Returning to Grimmauld Place rated as about as highly on Harry's list of 'things I most want to do during my summer holiday', as helping Hagrid hand groom a new pet the half-giant described as 'bit nasty when you first meet him, but he'll come around – just watch out for the spikes'.

Deep inside, he suspected the pain, that burned in his chest just thinking about going back to a place filled with memories of his lost Godfather, would never really fade until he had faced the demons of number 12 Grimmauld Place.

There were other motives behind his action too, of course.

Having a base to fall back to during his hunt for the Horcruxes was bound to be a good idea, especially since the house had been secure enough for the Order of the Phoenix to take it as its headquarters. It was probably the safest place he was likely to find any time soon, despite Snape's betrayal.

"Are we going alone?" he asked Tonks, as her shape seemed to blur and she shifted back to her normal, pink haired form.

"What's up? Not sure you want to venture into a possibly dangerous situation with just me along?" she teased.

"Nah," he laughed. "Just wondered why I haven't been the centre of attention lately."

Instead of laughing with him, Tonks changed to a more serious mood.

"There has been a lot going on lately, Harry," she said. "The Order is doing its best to recover, but Dumbledore's loss has been a major blow. You-Know-Who supporters are gaining ground with more people joining everyday, especially rich pure-blood families. There are a few other factions getting very active lately too, and we know almost nothing about them."

"Not one seems to be much of a threat on their own, and it looks like there have been a few fights between You-Know-Who's guys and at least one new mob, but the Ministry is struggling to keep the peace; they very close to declaring martial law."

"What's that mean?" asked Harry.

Tonks shook her head sadly.

"It's terrible. Nobody allowed out of their house after curfew, no gatherings of more than five people, all travel and trade heavily restricted, Aurors able to take people in for questioning for no reason, squads constantly patrolling the streets keeping people at home; It'll be a nightmare."

"That's stupid," said Harry. "How is that going to help stop Death Eaters? It's not like they are going to stop getting together, or are going to go home early because the Ministry says they are not allowed to be out late!"

Tonks laughed bitterly.

"Right, but it does mean the Ministry might be able to stop people rioting. There was a panic at the news of Dumbledore's death like you wouldn't believe. International Floo connections were book solid for two days until the Ministry temporarily shut them down. Martial law is more about controlling the general population than anything else."

She suddenly stopped to look around the narrow back street they had entered, apparently making sure they weren't followed, then started walking again.

"Things have calmed down a bit now, but it was really 'touch and go' for a while there. So you see, although you are definitely important, it has not been easy convincing people that they should leave their own families to come and watch over you."

Harry suddenly felt bad about his comment. He hadn't really meant it to sound so self-centred. Tonks appeared to understand.

"Don't worry about it, kid," she said. "I know what you meant. Two years ago, Dumbledore was more worried about the Ministry doing something to you, with good reason I might add. He got you out of that house pretty quickly last year didn't he? That shows he was more willing to let you get out and about."

"The Minister had his own reasons for helping out a bit too of course, but I've heard you set them straight about that!"

Harry felt his face flush in embarrassment and Tonks laughed.

"So this year you got, me, Lupin when he gets back, Mad-eye, and a couple of others to keep an eye on you. One of the others is going to meet us at the house, just to be safe, although Mad-Eye has gone over the place a dozen times already making sure Snape didn't leave any nasty surprises behind."

They had come to a dead end and Tonks once again checked around to make sure they were alone.

"I am bit surprised that slimy git didn't burn the place to the ground when he had the chance before getting excluded from the Fidelus charm," she added bitterly.

"He probably didn't have much of a chance to, since Buckbeak scratched him up pretty good, and Moody change the charm as soon as he found out," Harry told her, remembering the enormous beast flapping and screeching as she chased Snape. "Snape was lucky to get out alive as it was."

"Get your wand out of your pocket," she said, smiling. "We are going to Apparate. You can either side-along with me, or if you want to practice, you can go on your own power."

"What if I splinch?" Harry asked.

"You'll probably look pretty funny and I'll have a great story to share with Remus," she answered, not at all deterred by his concerns.

-

Harry's first thought as he appeared in the Entrance hall of the Grimmauld Place, was that his Apparition crack had seemed particularly loud this time. It took him a second to realise he had heard Tonks's Apparition and not his own, because she had left a split second after him.

