A/N: No more mid-terms! Thanks for all your kind reviews :) and voila, finally the next chapter... Hope you like it!


Family Additions and Worries

"Nicole Carmichael?" Evan frowned. "Black's girlfriend?"

"Her liaison with that traitor contaminates her. I'll get to him through her," the Dark Lord hissed, his red eyes flaring up in hatred.

An icy hand had clutched my throat, preventing me from breathing. My nails pierced my skin, drawing blood, because of the force I had clenched my fists with.

"It will be difficult, master," Evan said hesitantly. "We don't know anything about her."

"Are you defying me?" Voldemort asked, his eyes fixing on Evan with a snakelike speed.

Evan took a step back. "No. Never, master," he denied quickly.

Voldemort drew his wand. "Crucio!"

With a cry of pain Evan dropped on his knees, his muscles twitching while he writhed on the ground. Groans of agony escaped from his clenched jaws. No one said a word or did anything. No one was stupid enough to draw attention to themselves when the Dark Lord was enraged.

Finally he stopped. He crouched down and placed a deadly white hand on Evan's cheek. "Do not question my decisions," he said.

"Forgive me, master," Evan gasped, trying to control the twitches of his muscles.

"Give me that woman and perhaps I will," the Dark Lord answered.

With the greatest effort I had managed to keep my Occlumency intact. I hoped it was enough; Voldemort could smell fear.

"Find out what you can about her and report back to me. I'll decide what to do with her," Voldemort ordered with a malicious glint in his eyes. Carelessly he turned his back on Evan, who was still lying on the ground. "Leave."

We bowed and Disapparated. No one was foolish enough to offer help to Evan.


Feeling a surge of panic, I contacted Dumbledore straight away. He ordered me to come to Headquarters immediately.

I paced around the room, my stomach squirming and twisting horribly. Dumbledore entered and saw my pale face. He told me to sit down and conjured some tea. With a twinkle in his eyes he added something that looked distinctly like Firewhisky to my tea before he gave it to me.

"Thank you."

Dumbledore poured some tea in another cup. "The others should be here any minute."

I had barely taken one sip of my tea when the door flew open and Sirius burst inside with a scared look in his eyes. "Albus, what's going on? Niamh! Are you okay? What happened?"

I felt my lip tremble when I saw him. I stood up abruptly and hurried over to him to hide in his arms. Sirius pulled me close to him and said, "You have got to stop sending those vague messages, sir. You nearly gave me a heart-attack."

"Voldemort wants me dead," I mumbled into his chest.

Sirius's muscles tensed and his breathing stopped. With shaking hands he pushed me a little away so he could look at me. "What?" he croaked. His eyes flew to Dumbledore with a plea to tell him it wasn't true.

"There's no need to panic," Dumbledore tried to calm us down.

"Panic?" I screamed. "I've just been marked for death by the most evil wizard of all ages and you're telling me not to panic?"

"You have not been marked for death, Niamh," Dumbledore said calmly. "Nicole Carmichael is."

"Same difference!"

"Not exactly," Dumbledore smiled.

"Okay, just what is going on here?" Sirius asked.

"Please, sit down," Dumbledore requested.

We sat down on a sofa. I refused to let go of Sirius's hand, still being scared out of my wits.

"Voldemort wishes to get to you through the one he believes you love," Dumbledore explained. "I believe your escape at Caradoc's house has made him focus his attention on you and your… questionable status among the pure-bloods, Sirius."

Sirius scoffed at Dumbledore's delicacy.

I nodded. "He's been targeting more blood traitors and Muggle-lovers lately. Scare tactics," I concluded.

"No one's safe, pure-blood or Muggle-born," Sirius added bitterly.

"Let's focus," Dumbledore said. "You've escaped him, Sirius, so now he'll try to get to the ones closest to you. That's 'Nicole' for now, but it means your friends could be in danger too."

"All my closest friends are in the Order, so they're already in danger," Sirius replied. "Except Niamh, he doesn't know about her. Didn't know, until now."

"Nicole," Dumbledore corrected him. "Nicole is in danger. Niamh is not."

"But if he tries to kill me, it will still be my body," I retorted.

"Ah, but he is not after your body," Dumbledore said. "He's after Nicole. All we have to do is make him chase her, make him chase some smoke." He leaned back in his chair. "Voldemort does not know much about Nicole. Not her blood heritage, not where she's from, not where she lives…"

"He'll torture someone long enough to give him that information," I riposted dryly.

"Not if we make her disappear at the first sign of inquiries made about her."

"Stage her death?" Sirius frowned.

"That is one option," Dumbledore agreed. "Or we make her simply vanish into thin air."

"So Voldemort will think I've gone into hiding," I said.

"Let's wait for the others to discuss our plans," Dumbledore said.


