Chapter 7: And Now For Something Completely Different

Regulus Black, who was on his way to destroy one of Voldemort's lockets, feels the moment Voldemort gets turned into ash and reaching the Potter's hiding place not long after the Order leaves, finds the place saturated in Old Magick. With a brother's intuition, he knows that Sirius is not dead and decides to fake his own death, to persue his own investigation. Remus Lupin also does not accept the death of his friends, and goes into research mode trying to find out what happened in that house.

Cast:

Regulus Black: Skader Keynes (think slightly older)

Remus Lupin: Andrew Garfield

Regulus' POV

The pain that Regulus' felt now dwarfed that of his initiation into the Death Eaters all the years ago, when he had been a fool boy and a puppet dancing to his parents' strings. It started with his arm but it felt like the fires of the Tarturus had reached up to Earth to burn him alive from the inside out! He was nearly blind due to the pain, barely holding on just inches away from the cave ready to due in his so called Master by any means he could. The pain went on for what seemed like hours, the dancing flames, the howls and screams as though he himself was possessed reaching his own ears. By the time the pain finally ebbed enough so that he could gain coherent thought, he found himself flat on his back, and he noticed two very important things.

One, he was still by some miracle, alive. Two, he could no longer feel anything from his Master, not even distantly! Ever since he got his Mark, he could always feel him, in his thoughts, his moods, always lingering in the back of his mind, like an alien passengar he could never shake. And there was only one thing he could think of that could possibly cause that change. Someone had done it! Someone had got the bloody bastard! In spite of the pain he pulled himself to a sitting position and let out a yell of joy! Oh he knew, better than anyone, that it wasn't over, not yet! But now he actually had time! Time to go to Dumbledore like Snape had, tell him everything he knew so they could make sure that he had no horocrux to come back with! What was to be his dieing wish had actually come true!

An overwhelming thought to go see his brother formed in his mind. He understood that this might not be the best idea. However, at long last, they were finally on the same side again, and they didn't have that bastard to stand between them anymore! Perhaps with Dumbledore as a buffer they could work together to put an end to this madness before it reared ugly head again! The shock wave of magick had blown though alot of things, but there was something in the landscape, something where he knew Sirius would often be found lurking, that was different. He focussed on the area he last saw his brother in, and Apparated there.

With a pop he landed, taking a moment to once again get his berrings. And then he was nearly overwhelmed! A house, by itself, that had not been there before, one that had obviously been hidden by the Fidelus, he had suspected something of that nature. But that was not what had surprised him! He could see it, feel it still pulsing in the air, Old Magick had been used here! He heard voices, so he kept out of sight, hearing easily the voices of those from the Order. He thought about approaching them, but waited, listening. And what he heard kept him in his place! The Potters, Sirius, all gone like they had vanished, not apparated, litterally vanished!

He didn't like how Dumbledore and Moody were reacting to the whole thing, one of the things he use to try to tell his brother. He waited, till he saw every last Order member leave the now unprotected and deserted home before he came out and walked into the home. The feel of Old Magick only got stronger the further in he walked. He could still make out remaining traces of the Avada Kedarva that had been cast, but the strangest thing was, he could not catch even the slightest hint of death! He was mainly shocked because that could only mean one thing, that his brother had not exactly forsaken everything about the family. He did find drying splatters of blood, but no smell of a corpse. Even when just killed, there was always a hint of smell.

"Disapeared indeed! No, they are not dead. I would know if he was dead. Something else happened here." Regulus thought to himself. He made his way to the center, in the young child's room, and he felt a power spike through his body, both familiar and foreign. "Here!" he thought. He kneeled down, tapping the floor with his wand. "Gi meg det som skjedde med de som har utnyttet dette blodett." he commanded in Norwegian, glad he had taken up the study of some Norse magick having been inspired by his ancestors and their tales. His head jerked towards the ceiling, eyes unseeing, until they adjusted and only one thing was apparent. Somehow, if only for a brief moment, Sirius had called out to their blood, and he and the Potter's had disapeared from the timeline!

