A/N: I'm entering that wretched exam season - so no updates at all for the next month (cries) apart from an already written piece for my friend in dedication of her birthday on saturday - awesomeeee!

I really do hope you like this chapter, it's perhaps the most important one so far! Replies to guest reviews will be at the bottom of this page. I urge anyone who does review as a guest to please leave a name so I can thank you in person.

Without further adieu, chapter 12...

xoxo

12. Catalyst

Sirius, as of late, had been surprised more than he was used to being. It was disorientating to be this confused, because right now, he was befuddled far more than he had ever been in his life. He shook as he held his darling son, his beautiful baby boy. He buried his face into the tiny little crook of his son's neck and choked back a sob.

A baby? Another baby? How was he going to do it during a time like this? Sirius was already frightened enough about having one kid in a war and now he was terrified. Especially if Voldemort found out, because if Voldemort knew Rose was pregnant with another Sirius Black kid, then he would know Sirius was alive.

Sirius sat in his old room, where there were a few baby pictures of Sirius stuck to the dresser as well as ones scattered all over the room of him and the Marauders. In the pictures of him as a baby, his son looked like a living breathing clone of him. A mirror image.

SJ looked up when his father shifted and reached a hand up, clutching tightly to the black tresses veiling his father's face and tugging gently on it.

'You're gonna have a little brother or sister,' Sirius whispered, kissing his son's forehead. 'How do you feel about that?'

SJ giggled when Sirius's hair tickled him and he batted it away, mumbling unintelligibly, and rather enthusiastically too.

'You're excited too, aren't you?'

His son continued to tug at his hair and mumble, so Sirius saw that as a sign to continue talking. 'I'm scared. I mean, I'm going to love that child with ever fibre of my being. But it's too dangerous, you're in enough danger as it is anyway! So how can I feel anything other than fear at the prospect of having another child?'

'Ro!' SJ interrupted. He was so smart. Already, he was nine months old and could recognise and say his Mother's name. Well, an abbreivation of her name but it was all the same.

'Yes, Rose. Your dear mum. She's gone and gotten herself knocked up again-'

'Gotten myself knocked up?' A quiet and melodic voice said from the doorway; soft and barely even there. Sirius looked up from his son's head at his girlfriend and swallowed harshly. Her gentle laugh filled the room, steadily getting louder. 'Forgive me if I'm wrong but you were the one sticking it in me, and you were the one who insisted on having sex and insisted on using more than one condom which apparently, isn't a good idea in the first place!'

She came over to him cautiously, giving him enough time to move away; flinch; leave... He didn't move away though. And when SJ saw his Mother, he fussed about in Sirius's arms until his father relented and placed the boy safely in Rose's. She cuddled her son and placed a kiss on his cheek, whispering, 'Are you hungry baby?'

SJ was keening now, stretching his arms and wrapping them around his Mother. She held him close with one hand, placing another quick kiss in his hair before conjuring some baby food and a spoon. Immediately, her son opened his mouth when the first spoonful made its way toward him.

After a painful few minutes of silence, spent with Rose feeding her son and Sirius covering his face with his hands, she finally broke it; a tentative whisper escaping her mouth as she said, 'I'm pregnant Sirius.'

He looked up at her and swallowed harshly. 'What are w-we going to do?'

'I don't care what you say,' said Rose fiercely, 'I'm not getting rid of him.'

'Him?' breathed Sirius. 'H-how do you kn-know?'

'I just do...' She stroked her stomach and looked down at it briefly. 'I'm going to have your child Sirius. Aren't you just a bit excited?' She placed a hand on her boyfriend's face and stroked his cheek.

Sirius worried his lip, his eyebrows tightening in concern. 'I am, I am. I'm so scared though too.'

'It's alright to be frightened, there's nothing wrong with a little bit of fear. Fear can take us a long way. It just depends on how we use it.' She said this with a wide smile on her face and blushed before looking down.

Sirius rubbed his temples. 'We're in the middle of a war, Rose. It's dangerous to have another child; one's bad enough. And I'm not gonna be here with you when you have to handle three children alone.'

'Aren't we winning the war Sirius?'

