Hello everyone! I'm on a streak, it seems.

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, I love reading them: Irindiglo, Tanner Clark (although you aren't quite up to this chapter yet), random fangirl (glad to hear that you like the fic, and yes, unsympathetic is a word!), One Smart Waffle, AACM25, Cae-Leigh- Anne, morganna12, glagla60800, lizyeh2000, Nik1804, 19irene96 and Teddy2104!

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'Hey, Emma!'

'Rabastan!' Emma said reproachfully, looking around. 'What are you doing out after curfew?'

Rabastan grinned and slid the rest of the way out of a secret passage, dropping the last few feet. The portrait closed behind him, the friar chuckling and drinking from a newfound pot of wine. Rabastan threw him a wink before casually leaning against a sconce.

'So, what's got you so thoughtful that you walked straight past me?' he asked, ignoring her question.

'Oh…Nothing much,' Emma replied sheepishly.

She hadn't been paying attention to her rounds at all, Barty having been too ill to come. Left alone with her thoughts, she had ended up replaying what was one of the best Christmases of her life in her mind like the love-struck teenager that she was.

Unfortunately, Regulus had spent New Year's with his extended family to tell them the news, warning Emma of the uncomfortable atmosphere that came with bringing an outsider - Lucius and Rodolphus being on a mission for the Dark Lord along with Rabastan. In the end, it had worked out well, since Lucinda Flooed over to Diagon Alley and the two witches spent three days gossiping about boys and eating the vast quantities of sweets Kreacher had made for Emma since hearing the news. Of course, they had nothing on those that Lucinda's father could dig up, but the Rosiers had decided to spend their New Years putting their affairs in order.

Besides, if there was one person happier than Emma and Regulus, it was Kreacher, who bounced around Grimmauld Place with a large smile fixed on his face and a new fluffy towel for every day of the week. Emma grinned at the memory.

'There you go again,' Rabastan admonished. 'See, you can't even hold a decent conversation any more since Regulus asked you to marry him.'

That brought Emma up straight. She turned to Rabastan incredulously.

'Lucinda said she wouldn't tell!'

'It wasn't Lucinda who told me,' Rabastan replied, enjoying the reaction he was getting. 'But I'll remember that for next time I see her. It was Regulus.'

'Try again,' Emma snorted, starting up again. Rabastan wasn't going to leave any time soon and she may as well get her patrol over with as quickly as she could. 'You must have spent the evening prodding him with a stick, and I know that…He…doesn't want his followers to hang around doing nothing all the time.'

'Who's to say that Regulus didn't tell me of his own free will?' Rabastan asked teasingly, falling easily into step.

'I don't believe you,' Emma replied, shaking her head, though she laughed at the way her friend was pretending to be a Prefect as they walked along the corridor belonging to the professors' offices.

'Well, believe it,' Rabastan replied, making a big show of opening all of the broom closets he came across. After the third, he turned back to Emma with a grin that split his face in half. 'If I'm honest, I read his grandfather's letters before he 'fessed up. I think he was relieved, really. He was worried about what you would say. I'm glad you said yes, by the way,' he added sincerely, looking her in the eyes. 'If anyone deserves this, it's Reg. Don't go breaking his heart now.'

'Who are you and what have you done with my crazy Rabastan?' Emma asked. When Rabastan merely smiled, she found herself mimicking him. 'I'm glad he's got a friend like you to watch out for him, too. Merlin knows that his brother has been sorely lacking in that department.'

'Hear, hear!' Rabastan proclaimed loudly. 'Now that that's said and done, are you going to show me this Black family ring I've heard so much about? For research purposes, of course. I can't have my future wife wearing a rock that costs less than yours. Bad for the family name, I hear.'

'Rab!' Emma swatted his arm. 'You're such a prat.'

'Ah, alright, alright,' Rabastan chuckled, warding off any future attacks. 'Now, as to what I was doing looking for you, believe it or not, I did not come out of a sense of duty towards Reg. I'm not that much of a sap yet! I just heard -'

He was cut off abruptly as the next door handle he tried didn't open. The two Slytherins stopped, looking at each other for several seconds in a silent standoff. Rabastan pointedly glanced at Emma's Prefect badge.

'Fine,' she huffed, drawing out her wand. 'Alohamora.'

Resigned to have to give detention to Sirius and his snog of the week, Emma widened her eyes in shock when the door swung open. Peering over her shoulder, Rabastan's jaw dropped in shock.

'Barty?'

At approximately nine thirty in the evening, Regulus Black approached Lily Evans in the library. He had spent half an hour debating the pros and cons of the move, but in the end, his curiosity and morbid sense of needing to know had got the better of him.

