Part IV

The Prince-Who-Lived

Chapter Twenty-six

"What is the fucking point, then, of hanging around Kings Cross for 'extra security' for the last fourteen years if they don't even give us back the power to make arrests and inquiries when we get the first sign of actual trouble showing up again?" James ranted. "Fudge is a complete toe-brained, goat-faced –"James fell silent as he clamped his mouth shut on his next words. He moved on furiously, "Fourteen years of being cautious, and now he refuses to acknowledge anything. They're thinking of dropping the caution completely now! It's absurd! Absolutely bloody fucking barmy!"

"James, sit down!" Lily growled. "And wash your mouth out; your daughter may be upstairs, but get a grip. It's stupid, but doesn't call for that kind of language, and not in front of your kids."

Harry sighed into his arms and watched James settle with a mutinous expression. They were in the kitchen of Grimmauld place; it was boring as Hell. None of the children could go flying while they were there, and their parents refused to leave them home alone at any of the respective family homes, not for the extended absences they were going through. And with them putting all their efforts outside of work into the Order, that meant Harry, Neville, Ron, Hermione and the rest of the Weasley children had spent the last month being shanghaied by Molly Weasley into cleaning the filthy house of Black. Sirius had regarded the whole mess like a being informed he was expected to wrestle a Blast-ended Skrewt, and hadn't yet complained about his work keeping him out of it. They'd found several spots of bundimuns, doxies, dead puffskeins, and then a whole gamut of evil and dangerous gadgets and items. The amount of difficulty they had in cleaning was astronomical, and Harry was not looking forward to the days moving onward except in the sense that they brought him closer to when he could leave and go back to Hogwarts which would hopefully retain its sanctity.

There had been no mention of Alan from Severus, even though Harry knew Alan was remaining with his father. Geoffrey, Koreol and Andrew had returned to America, and while Geoffrey had told them he'd be coming back eventually, there had been no sign of it in the last month. The celebration of his and Neville's birthdays had remained muted in the light of the frantic concerns of their parents about the lingering threat of Death Eaters. The only news that had been brought up so far was a single, small report in yesterday's Daily Prophet tucked in a far back page of a scuffle between a 'lone Death Eater' and several 'upstanding citizens', including Lucius Malfoy. Harry had to wonder just whom the poor mislabelled victim Malfoy had accosted was, and why he had dared use the title Death Eater for them. For Malfoy to call someone that seemed strange; why would he have a problem with one of his 'old crowd' unless … whoever it was may have been a deserter, or, indeed, possibly even Karkaroff. However, a picture had been taken and the cloaked figure seemed too slight of build to be the disgraced Headmaster of Durmstrang, and the possible considerations were left dangling with no conclusion. The paper had been read and read over until it had lost any interest by all the inhabitants. Across the table, Neville was flipping through 'Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Geneology' with a supreme lack of interest. They were waiting for the next meeting to start, waiting for Dumbledore to arrive, and for them to be banished from the kitchen once more, hoping against hope they'd forget to bespell the door and they'd have another chance with the twin's Extendable Ears …

The floo flared green, and several present jumped, targeting the fireplace into which Snape's head appeared with a shake and a scowl.

"It's me, Severus, fools. Is the Headmaster in? I have news for him that is of utmost sensitivity and I need him to come through to my house immediately."

"Of course, Severus, but he's not here that I know of. I'll go check the drawing room." Lily stood quickly, and left. James twirled his wand in boredom, brilliant gold sparks lighting the air from its tip. The others settled uncomfortably as Severus' head waited in the flames. Not a minute later, Lily returned with Dumbledore on her heels.

"What is it, Severus?" Dumbledore rumbled.

Severus sighed. "Geoffrey has returned, and he brought with him … someone you should meet, who has news that I suspect will most interest you. If you can come through …"

Dumbledore nodded. "I shall momentarily. The rest of the Order should be ready for the meeting once I have returned."

"Of course." Severus' head pulled out, and Dumbledore quickly stepped through, disappearing and leaving a fire burning merrily in his wake. Lily and Alice exchanged a look and sighed.

"Alright, this will probably be long, then. Harry, Neville, please go fetch the other children and we'll get you dinner right away."

Harry and Neville sighed before doing as they were bid. None of the others would appreciate this. Whoever was showing up was going to be someone new and exciting, probably full of tales and they wouldn't even get to meet whoever it was.

