Tick tock – Tick tock went the clock on the wall, torturously slow, he swore it actually went back one at some point. "Is dad going to be ok?" Harry sat on a stool by Sirius' bedside tearfully, worrying his bottom lip so much it was beginning to bleed. Regulus had stopped bothering telling him to stop it and giving him chewing sweets to bother instead. He looked up at his uncle with impossibly wide bright green glistening eyes which made Regulus cringe. He asked himself why a child's eyes had to be so large, it made them look so imploring and one could find oneself without their free will. Hermione was sitting next to him, holding his hand in hers in a show of support and Harry clung onto it like a drowning man would a life line.

He noticed that Harry was holding onto her so tightly his knuckles were white. If the little girl felt any pain from the grip then she did not show it, while Harry was hurting she was not going to leave. The seconds ticked on torturously slowly and still Sirius did not open his eyes or even twitch where he lay and he wanted to leave but he could not leave the children there unsupervised. The silence was agonizing, but there was nothing to say, he was the only one feeling tense and stressed. Hermione, worried by her best friend's uncharacteristic behaviour, turned her own green orbs on him too in question and his gritted his teeth, double the attack power.

He swore they knew the effect they had, their just pretended to be innocent and oblivious, it heightened their power. He supposed he should be proud of them for their blatant manipulation, Sirius would give them praise. He said nothing, he just averted his eyes. He wanted to get up and leave for many reasons; just being in the presence of Sirius like this was bad enough. Yet he could not leave the children unsupervised and with Sirius bedridden until further notice and Kreacher preoccupied with taking care of him and the rest of the house, he found himself fully responsible for the two children. He did not mind all that much, they were good kids, it was Sirius' responsibilities that were the strain.

Seeming as he was now Lord Black he had started to worm Adam Tanner's name into both world's muggle and wizard, ready for his big reveal. Sorting out his accounts without anybody finding out who he was also proved to be a strain, he was still officially in hiding but everyone knew he was innocent due to his numerous displays. Looking after the kids was the easiest part of the job, they played beautifully by themselves, they just needed his guard. Hermione did not have to be here but Harry wanted her here for the support she gave and Hermione was damn hard to keep away anyway seeming as she was more or less pack and was used to waltzing into the house as if she owned it anyway. He could not say no to imploring eyes, the two children combining the effects of their expressions were a damn near unstoppable force.

He was not feeling stronger than the children, but it was tougher for him because young children almost always had someone there for them. There was only ever one person who held his hand through tough experiences, there was only ever one person whom he wanted to hold and it was the comatose man he needed a hand to hold over. This was how Sirius must have been feeling that day in the hospital looking down at Harry's sick, broken little body and having nothing on hand to fix it all himself. It had become too much but he'd had his chance to be comforted, he was all alone here, but he would pull through. He wanted to cry but he had to leave it for behind closed doors because he was the only adult here, he had to be the pillar of strength, the icon that was looked up to.

Seeming as the real pillar of strength of the household was so weak he had to be even more so. He had to lend strength to those younger than him even though it was borrowed strength he could not really give. He looked at the four green eyes that were staring at him, sighed and plastered a smile of strength and calm on his face, hoping it reached his eyes, that was where the truth lay, that was where people looked for it. "Everything is going to be fine," he said softly in a level voice, it was a very textbook answer but there was not much else to say. He did not have to truly be stronger than Sirius, he just had to play act for now well enough to fool two five year olds.

He looked at the man on the bed, 'please God let everything be ok,' he prayed. His magic hummed inside of him and gently tapped into his brother's core, noting his stable vital statistics. 'He is just tired' it murmured, 'all he needs is rest and he'll be fine'. He'd been sleeping for three straight days though and he was frightened about his health, how much sleep did one person need no matter how tired they got? But he knew his Siri well enough to play act like everything was ok, play act like him, which was what he would do if their positions were reversed. "He'd just needs rest," he assured with a lot more confidence, a stronger smile on his face, "he will be alright in a few days, I promise." This time he was believed.

Tick tock, tick tock.

"Mr Tanner, will Padfoot wake up soon?" Ever since meeting the little girl almost a year ago now he had given her permission to use his nickname and she had never used anything else. She did not look or sound so worried this time, she just needed reassurance. It was a lot like teaching really, when trying to get a point across to a child, especially someone who was young; you have to go over the concept a couple of times. Hermione may be an incredibly intelligent five year old girl, but she was still a five year old child and mad the mentality of one. He forced the smile plastered on his face to grow a little wider, he nodded once and told them to go out and play. He watched them as they left the room hand in hand and closed the door behind them.

