The morning after Olympe's visit found Regulus up early after very little sleep, of course that was usual for him these days. The fireplace glowed green and he recalled hearing that Harry was going to go surfing with Carina. He had to wonder how she had conned him into getting up so early for something so mundane.
"Good morning, Harry," he greeted him.
"Good morning sir," Harry answered politely.
No matter that he wasn't his teacher, the boy tended to address him with formality.
Regulus glanced at his watch. "Carina should be ready any minute."
"Okay," Harry said, shifting his feet awkwardly.
"Have you been having a good summer?" he asked him casually as he waited.
"Yes, sir," he answered. He hesitated before adding, "I don't know if I ever said thank you for letting me stay at your house."
"That's quite alright. You are welcome anytime."
Carina joined them in the next moment, and Harry's focus instantly shifted to her.
"Are you ready?" she asked.
"Yes," he said tersely.
"Be careful," Regulus called after them as they made to leave.
"We will," Harry promised. Carina gave him a look Harry could not see; it was answered with an ironic smirk.
Sirius was waiting for him at his house when he arrived via Floo.
The idea of making Harry his own bedroom had been well-received when he and Maliah proposed it the day before. They started to work on it right away, hoping to have it finished by the time Harry returned.
"Has Harry's scar bothered him anymore?" Regulus asked casually, in between spells.
Sirius seemed to have an internal debate before answering. "Some," he admitted reluctantly.
Regulus tried not to look as surprised as he felt - not that Harry's scar bothered him, that was obvious, but that Sirius had admitted as much.
"Does anything seem to trigger it?"
"Dumbledore has a theory that it bothers Harry when Voldemort is either near him or when he is feeling a particularly strong surge of hatred."
Regulus thought about it for a second. "Basically, all the time then?"
Sirius' lips twitched, "A strong sense of hatred – even for him."
"Dumbledore knows of this connection between them," he said slowly. "Did he have any advice on how to stop it?"
Sirius looked at him blankly. "It's caused by a cursed wound – a rebounded killing curse, there isn't exactly a precedent."
"Okay… so there isn't a precedent. Common sense suggests that if Harry can experience Voldemort's emotions it could work in reverse. What prevents Voldemort from having access to Harry's emotions?"
Sirius raised an eyebrow, "It could only improve his temperament."
He clenched his jaw, "If Voldemort has access to Harry's thoughts- "
"He doesn't," Sirius assured him. "No more than Harry knows what Voldemort is thinking. It doesn't work that way. Dumbledore doesn't think Voldemort is even aware of the connection."
"You don't think he's going to notice having emotions that aren't his? He's evil not daft."
"We are teaching Harry Occlumency," he reminded him tersely. "What more can we do?"
Sirius apparated to the front stoop of number twelve Grimmauld Place with Harry, both hidden beneath Harry's invisibility cloak.
Quietly, so as to not disturb anyone, they made their way through the entrance hall. When Sirius slipped out from under the cloak, he suspected Harry was tempted to stay under it and follow him down to the meeting. Sure enough, when he looked back at where he'd left him, it was a moment before Harry emerged. With a rueful smile, he then darted up the stairs to find Ron and Hermione.
Most of the Order members had already gathered by the time Sirius entered the kitchen. He knew everyone apart from a younger witch with black hair. He thought he'd seen her before but couldn't place where it would have been and knew it wasn't at an Order meeting. Nearly everyone stopped talking mid-conversation and stared at him.
"Whoa, Sirius. You look…different," said Tonks.
"I think some time away has been good for you," Arthur added, shaking his hand in greeting.
"Yes, that's very good, but where is Harry?" Molly asked.
He hesitated. She cared for Harry sure, but the woman drove him nuts.
"He is safe," he said evasively.
"You've left him alone?" she squawked.
"He's fifteen," he pointed out.
"And Voldemort wants him dead!"
"He wants us all dead," he reminded her.
"First, you leave with him in the middle of the night, and now -?"
"Molly," Dumbledore said from the doorway before things could escalate. "You'll find Harry is upstairs visiting with the youngest Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger."
As if in slow motion, her head turned, looking from Dumbledore to him.
He merely smirked in response, ignoring the irritated look she was giving him.