It was ten minutes later, and the children were still eating, and playing exploding snap to pass the time. Around them, a good portion of the Order waited. The parents of all the children were present, as well as Remus and Sirius, Moody, Nymphadora Tonks who was Sirius' cousin, and Kingsley Shacklebolt as well, another auror and a recommendation of Sirius'. They were all watching the floo warily, disliking the children's presence, but knowing they wouldn't leave quite yet. Harry had been most insistent, and James had caved and let them remain for the time being. Harry supposed James understood their frustration at being left in the dark.

Not long into a second game, the fire flared green again and several wands were aimed at the fire. The first to come through was Dumbledore, who stood and dusted himself off elegantly, smiling at the gathered Order members.

"We'll be having three guests, tonight. They should be coming through now."

Indeed, the fire hadn't returned to red, and another figure stumbled out, brown-haired and cursing faintly. Harry suppressed a grin; it was Geoffrey Alfaerus. It wasn't long after him that Alan stepped promptly out and out of the way, turning back to watch the fire worriedly without even acknowledging the others gathered in the room. Harry felt a suspicion grow, that was tossed aside when much to his surprise, two people came through the floo next, Severus catching his feet easily as his companion, wiry and dark-haired, fell roughly to the floor, catching himself with a muffled oath.

"Get off the floor already; you wouldn't have fallen had you been willing to go through with this. Coming was your idea." Severus snapped at his companion. Said person scrambled to their feet, back to the room, and grumbled loudly,

"Excuse me if I hadn't known a bunch of fucking vigilantes were going to have infested what I considered the perfect hiding place. Excuse me if I have a few people who won't want to see my face. For all the Christ-fucking, bloody numbskulls who I left behind, the last one I want to see –"

"Is standing three feet to your right and hasn't recognized you yet?" Geoffrey drawled. The stranger choked and froze, not daring to move another muscle. This, aside from the lingering British accent in the mostly markless voice of the stranger solidified Harry's suspicion. Sirius, meanwhile, had narrowed his eyes when Geoffrey indicated his position in combination with Alan's godfather's rant. Introductions promised to be interesting. Fortunately, Dumbledore took that hurdle.

"Well, as the main body of our group seem to be here, I would like to make sure you are all known. Alan Prince is the youth who has come here for his own safety now that his house is empty of an adult wizard." Alan snorted, as Severus rolled his eyes. Dumbledore seemed to not notice. "Many of the rest of you have met up with Geoffrey Alfaerus after the World Cup last year, and lastly we have the guest who has come to aid the effort … I'm not sure I caught your name, and wish to be sure …" Dumbledore trailed off. Harry heard a mutinous mutter start up before Severus grabbed the dark haired man's shoulder and hauled him around to face the room, which he did reluctantly.

"This is Regulus Black, back from the dead." Severus announced.

The room seemed to freeze. Harry could feel his own incredulity, but as he had known for two years already, he wasn't too put out by the thought. However, he had a good look at Sirius' face, and felt mildly worried for Regulus' health. It seemed almost ironic that his godfather and Alan's were brothers who were rather at odds, but there was little he could do about it. The welcome seemed to be falling apart. Frustrated, Geoffrey stepped forward.

"I'd like to remind you all that Regulus has my full trust; I am satisfied with his turn around, and any insult to him will compound into an insult to the Alfaerus as well."

Neville whistled under his breath as the purebloods in the room winced. Insulting another family was a stupid thing to do that usually resulted in blood feuds. Insulting a family as powerful as the Alfaerus would be a move that would drain everything from a family, and would be present aside the insult to the Blacks who were a vicious enemy to have, weakened in members though they were.

Sirius growled. "How on earth are you alive and what were you doing in America?"

Regulus, minutely relaxed with Geoffrey's defence, shrugged. "It's thanks to Kreacher, I suppose."

He flinched as the room echoed with a crack and Kreacher looked up and saw Regulus. His face spread into massive awe and he seemed ready to cry. Regulus winced, mouthed 'oops', and then smiled wanly.

