The scene switched to two months after the wedding. The Voldybusters are sitting on a packed muggle train. Sirius is in Padfoot form, and Regulus and Lydia are disguised with wigs and makeup.

"Why did we have to disguise ourselves ?" Lydia tugs at her uncomfortable blouse, "we could have just gone as ourselves. No one even knows us."

"You know exactly why," Regulus sighs, already having grown used to her antics, "if the Dark Lord was to ever go looking for this object, we cannot have anyone with our description in the area. One slip of mouth, and we have the Dark Lord on our tails."

"I don't think it's worth all this humiliation," Lydia insists, "I've fought you-know-who before and so did my parents. I don't think he's going to want to mess with us after that."

"You fought you-know-who?!" the hall thundered, "and survived!"

"I did?!" Lydia asks, face turning pale.

"Well we have," Euphemia points to both her and Monty, "on 4 different occasions. Although, it was a few years ago and he was far from the height of his power. I'm not sure we'd be able to do it again."

"You survived out of pure luck," Regulus argues, "he found it more important to leave then finish fighting it out with you. It would be a disaster if he started chasing us down."

"You're right," Lydia gives in, "let's get this over with."

"Hello," a cheery voice greeted them, "you must be Mr. and Mrs. Glorffer here to see the neighborhood."

"Glorffer?" Lydia says confused, but hurriedly adds, "yup, that's us, the Glorffers."

"I think we're going to see the story that Sirius spoke about at the wedding," Andromeda grinned, "and it's bound to be funny."

"Glorffer?" Lydia scrunches her nose in distaste, "don't you have any naming sense?"

"Really Reg," Lydia whispers while the lady chatters about the history of Little Hangleton, "Glorffer? You better let your future partner choose your kids' names, because you cannot be trusted with something like that."

"Sorry," Regulus apologizes, "I don't know muggle last names. I just made something up."

"How much longer do we have to pull this off for?" Lydia asked, "we need to go and retrieve the object."

"I'm not sure," Regulus glanced around, "let's wait until she shows us a house or two, and then we'll say we want to look around on our own. Then Sirius will shift back, and we'll raid Gaunt's shack." Sirius, upon hearing that, wagged his tail. He was not all too pleased to be stuck as a dog.

"I think I prefer Sirius like this," Lydia grinned, scratching him behind the ear, "he's much friendlier like this." Sirius's dog form growled as he heard his sister's taunt.

"I quite agree," Regulus laughed, and suddenly realized that the lady was leading them into a house. Regulus grabbed Lydia's hand, and rushed after the lady. "Hurry! We cannot afford to waste any time. You have to go back to work tomorrow, and Moody will not be pleased if you're late again. That means we have to sleep sometime tonight."

"We both know there's nothing he can do about it," Lydia laughed as she ran, "I'm too important to fire. So he'll have to put up with it anyway."

"Seems Potter's going to be causing issues," Edgar Bones comments to his boss, "I think it'll liven the place up."

"Sounds like a disaster," Moody answers gruffly, "but I'm glad we're going to have her. She's going to be a force to be reckoned with."

"I agree Capitano," Liam Bones smirks, "she'll be quite the asset."

"Shut it," Gabriel Bones elbows his triplet, "don't call him that. It makes everyone cringe."

"You still haven't lost that arrogance," Regulus shakes his head. The two put on a show of a lovey dovey couple for another hour, before setting the next step into motion.

"Thank you so much Selena," Lydia thanked the saleswoman cheerily, "we'll go take a look around on our own, and we'll contact your office if we decide to go forward."

"Alright," Selena the saleswoman smiled, "it was lovely showing you two around, You're such a sweet couple, and the dog's adorable."

"Thank you," Regulus gritted his teeth, "we appreciate your compliments." As soon as she was gone, the two gagged in disgust.

"Look at their faces," Sirius laughed at the two, finally glad to have a chance of embarrassing his sister, "they look so grossed out."

"You two made a wonderful pair," Marlene giggled, finding the situation to be funnier than the time Lydia dyed Snape's hair purple for a week."

"We are never doing something like this again," Lydia proclaimed loudly, "Siri, just shift and laugh at us already. Your dog laughs are creeping me out."

"You two are so funny," Sirius laughs, clutching his stomach, "I can't believe this actually happened. I will never let you forget about it."

"We know," Regulus rolls his eyes, "but onwards. Lydia, you said there were 3 sets of wards on the shack, right?"

"Love how he maneuvered the conversation," Lily says softly to Marlene, "that's an excellent skill to have."

