There was a long silence following Sirius's statement. Regulus hesitated, his hand still outstretched between Sirius and himself, not sure how to react to his brother's monologue. He knew Sirius would rather he let it alone, and after a moment he let his hand drop and glanced back at the kids.

"Moody says Crouch is obsessed with catching Dark Wizards," Harry announced.

"Yeah, I've heard it's a bit of a mania with him," Sirius answered. "If you ask me, he thinks he can bring back the old popularity by catching just one more Death Eater."

"And he snuck up to the school to search Snape's office!" Ron exclaimed excitedly, glowering at Hermione. Clearly Snape's loyalties were an old argument.

"Yes, and that doesn't make any sense at all," Sirius answered. Regulus was impressed— once upon a time, Sirius would have thought the same way as Ron, twisting evidence to reach the conclusion about Snape he wanted to.

"Yes it does!" Ron exclaimed.

"No, listen, if Crouch wanted to investigate Snape he'd be coming to the Triwizard Tournament," Sirius pointed out. "It's an excuse to make regular visits to Hogwarts and keep an eye on him."

"So you think Snape might be up to something?" Harry asked eagerly.

"I don't care what he says," Hermione snapped, turning away from Buckbeak and putting her hands on her hips. "Dumbledore trusts Snape—"

"So do I," Regulus murmured.

"Thank you," Hermione told him. "And—"

"Come off it, Hermione," Ron began. "I know Dumbledore's brilliant and all, but that doesn't mean a really powerful Dark Wizard couldn't fool him—"

"Why'd he save Harry's life in first year, then?"

"I dunno, maybe he thought Dumbledore'd sack him or something. . . ."

This had all the signs of a very old argument, and as if to prove it, Harry looked over at Sirius and asked loudly, "What do you think, Sirius?"

Both Ron and Hermione shut their mouths and looked over.

"I think they've both got a point," Sirius answered, running his fingers distractedly through his hair. "Ever since I found out he was teaching, I've wondered why Dumbledore hired him. Snape was always fascinated by the Dark Arts; he was famous for it at school. Slimy, oily, greasy-haired kid he was," he added, a shade vindictively. Harry and Ron exchanged grins. "He knew more curses in first year than half the kids in seventh year, and he hung out with a gang of Slytherins who nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters." He glanced over that his brother. "Help me, Reg, you knew him better."

"That's because I was actually capable of holding a conversation with the man without someone's nose changing shape," Regulus observed.

"Yeah . . . erm, let's see." Sirius began counting off on his fingers. "Rosier and Wilkes— they were both killed by Aurors the year before Voldemort fell. All three Lestranges are in Azkaban, right?"

"I was sure Rabastan would worm his way out claiming he was just acting on his brother's orders rather than those of a Death Eater, but he didn't succeed," Regulus answered, nodding.

"Avery convinced the Ministry he was under the Imperius; Reggie was a part of that gang if he felt like having a social life that week . . . but as far as I know, Snape was never even accused of being a Death Eater," Sirius added, looking imploringly over at his brother.

"He was one," Regulus admitted. "He started acting funny— not so much that you'd notice if you didn't know him well— about the time I faked my death. I can't confirm this, but I think he went to Dumbledore about then."

Sirius nodded slowly.

"Snape knows Karkaroff pretty well," Ron announced, "but he wants to keep that quiet."

"No matter what side you're on, if you know Karkaroff you want to keep it quiet," Regulus muttered. "That snake burned everybody and he's still holding a box of matches."

"You should have seen Snape's face when Karkaroff showed up in Potions today!" Harry announced. "He wanted to talk, said Snape had been avoiding him. He showed Snape something on his arm that made them both nervous, but I couldn't see what it was."

"He showed Snape something on his arm?" Sirius repeated, thoroughly puzzled. He ran his fingers distractedly through his filthy black hair again. "Well, I have no idea what that's about. Reggie?"