Kreacher stared at Regulus and whispered hoarsely as though he couldn't believe it. "Master Regulus … master Regulus is well and has returned to Kreacher and home and his poor mother, sick with grief she was at losing Master Regulus. Master Regulus has returned …" Kreacher's enraptured face faded and he grabbed his ears and began twisting them painfully, moving louder and louder into a panicked screech. "But poor Kreacher … no, Kreacher is a failure, Kreacher hasn't done right, and Kreacher has failed the Master! Kreacher is a bad elf, and let the filthy mudbloods and blood traitors in, and they stole all the heirlooms and the items and Master Regulus will be so mad-"

Regulus listened, and while he seemed pleased before, his face darkened quickly, becoming worried and angry. When Kreacher began to scream, he stepped forward. "Enough! Be silent and wait."

Kreacher cut himself off abruptly and stilled his hands on his ears. Regulus waited, and then sighed. "I first want to know if you destroyed my locket. The rest can wait."

Kreacher grimaced and sank down into a bow, his nose on the floor. "Kreacher failed Master Regulus, Kreacher couldn't destroy Master's locket." Regulus' face tightened, but Kreacher continued, returning to his wail. "Kreacher tried and punished himself, and tried and punished himself again, and then – and then came the mudbloods and blood traitors, and Kreacher couldn't stop them with the bad son returning, and they took everything away and Kreacher lost Master Regulus' locket and had to steal it back and then a filthy thief stole it and took it out of Kreacher's sight! Kreacher failed the Master, and Kreacher is a horrible failure of an elf. Kreacher FAILED Master Regulus."

Regulus paled to milk white as Kreacher told him the locket was gone, and he growled, "Enough. Stop, Kreacher now." Kreacher went silent, snot dripping from his nose and watched Regulus, trembling faintly. Regulus breathed carefully for a moment, and then whispered, "Who took the locket out of the house?"

Kreacher looked up at Regulus as though he were the only person in the room; indeed, Regulus was certainly acting as though that were the case. "Mundungus Fletcher." Kreacher croaked in a malicious tone; he seemed to be anticipating something. "Mundungus Fletcher's stolen the Black items, and took off with Master's locket."

Regulus' hands clenched into white-knuckled fists, and he wasn't the only one, Harry saw, who was furious at this news. Alan's eyes were wide and angry, and Geoffrey was fingering his wand. Regulus turned to Dumbledore.

"Where is Mundungus Fletcher, Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore sighed. "He should be here, Regulus … possibly he escaped into the pantry for a smoke, or outside."

Regulus nodded carefully, and then turned back to Kreacher. "Thank you, Kreacher. You did very well in keeping the locket for me even if you could not destroy it. I'm very pleased. If Mundungus tries to run, you will stop him. If he removes anything else from the house, trap him in the attic and inform one of those in the family only of his incarceration. I want nothing else to leave the house, unless one of the family removes it; and Kreacher?" Regulus added. Kreacher gave him an adoring look once more. "Family is I …" He hesitated and gave a short glance to the side, "my brother, and our godsons." His eyes flicked up as well. "Nymphadora and her mother as well. None other." He seemed only mildly reluctant to number Sirius among them. "You will speak to no family other than us unless you are in this house. You will obey orders from the family, and orders from me above all else. If someone is rude, bring it to me. Thank you. Please be elsewhere to keep a watch on the items." Regulus looked around himself and grimaced. "And clean this place up. You can do better than this; you're not that old."

Kreacher beamed at Regulus and bowed until his nose touched the floor. "Thank you, Master Regulus. Kreacher will move at once. What of the things the …" He paused, and spoke hesitantly, "guests … moved from the house?"

Regulus blinked, and then shrugged. "If it's enchanted, put them all in a spare room. Anything inert … clean it and its place and return them. Let me know where it all is when I have a spare moment, or tell one of the family. Sort everything you clean into that, too. Now I've got business. Scram."

Kreacher popped away with an ecstatic expression, and Regulus shrugged awkwardly before turning back to the room. Most of the Order was looking at him suspiciously, but Dumbledore seemed to follow what was happening, and he smiled and merely watched, as Regulus stalked to the pantry and flung the door open. Inside was a dismal cloud of disgusting green smoke, and Regulus quickly banished it.

"Mundungus Fletcher?" He asked pleasantly. Dung stood awkwardly in a pile of cloth, and nodded slowly. Regulus smiled; Harry could feel the underlying threat, but apparently Mundungus hadn't been listening. "The meeting's ready to start. Come out here, will you?"

Awkwardly Mundungus did so, and once he was level with the near wall, Regulus struck and rammed him into the wall, hefting him up by the throat until his toes barely touched, and they were nearly eye-to-eye. Mundungus' eyes bulged, and the Order shouted their dismay. Geoffrey, having tailed Regulus slightly, placed himself between the Order and Regulus and merely watched.

