Disclaimer: If Harry Potter were mine, it would've been a LOT different.

The Brotherhood

A/N - I've had a cold the past few days so sorry if my writing is not up to my usual standard...

~~~ Chapter Eighteen ~~~

Harry looked around at the small group that sat around Remus' table. Remus and Tonks were talking about something happening in the Ministry while Sirius listened on with slight interest. Ginny was slowly stirring her soup absentmindedly. She was staring at the far wall and Harry could tell that she wasn't paying attention to anything going on around her at the moment.

It felt nice, Harry decided, to be surrounded by friends. Starting out with only Sirius had been almost depressing. They had been alone in the world. Now, there were three other people who believed in them. Harry wished there could be someone else there though.

Hermione had been his best friend. Only Ron had been closer to him, yet both were gone now. Ron was gone, in the most permanent sense, and Harry felt a lot of pain about his death. However, Harry thought, if Hermione was still at his side, the pain would maybe go away faster.

Azkaban had only amplified his pain for his deceased friend, not to mention brought forth many other painful things. Sirius had helped, although he wasn't much of a conversationalist and Harry didn't really want to discuss his pain with anyone at that table. Hermione would be the best choice to talk to, and he couldn't talk with her.

"Harry," Sirius' voice brought him out of his thoughts.

Harry looked up. "Hmm?"

"Remus is going to take Dora home and I'm going out to search again. You want to come with me, or stay?" Sirius asked.

Sirius was, of course, referring to the search for Wormtail. Every day now Sirius went out and searched in any place he could think of. Sometimes, Remus went with him, since he had left Hogwarts now.

"I'd rather stay," Harry answered softly. He just wasn't in the mood to be searching for a rat.

"I'll stay too," Ginny answered as Sirius looked at her.

"Alright then," Sirius stood from the table, Remus and Tonks following him.

Within moments, the house was empty except for Ginny and Harry.

Ginny pushed her bowl of soup away, bored. "You know? I thought that being on the run with a pair of criminals might be exciting," she complained.

"No, instead it just made you an outlaw too," Harry replied, "Actually, though, I'm surprised we've been able to stay in one place so long. Before we gained Remus' help, we didn't stay anyplace longer than one night, sometimes less. Besides Grimmauld Place, of course. We could've stayed there longer, I suppose, but Sirius really hated it."

"Because he hated his family?" Ginny questioned softly.

"More because he hates the memories associated with his family. Anyway, he doesn't consider them his family anymore. That's what Remus is now. His real family."

"You are too, you know," Ginny added.

Harry paused, "I know."

~~~ TB ~~~

Sirius padded along the quiet street in dog form sniffing the air tentatively every so often in search of the scent that he was looking for.

He was in London, on the street where Pettigrew had lived once. There were many places he had lived, since he moved almost once every three months. He hadn't been able to settle anywhere, likely because the job he claimed to have was non-existent.

Snuffling slightly, Sirius paused in front of the old looking house that was there. It looked like it had been abandoned for quite a while. Sirius knew that this was the house that Pettigrew had been living in later on, shortly before he became secret keeper. At this point, they were all keeping their distance from each other in fear of betrayal. Sirius didn't remember ever visiting Pettigrew here and he didn't think or Remus did either.

Wondering if Wormtail had ever actually lived in the building, or if he just said he had, Sirius made his way through the overgrown front yard and to the porch.

The porch creaked as Sirius stepped up onto it and he held his breath as he crossed it. Even in dog form, he seemed heavy enough to break right through the porch.

Testing the door, Sirius was surprised that it was unlocked, and even more, unlatched. He easily pushed it open with his paw and entered.

Dust covered everything in sight. Holding back a sneeze, Sirius ducked out of sight of the open doorway before transforming back into his two-legged self.

Shutting the front door, Sirius gazed around the house.

There was no furniture of any kind. The floors and walls were bare.

The house was small. He stood in a large open room that he supposed would probably be a living room. The kitchen, empty of anything except cupboards, was off to the left side and a door that Sirius guessed was a bathroom was off to the right.

A staircase, leading upstairs, was on the far side of the room.

Sensing that this house was a lost cause in the finding of his one time friend, Sirius turned to leave. A long creak from upstairs made him pause in mid step.

He listened carefully but heard nothing else. With a small huff, Sirius decided to investigate anyway and went across the room and up the stairs.

The upstairs was just one long hall with two doors leading off on both sides of the hall. Opening the first door on the right, Sirius discovered an empty room.

The first room on the left was exactly the same, as was the third room he checked.

It wasn't until he reached the very last room in the hallway that he found something different. The room was just like the others, bare. However, this one had a dark stain in the carpet and the walls were splattered with something Sirius recognised as blood.

Feeling sick, Sirius backed out of the room in a hurry.

Now he knew what it was abandoned. Nobody had wanted to buy it with that there, or at least the story that went with it.

Turning, Sirius hurried out of the house. It was giving him the creeps, and that was saying something coming from a man who had spent time in Azkaban.