The best thing they could do for him and Sirius at the moment was smile and have fun. While they left, Reg did not leave his brother's side, he loved those kids so much, those had been the last words out of his mouth after all. It had been nothing more than a croak at the time, but Reg, being as close as Sirius as he was, heard the question clearly. "Harry...Herm…where...Reg..." he had told him that they were safe, that Harry was going to be with him soon, that he had gotten them out of there. He told them Severus and Remus had come to the rescue, he even told him about his core, desperate for Sirius to know of his achievement. He did not seem to hear him, he did not care, he only passed into the sleep he evidently desperately needed once he told him Harry was ok.

Managing the estate and the financial affairs of the Blacks became an easier task; he did not need to take care of much bar giving money to Kreacher. The elf was a life saver, taking care of all the menial tasks that were nevertheless vital. He loved and took care of the kids as much as Sirius did. He had always been a standoffish character to them before, while Harry loved him and would allocate him for bedtime stories and climb into his lap often, usually when it was an inopportune moment to do so, Hermione barely knew him. She was understandably shy at first but slowly warmed up to him as she had done with Sirius with Harry's insistence and he grew to learn why Sirius loved watching and playing with the two together.

At the end of every day he would make sure to recount the day's events to Sirius, telling him what was going on an all his feelings about that. He had heard talking helped bring people round and seeming as he made about as much reply as a usual shrink he found it rather therapeutic for himself too. Seeming as Harry had been the last one Sirius mentioned before passing out he made sure the child sat with him for about an hour a day too, and of course this meant Hermione came as well. Harry did not have to say anything, it just felt right for Harry to be there, not that he ever needed telling twice to sit with him, Harry was incredibly close to Sirius he probably loved him as fiercely as Sirius loved him.

Harry was not as worried as he had been, Regulus had kept reassuring him and Hermione who came over for most of the day, every day now, and sometimes stayed overnight, that he was going to be ok and for the most part he was believed. Still Harry would sit with him for a long time telling him about the new games he and Hermione had played recently and the meals and cakes that he and Kreacher had cooked. Sometimes when it was his bedtime and Regulus could not find him in his room or anywhere in the house really he would find him curled up on his dad's chest, or tucked under his arm against his side, fast asleep. It was a heartwarming sight and Regulus would beam at the half smile that seemed to have curled onto the sleeping man's face as well as the little boy.

Even when unconscious he was comforted by the presence of his son, and said son was adamant the man would look after him. Given recent events and what it had caused him to lose, Regulus was argue that he had gained his merits too, he'd looked after them both very well. Most of these times, Regulus would just let him stay, he was happy and comfortable where he was, there was little point moving him. Sometimes he'd set up a bed in there for himself too and the whole family minus Kreacher would sleep like that – he was comforted by the presence of his brother too.

One morning he woke up when the sun was high in the sky and he could not care less by how long he'd stayed asleep. Harry had been up a couple of hours but had not left the room, just sat there talking to Sirius animatedly like he always did. Kreacher was there too, presumably keeping an eye on Harry, occasionally he would say things to Sirius too, since regaining his sanity and becoming his personal elf he was close to the man as well. He ate the food which had been spelled to keep warm and left for him by his bedside lazily; he had nothing planned for today. Once he was finished he turned around to assess his image in the mirror, he ran a hand through his hair, which did little to tidy it, just like Harry's there, and let out a rather loud yawn.

"Well good morning sleepyhead." Regulus spun around on his heel, startled at the noise with his eyes wide. It was not Harry or Kreacher who had spoken, but a bright eyed, smiling, healthy and woken Sirius Black. It was no wonder Kreacher and Harry had not left the room and the child was talking to him so animatedly, he was able to make reply. Sirius shifted himself into a seated position, he was still quite weak but he was awake and alive and did not look like he was about to fall into a coma again. Regulus did not say anything; there was no need, he slowly walked towards him as if he was a man fifty years his age and fell to his knees by his brother enveloping him in the most relieved hug he had ever given anyone in his life.

The next few days were spent with filling Sirius on in what had been happening and helping him regain his strength omitting a few vital details. He made a quick recovery and was happy with how well Regulus had taken care of matters while he was out of commission. The only thing Reg really cared about was the matter concerning the break in. He thought about it long and hard for over two days, going over all the possibilities wondering how best to handle it. So deep in thought was he, he did not even pay as much attention to Harry as the little boy had him when Sirius was comatose, which was a surprise. The worry could be put on hold, Regulus decided, enough had happened to keep his brother's mind occupied enough for him not to notice that Regulus was holding something back from him.

