Black Night Part Five Rated R Narcissa/Rabastan, Narcissa/Lucius, Bellatrix/Severus

Sirius Apparated into the living room to find Ted asleep on the sofa, black rings of exhaustion around his eyes. He'd been Apparating from place to place all day, looking for Andry, and it must have taken a lot out of him - it did take a lot of strength to do that much Apparition.

Instantly, worry sparked in him and he moved quickly from room to room. Worry rose in him, then fell when he found Nymphadora gurgling in her playpen. She looked up at him, and raised both her arms. "Padfoot!" she cried in delight. At three years old, her Metamorphmagus powers were likely to emerge within two years.

Sirius walked over to the playpen and lifted her up, holding her on one side, bouncing her up and down slightly. He knew Andry had done this sometimes.

As if she could read his thoughts, Nymphadora balled a fist and let her head rest on Sirius' shoulder - exactly as she normally did with her mother - and closed her eyes.

"You tired, little pancake?"

She rubbed a sleepy fist against one closed eye and nodded into his chest - she was quite an intelligent child, but quiet. She had learned to talk early, but she didn't very much now. Some of her social habits hadn't developed properly, and she had a tendancy to knock things over as she should have learned not to by this age.

Sirius moved over to the bed and set her down in it gently, tucking the covers up to her chin. He smiled slightly - the number of times he'd heard and seen Andry do this! - and recited her prayer with the same movements.

"Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John." For each one of them he indicated a corner of the bed. "Bless this bed my child lies on." He placed a hand over Nymphadora's heart, feeling it beat strongly. "May God be with her through the night -" He drew the sign of the cross on her forehead, and she stirred ever so slightly, then lay still again. "And bless her with the morning light." He kissed his hand and placed it on her soft cheek, then moved and closed the curtains, then turned off the lamp.

In the darkness, he cried himself to sleep next to the little girl's bed.

He woke to the sound of quiet talking in the living room, and his wand was in his hand instinctively. He moved away from Nymphadora's bed (protect her, all angels and archangels, knowing that in this cradle lies a child of pureness and innocence and), into the hallway - and then he heard a soft voice call out, "Sirius?"

It was Remus. He slumped against the wall. "I'm here," he said, relief cracking his voice.

"We've been here almost half an hour, but we didn't want to wake you," Remus said, coming into sight at the end of the hallway. Concern was in his voice, and Sirius realized suddenly that he must have still had drying tears on his cheeks when they found him. "Are you all right?"

Temporarily unable to speak, Sirius nodded. Remus moved closer, his eyes still dark and sorrowful, and Sirius whispered suddenly, "I put her to bed. Exactly like Andry does, Remus. I did it just the same way, it's like I - like I was replacing her, and I just feel like she's gone, forever or something and -" His voice had broken; he started to turn away but Remus put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him, and before he realized what he was doing he was sobbing into Remus' jacket and Remus was embracing him fiercely, stroking his hair with one hand.

"I'm here," he was whispering. "It's all right, Sirius, it's okay." My brother, he wanted to say, my brother, I'll always be here. Brothers - he remembered their last day at Hogwarts months ago, and James staring solemnly at them as they stood behind the mirror on the fourth floor, and telling them who they were. We are the Marauders. We are a brotherhood, we are as close as family. We are Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, and we'll never be apart. We'll be in each others hearts. We are brothers. Don't let anything - and James had put hands on Remus and Peter's shoulders and stared at Sirius with a fire in his eyes - pull us apart. Don't let anyone tell you differently, ever, for as long as we live and longer.

We are brothers.

After a while, Sirius pulled back, wiping his eyes and moving into Nymphadora's darkened room again. Remus watched, not wanting to intrude on the silence. From the living room, he heard Bellatrix's voice. "As much as I -"

The lights all over the house went out, and the windows exploded inwards.

Ted woke instantly, and his wand was in his hand in a flash. There was a dead silence for a moment, and then the figures started to fly through the window and into the rooms.

In the nursery, Sirius had immediately snatched up Nymphadora. The child did not cry, but her big dark green eyes shimmered with a baby's fright. Three cloaked figures moved through the window. "Remus!" Sirius screamed, watching his friend move into duelling stance. He realized with a start that Remus was willing to take them all on alone, and knew instantly that if this happened his friend was dead. "Remus!"

"Get her out of here, Sirius!" Remus screamed, throwing his hair back from his face and shooting a Stunner at one of the black forms. Whoever it was had little experience in blocking, because they fell to the floor. "Get out of here!" And he actually turned away from the window and pointed his wand at Sirius. "Imperio!" The spell hit him, and everything was all right and there was a child in his arms and yes, yes, it was a good thing to go, to get out of here. He would go.

