On Monday night Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna and Susan entered Grimmauld place at a quarter to seven. No one else seemed to be there yet so they managed to get the best seats around the kitchen table. Harry looked around and thought of Sirius making breakfast in here…He got up from the table to go for a walk around. Ron and Hermione stood up with him as if sensing his frame of mind. He smiled gratefully at them as they made there way towards the hallway.

"Guess Luna and I have to stay here then?" asked Susan worriedly.

"Don't worry Sue," said Ron, "we'll be back in a jiffy. Just got to take a look around…" He smiled comically at them both before they exited the kitchen.

As Harry walked through the rooms at Grimmauld place he could picture Sirius walking around there all by himself. He felt the loss of his Godfather deeply. Hermione seemed to sense his mood and she touched his arm briefly. He smiled at her and they carried on walking from room to room. As if sensing his mood Ron decided to speak-

"Hey, remember Sirius putting Santa hats and beards on these elves heads?" he chuckled. Harry smiled at Ron and allowed himself to remember Sirius during the happier times.

"I remember the Christmas carols he sang a couple of years ago, and how many decorations he put up to make us all feel better when Arthur was in the hospital." said Hermione, and smiled wistfully as she looked around the place.

"Yeah," said Harry smiling "He really got into the Christmas spirit…" They walked around for a while longer, going from room to room when until they were almost at the kitchen again. Hermionespotted the cupboard that had been Kreacher's den and hurried towards it. Ron let out a loud groan and Harry inwardly agreed.

"Why are you looking in there Hermione?" he asked with a look of disgust on his face "You don't know what filthy things he could have left in there!" Hermione bent down and opened the cupboard door.

"Look!" she said excitedly pointing into the cupboard. "He took the blanket I made him!"

"Yeah, probably burnt it…" said Ron, which earned him a smack on the arm from Hermione.

"Look at all the stuff in here, I thought Sirius managed to throw most of this stuff out." said Harry as he gingerly lifted the rags to see the items Kreacher had saved from the bin. "Look, there's that ring that belonged to Sirius' dad! He must have gone digging through the dustbins outside to get it back!"

"That's disgusting." said Ron and made a move to leave. Hermione followed Ron down the hallway. It took them both a couple ofmoments to realise that Harry wasn't moving.

"Harry?" said Ron "Are you, uh, coming or what?" Harry didn't say anything, and seemed almost frozen to the spot. They made there way back to him, wondering what was wrong with their friend. As they peered over Harry and into the cupboard they saw that he was holding a very heavy locket. The one that they had been unable to open during their cleaning session, what seemed to be a very long time ago. Hermione gasped and knelt next to Harry.

"Regulus" she whispered and Harry nodded slightly. Ron looked from the locket, to Harry and then to Hermione.

"Uh…what are you two doing? It looks like you're possessed by Kreacher's spiritor something," said Ron worriedly. Harry stood up with the locket and turned around to show it to Ron. Ron's eyes grew wide as he saw where Harry had wiped at the metal. An ornate S was inscribed into the locket.

"Slytherin's locket!" said Ron in awe "What the bloody hell is it doing here? And why was Kreacher sleeping with a bit of Snake faces soul!"

"Ssh!" whispered Hermione "Don't you see? RAB is Regulus Black! He must have found out about this when he became a death eater!"

"I bet that's why he wanted to back out!" Harry whispered to them "Somehow he found out that Voldemort was going to make Horcruxes! He tried to quit being a death eater. He must have found this Horcrux before he was killed and hidden it here!"

There was suddenly a huge commotion in the kitchen, and Harry shoved the locket deep into his pocket. Hermione quickly shut the cupboard door, and they all tried to gather their thoughts. It looked like the members of the Order were here, and by the sounds of it there were a lot more people than last time…

Harry, Hermione and Ron walked into the kitchen to see an array of people. Harry smiled happily at all the old faces, and hugged a good deal of them. He introduced himself to some of the newer ones (though he really needn't have bothered). Ron looked surprised to see Neville as a member of the Order, but Harry just smiled happily at him. Chairs were conjured and eventually everyone was sitting in the room, though with all the people in there Harry could hardly move his arms without elbowing someone.

"Right then!" said Lupin loudly trying to get everyone's attention. "First things first! There was an attack on a muggle village a few hours ago, as most of you know. Four people were killed, many severely injured and most of the houses burned down. The muggle police are dealing with the situation now, but I need a few volunteers to come with me after the meeting. We have a tip as to the whereabouts of a couple of the death eaters responsible."

"I'll come," said Harry at once, which was quickly followed by calls from Neville, Mr Weasley, and Mad eye. Ron tried to volunteer after that but Lupin said that five people were more than enough. Ron looked slightly relived, but not more than Mrs Weasley who seemed to have a vice like grip on the arm of her chair.

"That's settles then…Next on the agenda. We're having a problem with this dementor situation. It seems like they're breeding rapidly, at the moment they're in various woods around the country but it won't be long before they start moving into the villages and attacking both muggles and wizards. We need to come up with a plan of attack. I think we need to track them to the various woods they're hiding in, and destroy them before they even attack a village. Minerva, Tonks, Mad eye and myself are still devising a strategy for this. Once we have found the central breeding area, we will contact you all with the time and place for the attack. Brush up on your patronus' and bring plenty chocolate." said Lupin decisively. He shuffled his papers and was about to begin the next topic for discussion when there was a thud in the hallway and the door was opened. Standing in the doorway was none other than Severus Snape.