"Merlin, Sirius, what the bloody Hell did you do?!" he whispered to himself out loud. If he was to be any help to him, the Potters, or their son, he was going to have to find out, and considering the kind of magick his older brother used, it meant he would be spending a eternity within the family archives, if he could even find a way to get to them without showing the world he was still alive! "Damn you Sirius! You always do this to me! First you run away and I have to take your place because you are a selfish arsehole, now I have to do all this, just to end this all!" he ran his hand through his hair, utterly fustrated. He was beyond exhausted, emotionally and physically, he couldn't even remember the last time he had actually slept!

His magick was still recovering from dealing with that damn Horocrux, and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would be good to no one in his current state. He had to find a place to lay low for now. And where to do that where the panicing Death Eaters or the bloody Order of the damned Fire Chicken, as he called it, well that was now the question of the bloody hour! "I am going to find you, and when I do, I am bloody stringing you up by your small intestines!" he thought out loud again. He heaved a big sigh. Now was the time for him to be getting out, less someone else decided to show up and investigate the strange things that had occured here.

Remus' POV

Remus was in his third glass of Firewhiskey, still not believing a word that Dumbledore was saying. What troubled the young werewolf was the fact that there was literally no trace of his friends! Splatters of blood, but there was no scent of a fresh kill, he would have smelt it! He was sad and confused, how they seemed to vanish off the face of the Earth, and there was the Dark Bastard's ashes, his cloak, and his wand! It did not make sense! No bodies, and no friends and here he was, all alone, barely hanging on to his humanity, less the wolf take control and he ended up doing something that could not be taken back. He sighed, trying to stop shaking, take another long draught out of his glass.

At the rate he was going, he would start picking habits up like smoking as Sirius did! A bitter laugh came out. He had been at it for several hours now, the bar keep kind and smart enough not to cut him off, as the Firewhiskey was the only thing that was keeping him sane, and strangely clear enough to think. There had to be something going on, something he just couldn't put a finger on! There had been this strange smell inside the house, metallic, but not the copper and salt kind. The air had been electric, causing him to have goosebumps that ran along his skin while the other Order members came to other conclusions. He himself was not convinced that Dumbledore or Moody bought what Minerva concluded.

There had been mentions, of Old Magick, something powerful enough to defeat the Dark Lord. And those mentions had him racking his brain, trying to recall everything Padfoot had ever told them on the matter. Prongs knew a decent amount about it to be dangerous, but Sirius being a Black, he was an expert on the subject, no matter how much unlike his family he tried to be. "You don't just forget things that are drilled into your head since the day you are able to read." he thought to himself. He could only think of one field of magick that would enable them to pull something like this off. The kind of magick that was now frowned upon in modern Wizarding Britain. "Blood magick, some type of blood magick, it has to be! Maybe runes too! I don't know! So many damned variables! Blood magick, runes, and dear Merlin, it was Samhain!" something clicked in his mind.

"A mixture, all three elements! By Merlin, what have you done Padfoot?!" he asked himself, not trusting to say it loud where others might hear him. There was only one thing he could think of to do, now that he had the building blocks as to what could have happened in Harry's room. He needed to research, and he needed materials that could be found in but a very few places. How he would be able to talk himself into one of the libraries of the Sacred 28, he had no idea. But he could be charming when he needed to be, and after what had happened to their so called master, there was about to be a lot of old, Dark families that would be needing favors to keep their sorry selves out of Azkaban.

Usually he would not be willing to make such offers to Death Eater filth, but at the moment he was out of options and only they would have the materials he needed to solve this puzzle. And he knew just which family to approach! The Malfoys would be bribing their way out of the prison, or trying their very best to, he knew that for certain. And so he would have to, what was it that the mob guy had said in one of the films Lily had made them all watch? He chuckled to himself as he thought about it. He was going to have to out Slytherin Mr. Prince Slytherin himself! "Lucius Malfoy, I'm about to make you an offer you can't refuse!" and for the first time that night, a real smile graced his face.

Something kept him from including Dumbledore in his plans. This was something that he needed to do on his own. Having a plan of action calmed his nerves enough that he was able to slowly stop his shaking, and actually enjoy his whiskey. He paid his tab and went home. Fleshing out his plan on how to trick a Pureblood into giving him access to their library all the while.