Over the next few weeks, things at home worsened constantly. While still at school, Lily, James, and Sirius had joined the Order of the Phoenix. A resistance group that actively opposed the Dark Lord Voldemort and his followers, the Death Eaters. Its founder was Professor Dumbledore and many of his former students had followed his call. For some time already, people disappeared without a trace, others were attacked and only narrowly escaped. One evening in autumn, Sirius returned from Belgium to find an urgent message from James in his apartment. Highly concerned, he rushed to Godric's Hollow. When he arrived at the house by floo network, he found Lily completely distraught, and James looked shaken too. They sat in the kitchen. "What happened?". Lily asked, "Where have you been? We really needed you". Sirius muttered something about an urgent assignment. "Tell me, what happened?". "We run into a gang of Death Eaters last night. We had visited Bathilda Bagshot and when we walked back home, they suddenly apparated in front of us. Three of them. In the middle of the street. They attacked immediately, but we managed to fight him off. We then sped home and renewed the Protecting Spells once again".

Sirius had listened with growing confusion. "What good is it to give your house the best possible protection, if you leave it then? Where the hell did you get the idea to run around on foot at a time like this?". "Bathilda lives almost round the corner after all, and the weather was so nice. We thought that we could take the risk". "Ok, I hope that you will be more careful from now on. It's just not possible to go for a walk like that anymore". James nodded. "You're right, of course. We will be more careful in the future". Sirius said, "Even in their homes, people are not safe these days, although a good Protecting Spell helps, of course. But outdoors, an attack can happen at any time. Folks, stay attentive". Lily and James looked at him like two scolded children. "It's true that it was rather thoughtless of us". Lily asked timidly "You're staying here tonight, aren't you?". Sirius had other plans, but he nodded. "I'll prepare something for supper then". While they were having their meal, they discussed rules of behaviour for the future. Lily said, "If you ask around, there is an increase in attacks. More and more people disappear. I don't know where this is going to end". The two wizards nodded. "Yes, it's getting worse". After dinner, Lily said, "I'm going to sleep. This has all taken a bit out of me after all. I didn't sleep a wink last night". She kissed her husband, and hugged Sirius from behind, before she went upstairs.

James listened as she climbed the stairs. When they heard the bedroom door close behind her, he turned to Sirius. "There's something else. I didn't want Lily to hear it. Remember the advice from your Belgian friends? That we shouldn't let Voldemort's supporters get away? We were able to disarm and stun our aggressors. I took their wands and levitated them into the garden of a Muggle house. It was already quite late, and no one was out anymore. As I said, after the attack Lily and I rushed home. When she had calmed down a bit, I put her to bed. Then I returned to the garden. They were still there. I tied them up and manoeuvred them here. They're in the basement. Lily doesn't know. We have to get rid of them, Padfoot". James glared at him determinedly. "Have you thought about how?". "There was some mention of water and fire being helpful", he said. "So?". "I thought we should burn them somehow?". Sirius shook his head. The problem caught him off guard. Until now, having to kill someone else had only been a theoretical possibility. He hadn't expected it to cause him any headaches. But somehow, he was still reluctant to simply kill helpless people, even Death Eaters. Jan had been right when he observed that Sirius had always considered himself a brilliant fighter who defeated his opponent in a fair duel. And not cowardly slaughtered him like an assassin. But then he thought of the many sufferers who had already died or disappeared. The three prisoners in the basement had had no inhibitions about attacking Lily and James. And they certainly would not hesitate to increase the number of innocent victims as soon as they were free again. He nodded. James patted him on the back and said, "I know exactly how you feel. But we have no choice. It's autumn and the Muggles have built big piles of straw in their fields. These will easily catch fire". He winked at Sirius. Then he summoned two broomsticks and put them next to the door to the basement.

James opened the door and pushed Sirius into the basement. The three shackled Death Eaters were lying unconscious on the floor. Sirius stared down at them. He didn't recognise any of the men. Two of them were in their thirties. Even unconscious, they still looked brutal and mean. The third was a young man, almost a child. He had an astonished expression on his face, as if wondering at the situation he had stumbled into unawares. For a moment Sirius' stomach turned and sickness rose inside him. Then he remembered Jan's words, "War is not fair. War is not chivalrous. You must strike them whenever you can, no matter how". "Where is the nearest Muggle field?", he sighed. "On the other side of the forest. We best float them round the woods". They levitated the men and moved them up the stairs. It was new moon and by now it had become dark, so that they could smuggle their prisoners out of the house unobserved. In the backyard they mounted the broomsticks, flew across the sheep meadow and along the edge of the forest while driving the unconscious men with their wands like shepherds herding their cattle. On the far side of the forest stretched a huge field with bales of straw stacked on it. They placed the men on the ground and next to them conjured up a bed of straw on which they eventually moved their prisoners. Together they summoned several straw bales with which they covered their prisoners until they had erected a large pyre. When they were satisfied with their preparations, they mounted their broomsticks, rose into the air and circled around their construction. Before raising their wands, they nodded to each other, then both whispered "Incendio". The pile blazed up high into bright flames. Silently they remained close by and watched as the fire consumed the straw along with the three wizards. When the fire had burned down the pyre, it ignited the stubbles in the field and spread to more bales until the field was completely on fire. One more time James and Sirius circled the spot, where the Death Eaters had died. As they heard the distant sound of Muggle fire engine horns, they turned and flew back to the house. They never mentioned the events of the night again. When Sirius left the next morning, they nodded furtively to each other.