Harry crept up the stairs, careful to keep from waking up Sirius' mother in the portrait. On the first landing, a long mane of red hair appeared and with it the distinct smell of dung-bombs.
"Oh hey, Harry," greeted Ginny brightly. "I didn't know you were here."
"I just got here." His eyes settled on her brown hands. "Do I even want to know?" he asked amusedly.
She grimaced, "I'll just… go and wash up." With that, she turned and went back the way she came.
He continued up the steps and found Ron and Hermione in the room he and Ron briefly shared.
"Harry," Hermione squealed when she saw him and jumped up to hug him. He grinned as he hugged her back and shook Ron's hand.
"Welcome back, mate," Ron said. "Where've you been?"
He remembered Regulus' request about not throwing his name around. He was listed on the tapestry with a death date, after all.
"The Blacks have another house – it's in the countryside... I don't exactly know where it is," he said ambiguously. It wasn't a lie as he really didn't know where their house was apart from it being in France. He hoped it would be enough to satisfy their interest until he knew what was safe to share.
"Is it as creepy there as it is here?" Ron asked.
"No, it's quite different from here actually. I've – er – gotten to spend a lot of time outside. Flying mostly."
"I haven't flown all summer," Ron said wistfully. "Do you think we could go there with you?"
"No," Harry said a bit too quickly. "Er- I mean, I would have to ask Sirius… but it is a lot smaller."
"Where are your glasses?" Hermione asked suddenly.
"Sirius taught me a spell that can be used to see without them." It was actually Regulus, and he had advised him that he should not use it all the time. It couldn't be helped though, since Harry was fairly certain his glasses were lost.
"Ohh, but weren't you afraid to use something like that on your eyes? What spell is it? And what have you done to your hair?"
Harry's usual instinct when someone mentioned his hair being messy was to uselessly attempt to flatten it. He stopped himself from doing just that, when he remembered Carina had so kindly told him that it was a "lost cause" earlier. He had half-heartedly objected and pretended it was insulting when she proceeded to give her own suggestion of what he should do with it, though he had secretly enjoyed having her hands in his hair as she arranged it. Being reminded of it now, caused a sudden feeling of warmth to creep up his neck and into his face.
"Does it look that bad?" he asked, feigning embarrassment.
"Actually… no," she said with an odd look. "But you aren't becoming high maintenance, are you?"
He blinked. "I don't think you have to worry about that happening."
"That's good," she said. Her eyes flitted over him as if only then noticing the rest of him. "You do look different… but it's in a good way."
Apart from not wearing his glasses and having clothes that fit him properly, he didn't think he could look much different.
"Hey-!" Ron protested. "What about me?"
"Oh, you look the same as always," she snapped.
"I think you look very nice too," Harry told him jokingly.
Ron threw up his hands as if it was what he already knew. "Thank you," he said, giving Hermione a smug look which she ignored.
Harry glanced at her and saw she was still looking at him.
"What?" he asked, starting to feel self-conscious.
"Nothing, just… you seem happy."
He hesitated, "I don't know if 'happy' is the right word, but the past few weeks have been better than I would have thought possible considering Voldemort is back. It's also really good to see you two."
"We're glad to have you back," Hermione beamed.
"Mum was beside herself when she realized you were gone," Ron said darkly.
"Yeah, it wasn't pretty," Hermione agreed. "She said some pretty terrible things about Sirius being irresponsible."
There was a wheezy sort of laugh that didn't belong to any of them. They looked at each other in alarm for a moment before Harry realized who it had to be.
"Kreacher."
The ancient house elf appeared wearing a pristine tea-towel inscribed with the letter B. Hermione gasped and Ron leapt backwards.
"You called?" he asked, with an irreverent tilt of his head.
"What are you doing here?"
"Kreacher lives to serve the house of Black. This is the Black's ancestral home."
Hermione put a hand over her mouth as she stared at him.
"But why are you here now? Did some – did Sirius send you?"
"Kreacher was not sent. Kreacher has come to clean as Kreacher has always done."
"Oh, that's good." Ron said. "I found a spider the size of my hand in here yesterday. I could barely sleep-" he was silenced by a look from Hermione.
"I cannot believe Sirius has a house elf," she exclaimed. Kreacher looked just as outraged as she did though Harry suspected it was for a different reason.
