Chapter 22

Once the dinner was over, Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron went upstairs. The twins left Grimmauld Place, and returned to their shop to work on some new products. Ginny went to bed, and the moment she fell asleep Hermione got up, and left the room quietly.

Harry, Ron and Hermione, sat around a levitating scrunched up newspaper, that was slowly burning.

"What do you think Remus meant by, looking for radical solutions?" Ron whispered.

"I'm not sure, but when people are desperate, they are willing to look for help in places they would never have otherwise." Hermione spoke, from her own experience.

"You mean Dark Magic?"

"I know what you think of it Harry. I can't say I agree with it either, but Dumbledore is gone and we aren't sure how to find the rest of the Horcruxes, we don't even know what they are or where they are. It might take us months, years to locate and destroy the rest of them. And if we are successful and find them all at some point in the future, we still need to fight Voldemort and his followers. And by that point, it might be too late for saving anything we hold dear."

Harry sighted loudly and Ron looked away.

"I thought we are fighting against the dark magic. Wouldn't using it be going against everything we are fighting for?"

"We're fighting for much more than that Ron." Hermione put her hand on his arm and looked into her friend's sad eyes. "We are fighting for freedom, equality and justice. For all witches and wizards and all magical creatures. And yes, dark magic is what it is, but it's still magic. It's just a tool the other side uses against us and if, using their own weapon against them will save lives, then we have to try."

"I don't know Hermione; I think we should find another way." Harry shook his head. Of course, he would be the biggest opposition to that idea. But it's not like Hermione was particularly found of it either. She just saw no other way. Voldemort was getting too powerful too quickly.

"Of course we should, but what if we won't and it's too late? What then? You heard them, we will soon be outnumbered so very much that our chances of ever winning this war, will be too slim."

"What if we managed to convince goblins to join our side?" Suggested Ron.

"And how do you propose we do that? The only side Goblins take is their own. We don't even have anything to buy their alliance with." Harry replied.

"And the order would never let us go, it's too dangerous. We should wait for the meeting tomorrow. Kingsley and Moody are coming, maybe they will have any good news, or ideas." Hermione suggested. Leaving and going off to recruit Goblins was foolish. Even for them.

"They won't let us go anywhere on our own, and they wouldn't agree to take us to Gringotts. But what if we don't leave the quarters on our own, what if we go somewhere else, somewhere safe, instead. And then, when we are not being watched, we could sneak out and nobody would think to look for us because they will all be busy and…"

Disliking where this was going Hermione decided to jump in and be the voice of reason. "No. That's a bad idea Harry. And we will be absent from the meeting. We will miss out on a lot of information but wouldn't it be suspicious for us to just want to leave, when we've been fighting them for months to let us join the Order meetings properly."

"We could ask to go with Tonks. If we say we wanted to meet Andromeda, and whilst we are there, we could ask her about Regulus. She was disowned, but they were cousins so, maybe she could tell us something about him. Maybe, before he died he found more Horcruxes and kept a diary that we could find useful."

She still didn't like it. But she did have a bit on vested interest in that specific trip.

But still, if they by some crazy luck were allowed to go, she would do anything in her power to steer them away from the foolish plan.

"Fine, it won't hurt to ask."

Regulus knew he shouldn't have agreed to go into that club.

Because, a lot of time has passed, Klaus was missing and the club was overcrowded with cheap girls who kept trying to pull him over to their booth, or dance with him, or were offering him drugs. He even had to dodge someone trying to forcefully inject him.

Twice.

Just what was this place? Did Claudius know his grandson was attending such mismatched gatherings?

Those guys, who brought them in here, were drug dealers. And they made living by extorting money from drug addicts.

The question was, when did Klaus become one? And how much money did he owe to these thugs? How come he owed them money in the first place. It's not like he couldn't afford them. Not that Regulus would ever support his illegal indulgences, whether he could afford them or not.

Due to how the events have unfolded, he would have to have a serious conversation with Klaus later and steer him away from this path of self-destruction. He will start with drugs, and then tackle the alcohol problem.

Once he located his misplaced company.

