Sirius climbed to his feet and instinctively moved away from Regulus. Remus and Tonks each had their wands trained on the younger Black. Tonks handed Regulus' wand to Sirius as he passed her on his way to retrieve his own. It was evident she had already noticed their resemblance from the way she was looking between the two of them.
He knew it would be faster simply to summon his wand from the mess, but in looking manually he allowed himself a moment to steady his breathing and regain some semblance of composure.
As he was extracting his wand from the pile of robes it had landed in earlier, he heard Tonks ask,
"Who are you?"
"Who do you think?" came Regulus' response.
"You'll remember I had a brother," Sirius remarked. "The death eater who was killed when he wanted out?" He met Tonks' gaze, "Turns out that story is only half true."
Regulus quirked an eyebrow. "You've come to accept I'm no longer a death eater then, have you?" His tone easily conveyed that his opinion of him was a trivial matter.
"Death eater or not, I don't trust you."
"That's mutual," Regulus answered darkly.
It grated on Sirius' nerves that his brother was acting more like someone with the misfortune of being caught in one of their Hogwarts' pranks, rather than a criminal deserving of prison, about to receive his comeuppance.
"You're awfully arrogant for someone on the brink of going to Azkaban."
"What are you going to do, Sirius? Contact the Ministry, tell them your dead brother is here, waiting for pickup? At best, you'll be in Azkaban right beside me."
"Not everyone here is wanted by the Ministry," Remus intervened calmly. "Do not think because you are Sirius' brother we will not have you arrested."
"You should know, I am an Auror," Tonks added.
Regulus looked at her then, straightening his posture, "Are you?" his tone was patronizing enough Sirius thought of how pleased it would have made their mother. "Cousin Andromeda must be so proud," he crooned. Just as Sirius was about to curse the smirk right off of his arrogant face, it faded, replaced by genuine curiosity, "How is your mother?"
"I believe you are the one who should be answering questions," Tonks answered coolly. If she was surprised he knew who she was, it didn't show.
"How is it you came to be here, Regulus?" Lupin inquired without missing a beat. "Substantial protections on this house were added since we last saw you."
Tonks gave him a curious look but must have realized it was better not to interrupt.
"No one has shown interest in getting into this house in the past decade," Regulus answered slowly. "Why the sudden need for more protection?"
Sirius wanted to tell Regulus exactly what Grimmauld Place was being used for, and with no small amount of smugness. It was only due to Dumbledore's Fidelius charm that the words didn't come. Instead he taunted, "If you wanted to stay privy to the uses of this house, you should have thought twice before allowing mummy to believe you died. Now tell us how you got in here."
Regulus gave him an ironic look, "If you wanted to know all of the passages into this house, you shouldn't have ran away before learning them."
A slew of hexes flashed through Sirius' mind as he tightened his grip on his wand. It occurred to him he already knew of one method of entry that needed to be addressed, "Kreacher," he growled.
Regulus' lip twitched, "That's one way in."
"That's the only way left, you arrogant prat. It was only overlooked because I thought Kreacher was dead." He almost called for Kreacher then to rectify the oversight. Recalling the only thing more irritating than Regulus by himself was Regulus in the company of the adoring, sniveling house elf who clung to his every word, Sirius refrained from summoning him.
"The house elf will have to be addressed," Remus supplied. "I admit I don't have enough experience with elves to know what to do about him."
"I'll have to free him," Sirius concluded.
"You can't free him," Regulus objected tersely.
"Why? Because he is too old to survive it?" Sirius asked callously, "I can live with that."
"And what if it doesn't kill him? He would never live as a free elf and he knows too much to allow him to be adopted by another family – you must realize who he would seek out."
Bellatrix was imprisoned and Andromeda had been disowned. That only left Narcissa, Sirius realized contemptuously. "I can see why you would be concerned with him seeking out the Malfoy's since he's been living with your family all this time. He doesn't know anything relevant about anyone else."
"He has spent more time in this house than either one of us," Regulus countered. "Whatever purpose you had in returning here – for adding protections, you can be sure he already knows about it."
