a book. What she liked. What her dreams were. Greta loved him with all her heart and, apparently, he loved her too,' Gareth said sarcastically.

'She wrote to me about their engagement. He was a Half-blood but that didn't matter to her. He was a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin so that made up for it. An orphan too. He was the most talented Wizard she knew. So much better than any of the Purebloods. She said with Tom by her side, she could take the entire Wizarding World on. His full name was Tom Marvolo Riddle. She would officially be Greta Riddle and sod all those prissy, archaic customs. It was a new era, and they had all better keep up. Tom said he was going to change the world,' Gareth sighed, 'Well, the bastard certainly did that.'

He took another sip of water. The others around the table had started at the news that Voldemort was a Half-blood.

Rita sat rigidly. Tom Marvolo Riddle. Lord Voldemort's actual, real name. He was a Half-blood. No one had been able to find out who he was. He had simply appeared out of nowhere a decade ago. A real man of mystery. She had just made employee of the year at The Daily Prophet!

'I only met him once, at the wedding. He didn't waste any time. Four months from meeting him to marriage. He trapped her good and proper. They were married in Maine. The U.S.A. and yes, he was everything Greta had said he was. Handsome, charming, kind, witty. I remember telling her he was almost too good to be true. If I had any inkling of what he was then I would have dragged her back to England. I genuinely thought he was going to look after her. That he would always be kind to her. That he loved her with his whole soul.'

Dumbledore looked up sharply at that word.

'I was wrong. I promise you all that is the truth,' Gareth looked wretched.

Comprehension dawned on Sirius, 'It was just a simple con job to him. Acquisition. He was after the property and the contents of her bank vault,' he stated.

'Yes,' Gareth answered simply, 'The very real fear the wealthy have. Being used for their money and then dumped. Of course, I imagine Tom getting one over the Purebloods was a part of it too. I imagine permanently ruining a Greengrass daughter gave him some sick sense of satisfaction. Martin Selwyn's older brother, Sebastian, had been a snob to Tom when he was at Hogwarts. Not outright bullying, but just snide comments. Put-downs. The usual nonsense teenage boys come out with. He knew Martin and Greta had made an arrangement of sorts. Tom killed quite a few birds with one stone. To this day, I don't know how she managed it, but she arrived back in the family home after only three months of marriage. She was utterly destroyed. She couldn't speak to me or even our house-elf, Mitty. She's been her elf since Greta was a baby and even she couldn't get a word out of her for weeks.'

Gareth gulped, 'We could never again read each other's thoughts as we had. He had broken something in her. She eventually confided in some of the major details. Not too much. Just enough to deduce that he was pure evil. He had played the doting husband well for the first month. She gave him access to her accounts. She suspected nothing. The bank would test her for Imperius at that stage. He knew exactly what he was doing. They set up a joint account, even though he did not have a pot to piss in. She was just barely of legal age. He knew she was vulnerable. She had no parents to guide her. No family in America. He would use the repel curse on her friends. Gringotts kept requesting her presence, but Tom intercepted all her mail. He put her under the Imperius curse whilst he siphoned every knut, sickle, and galleon out. He sold the property for an impressive amount and transferred the entire contents of the sale into his private account. Tom told the neighbours they were moving to California to start a new life,' Gareth closed his eyes and grimaced.

Gareth took a deep breath, 'With Greta smiling along no one doubted it. He took her miles deep into the wilderness and cast the killing curse on her,' he paused as the others made incredulous noises, 'I know you won't believe me, but it's what Greta said he did. She said she did die. That she was in a very bright white room, like a dancing hall and she heard her parents' voices speaking to her, telling her that it wasn't her time and to go back home to me. That she would be safe from Tom with me. When she woke up it was dark and Tom was gone. He didn't even bother to dignify her death with a burial. She never saw him again.'

Dumbledore was staring deep into Gareth's eyes at this stage. Whatever he saw in them caused him to sit up even straighter.

He spoke to Gareth softly, 'She didn't know she was pregnant at this point?' he asked.

'No. He acted the doting husband for the first month and well, even in the magical world birth control is not infallible. Once he had access to her account he didn't touch her after that. She was under the Imperius right until the very end. She knew what was happening, but it was too strong for her to break. Up until he killed her. That released her from the spell. She..,' Gareth paused, 'she had seriously considered aborting the baby. She didn't want another Tom.'

