22

Discoveries and Deception:

Doe had been pouring over the details of a vicious muggle murder committed by Death Eaters when Moody walked by and tapped on the wall of the cubicle.

Doe looked up from the report instantly.

" Moody? What's up?" she asked, putting the report down on the desk.

Moody nodded his head towards his office. She followed, watching him stop at Sirius' desk and bring him with them. They entered Moody's office and he closed the door firmly.

" I need you both to do me a favor" Moody said grumpily.

" What is it?" Sirius asked.

Moody reached into the pocket of his robes and took out a sealed envelope. It was addressed to Mundungus.

" This is top secret Order business, I need you two bring it to Mundungus Fletcher, you'll find him at his rickety little kiosk of theft in Knockturn alley" Moody said handing Sirius the envelope.

" Why do you need both of us to go?" Sirius asked quickly.

Moody looked almost angry for a moment.

" In case one of you dies" he snapped, " that is the whole point of having a partner, boy! I swear I am going to have to tattoo Constant Vigilance on both of your arms like Dark Marks"

Sirius looked taken aback. Moody was obviously stressed. Doe couldn't imagine the pressure it had to be being both a key member of the Order and Head of the Auror Office.

" We'll bring it Moody, we can handle it" Doe told him earnestly, grabbing Sirius arm and practically dragging him out of Moody's office.

Sirius pocketed the envelope quickly and Doe shut the door behind him.

" Well he's in a downright lovely mood" Sirius said sarcastically. He walked out of the office at a quickening pace, and seemed to jab the elevator button more forcefully than necessary.

" Moody's got a lot of pressure on him" Doe told Sirius, " You've got to understand why he acts like that. He trusts you, and thinks you're a good auror, that's why he's hard on you. If you were rubbish, he wouldn't care"

Sirius' angry scowl faltered, " Okay I guess, but he doesn't have to be such a git about it"

They felt the elevator tug quickly and almost throw them out into the atrium.

Sirius and Doe apparated into the Leaky Cauldron and waved a quick hello at Tom before tapping the bricks and entering Diagon Alley.

The Alley was less crowded than it usually was around this time. People were so afraid of Voldemort and the war, that they were only leaving when they had too.

Dpe headed down the cheerfully lined street until she reached the darker path to Knockturn Alley.

She hadn't been in there in nearly two years. It was a dark place and she usually avoided it.

Ironically, the last time she had been here had been with Sirius.

Wands drawn, Sirius and Doe ventured down the alley and for the first time she realized how official she must look to others. In their Auror Robes and with their wands out, they looked like established ministry employees.

" Why do you have that weird look on your face?" Sirius asked his eyebrow raised.

Doe shrugged, " As unpleasant as this, we look like real aurors" she told him as they walked further into the depths of Knockturn Alley.

" Well, beautiful that's because we are aurors" Sirius reminded her.

They walked deeper into the alley. As usual, it was full of a strange collection of people. Small kiosks and stands were set up everywhere. All of them selling strange assortments of items.

Eventually, near a winding in the alley, they spotted a rickety kiosk full of odd items, with Mundungus behind it.

" Ah, Sirius, Doe. What are you doing here?" Mundungus asked nervously.

Sirius took the envelope out of his pocket and handed it to Mundungus, " Moody asked us to bring this to you".

Mundungus eyed it apprehensively, looking at it like it might bite and then placed it quickly in the pocket of his robes.

" Well thanks" he said quickly, " You better get out of here now"

Sirius stopped and picked up the silver cup on Mundungus' kiosk.

" Hey" Sirius said observing it closer, " This says Diggle, you nicked this from Headquarters didn't you Dung!"

Mundungus snatched it back from Sirius, " Did not".

Sirius eyed him darkly.

" Now you two leave now, yer scaring away me customers" Mundungus said quickly, giving Sirius and Doe a dark look.

Sirius and Doe walked away from Mundungus quickly.

" I don't trust him" Sirius said shaking his head quickly, " he's a bloody thief".

" He's not the most honest businessman, but he is in the Order" she told him.

They walked closer to the entrance to Diagon Alley. She stopped short. Something had caught her eye. In one of the sharp turns of Knockturn Alley, a masked individual had just disappeared.

Doe stopped Sirius putting her fingers to her lips so he didn't make any noise. She nodded her head towards the opening.

Wordlessly, Sirius followed her, both of their wands drawn. They walked quietly and almost tripped over each other when they rounded the corner.

Clustered in a circle, was several of the masked, cloaked individuals. Death Eaters.

Doe quickly pulled Sirius behind one of the low stone walls. This way they were hidden but they could still peer around to see what was going on.

The masked individuals pulled up their sleeves and their Dark Marks were all visible. They lifted their wands and their silvery masks disappeared, revealing their faces.

Doe had to put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from crying out loud.

Two of them, she didn't recognize. They were much older and she hand't recalled ever seeing them before. But it was the faces next to them that scared her more. Bellatrix's cold face was standing in between both of the Lestrange brothers. Doe felt a sudden upsurge of confidence as she now knew she had been right about both of them. On the other side of Rabastan stood Sebastian Mulciber and Evan Rosier. And next to them was a face so familiar she had to physically restrain Sirius so he didn't lunge forward and expose them.

Regulus Black stood next to the other Slytherins, looking as poised and comfortable as the rest.

The Dark Mark was clearly visible on his arm. Sirius was livid beside her.

"... this is where he wanted us to meet, right?" Mulciber asked Regulus.

Regulus nodded curtly.

" Honestly Mulciber" Bellatrix snapped, " when the Dark Lord gives you directions you listen"

" I listened when he told me to kill the muggle-born Ferrell didn't I!" Mulciber said angrily.

Bellatrix shook her head.