He took her hand and kissed it before shaking his head. 'Right now,' he explained, 'we're not winning, no. Until something turns the tables, we're going to keep losing Rose, love. And you're expected to handle three children alone? Harry, Sirius James and our new born? Because this war isn't going to end any time soon!'

She leaned over and kissed his forehead softly before moving away to appraise him; his eyes, his tense shoulders, his wet lashes, his trembling lip. 'I'll have your Mother and Kreacher to help me. If they'll have me, of course.'

Sirius had been kissing her chin and her jaw when she spoke; quickly, he jerked away and shivered dramatically. 'No children of mine are going to be spending more time than necessary with that foul, dirty creature.'

'I won't let Kreacher near any of them then.' Rose replied, making sure her son was securely on her lap first before wrapping her arms around her boyfriend's shoulders and looking him straight in the eye. She leaned forward and kissed his nose before moving to look at him and work out why he was chuckling under his breath and shaking his head. 'What?' she asked. When he didn't answer, she swatted his head and repeated her question of, 'What?'

He crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out; 'I meant my Mother,' he chuckled.

Suddenly, they were laughing and sobbing and hyperventilating in Sirius's case, in each other's arms. They exchanged wet kisses, laid their son in an instantly conjured crib and turned back to each other. They kissed some more, touching and adoring one another's bodies. Sirius set his girlfriend down and stripped each piece of clothing off her body, letting her peal his pair of shorts off just as slowly. Before he threw his wand to the floor, he cast several Silencing Charms, thanking god that he remembered this time. He really didn't want his Mother to hear anything that wasn't necessarily ... necessary.

They made love passionately, without any protection of course. Because they were scared and frightened but they were going to make the best out of what they had: each other. Besides, like they were going to trust Muggle protection ever again. Fuck that.

xo

Lily walked up the stairs with James and Remus ahead of her. They paused at Sirius's bedroom door, heard nothing but quiet talking and continued up the second flight of stairs, to where they usually stayed. Lily was in shock.

Rose was pregnant again? Sirius was not going to handle that very well. She was surprised that he wasn't bursting into short spurts of fiery magic. He couldn't control his magic as well as others could control it.

She entered the room when Remus stood back for her to enter. He was such a well mannered man. And yet here was her husband, flinging himself on the double bed and definitely not stepping back for his wife to precede him. When she was in arms reach, he dragged her down to lie with him, immediately nuzzling her neck and kissing it. But despite his lack of chivalry and good manners, Lily wouldn't exchange James for anyone. She'd fallen in love with his boisterousness and recklessness.

'I can't believe she's pregnant,' said Lily, despite her desperate urge to pant and writhe beneath her husband's hands. Didn't he see his best werewolf friend sitting in the armchair?

James straightened up, keeping his arms loosely draped around his wife. 'I know, it's like they've never heard of protection. I swear Lils, I'm going to come up with a cheap, easy to make contraception potion. I'll call it the Taten Protection or something catchy like that.'

The door opened with a quiet creak, and in ran Harry, screaming 'Lil' and 'Prog' a few times. Lily held her son tight and cried when he wrapped his arms around her. She hadn't seen him in weeks, and he was so small. She had forgotten how small he was. She kissed him all over his face and held him at arm's length.

'Why is he so skinny James? They're not feeding him properly here, are they? I knew we shouldn't have left him with Sirius's Mother and her estranged elf. I knew it-!'

'Lily, he's fine,' James said, turning to face her and adopting a more serious expression. 'I promise you, they've been feeding him here. And playing with him. He's fine. Besides, Harry's had the time to bond with his little brother, haven't you Harry? I bet you've been teaching him all the right ways of life, isn't that true?'

Harry nodded, his face splitting into a wide smile reminiscent of his Father's, and then sneezed. He really was too cute.

xo

The colour that painted the floors and walls of Hogwarts' Great Hall was tonight, a crimson red. The colour of blood, and coincidentally the colour of all things involving and linking with love too. The colour of lips and hearts, of pain and anger. It was the latter emotions that were filling to halls of Hogwarts that night though. Groans, shrieks and cries rippled through the air. Bellatrix was now duelling her way towards Crouch ruthlessly; throwing and killing people left, right and centre.