"ugh, ohm ohgh, augh almost there…" Klaus chocked out as one of the guys who took him, was pulling on the rope tied around his throat. He was so close to meeting all his friends on the other side of the veil.

Klaus was tied to a chair in some sort of a basement. His body was full of cuts and bruises.

The guy, tied of Klaus' persistence, finally let go of the one side of the rope and Klaus began to cough uncontrollably.

"Arggh! There's nothing like a little strangling to get the blood flowing, am I right?" He groaned through his abused vocal chords and began to chuckle.

"What's so funny, you asshole?" One of the other guys slapped him across his face.

"Ow! Well, for one, you spent the last few hours, beating me senseless, and you've learnt absolutely nothing, I mean, nobody tells me shit, the truth is… Ow!" He got slapped again.

"Make him stop talking." Jamie gestured to the two guys who grabbed a piece of cloth and a bucket of water.

"I thought you wanted me to talk." Said Klaus with a big grim as the two guys came to stand over him. One of them covered his face with the cloth and the other one began to pour the water on his face, making Klaus gasp.

But instead of chocking on the water, Klaus began to drink it.

"Ah! Oh, I needed that!" Klaus whimpered and laughed. All the tortures made him thirsty.

"Come on!" One of the guys exclaimed angrily, throwing the empty bucket onto the floor in the outburst of emotions. Klaus was an impossible hostage.

"I was so parched, thank you." Klaus giggled, making Jamie sigh.

"Jamie mate, what the hell is wrong with this guy?"

"He's a freak." Jamie replied.

"You go to all this effort for some money?" Jamie's boys were all getting frustrated. Nothing they did to Klaus seemed to work.

"It's not just about money. He knows about the Brimsley deal and Jack's death." Jamie got up and came onto Klaus with a sharp knife. He rested the blade against Klaus' throat.

"Who told you about it?" Jamie asked looking at Klaus suspiciously. Hermione's cousin grinned and looked up, meeting Jamie's eyes.

"Jack did." He said. "He told me Toby betrayed you to the other side, and when he found out about it, Toby killed him."

"That's impossible! Why would Toby do it?"

"That's exactly what I asked him too! Jack said Toby was meant to spy on you from the beginning. There, I told you what you wanted to know and more, can I go now?"

"Sorry Klaus, but you know too much." Jamie took out his gun and pointed it at him. "It's nothing personal."

"Never is."

Jamie went to pull the trigger and Klaus closed his eyes, but the shot was never fired.

Klaus opened one of his eyes to see what happened.

Jamie and his boys were lying on the ground, scattered around and unmoving. In the middle stood Regulus with his arms crossed.

"What took you so long!" Klaus groaned.

"I come to your rescue and this is the gratitude I'm getting?"

"You're my saviour, brother in law! Come, untie me! Quickly, before they wake up."

"They won't be waking up anytime soon." Regulus said as he moved to undo the robes around Klaus's wrists.

"Why? You didn't kill them, did you?"

"Probably not." Regulus said as he began to heal Klaus' wounds.

"What exactly did they want from you? They wouldn't go to all this effort if it was just for some money." Regulus asked, pouring Klaus and himself another drink.

It took him so long to find Klaus because they took him few buildings down the street from the club. After he got him out, they got the car from where they parked it and went to a local pub, as it was middle of the night already. Making a night call at the Grimmauld Place would alarm the order substantially, so they decided to wait out those few hours.

"They wanted to know how I knew the things I did. Jamie, the guy in charge of them lot, has lost his best friend not long ago and I knew about his death because I ran into his spirit. Last time I saw these guys, I might have let it slip that I knew something. That's why they were after me."

"They nearly killed you." Regulus said and took a sip of his drink. Klaus looked past him and saw two boys breaking into a car that looked like theirs.

"Isn't this our car?"

"That is our car, they're stealing our car!" Regulus and Klaus got up and ran out. Their car drove off and they ran after it. Regulus grabbed Klaus's hand and apparated them into the backseats of their car.

"Stop the car right now!" Regulus demanded but the driver just kept on driving. The other one, in the front passenger seat turned and waved a knife around, trying to stab them. Regulus' eyes flashed gold and the knife thief ended up stabbing the driver thief on accident, and then himself.

