Chapter 3: Black Loves Adventure
He was bitter. He sat alone in the old and wilting House of Black and sulked. Wasn't he just as capable, if not more so, of handling the task? Wasn't he skilled? Wasn't he worthy?
But instead, he had been voted to stay behind, to keep everything in line; which was the official position for doing nothing more than sitting and sulking and making sure the house elf kept to his chores. It was insulting that Sirius would be given this position when he should have been out fighting.
He waited, occasionally reaching out beyond himself to wonder how the task was proceeding.
And then there was the sound of the doorknob rattling and footsteps in the hallway. It was too early for the Order's return, and too quiet for an enemy invasion. He slowly stood up, watching the door to the kitchen. It opened.
And from behind the door came forth Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Neville!
"Friends!" Sirius exclaimed. "Who should be at school."
He grabbed Harry and pulled him near.
"Where is everyone?" asked Hermione.
"Off on a mission," he answered. "What can I do for you?"
"Neville said he needed to tell the Order something."
"Without Dumbledore," Neville chimed in.
"I see," said Sirius. "Well, there is no Dumbledore here, as you can see."
Neville looked nervously at his colleagues. Sirius nodded and took Neville aside, away from their earshot.
The boy took a deep breath and shook his hands to try to gain courage.
"What is it?"
"Dumbledore can't be trusted," Neville said.
"I know he's a little off," Sirius began, but Neville stopped him.
"I overheard Mr Malfoy and Snape talking to each other. Something about a prophecy. That the Order was going to steal it, and that it would be secretly handed over to the Death Eaters."
"And that means that Dumbledore is at fault? I don't understand," said Sirius, putting on a stern face. "But I had a feeling that Snape was up to something."
"That's what I thought too," said Neville. "But then Draco caught me eavesdropping, and put a silencing charm on me. But I was still lost. I decided to follow Draco in case he was heading out of the dungeons.
"But he didn't leave. He waited nearby until Snape left, and followed him! So I, I decided to follow Draco, as he followed Snape.
"Snape, he, he didn't go far. Dumbledore was waiting for him. Snape told him everything about the conversation with Malfoy. Apparently, Vol-Volde… Um."
"Voldemort?" offered Sirius.
Neville nodded.
"He was 'anxiously awaiting the day that he and Dumbledore would meet on better terms,' as he put it. And Dumbledore was really pleased. He said that he would tell the Order their next direction, and that Snape needed to send Vo- him his 'unabashed' love."
That struck a chord with Sirius. He knew that Albus was attracted to men with stature.
He almost knocked Neville down as he jetted past him in a hurry. He ran into the fireplace and threw down his handful of Floo powder, yelling out for the Ministry. The House of Black, and the faces of the curious children, disappeared from his view as he was sent on his way.
He ran through the hallways of the Ministry, empty due to the weekend, until he reached the doors of the Department of Mysteries, all along yelling at the top of his lungs to retreat.
He knew it was tricky: there were the posts that were set up by the Order, and then there were the security wizards set up by the Ministry. But he also knew that they had to get out of there quickly.
Suddenly there was screaming and spells being thrown over his head. He pulled out his wand and threw a few spells back.
"Abandon it! Get back to headquarters!" he yelled.
And when they did not all come running out of the Department of Mysteries, he grew frantic, screaming at the Order, without specific name-calling, to return the prophecy and get back to headquarters.
The place was in a sudden frenzy. One by one each member of the Order came forth from the Department door, running to the fireplaces for safety. Sirius counted each as they passed, whilst he hid behind a giant column for protection.
When the last member had passed him, he followed and flung himself into a fireplace, hitting hard against the back brick.
He looked around him, finally back at his family's house: some were wounded, but with nothing serious.
"What was that about?" yelped Lupin.
"We had the prophecy! We had to go back a ways to put it back," said Tonks. "What's happened?"
"It appears," said Sirius, "that Dumbledore isn't clean. It was a trap. One we walked right into."