Despite the worsening situation, Sirius kept up his regular visits to Antwerp. For one thing, there were always longer periods when everything remained quiet at home, at least superficially, and the conflict only simmered in secret. Weeks in which no one disappeared, and no new deaths were to be mourned. On the other hand, he enjoyed his visits to Mercuria far too much to do without them. He was glad that she lived abroad, and thus beyond the reach of Voldemort and his henchmen. Additional protection for her was provided by the fact that hardly anyone in the Wizarding World knew about her. In fact, only James, Remus, and himself. In other words, the participants of the trip to France. And Snape, of course. But as much as he loathed Snape, for some reason he was convinced that the later would keep his knowledge of Lily's family background to himself. Moreover, Voldemort had not yet gone so far as to attack the Muggle relatives of half-bloods. Unless they lived together in a household. He had completely forgotten about their brief encounter with Malfoy and the Rosier cousins.

One day in late autumn, Sirius flew directly from Antwerp to Godric's Hollow. Lily and James had invited him. When he landed at dusk in front of the Potters' home, the house was completely dark. He stopped and pulled his wand out of his pocket. Carefully he opened the front door and paused on the threshold. Not a sound could be heard. He felt sick in the stomach. What had happened? He whispered "Lumos" and in the pale glow of his wand he strode down the corridor. The kitchen door was open, but the room was empty. He turned and tiptoed to the living room. When he opened the door and peered into the room, suddenly the light came on and his friends called out, "Happy birthday". Lily, James, Remus, and Peter had prepared a surprise party for him. The room was decorated with colourful garlands and balloons. James pressed a glass of champagne into his hand, and they toasted to his health. Sirius was taken aback. Then he remembered that it was the 3rd of November. He had completely forgotten about his 20th birthday. He laughed and hugged his friends in turn. Lily said, "We've seen so little of you lately that we decided to have a surprise party to celebrate your birthday with you, surely you haven't remembered, have you?". The evening turned out to be very cheerful and the friends reminisced about their school days. They talked late into the night.

When Lily had finally gone to bed and Remus and Peter had apparated home, James and Sirius sat down for one last nightcap. "I understand you have had some family losses recently. My deepest condolences. I hope it didn't hit you too hard". Sirius looked at his friend surprised. "That's right. My father passed away. No great loss there. Now the horrible old hag who gave birth to me is sitting alone in her equally horrible house. The one thing that keeps her upright is her spitefulness. And my brother Regulus has recently disappeared. Do you know that he had joined the Death Eaters?". Perplexed, James shook his head. Sirius continued lost in thought, "There was a time once when we got on really well, Regulus and me. My little brother. A better son than me. That's what my parents always told me. Then at some point he started believing all the crap my parents fed him. Stupid little idiot. He almost made a religion out of it. Collected everything he could find on Voldemort. Well, not that we had much contact in the past few years. Ever since I spent my holidays with you, it's been less and less. And when I left my parent's house for good, I practically only saw him at Hogwarts. He was in Slytherin. Of course, he was. But you know that. I had one last conversation with him a couple of days before we graduated. At that time, he confessed to me that he was toying with the idea of officially joining Voldemort. Imagine that. He was just sixteen then. He wanted to hear my opinion on the matter. I advised him against it, of course. Explained to him that a membership with the Death Eaters is a lifetime commitment. That you can't join them and if you don't like it, you send a letter of resignation and that's it. I asked him if he was prepared to torture or even kill innocent people just because they had a different opinion. He flatly denied that Voldemort was involved in such activities. I couldn't believe it. He actually tried to convince me that these were the atrocities of individual Death Eaters who were acting without the knowledge and approval of Voldemort. And who, by their actions, would drag his good name into the mud. His good name. Not to be believed. Regulus was completely blind to reality. Convinced that Voldemort would lead wizards into a glorious future where they would assume their rightful position. And true-blood wizards would, of course, be at the top. My parents always believed that their true blood made them special. Nobility, so to speak. And they instilled that in Regulus from childhood". Sirius had talked himself into a rage. He poured himself another refill and downed his glass in one go.