"I want to know what you did with a large, heavy locket engraved with an 'S' set with green stones. I left it in this house, and I know you took it out. Where is it?" Regulus growled.

Mundungus squirmed under his grip, and finally slackened as much as he could while held up like that and wheezed, "Sold it already."

"What do you mean you sold it?" Regulus snarled, hefting him higher. Behind him, James growled inarticulately, but after a glance at Dumbledore who remained impassive, did nothing. "You sold my fucking property, you piece of shit! I could have your life for that!"

Behind Harry, his father ground his teeth and Lily huffed. The Order stirred at Regulus' actions, but all of them deferred to Dumbledore and did not interfere.

"Sirius never complained …" Mundungus whined, and then choked. Apparently Regulus' grip had tightened a moment.

"Sirius isn't legally a Black anymore, Fletcher." Regulus spat. "He has no say in what happens in this house, especially not while I'm here. I'm the legal heir, the one you have to worry about, and my supposed 'death' didn't change it. Now, I'm here, and I want to know where is the locket?"

"I really don't keep all that much track of it; I sell loads – Ye-ouch!" Dung yelped, and then descended into swearing. Regulus had pulled out his wand, and a shiver had run down Dung's body without any voiced spell. Mundungus tried to say Regulus was asking a lot of him, and got cursed again, howling a moment in pain. The Order rumbled in distress, and finally Dung yelled, "Alright, alright, lay off, gerroff!"

"Where, Fletcher?" Regulus snarled.

"Borgin and Burkes! Sold it; got an even hundred galleons for it, said it was Slytherin's but broken. Thing doesn't open."

Regulus swore explosively and dropped Dung; Harry heard at least two people gasp at his choice of words, and behind him he felt his mother place her hand on his back. He leaned forward to keep her from covering her ears, as she seemed to want to. Regulus seemed to be working his way into a grand fit, until Geoffrey calmly interjected, "That isn't physically possible and you know because you tried."

Dead silence fell. Around him, Ginny giggled nervously, and Hermione and Ron gasped. The silence in the room seemed twice as complete once their sounds trailed off.

"Geoffrey, shut up." Regulus returned. He was remarkably bland after his earlier anger, face having moved into complete stillness.

"Ah, but you were getting riled up. And everyone knows it's bad to-"

"Geoffrey, I'm warning you."

"Sorry." He didn't look, nor sound sorry in the least. "So, before your interesting choice of exclamations that was extremely cruel to the Rottweiler in question –"

"Geoffrey! Shut it!" Regulus glared, but it held nowhere near the heat he'd directed at Mundungus before.

"Fine." Geoffrey shrugged. "You're sane now. What's the plan?"

"Geoffrey …" The despairing tone was tinged with amusement. "Talk to Borgin. What else? Shouldn't be hard to talk him into parting with his recent acquisition."

"Will you desire any help from the Order?" Dumbledore interjected. His sudden addition made Harry twitch in surprise, and so did several others. "And an explanation would be appreciated soon. While I understand your focus on regaining this locket, no one else does."

Harry could see both the expressions Regulus and Geoffrey bore. Geoffrey looked as though Dumbledore had suggested something distasteful, and Regulus wore an expression as though there was a frog telling him how to run. From what Alan told him, Regulus treated everyone he didn't like as though they were beneath him, something his upbringing had made him very good at. Currently, he was directing it at Dumbledore, to great success.

"I think we can handle it … Dumbledore." Regulus finally allowed. The pause seemed purposeful.

"I don't think any of your birds are up to scare tactics." Geoffrey disdainfully added. "And if they aren't up to it, they'll just ruin the whole effect. We should be back soon enough, and then you can have your explanations. In the meantime, I wouldn't want to say anything so delicate in such an insecure room anyways."

This was accompanied by a significant look at the children seated with their parents, and Molly jumped on the grounds upon which to evict them from the room. She stood imperiously, and Harry stifled a groan.

"Mr. Alfaerus is quite right, all of you do need to go to bed, or at least to leave. This is Order business, and while it seems to have spilled out around you, you should still be long gone."

In her fervour, Molly missed Geoffrey's twinge at being called 'Mr. Alfaerus' and then Regulus' mocking mimicry. Alan sighed, and, catching Regulus' eye behind her back, complained.