"There are memory charms-" Sirius began to argue before trailing off as Regulus' words registered. "He's been spying on us, of course! How else could you have found my godson?"
"I expect that the Potter boy lives in Surrey isn't nearly the secret you think it is," Regulus drawled. Sirius exchanged a glance with Remus. "Vernon Dursley is listed in the telephone directory. Anyone with even the slightest familiarity with the muggle world would have no difficulty in finding him." He looked from Remus to Tonks, "I expect you're already aware that wizards aren't the only ones who keep records of their bloodlines."
"We should call for Dumbledore," Remus said, drawing the attention of three sets of gray eyes. His eyes settled on Tonks momentarily, and he wondered whether her sudden resemblance to the Black family had been intentional or reflexive. He looked away from her guiltily, addressing Sirius, "I realized the Dursley's were easily located by muggle methods, of course, but few purebloods would…" he gave Regulus an odd look, "It wouldn't hurt to revisit Harry's protections."
"Why is he even there?" Regulus asked conversationally, much to Sirius' annoyance.
"Why are you asking questions about my godson as if you are entitled to know anything about him?"
"He would be safer here-"
"That sounds awfully suspicious coming from a former death eater who managed to find a way in here," Sirius bit out, emphasizing the word 'former' as if not entirely convinced it was true.
"You can't deny it's odd he requires a guard while safe among the muggles." He scrunched his nose, "Can you really call it a guard? Imagine if someone were to drive up and ask Harry if he wanted to… do anything. Go anywhere. He would leave there without hesitation. He's miserable. I could see it within seconds of meeting him."
"I cannot fathom why you went to the trouble of meeting Harry in the first place," Remus stated, having drawn the obvious conclusion.
"He felt obliged to ensure he was safe," said Sirius, not bothering to hide his own skepticism.
"Well you clearly did your research," said Remus. "It must have been a lot of trouble to arrange a dinner with the Dursley's. You met him as he was leaving the park, did you not? It seems it would have saved you a lot of trouble if you would have simply met with him there if you wanted to check on him rather than involving his family."
"Meeting his guardians gave better insight into his home life." He looked as if he might say more on the matter before glancing at Sirius and thinking better of it. "There's also the fact that the greatest dark wizard of our lifetime has recently returned – using Harry to do so. I can't imagine he wouldn't have been suspicious of a grown man showing up in his neighborhood with no apparent reason for being there aside from talking to him."
"You showed up in a car," Sirius pointed out. "You had good cover for being a muggle."
"Muggle or not, a grown man generally should not be seeking out a child... Better to endure a dinner with muggles than potential ramifications from that," Regulus answered dryly.
"Well, there's the progressive thinking you alluded to earlier," Sirius derided. In a slow voice much like a young child might use, he mimicked, "Muggles are not as bad as pedophiles. What else have you learned in the past twenty years?"
"Sirius," Remus chided as Tonks stifled a grin. "Perhaps it would be more prudent to contact Dumbledore. No doubt he will have his own questions for Regulus and he can guide us where Kreacher is concerned."
"We don't need Dumbledore to resolve Kreacher's ownership," Regulus told them. "I won't have him being used to summon members of my family, just as I don't expect you want him being able to come here as he pleases. That's one of two reasons why I came here in the first place."
Remus narrowed his eyes, "What is the other reason?"
Regulus met his gaze, "No doubt Voldemort will seek to re-establish old alliances first, but it is only a matter of time before he will resume his former agenda. Should the truth of what I've done come out…" he visibly paled though his expression didn't change, "I'm hopeful we can agree a couple of children, who know nothing of Britain, have no reason to be dragged into whatever shall play out here."
"If you were seeking the protection of the Order, you surely would have sought out Dumbledore. He is the only one with the authority to offer it," Tonks remarked. "What is it exactly that you are wanting from us?" she asked carefully.
"I expect he wants your memories," Sirius said when Regulus hesitated. "Unfortunately for him, he's outnumbered three to one." He turned to Regulus, "Also, it would appear you don't have a wand, and therefore have no means to negotiate."