Maybe there's something that justifies all of this, he thought to himself. Maybe he had misheard the Dark Lord's hints to having a greater power than any of them knew; that the new order would last an eternity. The problem was that Regulus specifically heard the Dark Lord say that he would reign as the Dark Lord for all of history. Not go down in history. Not make history. Reign for all of history.

Regulus had an inkling of what the Dark Lord's power really was. Regulus had read all of the Dark Arts books in the Lestrange library. He had finished all of the Dark Arts books in the Black library at the tender age of thirteen, when he was scared that an unknown curse of his mother's might get his brother killed.

And yet you still seem to have ended up on her side, a stray thought remarked the irony of the situation. His brother couldn't stand to be within twenty feet of him, and yet his mother was beside herself with joy at the prospect of Emma finally joining their family. She congratulated Regulus as though Emma had been a prize that he had won at a duelling competition, and whilst Regulus agreed that Emma was indeed, the prize of a lifetime that had taken him half of his lifetime to win, he didn't think that Emma would quite enjoy the allegory.

'Hi,' Lily Evans said, moving the stacks of books around the table to make room.

'Hi,' Regulus replied, retrieving a Transfiguration paper that had been specifically half-finished in preparation of this moment.

Emma. That brought him back to the reason he was now sitting across from Lily Evans, a girl he had barely exchanged two words with on patrol. If only he could prove that Emma's unwavering devotion to the cause had flaws, flaws that he himself wouldn't have noticed was it not for the Dark Lord's slip ups and his brother's words.

Evans was a Mudblood, a Muggleborn, someone who statistically should be struggling in class due to her lack of wizardry upbringing and the fact that she couldn't ask her family for help on a spell, much less go to the library in Diagon Alley to do any summer homework. The person that should have experienced a culture shock upon entering her first year, and therefore become more mentally unstable than a pure-blood as a result. After all, that was why Muggleborns weren't really admitted as Unspeakables at the Ministry, wasn't it?

Yet this same Evans trumped everyone in class, even Emma, who was naturally talented at Charms, even Sirius, who was naturally talented at Transfiguration, even Regulus, even though he had the best memory of anyone he knew. Of course, she spent a lot of time studying, but that shouldn't shoot her to the top of every class.

And once Regulus had noticed the anomaly that was Evans, he started noticing others. Hestia, the Hufflepuff whose surname Regulus didn't know, who was good enough at Potions and Ancient Runes that she went on to do them at N.E.W.T level. Helen Burke, the Ravenclaw he had ended up partnered with in Potions, who was rather witty and surprisingly level headed. And she was a Prefect to boot.

So when Emma dismissed Evans as being a witch adopted by Muggle parents, information she had received from the Dark Lord himself, Regulus found he was curious. Hestia could be discounted; her mother was a Squib, so technically she might be considered as a half-blood, since she knew about magic.

However, two Muggleborns such as Helen and Evans could not be taken lightly. He needed to know whether Helen was just a freak accident, or whether every statistic he had based his research and life around for the past six years was false. Whether he had really chosen the shameful route that Sirius said he had. Whether the Sorting Hat really should have sent him to Gryffindor all those years ago.

'Is there something I can help you with?' Evans asked politely, quill poised over her sheet of paper.

Regulus realised that he had been staring at her for too long.

'I was merely curious,' Regulus said. 'Have you ever wished you had magical parents?'

Evans's green eyes narrowed into slits. She wasted no time in capping her ink bottle and sprinkling sand over her parchment in order to hasten the drying process. Touchy subject, Regulus noted, filing the reaction away in his mind.

'Forgive me if I said something wrong,' he said quickly. 'But I was suddenly struck with the realisation that your parents must know nothing of this war we find ourselves in.'

Under the table, he crossed his fingers. Going by Emma's description of her brother's relationship with the Muggleborn, he expected James to have shared his thoughts about Emma being against the Dark Lord. And since he was currently in a relationship with James's twin, he expected Evans to jump to the conclusion that he must have similar views. After all, he had mostly stayed out of the pranks and hexes that the Muggleborns were subjugated to.

Evans visibly relaxed, a sheepish expression unfurling on her face. Regulus allowed himself to breathe freely again.

'I'm sorry,' the Gryffindor said, warmth seeping into her tone. 'I guess maybe I'm a little prejudiced myself. My parents know nothing of the magical war - I think they might want to pull me out of school if I tell them too much. Why the sudden curiosity?'

Regulus was silent for a couple of seconds, wishing that he had Emma's way with people. Though he had never admitted it, most people told him about their secrets simply because he had been there to listen in the beginning. Now, it was partly because he had acquired a reputation for taking secrets to the grave. Little did they know.

Just as he was about to ask bluntly if she was adopted, Evans's eyes took on a faraway expression, one that he recognised immediately. He quickly shut his mouth, arranging his features into a neutral expression.