"Correct," Lydia nodded, "first is a blood ward, similar to the one we encountered by the cave of inferi. The second is a dark barrier, one that's supposed to keep intruders out. The third was extremely hard to sense, the second barrier protecting it, but I figured out that it's a type of caterwauling charm. We'll have to break all the wards before we go in. Otherwise we risk setting them off."

"And all that isn't including the old wards around this house in the first place," Sirius adds, "anti-apparation and portkey spells, the blood curses, and spells of the like."

"Good thing we came prepared," Regulus dug into Lydia's bag, and pulled out a small toy wagon. "I enchanted this little thing with a powerful magic disrupting spell. After we get past the blood curse, we'll send it in as we break the second barrier. I enchanted it with a charm that should be strong enough to break the caterwauling charm in an instant."

"Impressive," Moody grunted, "curse-breaking ain't an easy task. That's quite the feat for a 16 year old. Or is he 17 at that point?"

"Indeed," Euphemia agreed, "it seems that the Black family, despite their inhumane and immoral behavior, still managed to produce two geniuses."

"Three," Andromeda cuts in, "I won't pretend that I still hold any love for her, but Bellatrix is most definitely a prodigy. She's more capable than half the adult auror force, and she's only 25. She's a beast with her wand, and achieved excellent grades. If it wasn't for her descent into madness, she could have been a successful and famous witch. Now she's just a lapdog for a hypocritical tyrant, masquerading as a symbol of hope."

"Watch yourself," Bellatrix sneered, "you shan't speak of the Dark Lord like that you filthy blood traitor!"

"Don't speak to my wife like that!" Ted stands up, "you will treat her with respect."

"Shut your mouth you filthy mudblood!" Rodolphus shouts, "how dare you speak to your superiors like that! Especially towards my wife!"

"Enough!" Dumbledore shouted, a silencing spell flying from his wand towards the Lestrange couple, "you will all treat each other with respect. I understand it is frustrating, but we are all stuck here. Please refrain from using such crude and horrific language in my hall."

The Lestranges, silenced by the spell, could only nod angrily.

"When did you get a chance to make this?" Sirius picked the wagon up, turning it from side to side, "and it's well crafted. These could go for hundreds of galleons."

"Lydia and I got bored," Regulus blushed, "so Benjy decided we would all work on a project together in order to 'Maintain the peace and honor of our dear home.' So the three of us made these. Benjy is, surprisingly, extraordinarily good at such charms."

"That's my husband," Lydia boasted, "great at everything."

"Enough about my brother-in-law," Sirius brushes Benjy's praise off, "let's go bust some heads!"

"We're not busting heads," Regulus points out, "and we're not even getting into a duel with people. That statement can't even be a metaphor. Why did you say that?"

"It seems Regulus has yet to learn how to deal with Sirius's eccentricities," Dorcas laughed.

"You're going to have to deal with them," Pandora pointed out.

"Not for too long," Dorcas shoots back, "I give that task over to Amelia."

"Honestly," Sirius began, "I just really wanted to say that. I saw it in that movie Dorcas took me to, and I've wanted to use it ever since."

"Speaking of," Lydia said as she casually stabbed her palm, "how's that going?"

"Pretty good," Sirius is not fazed by the blood, "we're going on another date next Sunday. Oh, Lyds, you need to rub the blood more to the left."

"Two youngsters," Albus Dumbledore sighed, "and they're already familiar with giving blood for the good of the world. What have we done? We've allowed this war to go on far too long. We've left our children to pay the price for our mistakes."

"It's sad," Flitwick agrees, "but I couldn't be prouder of these 3 students. They've given everything to insure that their children will live in a free world. We may have failed to attain peace for our children, but we managed to raise a generation that could."

"Wise words," Slughorn's voice is melancholy, "I blame myself for all of this. Tom was the apple of my eye, and I ignored all the signs that something was wrong. I allowed his charm to trick me, and allowed him to use my favoritism to do unspeakable things. Yet, even knowing that, I still allow myself to play favorites. Hopefully, one day, I can do something to be forgiven for my wrongs."

"You are not to blame," Professor Dinsky, the elderly alchemy teacher, reassured her old friend, "yes, you gave the boy far too much leeway, but he would have gone down that path regardless. There was something that, in hindsight, was fundamentally wrong about that boy. You were far from the only one to fall down that slope. What you can do now, is stop that ridiculous favoring of yours. There is nothing wrong with mentoring students with potential, but the club is too much. It sows seeds of disdain for those not invited."

