Regulus was unable to recall very many instances that were more unnerving than waiting as Sirius and Dumbledore perused his memories in the Pensieve. In hindsight, he wasn't sure he had even chosen the most pertinent ones to share.

No longer having a reason not to, he took the time to remove the yellowing collage of articles about Voldemort from his wall and disposed of them.

It seemed to take ages before Sirius and Dumbledore emerged from the Pensieve. When they did, it was followed by an awkward silence.

"You showed remarkable bravery - going into that cave," Dumbledore began.

"As it wasn't the only Horcrux, it was all a waste," Regulus answered dismissively.

"It wasn't a waste," Dumbledore assured him. "It means we have one less Horcrux to hunt down."

"There are more?" Sirius asked dreadfully.

"I'm afraid so," Dumbledore answered gravely.

"You do not think he would have come up with some other means to come back in case his Horcruxes failed?" Regulus asked.

"He put his faith in Horcruxes and his own brilliance," Dumbledore said. "He did not doubt his Horcruxes would work any more than he would suspect someone could figure out he had made them. And it is, of course, imperative that he does not find out we know about them." He looked between the two of them meaningfully before focusing on Regulus. "Please correct me if I am wrong to think that there is only one other living person, besides Voldemort himself, who knows he created a Horcrux."

"Maliah obviously is not going to tell anyone," he said, struggling to sound casual rather than defensive.

"What about Harry?" Sirius asked. "We should tell him about them – and about the Prophecy too."

"There is no use in worrying him with the Prophecy now," said Dumbledore. "Beyond that, his knowing of the Horcruxes would make it more likely Voldemort will find out we know about them."

"Voldemort won't get close enough to Harry to use Occlumency on him," Sirius answered fiercely. "But the prophecy says he is the one who will defeat him. How can he do that if he doesn't know about the Horcruxes?"

"There may come a time when Harry will need to be told about them. Right now, he is a fourteen-year-old boy who recently witnessed a friend being murdered by the same man who killed his parents. I am inclined to think we should wait before delivering any other unsavory news to him," Dumbledore asserted. "Now, Regulus, I know you are in a hurry to get back to your family, but I hoped you might assist us with one last task before you go."

"What is it?" he asked warily.


When Dumbledore suggested that Regulus should accompany him to 'pick up' Harry, Sirius hadn't expected they were literally going to pick him up. In a car. Even after seeing him drive once before in Little Whinging, it was a little bizarre to see his brother weaving in and out of London traffic with the practiced ease of someone accustomed to driving in large muggle cities on a regular basis.

The black sedan mounted the pavement more than once to avoid slow-moving vehicles, yet never managed to hit the lamp posts or muggles walking. Nor did they draw attention from any of the law enforcement officials monitoring for reckless drivers. No muggles seemed to notice them at all.

"Dumbledore said to obey the laws of traffic so we don't draw attention to ourselves," Sirius reminded him. "No magic."

"Do you always do everything Dumbledore says?" He asked mildly.

"No," Sirius answered irritably, though he couldn't deny he was in disagreement with Dumbledore on a number of things. Even just before they left, he had wanted to insist they should tell Harry about the Prophecy - and everything else, but he couldn't risk saying something that would change his mind about getting Harry out of the Dursley's.

"Just stop using it when we get close to the Dursley's house and don't use any inside. I wouldn't put anything past the Ministry right now."

The car wasn't as good as Sirius' flying motorbike, which would have allowed them to bypass traffic entirely, but he could admit it wasn't a bad way to travel. The windows were tinted dark enough no one could see inside. And if Regulus chose to drive properly, they would be perfectly disguised among the muggles.

He soon found himself casting furtive glances at Regulus, a slight smile tugging at his lips when he did so. There was something different when he looked at him.

"What?" Regulus finally asked in annoyance.

"You turned against Voldemort."

"You knew that."

"Well, yes, but I imagined it went down a bit differently." In an undertone, he added, "a lot differently."

"You made it clear what you thought," Regulus said dryly.

