THREE

Back to Grimmauld Place

The loft of Hermione's cottage was spacious and inviting. The smell of chai and faint vanilla incense hung in the air. After finishing the stairs, Hermione stepped onto a red-colored, antique, Persian rug. Even before being asked, Regulus took off his boots and left them at the top of the stairs before stepping onto the carpet.

The room had a large bed, covered in a thick, plush quilt. Hermione walked past it, leading Regulus, to the other side which had two armchairs and a coffee table. Her eyes darted across the room, looking for anything embarrassing, like dirty laundry or her diary, that might have been left out. "Have a seat, please." She motioned to the armchairs. "Would you like some tea?"

"Yes, please."

Hermione kept a small table upstairs with some teas and a kettle. She was completely adept at giving her wand a swish and letting magic do all the work, but making the tea herself this time would give her something to do with the awkward moment. She filled the tea kettle with water from a quick spell and then conjured a flame on the burner.

Next to the chair he sat in, there was a book on the end table. Regulus picked it up. "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare."

"Ah, yes," Hermione muttered. "Night time reading."

"William Shakespeare," Regulus pondered. "I've heard this name before." He thought about it for a moment. "Where have I heard this name before?"

"Well, he's regarded as one of the greatest writers in the Muggle world."

"Ah yes, that's it." He continued to look through the book.

Hermione set the tea kettle on the burner.

Regulus idly flipped through the pages. "Hmmm, Hamlet," He said. "Is that a story about baby hams or something?"

Hermione nearly doubled over as her belly rumbled with laughter.

"What? What's so funny?"

She couldn't answer him. For a brief moment, it felt good to laugh, but the pain from her recent injuries stung at her sides. She managed to calm herself down, but her sides still ached.

"Are you alright?"

Hermione nodded, slowly. "I'm still a bit sore from last night."

"You should probably check on your bandages soon."

Hermione only nodded as she went back to making tea. Soon, it was ready and she served Regulus a cup and then poured one for herself. She joined him, sitting in the other armchair.

He was still engrossed in the book.

"You like to read?"

"Very much so."

Hermione took a sip of her tea before speaking again. "Hamlet is a name. He's the main character in one of Shakespeare's plays."

Regulus wrinkled his nose. "What kind of name is Hamlet?"

"What kind of name is Regulus?"

"A good one."

Hermione chuckled.

"I'm not sure you're one to talk, Miss. Granger." He snapped the book shut and set it aside. "Where on Earth did your parents get the name Hermione?"

Hermione nodded towards the book from which Regulus had just been looking.

"Is that so?" After Regulus took his first sip of tea, he matched Hermione's gaze. "Thank you for the tea. It's lovely."

"You're welcome."

He took another sip as silence lingered in the room. "By the way, I think your name is lovely as well."

Her cheeks flushed a rosy red. "Thank you."

Silence continued between them as they quietly sipped on their tea. It wasn't until Kreacher's wailing from downstairs a few minutes later that the silence ended.

Regulus placed the teacup and saucer on the coffee table and stood up. "I believe it's time for us to head downstairs."

Hermione nodded and set her cup down as well.

As the two came down the stairs, they saw a house elf on all fours in the middle of the living room, heaving and trying to catch his breath. The old house elf looked as though he might explode.

"Kreacher?" Regulus kneeled down on the stairs and looked between the posts of the guard rails. "Kreacher? Are you alright?"

The house elf frantically looked around the room and scooped up one of the books that had been blasted off the shelf during Harry and Regulus' duel. He beat himself over the head with it as hard as he was able.

"Kreacher! Kreacher! Kreacher!" Regulus ran down the stairs and wrestled the book out of the house elf's hands. "Stop this nonsense!"

"Kreacher has failed, Sir! Kreacher has failed!" The house elf let out a great sob like a tidal wave. "Master said, 'destroy the locket', but Kreacher couldn't do it. Kreacher couldn't do it."

"Kreacher," Regulus said gently, placing a hand on the house elf's shoulder.

Hermione sat on the stairs, looking between the posts of the guard rails, at the scene unfolding in her living room. The house elf was still heaving and weeping, completely coming undone, before the presence of his former master. Trickles of tears escaped from Hermione's eyes too.