Sirius sighed deeply.

'There is a potion that…., anyway, suffice to say she chose not to. A spell showed the baby was going to be a girl and I think Greta decided to, well, let fate take over, I suppose. The bond at that point between mother and daughter had grown strong between them. The paperwork Bill has bought confirms all of the details about what Tom did in America.'

Bill nodded in Gareth's direction, 'Yes. Marriage certificate, transfer of accounts. Sale of the property. Then they both disappear completely from our records. The American account is transferred lock, stock and barrel to Austria. All tied up neatly with a big yellow bow.'

Dumbledore sighed, 'It all fits. Tom ventured into some of the most dangerous parts of the world to expand his knowledge of the Dark Arts. He would have needed money in those early years to sustain himself. He had none of his own at that point. He wouldn't have wanted to draw any attention to himself by duping too many people through magic and he enjoyed the finer things in life. A simple businessman exploring overseas would have worked as his cover as he gained more knowledge and experience.'

Amelia, Millicent and Barty had sat quietly as Gareth had explained Greta's misfortune.

'There is no record of Greta returning to England,' said Amelia, 'I looked through her files earlier. She left England in 1958. I also contacted the French Ministry. They have no record of a Helen Delacour. There are several Delacour families, but no Helen is registered for that time period within their families. I assume you were creative in regards to official documents?'

Gareth sighed and nodded. With everything else that had happened a few fake certificates were the least of his worries, 'I happen to have a great talent for forgeries,' he stated.

Amelia nodded. She felt slightly relieved to be on familiar ground, 'I'll need a statement later. We will do a full investigation, but under the circumstances, the Ministry may not prosecute.'

Gareth was barely registering this as he nodded.

Millicent and Barty were slowly taking this new information in.

'The plan was that Greta would stay at the Manor with me under the Fidelius. She had lost all her assets, all her income. Tom was out there. If he knew she was still alive, he would hunt her down and kill her. Greta was convinced of this and so was I.'

The others around the table nodded in agreement and even Rita didn't doubt his conviction.

'I forged a marriage certificate for Helen Delacour and me and a false birth certificate for Hayley. Having a family seat on the council meant I had access to the Ministry records and I could do a little tweaking. Greta gave herself some glamours and I took photographs of her and me together. We destroyed a lot of the more recent photographs of Greta. Just kept a few when she was little. As far as anyone was concerned, apart from Mitty who was sworn to secrecy, I was in France with Helen. Greta was in America at that time. We were young enough that no one questioned it much. A lot of young people like to travel…' he trailed off.

A tense silence filled the room. Gareth took another sip of water and spoke again.

'A couple of weeks before Greta was due to give birth, we made our way to France. Neither Mitty nor I had any experience with birthing techniques. We needed Greta to be safe and we didn't want to risk an English midwife saying anything. I have always been poor at memory charms and I couldn't take the risk of damaging their minds. I didn't want anyone else to be hurt. We took Muggle transport to get to a remote hospital in a small town out in the provinces. No one there knew what Greta looked like. As far as they were concerned, she was Helen Delacour. I had the relevant documents. They would have assumed that the surname sounded familiar, but not unusual enough to question it. Greta and I had always had a knack for the French language. Good enough to bluff it and due to her condition, if some of the words didn't sound authentically french enough, that was understandable.'

Gareth gazed into space, 'Hayley's birth was, I don't know if there is anything like normal birth, but the french midwives didn't seem to say or do anything out of the ordinary. It wasn't like, um, I don't know what I was expecting, but when it was all over, Greta held Hayley tightly, kissed her forehead, and leaned back on the bed. I was holding her hand, and then she smiled at me. Her last wish for me was to treat Hayley as if she were my own daughter, which with Greta and I being identical twins, she more or less already was, and then she closed her eyes and passed away.'

Gareth at this point looked absolutely drained. 'I took her body back to the Manor. A few Confundus charms on the authorities helped do that without drawing attention. She's buried in the family graveyard. A simple Revelio spell will show her real name on her gravestone. I refused, obviously, to put Riddle.'

The silence in the room was palpable.

