A moment later I stumbled out of a huge gray hearth, my feet catching on a pile of charred logs. A pair of invisible arms caught me.

"Careful." Sirius mumbled from under the cloak. "Don't draw too much attention."

Heart in my throat, I nodded vigorously. I blinked several times to clear the dust and soot from my vision. We were standing in a kitchen, gleaming iron and copper pots hanging from the ceiling by iron pegs. A steaming pot sat on the gas stove, filling the kitchen with the aroma of spiced chicken. My stomach growled in response.

"Missed lunch." I muttered, ignoring the pangs of hunger. I crept through the kitchen, Sirius holding my wrist, leading the way.

"Where is everyone?" I whispered, still surprised to hear Regulus' voice instead of my own.

"Probably at work." Sirius answered softly, pulling me into a long corridor. The walls were covered in depressing dark gray fabric; I wrinkled my nose. The farmhouse that I lived in was wide and filled with spacious rooms and windows to let in the sun. The walls were light and reflected the natural light. This place was clustered, crowded, and dark. I wondered what kind of childhood Sirius and Regulus must have had, growing up in 12 Grimmauld Place.

"This way." Sirius murmured, leading me slowly up a rectangular staircase that wound up four floors. A grand chandelier hung down in the center, unlit.

I was cautious of every step, every moment, but still flinched every time the old floorboards groaned under my weight. Sirius pressed on, invisible, but still guiding me. I swallowed hard, trying to fight down the rising sense of panic. What would happen if we were caught? Did Sirius have the kind of parents who would hurt their son if he showed up home, alone and uninvited?

I noticed that we were passing countless portraits of what must have been Sirius's family members. Most of them were dozing, taking a noontime nap. On the third landing there was a huge, ugly tree with still, fabric faces sewn into the walls. Names were written in elegant calligraphy below each of them. I paused, giving a start when I saw that some of them were cruelly blacked out.

"Come on." Sirius urged. "My dad's study is this way."

"Wait." I leaned forward, intrigued. "What happened to these?"

Sirius let out a sigh. "They're family members that have been cut off of the family tree."

I narrowed my eyes. "Wait… who is this? Narcissa? Wait a second… Is this the same Narcissa that's going out with Lucius Malfoy?"

"The same." Sirius said, sounding annoyed. "Come on."

"Hold on. Who's Andromeda?" I said, halting again.

Sirius let out a gusty sigh. "She's my cousin. My mother's brother's daughter."

"Why is her face blacked out?"

"Because she married a Muggleborn. Come on. We're wasting time playing twenty questions on my family tree."

But I was completely captured by the sprawling tree of Sirius's family members. "I didn't realize how big your family was."

I could practically see Sirius rolling his eyes. "Yes, the noble and ancient House of Black." He said in a voice dripping with sarcasm.

I could feel him tugging my wrist now, even though he was completely covered by the Invisibility Cloak. He dragged me away down another hallway and stopped before a dark, formidable oak door.

"Password." The door said in a stern voice.

"Repugno gemino." Sirius said, and the door creaked open.

"Thought you said passwords were overrated." I said dryly as I walked across the threshold.

Immediately, a scream split the air. It was so overwhelming and horrible that I bent down into a cringe, covering my ears, which failed to drown out the awful sound.

"Muffliato!" I cried, pointing my wand into the office. "Silencio!"

The screaming abruptly cut off. There was the sound of footsteps coming up the flights behind us. Quickly.

"Act natural!" Sirius urged, and fell silent.

Mouth dry, heart hammering in my chest, I stood perfectly still as a man who greatly resembled Sirius and Regulus pounded up the last few steps and stopped. He narrowed his gray eyes – precisely the same shade of steel as his sons – as he saw me. I trembled.

"Regulus?" The man said in a deep voice. "You set off the Caterwauling Charm?"

"F-father." I stammered, my mind whirring desperately. Be natural! Act like Regulus! Not yourself! "I was just… I was looking for something."

Mr. Black's brows drew together. "What on earth are you looking for, boy?"

"A book." I lied, swallowing against the aching dryness in my throat. "For school."

"Did you get sent home early?" Mr. Black said, frowning. "Are you ill? Are you in trouble? I thought we would have received an owl."

"I just wanted to say hello." I made up. "I wanted to get a book too. Sorry."

