'Mr. Eddings' leisurely drive through Little Whinging, was a poor representation of Regulus' normal driving. The moment they pulled out of his uncle's neighborhood, Harry was jostled around in the backseat, and reminded of his one, and thankfully only, trip on the Knight bus. After a particularly sharp turn in which he nearly fractured his elbow on the seatbelt fasten, he thought to utilize the restraint.
"Where are we going?" He asked, hoping for something to distract him from the feeling of his impending death.
Sirius seemed to be choosing his words carefully, "A safe house in – not far from here. The Weasley's are there. Hermione too – her parents met Molly and Arthur on Monday."
Turning in his seat, Sirius handed him a piece of parchment. "Memorize that and then give it back," he instructed.
Harry unfolded the paper. The narrow handwriting looked vaguely familiar. It said: "The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London."
He read it again before handing it back to Sirius, "What is the Order of the Phoenix?" he asked.
"It's a secret group, founded by Dumbledore, during the last war," Sirius answered as he set fire to the paper with his wand tip. When it was mostly incinerated, he opened the window and dropped it out, seemingly forgetting about it the moment it was gone. Harry could see Regulus watching it from the rearview mirror, a pensive look on his face. "We," he glanced at Regulus and quickly amended, "Its members, fought against Voldemort the last time."
Harry inferred that to mean Regulus had not been in this Order-thing during the last war. Considering he'd been in Slytherin, it wasn't surprising, especially considering how many death eaters came from that house. Rather than linger on that, the questions that had plagued him all summer came spilling out.
"Where is Voldemort?" he blurted. "What's he doing? I've been trying to watch the muggle news but I haven't heard of any mysterious deaths or anything that sounds like him."
"He is laying low for now," Sirius answered. "His return didn't come together quite like he hoped."
"Why not?"
"You survived, and you warned Dumbledore, who immediately re-instated the Order. He's lost some element of surprise. We expect he'll want to build his army up before coming out into the open."
"What is the Order doing then?" Harry asked. "Warning everyone that he is back?"
"We're trying to. Many of us, like me, aren't in a position to do much in that area. And then we have a few Ministry employees, Arthur Weasley included, who would be risking their job if they aren't careful."
"The Ministry is ignoring what is happening," Regulus prompted.
"Right," Sirius said. "You saw Fudge the night of the final task. He hasn't become any more reasonable since then. Instead, he's convinced himself that Dumbledore has begun a fear-mongering campaign that will enable him to replace Fudge as Minister."
"That's ridiculous," Harry said indignantly. "Dumbledore doesn't want to be Minister!"
"I know that. But it's easier for Fudge to convince himself that Dumbledore wants his job rather than accept Voldemort is back. He's started a smear campaign against him – and against you for that matter," he added apologetically.
"Against me?" Harry asked in surprise, "Why me?"
"You are the reason Dumbledore is claiming Voldemort is back. Fudge is using his influence over the news outlets to see to it both of your names are being ran through the mud."
"I've been getting, The Daily Prophet, I haven't seen anything about me except the announcement I'd won the tournament."
"You'd have to read thoroughly to find the references. It's usually subtle – the casual comment about your supposed penchant for tall-tales tucked away in the most unlikely of articles. It seems they are trying to quietly plant the idea in the minds of readers that you are attention-seeking rather than say as much.
"For Dumbledore it's not been subtle. They've demoted him from Chief Warlock on the Wizengamot – that's the Wizard High Court. He's likely going to be voted out of the Chairmanship of the International Confederation of Wizards. They're having a vote next week on the grounds that he's getting old and losing his mind. It's really because he gave a speech announcing that Voldemort has returned."
Harry had subconsciously leaned forward in his seat, stretching his seatbelt until it was uncomfortable but not caring because he was eager to hear news.
"If Voldemort is trying to recruit more death eaters, won't it be obvious he is back?"
"He doesn't go banging on doors and announcing he needs followers." Sirius said. "He tricks, jinxes and blackmails people to do his bidding when he can." He glanced at Regulus. "And his trusted death eaters bring potential recruits to him, so he doesn't have to make much effort there.
"There is something else he wants, besides more followers. Dumbledore thinks he's concentrating on getting it at the moment."
"What is it?" Harry asked.
"Something he didn't have the last time – like a secret weapon."
