AN- Thank you all for the favorites and follows! I'm sorry this has taken so long to update. I really hope this marks the end of my writers block. I just want to note that as this story progresses you will see influences from both Calebski and Canimal when it comes to my characterization and backgrounds for both Yaxley and Dolohov. This has been done with their permission. If you haven't checked their work out yet, you really should! Both are incredibly talented ladies.

As always, major Beta love to the wonderful DarkNorseLady!

2. Allies

"Where do we find allies?" Father Yarvi smiled,

"Among our enemies, where else?"

-Joe Abercrombie, Half of the World

The man pulled his cloak tighter to protect himself from the chill in the early autumn air. Leaning against the brick wall of the deserted building he let out a heavy sigh before turning to his companion. "We've been here nearly an hour. Do you think he's actually going to show, Yax?"

Before Reuben Yaxley could respond, a tell-tale POP sounded behind him and Antonin turned to glare. "It's about damn time, Black. Think we didn't have anything better to do than wait around for you all night?"

"Nice to see you too, Dolohov," Sirius rolled his eyes. Then nodded to Yaxley in greeting.

"Evening, Black," he nodded in return, and moved to stand between the two hot-headed men.

"So, what was so important you had to meet with us tonight?"

"She's pregnant." Sirius sighed, "I've been suspicious for a few days now, but she confirmed it in tonight's Order meeting."

"How'd Dumbledore take that news?" Yaxley raised an eyebrow.

Sirius ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes, "Dumbledore ordered she terminate the pregnancy, and she argued. Several Order member's jumped to her defense, but several supported Dumbledore as well."

"Let me guess," Antonin sneered, "you fucked up your mission by disagreeing with Dumbledore, didn't you?"

"Fuck you, Dolohov." He looked murderously at the dark-haired wizard, "I kept my mouth shut. I had to bite my tongue until it practically bled." Looking back to Yaxley he added, "He has her locked up in Grimmauld place right now, but her friends have a plan to get her out, and to Remus' for the night. They are planning on getting her on a train out of the country first thing tomorrow."

"If that happens she'll be nearly impossible to find." Yaxley looked thoughtful for a moment, " Do you know when she's going? We can pick her up at the station."

"No," he shook his head. "I'm going to tell Dumbledore she's missing. While everyone is

busy looking for her I will go get her from Remus' and take her somewhere safe. Somewhere we can keep an eye on her."

"And, how is it you know about these plans?" Antonin narrowed his eyes.

Something dangerous flashed on Sirius' face as he turned to glare. "Nothing happens in my house that I am not aware of. Why else would he keep me there as a spy?" He snarled before looking back to Yaxley. "Anyway, tell him I have this covered, but he might want to make other accommodations for Hermione. I am expecting to have her to the first safehouse by morning."

"We'll tell him," Yaxley said before his friend could start another argument. "You had better get back before someone notices you're gone." Sirius disapparated without another word.

Once he was gone Antonin let out a low growl. "That moron is going to screw this all up. Personally, I don't care one bit about the chit's safety, but if she's needed to end this war than I think someone more qualified should be responsible for her."

"Like a man who has tried to kill her multiple times?" Yaxley teased, ducking out of the way when Antonin sent a hex flying his way. "Hey, watch it. Let's go pass on this message, I have plans tonight and the sooner we get this done the sooner I can get to them."

The sound of the fire roaring to life caused Pansy to look up from the magazine she was browsing. When the man stepped through holding a slight, unconscious body, she had to suppress an eye roll. "Salazar, Sirius what did you do now?"

"Oh, don't act like that Pans. I did what was necessary to keep them both safe." Sirius shifted the weight of what she could now see was a girl with distinctive curly hair to his other arm. When he moved to set the girl down on the couch Pansy moved closer, verifying that he did, in fact, show up to her home in the middle of the night with an unconscious Hermione Granger.

"Them both?" she turned to him raising an eyebrow, "Who else was in danger? Wait, is she? I thought you said it was confirmed that the procedures didn't take?"

Seeing no end in sight to the young girl's rambling, Sirius held up a finger. She stopped speaking but scowled at his gesture. "I told you what I had been told. We only found out earlier tonight. Dumbledore had ordered her pregnancy be ended, and he intended to do it with or without Hermione or the Order's consent. Tonight she was running, I had to think quick."

"Does he know?" she asked after a thoughtful silence.

"That she's pregnant?" When she nodded in reply he continued, "I gave the message to Dolohov and Yaxley, but they're next to useless. Can you make sure he knows? Dumbledore thinks I'm searching for her. If I am away much longer they may start to suspect something is up." Without waiting for her reply he moved toward the canister of floo powder.

"Sure, I'll floo him once you leave. Oh, and Sirius-" He paused on his way to the fireplace. "Be careful. I have a feeling this is about to get really dangerous regardless of what side you are on."

With a nod, he threw the powder into the fire and was swept away in the green flames.

Where am I? Hermione gingerly sat up on the plush bed. She rubbed her temples, trying to stop the pounding in her head, as she thought back to the night before. Sirius. Where has he taken me?

The room she was in was far too bright to be anywhere in Grimmauld Place. The walls were a light powder blue and the carpet a beautiful cream. All of the furniture in the room was made from a light wood and was carved in beautifully intricate patterns. There was a vase of deep violet flowers on the table beside her, next to a vial that was labeled Headache Potion.

Has he taken me to some other Order safe house? Is Dumbledore still going to hurt my baby? Has he already? Panic began to set in as she laid a hand on her abdomen.