"The Blacks are an ancient family," he reasoned. From what he could tell, Regulus' family treated the house elf as if he was an extension of their family. Certainly, he was treated better than Dobby or Winky had been.
"But it's Sirius," Hermione objected. "He has said himself that he is nothing like the rest of his family, and he knows what it is to be imprisoned. Why doesn't he free him?"
The house elf fixed her with a cold glare, "Kreacher does not wish to be free," he croaked.
Hermione made as if to approach the elf, and he jerked away from her in alarm.
"Hermione," Harry said sharply. "I'm only going to be here until the meeting is over. Can we please not spend our time talking about house elf rights?" He then turned to the house elf. "Kreacher, if you're going to clean, go and do it somewhere else." Seeing the way Hermione was looking at him, he tacked on the word, "Please."
He wasn't sure if he would listen to him, as he wasn't a Black, but Kreacher gave a mocking sort of twitch of his head and disappeared with a loud 'crack'.
"You aren't staying?" Ron asked after he'd gone.
"No, we'll go back after the meeting. Sirius doesn't like being here."
Hermione looked as if she was holding back a comment only with great effort. As Harry suspected it would either involve Kreacher or Sirius, he thought a subject change was in order.
"So, what do you all know about the meetings," Harry asked, deeming they had spent enough time catching up. "Have you heard anything about what is Voldemort doing?"
"Well, you took the only member of the Order who might have told us anything," Ron said, not quite masking his irritation with that fact.
"Sirius?"
"Of course, Sirius," Hermione said. "Not even Tonks will tell us anything."
"She at least looks like she feels bad about not being able to tell us," Ron intoned. "I think the others like keeping us in the dark, honestly."
"So, what do you know?" Hermione asked impatiently.
Considering they were the ones staying at headquarters, Harry had thought they must know more than they conveyed in letters. He couldn't help but think they were simply overlooking details.
"Well… you must have heard… Hagrid is off to try to reason with the giants," he said, though it felt like old news by now.
Their surprised expressions told him otherwise, and he was soon launching into what little he had heard about his mission with Madame Maxime. By the time they discussed Remus going to live with the other werewolves, there was a loud knock on the door.
"Harry," Mrs. Weasley said, pulling him into a tight hug. "We've been so worried about you."
He smiled, "Thanks, but you don't have to worry about me. I've got Sirius."
He felt her tense at his words.
"Well, let's look at you properly," she said, pulling back.
"You've been fed better this summer," she said approvingly. "But I don't like the idea of you using magic to correct your vision."
"I will try wear glasses more," he said to appease her. His old glasses might have been lost, but Sirius would take him to get new ones if he asked.
"And isn't there a hairbrush where you're staying?"
"I'll try to find one," he promised with a grin.
"Oh," she sighed, "I suppose you've done alright for yourself," she conceded. After another few minutes of her fussing over him and ensuring there was nothing he needed before school started back, Harry got another tight hug, and she excused herself.
"Dumbledore, a word, if you please," Sirius said, after the meeting ended.
He nodded and the remaining stragglers from the meeting cleared out.
Sirius moved to the chair that was directly across from him.
"Tell me about the Prophecy," he said bluntly.
The aged headmaster sighed, "We have been through this, I don't know how many times."
"Tell me or Harry isn't going back to your little school," he pressed.
"Be reasonable, Sirius. Harry belongs at Hogwarts."
"He belongs where he is safe and happy – he is both of those things in France."
"Hogwarts is his home."
"Hogwarts is his school – not his home. And considering he's nearly died every year he's been there, and we've now got you lording information of this Prophecy over our heads – it's difficult to refute he would be safer elsewhere. We may have an in at Beauxbatons, come to think of it."
Dumbledore pursed his lips, "Perhaps your efforts would be better spent in convincing Regulus to come to Hogwarts. It would keep the Ministry from intervening which we both know would be disastrous."
"Or maybe, I should send Harry to Beauxbatons where Regulus and I can both keep an eye on him – and there is no concern with the Ministry intervening or a headmaster overstepping their scope."
He raised an eyebrow. "Frankly, I'm a bit surprised you've put so much trust in Regulus."
Sirius blinked, "Says the person who wants him to teach at Hogwarts."