It was not totally dark, as it had been the first time Harry had entered the building two years before, but he could smell the damp, sweetish rotting, exactly as it had been that first time. It again felt like a derelict building, despite having been occupied for the better part of year by Sirius, and the Order using it regularly for most of the last year.

As Harry took his first hesitant step further into the house, a loud crash startled him badly and Tonks began swearing loudly as he swung his wand around ready to curse their attacker.

"Who the HELL moved that umbrella stand? I bet it was Remus! I bet hit did it on purpose just to get me to trip over it - probably charmed it to follow me!"

Before she had finished, the tattered, moth eaten curtains covering the drooling, eye-rolling portrait of Mrs. Black flew open and she started her habitual screaming.

"Filth! Scum! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks! Begone from this place! How dare you return to the noble home of my fathers-"

Immediately other portraits awoke and began to yell, adding to the cacophony.

Harry felt the tension he had been experiencing at returning explode in a burst of anger.

"SHUT UP," he screamed, but nothing changed. His anger suddenly changed gears and became a cold, almost murderous, rage.

"Reducto," he said calmly, pointing his wand at the closest portraits It instantly exploded leaving only a scorch mark on the wall where it had hung for decades.

"Reducto," he said again, pointing at the next portrait, with the same spectacular, air-rending results.

One by one, he moved down the line, reducing each picture to no more than kindling. Before he had finished, the remaining portraits were begging him not to destroy them. Harry ignored their pleas and continued until only the huge portrait of Mrs. Black remained. She was still screaming, but her words had become incoherent at some point during his rampage.

Harry paused for a second and looked at the painting. He recalled he had bought a tin of the strongest paint remover available for this, but he wasn't going to stop now; his anger wouldn't let him.

"REDUCTO!" he screamed with all of his might, his voice overpowering the insane screeching of the long dead woman.

There was a split second of silence, as if all sound in the room had been drawn into the tight ball of his spell, then it hit.

An enormous concussion ripped the canvas, the surrounding frame curtains and even part of the wall behind, to shreds. A huge rush of expanding air blew the debris outward, knocking Harry off his feet and littering pieces of the painting and its surrounds throughout the long hallway.

Harry sat up, his ears still ringing from the shock wave of the blast, and looked around. Tonks was lying across the Troll's leg umbrella stand, apparently not having extracted herself from when she had first fallen over. Her face was a frozen mixture of shock and amusement.

"Oops," said Harry, grinning sheepishly and trying to look apologetic.

"Well," said a voice from the far end of the hall, "I suppose that was certainly one way to get rid of it. Well done I say, Harry."

He looked up to see Arthur Weasley standing in the kitchen doorway, wand drawn and looking slightly bemused.

Harry was uncomfortable. The chair he was sitting on was fine, and the tea he was drinking tasted just great, it was the company that had him on edge.

Arthur had not been alone. Another wizard, who declined to be introduced as anything other than 'an unspeakable friend', had been with him. The anonymous wizard had not cast a new Fidelus charm for Harry, but left a scroll that would remove the old charm, activate the new one, and allow Harry to appoint a secret keeper.

It was all very confusing, since the wizard refused to explain anything and barely said a word. Harry understood he must have been a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and Arthur must have trusted him, but all these secrets made him nervous.

Tonks had exited the room a few seconds earlier, claiming she was going to do an extra sweep of the old house, just in case Mad-eye had missed something. Harry had tried to join her, but Arthur had stopped him, asking him to stay and 'have a chat' for a moment.

Harry liked Ron's dad; they had always gotten on well. Unlike his often-overbearing wife, Molly, Arthur had always been happy to give Harry some say in his own life.

The problem was that Harry was feeling guilty about having dated Arthur's daughter for a month before dumping her at a funeral, then had gotten into a very public fight with his youngest son, and finally, all but ignoring Molly at the station when she had obviously wanted to talk to him.

Harry had good reasons for what he had done, and the fight with Ron had been for misdirection purposes, as was the incident at the station, but Harry still felt an enormous load of guilt, and not just about the breaking up part of his relationship with Ginny.

Two minutes later Harry was staring silently into his tea, waiting for Arthur to say something. It was now very uncomfortable.