Voldemort stumbled a little in surprise when he realised it was a Mudblood who had fatally injured Barty. Barty Crouch Jr. died within minutes; slowly and painfully and all because of a Mudblood. A dirty, filthy Mudblood who dared take the life of someone superior and greater than he himself was.

Voldemort vowed to himself that he would track Romeo Kelley down and kill him as painfully as possible for daring to kill a pureblood as prestigious and infamous as Barty. During his distraction, Dumbledore had quickly gained the upper hand.

But the Dark Lord was not one to back down: with a scream and a wide, sweeping gesture of his wand arm, all the lights were extinguished. Not one was lit. The giants roared in fear, not being as quick as humans, thus thinking there was something terribly wrong with themselves and not the surroundings. They blundered around, trampling on a few wayward vampires and werewolves as well as one of the smaller giants collapsing on a group of battling Death Eaters and Order members.

Blindlessly throwing spells, and hoping they hadn't hit any Death Eaters, the power and energy pouring out of Voldemort's wand lit up his face - and he realised, with a jolt that the same thing was happening to Dumbledore.

Their faces looked almost ominous; being the only ones with a constant yet flickering light illuminating their bodies in the whole hall. There wasn't time for silly wand waving and time-wasting incantations: it was a pure, evil, power driven fight between "good" and "evil".

There wasn't really such a thing though. Dumbledore's side was still killing people, Death Eaters yes, but people nonetheless. And that made them as cold-hearted as any pureblood supremacist. The only difference was what they were fighting for. Two very different things.

Then it came over Tom Riddle, like a cloud seeping rain, and it drained his body of every emotion but the one it was forcing upon him. It was a foreign feeling: love. Love, confusion and a little bit of happiness. He froze, wand movements stilling and mind freezing as these alien feelings invaded him stronger than ever before.

But from where?

Voldemort had no reason to feel love, or happiness or anything other than hatred in a battle like this. Where could these feelings of commitment and adoration be coming from...

During his contemplation, Albus had somehow managed to disarm him and throw him backwards. The lights flickered back on, and with a staggering shocking gasp, Voldemort looked around and saw that most of the bodies were his Death Eaters; and out of all the dead magical creatures littering the doorway and the Entrance Hall, proportionally, the giants had suffered a greater loss.

There were still some fighting and even a few fleeing. Fight or flight...

But Voldemort wasn't stupid. He wasn't going to fight, lose more Death Eaters and more giants if he knew there was a huge possibility that they would lose. Using wandless magic, Voldemort conjured his wand and bellowed at the top of his lungs, 'FALL BACK!'

It was instantaneous; like half of them were just waiting for Voldemort to admit defeat and flee. But he never admitted defeat, and it hurt him to so blatantly acknowledge his loss of Hogwarts to Albus Dumbledore, his longest and perhaps his greatest enemy.

The foreign feelings invaded him again, this time so much stronger and harsher, Voldemort blacked out for a second. His eyes closed, but within seconds, Lucius and Dolohov were grabbing his arms and disapparating with their Dark Lord - leaving death and destruction in their wake.

The giants fled. The other Death Eaters scarpered out of Hogwarts whilst they still had their lives. But most importantly, Albus just waited. He frowned at his dead friends and the dead magical creatures who had been helping them. But a flicker of a smile spread across his face when he realised he had conquered Lord Voldemort. However, despite his triumph, he knew that something had happened to Voldemort.

'Are they all gone sir?' asked Frank, looking up through a curtain of blood stained hair.

Albus nodded, and almost instantaneously, the great hall erupted into shouts of happiness; laughter; cries of relief...

The old Headmaster let them laugh, let them be happy despite the fact that their relief was short lived. Voldemort was going to be back, fiercer and angrier than ever. Albus sent a patronus to his brother and the other Hogsmeade shop owners who were no doubt harbouring some of his students.

'They can come back home. It's safe.'

