Harry gripped Sirius' sleeve. He squeezed his eyes shut and after a loud 'pop' they disapparated from the Black Mansion. He appeared in front of #12 Grimmauld Place only a second later. Harry instantly felt the familiar dizziness he got from apparition and disapparation.
"God I hate wizard travel," he groaned. Sirius patted his back and smirked.
"It may have its issues, but it's a hell of a lot faster than traveling like muggles," Sirius said. Harry scowled at him.
"Let's get this over with," he said. They both entered the old house and were greeted with cobwebs and dust. Harry coughed and sneezed.
"Home sweet home," Sirius let out an exasperated sigh. Harry rubbed his nose and looked around.
"It's not a pleasant environment. It's a good thing Fleur isn't here or she'd have a fit over this mess," he joked. Sirius nodded in agreement. They headed upstairs to Regulus' room and opened the door. Like the rest of the house, it was dusty and filled with cobwebs. Harry looked around for a moment before stepping into the room.
"Alright. I suppose we should look for clues now," Sirius said as he stepped into the room. He started rummaging through the dresser as Harry moved to the nightstand. There was a few minutes of silence before Harry brushed his fingers over a silver locket.
"Sirius I think I found it!" Harry said excitedly. Sirius walked over and examined the locket.
"Alright, let's see what we're dealing with," Sirius pressed the button on the locket. It clicked open and Sirius gasped. Air swirled around them. Harry felt his ears pop. The locket itself was nothing special. However, when the shades of Lily and James Potter and Harry appeared in front of him he could only gape.
"Stupid little runt of his family," said Lily's shade.
"A lying traitor," James' shade joined in.
"You are a disappointment to us. Nothing but a cowardly little rich boy." Harry's shade sneered.
"No! That's not true!" Sirius shouted over the cackling of the shades.
"I had the perfect little family, and then you showed up and ruined it," Harry's shade said. Sirius' knees bucked and he started sobbing into his hands. Harry knelt in front of Sirius and shook him by the shoulders
"Sirius! Get up! They aren't real! They're using magic to mess with your mind!" Harry shouted. He briefly looked back at the locket before grabbing grabbing Sirius' shoulder. Sirius removed his hands from his face. His eyes were empty as if he was recently released from Azkaban again. Harry shoved Sirius out of the way.
"Leave him alone!" Harry shouted at the locket. The shade of himself disappeared only to be replaced by Fleur.
"Hello son. I must say you've turned out to be quite the disappointment." James said.
"I feel the same way, darling. Our little runt has been nothing but a waste since the day he was born." Lily agreed.
"Isn't amazing what a little fake smile and nice words can do for such a lonely little boy?" Fleur mocked. Harry gritted his teeth. This wasn't real, he knew that.
"Come on Tom!" Harry said with defiance. The shades faltered for a moment. This gave Harry enough time to pull his wand out and point it at the shades.
"What are you going to do Harry?" Fleur's shade said. She grinned and stepped towards him. Harry steeled his nerves.
"Feindfyre evocare!" Harry bellowed. Fire bathed the locket and leapt across the floor and onto the walls. The shades screeched and tore at their faces. Slowly, they melted into a black substance and leaked across the floor, being consumed by the feindfyre along with the room. Harry turned to see Sirius coming to his senses.
"Harry? What happened?" He asked, stumbling to his feet. The fire raged, creeping slowly towards them. It roared like a lion, consuming everything inside the room.
"No time! We need to leave, now!" Harry shouted, grabbing Sirius by the collar and hauling him into the hall. He slammed the door shut and sprinted to the stairs. Sirius was hot on his heels.
"What the bloody hell happened, Harry?"
"Do you really want me to explain now?" Harry said shrilly. The door to Regulas' room shuddered and with a loud bang, it was thrown clean off its hinges. Sirius yelped and transformed into padfoot, sprinting even faster now.
"Bombarda!" Harry shouted, blowing off the front doors. The fire had consumed the entire second story and was halfway down the stairs. Harry and Sirius could only stand there as the flames ate away at the floors, walls and ceilings of the old Black mansion.
"Wait, can't you put this out?" Harry asked. Sirius shook his head, his eyes filled hatred.
"I have no intentions of letting this old house continue to exist," Sirius growled. Harry looked at him for a moment before surveying the burning house once more.
"Once this place is burned down, you'll stop it?" Harry asked, still observing the monstrous flames eating away at the old house. Sirius nodded solemnly.
"This hellhole will not stand any longer," Sirius said gravely. He sounded as if he had rehearsed it, like he was preparing to say goodbye to someone, or in this case, something.
"You never intended to just destroy the locket, did you?" Sirius regarded him for a moment but didn't answer. Soon, the flames had consumed the mansion totally. Sirius countered the curse and the flames died down and eventually sputtered into nothingness. Harry patted Sirius' shoulder.
The air was still and quiet. It was as if the world was holding it's breath. Harry felt shivers go down his spine. He couldn't turn away from the smoldering ashes of the old house. The wind suddenly turned harsh. Harry shielded his eyes and gritted his teeth. A scream echoed through the streets, forcing Harry to screw his eyes shut and cover his ears. Then, as quickly as it started, the wind died down. The screaming stopped. The two wizards were left with a destroyed house once more.
"Let's get out of here before any muggles show up," Harry said. Sirius nodded and grabbed Harry by the arm and with a pop, both of the wizards were gone, leaving only charcoal, rubble and smoke behind.
"Two horcruxes down, a bunch more to go. We did good," Sirius said, smiling. Harry scowled.