The sound of deep laughter from the other side of the bedroom door caught her attention. Carefully standing, she made her way toward the door. Noticing she was still in her nightgown, she quickly scanned the room, hoping to find something to cover herself with. Seeing a robe hanging from the end of the bed she moved to put it on. As she picked it up, and wrapped it around herself, something clattered to the ground.

Hermione was surprised to see her wand laying on the floor at her feet. Picking it up and gripping it tightly she moved toward the door. Taking a deep breath she pulled it open, ready to face whatever was waiting on the other side.

Or so she thought.

The door of the bedroom she had been in opened up into a small kitchen, which currently had three occupants. The first one she recognized immediately. Pansy sat at a high table lazily flipping through the pages of a magazine, not even looking up when there was another booming laugh.

The laughing man caught her eye next. He was standing at the small stove, looking as though there was nowhere else in the world he belonged. The man was quite tall, but she could not make out much more about him as he was facing away from her. The last man stood to his right casually leaning against the counter. He was a little bit shorter than the laughing man, but Hermione could tell he was still quite a bit taller than her. There was something familiar about the way this man held himself. Narrowing her eyes and cocking her head to the side she took in his strong jawline and black wavy hair. Though it was shorter she couldn't help but compare him to…

"Sirius?"

As soon as the words passed her lips three sets of eyes were on her. "Afraid not, Love," The man smirked. "I'm glad to see you're awake, Miss Granger. How are you feeling? Did you take the headache potion?" His face was now etched with concern.

When she didn't answer, and just stared warily at all the occupants of the room, Pansy finally spoke up. "Merlin's beard, just tell her who you are. I don't understand why the two of you must be so blasted dramatic all the time," she rolled her eyes and looked back to her magazine.

"Oh, right," he rubbed the back of his neck before stepping forward and holding his hand out to her. "The name is Regulus. Regulus Black. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Granger, I have heard many wonderful things about you."

"Regulus Black?" she stared at the offered hand, "b-but, you're dead. You died before you left Hogwarts, we found the locket and your note." Her eyebrows were knit together.

"Come have a seat and I'll explain everything." He turned to the man at the stove, "Reuben, please get Miss Granger a mug of tea." Reaching out he carefully took her by the elbow and helped her into a chair beside Pansy, once again the other girl didn't even look up from the article she was reading.

"I think it's important to start off by assuring you that both you and your baby are safe with us, Miss Granger."

Pansy snorted, "Are any of us really safe?"

"Well, I suppose not," he looked thoughtful for a moment before looking back to Hermione, "but you are safer with us than you would be with either the Order or, Merlin forbid, the Dark Lord."

"So, you're not with the Dark Lord then?" When the other man set a mug down in front of her she gave him a grateful smile, before taking a sip. "Who do you work for then? Why have you brought me here and why do you care about my safety?"

She stopped her questions when he raised a hand. "I promise it'll all make sense. Let me start off with how I'm alive. You see, when I escaped that cave I was extremely weak, but I knew this was likely my only chance to escape the Dark Lord's service. Kreature took me to a seldom-used Black estate in the south of France and nursed me back to health."

"For a little over two years, the only information I got on the wizarding world came from Kreature and old newspapers he stole. Once I found out Sirius was in Azkaban I knew my best bet was to stay in hiding and prepare for when Voldemort returned. For a long time it was just Kreature and me, but when my brother escaped Azkaban and eventually went into hiding, I got in touch with him. At first, he wasn't happy to see me, but after a few bottles of fire whiskey, and several broken bones, we reconciled. He agreed that Dumbledore's quest for "The Greater Good" wasn't to anyone's benefit but his own and we soon started working on creating our own underground resistance."

"Right now, our numbers are small. We only have a few defected Death Eaters," he motioned to the man still standing by the stove. "We also have some Slytherin students around your age," he nodded toward Pansy, "they were eager to join after years of being cast aside by Dumbledore. There are a few others that have joined out of association with our other members but defected Death Eaters and young Slytherins are most of our numbers. It's our hope that with your help we can finally end this war."

"My help?" She tilted her head.

"Yes, surely you have realized the prophecy is about you," he leaned forward expectantly.

"She hasn't heard the prophecy, Reg." Hermione turned to see Sirius striding into the room. "No one but the original Order member's have heard about it. Dumbledore didn't trust many, especially after figuring out who it was about." Turning to her he gave a small smile. "Morning, Kitten." Hermione glared at him. "I'm sorry about last night. I was hoping to get here in time to properly explain everything today. It looks like Reg beat me to it though."

"What's this prophecy say and what does it have to do with me?" Hermione asked, closing her eyes as if it would protect her from the answer.

Sirius moved forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "The prophecy is why He-who-must-not-be-named kidnapped you. According to the prophecy, a child born of both the dark and the light would have the power to bring down either side. That's why Dumbledore is so set on terminating your pregnancy, he's afraid the child will be his downfall."

Hermione placed a hand on her still flat stomach. "Th-that's impossible. He's just a baby, and he's not even born yet. How could he be used to bring anyone's downfall?"

"We don't know yet," this time it was Reuben who spoke. "But we know that there is no reason to sacrifice an innocent life. This is our fight, not your baby's"

A scoffing at the door caused Hermione to turn, "This is everyone's fight," the newcomer drawled.

In a moment Hermione was across the room and had her wand trained on the throat of the man she recognized all too well. "What's he doing here?" she demanded looking back to Sirius.

"Haven't you heard, Miss Granger?" He chuckled at her, "We're on the same side."