With a wave of his wand, the phoenix split into several copies and flew out of the hall. When the last one left, Albus clapped his hands and the gates all around Hogwarts, guarding and protecting the school, sealed shut.

Fight.

xo

'You know what to do then Mother?' asked Sirius, holding his son on his shoulders and listening to his giggles.

Walburga nodded quickly. 'Yes,' she said. Then she shook her head. She couldn't believe she was doing this. But he was her last son, and as much as she despised him and as much as he aggravated her and disappointed her, he was still her son and was always going to be her son. Besides, she just couldn't let him get caught or be sighted. The whole world thought he was dead. And if that was the only advantage the lighter side had, then she would do anything to help them retain it.

Only because Walburga couldn't stand the thought of her wonderful, beautiful pureblooded grandson growing up in a world where he would be hunted and murdered if found.

She was currently getting dressed by Kreacher, as he slipped elegant shoes on each of her feet and clasped the pearl necklace firmly around her neck. 'You can't make it obvious Mother.' Sirius reminded her, stepping through the doorway and pulling his son off his shoulders, holding his tightly against his chest.

'I won't. It'll be easy to trick Theodosia, she's old and a little senile. Besides, she's never been the smartest Slytherin. She takes several potions a day to keep her mind stable and sated. I've worked it all out Sirius.' Walburga told him, shaking his head and sneering a little at him.

'Well then, what are you procrastinating for?' he almost shouted at her. 'Hurry up. She'll get suspicious if you take too long. You're never late, it's not proper, is it?'

Ignoring him and looking into the mirror, Walburga twirled a curl around her finger and said in a softer voice, 'Hufflepuff's cup?'

'Yes. Please Mother, please do this for me. Properly.' He emphasised the last word, making sure she knew that he wasn't joking. He was serious. She had to do this properly, or she shouldn't bother doing it at all.

Instead of replying however, Walburga just reached out to touch her grandson's cheek briefly before she turned to her fireplace and stepped into it. With a flash of bottle green, the flames engulfed her and she was gone.

Sirius hurried down the stairs to rejoin the others, sitting in the lounge and talking quietly about what they were going to do after Walburga returned with the cup, if she did in fact manage to get it. When he saw Rose patting the seat beside her, he grinned at her and she grinned back. Yes, they were going to have another child. But arguing or panicking wasn't going to do anything. They had to work together and do the best they could to get by.

He threw an arm over her shoulders and bent his head to kiss her on the mouth. 'Are you okay?' he breathed, lips still touching hers.

Rose nodded. 'Just anxious.'

Sirius, kissing her chin and her jaw now, inhaled and said quietly, 'I know the feeling. I'm half scared she's going to completely fuck up and get us caught.'

Crinkling her nose, Rose grinned. 'She probably is going to fuck something up, knowing her.' SJ had somehow managed to get off his daddy's lap, and was now crawling towards the others but his parents hardly noticed. They were too wrapped up in each other.

Sirius pecked her on the mouth, 'I agree,' he replied. 'She always does something wrong. I wouldn't be surprised if she brought back a solid gold plate or something and told us to be done with it.'

'We could always just steal it from your mum if she did bring a solid gold plate back - we could sell it and move abroad. I've always wanted to live somewhere nice and warm.' Rose abandoned the glass of wine Sirius hadn't noticed tucked between her legs, placed it on the floor and wrapped both arms around her boyfriend's neck. They kissed for a few minutes whilst Sirius rubbed her abdomen until of course James's annoyed scoffs interrupted them.

'She's gone then?'

Sirius nodded. 'She should be at Gringotts now with Lestrange. Or almost there anyway...'

And almost there they were. Walburga sat in the lounge, sipping her tea whilst Theodosia gathered the remaining jewels and the sacks of galleons into a magically extendable handbag.

'Are you almost done, darling?' she asked, accepting the napkin from the house elf and wiping the corners of her mouth with it.

'Yes, yes. I just need to find … aha! I've got it Walburga, we can leave now.' She was holding an envelope tightly in her hand and had just retrieved it from the bookcase in the lounge. She tucked it into the many folds of her silk robes and cocked her head to the door. 'Shall we apparate?'