"You're right," Slughorn agrees, "perhaps it is time for it to stop"

"Has the ward disassembled yet?" Lydia asks, "because I'm feeling the magic slipping. I'm no expert though."

"From what I've studied," Regulus bends down, and mumbles a spell under his breath, "it should be almost done dissolving. See this light," Regulus points to a light that appeared after he cast his spell, "this is a piece of the barrier. When it stops shining, it's safe to go through."

The trio waits patiently, and suddenly the light goes out. "Let's got through," Sirius whispers, and the trio moves in slowly. Regulus puts the wagon on the ground, and taps it three times. He then twisted his wand, seemingly at the air, and let out a transparent spell. Suddenly, a barrier was seen, appearing after Regulus's spell made contact.

"We have to break it quickly," Regulus rambled as he began casting, "it's a dark ward against enemies. I attached the spell on the wagon to the breaking of this barrier. The minute we break it, it should start disenchanting the third barrier. We need to break the second before the time runs out. Use the spells from the briefing."

"Finally!" Sirius cracks his knuckles, "some action!" Sirius began casting powerful spells, his red oak wand glowing as burning spells spilled out in waves.

"It seems Sirius is no less a wizard than our Dia," Nico remarks to his sister, "I can't believe they're doing such a thing. We most certainly couldn't, especially at that age."

"Maybe one day," Lyetta says, "after all, we're very close with them. Maybe they can teach us a few moves?"

"I can't believe you can break you-know-who's barriers," Peter whispers to Lydia, "I knew you were powerful, but that's quite difficult."

"It's mostly because of the death magic," Lydia replies, "I honestly don't think we could have done it without it."

Lydia is seen, eyes glowing silver, as she casts powerful spells out. She feels a strange energy flow over her, but in the heat of the battle, ignores it. Finally, the barrier breaks, and before the caterwauling charm could activate, Regulus's wagon blows the charm up.

"I can't believe we just did that," Sirius breathlessly spoke, "that took longer than I thought it would."

"We took 30 minutes to break the first barrier," Lydia calculated, "and 45 to crack the second and third. There are still more traps and spells inside, but no more wards. We'll have to be careful."

"Sirius," Regulus suddenly says, "don't move a muscle."

Sirius freezes, and Regulus mumbles a small spell. Where Sirius was about to step, was a deadly trap. Sirius groans, before sending an electrifying spell to break it.

"I hate this," Sirius moaned, "why did he have to put so many traps?"

"Less complaining, more helping," Regulus scowls at Sirius. After 30 minutes filled with breaking dozens of spells, they finally reached the end of the 200 foot house.

"All that effort to get to the end of a small house," Tina shook her head, "poor kids. They're too young for such work. And the matter is so delicate that they can't tell anyone, or ask for help."

"I know love," Newt lays a hand on his wife's wrinkled hand, "I know."

"I think it's here," Lydia opens a desk drawer after breaking the charms on the area.

"A ring," Sirius tilts his hand, "I was expecting something else. Something like a founder's relic if we're being honest."

"It's the Peverell ring!" Lydia exclaims suddenly, "the one Valeria stole. He turned the resurrection stone into a horcrux!"

"He did not," A deep voice sounded, "that worthless descendant of mine could never pervert Death's beloved stone."

"Is that who I think it is?" Sirius gasped.

"Salazar Slytherin," the man held his ghostly hand out, "founder of Hogwarts. It's a pleasure to meet two of Death's beloved."

"You meet Salazar Slytherin?" Walburga's eyes are blown open, a look of shock on her normally bitter face.

"Hear that Walburga," Sirius sing-songs, "the disowned son of House Black is the one who meets the founder you admire. I see the irony mother dearest."

"Lydia Potter," Lydia accepted his hand, "current Mistress of Death. This is my brother Sirius, and his ex-brother Regulus Black."

"Pleasure to meet you," Salazar's voice was raspy, "but I am not alone. Come out now you wretched child."

"At least I'm more intelligent than you," a young man with bright blue eyes shot back, "and it's not hard to be."

"Is that how you treat your teacher?" Salazar rumbled, "your head of house!"

"A head who forsook his duties," the witty man replied, before introducing himself, "I'm Merlin, Merlin Emrys."

"I'm not even surprised at this point," Marlene voices, "I wouldn't be shocked if she meets the other founders as well."

The hall digested the young appearance of Merlin. Only one was brave enough to ask the question.

"Why have all the souls been young?" Albus Dumbledore asked, turning to Fleamont, "All the other souls were young when they died, but both Salazar and Merlin were elderly. Why do they look so young?"