The car crashed into a tree, but Regulus was able to apparate himself and Klaus out of the car before it crashed.

"Klaus, Are you alright?" Regulus asked concerned, checking if he was hurt anywhere.

"I'm fine, I'm fine! I just need to sit down…" Klaus managed to say before he dropped to the ground, as his legs gave out.

"I'm feeling a little dizzy, brother in law." He said, hiding his face in his arms.

"Alright, stay here for a few minutes." Regulus told him, and went to check on the car.

He walked around it to see the front was completely smashed, and the two men were dead. Sighting, Regulus waved his wand and the registration plate flew few meters away, so the car was identifiable, so that Claudius could at least get his money back from the insurance company. He then set it on fire, to prevent whatever complex investigation the muggles would want to carry out.

He turned and went back to Hermione's older cousin, who was sitting on the ground.

"Come on, get up." He pulled him up and took him to the nearest bench.

They were both thirsty and tired. It was the middle of the night; how did they even get here?

Klaus wasn't in the right state to be side-apparated again, so he couldn't take them to the Grimmauld Place, and the walk would take about two hours, but there was no way Klaus would walk anywhere like this. Regulus managed to heal his wounds and bruises but he couldn't do anything for him feeling exhausted.

"Klaus I saved your life today." He said suddenly.

"Yeah, you're the best brother in law. You're my life saver."

"I'm your life saver so you owe me one."

"Sure, I'll save your life next time."

"No, that means that I now own your life." Regulus said sternly, making Klaus turn his head and look at him blankly.

"Own, my life? You mean you can do as you please with it?"

"Precisely."

"You're no better than those thugs!" Klaus pointed a finger at him, making Regulus chuckle.

"Think of me as their replacement, so you don't ever try to run to them for those life-threatening candies, when a mood strikes you. Instead come to me, do you understand? Your life belongs to me now; I want you to guard it for me and take care of it properly from now on."

"Meaning?" Klaus raised his eyebrow as he watched Regulus lips form a smirk.

"No more drugs or alcohol."

"Oh come on!" Klaus groaned. "The withdrawal symptoms are going to kill me if the spirits won't."

"I'll take care of it. I will help you deal with your connection to the other side and I will Imperious you into not feeling the withdrawal symptoms as we will work on them, until you stop having them."

"I might not know much about your people's magic but I know that Imperious is one of the three unforgivable spells. Aren't you afraid of what the order will do if they find out?" Klaus asked with a small frown.

"No, because you are not going to tell them. Besides, I'm a death eater. It's not like they'd be shocked."

"They haven't met you yet."

"They soon will."

"What about Hermione?"

"She knows I'm a death eater."

"She won't be happy about the Imperious curse."

"No, I don't expect her to be. But, she will thank me once I cure you off your habits." Regulus smiled, thinking of a certain witch he couldn't wait to meet.

"Good morning" said Hermione as she came in to the kitchen of the 12 Grimmauld Place. It was early but Nymphadora, Harry and Sirius were already there.

"Ready to go?" Tonks asked with a grin, making Hermione pause and look at her confused.

"I already asked them, they agreed to let us go with Tonks to meet Andromeda." Said Harry who sat across Dora. He explained how others were up earlier but have left to take care of order things before the order meeting.

"Just don't get your hopes up, Andy won't have much to tell you." Sirius said, turning a page of his copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Why ever not? Surely as his cousin she's family maybe there's something she-" Hermione was cut off by Sirius.

"Regulus was 8 years younger than her, by the time he attended Hogwarts she was out of there, running after Ted and getting disowned. She wasn't someone my parents would ever deem appropriate for my younger brother to be around.

And they had no chance to connect before she went into her first year because he was barely 4 years of age. I was six years younger and I have very little memories of her when we were children. Our family wasn't very affectionate. If the parents ever arranged for us to meet, it was only to maintain the connections. So, you see, Regulus barely knew her."

"Still, it won't hurt to ask." Said Harry happily, getting up from his seat and going over to stand with silenced Hermione. "Shall we go? Maybe we can even make it back in time for the order meeting." He looked at Hermione way too pleased with himself. It looked like he was hoping to slip away from the Tonks house and carry out his crazy plan.