'Yes. I doubt my hair could survive flooing for a second time.' They clasped hands as soon as they were outside the front door of the Lestrange Manor, and apparated directly to the steps of Gringotts bank. It was a magistic, beautifully crafted bank with marble steps and great oak doors. The security wizards standing outside appraised Walburga and Theodosia, seemed to realise who the two elder women were and hurried to pull open the vast doors to the large bank.

Inside was all chandeliers and stone flooring and gold paint. Statues in commemoration of important figures lay haphazardly around the lobby. Rushing around desperately, with sacks of galleons, jewels or scripts of the daily currency rate.

Walburga admired the structure of Gringotts; it resonated aristocracy, power and wealth. She felt at home when she was in Gringotts.

Theodosia walked to the closest free counter and sneered at the goblin. She placed her wand on the desk and then the handbag. With a flick of her wand, all the pieces of jewellery and small sacks of money flew out the bag and settled on the desk. The goblin looked at them and then at the two pureblood women.

'Good afternoon, madams.'

'I would like to check on the current affairs of my vault and place everything here inside it as well.' She said haughtily. The goblin took fifteen minutes at least, inspecting each article, writing it down and waving his wand at it. When he was finished, he placed each and every article back into Theodosia's bag, making sure she could see his actions.

Walburga hadn't meant to look exactly, but she saw, at the forefront of the bag and on the highest peg (yes, the bag was so spacious inside that there were pegs to hang things from) were several different potions in small vials. She grinned internally; things were getting easier and easier by the second.

'Rupan will escort you now. Thank you.' The long-nosed goblin said, and from behind him appeared another goblin with tufts of white hair and wrinkles so deep they looked like they had been carved from knives.

Once seated firmly inside the small cart, Walburga clenched her eyes shut as Rupan lead them further and further into the underground of the bank. It grew colder, and the sounds of roars and bellows echoed louder. It was the dragon. Sirius and Regulus had once almost been killed by the dragon. They had been infants; excited at being able to walk on their own, though it applied more to Regulus than his older brother. They had wandered off when Orion had had his back turned for one second. If not for the observant goblin who had been there at the time, Walburga would have lost her two sons in a heartbeat.

The cart stopped and she clenched her mouth to stop from gagging and vomiting - goblins were magical creatures, surely they knew a way to transport wizards and witches without having to nauseate them so terribly?

She let Theodosia precede her out of etiquette rather than a show of power. The goblin tapped a combination of the door, one that changed every once in a while, and with an almighty groan, the metal doors to the Lestrange Vault opened. Walburga could see her one to the left and the Potter Vault to the right.

Before the goblin had the chance to lead them into the room though, Theodosia shouted, 'Wait!' and the goblin froze. She pulled out the envelope from before, opened it and pulled out a piece of paper that seemed like it'd been read many times from the fold marks etched into the parchment.

She pointed her wand into the room and said in a clear voice, 'Nee ardere, nec geminumque.' A golden glow covered every object in the room. 'Your niece, my daughter-in-law placed some spells on the objects in the room to protect them from thieves. She told me how … sneaky some of the goblins can be,' Theodosia whispered the last sentence into Walburga's ear. 'It's a mouthful though, I always forget what to say when I come here. I've taken all the spells off but be sure to tell me if something burns you or replicates...'

But the other woman was barely listening. Her eyes were fastened on the glistening small cup dangling from the ceiling. She licked her lips and lowered her eyes. Walburga waited until Theodosia signalled for her to enter the vault - it was a pureblood custom; a way to show respect and acknowledgement that in that moment, the power was in the vault bearer's hands.

'I have a rather marvellous collection, don't I?' asked the older woman, fluttering her hands as if to say "Look at what I have! Look how magnificent I am!"

Giggling very quietly, thick with falseness, Walburga edged closer to where the cup hung above her. She looked up at the pretense of admiring the solid gold knight in armour but instead appraised the cup, thoroughly checking that it was the one her son so desperately wanted.

Walburga nodded to herself and then looked at the other woman, who now had her back to Walburga. She pulled out her wand and threw a fleeting glance to where the goblin had been. But with a relieved sigh, she saw that the vault door was shut and the goblin was nowhere to be seen. He was probably waiting outside like the good little half-breed he was.