"I see value in having him back in Britain, both to keep the Ministry out of Hogwarts and because I believe Regulus could prove instrumental to the Order... However, if this threat is from him – if he wants Harry to transfer to Beauxbatons – I find myself wondering what his goal is in isolating Harry from everyone and everything he's ever known."
It was true that Regulus had suggested Harry could go to Beauxbatons, but it had never been more than an offhanded remark. He seemed perfectly aware Harry wouldn't leave Hogwarts. Without knowing what they knew, he might have understood someone being leery that Regulus, the "reformed" death eater, could want to lure Harry into danger, but Dumbledore knew what Regulus had done to defy Voldemort already. How could he question his loyalty so easily?
He didn't bother to keep the disdain from his tone, "Do not tell me you don't trust Regulus when you trust Snape."
"It is not a matter of trusting Regulus. I was simply commenting on my surprise by the degree in which you seem to. He has made it clear it is his family whom he will protect above all else."
"Its convenient that he is my brother then," Sirius said pointedly.
Dumbledore brought his fingertips together as he observed him. Sirius expected he would unnecessarily point out that he nor Harry were included in the family dynamic Regulus sought to protect.
"You can't pull him out of Hogwarts," he said instead.
"If it was any other student, would you even care? What is in that Prophecy that makes it so important for Harry to stick around?"
"It's nothing to do with the Prophecy. It is about what is in Harry's best interest. His parents went to Hogwarts. His friends are there. Are you telling me he wants to leave Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger? Sirius, we both know this is an empty threat."
"He's quite content in France actually. He's been learning French. He's made friends," Sirius shrugged. Of course, he knew it wouldn't be convincing if he overlooked the value in his friendships at Hogwarts. "Obviously, he would still stay in touch with Ron and Hermione." He gave a long-suffering sigh, "Why won't you make this easier on both of us and just tell me what the Prophecy says."
"Horcruxes, Sirius. They are more important than any Prophecy – our focus should be on those."
He wasn't going to be deterred that easily. "If I can convince Regulus to help me hunt for the Horcruxes, will you tell me the Prophecy?"
Dumbledore seemed to contemplate it for a moment.
"If you convince Regulus to teach at Hogwarts – then I will consider it."
"Consider," Sirius repeated derisively. Regulus was as likely to sneak Harry into the Department of Mysteries to listen to the Prophecy himself as he was to teach at Hogwarts. Unbelievable as it was, he was beginning to think that might be their most viable option.
"Now that's a tempting proposition, isn't it?" he remarked cynically. "Hey Reg – if you announce your survival to wizarding Britain, Dumbledore might tell me a Prophecy you have no reason to care about."
"On the contrary, if Regulus has spent any amount of time with Harry, I would be surprised if he hasn't come to care for the boy. The two of them have something in common too."
"They both hate Voldemort," Sirius could agree to that.
"Beyond that, they've each destroyed one of his Horcruxes. For Regulus it was Slytherin's locket, and for Harry it was Tom Riddle's diary in his second year."
Sirius took a deep breath, reminding himself they needed to know about the Horcruxes as much as they needed to know the Prophecy. He recalled the story about the Chamber of Secrets.
"That came to the Weasley girl from Malfoy, right?"
"Indeed," Dumbledore said. "Perhaps Regulus would know if any other death eater was entrusted with something similar."
After what he considered to be an unsuccessful meeting with Dumbledore concluded, Sirius trekked up the stairs to the room Harry would be sleeping in if they were staying there. He knocked on the door and it was immediately answered by Hermione.
"Hello Sirius," she said brightly.
"Hi," he answered, looking from her to Ron before his eyes landed on Harry.
"What happened in the meeting?" He mouthed.
Sirius pushed the door closed and leaned against it. He turned his head to listen for anyone outside before turning back to them. "Honestly, not much. I think the only new bit of information is they've decided to disband the guard on Privet Drive – which, I thought they'd already done."
"That's it?" Ron asked incredulously.
Sirius shrugged, "Slow news day."
"Mrs. Weasley was up here ages ago, what took you?" Harry asked suspiciously.
He raised an amused eyebrow, "I didn't realize you'd be in such a hurry to leave." He frowned slightly. "We can stay here if-
"No," Harry said, "I want to go back."
Sirius hesitated before nodding slightly. "Just let me know when you're ready," he said, excusing himself.
