Fifteen
Erin, and her green eyes full of panic, was the first thing Sirius saw as he appeared at Grimmauld Place. She still had the wand in her hand.
"Are you okay?" He asked almost breathlessly.
"Yes. I'm feeling a bit dizzy." She answered from the ground.
Sirius could understand. The combination of alcohol, Apparition and the expulson that Erin had received could not be good. She asked if he was alright while Sirius held out his hand to help her get up, but a single thought suddenly came to his mind.
"Did you see Harry?"
Erin shook his head and Sirius felt a knot forming in his stomach.
"I only heard Hermione calling out for Ron."
"I've left him alone." "Sirius spoke.
How could he have left Harry behind with all those Death Eaters?
"He'll come here." Erin assured, walking to the kitchen. "It's the first safe place that'll come to his mind."
He watched the her pour herself a glass of water and then return to the living room. Erin sat on the couch, leaning back and looking very pale.
"Scrimgeour is dead. Do you know what that means?"
Sirius nodded, sitting next to her.
"That we are alone."
If the Ministry had fallen, soon it would be filled with the followers of the Dark Lord, leaving those born to Muggles and others in danger. They could not count on the Aurors or the Wizegamot. The Order was the only form of organized resistance that remained, and they were already divided. They didn't even know if the others were fine, especially Harry. Sirius had never been a believer but at that time he would have prayed to any god known to see him safe as soon as possible.
Less than half an hour later, which Sirius thought was an eternity, Harry appeared next to Ron and Hermione, entering by his own foot through the front door. Sirius almost ran out of the room as soon as he heard them with Erin following.
"Merlin, what happened to you?" Sirius said when he saw Harry.
The two hugged and Sirius could feel the relief throughout his body. Harry was fine, he was with him and he did not seem to be hurt. He only a scratch on his cheek.
"Hermione took us to Muggle London." Harry explained. "We were being followed by Death Eaters."
"We lost them. "Ron added.
Sirius thought it was the smartest thing. They could not let anyone find them.
"No one gets out of this house." He said looking from one to another, still with his hand on Harry's shoulder. "This house is safe, maybe not for a long time, but it's the only thing we have."
Erin nodded slightly and turned back to the living room, just like the rest.
"It was a good day." Harry said quietly to Sirius as he walked.
"I know. " He lamented.
For a moment he thought of Bill and Fleur, who would no longer remember what should have been one of the best days of their life in the same way.
"Do you know if the Weasleys are okay?" He asked.
"Yes, Arthur sent a patronus before. Everyone is fine but they don't want us to try to contact them. " Sirius answered."
"Good. " Harry replied with a sigh.
"Thanks to Kingsley, at least we had some time to react."
If it hadn't been for him, maybe the story would have been different, Sirius thought. He hoped everyone had escaped like them. When they reached the living room, Sirius and Erin sat down again in the same place they were before. Hermione and Harry sat opposite, and Ron stretched out in an armchair next to Harry.
"What do we do now?" He asked.
"We should rest." Hermione said." It's late."
Erin agreed with the girl.
"We can think of something tomorrow. I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted."
Sirius turned a little to his right and watched her. She had already taken the high heels she was wearing and still had a bad face. He hadn't told her, but she had looked gorgeous in that red dress. Now it was too late for that.
"You can stay in any the room that you want." He told Ron and Hermione, looking away from Erin, though he suspected they'd end up staying with Harry.
In another situation it would have been amusing for all of them to be sitting there, with more elegant clothes than usual and so defeated. In a kinder version of that day, it could have easily been a typical scene after a long party. However, life seemed to be determined to take away their smile every time they managed to get their way.
The night passed without any problem, although Sirius slept with his wand under the pillow. In the morning when they were all awake and ready, they decided to dig into the library. Apart from the patronus of Arthur Weasley, Remus had also appeared early to tell Sirius that they were well. Now they had to think about what they could do to weaken Voldemort and the only solution was the Horcruxes. Hermione, ready for anything, had brought a book about them, Secrets of the Dark Arts, as well as clothes, food and even sleeping bags. She seemed more than ready to run away at any time. To everyone's surprise, She had taken the book from the forbidden section of the Hogwarts library the previous year.
"It's a horrible book." Hermione said turning from one page to another." It gives instructions on how to make a Horcrux but for the moment there's no mention about how to destroy one."
Erin, sitting next to the girl, looked at the book, frowning.
"What do we really know about Horcruxes? " She asked.
Erin knew something even though Harry hadn't told her directly. Hermione had but he did not know it. Sirius had not told his godson anything about it either.
"What Dumbledore told me." Harry answered." Voldemort made six and two are already destroyed: Tom Riddle's ring and his diary."