"I was wrong though. You walked to your imminent death in that cave... You sacrificed yourself to help bring down Voldemort." He vaguely wondered how concerned he should be that his brother had essentially attempted suicide all those years ago. "Ill-thought out as it was not to have gotten help–it was brave." He refrained from making a reference to Gryffindor, knowing it would spoil the compliment.

Regulus frowned slightly, "Don't delude yourself into thinking it was some great heroic act, Sirius."

"Are you trying to be modest?" he asked incredulously. "You should be preening from all this praise I'm trying to lavish upon you right now."

Regulus' eyes flitted to his before returning to the road ahead, his expression unreadable, "I didn't learn about the Horcrux and immediately go after it - I hesitated, for weeks. I waited so long, I nearly ran out of time."

"It looked to me like you made up your mind to find out what Voldemort was hiding the moment Kreacher came back from that cave. You betrayed him in allowing Kreacher to live - and you were trying to figure out who his spy was, weren't you?"

"Yes, but-"

"And if you hadn't waited as long as you did, you wouldn't have been around to warn the Bones family of the attack at their house."

Regulus pursed his lips at the mention of his mostly deceased in-laws. It was evident he did not want to talk about them. Sirius' thoughts went to his newly realized sister-in-law. From what he remembered from school, Maliah used to hang around with the less contemptible students from their house. He had not quite gotten over his surprise of learning his brother had ended up with her.

From the window he saw the city landscape had been replaced by the manicured lawns of the suburbs, and knew they must be getting close to the Dursley's. He was just about to remind Regulus to stop using magic when he felt the car slow down and they fell in line with the other muggle vehicles on the road.

"Can I hear the names of my niece and nephew?" he asked cautiously.

"Acknowledging the relation now, are you?"

"I'd barely accepted you were alive and then they were there. To say they caught me by surprise would be an understatement."

"You called him there."

"I was expecting you. I didn't even know he existed."

"If I tell you their names, will you stop this inquisition? I've had enough of my life on display for one night."

It was technically a new day, but Sirius didn't correct him. He nodded in agreement.

"My daughter is Carina, and my son is Caelum," he said reluctantly.

Sirius barely had time to register their names had not been recycled from any past relatives before Regulus changed the subject.

"You aren't staying there because of nostalgia. So why?"

He knew he was talking about Grimmauld Place even if the Fidelius Charm prevented him from forming the words. "It is the only option that is safe and near Harry."

"After we get Harry, you can take him anywhere you want for the summer. You don't have to make yourself miserable by staying there."

"It is Headquarters, it's convenient, and it's safe. Harry's friends are there already. They're as anxious as I am to see him."

"Assuming his friends go to Hogwarts, they've spent the past ten months with him," Regulus pointed out.

"His friends are his family," Sirius answered tersely. "Maybe you can't understand that, but I do."

"How much time have you spent with him?" Regulus asked.

"If I had it my way he would live with me. I invited him to when I thought my name would be cleared but… over a year later I'm still on the run."

Neither of them spoke for several minutes. Sirius could tell by the set of Regulus' mouth that he was deep in thought about something. As he had presumably only been to the Dursley's house once, Sirius thought he might have forgotten the way and started to pay more attention.

"I always hated where we lived," Regulus said as he eased off the gas, and turned; Sirius recognized they were now in Harry's neighborhood.

"Well, it didn't show," Sirius answered wryly. He had always seemed content, if not proud, of their house when they were younger.

"There is nowhere to fly in a neighborhood full of muggles... Rather than move, we complained about having to hide our magic from them," he scoffed. "Why did we stay there?"

Sirius smirked slightly, "I didn't.

"But now you are back." His smirk turned into a scowl. "There must be some other safe house you could go to for a while. Someplace less… suffocating, where you and Harry could have some semblance of a normal summer together."

"The other properties of our estate were less protected than our ancestral home. The Ministry will have means to monitor them – if not seize them. It isn't worth the risk."

"What if there was another place?"

"There isn't," Sirius said tersely.

"What if there was?" he tried again.