Regulus sighed. He'd known it would come to this eventually and supposed he should be glad it had happened now, when Sirius probably wouldn't blow up in front of the kids. He wasn't going to be happy about finding this out seven months after Regulus had first noticed it, after all, but he was going to be even less pleased if Regulus lied to him now. In a way he'd been looking for something to force his hand, anyway. "Yeah, I know what it is." He hitched up his jacket sleeve to reveal the brand. "It was probably this."

Five pairs of eyes— Buckbeak seemed interested in everyone's center of attention— bored into Regulus's forearm. He could hear Hermione draw her breath in sharply and wondered if the kids had really registered the fact that he used to be a Death Eater before now.

"That's the Dark Mark," Sirius said unnecessarily after a moment.

"Yeah. He— the Dark Lord— branded it into all of out forearms," Regulus explained slowly. "It burned black to call us, when he was in power— and yes, he'd kill us if he didn't show up. It's how he knew I'd run. It faded after he disappeared; I used to pass it off as a kerosine burn, since by Muggle standards we really did grow up in an old-fashioned household. Now it's coming back, and it's probably got us all scared out of our wits."

"How long has it been like this?" Sirius demanded.

"Since sometime during the summer," Regulus admitted with a grimace.

"No wonder you never take your coat off," Sirius muttered, shuddering a little. Then he scowled. "Why did you never tell me?"

"Sirius, you've got enough on your plate without me adding to it," Regulus answered, pulling his sleeve up over the Mark, although he could still feel their eyes on it. "A price on your head and your godson illicitly entered into the Triwizard Tournament against his will— what more do you need?"

"I still think you should've told me," Sirius growled, sounding suddenly more like the dog than the man. He shook his head, shot Regulus the "I'll deal with you later" look their mother had been so accomplished at shooting Sirius himself, and turned to the kids. "To be honest, I can't see Dumbledore letting Snape teach without rock-hard proof that he'd switched sides. Trust him, maybe, but not let him around children."

"Why're Moody and Crouch so eager to get into Snape's office, then?" Ron demanded.

"Well, Moody probably searched every single teacher's office when he got to Hogwarts," Sirius answered. "He takes Defense Against the Dark Arts seriously, and I'm not sure he trusts anyone at all— after everything he's seen it wouldn't surprise me. Crouch, on the other hand. . . ." He shook his head and looked up at Ron. "You said your brother's Crouch's personal assistant?" he asked. "Could you ask him if he's seen Crouch lately?"

"I can try," Ron muttered doubtfully. "Better not make it sound as if he's up to something, though. Percy's practically in love with Crouch."

"And you might see if they've got any leads on Bertha Jorkins while you're at it," Sirius added, gesturing to the Daily Prophets. "That's just weird enough to have my attention."

"Bagman said they hadn't," Harry answered.

"Yeah, he's quoted in the article— going on about Bertha's poor memory. Evidently she's changed," Sirius told him, "because the Bertha I knew may have been dim, but she had an excellent memory for gossip. I can see her being a bit of a liability in the Ministry, maybe that's why they didn't bother looking for her for so long. . . ." He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Time?" he asked.

Harry and Hermione both checked their watches, but Hermione was the only one to reply. "Half past three."

"An hour and a half we've been here? Really?" Sirius asked. "You three'd better get back up the school, then. Just . . . listen. . . ." He glowered at his godson. "I don't want any of you sneaking up here, got it? Just send letters, and we still want to hear about anything out of the ordinary. But don't leave Hogwarts without permission, it might be the chance someone's been waiting for to attack you, all right?"

"No one's tried to attack me so far but a dragon and a couple of grindylows," Harry argued.

Sirius's glare, however, only darkened. "I don't care. I'll breathe again when this tournament's over, and that's not til June. Oh, and if you're talking about me, just call me Snuffles, all right?"

Harry nodded and glanced at Regulus, who shrugged. "I'm not the liability here. Reg should be fine."