"It's more like knowledge than a secret weapon," Regulus said with a warning look. "And we don't have it either."
"What is it," Harry repeated.
He noticed the car was slowing down and Sirius let out a long-suffering sigh.
"We'll talk more about it later," he assured him.
Harry looked out the window and raised an eyebrow. They couldn't have been in a less inviting neighborhood. The grimy fronts of the houses surrounding them had a compilation of broken windows and peeling paint. Heaps of rubbish laid outside several sets of front steps.
"This is where we're staying?" he asked. Sirius nodded, his expression was unreadable. "Which one is it?"
Regulus tilted his head to indicate it would be out the passenger-side window.
"Think about what you memorized," he suggested.
Harry did as he was told. The moment he thought, 'number twelve, Grimmauld Place,' a black door appeared between numbers eleven and thirteen, followed swiftly by walls and windows. The hidden house, pushed its markedly grimier neighbors out of its way as it appeared. Harry gaped at the houses in motion, expecting someone to come outside and see what was happening.
"You don't have to stay here," Regulus said to Sirius. "We could come up with something else."
Harry nearly chimed in that something else was probably better. This place made him uneasy and he hadn't even been inside yet.
Sirius looked at his brother for a long moment before reaching for the door handle. "Thanks for the ride," he said, while climbing out of the car.
"Let me know if you change your mind," he called after him.
"You aren't going with us?" Harry asked when Regulus made no effort to get out.
He turned in his seat to look at him. "No... I am actually believed to have died before you were born," he admitted, "and... I would like to keep it that way."
Harry blinked in surprise. "I won't tell anyone about you then... but, why?"
Regulus hesitated. "I think it would be for the best if I let Sirius explain that," he said slowly.
Harry followed his gaze to where Sirius was already waiting for him on the steps leading into the house, his trunk and Hedwig's cage beside him.
"Okay... well, er- thank you, for everything."
"Take care of yourself, Harry," Regulus said proffering his hand, "It was a pleasure to meet you."
"You too," Harry said. He meant it, as the man reminded him quite a lot of Sirius. He wondered if he would see him again as he clambered out of the car and up the steps after his godfather.
He had just enough time to recognize the newly materialized black door had a silver door knocker in the form of a twisted serpent, before Sirius set off a series of metallic clicks followed by what sounded like a clatter of a chain.
The door creaked open, and Sirius motioned for him to go inside. When the door shut behind Sirius they were enclosed in near-complete darkness. Harry heard a soft hissing noise and then old-fashioned gas lamps came to life along the walls, revealing the outdated furnishings of the long hallway they stood in. Both the chandelier and the candelabra on a nearby table were shaped like serpents. And while the hall appeared clean, it was dark and there was an inexplicable feeling of gloom that hung over the place. A quick glance at Sirius told him he didn't like it here any better than Harry did.
"This is the headquarters for the opposition against Voldemort?" he asked doubtfully. "It looks like it should belong to dark wizards."
Sirius smiled tightly. "This is where I grew up."
Harry's mouth clamped shut. "S-sorry. Regulus," Sirius closed his eyes at the mention of his brother's name, "– the rest of your family, that is, I knew they were in Slytherin. I just – this isn't what I expected."
"I should probably show you something before everyone realizes you're here. Just try to be quiet so you don't wake anyone up."
Harry vaguely wondered who would be sleeping in the middle of the day as Sirius beckoned him to follow him. He led him past a set of long curtains that might have been covering a door, around a large umbrella stand that looked suspiciously like it had been made from a severed troll's leg and finally up a dark staircase.
"You can use magic, by the way," Sirius said as they walked. "Underage magic can't be detected here."
"Really?" Harry asked happily. Gloomy house or not, his summer had improved drastically in the span of an hour.
Sirius nodded, "My brother and I did all the time."
Harry's eyes lingered on a row of shrunken heads mounted on plaques on the wall. A closer look revealed they were shrunken house elves. He shook his head. Neither Sirius nor Regulus seemed like they would have grown up here. He couldn't imagine anyone living here.
From the landing, Sirius directed him through a doorway and into a drawing room.
"This is our family tapestry – evidence of our blood purity," he announced dully. "I haven't looked at in years," he said more to himself than Harry.
The tapestry looked immensely old, with dates from the Middle Ages evidencing the sentiment. It was faded, but the golden thread with which it was embroidered glinted brightly enough to be read easily.