"So we're missing four." Sirius intervened.
"Didn't he tell you anything else?" Erin asked Harry.
Harry shook his head. He had told them before what Dumbledore had left to the three of them in his will, but he had not given them any more clues, just one task to carry out.
"We have Slytherin's locket, but apparently it's fake." Hermione said." There was a note inside, we don't know who wrote it or what they did with the real one.
"Can I see it? " Erin asked.
Hermione got up and left the library. She came back searching through her bag until she pulled out the locket. It was shaped like an octagon and hung on a long silver chain with a snake at the point that linked the chain with the locket. The surface was of a bright golden colour, with a green snake making one s letter on one of its faces. On the other, there were inscriptions that Sirius could not read from where he was. Harry had already told him about the object after Dumbledore died, but until then he had not seen it with his own eyes. Erin opened it from one of its ends and pulled out a worn paper that was folded inside. She started reading to herself and Sirius watched her eyes widen in surprise.
"Sirius. What was your brother's middle name? " She asked without taking her eyes off what she was reading.
"Wait, do you have a brother? "Then it was Ron who spoke.
Sirius had a bad feeling. What did Regulus have to do with it?
"I had one, but he died." He answered Ron first and then looked at Erin. "It was Arcturus."
Erin jumped to her feet and walked around the table until she reached where Sirius was, passing by Hermione and Harry, who was at the head of the table. She handed him the sheet without saying a word and Sirius swallowed.
«To the Dark Lord: I know that I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intent to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal again. RAB »
"RAB. "He heard Erin mutter. Sirius felt his entire body get numb as he read. Was that what had happened to him?
"Regulus Arcturus Black. "Hermione said." Is it from your brother?"
"It's been a long time. "He replied, pressing the paper. "But it's his handwriting."
"I thought he was a Death Eater."Harry said.
"I did too." Sirius answered. He left the note on the table and Harry looked at it again.
The bloody idiot, hethought angrily. Regulus had changed sides, something Sirius had always wanted more than anything and he had to have discovered it years later when he could no longer do anything for him.
The four began to argue again, it was possible that the real locket was in Grimmauld Place but after trying Accio, it did not appear. Then, Harry decided to question Kreacher about it. Sirius followed them to the kitchen, with little conviction, barely hearing what they said. Regulus had to be the first person ever to discover that Horcrux, his little brother.
"Master." Kreacher said, bowing his head slightly. "Back with the traitor to the blood Weasley, the mud-"
"You won't call anybody dirty mudblood, half-blood or traitor to the blood. I forbid you." He interrupted him immediately." He was not in the mood to endure such nonsense. "I order you to answer me honestly, understood?"
"Yes, Master." The elf replied, although Sirius could still appreciate the mockery in his tone.
"Have you ever seen a locket like this one?"
Erin still had the locket in her hand and showed it to him. There was a moment of silence, until Kreacher looked Sirius in the face.
"Yes."
"And where is it?" Harry asked.
The elf seemed unwilling to answer.
"Mundungus Fletcher. " He answered harshly. "He stole the pictures of Miss Bella and Cissy, the glasses with the family emblem and..."
Kreacher stopped breathing, closed his eyes and when he opened them again, he began to scream in despair.
"Master Regulus's locket, Kreacher failed him, Kreacher didn't follow his orders!"
Harry blocked his way before he left or hurt himself.
"What happened to my brother? Sirius continued, feeling his blood boil. "I want you to tell me everything you know."
The elf dropped to the ground and in between sobs, he began to explain that Voldemort had used him because Regulus had wanted. He had been taken to a cave in the middle of a black lake. Harry looked at Sirius and he realised that it was the same place Dumbledore had taken Harry once. Kreacher had to drink the potion so that Voldemort left the locket but had managed to escape because Regulus had ordered him to return home.
"What did Regulus do when you came back?" Asked Harry.
"Master Regulus was very, very worried. One night he asked Kreacher to take him to the cave again and the master drank it. Kreacher would have done it for the master."
Tears ran down the elf's cheeks, Hermione had covered her mouth while listening and Erin and Ron had not yet said a word.
"He ordered Kreacher to take the locket and go home without him, never tell the Mistress what he had done. Kreacher changed the locket and saw how Master Regulus-underwater…"
Thus his brother had died, alone in a cave in the middle of nowhere, in total darkness, with thousands of Inferi surrounding him. Alone. Almost without realising it, Sirius's eyes began to cloud and he no longer felt anger but a great sorrow in his chest.