He had always been terrible at keeping secrets from his brother, but Sirius could be distracted. As expected, Sirius was not overly keen about meeting Dumbledore, but just like him he did want to get his hands on that ring and know what he knew about the other horcruxes. While Regulus agreed that it was imperative they find them all, he was not so insistent about owning them all. While it would be a long time before they were ready and willing to call Dumbledore an ally, he was about as far from a follower of Voldemort as one could get and from there they drew their common link. Regulus reckoned it was just dislike from Sirius there, Dumbledore was and always would be a powerful leader of the light and they should trust and treat him accordingly.

"I've got it," he said one dinner time when they were just finishing up treacle tart. "The horcrux is safe where it is for now; I guess Dumbledore will have it locked away somewhere, as you said it is in the mirror with the others. I do not know what possessed him to put it on in the first place, at least he did not let it have direct contact with his skin, but once it was on his person it would slowly worked its poison and he would not have thought to take it off. It makes me shudder to think he was around children in that state for so long, but if he is good, he is powerful and he will keep it safe, which means we are in no desperate rush to see him."

"I do not care all the much about what he knows about the horcuxes, I am only interested in how much he knows and whether it is too much for my liking. Then again, if he is good now, that should not pose a problem either way anyhow. All the information we need to track them down ourselves is from you, you're all we need. I accept his apology but if he wants to form an alliance, maybe even be a friend then it can all be done without even needing to see each other for a while. All we need is a middle man and I think I know just the guy. After his help it is about time I met up with him and thank him and rekindle our friendship."

Inviting over Remus, who was going to be the middle man between them and the Light was the only option Sirius could think of and Regulus had agreed. Sirius was still rather weak, according to him anyway, but Reg knew could take down Remus if he wanted. What Sirius considered weak was still beyond Tyson for the rest of the world. Reg and Sirius had decided they could trust Remus anyway after his recent help and now came the difficult task of explaining the situation to him. They had decided to hold this meeting over a meal like all formal gatherings of this nature. Reg had still not told Sirius just how much the owed to Remus and he just about managed to catch his eye before the meeting began.

"As you know, Remy, Dumbledore wants a meeting with me, and well, for obvious reasons, I am not so happy about the idea."

"He has not given up wanting to control you." Well that was common news.

"He has always wanted to be in control and until recently we would all concur that it was the best place for him to be. Recently however he has made some very bad choices, while I understand the reasoning behind them, they are unforgiveable."

"You can hardly blame him for the harm Harry went through at the hands of his relatives; Dumbledore could not have known how he would be treated."

"And yet he let it go on, he should have had the boy checked up on, by someone competent enough to do the job, and by neglecting this simple job, my son almost died. He could have saved me from Azkaban, by putting me under his personal protection and getting me a trial, but he did not, and he does not even have an ulterior motive for that."

The sandy haired marauder knew Sirius well and knew a plan forming when he saw one in the eyes of his friend, even if he did not know what it was yet. "I will help you Sirius, I always will be there for you. Only a fool would not be on your side, you always were the stategist, you won every game of chess we played."

Sirius breathed out a sigh of relief. "Of course this is a lot more complicated than a simple game of chess. Regulus and I are taking down Voldemort's empire and we have also been tracking down the horcruxes so he will be able to be killed like a regular wizard if he can return at all once the horcruxes are destroyed. Regulus and I will handle searching out these objects with the help of others – which may or may not include the Headmaster," Sirius said, holding up a hand before Remus could argue the point, "but we will keep you in the loop, and you will help in searching out if there is a need. The important thing is that you know why I am reluctant to have direct correspondence with him."

Sirius stabbed his food angrily, sitting back down. "I can see logic behind his reasoning but it is flawed, and now that I am powerful." He conjured a black rook, "this is what I used to be, powerful enough but not the best and under the control of another." He turned it into a light grey queen, "now, I can't be stopped. He is too used to being in control so he wants Harry to himself where only he knows where he is and only he can reach him. But the truth of the matter is, he had no right! Harry is my son and I will protect him, and while Fudge is my enemy I am not so bothered about being declared innocent right now either. I am going to catch Peter myself and prove to the world how innocent I am."

"Everyone already knows you are innocent Siri, you should see the campaigns they are holding against him in the parks."

Sirius allowed himself a small private smile at that information. "Well there is still more to be done to his crumbling world. I will land every death eater in Azkaban and rescue all of those imprisoned wrongly, they have no one else to fight for them."

Remus knew a verbal slap when one hit him in the face and he recoiled back as if threatened with a whip. "There are more?"