For Harry the room seemed to go quiet and black as he leapt out of his chair and lunged towards Snape. He let the bricks form quickly around his mind and cast a shield charm on him without saying a word. Snape's eyes widened in momentary surprise, but before he could do anything Harry was on him, his arm digging in to his throat and pinning him against the wall. He looked into the cold eyes of the teacher he had hated for so long and felt a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. This man had killed Dumbledore; this man had sold his parents out to Voldemort. This man had made his life a living hell since his first day at Hogwart's. He could hear the voices of everyone from the Order suddenly floating towards him. He glanced to the side and could see them all standing and pointing their wands at Snape. He looked back and Snape and wondered why he had come here, when he certainly knew he was going to be killed.

"Potter," he said in a choked voice "Dumbledore trusted me. I'll tell you why if it will mean this ridiculous charade of you killing me will end" Harry pushed his arm further into Snape's throat and got the grim satisfaction of seeing him cough in pain.

"Charade Snape?" said Harry darkly "You're mistaken. I'm going to make you pay for what you did to Dumbledore, and my parents…"

"You really think you can kill me Potter?" said Snape with a derisive laugh. "Let us talk alone, and then we can duel if you think it's necessary." Harry stood with his arm pinned to Snape's neck for a minute or so, before he finally made his decision.

"Fine," he said tersely, wanting to hear Snape's pathetic story before making him pay for his crimes. There were shouts of outrage and warnings from the members of the Order, but Harry could only stare at Snape.

"EVERYONE LEAVE!" he shouted "If I need your help, you'll know pretty quickly." With enormous effort the members of the Order filed out of the room, leaving an eerie silence in their wake. Harry sealed the door, put an Imperturbable charm on the room and cast a binding charm on Snape. He had the satisfaction of seeing Snape looking momentarily shocked at his progress in non-verbal spells and allowed himself a harsh smile. He stepped away from Snape and summoned a chair. He sat opposite him, pointing his wand threateningly at his chest. A moment passed in silence as the pair just watched each other, each trying to read his enemy's mind and neither succeeding. Finally Harry spoke-

"Decided not to bring Voldemort with you tonight then? Pity, he could have had his pick of who to torture, though I think I'd have been his favourite." said Harry unpleasantly. Snape curled his lip at Harry and looked like he wanted nothing more than to have his wand and make him very sorry for the angry marks on his neck.

"I cannot tell the Dark Lord where the headquarters for the Order are, even if I had the desire to. Surely you know that? If he would have known where the meetings were held you would all have been tortured and killed by now," said Snape malevolently. Harry eyebrow's raised slightly at this comment and he remembered Hermione's comment about Grimmauld place being the safest place for them to hide. Why was she always right about everything?

"I don't have all day Snape. I'd much rather kill you now so I can go home and have a nice cup of tea. Tell me why Dumbledore was stupid enough to trust you so we can get this over with" said Harry, his green eyes boring into Snape.

"Do not call the headmaster stupid boy!" said Snape scathingly "When you cannot even manage to concoct a simple potion correctly."

"Why are you defending him when you murdered him?" replied Harry, feeling his sick anger start to bubble within him. "You told Voldemort where my parents were going to be the night they were murdered. Dumbledore was a very trusting man; in this case he made an error of judgement. You're a filthy snake and you always have been."

"I DID NOT tell him where your parents would be! I simply told him of the prophecy. How was I to know that he would start hunting for a little boy to murder? How was I to know he would murder your parents? You see everything in black and white Potter, which is your problem. There is never one soul person to blame in any situation." replied Snape angrily

"If you hadn't interfered they would still be alive. If you hadn't been one of his evil followers I would still have my parents. Can you deny that?" said Harry angrily, standing up from his chair and pacing around the room. It was taking all of his self control not to pull out his wand and make Snape pay for what he was feeling right now.

"I have never denied that charge," said Snape, his voice sounding suddenly hollow. "It does not mean that I am proud of it. I have paid for that mistake everyday since."

"Oh! I see!" said Harry sarcastically "You've paid! You decided to join Dumbledore instead, and be a coward until Voldemort returned. Then you fed him information, oh…then you killed the Headmaster! Wait…where's the bit where you lose your parents? Where's the bit where you have people trying to kill you all the time? Yeah Snape, I can see you've paid dearly…"

"DO NOT CALL ME A COWARD!" shouted Snape savagely "Do you have any idea what it takes to face the Dark Lord, to hide things from him that would surely have you tortured to death? To have to murder against your will in case you're found out? To live each day wondering when he is going to find out, and when you are going to pay?" There was silence in the room as they both took in what Snape was saying. Harry felt the tiniest shred of pity towards him…it didn't last long.

"Get on with it Snape. What did you tell Dumbledore that made him trust you?" asked Harry and looked intently at him. Snape seemed to be fighting with himself, and when he spoke it was in a very low and quiet voice that Harry hadn't heard him use before.

"If I tell you this, I ask that you keep it a secret. It's not the kind of information that I would normally divulge to…some like you," said Snape.

"I won't make any promises Snape, your life is on the line here so hurry it up will you?" said Harry. Snape took a deep breath and uttered the words so quietly that at first Harry had thought he'd misheard them. As understanding finally filled him his green eyes widened with a mixture of disgust and surprise. He sat back down on the chair heavily and stared at Snape, unsure of what to think of the man now in front of him.