He felt tears on his cheeks again as he did, and fought viciously against the voice, but it was so persuading. He jerked his head back in time to watch one of the figures' wands emit a flash of red light and to see it hit Remus square on the back. He watched his friend his brother his family fall to the ground, eyes still wide, one hand outstretched toward Sirius, and the voice inside his head vanished.

"IRemus!I" But he was moving - his feet were moving and he was out of the room, there was nothing he could do now without endangering Nymphadora nothing oh Remus what have you IdoneI what have III done oh no no no -

It was worse in the living room. Ted, Snape and Bellatrix were up against six more of the dark-cloaked figures, and there were already three on the ground, two Stunned and one. . .dead.

Sirius stumbled, tripped and fell to the ground. Nymphadora dropped from his arms with a cry and her head hit the floor with a loud thump. She stopped moving. Sirius, winded and feeling blood seep down the side of his head - it was pounding, and he could feel a long gash on his scalp - scooped her carefully in one hand and moved over to the fire. He had snatched a handful of Floo Powder and the warm flames were licking his skin. "Grimmauld Place!" he heard his own voice cry, and with a swirl of green the room vanished.

He tumbled out of the fireplace, cradling Nymphadora against his chest with one hand. He winced at the light - it was very bright - and looked dazedly at the figure approaching him quickly.

"Sirius?" he heard his brother's shocked voice exclaim, and blackness came.

He woke to find himself lying on a bed that he recognized as Regulus'. His brother was sitting nearby, watching him anxiously. "Where's Nymphadora?" Sirius demanded, sitting up quickly, but Regulus leapt out of his chair and pushed him back onto the bed.

"She's all right, Sirius. She's all right - what Ihappened?I Your head is bleeding awfully, and Mum and Dad aren't here, I had to use a healing spell on it and I couldn't get it entirely."

Sirius had just felt this - his head was throbbing suddenly and he let himself be shoved back onto his back with a moan.

"What happened?" Regulus repeated.

"Tonks' Tenement," Sirius whispered. "You've got to get there, you've got to help them, Regulus. We were attacked, and Remus and Bella and -"

Regulus looked sick. "Sirius. . ." he said softly. "You've been out for more than an hour."

Sirius stared at him in horror, feeling suddenly nauseous. "An - IhourI?" he repeated blankly. "An bhourb?! No! Regulus, you've got to get there, you've got to see what's happened!"

"Sirius, it's no good. They won't have hung around there if they made it."

"Remus. . ." Sirius whispered hoarsely.

"Remus Lupin?" Regulus asked. Sirius, unable to answer, just lay there. Regulus looked as if he was thinking hard. "Is he pure-blood?"

"What does it matter?" Sirius snarled viciously, starting to sit up again. Regulus reached out a hand to help steady him but Sirius shouldered around it, standing up with a soft, indistinct noise of pain from the back of his throat. "You've got to keep Nymphadora here," he added, "to keep her safe, Regulus, I think the Death Eaters might be after her. Or maybe Ted, I don't know, or both of them. Keep her safe, give her some food if she wants some, give her someplace to sleep -"

Regulus smiled. "I already gave her some oatmeal, Sirius, and she ate it and promptly broke the bowl. Then she fell asleep on your bed, and I've left her there with Kreacher watching over her."

"Do not leave that child alone with that bloody house-elf!" Sirius growled fiercely. "Keep Kreacher the hell away from her!"

"She's got Black blood, Sirius, he ought to obey her as much as any other Black."

"She can't even talk in coherent sentences yet, Regulus. It's just, Tired or Hungry or Down. Anyway, is she on the portrait?"

"Mum blasted Andry off when she married Ted Tonks, remember? Nymphadora never appeared on it at all."

"Then Kreacher won't obey her."

"You got blasted off, Sirius, but he'll still obey you in a crunch."

"I bet he likes telling anyone who'll listen about how Mum blasted me off the portrait, too."

"Yeah, actually. Dad's getting sick of it."

"I hope he does."

"Listen, Sirius," Regulus said quietly, "you're my brother, all right? You don't have to act like you don't know me. We're flesh and blood -"

"Filthy blood. 'Pure-blood'. I hate this. Black blood this, Black blood that. Our parents believe it and you've been stupid enough to follow them."

"It's stronger blood, Sirius."

"Blood is worth nothing. This - this -" He reached up to where a dark stain had stiffened his dark hair and pulled a bit of the dried blood off. "What is this worth? What is it good for? How is it different from any other blood?"

"You're a Black. You're better than that."

Sirius turned away, and moved out the doorway. A pause, and then he said, in a muffled sort of voice. "Take care of her. And be careful, Regulus."

Then he was gone. Regulus stood slowly from his chair.

"I will," he whispered, but no one heard him.