Mr. Black looked baffled. He was wearing all black, a silver wedding band glinting dully on his left hand. Though he looked very much like his sons, there were lines and creases of age on his face, and there was a terrible scar running down the length of his right cheek that disappeared down his neck. I clenched my wand tightly, wondering if this was the wizard who Sirius had learned the Unbreakable Vow from.

"I don't suppose Dumbledore knows you're here." Mr. Black said finally.

"No, I don't reckon he does." I answered immediately. "I won't be here long."

Mr. Black looked away, down at a spot somewhere in the house that I couldn't see. A muscle jerked in his cheek. "Alright. Just be quick. I don't want him or his followers watching our house."

My stomach clenched horribly, as if I had suddenly swallowed a huge chunk of ice. "Dumbledore's watching us?" I said without thinking.

Mr. Black snapped his head toward me sharply, and I wondered if he knew it wasn't really Regulus Black, but an impostor, that only disguised herself as his youngest son.

"Just be quick, Regulus." Mr. Black said quietly, and turned his back. He walked back down the stairs, at a much easier lope than before.

"That was close." Sirius breathed. There was a slight tremor to his voice that I pretended not to hear.

"Great." I whispered back. "Come on."

Sirius swept in after me. He discarded the Cloak, to my utter indignation. "Put that back on!" I hissed.

"Disillusionment Charm." Sirius said breezily. "My dad's got his office so charmed and protected… only family can get through. And certain special guests, by appointment only." He nodded meaningfully to a sign hanging on the door. "That's why the Caterwauling Charm went off. I forgot. He must have tightened his security since Christmas holiday."

"You don't say!" I snapped. "Come on, let's get what we came for and get out of here."

"Sounds good to me." Sirius said, striding over to his father's desk. Several portraits hung on the wall, each of various members of his family. There was only one of Sirius, and it was in a family portrait, of him, his father, Regulus, and a woman who could only be his mother. The photo was shot in black and white. None of them looked very happy, except for Sirius, who gave a sudden goofy face in the midst of the seriousness. I snickered.

"Told you I was the black sheep of the family." He said breezily, walking over to the impressive mahogany desk.

"Won't that thing be covered in charms and protective spells?" I said doubtfully as Sirius stood behind the desk.

"If we can get past the door's protections, I'm sure he didn't bother with charming or cursing anything else in here." Sirius replied, seeming way too comfortable. This is his house, I reminded myself, he grew up here. He knows it far better than I do.

Still nervous, I watched as Sirius yanked open a drawer and began sifting through it. He paused and looked up. "What are you doing?" He demanded, making me jump. "Keep looking!"

Turning my back hastily, I obeyed and strode over to one of the wall-length bookshelves and quickly scanned the titles of the books. I flinched and winced at every bang Sirius made.

"Won't he come running and try to find out what the noise is?" I said, worried.

"Of course not. Dad's got this whole room soundproofed, among other things." Sirius muttered ominously. "Keep looking."

I saw several books and a few mysterious objects of worth to Mr. Black, but nothing jumped out at me. On the walls were several framed certifications and degrees. A few caught my eye, written in elegant black calligraphy.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

This is to certify that
Orion Phineas Black

has complied with all the requirements for
Seven O.W.L.S. and Seven N.E.W.T.

Class of 1946

And just below that,

This award is presented to

Orion Phineas black

For twenty years

Of outstanding service

to the ministry of magic

1950-1970

Minister of magic, Eugenia Jenkins

I returned to the desk to help Sirius look. He was watching me from the corner of his eye.

"I know you're really Amber." Sirius said after a moment. "But it's really strange to see you as Regulus."

"Sorry, I can't really help that at the moment." I said dryly. "Keep looking, remember?"

Sirius stopped abruptly, smacking his palm to his forehead. "Of course! We're magic folk!" He pulled out his wand. "Accio file!"

There was a loud clattering sound, and a black box – a perfect square – zoomed out of the depths of the bottom of the drawer Sirius was looking through. Sirius snatched it and planted it on the desk. "It's like a Rubix cube. Look."

Sure enough, the moment his fingers had touched the box, an array of colors had appeared. But instead of the bright, sunny colors that Muggles used, these colors were poisonous, sinister. Slytherin's colors.

Sirius twisted and turned his fingers and the cube, but it failed to open. "Come on." He growled. "Open!"

The cube remained indifferent. "Let me try." I said, and took the cube from him. Sirius lifted a brow as I moved the cube in a flurry of hand and finger movements, but again, nothing happened.

