Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I don't make money from this fic.
July 22, 1977 London, England - Diagon Alley
"Expelliarmus!" Sirius yelled, flicking his wand at the three Death Eaters. One of the wands flew away, sending the man to the left of Malfoy skittering after it. The man to his right, and Malfoy himself, though, had managed to throw up shield charms just in time.
"Stupefy!" Hermione called, sending a jet of red at the disarmed man. He ducked, missing the spell by inches.
"Locomotor mortis!" Sirius called, advancing on Malfoy. The older man blocked his advance with a silent shield charm and countered the attack with a stunner.
"Protego!"Hermione shouted, shielding them both.
"Honestly, Black, hand over the girl, and you can go free." Malfoy said, sounding annoyed.
"Stupefy!"he sent the stunner at the wizard on Malfoy's right, clipping his shoulder and knocking him back. The other had still been unable to find his wand. Malfoy swore.
"Damn it, Wilkes. I knew I should have brought Mulciber instead." He said, "Accio wand." He grabbed the wand as it flew up to him, it's owner running to retrieve it. Malfoy sent a couple nonverbal spells at Hermione, but Hermione's shield charms held true.
"I won't hand over my girlfriend to the likes of you, Malfoy." Sirius spat.
"Girlfriend?" he said, throwing up a nonverbal shield when Sirius sent a stunner his way. "Well, that's quite the interesting development."
"Confringo!" the wizard on Malfoy's right shouted, casting his first offensive spell. It went awry and blasted apart the concrete front of a second-hand robe shop, sending glass and rubble everywhere. Sirius sent another stunning spell at the boy as the blasting curse collided with the building, and this time, the spell made contact with the boy's chest. The dust and debris hanging in the air forced them to stop shooting spells at each other, due to a lack of visibility, but that wasn't the only thing that ceased the fire fight. The noise had begun to alert residents and shop owners, though so while the debris was clearing, there was movement elsewhere on the street. Up and down the road, lights were flicking on and people were coming out in their night clothes, wands drawn. Malfoy looked up and down the street, seeing he was clearly out numbered. He rushed to the fallen Death Eater and pulled him up bodily.
"Fall back, Wilkes," Malfoy told the other boy before turning on the spot and disappearing with a pop. The other man lowered his wand and followed his orders, disapperating.
Sirius and Hermione were suddenly surrounded with people, several asking if they were okay. A few residents, though, such as the owner of the second-hand robe shop that was now partially destroyed, were angry and trying to get to bottom of things. Hermione looked to Sirius, worried, when they heard a booming voice above the crowd.
"Alright, alright, settle down and clear out. Show's over." the voice came. Sirius had never been so glad to hear the voice of Alastor Moody in his life. He'd been at the Order meeting, of course, and he'd been thrilled to get a chance to meet one of the greatest aurors of all time.
"Mr. Corner, I assure you, I've already notified on-duty aurors and they will be here within the hour to take a full damage report and assist with the damage." Moody told the angry man, waving him off before heading toward Hermione and Sirius.
"Miss Potter and Mr. Black. Fancy meeting you here. Come with me." Moody said, jerking his head back in the direction from which he came. "You live around here, right, Black?"
"Yes sir, just up the road." he told him.
"Right, lead the way, then." he said. "We need to have a talk about this mess away from prying ears." Sirius stopped.
"How do I know you're really Alastor Moody?" He asked. Moody turned around, a broad smile on his face.
"Good man. Alright, how's this for proof: tonight, when asked about acclimating to my wooden leg, I told you and Frank Longbottom that it wouldn't be so bad if I could keep the termites off it."
"And it's just as funny now as it was then." Sirius said.
"Alright, I live in the flat above Arkie Alderton's Kwik-Repair Shop, sir."
"Lead on."
The three walked the short distance to Sirius's flat, Moody locking the door behind them as they entered. Sirius then explained what had happened to them while Hermione made tea for them all. After Sirius was finished explaining, he and Hermione sat quietly, watching Moody carefully as he paced.
"Firstly, I'd like to express my pride in you two. You took on three Death Eaters, even identified one, and lived to tell the tale. On top of that, you retained the presence of mind, Black, to interrogate me before inviting me back to your base of operations. Well done. You'd make a fine auror some day.
"Secondly, I will be reporting this incident back to Dumbledore, and I'd advise you, Miss. Potter, to not travel alone. I'm not going to suggest you lock yourself away, by any means, that's just naive. But there is power in numbers."
"Yes, sir. I almost never travel alone these days, anyway." Hermione said.
"With You-Know-Who after you, that's wise. I'd best be off, though. It's late. Remember, you two, keep your heads down." He said, before stalking out of the flat.
Hermione sighed, leaning her head on Sirius's shoulder.
"Still sure you want to do this?" She asked.
"Never more sure." he told her, kissing her forehead.
August 5, 1977 London, England - Sirius's Flat
Sirius paced back and forth, his anger just barely in check. He'd gotten a letter from his brother a week before, asking to meet with him. There was something he needed to tell him, something important. So Sirius had agreed; he had been meaning to have his brother over anyway. He wanted him to be able to come to him if he needed to. But now, Sirius wished he'd never agreed to meet with him.
"What do you mean, you knew?" Sirius asked, his voice low and calm, but barely concealing rage.