Finally, Arthur broke the silence.

"Harry, I understand you had a bit of a, er, thing with Ginny earlier this year?" asked Arthur.

Harry nodded, keeping his eyes on his tea as he took a sip.

"And I am told that you have recently broken up with her."

Again Harry nodded, taking another sip.

"Yes, well. Er, Ron tells me that you are just trying to keep her safe. That you think she will be a target for You-Know-Who if you are involved with her."

Another nod, another sip. He wasn't going to get angry with Ron for trying to explain things to his family, not even if it was about something very personal to Harry.

"He also tells me the two of you and young Hermione are pretending to no longer be friends, for the same reason."

"Yes," said Harry, finally daring to say something. "That's right."

"Well um, Harry, I know it is not my place to tell you how to live your life, but I want to ask you something, and I want you to look me in the eyes when you answer. Can you honestly tell me that you think your feelings for Ginny are going to stop; that you can just walk away?"

This was it; this was the moment Harry had been dreading since two seconds after he had seen Arthur in the hallway. While he had been alone at Privet Drive, or with Tonks or Ron, he had managed to avoid thinking about what he was doing. He thought that if he concentrated on finding and destroying the Horcruxes, and then Voldemort himself, he would not have to face the reality of what he was doing with Ginny, or the effects it would have on his relationship with her family.

He tried, he steeled himself and tried to raise his eyes to meet Arthur's, but he couldn't. He couldn't lie to Arthur about it, and he knew he wouldn't stop feeling what he felt for Ginny. Instead, he felt tears fill his eyes.

"I thought so," said Arthur. "Harry, you have to stop thinking you are responsible for everything bad that happens. You can't stop living because You-Know-Who seems to have taken a person interest in you. You can't give in to them, Harry, and turning your back on those who love you, even if you think it is going to keep them safe, is giving in. We are all in danger anyway. You know how Malfoy and his, associates, feel about my Family. Having you as a friend, maybe as more than a friend, is not going to change that you know."

"You're wrong," said Harry, hie voice croaking. "Voldemort hasn't just taken a personal interest in me, Mr Weasley."

"What do you mean?" asked Arthur.

Harry fought to hold back the tears. His hands were clutching his cup so tightly that he thought it might explode at any second, but he forced his voice to be calm.

"The prophecy; the one you almost died protecting a year ago. I heard it all, Mr Weasley."

Harry ignored Arthur's sharp intake of breath. Nobody except Ron and Hermione knew Harry had been told the whole prophecy. Everybody else thought it had been lost in the battle in the Department of Mysteries, where Sirius had been killed.

He had not intended to tell anybody else, but he felt he owed Mr Weasley an explanation. Harry had probably caused Ginny more pain than anything since Tom Riddle had tried to possess her, and Arthur deserved to know why.

He forced his eyes to meet the older man's.

"It says he has to kill me, or I have to kill him, and we can't, move on, until that happens."

As expected, Mr Weasley's eyes showed shock and disbelief.

"Are you sure? You haven't misunderstood it or something?" Arthur asked.

"Dumbledore heard it too. He agreed with me; that's what it says."

"Dear Mercy!" said Arthur.

"And that's not all of it either," Harry said. "There are things I have to do, secret things that Dumbledore was working on before he was murdered."

Harry dropped his eyes and took another sip of tea. He heard Arthur do the same thing, and for a second Harry was tempted to laugh out loud at the ridiculous idea of the two of them calmly sipping tea while discussing his fate and his relationship with Arthur's only daughter.

As the seconds dragged on, Harry was trying to decide what to say next, when Arthur took the initiative.

"It doesn't matter," he said, causing Harry to look up sharply.

"What?"

"I said, it doesn't matter."

Harry started at him; confused.

"Oh, I am not saying it doesn't mean you aren't right; that she isn't going to be in more danger, all of us in fact. What I am saying is that you can't deal with it like this. You can't just turn your back on happiness hoping that you will someday get over it and be okay. It doesn't work that way, Harry."

"Mr Weasley, you are not making sense. How else can I keep her safe? What happens if I don't win, what happens if he kills me or something? And how can I fight him if he gets to her? I don't think I can concentrate or even think clearly if I am not sure she is safe!"