"I doubt it." Hermione scrunched her eyebrows.

"I'll get Ron." He ran upstairs.

Somewhere in London

Regulus opened his eyes, to be greeted by a morning air and the sun.

He blinked and swiftly sat up.

He looked around to see he was sleeping on a bench in some park. Klaus was next to him, leaning into him as he was still deep asleep.

This was definitely the last time he ever agreed to follow Klaus anywhere.

What on earth happened last night? Did they end up in another club? Why was his head pounding like this? He could smell alcohol on himself. Or was it coming from Klaus?

Regulus touched his aching head.

How did they even get here? He couldn't remember anything…

"Klaus…" He tried to steer him away. "Klaus, wake up!"

"Wha-what? It the breakfast ready?" he asked half asleep, without opening his eyes.

"We're in a park, in central London. At least I hope it's central London." He didn't want to think if they could possibly be anywhere else in this state.

Regulus got up, making Klaus nearly bang his head on the bench. Almost, but at least he finally opened his eyes and looked around trying to blink away the sleep in his eyes.

"What happened? Why are we here? Do you remember what ha-"

"Do I remember?" Klaus chuckled amused. "I can tell this stuff doesn't usually happen to you."

"Does this usually happen to anyone?"

"It happens to me quite often."

"Can you walk? I don't think I can apparate us anywhere with this headache." Regulus held his head with his hand where it hurt.

"Is the Grimmauls Place far from here?"

"I guess we will find out."

Tonk's Residence

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Andromeda Tonks asked, as she poured the tea into Harry's, Ron's and Hermione's tea cups. Ambushing Sirius' older cousin at her home went quite well. She even offered them tea and biscuits.

Her husband was out, and Dora had just left to look at other safe houses. Harry almost couldn't stop grinning thinking of how easy it would be to just sneak out in this very moment.

"We wanted to meet you. Sirius told us you were his bravest and most favourite cousin so we couldn't help but be curious." Harry revealed, making Andy laugh.

"We also wanted to ask some questions." Hermione interrupted. "About Regulus."

"Regulus? My cousin Regulus Black?" Andy stopped laughing and looked at the three of them in surprise.

"Why would the three of you want to know about him? He's been dead for a very long time, I'm not entirely sure why would Sirius send you to me if you want to know about Regulus. I barely met him."

"Sirius didn't really send us, we actually thought you might know something about him, on our own. Sirius told us you wouldn't know anything."

"Well he was right. If this was the main point of your trip here to see me, I'm afraid I will have to disappoint you." Andy smiled apologetically and took a sip of her tea.

"He changed sides, did you know?" Hermione asked suddenly, making Andromeda choke on her tea. Harry and Ron quickly got up in alarm, hoping to help but Andy was fine. Hermione didn't move at all. Her reaction was clear answer enough.

"So you did know." She said, making Andy and her two friends look at her.

"Were you in contact with him before his death?"

"What is this interrogation? I already told you I-"

"We really, really need your help. We found a letter Regulus wrote before he dies in a place where we were hoping to find a very important object. An object that could help us fight You-know-who."

"Hermione!" Harry and Ron exclaimed.

"Please let us anything you know! Anything, something that could help us find that object. Is there any place Regulus would use to hide something very important?"

"Fine, I will tell you what I know, but it won't be of much help to you. I swore to never tell anyone of this. I suppose he's been long gone but you must still keep this to yourselves for the sake of my family, do you understand?"

"I met him in 1979, for the first time since we were children. It was during a death eater raid. Ted and I lost our place back then and didn't have a safe place to stay, so we stayed in a temporary flat we rented out, being on a run from my family and from the death eaters. I was pregnant then.

Our part of the city was under an attack, so we packed our essentials and ran. But we weren't fast enough and they got us. They dragged Ted away and I was convinced they will kill us both but then the two death eaters that held us dropped to the ground unconscious, and then I saw him. It was Regulus.

He looked so scary, I almost didn't recognise him. I thought he was after me but he healed Ted's broken leg and hid us until the death eaters were all gone. Later that night, Regulus came back like he promised. He brought us here, to this house. If he didn't help us that night, Ted and I would be dead."