As the elf kept talking about how he had tried to destroy the Horcrux, Sirius felt a hand brushing his carefully. Beside him, Erin also seemed to have cried. Sirius thanked the gesture and returned the squeeze. Looking down, for a moment he felt bad even for Kreacher, no matter if he had never told him the truth. He had always been faithful to his brother and his wishes and at least, he had tried to destroy the locket.
"Can you find Mundungus? " He asked the elf, who was still shocked. "We need to find the real locket."
The elf nodded vehemently. Later, Harry offered him the fake locket, thinking it would cheer him up for having belonged to Regulus, but it only served to get Kreacher back down, screaming that he didn't deserve it. It took more than an hour to reassure him, but then he kept the locket on a clean white cloth, ensuring that it would be his most precious belonging and that he would try to find Mundungus as quickly as possible.
Sirius took the opportunity to leave the kitchen saying he needed a moment. No one tried to stop him or reason with him so he assumed they understood the shock that had been discovering the truth of his brother's death. While entering his room, it was impossible for him not to look sideways at the door of the room that had once been his little brother's.
Harry had come soon after to see if he was well and to insist that he eat with him, but he didn't have to pressure him much. Any time with Harry was a gift for Sirius after two years fighting for his reputation to be cleared and the same time to be able to stay with him even if it was only half the summer, since Harry had to remain under the protection of Lily's sister.
Sirius didn't need to ask Harry anything because after Kreacher's story he seemed to have been shocked as well. Nor was he surprised when Harry confessed to him, somewhat embarrassed, what Hermione and Erin had already warned him on his birthday, in addition to recognizing that he was not the only one involved in his fight against Voldemort. It seemed that little by little he was coming to his senses and that comforted him.
When Sirius decided he was going to join them again in the afternoon, it was Erin who appeared knocking at his door.
"I was about to come down." He said.
"You can take all the time you want." Erin replied. "Do you wish to be alone?"
Sirius shook his head. He was sitting in the border of his bed.
"No, you don't bother me."
Erin entered and sat next to him.
"Have you discussed anything important?" He asked.
"No. Hermione is turning the entire library upside down looking for spells of destruction." Sirius just nodded, which caused Erin to worry. "Are you sure you're alright? He tried to change what he had done, if it makes you feel any better."
That Regulus had tried to repair things did comfort Sirius, but considering he had died that way, without even knowing until then, well it hurt.
"It comforts me that he tried to redeem himself, but things could have been very different." He admitted. "Now it doesn't matter, but at least I know the truth."
Sirius knew better than anyone how much a lie could change the perception of others about a person and from that day, he would never think about his brother in the same way.
"Remus came in the morning." He said changing the subject. He stood up. "He brought the map."
He took the scroll that was on his desk and passed his wand over it. Then he sat down again and showed it to Erin.
"We should take a look these days just in case." She pointed out. "I would expect them to continue attacking."
Erin looked at it for a while, until she saw her signature on a corner of the paper and smiled to herself.
"Calendula. It is a beautiful signature. "Sirius said looking at her."Although I don't really know what it looks like."
"The flower? It's yellow or orange. As big as a rose but with the smaller petals and not so closed. It is used for small wounds, scars. Those things." Sirius listened attentively. Every time Erin talked about something she was passionate about, she seemed to glow. "So, Remus and Tonks are fine."
"Yes." Sirius replied, returning the map to where it was before.
"Do you think they know something else about Horcruxes?"
Sirius doubted it, although he expected Remus to have some knowledge about it.
"I don't think so, but I don't want them to be involved in this, especially Tonks."
"And why not?" She asked, surprised.
He hadn't even realise before speaking that Erin did not know. He did not think it had to be him who told her, but they probably will not see them again in a long time.
"Tonks is pregnant."
"Are you serious? That's great news!" Erin had a huge smile on her face.
Sirius had also reacted in the same way although Remus had doubted much at first. He deserved all the happiness he could find. A family that loved him had always been something he thought was beyond his reach, and even though Sirius never talked about it, he feared he would never have the opportunity to have one either.
"We should start planning something." Sirius said standing up.
"Kreacher has already disappeared." Erin explained and did the same. "We'll have to wait for him to come back."
"Shall we go?" Sirius asked with the intention of going back down.
"Oh, just one thing."
Erin put her hand in her pocket and pulled out the same worn paper that had done so much damage before.
"We think you have to keep it." She said handing him the square of paper. "It's yours."
"Thank you."
He took the sheet of his hands and when he turned around to leave it next to the map, he had to make an effort not to form a lump in his throat. He had cried enough that day.
The world would remember Regulus Black as one more Death Eater, but Sirius would always think about him only as his brother. He had died closer to being a hero than he could have ever imagined before.
Regulus Black deserved better, period.
I'm really grateful about the response to the last chapters, thank you guys!