Harry bit his lip. He wanted to intervene, but perhaps it would be best not to. This was a private moment between Regulus and Kreacher, and he unfortunately just happened to be standing in the middle of it.

"Kreacher, it's not your fault."

"Yes, it's Kreacher's fault! It's Kreacher's fault!"

Regulus shook his head. "That…that…thing…it was the work of the Dark Lord. It was more powerful than we could have dared to imagine."

The house elf's cries died down to a sniffle.

"I asked you to destroy it, but I didn't understand the power that it contained. I'm sorry, Kreacher."

Kreacher could not be consoled. "Kreacher tried everything. Everyday Kreacher tried to destroy it, just as Master Regulus asked…"

"And eventually you found a way," Regulus said. "You gave the locket to Harry Potter and his friends, and together, you destroyed it. You did do it, Kreacher. You helped destroy it."

The house elf still hung his head in shame. "Master Regulus is still alive. Kreacher left him in the cave…"

"Because I asked you to go."

More sniffles came from the house elf.

"You're a good friend, Kreacher."

A gigantic wail came from the house elf. Regulus took Kreacher into his embrace and held onto the little elf.

"You've always been a most loyal and true friend to me. I can never repay you for all you've done for the House of Black."

"House of Black! House of Black!" The house elf muttered. "There's nothing! nothing…tapestries…the goblin…goblets…heirlooms…that...that foul-smelling traitor…Fletcher,"

Regulus cocked his head to the side, trying to understand Kreacher. He looked up to Harry and Hermione in failure.

"Number 12 Grimmauld Place," Hermione said. "It's seen better days."

"You know about Grimmauld Place?"

Harry and Hermione both nodded. There was so much to explain.

"It's still there? It hasn't been occupied by anyone else?"

Harry shook his head. "It's been sitting empty since…well, since, your parents…"

Regulus nodded, understanding.

"Sirius Black was my godfather," Harry said.

"That makes a lot of sense. James Potter and my brother were inseparable."

"You knew my father?"

"Oh, yes. He was a frequent visitor to our home—along with Sirius' other friends. Mother and Father didn't care for them much, but Sirius allowed them over anyway."

"The Potter boy and Master Sirius and their friends were always so mean to Master Regulus…" Kreacher spoke up while drying his tears.

"Kreacher, don't." Regulus waved his hand.

Harry frowned. He had heard similar things before. "Your brother…when he died…he left everything behind." Harry stumbled through his words. "Grimmauld Place, the Black family vault, Kreacher here—it all fell into my name."

Regulus pondered for a moment before looking to Harry. "Can you take me there?"

"You want to go there?" Harry's stomach turned. He hadn't been in that house since he went looking for Horcruxes with Ron and Hermione.

Regulus nodded solemnly. "Yes, I want to go back there. I need…to see."

"But Master," The house elf took a hold of Regulus' hand just as if the man was still a small child under his diligent care. "There's nothing left."

"It's not for that."

"We should go," Hermione spoke up.

"You're not going anywhere. You should be resting." Harry crossed his arms.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

Harry sighed. "Fine."

"But you're both cleaning up this mess before we go!" She snapped at the two men as she waved towards the disaster they made earlier.

Harry and Regulus begrudgingly did what they were told and started repairing the damage that their dueling caused.

Minutes later, the old wooden door of Grimmauld Place creaked open. The smell of must hung in the air. They covered their faces, careful not to inhale the newly stirred up dust. They were in a narrow space, feeling the walls press in on them from both sides.

Harry pulled out his wand. "LUMO…AHHHGGG!" He crashed onto the floor and hit his nose hard on the floor.

"Harry, what happened?" Hermione shrieked.

Regulus flicked his wand and the tip lit up, illuminating the hallway. "I see the umbrella stand still works like a charm."

Harry sat on the floor holding his nose. He looked less than amused from Regulus' light-hearted comment.

"I've always hated that thing…" Regulus was interrupted by the screeching voice of his mother's portrait. He jolted forward, almost out of his skin.

"WHO DARES ENTER THIS RESIDENCE AND FOULS THE AIR?"

"Shut that thing up!" Harry was not in the mood for her antics.