"Harry, none of us are safe. In another year Ginny will be of age, do you think she is going to stay out of the Order, despite what her mother says about it at the moment? And just how well is she going to take care of herself with a broken heart, eh? I know my daughter Harry, and I can tell you that she is not going get over you anytime soon. She has had a crush on you since before you met, and after you saved her from the Chamber of Secrets, she will never let anybody else in her heart."

"Harry, I saw her when she came from school, and I could tell straight away that she was not just in mourning over Dumbledore, who, after all, was just her headmaster. She was trying to come to terms with a life without you, and she wasn't doing a good job. Still isn't in fact, although she has been keeping herself busy."

"She'll get over it," mumbled Harry into his cup. "She said she understood, that was expecting it."

Mr Weasley gave a short laugh.

"No Harry, I don't think she will, at least not in the next decade or so, and I don't think you will either. I don't believe you give your heart away lightly, and from what I can see, I am pretty sure that you have given it to my baby girl."

Harry stayed silent, so once again they returned to sipping tea silently. Harry didn't want to admit Arthur was right. It had taken him days to get up the courage and determination to break up with Ginny. He had been infatuated with Cho Chang for a while, but Ginny made him feel whole in way he had never known he could feel.

He had told her that their time together had been like a page out of somebody else's life, and he had meant it. He knew they could never return to such an idyllic time again, not while Voldemort was alive.

"You might not like to hear this, Harry, but I think you are far too young to be making such serious decisions. You can't possibly understand your heart that well, yet."

"Isn't that the speech concerned parents give when they are trying to talk their children out of a relationship?" laughed Tonks, coming back into the room and earning a small chuckle from Arthur.

"Well, Molly says that I am usually holding my wand backwards, so you are probably right there, Tonks, but it is true never the less. Now don't get me wrong, Harry, I am not telling you to rush off and get involved with my daughter in a, erm, inappropriate way, but I don't think you should be cutting off your friends and family in some misguided attempt to keep us from harm."

"Family?"

"Yes," Arthur said in a determined tone. "Family. No matter what happens, I want you to consider us family. Molly already thinks of you as one of her sons you know, and I owe you not only my own life, but that of my two youngest children as well. I am as proud of you as if you were one of my own and only wish I could claim some credit for the manner you have conducted yourself in."

"I... I'm not sure," said Harry lamely. Tonks sat down and put her arm around him giving him a gentle squeeze.

He had never been in any situation like this before, and was a bit overwhelmed. He appreciated Tonks's friendly support, even if it was adding to his confusion.

"Harry, I didn't come here to put in an awkward position, well not much of one anyway," Arthur said, smiling. "I just wanted to be sure somebody had given you another point of view to consider, and I wanted to give you your invitation to Bill's wedding. I understand you are planing on making, arrangements, to come in secret, but Ron seems to think you might change your mind."

"Come on, Harry," said Tonks encouragingly. "You have to come. I'll be there, as a special Auror guard the Ministry has assigned. It'll be fun."

Harry very much wanted to come, and had been planning on it ever since Ron mentioned it, but there was a real risk an attack might be made if he attended.

Not to mention he was terrified of seeing Ginny.

What surprised him was that Ron had thought about it, and he said as much.

"Well," admitted Arthur. "I rather think it was more that Hermione thought you might be having second thoughts."

Harry laughed. That made more sense.

"At any rate," said Mr. Weasley, taking a large envelope out of a pocket in his robes. "Here is the invitation. There will be a place for you, even if you decide not to come, but I hope you do. We will miss you if you are not there."

"Not to mention, I think there is a little French girl is hasn't stopped talking about seeing you again," added Tonks brightly.

Harry groaned. The last thing he needed was the bride's infatuated little sister trying to monopolise him.

Both adults were enjoying his discomfort at Tonks's word entirely too much.

"I'll think about it, Mr. Weasley, okay?"

Arthur was about to answer when a sliver shape that Harry at first thought was a ghost flew into the room and sunk into Arthur's head, making the smile drop from his face. A spit second later, another one flew in and hit Tonks. Both adults stood up quickly and looked at each other.

"What was that?" asked Harry, standing up and drawing his wand.