"We are going to Grimmauld Place," Sirius said, beginning to get irritated. "Harry's friends will be expecting him and it is where he will want to be."

Regulus allowed the matter to drop, "Will he be allowed to practice magic?" he asked after a moment.

Sirius thought about it. Despite the wards in place that would have prevented detection, none of the underage kids currently at Grimmauld Place had been allowed to carry their wands. He didn't expect he could allow Harry to use magic without causing a rift.

"The Order members are a bit stricter with the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery than our parents were," he admitted.

"He'll be living as a muggle then."

"That is common practice," Sirius countered, aware he sounded more like Remus than himself. "He is underage."

It was obvious Regulus didn't agree with the decision. Of course, it would seem ridiculous to him that someone underage couldn't practice magic – he became a death eater when he should have still had the trace! He may have been a special case in that regard, but not even the Potter's had enforced the Decree in their house, and they certainly were not dark wizards. He and James practiced spells during their breaks together at the Potter's house, just as easily as he and Regulus had at Grimmauld Place.

And just as easily as Harry would be able to, he decided. He would simply have to make it known that it was his decision as Harry's guardian.


Harry had been awake for some time, but without his aunt screaming at him to get out of bed, he was gazing apathetically at the ceiling of his bedroom in number four, Privet Drive. He was in this state when his Uncle Vernon entered his bedroom. He was wearing one of his best suits and an expression of extreme smugness.

"Your aunt Petunia, Dudley and I are going out," he announced proudly.

"Good," Harry answered indifferently.

"You must stay in your bedroom, or go outside."

"Okay."

"You are not to steal food from the refrigerator, touch the television, stereo, or any of our possessions."

"Fine," Harry said dully as his stomach growled. He resolved to find something from the cupboard to eat after they left.

His uncle Vernon glared at him suspiciously for a moment, then stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him. He heard his heavy footsteps carry him down the hall. A few minutes later he heard the sound of car doors slamming, and the rumble of an engine, and he knew they were gone.

He must have dozed off as he startled awake some time later. He listened intently, trying to figure out what had woken him up. Had he been asleep long enough for the Dursleys to be back?

He heard footsteps from below and snatched up his wand from his bedside table. It was a risk, openly carrying his wand in the house, but it was an even bigger risk to be caught without it. He cautiously left his bedroom and slowly made his way across the landing, intermittently walking and stopping to listen.

The overhead light turned on and he saw a tall man, handsome despite his gaunt appearance, standing at the bottom of the stairs. He recognized it was his godfather grinning up at him. Harry lowered his wand but did not release his grip on it.

"What are you doing here?" he asked warily. He had reason to be suspicious, after all. He'd just spent a school year believing his Defense against the Dark Arts professor was the retired Auror he said, rather than the escaped death eater he was. There was also the debacle from a couple of nights ago, when Padfoot had stormed the house, only to disappear without a trace before Harry could so much as say 'hello'.

Sirius' smile faded, "Listen, I'm sorry about the other night. I should have talked to you before running off like that."

Harry's suspicions faded, replaced by the hurt and resentment he'd felt since the beginning of summer.

"It would have taken two seconds to say-"

"It was my fault," a new voice said. Its owner was a lithe, dark-haired man who had joined his godfather at the bottom of the stairs. He looked very much like Sirius, but without the toll of Azkaban haunting his appearance.

"This is my younger brother, Regulus," Sirius explained as the other male stepped forward, extending his hand. Harry shook it dutifully.

"We've met before," he informed him. "Though I looked different that night. It was because of me that Sirius wasn't able to stay and talk to you."

"Mr. Eddings," Harry said, stunned.

He smiled faintly, "I'm glad to have left an impression."

"It isn't a night I'll be forgetting anytime soon," he admitted. He looked between the two of them before his eyes settled back on Sirius, "What are you doing here?" he asked again, though with a bit more warmth in his tone this time.

"We're here to collect you, of course," Sirius smiled and Harry hated that it looked so much more tentative compared to before. He closed the distance between them and flung his arms around him.

"It's good to see you," Sirius chuckled, patting him on the back.