"Really Mrs. Weasley, we're perfectly capable of handling all this information. We're not going to be insane and try to go after the Death Eaters ourselves. You can trust us … although," Alan looked contemplative, "your kids are Gryffindors …"

Ron jumped to his feet and glared. "As if she'll believe you would do nothing with the information? You're probably more of a risk than the rest of us are!"

"Are you accusing me of being Dark, Ronald?" Alan growled low in his throat.

Ron flushed, but didn't deny it. Alan's eyes flashed, and he quickly and silently hexed Ron. Boils sprouted across his face, and Molly exploded in fury.

"Alan Prince, you will not hex the other children if you have any dream of remaining here! Your father is giving his all to the Order, and I will not have you causing problems in this house while we are working here! The shame on you, for fighting!" Alan and Snape both looked ready to return fire until she turned her screaming onto Ron. "And shame on you for picking a fight, I raised you better than that!"

Her tirade was cut short by Mrs. Black starting her own screaming just up the stairs, and Remus and Tonks left to silence her. With their ears still ringing, it was several moments before anyone realized that neither Geoffrey nor Regulus was in sight. Alan was standing in a more relaxed pose, looking smug, and Harry realized exactly what had transpired. Alan had taken the initiative to provoke one of Harry's friends who were not 'in the know' and it had worked beautifully, as under the chaos of Molly's yelling they had managed a perfectly clean escape. Harry didn't know what the locket meant yet, but he could tell it was important for them to go after it, and soon.

With the cacophony under control, Molly firmly ordered both boys to back off, and banished all of them from the room. She looked at Alan and seemed to quail lightly under his firmly stubborn gaze. She gathered herself and regarded Alan with frustrated ire, as Harry looked back from the doorway. Severus placed his hand on Alan's shoulder and gave him a nudge towards the door. Alan sighed.

"Dad … it's full of Gryffindors." He whined.

Severus fought down a wry smile. "Alan, please. Geoffrey and I can brief you on what's important after. Please, just go with the others to the drawing room so Molly doesn't need to have a heart attack worrying about your 'delicate sensibilities'."

Alan snorted, but Harry saw his posture change and stiffen. For some reason, the change made Harry look at his face and the thin scar that marred his right cheek – a souvenir of his torture not a month past. Alan wasn't delicate. Harry rolled his eyes and decided to move Alan past the point of deciding, and spoke up.

"Well, I'm not fond of having your company either, Prince." Harry shot. "But if I have to put up with being in the dark, you can too. Shall we test our wits at Exploding Snap?"

Alan turned slowly to face him, walking slowly towards the door. Severus gave Harry a dark look that Harry ignored for watching Alan.

"Exploding Snap doesn't take wits, Potter, unless you are severely lacking in them. Chess is the game of wits, which I doubt you have any talent at." He drawled.

Harry shrugged negligently. "Sorry, but I didn't want to force you out of your comfort zone too quickly. Besides, what's the point of chess? So much time wasted on staring at a set of rules, I think, and you can't leave in the middle either. It cuts into my practice flying, something I think you could use help with. You've beaten me to the snitch, what, once?"

Alan curled his lip up, and mockingly bowed Harry up the stairs, taking them behind Harry as they walked silently through the entrance hall and up to the drawing room. Once there, Alan looked around slowly, clearly weighing the options for seating, and raised his eyebrows when he saw Neville had pulled out a chess-set and taken a seat over by the windows. The rest of the kids were sitting around a deck for exploding snap, and Alan carefully snubbed them to sit with Neville, who appeared thoroughly surprised to have company.

"A game, Longbottom? Or are you not up to it? Potter seems to find it too hard."

Neville paused for a long moment – too long, really, to be accidental – and then shrugged. "He has no patience. Are you going to play fair?"

Alan's mouth tugged into a smirk. "Do you expect me to cheat? Surely I can beat you without such subversive tactics."

Neville smiled in return and took his first move. Alan pulled a bag from his pocket to set his end with his own pieces, and Harry sat down with the others and returned to Exploding Snap, enjoying the game, and watching Neville and Alan engage each other completely in their own. Neville did much prefer chess, but the only person here who could beat him was Ron. Ron seemed to win no matter who played him, but Neville at least gave him a challenge that he couldn't just wipe the floor with. Harry wondered if Alan would be able to beat Ron, and got caught with his hand blowing. He returned his attention, and then paused with everyone else when Neville spoke up.