"There are still more out there, though. I can feel them now," Harry replied darkly, glaring out the window. Sirius clapped his shoulder.
"Come on, kid! We did good, well not good, but hey, the horcrux is gone now!" Sirius said. Harry sighed and nodded.
"I guess we should go tell Dumbledore," Harry said. Sirius nodded in agreement and walked to the fire place.
"Dumbledore's office!" Sirius demanded. Green fire swirled around him and in a flash of fire, he was gone.
Dumbledore stared into his fire that just flared twice, spitting out both Harry and Sirius, "Ah! What can I do for you, boys?" He asked. Sirius brushed off the soot on his robes and both of them sat in the armchairs across from the headmaster.
"Sir, we are here to report that the locket of Slytherin has been destroyed," Harry said. Dumbledore's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"Oh! Well, I did ask you to wait the weekend but knowing you, you wouldn't listen to me. Excellent work," Dumbledore chuckled.
"Now that we've gotten rid of this one, we need to talk strategy. We also have to discuss the other horcruxes and we should probably start recruiting. Three people just won't cut it against a guy like Voldemort," Harry said. Sirius nodded.
"We definitely will need more than just us. Maybe we can restart the order. Dumbledore?" Sirius glanced nervously at Dumbledore.
"Well, it definitely will not be the same as the last war. We do not have the support of the ministry but that also means we don't have to answer to them. Knowing Minister Fudge, he'll try to actually go against us," Dumbledore though out loud.
"Um, Headmaster? We won't need to worry about resources like that, now that I'm the head of the Black family, we've got all the money we need," Sirius said, grinning. Dumbledore's expression brightened.
"Yes, that is good. If all three of us are in agreement, I'll have to make a few calls," Albus said, his eyes twinkling.
"We should try to get the old order back together then, we can work on recruiting new wizards and witches," Sirius said.
"Let's have the meeting this Thursday evening. That should give us enough time to gather a basic foundation of the order." Harry realized something that baffled him.
"Headmaster, what is the order?"
"We are reigniting a group that fought against Voldemort's tyranny during the first war led by myself. It was called, The Order of the Phoenix," Dumbledore explained, his eyes twinkling brightly.
Harry and Sirius left Albus' office after agreeing to hold the first meeting the coming Thursday night. They also agreed to help contact some of the old members for the meeting, before introducing anyone new.
"Come along, Harry. We've got a lot of work to do," Sirius said.
"Where are we going?"
"To see an old friend," Sirius replied, grinning. Sirius grabbed Harry's shoulder and apparated away.
"Where are we?" Harry asked, looking at the shabby house in front of him.
"We're here to see a good friend of your parents, Harry," Sirius said. He rapped on the hard wooden door. They stood for five minutes before Sirius sighed, "I always was the reckless one."
Suddenly, Sirius kicked the door. It flew open revealing a dark hallway. Far down the corridor, there was a flickering candle. Sirius stepped through the doorway and looked around. He sniffed in disdain for the shabby looking cottage and looked through the nearest doorframe.
"Why did they have to lock you up here, you old dog?" Sirius mumbled, touching the walls with a sense of familiarity. Harry stepped inside after getting over the shock that they were breaking and entering, even if it was for a good cause.
"Seriously Sirius, where are we?" Harry asked, starting to feel paranoid in the dim hallway. Sirius turned and looked at him silently. His face looked as if it had aged fifty years yet, a playful spark was in his eyes. Harry was very confused and starting to feel on wood ceiling above them creaked and groaned. Sirius glanced up.
"He's upstairs," Sirius whispered, pointing to a small staircase leading to the second floor. Harry nodded. Walking through the hall, Harry poked his head into each of the rooms. The last room before the staircase was almost completely empty. The walls had long gash marks. There was a photograph on the ground in the farthest corner. It had fallen from a small shelf that was currently split down the middle.
A man that looked very similar to Harry was waving, his arms slung over the shoulders of a very young looking Sirius Black. Sirius' face was so bright and full of hope, as if nothing bad could ever happen to him. He ran his hand through his unruly locks. On the other side was a boy with a polite smile, however it twitched slightly, as if ready to break into a full grin. His eyes were tired and his robes were shabby yet he looked truly happy. The boy with Harry's looks laughed silently and hugged the boys next to him tighter. A golden snitch hovered next to his ear. He quickly snatched it out of the air and winked.
"Oh yeah, I remember when we took that picture," Sirius said from behind him. Harry jumped and nearly dropped the photograph.
"Sorry, I just haven't really seen many pictures of you and my dad. You guys look so happy," Harry observed, holding the picture as if it were made of glass, like it could shatter any minute, lost to him forever. He stared at the picture, trying to memorize the last details of his father's face before he would have to put it back. Sirius sighed.
"Yeah, that's one of the few times I was actually happy. James and Remus could never fail at bringing me out of my moods. I miss him a lot," Sirius said, choking up. Harry nodded, his eyes never leaving the picture. A creak from upstairs snapped him out of the daze.
"I suppose we should go now, no point in looking back now. We've got a job to do," Harry said, placing the photo back on the ground. Sirius sniffed and nodded.
"Yep, let's go recruiting," Sirius said. He walked out of the room after giving the picture one last glance before walking upstairs. The creaking got louder as they got closer to the main bedroom. Sirius smiled and opened the door.
"Sirius?" A voice asked in disbelief.
"It's good to see you again, Remus. It's been far too long," Sirius said. Harry glanced over Sirius' shoulder at the man that had been his father's other best friend.