"Maybe we're doing it wrong." I muttered.

"You don't say!" Sirius snapped. "We're running out of time."

Glaring at him, I tried to think of a solution. We hadn't come this far to be bested by a simple black box. "Maybe we solved it, but it needs a final push. Try speaking in your dad's voice."

Giving me a doubtful look, Sirius pointed his wand at his throat and muttered, "Imickiate."

"Open." He said in his father's voice.

The cube glowed golden through the cracks in the colored tiles. It gave a little shudder and then the top slid off onto the table top.

I exchanged a nervous look with Sirius. Wand out, I leaned over the top of the box carefully, heart pounding again, making my hands tremble. "Lumos."

The light of my wand's tip illuminated the contents of the box. The light reflected off the face of a golden locket, an intricate S inlaid with countless tiny emeralds glinting in the iridescent light. Sirius picked it up carefully and held it in his palm.

"It's kind of ugly." He observed. "Heavy, too."

He passed it to me after a moment. I examined it, holding the tip of the wand close to the locket. It was gaudy and clearly very old. It was something I would have expected to see at a flea market, or yard sale.

"It looks like a cheap imitation of a Rolex." I remarked, placing it on the tabletop.

"Maybe." Sirius said dubiously. "What's a Rolex?"
"A watch. My Grandpa wears one. He's a Muggle. His is real gold, but a lot of them are imitations. Fake, cheap stuff. This seems like a knockoff of some kind. I'd never wear it, even if it was a real one."

Sirius was making a weird face. In spite of the gravity of the situation, he burst out laughing. My mouth dropped open, holding my wand in a combative position. "What's wrong with you?" I demanded, shocked and thrown off guard. "Have you gone mad?"

"I'm sorry!" Sirius laughed. "I just can't… it's so funny, hearing you talk like that about jewelry, about a necklace, and yet you look and sound like Regulus…" He wiped a tear from his eyes.

"Yes, well," I snapped, "I've already got a necklace, haven't I? And you need to get it together. The clock's ticking and this is serious, Sirius!"

Sirius chuckled again and cleared his throat. "Right. Where were we?" He was still smirking, but at least he wasn't laughing anymore.

"These." I said tartly, picking through the simple assortment in the box. I pulled out a tattered old black and white photo that was so old that the person in it was gray and faded. I let out a gasp as I recognized the face.

"This is Phineas Nigellus Black!" I exclaimed. "The worst Headmaster of Hogwarts in its entire history!"

"Yeah, well, thanks." Sirius laughed. "He's my ancestor. Great-grandfather, actually."

Heat bloomed in my cheeks. I put the photo down, blushing hotly. "I'm sorry." I managed, mortified.

Sirius waved me off. "Don't even worry about it. Just keep working."

We picked through a few more mundane items, like a simple gold ring with some sort of foreign language scrawled across the inside in black, a tube of ancient lipstick, and a wand, broken in two. The unicorn tail hair still hung the two halves of wood together by the thinnest strand.

"What is this stuff?" I muttered, pawing through it.

"Stuff that my dad doesn't want anyone else to see or know about." Sirius said darkly, his hand freezing over the latest items. "I found what we came here for."

Palms slick with sweat, I watched as Sirius lifted a small manila folder out of the cube. The end was already open. He tipped the contents out. A thick leaflet of paper lay flat on the table.

On the side, the manila envelope read, TO BE WATCHED.

I gave Sirius a nervous look.

"They're blank." Sirius announced after a moment.

"No, they aren't." I said. "I guarantee it."

I tapped the top of the stack, hands still shaking. "Reveal your secrets." I glanced at Sirius. "What was that spell that James used to open the map?"

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good?" He said, and words bloomed across the blank pages of the pile.

"No way." I breathed, my eyes traveling hungrily over the top sheaf of paper. "There must be some kind of mischievous magic on them. The same kind of magic must be in the phrases." I nudged the first page at Sirius, which was loaded with information and a picture of a grizzled old man with piercing blue eyes, who, with a clench of my stomach, shared Dumbledore's last name.

Dumbledore, A.

Blood Status: Half blood
Status of Family: No wife or children. Parents and younger sister deceased. Brother, Albus Dumbledore, lives and is currently Headmaster of Hogwarts. Estranged.