" One murder doesn't make you a true supporter," Regulus snapped, " only when you have killed as many as I or Bellatrix are you truly in the inner circle"

At these words Sirius sprung forward, exposing himself. Doe lunged after him, unable to stop him, but not wanting him to be alone.

Everything happened very quickly. All of the Death Eaters looked shocked. They drew their wands and instantly disapparated.

" Sirius, let's go" she said grabbing his arm and disapparating, just as she heard Mulciber utter the killing curse.

With a sharp pop they landed onto the hard atrium floor. The ministry was crawling with wizards and witches.

" What did you do that for?" Sirius demanded, " we had them"

She shook her head, " It was six against two, if we hadn't left then, they would've killed us" she told him quickly.

She grabbed his arm, " Come on, we have to tell Moody what we saw" she said dragging Sirius back to the auror office.

" I can't believe Regulus" Sirius said shaking his head with anger, " He's one of them, and he's murdered for them!"

Doe let him rant all the way up to the auror office. She knew that despite his many conversations about Regulus' suspected alliance, he had hoped he hadn't actually done it.

" I'm sorry, Sirius" she said pulling him into a hug.

He just nodded. She knew he wouldn't want to talk about it now at work, so she knocked on Moody's door, ready to tell him what they had just witnessed.

The information Sirius and Doe had gained had turned out to help the Order immensely. Though it wasn't enough to imprison the individuals they found, it gave the Order a very clear idea of who to look at. Moody was thrilled with how they had handled it, however he kept stressing the importance of being careful now. Sirius and Doe had made ourselves targets.

Moody was stressing Constant Vigilance more than ever. The recent sighting had seemed to make him more paranoid.

Doe knew she had to be aware. Doe left the ministry late one night, having spent several hours trying to figure out the connection between two of Voldemort's murders.

It may have been the lateness of the hour, but she had been sloppy. She was leaving the Ministry and about to apparate to her apartment when she felt a pair of arms grab her around the waist. Her wand had been in her pocket and now she couldn't reach it.

One of the large hands clamped over her mouth so she couldn't scream, and the figure pulled her off of the street and into one of the bathrooms.

It was Regulus Black. And he was holding her wand, blocking the door to the street.

Doe could apparate now, but she risked losing her wand.

Regulus and Doe stared back at eachother for a moment.

" Im not going to hurt you, Doe" Regulus said.

" Funny," Doe said her teeth bared, " I didn't know it was in the nature of a Death Eater to be kind"

It was strange. Standing in front of her was the younger brother of someone she had known her entire life, one of her closest friends. A kid who helped her chase doxies around the drawing room when they were little. She had watched Regulus grow up, and now he was standing in front of her as a vigilante with a wand pointed at her.

Regulus looked at her quickly, " I'm not going to hurt you" he repeated.

" I need to talk to you" he said quickly, " I need you to tell Sirius I am not one of them"

" I saw your Dark Mark, Regulus" Doe snapped, " and so did, Sirius"

Regulus shook his head, " You don't understand, I am one. But not really. I'm trying to take them down from the inside"

Doe shook her head, " I don't believe you"

Regulus gave her a look that reminded her so much of Sirius it scared her.

" You've known me since I was four" he pointed out.

" And you've hated me and my muggle mom since then" she told him.

Regulus reached out and handed her back her wand, " Now will you listen" he asked.

Doe snatched her wand. She liked being back in control. She had half a mind to apparate now, and leave him standing there but something about his expression made her stay.

" Please, Doe. Just tell Sirius I'm not doing this for the reasons he thinks" Regulus said and with a quick pop he disapparated.

Doe took a deep breath. That had been terrifying. She apparated instantly to the Marauder's flat.

Remus opened the door and looked surprised to find her there.

" I thought you had to work late" Remus said.

" I did, I just left" she told him kissing him quickly. He opened the door and let her in.

" Why do you look so panicked?" Remus asked.

She tucked her hair behind her ear quickly, " Where's Sirius?" she asked, " I have to tell him something"

She knew she must look frantic but she was still so confused.

" He's not here" Remus said, " He's on a date. Why? What's wrong?"

Doe closed her eyes for a second. Remus looking very concerned led mher over to the living room and sat her down on the couch. The apartment was empty. All of the other Marauders were out.

She told Remus what Regulus had told me and Remus' face looked even.

" Maybe he's being genuine" he said after a while.

" I don't know, Remus. It was strange. I've never seen Regulus be so human, but he is still a death eater" she said shaking her head.

" You're Sirius' partner and you were there, so I'm sure Regulus thought you would be the best person to try and convince Sirius that he was being sincere. That's probably why he choose you" Remus said.

Doe bit her lip, " I was so scared at first Remus" she admitted, " I thought he was going to kill me"

Remus flinched, " Please don't say things like that, I can't even imagine that"

Remus pulled her against him and convinced her to wait there with him until Sirius returned home. Both James and Peter got home several hours before Sirius. Doe had fallen asleep on the couch with Remus when Sirius finally came back into the apartment.

Remus woke her up and she told Sirius everything that had happened. James and Peter listened to.

" He's full of it" Sirius said when she finished.

She looked at him curiously, " How can you be so sure?" she asked him.

" He's a death eater" Sirius said unblinkingly.

" And you're sure Regulus told you he plans to betray the Dark Lord?" Peter asked, a strange fire burning in his eyes.

Doe nodded, " Yeah that's what he said"

" He probably was full of it" James said agreeing with Sirius.

" Don't worry yourself with it" Sirius told her, " and if he shows up to you again, I'll deal with it"

Doe left their apartment that night feeling very confused.

Was Regulus being sincere? Or was Sirius right and he was just as bad as the rest of them?

Either way, it was something she didn't have the time to deal with anymore.