Gareth looked ashen at this point, 'I did what Greta asked of me. I raised Hayley as my own daughter. I never breathed a word to anyone. Hayley's life was at stake. I knew what Tom was capable of. I didn't have faith that anyone had the ability to protect Hayley from him if he found out. The years passed and no one seemed to ask many questions. It was a delicate situation after all and people don't like to pry too much in such circumstances. I thought less and less of Tom. Hayley grew up and she was, well, simply put, she was a nice kid. She told me she would sometimes have very vivid dreams of a woman who reminded her of the woman in the photographs she had. I kept insisting to her it was simply her mind's way of making sense of her loss. That seemed to be the only thing that was unusual about her. I couldn't ask anyone about this without revealing more than I could.'

The room was still as they all absorbed this.

'I have faith that Hayley hasn't inherited Tom's cruelty,' Gareth spoke this with certainty, 'I thought I had got away with it by the time Hayley went to Hogwarts. I had adapted any Ministry paperwork in England. Hayley was simply a Greengrass here. Perhaps even Magic herself took the surname Riddle away from her. It was such a relief when she was sorted into Ravenclaw. I thought that was the end of it. She proved that she was very much her own person. Then, out of the blue, Tom came back. You have to understand that with the circles I move in, that it is quite ordinary in a week for me to have dinner with the Weasley family on a Monday and the Malfoy's on a Thursday. It has always been the Greengrass way. We are trusted to not betray either the Light or the Dark. We like to be kept informed of any developments that change our way of life, however.'

Gareth looked around the room with caution.

Gareth cleared his throat, 'Four years ago I was invited to a prestigious rally meeting with a formidable leader of a new Pureblood movement. I admit I was curious about all the rumours I had been hearing. When the Dark Lord entered the room, I knew immediately that he was Tom. Not in his looks. His face had changed beyond all recognition. It was the way he moved. I have never seen any other man move like that. He moves like a snake.'

Dumbledore nodded in agreement.

'I stood at the back and I could hear a hint of his voice from all those years before and I prayed I would not be spotted. Fortunately, I wasn't and I made my excuses and left early without detection. I vowed to myself that Hayley would never know about the monster that is her real father. I kept that vow. I wasn't the one to tell him. I don't know how he found out and I sure as hell don't know how he survived that rebounding killing curse against Harry.'

Sirius at this point stood up sharply with impatience. 'I think the history lesson is now over. What is done is done. We have now established the facts,' he growled, 'My wife is most definitely the daughter of the closest thing to the bloody Antichrist this world has ever known. My daughter has a Dark Lord's blood running through her veins. To think a week ago I was worried about my mummy issues.'

The others around the table stared at him open-mouthed. When put like that they each found themselves speechless. The room was silent.

'Right,' Sirius continued when even Dumbledore couldn't find a single platitude to comfort him with, 'I have to accept that there is nothing I can do about that particular issue. What we do need to focus on is the fact that right now, the thing, the dark wraith type weird thing, whatever the hell it is, has currently put all of Grimmauld Place under siege and is currently holding my wife, my mother, my daughter, Mad-Eye Moody, Kingsley and our demented house-elf hostage with the help of the biggest fucking traitor turd on earth, Peter bloody Pettigrew! I mean, what the fuck, what the actual fuck!'

The chair he had been sitting on was kicked with great force into the wall.

'Language Sirius,' Dumbledore admonished, 'There are ladies present.'

Sirius looked at Dumbledore astonished, 'My language is what you're focusing on?'

Millicent and Amelia looked at Dumbledore disgruntled. They both felt more than a little patronised.

'It's really not an issue Sirius. We are all under great strain, you more than any of us,' said Millicent in a comforting tone, 'This is not a society dinner party after all.'

Dumbledore merely tilted his head, muttering about the younger generations lack of protocol.

Rita was quivering with excitement. She was going to be winning awards for this story. She was absolutely set to be on track for the editor's job by the age of thirty.

'What do we do now?' asked Amelia, 'Or, the more crucial question, what can we do? Pettigrew has completely lost his marbles. He was bragging, and I mean actually boasting to all of us that he was the secret keeper that betrayed the Potter's and had finally played the greatest prank of all time on Sirius Black. He's proud of it! That he could kill more Muggles in one go than even Bellatrix. That he was, in fact, the greatest Death Eater of all time! He's a completely unhinged bag of nerves liable to lash out at anyone. Voldemort is convinced Hayley is his daughter. She kept denying it but he was adamant. We have no idea what he's capable of in this form. Even in that form, he is ridiculously strong. He barely touched me when I was escaping the room and knocked me over. I barely made it out before they sealed the front door. The last I saw of poor Mad-Eye and Kingsley was them bleeding and unconscious in there. They both need urgent medical treatment. At least Walburga had the presence of mind to raise the alarm the moment the wards had been breached. The only positive from this entire shit show is it looked like he wasn't there to kill them immediately. He was taking great care to protect Hayley and Iris from the crossfire. Though what his plans are for them, I can only assume is for some sort of blood ritual,' Amelia looked exhausted.