"That's the family motto at the top, 'Toujours Pur.' If the house hasn't already, that should tell you what sort of wizards my family were." Harry furrowed his brow. "Always Pure," Sirius clarified.
Harry scanned the bottom of the tree looking for Sirius' name. He found Regulus' easily. He was born in August of 1961, and there was a death date listed in December of 1979. Sirius ran his hand over the area surrounding his brother's name as if expecting more names to reveal themselves.
"Why aren't you on here?" Harry asked.
"I used to be there," he pointed to what looked like a cigarette burn near Regulus' name. "My sweet old mother blasted me off after I ran away from home."
"You ran away from home?"
Sirius nodded, "When I was sixteen. I'd had enough of their pureblood mania – my parents thought to be a Black practically made you royalty."
"Where did you go?"
"To your dad's place. Your grandparents were really good about it. They took me in until I was old enough to get a place of my own."
Harry's eyes flitted to the tapestry, "And your brother? What happened to him?"
"I expect it made life difficult for him when I left," he admitted. "Blacks… there are certain expectations. He joined the death eaters at sixteen."
For a moment, Harry could not believe the mild-mannered man who looked so like Sirius could have been a death eater. But then he recalled the way he had favored his left arm - where the dark mark would have been burned into his skin; his hesitation to answer questions about his past- the fact he was meant to be believed dead.
"How did he die?" he asked, knowing Sirius would know what he meant.
"Trying to bring down Voldemort," he said firmly. He looked as if he would say more, but hesitated at the sound of approaching footsteps.
"He is only alive because he's believed dead," he muttered so quietly Harry had to strain his ears to hear.
"HARRY!" A girl shrieked and his vision became obscured by a large quantity of bushy brown hair as Hermione flung herself at him, engulfing him in a hug.
"He's in here, Ron! Harry is here!"
Sirius watched their exchange with a thoughtful expression. "I'll let you catch up," he said, backing out of the room as Ron came in.
"We didn't hear you arrive," Hermione exclaimed. "We just saw your trunk. Were the Dursleys better this summer? You aren't furious with us, are you? I know our letters were useless – but we couldn't tell you anything! Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn't. Oh, we've got loads to tell you."
"Not all in one breath, I hope," he said, as he pushed her hair out of his face, though he was grinning despite it.
Ron laughed, "Let him breathe."
Hermione released him but continued to grin at him.
"Can you believe this is where Sirius grew up?" Ron asked.
"Mrs. Weasley said the Blacks were a really dark family," Hermione said pensively.
"Yeah Sirius' brother was even a death eater," Ron said in amazement. "Mum reckons the whole family supported him – except Sirius of course."
"And Tonks," Hermione added. "Her mother is Sirius' cousin."
"Yeah, but she was disowned for being a decent human being," Ron said amusedly. "Sirius was disowned too!"
Hermione drew his attention back to the tapestry, "Did you see the Malfoys on here?" He followed her finger and sure enough Draco was there, the son of Sirius' cousin, Narcissa, who had married Lucius Malfoy.
Harry looked from the tapestry to his best friends. For two weeks, he'd been alone at Privet Drive, longing to see them. Here, they'd been together, in the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix - in his godfather's house - learning things about him that he didn't even know.
Hermione seemed to sense his mood change, frowning as she exchanged a look with Ron, who noticed nothing.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Hermione," Harry said in what he hoped was a casual tone, "but I didn't expect you would be here barely two weeks into the break."
Her face reddened, "Oh, well I er-"
"Didn't like being cut off from the magical world, did you?" he asked knowingly. "No information about Voldemort coming in," they both flinched at the name. "I can only imagine how annoying that must have been," he said sarcastically.
"Dumbledore said it was safest for you to be with your relatives," Hermione answered in a placating tone. "He told us-"
"Not to tell me anything. Yeah, I got it."
"It's been boring here mate," Ron said, in effort to make him feel better though it only served to irritate him further.
"You've been bored," he repeated.
"Yeah, we haven't been allowed into the meetings. Mum's just had us cleaning – well, throwing things out really-"
"YOU'VE BEEN BORED? YOU'VE BEEN HERE, HAVEN'T YOU? YOU'VE BEEN TOGETHER! YOU CAN USE MAGIC! ME, I'VE BEEN STUCK AT THE DURSLEYS FOR TWO WEEKS!"
