Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise, JK does... I'm sure we've already established this....

A/N: Ooohh.... Never put one of these at the front before.... How exciting... Just wanted to say I LOVE YOU!! Seriously, people are so nice! After reading so many gorgeous reviews, I honestly can't wipe this grin off my face. Gives me lots of motivation to keep writing as well. On with the story!

Chapter Eleven: Stunned Mullets

Up to now, common sense has been under-valued out of misunderstanding, especially by those who are not well endowed with it.

- Alfred Adler

"Oh."

There was an awkward pause, followed by a soft shuffling noise coming from down the hallway. Moody's wand was out immediately. "Who's there?" he called, his voice echoing off the dank walls. The soft light from Anna's wand fell over a very old, very mystified looking house-elf.

Sirius made a noise of disbelief. "Kreacher?"

"Is it Mistress's son?" the house-elf seemed to mutter under its breath, nevertheless quite audibly. "The ungrateful swine that broke my dear Mistress's heart? How she hated him, what a disappointment he was." He seemed apparently convinced that they could not hear him.

"Oh my God. It's the old house-elf. Thought he would've died years ago."

"Doesn't seem as if he's done much cleaning," Remus remarked.

"No, it certainly doesn't. What should we do with him?"

"Leave him I guess. Can't turn him out, he could tell people that we've been here."

"Okay. Kreacher, go and make yourself useful. Oh, and don't wake up mum," he said, gesturing towards the portrait.

The elf sunk into a ridiculously low bow. "Yes, Master. Heard he was a criminal, smells like a drain too..." The elf trailed off, leaving the hallway by one of the doors.

"Well," Anna said humorously. "That was strange..." There was a large BANG as Kreacher slammed shut the door. "SHIT!" Anna exclaimed, jumping a metre in the air. "Woah, that scared me."

Behind them, the moth-eaten curtains flew open revealing an old, decaying woman whose eyes were rolling back into her head. A blood-curdling scream echoed around the house. "WHO DARES BESMIRCH THE HOUSE OF MY FORE FATHERS? FILTH! MUTANTS! HALF BREEDS!"

They all turned in wonderment to the painting. The old woman's eyes widened as she spotted Sirius. "YOU! SHAME OF MY FLESH! BLOOD TRAITOR! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, YOU UNGRATEFUL SWINE! BEGONE!" The portrait gasped as its gaze fell upon Anna. "Mistress..." Mrs. Black fell into a low curtsy.

Remus, Moody and Sirius all turned to Anna. She shrugged. "I dunno... but lets take this as an opportunity to shut her up." She moved quickly to close the curtains. Turning around she saw the three men still watching her with wide eyes. "What? Okay, so sometimes Dark Creatures and such things recognise my blood and seem to think that I can rule over them or something. It's nothing special. It was a bit freaky though, on my first day at Hogwarts when the Bloody Baron called me 'The Dark Princess." Avoided him from then on..."

Sirius turned to Remus. "Can you feel something?"

"Yes. I had no idea what it was though. Sort of like a pull..."

Anna looked confused for a moment. "Oh!" she said, comprehension dawning. "You're the werewolf best friend."

Remus nodded.

"Okay," Anna said. "Are we gonna keep going or are you three going to just stand there like stunned mullets?"

Still looking rather stupefied, they nodded and continued on down the hallway, into the basement kitchen. Remus conjured a pot of tea and pulled five very dusty teacups out of the cupboard.

"Well, I suppose the first – " Moody was cut off by the doorbell ringing, followed quickly by Mrs. Black's screams.

"I'll go," Sirius said, before bounding off up the stairs. After quickly pulling the curtains shut on his mother, he opened the door to see a smiling Albus Dumbledore peering down at him.

"Sirius! How are you?"

"Fine, thankyou Sir, and yourself?"

"Excellent."

"Come in, Sir. We're just having some tea downstairs."

"Ah. Very good. May I ask, what were those screaming noises were that I heard before you opened the door? Rather disturbing, I must say."

"Oh, just my dear old Mum. She's got a portrait of herself hanging in the hallway. Doesn't seem to like the fact that we're in the house. Apart from that we've seen nothing unusual, unless you count the old house elf, Kreacher, and it seems as if he's gone 'round the twist. But if we kick him out he might take off to my less desirable relatives and we certainly don't want them knowing that we were hear."

Dumbledore nodded as they reached the basement. "Albus!" Anna shrieked, before encompassing Dumbledore in a huge bear hug.

"Anna! Delightful to see you, my girl," he said, returning the embrace.

She gave him one last squeeze before leading him over to the table. "Remus, Moody," he said in greeting to the two men seated at the table. "So, what's the verdict?"

"I think it would make perfect Headquarters, Headmaster," Remus said from across the table. "It's big enough, it's Unplottable, it's got Muggle Repelling Charms over every inch of it... all we need to really do is clean the damn thing."

"I agree, Remus." Dumbledore said, nodding his head pensively. "So, let's make our first priority making it completely safe; establishing wards, Anti-Apparation fields, and of course performing the Fidelius Charm. And then of course we can start the cleaning."

"Well," Sirius said with false gusto. "Let's get cracking."

A/N: Aaahh, another chapter done. Hope you liked it! You know what's coming.... REVIEW! Heh... Okay, okay, I admit, Anna is a bit of a Mary Sue... but aren't all female original characters? Especially ones that hook up with Sirius, I've read some classics man... Oh, and I'm not too sure if 'stunned mullet' is an Aussie slang term or not, but if it is, (ah, dear old Australia) it just means looking like a dear caught in headlights. Or a stag. Mwahaha. Oh, and for the person who asked, a nightingale is a "European songbird noted for its melodious nocturnal song." Thankyou for reading!