Security Status: Low risk
Other Information: Unknown

With shaking hands, I showed Sirius the paper. The photograph of the man who looked like Dumbledore was not smiling and looked grim.

"What is this?" I said in a half-strangled voice. "Is the Ministry keeping tabs on us?"
"Yeah." Sirius replied grimly, pointing to the fancy, unmistakable embossed emblem of the Ministry of Magic printed across the top of the page. Just below it, a red stamp reading 'CONFIDENTIAL' blared across the page.

"This is a huge file, Sirius." I said softly. "How many people are in here?"

"Maybe the whole wizarding community?" He guessed. "Or maybe just people Dad was interested in. He could have had them assigned to him from the Ministry."
"I don't think so." I said slowly. "I think these are people of interest that your dad wanted to keep tabs on personally. Without authorization. I think he handpicked these."

A muscle jerked in Sirius's cheek, but he didn't argue. He didn't agree either.

I handed Sirius half of the stack. "Remember, we just want Folsom's file. No one else."

"We might as well." Sirius said bitterly. "We might not ever get this chance again. We could take a few more. Like Snivellus."

"Don't call him that!" I flashed.

"Fine. Snape. I wonder what his family life is like." I was surprised at the venom in Sirius's voice, the clear disgust and disdain.

"I don't understand why you hate him so much." I muttered, sorting through as quickly as possible. Dozens of unfamiliar witches and wizards flashed by my vision as I quickly scanned each name. The stack, oddly enough, wasn't alphabetized. Probably to make it harder to someone trying to steal. I thought, with a cold rush of guilt. Which is exactly what we're doing.

"Amber." Sirius said. "I found it."

But I wasn't listening. Staring up at me, with a wistful smile, was Virginia.

Sirius shook my arm, trying to snap me out of my trance. But there she was, tangible on the page just as she had been in life. I touched it gingerly, my head pounding so hard I was sure it would split down the middle and crack me wide.

"His name is Mackenzie Folsom, right?" Sirius urged. "Amber! Hello?"

"Look at this." I whispered, holding up the page. "Why would they have her in the file? She's dead. She can't… she's not a threat!"
And she never was. Not in life, and not in death. But here was the page, and here was her picture. And instead of just a simple snapshot of her face, there was more. Slandering her image and leaving a sour taste in my mouth was a large red X over the entire picture.

Tears blurred my vision. I quickly slipped the page into my robe, and with even greater shock, found my father's face staring up at me from the page below.

I reached down to grab it, but Sirius blocked my hand. I glared at him through my sheen of tears.

"You can't take them." He said softly. "If we take too many, they'll know something's up. You have to put her page back."

"It's disgusting!" I blurted. "They can't have Virginia! What if this was Regulus's file? What if it was his body in the ground and his file in the folder? Would you leave it too, or would you take it so that they can't keep studying him like some… some… cadaver?"

Maybe it was what I said, or maybe it was the fact that right now, I looked and sounded just like his little brother because of the Polyjuice Potion. Sirius stared into my eyes for another long moment, then broke away. "Fine." He muttered. "But nothing else. You can look, but we got what we came for."

I shut my eyes tightly, feeling two beads of tears roll down my cheeks like two hot comet trails. I didn't want to believe him, I didn't want to accept his logic and his reasoning. But he was right… if we took anything else, they'd know it was us. If all five files of the Harkstone family turned up missing, it would extremely easy for Mr. Black to trace it back to one of us. And judging by Sirius's loaded comments about his family's involvement with dark magic, it would be a grisly punishment for whoever Mr. Black identified – whether correctly or falsely – as the thief.

I scanned through the files of the rest of my family – Dad, Mum, me, and Naomi – and gritted my teeth hard. I forced myself to look away and follow Sirius's example of carefully putting everything back together where we had found it.

"In order." I murmured as Sirius dumped the locket and ring inside. "As we found it."

"Right." He muttered. "Thank God girls are so clean."

Normally I would have laughed, or even cracked a smile, but the weight of what I'd just discovered, like a hornet's nest underneath my pillow, left me feeling heavy and tired. I just wanted to leave, to pretend that we'd never been here and never witnessed this.

After we'd arranged everything as we'd discovered it, Sirius set the lid on top of the cube, which instantly resealed itself and turned black again. He placed it inside of the top drawer and let it slide shut.

There was no fireplace in the office. The stuffed head of a magnificent elk stared down at me from one of the walls, its large, gleaming black eyes blinking every few seconds.