Walburga sucked in a deep breath and pointed her wand at Theodosia's back. But then the elder woman spoke and she let her wand slide down her sleeve.

'I know why you offered to come with me, Walburga.' Her voice was calm and her back was still to the younger woman.

Blood raced through her veins and she held her breath. Nononono, Sirius gave me one job! One job! And I've ruined it, haven't I? Oh god! Oh-

'You want to see whether my collection of artifacts is better than yours, don't you? I've heard how impressive your jewels are and your tiaras are. I don't know why you're intimidated by-'

'Stupefy!' thought Walburga, and as a burst of light came out the end of her wand and hit Theodosia in the back, she watched the woman fall and bring a few prized possessions down with her. Not waiting for even a moment, Walburga cried out, 'Wingardium Leviosa!'

The cup gave a little shake and after a few seconds of completely stillness, it started to make its way towards her outstretched hands. The freezing metal met her fingers and she wrenched it from the air, throwing it into her handbag and falling to Theodosia's side just as the goblin entered.

'Is everything alright?' he asked.

Walburga nodded. 'Yes, she just hasn't had her medicines, I don't think. Pass the handbag over there please.'

The goblin didn't seem to notice or care when Walburga's hands shook as she opened the bag and pulled out the array of potions. She placed them on the floor and waved her wand, murmuring, 'Ennervate.'

Theodosia awoke with a gasp, eyes fluttering open and hands clutching desperately on Walburga's hand. 'What happened?' she breathed.

'You fainted dear. I think you've forgotten to take your potions.'

There was a tense moment in which the black haired, grey eyed woman prayed that her ploy would work and Theodosia would believe what she said. It seemed the elder woman did, because she grabbed the potions without another thought and downed them in quick succession of one another.

'Thank you darling,' she said. 'I always forget to take them when I'm out.'

Forcing a smile on her face, Walburga shook her head and said, 'It's no matter my dear friend. Now, let's quickly finish putting all these jewels away and then maybe we can visit that new restaurant The Squid. I've been dying to try their lamb, I've heard it's to die for...'

xo

It was instantaneous. Rose hurried forward to embrace Sirius's Mother, though it wasn't really returned. James, Remus and Lily started beaming and clapping her. Sirius however, with one arm occupied with holding his son, held the other hand out. 'Come on then, give it here.' He said.

Walburga didn't give him the cup though. Instead, she clutched it tighter. 'You promised Sirius. You promised you'd have more children. You owe me, alright?'

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed exasperatedly. 'Alright, alright. I know. And we will okay! When all this is over, we will settle down and have a proper family. But we can't right now.' He held his hand out again and shook it in his Mother's face. 'Mother, please.'

Rather reluctantly, his Mother placed the cup into his hand. Sirius didn't even wait, he looked at it, felt the familiar burn and threw it at James. It was like it happened in slow motion - like a true chaser, James threw the blade that had been tucked into the waistband of his pants, and watched as the cup and the blade collided mid air.

A piercing shriek resonated through the room, chilling and frightening. They all clamped their hands down on their ears, SJ started crying and Harry ran from the room, no doubt to his best-friend-of-the-day, Kreacher. The shriek didn't die down until the cup had so completely contorted in on itself that it was unrecognisable. Rose ran to Sirius and pulled her child from, kissing her son and holding his tight as she raced out of the room with him, leaving shock in her wake.

Remus was the first one to move; he crossed the room and crouched down, inspecting the Hufflepuff cup from a distance and braving enough to reach out and grab it. It was hot, like it had been left in the gorgeous summer sun for a few hours. The Hufflepuff cup was definitely dead.

'It's gone,' he said, looking up to meet the eyes of James, Lily, Sirius … Mrs Black. She seemed the most confused. Like she wanted to ask exactly what the object in his hands was and the powers it enthralled; but was too scared to leap out of her ignorant bubble and learn a little more about the world and the darkness that purged it.