"But what is there to negotiate in regards to children?" Tonks asked, "We have no reason to alert the death eaters, and it isn't like we are in direct contact with any of them even if we wanted to… well," she amended.
"Dumbledore will have his spy," Regulus answered as if reading her mind. "Look, I don't trust any of you, no more than you would trust me. But the fact is, you know I'm alive, and worse, you've seen that I have children. Obviously, I'm at a disadvantage here," he admitted, holding his hands up to reveal they were empty. "Tell me what I need to do to continue to be thought dead by everyone else, and we can all get on with our lives, never again for our paths to meet."
Sirius stared at him, "No, see the problem with that is, you know where to find us, but want to leave here without a trace. We don't benefit from that exchange, and if anyone is going to benefit from this… it isn't going to be you."
"What is it you think I have that could possibly benefit any of you?"
"You must have information about Voldemort," Remus said. "As a former death eater, you're bound to know something that is beneficial to the Order. You couldn't have betrayed him without protecting your mind. You could lie to us just as easily, but you won't be able to lie to Dumbledore. A meeting with him is the cost of our silence."
Regulus scoffed, "And only then if Dumbledore is agreeable to those terms."
Remus turned to Sirius as if the choice was up to him. He considered the proposal. He didn't like the idea of putting Regulus' fate in someone else's hands, but Dumbledore was bound to be more efficient in getting answers from Regulus than they were. He was also a reasonable man and would give him the chance to prove his – well, Regulus certainly wasn't innocent. Perhaps if he could prove he regretted his past decisions, it would be enough for Dumbledore not to send him to Azkaban. He had been outspoken about the inhumane conditions of the prison in the past. He glanced at Regulus and forced a smirk, "As you said, you're the one at a disadvantage here."
Being held captive in his childhood bedroom by the daughter of his estranged cousin, was more than a little humiliating to Regulus. The woman called Tonks had insisted she could not endure the smell of Sirius' bedroom for another moment without becoming ill and was apparently rubbish with cleaning spells. As a result, the two of them had been directed across the hallway while Sirius and Remus contacted Dumbledore. For reasons unknown to anyone, it required both men to complete the simple task.
Within seconds of being alone, Regulus realized Tonks wasn't the quiet sort. She collapsed onto the edge of his childhood bed and let out an enormous sigh.
"I used to think I'd like a sibling. I'll have to remember to thank my parents for knowing better."
Regulus used to wonder how different Sirius' relationship with their parents would have been if he was an only child. Their pride might have allowed him to escape to the Potter's for a while, but without a second son to bestow their legacy, they would surely have made more of an effort to bring him back home. Perhaps they would have had more tolerance of Sirius' differences from the beginning, since comparing the two of them had always been a source of contention.
Apparently, her statement was not quite as rhetorical as Regulus assumed. When he didn't answer, she cleared her throat loudly causing him to look at her. He gave a long-suffering sigh and averted his eyes, but then couldn't stop the flood of memories that everything in the room always brought forth. He pulled the chair out from beneath the desk and sat down, intent to stare at the carpet directly in front of him to avoid the memories and awkward conversation until Dumbledore arrived.
Seemingly unable to sit still, Tonks stood as she took an interest in his room. She gave a passing glance at what was readily displayed, making the occasional comment when something caught her attention. Twice, she turned her back on him entirely. Regulus easily could have attacked her either time. Even now it wouldn't take much to overpower her. Auror or not, he knew he was more experienced, his age and past experience ensured it.
She turned her back on him for a third time and it took all of the restraint he had not to rip the wand from her hand and – then what? Escape his childhood home only to elicit a search party from the Order? No, regardless of how humiliating this was, he would endure it for the sake of getting it over with.
Movement in his peripheral caught his attention and he saw Tonks was looking between him and a picture of the Slytherin quidditch team from his seventh year, apparently comparing how much he had changed. As several of the others pictured were either dead or in Azkaban, he was glad when she moved on without comment.