For once Sirius was glad his mother was incredibly paranoid and alert to attack at all times. If not for her quick thinking the Ministry would know none of this. The Aurors had arrived within a minute of the warning but nothing could have prepared any of them for what greeted them. Amelia had told him she was still finding it difficult to comprehend. He who must not be named. Confirmed dead a week ago. Still not dead.

Sirius had been in his cell two days ago unaware of what was happening in the world. He had been certain his fate had been sealed by the duplicity and betrayal of Peter and he had been grief-stricken over the death of Lily and James. He had been roughed up by several of the more sadistic Aurors and not even his wife had been allowed to visit him. When Amelia had approached his cell he had expected the worst and was resigned to his fate. A one-way ticket to Azkaban without even the dignity of a trial.

When Amelia had sat him down in her office and gave him a brief overview of the situation at Grimmauld, his whole world had collapsed. He was told in no uncertain terms that he was back on Auror duty with immediate effect. For a brief second, he wished he was back in his cell and heading to Azkaban. He had immediately pulled himself together, slightly ashamed for his moment of weakness, and as a true Gryffindor should, went out to face his Demons.

'Let us all return to Grimmauld Place,' Dumbledore said, 'Barty, Millicent, Amelia. Will you round up the best Aurors and healers we have. The rest of us will meet you there. We need to seal off the area completely. We need to try to find a way inside. The floo is blocked. Portkeys won't work and none of you can apparate in so maybe some good old fashioned Muggle breaking and entering could be the solution.'

Barty, Amelia and Millicent left to round up the troops.

Dumbledore turned to Sirius. 'Your house-elf, Kreacher. I suspect he may be of some use.'

Sirius scoffed at this, 'That elf isn't capable of following any basic instruction. If I give him an order he will try to find any loophole to fuck it up just to piss me off.'

'Now, now, Sirius. Don't be too quick to judge. Your mother and daughter are in that house too. I think just this once Kreacher may do what you ask of him,' Dumbledore tried to assure him.

'I wish I had your faith,' Sirius sniffed dismissively, 'Well, we'll use Kreacher as an absolute last resort, and only then if all else fails. I don't trust him in the slightest. His hatred of me overrides any logic. But if all else fails.….'

Dumbledore nodded in resignation.

'It may just come to that, young man,' he said quietly.

Dumbledore spoke to everyone left in the room. 'Sirius, Gareth. Gather anything you think may be useful and meet at the apparition point in five minutes.'

They nodded and left quickly.

'Bill. You are more than welcome to join us. Your immense Auror experience will be valuable.'

Bill nodded, 'Happy to be of service,' he grinned. It had been a while since he'd been out in the field and he missed the adrenaline of it all. He also thought this Wizard who must not be named sounded like a right sicko. He was itching to bring some good old-fashioned justice.

Dumbledore smiled back, ''Good to hear.'

He then turned to the sideboard, 'Rita, you can come out now,'

Bill looked in confusion at the sideboard.

Rita sat stunned and then sheepishly popped her head around the stack of books.

Dumbledore peered at her and smiled, 'I've been expecting you, Rita. If you don't mind, I'd like your help. I would like you to go into Grimmauld Place and report everything you see back to us. I would go myself, but it appears everything is poised very delicately and my presence could have dire repercussions. All I ask of you is when you print your story in the Daily Prophet you are to print the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I think for once you won't need to exaggerate to make this the scoop of the century. If all goes well tonight you may even earn the Order of Merlin.'

Rita wasn't so much interested in the Order of Merlin, but a scoop of the century was certainly motivation enough. She flew around and settled onto Dumbledore's shoulder as Bill just gawped.

'I'll explain later,' Dumbledore said as they made their way to meet Sirius and Gareth.

At the apparition point, they all took their positions.

'Everyone,' said Dumbledore, 'The best of luck.'

With several cracks, they each disappeared from the Ministry.