"Of course there are more. By the time I am finished the world is going to be a far different place, no flaws, no corruption, and my pack will be sitting on top of the world, I'd like for that to include you, Moony." Remus beamed at him and Sirius couldn't help the warm rush of affection that rose up in response, once loved as a brother, always a brother. "This is kind of the way I want this to work, Moony," Sirius admitted, "we talk, and we agree together what we want to do. Occasionally you feed things back to Dumbledore when we need his assistance. Oh, I've got a present for you," he dug around in the deepest pocket of his robes and drew out a small mirror. He thrust it at Remus who took the offered present on instinct before realising what it was.

"This is one of the mirrors that you and James shared," he muttered, "I can't take this; I thought you would give it to Harry."

"Harry doesn't need it, certainly not yet, he is not going anywhere without me but a friend's house at his age, nowhere for an extended period. The same goes for Reg by the way, but you are our middle man Remus and it is dangerous to send letters without them being properly coded should they be intercepted, and it is tiring to keep using a patronus, so use the mirror to speak to me. This is the fastest way to tell me things too. Keep it on you at all times, make it small, hide it in the hem of your coat and don't let Dumbledore get his hands on it. There is nothing he can say to me that he can't say to you after all, not until I am ready."

"Alright Padfoot, and I'm glad we're back together, I should never have doubted you."

"No," Sirius said seriously, eyes suddenly hard, "you shouldn't have, but we're pack now, and I'm glad too, and thank you, for helping me."

Remus got up, walked over to him and pulled him into a hug which was awkward at first but Sirius quickly relaxed into it and returned it with vigour. It was just like the old days when they were brothers in all but name, indeed they became blood brothers and all each other had. Regulus clenched his fist, silently jealous about how intimate they were and looked away. "I really am sorry for not helping Siri," Remus muttered into his shoulder, "I should have done all I could, convinced Dumbledore to help you somehow. I should have found out where Harry was too and checked on him but I did not think it was necessary. I trusted the king too much Sirius, and how lose to death he was when he was found it's just... I'm so, so sorry."

"It's ok Remy," Sirius soothed, stroking his back, "well it's not, but it's the past, we can't change it, not easily anyway. I'm sorry too by the way for you know, beating you up, that was a very extreme reaction, and for implying you did not care about Harry, it was out of line."

"That's ok, I probably deserved it."

"Oh I'm not saying you didn't deserve it, you definitely deserved it, but I'm still sorry for hurting you as that was not very Sirius like."

"Given the circumstances I think you can be forgiven pretty much everything you did when you first broke out of jail."

"Thanks Remy, could you apologise to Hagrid on my behalf next time you see him please? I gave him rock cakes but it really does not justify all I did and get him to stop drinking, he'd had way too much last time I went round there. Anyway, we've got a meal to finish up here."

"Yes, if you don't mind me asking, if there is so much bad blood between you and Dumbledore, then why do you want an alliance in the first place?"

"I need him because he is a powerful warlock. He can never be a shade of grey, he always has to be your best friend or your worst enemy and if he was my enemy he can turn everyone I know against me, except perhaps you. He will want to have power over me and I will let him believe it because otherwise he won't cooperate but to make sure he does not try anything, that is why you are my middle man, I can't fight a war with no army Remus."

"You and Reg seemed to be doing a pretty good job so far."

"Yes, but they will band together soon, I will need help if I am going to defeat, ten, twenty, thirty at a time and there are still a few powerful death eaters out there, like Avery and Greyback." Remus coughed and Reg looked away, the cat was going to have to come out the bag now. There was no way they could have hidden their reactions from Sirius. His blue grey eyes narrowed and he focused on Regulus, "is there something you'd like to tell me Reggie."

"Greyback is dead."

"Who killed him?"

"I did," Remus cut in.

"How?"

"I ripped out his jugular."

"It is not like you to pick fights, something happened." He turned back to his younger brother and looked at him, really looked at him as if he was seeing him for the first time, and in a way, he was. "You've been keeping things from me, things that I would have seen in an instant if I was my normal self, but I have not been seeing it because I'm not as strong as normal and I won't be for a while. Regulus did not try to defend himself and he did not try to prevent his brother from waving his hand and getting rid of the glamour that had been covering him arm for the past two weeks. He had gotten the new one from St Mungos with Remus undetected by Sirius but it was still nothing like an organic one and the metal of the hand was visible instantly.

Sirius' eyes widened as he tore at his brother's coat to get it off and see the extent of the damage. Regulus and Remus said nothing as this examination went on, it was true Regulus had been puzzling how to tell his brother what happened, but he did not want it to be like this. Sirius found where it connected at the shoulder and fingered the fissures there. Having the new arm connected was almost as painful as having the original one ripped off as it needed to be connected to the nerves and muscles so it could function with a little practice just as well as a normal arm, he had taken Remus with him for moral support. Regulus heard his brother hitch his breath as he realized the real reason he had gone out a week ago and why it had taken him so long.