"Your rook was one space to the left last turn, Alan. Return it."

"I haven't moved it, Longbottom."

"No, you didn't. You bumped it over with your queen when you corrected her spacing. You've got your pieces used to cheating like that. Get it back where it was."

A small argument had broken out on the board as well, between their pieces, but Alan frowned. Finally he sighed. "Move back, then. Good eye, Longbottom."

"Thank you." Neville smiled, and turned back to studying the board. "And keep your Bishop still, too. He's trying to 'adjust' your knight. Rook to C8."

IIII

A commotion returned downstairs an hour later, but none of them moved even as Alan's eyes darted to the door and tightened. None of them had gotten tired waiting, and all of them were on tenterhooks, anticipating the return of the two guests. Ron finally spoke up.

"What was the big deal about the locket anyways?" Ron demanded.

Alan paused in his game, watching his bishop take Neville's last rook, and then looked boredly over at Ron.

"Why do you care? It doesn't relate to you."

Ron bristled, and Harry sighed. Alan was baiting him again. Albeit, even Harry could admit Ron was an easy target.

"It's Order business!" Ron snarled. "My family is part of the Order."

"You, however, are not." Alan stated. His tone spoke of grim finality.

"But you do know what it is?" Hermione asked.

Alan looked back over and fixed his black eyes on her before sighing. "Of course I do. Regulus is my godfather." He finished in an appallingly pompous tone; Harry had to place his two cents.

"He's still little brother to my godfather."

Harry could immediately see that Alan had to destroy his desire to laugh completely to give such a bland stare in return. Harry was suffering similar difficulty. His statement had been absolutely, unforgivably ridiculous. Neville was enjoying the freedom of smacking his forehead with his palm, as Ron gave Alan a superior look and Hermione looked frustrated.

Fred and George, however, found this a wonderful opening.

"One pompous pureblood versus –"

"The mighty Marauders –"

"Is nothing to brag about, kid."

"He'll lose." George finished and shrugged; grinning insanely as he laid down his hand. "I win, too."

Harry frowned at him, and gathered the cards to deal again. Alan returned to his chess game, which was in it's last stages, but still quite fierce. Alan and Neville were evenly matched. His attention didn't remain long, however, as someone knocked on the door and opened it, stepping in with a faint smile. Alan shot out of his seat, and walked swiftly around the others to throw himself into a hug with Regulus. Regulus sighed.

"Alan, really," He protested. "Your clothes are going to be filthy now."

Alan didn't let go but quirked his head slightly. "What did you do?"

"I got the locket back, what do you think?"

Alan stepped back and frowned. "But you're in a good mood. How the Hell are you in a good mood?"'

Regulus shrugged. "He's not dead."

Alan frowned a moment, tilted his head aside and then nodded slightly. "Fair?"

Regulus sighed. "Borgin was a strong contemporary of my mother's, Alan."

Alan straightened, mouthed a wide 'Oh' and then smiled and hugged him again. Regulus sighed.

"Alan, do you know how hard it is to get blood out of clothes?" He ignored the startled exclamations from the rest of the room rather masterfully.

"That's what Kreacher is for. Is he going to clean himself up, or remain a filthy ragamuffin?"

"He should be clean by now." Regulus offered. "Kreacher!"

Harry twitched backwards as Kreacher popped in, and then gaped slightly at the drastic change. Kreacher's loincloth was now a snowy white towel wrapped like a toga, and his ear hair was soft and downy. His skin even looked a shade lighter, and he looked odd against the filthy room. "Yes, Master?" Kreacher beamed. Regulus smiled warmly.

"Very well done, Kreacher, you look much better. Have you been cleaning?"

Kreacher nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, Master Regulus! Both yours and Master Sirius' rooms have been reorganized and dusted nicely, even Master Sirius' filthy muggle posters." Kreacher's mouth twisted a moment in distaste before looking adoringly at Regulus again. Harry touched Hermione's shoulder a moment and she sighed.

Regulus winced. "Merlin, Mary, and Mordred, I'd forgotten that filthy room. Kreacher, please redo my room. Neutral colours, completely. I suppose you can leave the crest, just … neutral. And get rid of my newspaper clippings. I don't want to see them."

"Of course Master Regulus, Kreacher will get that done right away."

Kreacher popped back out, and Geoffrey stalked in, his face tight and lips curled into a scowl. His mouth only twitched minutely when he saw Alan hugging Regulus.