Headquarters, a month later

Halfway through yet another meeting, Sirius glanced at Niamh. She was quickly turning into a nervous wreck. The stress from this elaborate hoax they were pulling showed on her face. She had dark circles under her eyes and her lips seemed to be pressed tightly together permanently.

'Nicole' had vanished. It was Niamh herself who had made the first inquiries about her amongst her acquaintances. The Order had reacted by leaking the information that Nicole Carmichael had gone into hiding to the Ministry. As there were many spies there, they could be sure word of that would reach Voldemort.

Sirius knew how Voldemort had reacted. Fortunately Niamh had not taken the fall for it. It was Rodolphus Lestrange this time, who had been too obvious with his questions according to Voldemort. Sirius could only imagine how angry his cousin Bellatrix was, the favourite of the Dark Lord. With a grim smile Niamh had told him his cousin had worked very hard for her position, and she was not amused by her husband stuffing up.

Despite the fact that Nicole had vanished from public life, Voldemort would not give up. Niamh had been forced to chase after rumours for a month now. Rumours about a non-existing woman. It was tiring.

Sirius was terrified every time she had to report another failure. It would only be a matter of time before Voldemort would take his anger out on the messenger. Sirius clenched his fist in frustration. He could only see Niamh at Headquarters. They had agreed seeing each other elsewhere would be too great a risk, since Sirius was being watched by Death Eaters.

The meeting was almost over. Sirius blinked to stop his musing and tuned in on what Niamh was saying.

"…wondering what is so special about Nicole that the entire Order has completely fortified itself."

"I don't think you have to worry, Niamh," Lily said. "Half the pure-blood society is afraid of you, because they suspect you are a Death Eater. They'll never link you to us. And now that you're in charge of chasing yourself…"

"I know," Niamh agreed. "But this heavy protection has sparked the Dark Lord's curiosity. Something is bound to…"

"Tell me, Niamh," Benjy Fenwick began in the unpleasant voice he saved especially for her. Sirius stiffened in his chair, fixing his eyes on the man. "Why is it that you call You-Know-Who the Dark Lord when only his supporters do that?"

Niamh's lips whitened. "It's habit," she hissed. "I don't want to make the mistake of calling him Voldemort in front of those who'll see it as disrespect, because -- though it may have escaped your notice, Benjy -- I am a Death Eater. Do you want to see the Mark? Do you want me to tell you how he burned it into my skin? Or do you want to hear about the crimes I have committed in his name?"

"Niamh, Benjy," Albus warned.

Sirius gritted his teeth. "Watch your mouth, Benjy," he spat, ignoring Albus. "You don't have the nerve to say his name."

Benjy huffed.

"Benjy," Albus said softly, but his eyes stared hard into the other man's eyes.

"Right," Lily intervened. "What were you saying, Niamh?"

"Er," she blinked. "Just that the Dark Lord is not likely to give up soon. And some information is bound to reach the Death Eaters. I've said that I thought Nicole was a member of the Order herself, and that's why you are so protective. I think they believed it, but I don't know for how long I'm going to be able to hold them off."

"How about diverting their attention?" Fabian suggested.

"What do you mean?" Niamh asked.

"I think my dear brother and I can cause a little riot," Fabian answered. "Can't we, brother?"

"I like the way you think," Gideon replied. The twins sent each other a toothy grin.

"Absolutely not!" Niamh growled. "You're in enough danger as it is."

"Exactly. A little more won't make a difference," Gideon shrugged. "We're already Aurors, blood traitors, and known members of the Order. Can't get any worse."

"You'll be dead for sure if you focus even more attention on yourselves!" Niamh snapped angrily.

"Everybody dies. The only thing that matters is how you die," Fabian retorted, his earlier playfulness gone.

"I beg to differ," Niamh snarled. "And I think your sister and her family would disagree as well. Have you thought about them? This whole deception is the result of Voldemort targeting the families of those he's after. Don't think for a second he won't do the same to your family."

"Niamh is right," Albus said. "We can't risk it."

"Then what are we going to do? Sit and wait for it to go wrong?" Sirius asked.

"No," Albus answered. "We will sit and wait for Voldemort to lose his interest."

Sirius caught the doubtful look Niamh sent him. It chilled his heart.


Niamh's doubt proved accurate. Over the next few months she had little other assignments than tracking down the mysteriously vanished Nicole Carmichael.

Sirius hadn't been able to shake off the feeling of dread that had taken hold of him. Only two weeks ago Niamh had been punished for the lack of results. Unable to keep up her defences, some of Niamh's memories and feelings had slipped from her. The only reason she was not discovered as a traitor was that the images Voldemort managed to extract from her were about a fight with her mother, which had happened right before she was summoned to Voldemort.