"A message, from the Order," explained Tonks. "There is an emergency meeting and we have been called. We have to go, now."

"Don't leave for any reason. No matter what, you are not to leave here alone, okay?"

Harry nodded and turned to Arthur.

"Sorry to rush off Harry. Please think about what talked about. I hope to see you at Bill's."

"Goodbye, Mr. Weasley. Thank you."

With a loud crack, both adults Disapparated, leaving Harry alone in the gloomy house.

Sighing loudly at the knowledge his curiosity would not be satisfied any time soon, Harry cleaned up the cups they had been using and decided to reacquaint himself with a house he had hope to never have to see again, but had known he would.

The place definitely needed another clean to be considered habitable, along with some major redecorating, but there was no way he was going to be doing it by hand, not this time. He took out his wand and went to work.

It had been very difficult at first. Every room brought back memories of Sirius that pained Harry. Even the good ones that brought a smile to his face were soon replaced with a frown when the pang of his loss returned.

Some parts of the house, like the kitchen where he had been sitting with Mr Weasley, had the added issue of also reminding Harry of Professor Dumbledore.

Pushing aside the ghostly memories, Harry set to work removing the dust and dirt with a vigour that would have made Mrs Weasley proud, until she realised he was trying to scrub away the thoughts and memories that were cutting into him.

Hours passed without notice as Harry threw himself into his self appointed task.

Much of the house was a great deal cleaner, thanks to the excessive use of nonverbal cleaning and banishing spells, and Harry was feeling the effect. After repairing the Black Family tree tapestry in the drawing room, he realised he would have preferred to have throw it out.

Fatigue, he thought, as he sat on the ground in front of it. Might be time for bed.

He was staring at the tapestry, not really focussing on anything. All he had meant to do was repair Sirius's name, but once he started he found himself repairing all of the ones that had been blasted off for disgracing the house of Black, and he had even undone the damage the Doxy's had done feeding on it for years.

His eyes searched for Sirius's name without conscious thought. It was back where it belonged, birth and death dates written in gold thread. Right next to it was Regulus Black, Sirius's murdered Death Eater brother.

Regulus Black.

R. B.

Harry sat up straight, no longer tired.

The second name he had repaired was Sirius's uncle, Alphard. Ron's middle name was taken from one of his uncles, what if Regulus's was too. Could Regulus be R.A.B?

He fit the profile, A reformed Death Eater had written the note left with the locket; no body else would refer to Voldemort in a personal note as the 'Dark Lord'. Regulus had been killed after finding out how far Voldemort was willing to go. Making Horcruxes could have been the 'straw that broke the camel's back' and caused Regulus to turn on his former master.

How could Harry find out? There was nobody to ask and the book on noble genealogy had been turfed along with the other rubbish. Could he ask Slughorn or McGonagall?

The answer appeared in his mind like a conjured rabbit out of stage magician's hat.

Harry rushed from the room and ran into the bedroom he had previously stayed in.

Phineas Nigellus was asleep in his portrait.

"Excuse me, sir?" asked Harry.

When he got no response, he tried a bit louder.

"Excuse me? EXCUSE ME, SIR? Phineas, PHINEAS. Please wake up, sir."

The bearded ex-headmaster cracked his eyes open and regarded Harry coldly.

"Yes? What do you want? I thought here at last I would be able to get some sleep without constant interruption."

"Sorry sir, but I have a question only you can answer. It's about your great-great-grandson."

"Sirius? What about him?"

"No, not Sirius, sir; Regulus. I need to know if he was named after his uncle, your great-grandson, Alphard?"

"Regulus! That's a surprise. He was murdered by that half-blood snake before you were born. Hmm, let me think," said the clever faced wizard, scratching his beard idly.

"No, I don't think so," he said.

Harry could feel his hopes fade.

"No. I am certain. He was named after his grandfather, not his disgraceful uncle, if I remember correctly. Strange boy Regulus; spent far too much time with that house-elf. That mangy creature was the last one to see him alive you know, besides You-Know-Who of course. It went quite mad after that and should have been put down straight away."

Harry couldn't keep the disappointment from his voice. "So his name wasn't Regulus Alphard Black then?" he asked.

"Definitely not. Sorry lad, but he was named after his grandfather."

"His name was Regulus Arcturus Black."