'I guess it was just as well that my sister never got in to Hogwarts,' she mused, surprising him with the revelation.

'You have a sister?' Regulus asked before he could stop himself. Had Emma ever mentioned one? he wondered, wracking his thoughts.

'Yeah, Petunia,' Evans gave a bitter smile. 'We get along about as well as you and Sirius do. Ever since I found her letter asking if she could come to Hogwarts and made the mistake of asking her about it. She's very proud, my sister. From that moment on, the magical community and everyone within it became nothing but freaks in her mind.'

'What about your parents?' Regulus probed.

'They were thrilled, of course,' Evans said, her frown smoothing itself out. 'Every time I come back, they ask me all sorts of questions about spells and potions and the like. I think that might be why Petunia hates me so much - she was always the star of the family before my Hogwarts letter came. I couldn't add up for the life of me, whereas Petunia had every plant and organism memorised. I should have guessed she would take Biology A-levels. Anyway, once the letter came, nothing Petunia could do could even come close to the wonders of magic.'

'I imagine that it was hard for the both of you,' Regulus said, knowing now the words that needed to be said. 'With what you've told me, I'm surprised she even admits that you're her sister.'

'Oh, it's not for lack of trying!' Evans laughed, taking a piece of her long red hair between her fingers and examining it. Regulus noted that her eyelids were heavy, a sure sign that Evans was upset, but trying to hide it by looking down. 'One day, my parents got a call from the hospital, saying that a girl that claimed to be their daughter was demanding to see copies of my birth certificate. My parents rushed to bring her home and showed her that I really was her sister and that there was no disowning me, much to her dismay. They got really angry, which I guess is a good thing, because now she ignores me. But it almost hurts even more, because at least she acknowledged me before. Sometimes I wish that I had never been a witch, but I know that I could never give all of this up.'

'I'm sure something else would have come between you,' Regulus replied bitterly. Evans looked up in surprise, offended at his remark. 'Just look at Sirius and me - just because he was Sorted into Gryffindor. Look at James and Emma, they're getting along now, but while their father was still alive there was a huge gap between the two. And they're twins that actually love each other. What chance do we have?'

Though any Slytherin might have been shocked to hear Regulus admit all of this so freely, he knew that if he stated the bare facts, then Evans would feel sorry for him - something he hated - but all suspicion would be cleared - something he deemed more valuable in the end. Who knew? Maybe it would get around to James, and Emma's brother would ignore Sirius when he inevitably told him the truth about his younger brother's dark tendencies.

Who am I kidding? he asked himself. Of course he already knows. He was surprised that Evans didn't, actually, but he could imagine Sirius asking James to keep it to himself out of disgust.

Though Sirius refused to admit they were related, if it got out that Regulus was a Death Eater then suspicion would fall on Sirius, even if he was a Gryffindor. He still remembered how the Slytherins had initially viewed Emma - a spy, a traitor, destined to gather information from within. Well, the Gryffindors were a lot more hot-headed and less loyal to their own. Sirius wouldn't risk the chance of not getting into his precious Order of the Phoenix.

Not for Regulus.

'That little,' Sirius growled, his rage making the rest of his sentence end with an incoherent splutter.

James was forcibly restraining him, reminding him that although he was taller than his best friend, he did not play Quidditch, and did not have arm muscles that could throw a Quaffle across half of the pitch. He struggled a little more, before giving up, leaving a snarl upon his face to show his displeasure.

Next to him, Remus was shushing them absently as he checked the bookshelves for DADA books that he hadn't already read. Sirius snorted, as if Moony hadn't read everything that wasn't in the Restricted Section by now. He told him as much.

'I'm surprised you would have even noticed, Padfoot,' Remus replied calmly, sliding a couple of books out of the shelf. 'I would have thought you were too caught up in plotting against your brother. Severus boring you?'

'Moony,' James hissed, saving Sirius the reply that he didn't have. 'You're blowing our cover! Quick, put one of them back!'

Remus gave a heartfelt sigh, but did as he was told. 'Besides, Padfoot, your theory makes no sense! If your brother really was a Death Eater, then he wouldn't have even spoken to Lily, let alone have a nice conversation with her?'

'I'm telling you Moony, I saw it! He had the Dark Mark, in all of its skullery glory!'

'Come on, Pads, we all know you're prone to exaggeration,' Remus rolled his eyes, placing the remaining book back on the shelf. 'Let's go, before we cause a scene and I get banned from the library, yet again.'

'Prongs?' Sirius turned hopeful eyes to the black haired boy still peeking through the bookcase.

James shushed him, concentrated on listening to Lily's admission. He felt slightly hurt. He had known, of course, that Lily and Petunia were not the best of friends. The way he met her boyfriend Vernon Dursley could attest to that. But he had been on his best behaviour that visit, even if he did tease him a little, and he had tried so very hard not to push the matter. Yet here she was, blabbing her heart out to a practical stranger.