Sirius handed Harry to napkin back. "We'll walk you back to the village, maybe scrounge another few papers." He glowered at his brother for a moment before they both transformed and led the kids out of the cave.

"So. . . ." Sirius started when they got back into the cave, crossing his arms over his chest. "Will you care to tell me the real reason you didn't tell me about the Mark?"

They hadn't stopped for papers in Hogsmeade, after all, since after seeing Harry, Ron, and Hermione off, Sirius had headed straight back up to the cave and Regulus figured he might as well get the rant over with before Sirius started with a full head of steam already worked up. Unfortunately, this also meant he hadn't had much time to think up a reasonable excuse. "I gave it to you with the kids, Sirius," he said quietly, crossing his arms over his chest himself.

"I'm not stupid, Reg. I know you left some of it out."

"What makes you say that? You are stressing out over this entirely too much, and the secrecy with which we've got to handle things isn't helping matters any," Regulus answered.

"If you cared about my mental state all that much, you would have checked me into an animal therapist in France with some bizarre explanation," Sirius snapped.

Regulus didn't touch this one, since he was probably right. "Sirius, you're being rid—" he started instead.

"I don't want to hear it," his brother snapped, waving a hand as if brushing all possible protests away. "The issue here is that, apparently, you don't trust me."

Regulus raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

"I'd have sure as hell told you if it was me instead of you!"

Regulus sighed. "No, Sirius, you wouldn't have. Because if the shoe were on the other foot, I wouldn't understand, and you'd know why. This. . . ." He shook his head. "This is worse, in a way, than seeing him on the street. Because you know it and you can't see him. Because it's a part of me that I don't have any control over, and dammit, Sirius, you know how much I'd like that."

"Well, now, at least," Sirius admitted. "Once upon a time you'd've let people push you around."

Regulus rolled his eyes. "We're not talking about once upon a time, and I really don't want to go into a discussion of it," he snapped. "We're talking about now. And yes, fine, while every reason I gave you when the kids were around is a valid one, it wasn't the main one. I just didn't want to listen to anyone dredge up the past or dismiss it, even if it is the Mark, as just a tasteless tattoo."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "That sounds like you've actually told someone."

"Well, I mentioned it to Snape. . . ."

"You told Snape and not me?" Sirius demanded, throwing his hands dramatically in the air and causing Buckbeak to look over at their argument— which he had previously been ignoring— in alarm. "Honestly, Regulus. . . ."

"Snape knew what I was talking about," Regulus pointed out quietly.

Sirius glowered at him. "I can't know what you're talking about, if you don't tell me about it in the first place," he growled.

"So I've kept my mouth shut. So have you, Sirius— you haven't told me anything I haven't already asked you about," Regulus pointed out. "Neither of us want to, it just comes from us both getting burned. It hasn't killed you."

For a moment or two, Sirius only continued to glower at him. "Someday it might. But all right," he answered finally. "No, no I haven't. But I haven't not told you anything you needed to know. Yeah, I haven't told you everything, but, Reg, you haven't told me anything."

For a minute or so, Regulus just stared after his brother. Then he shook his head. "You know, I hate it when you're right," he announced. Then he glanced out the cave opening, and, running his fingers distractedly through his hair, and added, "Sit down and don't interrupt me, otherwise I'll never get going again. This'll probably take awhile."

Author's Note: I've been simultaneously looking forward to and dreading the posting of this chapter, just because of what it is— the one where the wall finally starts to come down (although that's mostly next chapter) and the one where Regulus finally comes clean with his brother about the Mark (doesn't that make some of you feel better?). Obviously, this does borrow a few more lines from the book. Jackline: well, that's one question answered. Hopefully I can do the other satisfactorily next chapter. Gwinna: that's a fair point about Hermione and Winky . . . but I have no earthly idea how to answer it. Until chapter twelve, cheers! — Loki