"I mean, I knew there was a plan to attack you and Hermione. I'm sorry I wasn't able to get to you in time to warn you." He said.
"How long? How long did you know about the plan?" Sirius asked, searching for reasons to be rational.
"A couple hours before." He told him.
"You knew a couple hours before the attack? And you didn't owl me, didn't contact me in any way?"
"Sirius, I wasn't able to. There was literally no way."
"And why the fuck not, Reg? What were you doing that was so important that you couldn't pick up a quill and write to me?" He spat, venom in his tone.
"I was there, Sirius." Regulus said coldly. "I was part of the attack. Lucius and Wilkes, they were the other two. I was the third."
"You were-" Sirius stopped dead. "You were part of the attack?" Regulus nodded once. "So you were the one that shot that blasting curse at us?" He yelled.
"Not at you." Regulus corrected. "At the shop. I knew the explosion would wake people up and force a retreat. You two were far enough from the shop that you wouldn't have been hurt."
That stopped Sirius yet again. He thought back on that night. He'd sent a stunner at the bloke who'd cast the confringo, and he clearly remembered Malfoy having to side-along disapparate him because of it. Sirius padded to a chair and plopped down into it.
"So I stunned you?" He said, his tone falling flat.
"Yes." Regulus said. "And I couldn't be more grateful that you did." Sirius's head popped up at that.
"What?" He asked, looking up into his brother's face. "Why?"
"It gave me an excuse not to curse you and Hermione. I cast the blasting curse, and that proved to Malfoy that I was willing to go toe to toe with my brother. It's secured my position as a future Death Eater, Sirius. If I'm going to do this, if I'm going to protect you and Hermione, and the rest, the best way I have to do it is to join them."
Sirius thought it over. He knew his brother was right. Reg couldn't just outright join the Order, not after years of strategizing and manipulating his way into the folds of the Death Eaters. Regardless of whether or not he sympathized with their ideals, he was in a position to help the Order by feeding them information. Sirius knew how valuable that inside information could be.
"You know how dangerous this will be, right?" Sirius asked. Regulus nodded.
"Yes. I know." He told him, both sets of grey eyes locking on each other.
"I can't promise I won't have to duel you." Sirius said.
"I know, that, too. I'll do everything in my power to not hurt you, but I have to keep up appearances." He said.
"I understand." He told his brother, then cracked a wry smile. "Just keep the Avada Kedavra's away from me, would you?" Regulus managed a sad smile.
"Of course, bro."
September 1, 1977 London, England - Platform 9 ¾
Sirius and James made their way down the train, finding their usual compartment empty. Sirius had just finished hoisting his and Hermione's trunks onto the storage rack when a thought that both excited him and made him nervous crossed his mind.
"You know, it feels weird. This is our last Hogwarts Express." Sirius said.
"We've still got Christmas, and Easter, Pads. Not to mention the train ride home in June." James pointed out.
"Yeah, but I mean, this is the last time we're leaving for the start of a school year, isn't it? It's just sort of surreal to think that this time next year, we won't be on this train." Sirius said, plopping down in the seat.
"Suppose you're right. It is our last first train. If that makes sense?" James shook his head, sitting down across from Sirius. "Do you remember our first Hogwarts Express?"
"How could I forget?" Sirius laughed. "It was the first time I met your sorry arse. Been stuck with you ever since."
"First time we met Lily, too. Can you believe it, seven years later, I'm dating the girl who was best friends with that little greaseball Snivellus?" James shook his head in disbelief. Sirius snorted.
"I'd say it was good that those two went their separate ways, but have you noticed he watches her?" Sirius asked.
"What do you mean, mate?" James asked, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Whenever they're in the same room, it's like he's fixated on her. You think he might have loved her, before that whole shitshow fifth year?"
"Obsessed, more like it." James said with a huff. "You don't call someone you love a Mudblood."
"Hermione told me he's tried apologizing time and time again. She won't have it." Sirius said.
"Do you blame her? Bloke's a Death Eater. Who needs friends like that?" James said, but then his face froze. Sirius's eyes darkened and he turned his head away.
"Blimey, Pads, I didn't mean to insinuate- about your brother-" he said, looking down.
"No, I know, James." He said, looking up and smiling to reassure his best friend. "It's just that sometimes, I know how Lily feels, you know? She grew up with him. And now they've gone their separate ways."
"At least you're brother's not a right prat." James muttered. Sirius laughed at that.
"Oh, he has his moments." he said. "But he seems to care for Hermione, whatever his reasons."
"Don't think he'll try and steal your girl, do you?" James asked.
"I think he knows I'd kill him if he tried. And Hermione-" Sirius sighed. "Well, I don't think she's the type of girl to do that."
"Type of girl to do what?" Hermione asked, sliding the the door open and walking in, plopping down next to Sirius.
"Nothing." Sirius said, suddenly, "Don't you worry about it."
"Yes, because that doesn't make me even more suspicious, Sirius." She rolled her eyes. Remus and Peter had followed her through the door, Lily not far behind. Lily sat down next to James and beamed around the compartment at them all.
"This is it." She said, as the train started moving. "Our last year. Are you all ready?"
"No." Sirius said, looking out the window absently as the platform slipped away behind them. "I don't think I am."