Yes, he should be happy that his sister's boyfriend was getting along with his girlfriend. Yes, he knew firsthand how good Regulus was at weaselling secrets out of people - he remembered the story of the Bloody Baron back in first year. And still, he couldn't help his expression sour as the conversation went on.

'Yeah, let's go,' he said eventually, tearing his eyes away from the scene.

'Is no one, no one at all, bothered by the fact that my little brother is a fucking Death Eater?' Sirius asked in the hallway, his voice rising to a squeak that would have rivalled Peter's Animagus. He turned back to James, his long-time ally on the subject of Slytherin behaviour. 'Don't you find it the least bit suspicious that he was chatting up Lily, pumping her for information, no doubt?'

'I don't like it,' James admitted. 'But I remember you telling me that you saw Emma in a raid the day Dad died, and then blamed Emma for his death. And on top of that, Rabastan told me that she wasn't one.'

'So I may have been wrong about your sister,' Sirius allowed. 'But this time is different, *I saw it! And I bet you anything my dear old mum had something to do with it!'

'Might I remind you that we're still at Hogwarts?' Remus pointed out mildly. 'What would Voldemort want with a couple of kids?'

'I heard that Mulciber got caught over the holidays. He was sentenced to Azkaban, and he's our age,' James said quietly.

Even Sirius fell silent as they contemplated just how far Voldemort's reach seemed to grasp these days. It was a terrifying thought – that he had managed to sink his claws into somebody at Hogwarts.

Just then, Regulus exited the library, his face as impassive as ever. Three sets of eyes tracked his footsteps, but he gave no sign that he noticed them. *Typical, Sirius thought angrily.

Suddenly, an idea occurred to him. His arm shot out on instinct, grabbing his brother's left arm roughly. Immediately, Regulus wrenched it back, rubbing the inside of his sleeve.

'What's your problem?' he asked heatedly, but Sirius wasn't paying attention.

'Ha!' Sirius turned back to his friends. 'See? This is proof.'

'Proof of what, you idiot?' Regulus demanded angrily. 'My wand holster is there; excuse me if I don't want some Gryffindor git forcing it to send sparks into my arm!'

And as if the universe was out to prove Sirius wrong, Regulus withdrew his wand from its sheath on his left forearm, making a big show of examining it for damage.

'Oh relax, brother, it would take more than that to set off your wand,' Sirius rolled his eyes at his brother's dramatics.

Regulus set his jaw and clasped his wand in his hand, but just as he did so, Lily walked out into the hallway, the swinging of the library door alerting the group to her presence. With a scowl, the Slytherin slotted his wand back into his sleeve, shooting his brother one last dark look before stalking out of the corridor.

'What's going on here?' Lily asked lightly, as though she hadn't just been consorting with the enemy. She slipped her wrist through James's arm, looking at them in turn.

James met Remus's eyes over her head in a silent agreement. True or not, it was best to keep Sirius's accusations to themselves for the moment, especially since they didn't have the best track record involving Lily and Slytherins. Another thing to blame Snivellus for, James thought, wishing he had taken the slimy git's trousers off back in fifth year.

'Sirius thinks Regulus is flirting with you, Lils,' Remus managed to lie seamlessly through his teeth.

He's gotten better since the "my mum's sick" in first year, James thought, although he could have picked a better topic.

'Isn't he going out with your sister, James?' Lily asked with a frown, ignoring Sirius's glare in Remus's direction.

'Unfortunately,' James replied from habit.

Much to Sirius's dismay, he preferred seeing Emma with Regulus, rather than Wilkes, or Lestrange. In fact, he was pleased that it was Regulus in a way, since he seemed to care about what James thought of him. On top of that, whether it showed or not, Sirius did still seem to hold an influence over him, though what kind of influence James wasn't sure.

'Actually,' a girl wearing a Hufflepuff tie said from behind them. '*I heard that they're getting married. So technically, they're engaged.'

James's jaw struck the ground. A snicker slipped out of Lily's mouth, but Sirius seemed equally as appalled.

'And who exactly are you?' James demanded, seeing red.

'Erm... Hestia Jones? We have Potions, Transfiguration and Charms together?' the girl replied, unimpressed.

'Sorry Hestia,' Remus said quickly. 'He's just in shock. What on earth gave you the impression they were engaged? They only started going out a couple of months ago.'

'Well,' Hestia replied, her face lighting up as she ticked each of her fingers off. 'I heard it from Amy Macmillan, who heard it from Helen Burke, who heard it from John Langley, who heard it from Benjy Fenwick, who heard it from Barty Crouch, who heard Lucinda Rosier and Rabastan Lestrange talking about it directly! So it must be true!'