"Was this the only time you saw him? Did he ever come back?" Harry asked, immersed into the story. It was almost ironic how he and Ron, whom were the first ones to want to leave and go after the Goblins just a couple of minutes earlier, were now so invested into the story they wouldn't even move an inch.

"Only once. If was shortly before his death. He said we might never see each other again but he told me he left his ring with someone he trusts. He promised that if we ever need help in the future, the person who has it, will be able to help us."

Regulus' ring?

Hermione's eyes grew bigger than two saucepans.

Surely not… It couldn't have been… could it?

"Do you know who it was?" Ron asked curious, but sadly till this day, Andromeda remained as curious as he was.

"No, I never found out. But whoever they are, they did help on two different occasions. They never revealed themselves, just helped and disappeared."

"And Regulus? Did he say anything else before he left? Or maybe he left something with you?" Harry asked, hoping to find at least a clue from this unexpected encounter story.

"He left nearly right after. Well, except he had to stay a bit longer and deliver Dora's birth."

"Wait, really?" Ron blinked his shock away.

"Your younger death eater cousin delivered your half-blood daughter's birth?" Harry repeated slowly, finding it hard to believe. Hermione, found she was pretty shocked herself. She knew Regulus was a very capable man, but this definitely exceeded her expectations.

"I was all alone that night and I went into labour. He couldn't take me to a hospital or bring anyone, so he had to deliver the birth himself. If he didn't disappear after that night, I would have asked him to be her godfather." Andy smiled sadly.

12 Grimmauld Place – Order Meeting

Around the long table sat Remus, Sirius, Molly, Arthur, Claudius, Moody and Kingsley.

"Alright then, it seemed we are all here now. I would then like to officially start the meeting of the inner circle of the Order of The Phoenix." Kingsley began.

"The inner circle? What are we school kids playing pirates? What's with all the dramatics?" Moody barked.

"Where are the kids?" Molly asked suddenly, realising what it was that's been missing from her line of vision.

"Tonks is not here yet." Added Lupin.

"Tonks won't be coming, she's busy. The kids are with her, they wanted to meet Andy." Sirius cut in.

"You're telling me that Harry Potter willingly skipped an order meeting in favour of meeting your cousin?" The werewolf furrowed his eyebrows at his school friend.

"What's wrong with that? They asked so I let them go."

"Sirius, the three teenagers, who for the past couple of weeks begged us to let them be a part of this meeting, suddenly got up and left. I'm simply wondering what on earth could have been so important?" Remus was waving his arms around nervously. The golden trio suddenly wanting to leave like this wasn't a good sign. It was suspicious.

"They wanted to ask Andy about Reg. They think she could give them a clue as to where the rest of the Horcruxes are. The point is, they are safe. Can we continue with the meeting now?" Sirius and Remus turned away from each other, making Moody roll his eyes at them.

"Good, we might at least speak freely, without watching ourselves for their sake." Moody pulled out a list and began to read off of it;

"First of all, the agendas for today are: The Horcruxe's, Recruitment of forces against You-know-who, Safety measures put in place after Dumbledore's death, Snape's alli-"

"MASTER! MASTER! Kreacher caught a thief! Kreacher caught the ugly crazy thief when he was stealing!" Kreacher burst into the room dragging a tall figure in with him. The thief, as Kreacher labelled him, was looking around the interior of the house in amazement.

"Dear Morgana, this place looks gloomier then our house, and that's saying something!" He exclaimed amused.

"Klaus?" Claudius got up off his seat and blinked hard, disbelieving his old eyes.

"You know him?" Moody asked holding his wand at the intruder's throat.

"He's my grandson, put that wand down immediately!" Claudius demanded.

"Now just wait a moment, we must check first it he really is your grandson." Remus held up his hand, stopping Claudius from moving too fast, as he was getting up himslf.

"But all the papers are at the Manor, and I lost my ID at the club again." Klaus whined.

Entirely certain this could not be anyone else but his grandson, Claudius rolled his eyes but still, for the Order's peace of mind, he proceeded with the request.

"Klaus, I'm going to ask you a question only you would know the answer to and you must answer me, alright?"