Niamh had been able to shut herself off before Voldemort pried any further into her mind. But it was a close call. Sirius did not scare easily, but this… This had him shaking with fear. He leaned his hands on the kitchen sink, forgetting his plans to make lunch for himself. It was difficult to keep faith in a good ending, when Niamh seemed to get closer to being discovered every day.

Sirius knew she felt the same. The resignation that had appeared in her eyes after that punishment, made his breath catch in his throat every time he saw it. She didn't believe in a happy ending anymore. Feeling panic tightly clutch his heart, Sirius ran his hands through his hair, not knowing what to do. They were stuck. If Niamh stayed in that snake pit, she would be discovered eventually. If she backed out, she would be marked for death immediately.

He wanted to hold her in his arms and tell her it would be all right. That they would get through this. That they would be fine. But he couldn't. Every time he would see her he would jeopardise her cover even more. He had not seen her in private for over a month. She hadn't even been able to celebrate his twentieth birthday with him. It was too dangerous.

Before he could sink further into his misery, the doorbell rang. Sirius drew his wand from his back pocket and walked to the door. "Yes?" he asked warily.

"Padfoot, open the door!" James shouted.

Sirius opened the door and looked at his best friend. James stuck his fists into the air. "I'm pregnant!" he roared.

Sirius stared incredulously at him. "What? Have you been drinking?"

"Nope."

Sirius pulled James inside and closed the door. "Now what is going on?"

"Mini-Prongs is on his way, that's what's going on," James said, grinning from ear to ear.

Sirius's jaw dropped. "Mini-Prongs? You mean…"

"Yes! You're looking at the future dad of the first member of the second generation of Marauders," James beamed.

Sirius hooted. "I can't believe it! Congratulations, Prongs! I'm very proud of you," he laughed, slapping his friend on the back.

"You have no idea how nervous I am," James confessed.

"I bet. When did you find out?"

"Last night. Lily had gone to see a Healer that afternoon because she wasn't feeling well and she told me over dinner."

"Did you faint?" Sirius grinned wickedly.

"Close," James grinned back.

"I'm sending Pete and Remus a message. We're going to celebrate. Where's Lily?"

"Oh, she's doing girly stuff with Alice." James shuddered.

"Merlin on a broom, you know what this means?" Sirius gasped.

"Er… no?"

"Two pregnant women. All those hormones. We'll be in hell," Sirius moaned. "I'm not going near them for the next nine months."

"Drama queen," James muttered. "Wait until Niamh gets pregnant. You'll talk differently then."

Sirius chewed on his lip. "We've never talked about that. It's just not an option."

"Yeah, but it will be some day," James retorted.

Sirius let out a bark-like snort. "Merlin help any child with me as a father," he mumbled, sending an apologetic smile to his friend before he turned around.

James followed his friend into the kitchen. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, come on, Prongs," Sirius huffed. "You really want to see any child raised by me?"

"Of course I would. There's nothing wrong with you!"

Sirius turned around. James's angry frown disappeared at the anxious look on his friend's face. Sirius hesitated for a moment. "What if – what if I turn out to be like my father?"

James was stunned to silence. "Your father?" he finally breathed. "You're nothing like your father! You'll never be anything like him."

"I could be."

"No, you couldn't," James immediately stopped him. "You think you would ever do to a child what had been done to you? You think you're able to do that, knowing how much it has hurt you? Well, I have news for you, Sirius. You're not. You could never do that."

Comprehension dawned on James's face. "This is why you avoid talking about proposing to Niamh at all cost, isn't it? Because you're afraid you'll follow in your father's footsteps as a husband and a father."

Sirius nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

James pushed him down on one of the kitchen chairs. "You'll make a great father some day, Padfoot. And a good husband too. I can see that from the fact that you're a great friend to me, to Remus and Peter, and to Lily. And Niamh doesn't have any complaints either, does she?"

Sirius smiled reluctantly. "Thanks, Prongs."

"You're welcome. How long have you been walking around with this?"

"For months," his friend admitted.

James snorted. "I won't deny that you're an idiot. But I already knew that. Besides, did you really think Niamh would let you get away with being a bastard? She'd string you up and curse you into the next world."

Sirius chuckled. "She would, wouldn't she?"

"Stupid, pigheaded idiot," James muttered. "You could have told me about this months ago and I could have whacked this ridiculous idea out of your mulish head."

"Enough about that. Let's toast to Mini-Prongs," Sirius said. He grabbed two bottles of Butterbeer. "To the first member of the next generation of Marauders. That he or she may be as successful and famous as we are – we will have to tell Mini-Prongs to get our Map back from Filch by the way – and hold the Marauder tradition in honour."

"Cheers," James smiled.

"You do realise this child of yours will be spoilt rotten before it's two months old, don't you?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I do. To Mini-Prongs."

His earlier sinister thoughts forgotten for a moment, Sirius's face broke into a wide smile. "To the future."