'What's left?' replied Sirius hoarsely, brushing a stray tear from him eye. He could feel it; feel anger and hatred boiling through his body - and it most certainly was not his emotion. It was Voldemort's. The connection seemed to be returning, thicker than ever. Tentative too, but strong and yielding.

'There's the Ravenclaw diadem, that might already be a horcrux. If we find that one and destroy it, whether it is one or not, then we should have a clear shot at Voldemort,' said James, clenching his wife's hand tightly and looking at her through the corner of his eye.

'Well then,' whispered Sirius, 'we'll go to Hogwarts in the next week. It should be there, shouldn't it? And if it isn't, we can search for it. We've got nothing to lose.'

James nodded. 'We need Peter then. He's with Alice and her son. We'll go to him tomorrow and he'll get us into Hogwarts. You need a Dark Mark don't you?'

'We can't go tomorrow,' said Remus. 'Full moon.'

The other's, apart from Walburga Black, barely batted an eyelash, and Sirius corrected James when he repiled with, 'the day after tomorrow then. Everyone set?' Crying was coming from upstairs and Sirius looked at the door. He turned to his Mother. 'Could you get Kreacher to cook dinner please. I'm starving.' With that, he left the room hastily.

They would go to Peter a few days after the full moon. They would check how he was fairing with Alice, if he was protecting her … if he was even with her. He brushed his hair from his face as he walked to where he knew his son would be, thinking hard about what they were going to do.

So they had destroyed another horcrux, they had suspicions about where the other one was … but what now? What could they do? Waltz into Voldemort's territory - Hogwarts - when there were only four of them, five if Peter tagged along. And then what? They were going to fight potentially a dozen or more Death Eaters to get to the horcrux. And even if it was the last horcrux, they still had to fight and conquer Voldemort, the greatest Dark Lord to have ever lived.

Sirius knocked on his bedroom door and heard a muffled, 'Come in.' He opened the door and with gleaming grey eyes, stared into his girlfriend's pale green ones. She was so beautiful, sometimes he wondered how on earth he had gotten her.

'Yes?' she said. He sat beside her but not before peeping into the cot and seeing his son sitting on his bottom and playing with a teddy bear.

Sirius threw an arm around her and kissed the side of her face, before letting a hand wander to her stomach and settle there, where their baby was growing.

'You were really brave-'

'No I wasn't.' She snapped, looking at him with a calculating, almost angry expression. 'I wasn't brave. I used to be … so brave that is. But I'm not anymore. And I miss it, I miss being courageous and being strong. But I have a son now and I can't afford to be stupidly brash and reckless anymore. Sirius, we're going to have two children together. You need to protect us … you need to protect them.' At this, she pressed his hand harder into her abdomen and cocked her head at where their eldest child was.

'What do you mean?'

Rose flicked her blonde hair back and smiled softly, 'I love you so much. I would do anything for you, just like I know you would do anything for me. But I'm telling you this because it's the truth. Voldemort is getting stronger and stronger, something is going to happen to him that's going to throw him off course but he's going to get stronger Sirius. Until someone kills him. And that someone is you. I'm saying, either you stay here with us completely or you leave and don't come back until he's dead.'

Sirius's eyes widened, and his mouth fell open. 'You're joking-'

'I'm not joking. It's dangerous, each time you come there's a chance that someone could follow you, someone could alert Voldemort … I can't stand it. I'm so happy to see you when you return, but I'm so scared too. Kill him and we can be together properly but don't run back and forth between the pair of us and leave uncertainty in your wake.'

Sirius saw the common sense in what she was saying because he did find it more and more dangerous each time he came back, to leave and return again. But he was scared that he would never see her again.

'What if it takes a year to kill him then?'

'Well, now you have motivation to make sure it doesn't take a year. You don't want to miss the birth of little Regulus, do you?' she reached out to hold his jaw and leaned over to kiss him softly.

'No, of course I don't.' Sirius replied hoarsely, looking at her and shaking his head. Then he let her kiss him again, processing what she was saying.

Of course he didn't want to endanger his son, just as he desperately wanted to keep his family safe until the danger to their safety was well and truly gone. But he couldn't bare the thought of never seeing them again, of not seeing them for a year, or worse - for them to leave this world and him never getting to say goodbye...