"Alan, blood does not like coming out of clothes, you know."

"Don't care." Alan determined almost childishly. "I'm just happy you're both back."

Geoffrey rolled his eyes, and sighed. "Yes, well, now all three of us need to clean up. Skedaddle, both of you. Kreacher will have hopefully taken care of a bathroom by now." Geoffrey finished wistfully. "Because I desperately want to shower and change my clothes. That man's filthy shop seems to be stuck to me, and if I come home bloody Ginger will eat my balls."

"What did you do to him?" Alan asked eagerly. Geoffrey finally smiled honestly.

"Persuasion, Alan. Nothing more."

Alan pouted, but didn't press as the Marauders filed in. Harry shot to his feet and smiled brightly, hopefully to hide his sardonic tendency at the moment.

"Dad! What do we get to hear this time around?" He asked. It sounded odd in his artificially happy tone, but James shook his head in understanding as he answered.

"A fair bit. All of you, the locket was something very important to Voldemort and we intend to destroy it as soon as we can figure out how. Which will probably be a challenge and a half." Harry rolled his eyes, and James continued. "It has also been explained for Regulus' decision to no longer be a Death Eater, and I and the rest of the Marauders have chosen to accept it." His eyes flicked to Regulus and he added, "Grudgingly."

"Something tells me Sirius still won't like him anyways." Harry scoffed quietly. James pretended not to hear, and Sirius and Regulus rolled their eyes.

"I expect all of you to accept that decision, but," His eyes flicked to Regulus once more, "I'd still prefer you to be cautious."

"Gee, thanks." Regulus drawled. Alan and Geoffrey sniggered quietly. James ignored them, and then Neville piped up.

"Who all's staying where? Are they going back to Snape's place, or sleeping here?"

Regulus frowned. "How many people are already sleeping here?"

"Oftentimes, all us kids. Our parents aren't comfortable with leaving us in the manors without an adult or two, and since this place is under fidelius it's safer than the manors anyways."

Regulus muttered something unpleasant under his breath, "Who's sleeping where?"

Harry heaved a put-upon sigh, and started counting on his fingers, "Hermione and Ginny are sleeping together on the first floor; Me, Ron and Neville are sleeping on the second; Arthur and Molly are in the male suite; Melanie, Nanna, and Catrin –Vance-," Harry clarified at Alan's look, "are in Mrs. Black's room; Fred, George, and Connor are on the third floor … that's everyone."

Regulus rolled his eyes, "Kreacher!" The house elf appeared immediately and bowed. "You're working on my room still?"

"Kreacher is almost done Master's room, what does Master need?"

"I need two, possibly three beds in there. It's going to be crowded. Nice beds; I'll be sharing with my godson and his uncle."

"Kreacher cannot get three beds in, Master."

"Fine. Set up a good spot on the floor, and make it comfortable. I don't think Geoffrey will accept a spot elsewhere, the overbearing runt."

"Yes Master, right away Master." Kreacher popped away, and Regulus sighed.

"Leaves so damn fast. Whatever." He sighed, and then pushed Alan off. "We need to shower. Hop to it. I'll shower after you. Probably the highest floor is clean."

Alan stuck his tongue out and left, and Harry sighed. James stepped in once more.

"You all need to be in bed. It's nearly past midnight, and I expect you awake in the morning even if there is no more need for cleaning. Move along."

The game disbanded to a chorus of moans. Harry paused as he passed his father and godfather, and Sirius' mouth twitched towards a frown as he suspected what Harry would ask.

"We don't know what they got up to at Borgin and Burke's and we can't send anyone to check. They got the locket back, though, and what they explained … the locket is more important than some Dark artefact dealer. We just have to close our eyes today."

Harry nodded, feeling none of the distaste his father and godfather clearly felt and moved along to his room that he shared with Neville and Ron. He could see Regulus and Geoffrey's thoughts on taking it out on Borgin; he was an unimportant figure who wouldn't be missed and who wouldn't dare talk. It made perfect sense to him what they did. But to a Gryffindor, it never would.

The thought didn't scare him as much as it would have even a year ago.

A/N: Meh. Here's the chapter. Enjoy? Hope you liked who it was. The 'how' will be explained. Really, it only needed one tiny change ... But that will show up later. Kindly read and review? I feel neglected sniffle

Fire & Napalm