"Dumbledore arranged for your family to be gone when we got here," Regulus said after he released Sirius.

"He didn't trust us to be civil," Sirius added wryly.

"Well, they wouldn't have been," Harry answered resentfully.

Rather eerily, neither of the brothers reacted to his statement, instead they watched him with near-identical, unreadable expressions.

Sirius cleared his throat, "Dumbledore requested I write your aunt and uncle a letter explaining that you've gone, you're safe, and that they shouldn't worry."

"They won't," Harry answered dully, taking sudden interest in a speck of dirt on the floor.

"I'll need something to write with," Sirius said.

Harry led them into the kitchen where he retrieved a notebook and pen for him to use. Sirius stared at the pen for a second. Harry was just about to ask if he knew how to use it when he pushed the top, exposing the tip. His hand hesitated over the paper, an amused expression appearing on his face.

"Go get your things while I write this," he said gently.

"Do you want some help packing?" Regulus offered.

"Sure."

Regulus followed him back into the hall and up the stairs. He wore a politely curious expression as they walked through the house. Harry felt a bit embarrassed to show him his room as it was quite messy. He hadn't even made up his bed yet. He knew most of his books were strewn around and Hedwig's cage was beginning to smell.

"I would have packed if I'd known you were coming - and cleaned," he added the last bit upon entering his bedroom and realizing it was even messier than he had thought.

Regulus waved a hand dismissively, "I hate to think what my kids' rooms would look like if they were left to their own devices."

Harry looked at him in surprise. Not only did Sirius have a brother he never told him about, but he was also an uncle. "You have children?"

"A daughter your age and a son who is eleven," he confirmed.

Harry gaped at him. He didn't look old enough to have a kid his age. Hadn't Sirius even said he was his younger brother?

Regulus smiled slightly, "Shall we pack, little lion?"

"Oh, yeah." Harry answered, shaking his head. "Er- Sirius told you I was in Gryffindor?" he asked as he began to pile books into his trunk.

"Lucky guess," Regulus answered wryly as he examined Hedwig's cage.

"Were you in Gryffindor too?"

"No, I was in Slytherin."

"Really?" Harry asked, turning from his stack of books to look at him. "I knew families didn't have to go together but that… that's quite the opposite."

"It was Sirius who was the oddball in our family," he explained while tipping Hedwig's cage onto its side and shaking the mess into the bin. "Everyone else went to Slytherin."

"I didn't know that," he admitted as he closed his trunk. "I didn't even know Sirius had a brother," he said in a tone somewhere between accusing and apologetic.

Regulus pursed his lips. "It is for good reason he doesn't talk about me."

Harry started to ask what he meant by that, but Regulus checked his watch, subtly reminding him they should hurry. Carelessly tossing the rest of his stuff into the trunk, Harry forced it shut and indicated he was ready.

Regulus lifted his trunk to carry downstairs and Harry followed him with Hedwig's empty cage. Upon noticing that Regulus was struggling a bit with the heavy trunk, Harry set aside Hedwig's cage and grabbed the nearest end of the trunk to help him.

"It is always awkward on these steps," he said by way of excuse.

"Yeah..." Regulus said in an odd tone, though Harry was glad to notice that he didn't seem offended.

They set his trunk by the front door and Harry ran back upstairs for the cage. He caught sight of Regulus rubbing his left arm on his way back down, which he promptly stopped doing upon noticing him.

"Are you hurt?" Harry asked, thinking he might have pulled a muscle carrying his trunk.

"Its an old injury," he said dismissively. They started towards the kitchen to find Sirius, but he stepped into the hallway before they got there, wearing a wide grin.

"Ready to go?" he asked cheerfully.

"What does your letter say?" Regulus asked, a smile playing at his lips.

Sirius didn't seem to hear him, as he directed them towards the front door.

"Everyone load up," he said, lifting Harry's trunk with relative ease and carrying it outside.

It occurred to Harry only as he was climbing into the backseat that he had no idea where they were going. Not that he cared. Anywhere was better than here.