"We can't use magic here," Hermione interjected. She looked scandalized.
"Yes, we can," Harry said, pleased to be able to share something he knew and they didn't. "Underage magic can't be detected here. Sirius told me."
"That's brilliant," Ron said.
"That's illegal – AARGH!"
With two loud cracks, Fred and George had materialized out of thin air, landing on either side of Hermione.
"Stop doing that," she said weakly.
"Hello Harry," George smiled.
"Did I hear something about illegal activity?" Fred asked keenly.
"Only that underage magic can't be detected here," Ron announced happily.
"Oh, little brother," George said contritely.
"So innocent," Fred shook his head.
"What?" he asked irritably.
"If you haven't figured it out for yourself by now, I deem you're unworthy to know," Fred said.
"What are you talking about?" Ron demanded.
"I expect underage magic can't be detected at the Burrow," Hermione said distastefully. "Except by your mother, of course."
"Of course," Fred and George said together in a regretful tone.
"Well go ahead and try it then," Fred prodded, seeing Harry had drawn his wand.
"Oh, Harry. You really are the last person who should test this," Hermione warned. "The Ministry would love for you to-"
"Silencio," he cast, hitting his target. Hermione's eyes widened as she continued to try to speak though made no audible sound.
Fred and George exchanged an amused look. Ron's eyes widened in surprise and he covered his smile with a cough.
The hair on Harry's neck stood on end as he waited, expecting a warning from the Ministry to come any moment.
"Well that settles it," George said after a moment.
"I thought you knew it would work," Ron accused.
"One can never know until they try," Fred answered.
Hermione threw up her arms in exasperation, prompting Harry to end the spell.
"You should know our mother will not approve of this," George remarked. "You'll have to be careful."
"Sirius is the one who told me I could do it," Harry said.
"It was irresponsible for him to tell you that," Hermione protested.
"Careful Hermione," warned Fred.
"You don't want to go angering Harry," George added, as the two smirked identically.
"I'd like to hear more about what happened last night," Regulus said, looking at Carina and Caelum in turn.
Carina, who'd barely spoken all day, glanced at him. "Could you be more specific?"
Regulus exhaled slowly. It had been a long day, but he was determined to sound more patient than he felt, "Are you trying to gauge how much I already know?" he asked.
She looked up at him innocently. "I simply wanted to clarify what you are asking."
There were times when he appreciated how clearly the Black blood flowed in her veins. This was not one of those times. His eyes drifted to Caelum, "You can't go wrong with telling me the truth."
He glanced at his sister before answering. "We met your brother," he admitted. "He ordered Kreacher to bring him the youngest Black heir, expecting it would be you. Carina ordered him to come back, and when he returned without me, she made him take her to where I was."
"Because you were worried about him," Regulus guessed, while watching Carina.
She raised her chin, "I didn't want him to do anything stupid."
Regulus nodded, recognizing that in Carina-speak, she had in fact been worried. They might harass each other endlessly as siblings do, but they were fiercely protective of one another when it came down to it.
"Why did you lie about it?"
Caelum looked down, "I didn't want you to be mad."
"You couldn't have stopped Sirius from summoning you. Lying, on the other hand, was a conscious decision."
Caelum opened his mouth, winced and closed it again. Regulus suspected Carina had kicked him under the table.
"You must have realized Kreacher would tell us the truth."
"Not mum," Carina muttered.
Regulus didn't react but mentally took note of the implication. He had known for years that Kreacher was more loyal to the three of them than he was to Maliah. Whether it was because of blood, or some other reason, scarcely mattered. He'd have to ensure she knew Carina had figured it out.
"No magic for either of you," he said and held his hand out for Caelum's wand. He still had Carina's from the night before.
Caelum reluctantly removed his wand from his pocket and handed it to him.
"For how long?" he asked.
"For the rest of the day and then we'll see," Regulus said, taking Caelum's wand and stashing it with Carina's.
"Can't I have mine back then?" Carina asked resentfully. "You've already had it all day."
A/N: A lot of this chapter is similar to the book, sorry for that, but I felt it was information that needed to be included. Also, sorry for making Sirius and Harry go to Grimmauld Place. Suffice to say, that arrangement may be short-lived.