"I suppose he put his plan into action and joined the Death Eaters. I'm sure my parents were absolutely thrilled. He must have quickly realised that it was not individual renegades who were committing the atrocities, but that such acts of misdeed formed the basis of Voldemort's modus operandi. But by the time Regulus realised this, it was probably too late. I suspect that he wanted to quit. And then he was killed. By Voldemort. No, he was too insignificant for that. More likely by one of Voldemort's henchmen. Poor boy. He deserved better. My parents just never gave him a chance. I hugged him goodbye. At the time, I never thought he would be the one who would not survive this war". A tear ran down his face. Hastily, James changed the subject.

"How's a certain young lady doing in Antwerp? Is she okay?". Sirius smiled. "She's doing well. She's learning incredibly fast and she's just happy there. The best decision we could have made". James nodded. "Can you lend me your broom tomorrow?". James was astonished. "Sure. What's it about?". "I need to go someplace where the motorbike would be obstructive. The engine noise could be heard". "Do you want to tell me what's going on?". Sirius shook his head. "I want to suss things out inconspicuously on my own first. I may need your help later perhaps. But for now, I think you're better off staying with Lily. You know, after Voldemort has already attacked you once, he might try again. And for what I have in mind, it's better if I'm on my own". James smiled. "If you want to tell me what this is about, you know where to find me".

The next morning, Sirius bid farewell to his friends. He still had over a year to put the plan described in the letter into action, but given the developments in the Wizarding World, he thought it would be wise to start his preparations soonest. So far, everything described in the letter had turned out to be true. Mercuria had run away to Belgium; Lily's parents had died an untimely death and he himself had found joy and happiness with his little Muggle woman. Now he wanted to check more details and for this purpose he intended to pay a visit to the Rosier's' house. According to the letter, Lily would be pregnant shortly, or already was, and he certainly did not want to put the father of his future godchild in danger. The letter had convinced him that he himself would still be alive in June 2000. No matter what risks he ran. He wasn't sure, however, if this applied to Lily and James as well, and Sirius didn't want to push his luck.

Although Sirius had never been particularly fond of flying a broom, he made quick progress. When after eight hours, he reached the outskirts of the small town of Pensouth, he looked for a place to hide the broom inconspicuously. He chose a shelter in a sheep pasture outside the town and secured it with a Protecting Charm. Then he assumed his Animagus shape and made his way to the Rosiers. It played into his favour that the house he was looking for stood in a small valley, so he could lie in wait on one of the surrounding hills. His hiding place offered an excellent view of the premises. He quickly discovered that the house, like all other wizard's homes at that time, was secured by extensive Protecting Charms. From where he lay, he could observe both the front and the back of the house. Suddenly the dog flap at the back opened and one after the other five Dobermans leapt out into the open. Sirius took his measure and estimated that they were somewhat smaller than Padfoot would be. If all five of them attacked at the same time, they would still endanger him because he could not change back to his human shape as long as he was on the property without setting off an Intruder Charm. Therefore, he had to deal with them as an animal. As a dog, he was head and shoulders above every single one of them, but against all five it would still be a fight whose outcome was uncertain. And on top he had to protect Mercuria, who as a doggy would be extremely vulnerable. Sirius noticed a visitor approaching the house. The man stopped in front of the garden gate and waited until the residents lifted the Protecting Charm and allowed him to enter. How would he ever get into the garden without alerting the owners? Suddenly he saw a hare running up a slope. The dogs watched it for a moment. Then the pack jumped onto a pile of wood stacked against the garden fence and from there to the other side. They dashed after the hare. After a while, the dogs returned, jumped onto the pile of wood again and further into the garden. 'Look at that, you can get onto the property without triggering off the protective measures. Probably only as an animal though. I suppose a human can't get through there'. This meant that the letter had rendered yet another correct information.

Satisfied, Sirius retreated and trotted back to his broom. There he assumed his human form, swung himself onto the broom and headed southwards. He felt sufficiently prepared. Now there was only one more obstacle. He had to tell Mercuria about the letter. For the whole project to be successful, she had to learn how to paint a wizarding portrait. So far, she had only done sketches. He didn't know much about it, but he assumed there were certain differences between sketches and paintings. Furthermore, her sketches were Muggle sketches. But she must paint a Wizarding portrait. To do so she had to practise beforehand. He simply could not risk them both standing in front of the portrait, and then find that Mercuria was not able to remove the casket from the painting. On the other hand, he was not sure how she would react to the letter. She was convinced that their relationship had developed quite accidentally and naturally. Which was true. Never would he have dreamed that he would fall for this little 16-year-old Muggle girl of all things. He smiled as he thought of her. But it was true that the letter had been the reason why they had met in the first place. He knew her quick-tempered nature well enough to worry about her reaction and decided to delay the moment when he would tell her the truth and show her the letter.