'When do you leave?' Rose asked between kisses as Sirius trailed a line from her lips to her collarbone and back again.

'After the full moon tomorrow, we'll probably have to go somewhere far for the night and then come back to collect Lily and say … say goodbye.' His voice broke and he fiercely grabbed her face, plunging himself into another kiss; more ferocious and demanding than before.

'Alright,' Rose whispered against his lips as they slowly started to undress. They cast a few Silencing Charms, one of SJ's crib and the bedroom door, before they slipped the curtains of the four-poster bed across to cover them. With one final Silencing Charm, Sirius's room was completely silent from eavesdropping ears.

xo

The Malfoy Manor was a very sombre, serene place to be. Death Eaters were being tended to, some were grieving the losses of friends, family, loved ones...

However, there were four standing in the dining room - only four. The Dark Lord and his three trusted Death Eaters: Bellatrix Black-Lestrange, Severus Snape and Lucius Abraxas Malfoy. The room was silent whilst the Dark Lord brooded and Bella sobbed quietly into her hand. There were bite marks all over it engraved from her own teeth when she had clenched her teeth around her palm to stop from crying out in grief and pain.

Severus and Lucius stood there, hands clasped together in shock. Barty Crouch was dead; brave, funny, amusing Barty - the one who laughed in the face of danger, who proclaimed and continued to proclaim his devotion to the Dark Lord. Bella's lover and in more ways than one, her best friend.

'We have suffered a great loss today,' said the Dark Lord. 'Though each and every Death Eater killed earlier marks the end of our kindness to Dumbledore and his friends, it doesn't cancel out all they have done for us and our cause.

'However, the biggest loss we have experienced today is no man or human friend of ours. It is Hogwarts, the greatest magical fortress Europe has to offer, sometimes even compared to the runic pyramids in Egypt, and the great battlements in Mali. We need to get is back,' hissed Voldemort, and before they knew it, he turned around from the window he had stood facing, and his wide eyes were gleaming red.

'How do you propose we retrieve it, my Lord?' said Lucius.

Voldemort ignored him though, and was now talking to himself. 'The Daily Prophet tomorrow will talk of Dumbledore as a foolish, dumb man. We will turn him into an enemy, even bigger than before. He will rue the day he dared rise against us.'

'Now,' he said, clapping his hands together and jolting Bellatrix from her heartbroken daze. 'How long do you think it would take to round up all of our friends, even the ones in the process of becoming one of our friends?'

Severus bit his lip and worked it out. That would be at least sixty to seventy Death Eaters, considering a large number had been killed just hours earlier. 'I would say eighteen to twenty four hours at most.' Then he said one more thing, that he knew Voldemort would no doubt ask, 'It will take two days for Dumbledore to remove all the spells we placed upon the castle. I say the sooner we attack the school, the better our chances will be at infiltrating it and regaining what is ours.'

The Dark Lord, with his piercing eyes, turned to face Severus and smiled most malevolently. Then he grinned even wider and said in a soft voice, 'That sounds like a plan.'

A/N: The next chapter is called Turning Point, and we finally discover where Sirius's fate and Voldemort's fate lead them. I'd like to say thank you very much if you've stuck with this story this far, I really do hope you're enjoying it right now. And if you're not, tell me what you don't like about this story and I'll try to bear it in my mind whilst I continue writing more chapters.

I'd like to thank Bren and Jess for leaving really kind reviews; I'm glad you're enjoying the story/SJ so far. Amelia: I'm definitely going to keep the black name tradition running to Sirius's children. I'm not a fan of breaking traditions;) Thanks for the review! Alana: thank you so much for the kind words, i'm very glad you're enjoying the story so much, it's really the greatest compliment. Thanks! Guest: Rose is an attractive character, and as for her personality, she can be likeable, as I've demonstrated in other chapters and this one especially. Thanks for your input though, I know what I need to do with her character now to increase her likeability.

Thanks for the reviews, once again. I really do appreciate it. Please do hit the review button below and tell me what you think of this chapter;P xxxx