After having seen everything else, she approached the newspaper clippings hanging on the wall. Perhaps it was because she was Andy's daughter he felt the need to disclose, "I hung those when I was fourteen," he scoffed. "Anything to piss Sirius off."
"Voldemort is going to unify wizarding Britain," she concluded bemusedly.
"Mm, ambitious," he answered. She looked as if she had more to say on the matter, which prompted a quick subject change from Regulus. "You are Andromeda's daughter," he remarked, despite how obvious the statement it was.
"I prefer to be called Tonks rather than Andromeda's daughter."
"If I recall, there was a name your mother always liked," he smiled slightly at the memory. "Nymphadora, I believe it was."
"Do not call me that, EVER," she warned him.
His eyes widened slightly, "Is that really your name?" He tried not to laugh at her expression but failed miserably.
She gave him a murderous look, "Oh, yes. It's very amusing."
"It could be worse," he told her. "It's just that… Narcissa hated that name. Anytime she could convince Andy to play dolls with her, they would end up getting into it because Andy would insist on naming one of them, well..."
"Nymphadora?" she guessed irritably.
"It's a perfectly respectable name," he smiled.
"That's really reassuring coming from someone named Regulus."
"Blacks are required to give their children abhorrent names," he laughed dryly. "Apparently not even Andy was immune."
"Ridiculous considering she was disowned," she scowled. "But what about you?"
"I was never disowned."
"I meant the names of your children. You said Blacks are required to give their children abhorrent names, even my mother. Were you including yourself as well?"
He wasn't sure how to answer that. For one thing, he didn't want to disclose their names, and for another it was difficult to gauge what a stranger would think of them. As he and Maliah had chosen names that they felt would honor both the Bones and Black families, he admitted, "I've always been fond of tradition."
Her jaw dropped slightly, "You could have kept with the Black's theme of astronomy and still named them something halfway normal," she snapped almost angrily. "Regulus is in the Leo constellation. Why couldn't you have named your son Leo? He would have made a nice Leo."
"Who says I didn't-?" he asked.
"And a moon of Uranus would have been better than anything you named your daughter – Ariel, Bianca, Cordelia, Juliet, Miranda," she raised a finger on her left hand as she listed each name. "I don't much like Ophelia but even that would have been better than a stupid constellation."
"I think you might be taking this a bit too personally," Regulus remarked, both amused and slightly alarmed.
Their conversation was downhill from there as Tonks took finding out his children's names quite seriously and he was equally determined to avoid saying anything more about them. Regulus found himself casting furtive glances in the direction of the door.
When the door finally did open, it was without warning, and it wasn't Dumbledore as he had been expecting. Instead it was Sirius, who quickly dismissed Tonks with the explanation that Mrs. Weasley needed her assistance.
"Expelliarmus," Sirius cast suddenly, not convinced Regulus wasn't carrying a spare wand.
"If I was carrying an extra wand, that wouldn't have worked," Regulus said mildly.
His word choice made Sirius consider pushing the matter further, but realized if Regulus did have a wand stashed away he couldn't get to it without his notice. He also really didn't want to frisk his brother. Instead he sat down heavily on the bed facing him.
Despite having been up all night, his exhaustion wasn't from a lack of sleep. Until a couple of weeks ago, he thought Regulus died fifteen years ago. He had mourned his brother's death, even blamed himself for it on some of his darkest days. He had spent so much time convincing himself he was really gone, he almost thought it would be easier to continue believing he was dead. He had little doubt that if Regulus managed to get his way, he would go back to believing as much.
"What are you going to tell Dumbledore?"
Regulus merely stared back at him and to Sirius' annoyance, he looked more bored than concerned about his predicament.
"He could have you in Azkaban within hours. You must know that."
"He could, certainly. I expect it isn't what he will want."
Sirius scoffed, "Why not? Do you really expect him to care about what happens to you? Do you have any idea how many of the people he cared about are gone now because of the little band of misfits you joined?"
"Do you?" Regulus countered. "I expect it's difficult to know who Dumbledore really cares about."
"This isn't funny, Regulus. People died and you feel no remorse-"
"How could you possibly know how I feel?" he snapped.