Hermione lit up her wand and held it forward, lighting up the rest of the hallway. "The drapes are still over it from the last time we were here. I don't know what else you expect me to do."

Regulus remembered that voice all too well, yelling at him for all various sorts of things. It took of all his willpower to focus instead of cringe. A normal silencing charm wasn't going to work on the portrait. His brow furrowed for a moment before firing off a spell.

A massive bubble surrounded the portrait, muffling the sound of his mother's yelling greatly. She now sounded like she was on a snorkeling expedition.

Regulus reached out his hand and pulled Harry up from the ground.

Hermione blinked a few times as she stared at the bubble. "That was brilliant."

"Yeah, do you know how many people have tried to get her to shut up?" Harry said.

Regulus let loose a small, bemused laugh.

Moments later, Kreacher appeared. He immediately noticed the large bubble around the portrait. "What have you done to Kreacher's mistress?"

"Um…" Hermione started. "Well, you see, Kreacher…"

"I placed the bubble charm on her for protection," Regulus said, matter of factly." He glanced over and Hermione and winked.

She smiled.

"Oh, that's a wonderful idea, Master Regulus."

"I thought you'd like that."

"Well," Harry said, glancing around the high places and dark corners of the ceiling. "Let's move on."

Regulus led the way with his wand held out. After a few steps down the hallway, the wall opened up. The dining area, the room where the Black family dined and entertained their important guests, now lay ravaged.

"They took all the silver. Kreacher, tried to stop…"

"Kreacher, you mustn't blame yourself," Hermione said.

Regulus reached out and touched one of the chairs. His fingers smudged the thick layer of dust that had peacefully settled there over the past couple of years. "This was Sirius' chair." He nodded towards the one across from that. "And that's where I always sat. Father was always at the head of the table and mother was always on the other side."

Harry looked back and forth between the chairs. He just picture the excruciatingly bored look on a young Sirius' face while his proud parents were pampered served by a multitude of house elves.

There wasn't much on the ground floor besides the dining room, a small bathroom, and the hallway. They began their ascent through the dark, musty house towards the first floor. There was much more to be seen upstairs. As they came up the stairs, their eyes were immediately drawn towards the drawing room.

In here, the tapestry of the Black family still commanded the attention of all who entered. Stretching from the Middle Ages and tracing the history of the family to the present day, the tapestry stood as a testament to the greatness and ancient roots of the family.

Hermione's eyes were fixed elsewhere. The two rotted, doxy-bitten sofas that she remembered were still there, facing one another. She called one of those sofas her bed for about two months while she, Harry, and Ron were on the search for Horcruxes. One particular night came in mind. She hadn't said anything in that moment—saying how scared she was or how worried she was, but he took her hand and held it. She was only able to find rest that night with his warm hand reassuring her.

"Hermione?"

Hermione snapped out of her memories. "Yes, Harry?"

"Was there anything the Order left behind that we should think about taking with us?"

That was a pertinent question. She thought about it for a moment. "No, I don't think so, but I'll keep thinking about it."

Regulus' steely grey eyes kept darting over the faces on the tapestry. His own was particularly captivating since it marked him for dead. "What Order?"

"The Order of the Phoenix," Harry said. "We used this place as our head-quarters for a couple of years."

He only nodded as he continued to study the tapestry. Hermione came up next to him and started studying the names as well.

"Nothing remains," He said quietly.

She didn't know what to say. She only nodded.

Regulus reached up and put his fingers gently over his brother's painted face. "How did Sirius die?"

Hermione noticed out of the corner of her eye that Harry left the room along with Kreacher. "Early on in the war, there was an altercation at the Department of Mysteries."

Regulus raised an eyebrow.

"It was then that Sirius lost his life."

"Who?"

She knew what he was asking. Her eyes immediately went to the dark and formidable looking witch on the tapestry. She nodded her head towards it.

"Bellatrix."

Hermione nodded.

Regulus pondered a moment longer before the tapestry. He then moved on and exited the drawing room. Hermione followed him. As they came out, Harry also came out of one of the bedrooms.

"Your old room is empty, Hermione."

Hermione nodded. It wasn't just her room when she stayed here with the Order of the Phoenix. She shared the room with Ginny, but she knew Harry didn't like saying her name—just about as much as she didn't like saying Ron's name.