"Sure I can try, but I'm not very good at games like this." Klaus giggled.

"How many bottles of Wine do we have in the cellar left?"

"I'm glad you've asked, 3724. It's time to stock up." Klaus clapped his hands in excitement.

"That's him. I'm certain, now please let him go already!" Claudius shoved Moody away and led his grandson to the chair next to his.

"Oh, and for the record, I didn't steal anything. I was looking for some tablets, I have a terrible hangover." He touched his head dramatically, as he was being dragged across the room by Moody.

"Klaus, how are you here?" Claudius asked feeling resigned.

"Oh I came with my brother in law." He said making himself comfortable in the chair.

"You came with who?" Claudius frowned in confusion, aware that the rest of the room was focused on them.

"Regulus Black. You know, the one Hermione always cries about because he's dead." Klaus said casually, making his grandfather pinch his nose bridge. But then he suddenly realised, if Klaus could see Regulus then that means they could ask him about the Horcruxes.

"Wait, you met him? His spirit came to you?" Claudius asked hopeful.

"Spirit? What do you mean?" Kingsley asked just as confused as the rest of the room was feeling.

"Both of my grandchildren are very talented, you see. Hermione is a witch and Niklaus can see spirits."

"Like the ghosts at Hogwarts?" Arthur asked looking at the young, messy looking muggle with big curious eyes.

"Not quite… More like the Thestrals. He must have gone somewhere near the locket and came across your brother's spirit." Claudius concluded stroking his beard.

"Oh no, he's no spirit." Klaus laughed. "I mean, at first I thought he was but no, he was very much alive when he apparated in, landing on our carpet all wet and scary looking, right in front of my very eyes."

"Apparated in? But that's impossible!" Sirius insisted, intrigued yet irritated at the thought of his brother being alive.

"That's exactly what he said!" Klaus exclaimed excited.

"Now just wait a second! It could have been a death eater posing as him." Remus suggested, trying to stay rational. Regulus Black off all people coming back to life at this moment in time, was too ludicrous.

"He is a death eater! He has the dark mark and all." Klaus cut in, thinking he was being helpful.

"Whoever brought you here, it can't have been Regulus, because he's been dead for years." Sirius reasoned, not ready to face Klaus' claims and the hope that came with them.

"No it's him, I'm pretty sure." Klaus smiled.

"How do you know?" Moody asked suspiciously, from behind Klaus' chair, making him jump.

"He was looking for Grandfather Claudius, and when I told him what year it was he was genuinely surprised, and then he asked about Hermione." The rest of the order knew about Hermione time traveling. It was how Claudius explained how he came to have the real locket Horcrux. "And he knew his way around our vaults pretty well." He added quietly.

"But where is he now? Klaus, you said you came with him."

"He went back to the car to check something."

"You came in a muggle car?"

"But Klaus you can't drive!"

"I wasn't driving, Regulus was." Klaus insisted, stuffing his mouth with cupcakes he found on the table. Sirius shook his head.

"You're telling me that my dead, bigoted, blood supremacist brother came back to life and the two of you got here in a muggle car he, not only willingly sat in but also drove? Do you know how ridiculous this sounds?"

"Yes, it does sound a bit absurd if you put it like that" A drawl came from behind them and everyone turned to see an 18-year-old boy, dressed in muggle clothes, standing in the door frame. He took a few steps inside the drawing room, looking around. "Not much has changed since the last time I was in this room.

"Long-time no see, brother." he smirked coming to stand before the pale looking Sirius.

"I think I need to sit down." Sirius said looking at his not so dead brother, like he has seen a ghost.

Hello everyone!

Firstly, Thank you for waiting so long for this chapter.

After submitting my project, I needed a small break from looking into a screen and stuff, so that's why it took me a few days to write this chapter. I do hope you enjoyed it.

I didn't proof-read it so sorry if there's anything odd looking in there.

Shelby you should make yourself an account so I can reply to your reviews directly hahah, thank you for making sure I knew you were waiting for a new chapter.

As always, thank you all for your reviews! They really make me smile, and I appreciate them a lot.

I will leave this chapter here and go to work on the next one! Any suggestions or requests, let me know haha.

Lots of love,

Livxoxo