"Oh, please. You're not going to tell me I've… neglected you all these years?" Sirius sneered, "You can't be surprised I don't expect you have remorse for what you did as a death eater after what you've done to your own family. Can you imagine how your death must have destroyed our parents? You've seen mother's portrait."
"Don't bring them into this," Regulus warned coldly.
"I believed you died too. I thought you were dead for fifteen years – you let me believe that." Sirius' eyes bore into his until Regulus looked away. "I have every reason not to trust you, yet you act as if I am the one who can't be trusted. I know you're hiding something – not just your family, something else."
"Aside from ensuring my family's existence isn't going to be announced at the next Order meeting – you and I have little that needs to be discussed."
"Do you really think I don't understand wanting to protect someone? My godson is Harry Potter. Not even you would have a bigger target on your back. We should be working together against Voldemort, but all you want to do is run away."
"I… can't be the person you want me to be, Sirius. No more now than when we were younger."
"Forget what you think I want, is this the person you want to be?" Sirius demanded, "A coward who runs away the moment things get difficult?"
"Despite what you think, a coward isn't actually the worst insult you can give someone." Regulus sighed, "I have other people to think about."
"Right, its all about your family. You don't care about anyone else's... but were you never interested in the reason Voldemort tried to kill Harry as a baby?"
Regulus' brow furrowed. "His parents were in the Order," he said as if that was motivation enough. Certainly, Voldemort had killed people for less.
"He came after Harry specifically - not James or Lily," Sirius explained. "A Prophecy had been made about a baby - and Voldemort, months before Harry was born. It was told to Dumbledore, only a death eater overheard it and told Voldemort. It is the reason James and Lily went into hiding in the first place."
For the first time since he entered the room, Regulus' calm façade slipped just a little and Sirius thought he looked a bit paler than before. It was not lost on him that Regulus disappeared right around the same time the Prophecy was made - the prophecy that was overheard by an unknown death eater.
"Well?" Regulus prompted when he hesitated, "What did it say?"
Sirius studied him for a moment, searching for any sign of recollection or deceit.
"It said, that the person with the power to get rid of Voldemort will be born at the end of July," Sirius said carefully.
"Is that it?" Regulus asked, sounding rather more irritated than the situation called for, "Was there no other child born at the end of July that year that it might have applied to?"
"Don't be ignorant, there was more to it than that. Dumbledore says it's obvious it's about Harry."
"And is it? Obvious?"
"I wouldn't know as I haven't heard it."
"Sirius… you're meant to be his guardian," Regulus said with an air of exasperation.
"Stop trying to give me parenting advice! I only told you because it's obvious you've lost all hope that Voldemort can be defeated."
Regulus exhaled slowly and shook his head, "It's not going to be as simple as killing him with a deadly curse. I mean, if you get the chance, take it, but he is just going to come back."
"Were you not listening? It's Harry's destiny to kill him."
"According to a Prophecy you haven't heard. Even if it is true, Prophecies only make sense after they've come to pass."
"Look, I'm as skeptical as anyone when it comes to divination. But whether it is true or not, Voldemort obviously believes in it. He sees Harry as a threat to him, and for that reason, he will never be safe until Voldemort is defeated."
Sirius became so lost in his miserable thoughts he'd nearly forgotten Regulus was there and that he was technically supposed to be 'guarding' him until Dumbledore arrived.
"He made a Horcrux," Regulus said, after a moment. Sirius didn't bother to hide his bewilderment as he stared at him. Regulus' face fell slightly, "You have no idea that means, do you?"
Sirius furrowed his brow, trying to remember. Surely it had been in one of their father's lessons.
"A Horcrux contains a fragment of its creator's soul for the purpose of keeping that person alive in the event their body is destroyed," Regulus answered quietly. "By anyone's standards its dark."
Regulus looked slightly ill as if talking about the Horcruxes had reminded him of something extremely unpleasant. Before Sirius could get any more details from him, they were interrupted by a knock at the door and then Dumbledore was there, looking ominously at Regulus.