Finally Sirius turned his eyes to Remus and spoke, "you killed Greyback for doing this to Reggie, and you saved his life, thank you."

Remus but nodded, "sorry for taking the opportunity away from you but I did not really have an option given the circumstances."

"Yes," Sirius hissed, "what exactly were the circumstances?"

Remus and Regulus exchanged looks before Regulus nodded, giving the signal he would tell the story, and there was no short answer to that question so he gave him the long one.

Sirius' face was impassive as he stood at the top of the steps staring into the basement, a ball of light glowing by his head. The light illuminated the men who was in some sort of stasis, chained to the wall until such a time Sirius learnt of them, which happened to be this moment. He did not say anything to Regulus or Remus as he started down the steps towards them. Reg was afraid his brother was angry at him, this all went back to him going to Hogwarts after all, the ramifications of that kept coming back to bite him. All was not lost though, he had won, he had tried to make up for his mistakes and things could have gone worse, but he was alive, Harry and Sirius too had been protected and he had fixed the house best he could with help from Remus.

"I'm glad you're both ok," he said suddenly, once his mind had finished processing the surreal happenings that Regulus had overseen whilst he'd been asleep. "I would have forgotten about the wards too with everything that was going on at the time." Regulus knew that his brother was lying to make him feel better but all of that was forgotten when Sirius turned and enveloped him and Remus in a hug. "I truly am glad you are ok, it must have been one hell of a battle and I would be lying if I said that I wasn't proud of you Reg. I am sorry you had to lose an arm but it is impressive that you managed to take down five death eaters and more or less keep the house in order." He walked towards the sleeping death eaters, "why are they in stasis lock?"

"Draught of the living death," Regulus answered, "I found it in your potion room. I wanted to keep them like that until you were awake so you could decide what you wanted to do with them. But then you woke up and it never seemed like the right time to bring up the subject with them in the basement and my arm and Remus' help, I just kept putting it off and off and then you found out the way you did which by the way was not the way I pictured it at all." He clapped a hand to his brother's shoulder, "so, what do you want to do with them?"

A cruel smile curved around his lips, "Rita is going to have a field day."

Sirius Orion Black and Regulus Arcturus Black have done it again, capturing a further five death eaters this time. Regulus Black claims that the death eaters, Michael Greengrass, Hadrian Zabini, Timothy Avery, Damian Hart and Fenrir Greyback, broke into Black manor, the wards had been weakened due to the Lord of the House, Sirius Black, being in a coma due to his recent battle. Mr Greyback died during the encounter, one Remus Lupin killing him to defend Regulus Black after him arm was torn off in the heat of the battle. The other self-confessed death eaters were presented in Hogsmeade last night at 7pm in the same dramatic way as the Black brothers present all of their captured criminals. Now that Sirius Orion Black is back to full health, where will the duo strike next?

"Her articles have gotten shorter," Regulus mentioned as he sipped from a cup of hot chocolate while Sirius had his unsweetened cocoa.

"They do not need to be any longer," Sirius replied having just woken up from his morning nap, Regulus was yet to understand them, he always fell asleep as soon as he got up for about fifteen minutes and then he was fine for the day. "She is already famous from publishing her work about me, as long as she writes something she is bound to get a big fat pay check, she doesn't have to try anymore."

"You know, you saved her when you think about it. If she carried on the way she was, someone else would have actually killed her for publishing those lies and making the public drink it all up like fact. You forced her to start to act like an actual reporter."

"She has an animagus form, a beetle, I found that out on my last visit to her, I could sense it, someone would have crushed her underfoot had I not stepped in. do not get me wrong Regulus, I did not do it out of kindness, I just needed a reporter and it was no trouble to me to save her in the process. She is not a bad person Reg, she is just too dumb to see the extent of the damage she can cause, and her readers are just as idiotic, though whether she'd stop if she did see the damage is debatable. Those stories were her life, I gave her an alternative."

"I'd say that's being kind."

"Maybe, I am not kind to a lot of people, there is you, Remus, Severus, Arnold and Tonks, that's about it, I'm still puzzling over why I bothered with Severus."

"I'm sure he is too."

The two men felt magic swirl through the air and the mirror in Sirius' pocket started to glow and warm up, alerting them to the fact Remus/Dumbledore wanted to speak to them. Sirius cast a glance at the paper before looking up at his brother, "I will bet you anything that this is Dumbledore wanting to scold us about out latest stunt."

Sirius was right.