"Are you ready to go upstairs then?" Harry looked Regulus.

There wasn't much to see on the second floor. While the master bedroom was on this floor, it didn't look much like a master bedroom with feathers scattered all over the place and claw marks etched across the walls and floors. The once luxurious suite became the home of a hippogriff named Buckbeak during the course of the war. This was explained to Regulus who, as the night went on, seemed to lose his ability to be surprised as Harry and Hermione continued to fill him in on the details from the last few years.

The third floor didn't contain much either. Harry and Hermione checked over the rooms, just to make sure anything important wasn't left behind. The only thing left behind up here were a few empty potion vials in Remus Lupin's room, probably once containing the Wolfsbane potion, and a number of Fred and George's experiments gone terribly wrong. Despite the decrepit condition of the house, Regulus still didn't like to see green slime all over the floor from a Portable Swamp testing. Kreacher insisted that he begin the task of cleaning it up.

They moved on to the fourth floor. On the highest floor of the house, there were two bedrooms and a large bathroom. This is where Regulus and his brother Sirius spent their time as children. As they came up the stairs, Sirius' room appeared first. It was left hanging open from previous visitors to the home. Harry flicked his wand, as if throwing the light at the end of his wand towards the lamps. Soon, the fourth floor lamps lit up.

Sirius' room was a mess, torn apart from numerous ransackings. Still, some things about the room never changed. It was still decked in scarlet and gold banners, the colors of Gryffindor house. The bedframe and the wall above it were covered in magazine pictures, mostly of motorcycles and attractive women.

"I wonder," Regulus began as he quickly moved to the other side of the room. He rounded the bed and bent over by the window.

"What?" Harry and Hermione both asked, following him.

Regulus knelt on the wood floor. He felt around the floor for a moment then pulled up one of the boards from the floor. There was a hole beneath the floor. "Sirius' not so secret hiding spot." He reached inside.

Harry and Hermione both bent over, curious to see what was inside.

First, Regulus pulled out a pair of motorcycle goggles. "I'm surprised he ever took these off."

"Where is Sirius' motorcycle anyway, Harry?" Hermione asked.

Harry looked over at her. "It's at the Weasleys'"

"Oh," Hermione said. It was still hard to hear that name sometimes.

Regulus reached in again. This time he pulled out what clearly was a silver picture frame. He started at the photo for a few moments but did not turn it around to show Harry and Hermione.

The three of them sat in silence for a few moments before Regulus spoke up. "I'd like to keep this picture—that is, if it's alright with you."

Harry nodding, motioning that it was fine. How could he really deny anything in his house to its last surviving member? "Maybe you'd like to keep the goggles too?"

"Yeah, alright," Regulus said. He stood up from the floor. There wasn't anything else beneath the floor boards. He stuffed the items in his coat pocket and continued looking around the bedroom.

After a few more minutes, they left the room and started heading down the hallway towards the last bedroom—Regulus' old room. Before they reached it however, a loud crashing sound erupted from downstairs. They got their wands at the ready. Moments later, a small popping noise snapped behind them.

They spun around to find Kreacher standing there with one finger over his mouth. The three of them leaned in closely as Kreacher motioned for them to come closer.

"Kreacher saw intruders in the house, Master. They tripped over the umbrella stand, and Kreacher heard them." He looked at the legal owner of the house, Harry, for guidance.

Harry looked back and forth between the members of his party. "Who on Earth would be here? More burglars? "

"Precisely at this moment?" Hermione asked. Her face grew serious. "They must be watching the house."

Harry's eyes narrowed. "It was a bad idea to come here."

"Why is this place being watched?" Regulus asked.

"This location was once used by the Order, but we had to abandon it," Harry said. "It was discovered. Someone must still be keeping tabs on it."

Regulus held up his wand. "Should we find out whom?"

Harry nodded.

"I'm coming too," Hermione gripped her wand, ready for action.

"Let's see how many there are first, and then take it from there." Harry looked to Kreacher. "Kreacher, keep an eye on them and stay out of sight until I call for you."

The house elf nodded then snapped his fingers and disappeared.

It was time to head downstairs and confront whoever was down there.