I noticed a thick tiger pelt rug too, surprised how I hadn't before. In fact, most of the room was decorated with trophies and trinkets and awards. Clearly, Mr. Orion Phineas Black was a noteworthy figure in the community and in his life. An overacheiever, probably overcompensating for something. Maybe, like me, he hadn't been loved enough by his mother as a child. Or perhaps he had gone through a tragedy, like lose a sibling. Or maybe he was just the kind of person who was born lucky.

"Dad travels a lot." Sirius said, following my gaze. His eyes lingered on the crest of Slytherin, hung next to the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black. "My family is very proud to be have been in Slytherin. I'm the first and only one in our entire genealogy to be Sorted into something else."

"I know the feeling." I said, remembering my own father's drunken outburst and how he'd revealed his true feelings on my Sorting into Ravenclaw. My mother had always made it clear how disappointed she was that I wasn't in Hufflepuff.

"I guess we have more in common than I thought." Sirius sighed, folding the file in his belt. "Come on. Let's get out of here before the Polyjuice Potion wears off."

"Good idea." I agreed, wanting to leave this study full of secrets, death, and dark magic. "You'd better put that Cloak back on."

Sirius pulled out the Invisibility Cloak and disappeared underneath it. I wandered out of the study, being careful to take my time and not creak the steps. I didn't want to alert anyone that we were leaving.

I had almost reached the fireplace when there was a faint pop. I froze, hand automatically reaching for my ash wand, when one of the ugliest creatures I had ever seen appeared before me.

"Master Regulus!" The thing croaked happily. "Master Regulus has come home to visit Kreacher!"

"What?" I spluttered, hardly believing this thing could speak, let alone identify emotion. His huge bat-like ears flapped as he jumped up and down in delight. He wore a dirty rag around his middle like a loincloth, and huge folds like elephant skin hung on his small frame. I recognized him as a house-elf, but I had never, ever seen a picture of one so old.

The house elf, Kreacher, bowed deeply in respect. He was almost smiling, like a dog trying to show its teeth in a happy expression, but it was grotesque and a little scary. He was missing most his teeth and his gums were spotted black and yellow with age. He smelled like a pile of dirty laundry that had been wet and left in a cellar, forgotten for a month or two.

But he seemed delighted to be in the presence of Regulus – of me. So I forced a smile and tried to remember how to behave around animals like back home on the farm. Speak and act cautiously, but don't let them know you're afraid.

"Hello, Kreacher." I said, shocked at my voice, Regulus's voice, and realized with a faint flicker of hope that I might actually be able to get out of this without tipping him off.

Kreacher beamed – sort of- and hopped towards the lower landing. "Come, Master Regulus!" He croaked. "Come downstairs into the kitchen! Kreacher will prepare Master Regulus's favorite – beef chili – and some tea!"

"Oh." I said awkwardly, as Sirius nudged me hard. "Um, no thanks, Kreacher. I can't. I just came here to pick up something from my room."

Kreacher's face fell. "Master Regulus is leaving already?" He looked so dejected that I almost wanted to stay. But Sirius nudged me again and I remembered the Polyjuice Potion and how little time I had left with it.

"If that is what Master Regulus wishes." Kreacher said solemnly. "Kreacher has missed his Master Regulus very much this year since Master went off to school. His Mistress is very pleased that Master Regulus has restored the pride and joy to the House of Black by being Sorted into Slytherin House. Mistress Black even told Kreacher that she wishes that Sirius would not return home this summer holiday."

Sirius gave a low growl of anger, but Kreacher was either too deaf or too happy to notice. "Please, won't Master Regulus have a spot of lunch before he returns to school?"

"I… um… I'm really sorry Kreacher, but I can't. Professor Folsom will be missing me. I've got a class with him in less than an hour."

"Oh, I don't think I'll miss you." Said a horribly familiar voice. Because I had been so focused on getting away from Kreacher without upsetting him, I hadn't noticed another figure slowly come up the stairs behind him. Tall, cold, and pale, he gazed at me with those blue eyes of his – chips of ice. I quickly threw up a wall in a desperate effort to keep him from reading my thoughts, from using his skills as a Legilimens.

Professor Folsom pursed his full lips in what was an attempt at a smile. "Why don't you come down into the dining room and let Kreacher prepare you lunch? I'd love to enjoy it with you, Regulus Black. I insist."