"We're going to forget anyways," Fleamont says aloud, "so it can't hurt to answer. Souls can shapeshift through stages of their lives. Merlin, for example, always uses his young form when with the founders, the knights, or King Arthur. With everyone else, though, he retains his elderly appearance. It truly depends on the spirit."

"Fascinating," Dumbledore pondered, "it's all so intriguing."

"Nice to meet you," Lydia smiled, completely unfazed, "but I have some plans with my husband tonight that I'd like to arrive on time for. We've been in Little Hangleton for a while now, and I also have work tomorrow. I'd really appreciate if we could speed this up."

"Very well," Merlin looks at his teacher, who nods at him, "because of the nature of the stone, the horcrux was only infused into the ring part of the ring. The stone itself is pure."

"My foolish heir," Salazar continued, "put a horrible curse on the ring. Just by touching it, it will begin the process of pulling all the water out of the body. Within days, the body will be completely dehydrated. Unless proper potions are taken."

"Thank goodness you're here then," Sirius thanked, "is it possible to separate the two of them?"

"Of course," Merlin smiled, "simply use this spell. It should detach the two of them. It's strong enough to work, despite part of it being a horcrux." Merlin gave a description of how to use the spell.

"We'll get straight on it," Lydia shook her sycamore wand, muttered the spell, and the stone fell out of the ring. "Accio!" she shouted, and the horcrux part flew straight into her bag.

"Thank you once again," Sirius smiled, "the stone's power must have drawn you out to warn us. You are dismissed."

"Farewell," the two gave their valedictions, and left, still bickering.

"What just happened?" a very confused Regulus Black asked.

"Poor guy," Fleamont laughed, "couldn't see the spirits. Quite a shame though."

The scene shifts, and the trio arrives at Potter Manor. Entering the large home, they found that they were not alone.

"Lydia," Moody greeted, a pitying look on his face, clothes and body covered in blood.

"Mad-Eye?!" Lydia shouts, scared with Regulus still there, "what are you doing here?"

"I need you to sit down first," Moody motions to the couch in the living room, "you too Sirius. And random teenager."

"Okay Moody," Sirius sits, "what's the issue? Is this about Lydia and I being late to work this week? And what's with you using our first names? You always call us by our surname."

"Oh you sweet boy," Euphemia cries into her hand, noticing Mad-Eye's look, "if only."

"Moody's appearance matches the one in Iola's vision," Newt gasped quietly, "oh our poor Lyddie. After the day she's had, this is not what she needs."

"If only it was about your attendance," Moody sighs, "this has nothing to do with the Auror Force. This has everything to do with," Moody paused, unsure with the still unknown teenager in the room, how to continue, "the Order of the Phoenix."

"The order?" Regulus asks Lydia, "what's that?"

"Dumbledore's vigilante group," Lydia responds tersely, "the one Benjy works for. He was telling us about it the other night, remember?"

"Oh," Regulus immediately sits up straighter, somehow sensing the seriousness of the situation.

"Anyways," Moody resumed, "Benjy and I were assigned to evacuate a safe house of muggleborns, that Dumbledore had gotten word was no longer safe."

"Is Benjy hurt?" Lydia questions frantically, "Tell me!"

"I'm sorry Kiddo," Moody's facade broke, and grief finally showed, "he's gone. Went down fighting. Told me to tell you that he loves you."

"No!" Lydia lost all color, "it can't be. I would have known."

"Prongs," Sirius, shocked as well, immediately reached for his sister, embracing her, "Prongs. It's going to be alright."

"Thank Merlin for Sirius," Euphemia whispered to her husband, "I can't bear the fact we're not with her. She's suffering alone."

"It's alright," Benjy tried comforting the present version of Lydia, "you're going to do fine."

Lydia had already had the time to mourn Benjy's death, having watched the scene herself earlier. So while she was grieving, there was less of it, and there was no shock.

"Poor Lydia," Pandora sobbed from the other table, "she just did a brave, selfless thing. Why does the world punish her?"

"I don't know," Xenophilius grasped her hand, "we cannot understand the one who writes our fate."

Lydia didn't hear him. She was far too busy sobbing her heart out into Sirius's chest. Regulus was still sitting there, the reality of life dawning upon him. He had never had any healthy relationships with anyone. He'd always been treated coldly by his family, with a few shreds of affection from his mother, especially when she would try to lord his achievements over Sirius. The only ones who had ever truly cared for him were Kreacher, a bitter, old house elf, and Barty. But Barty's mind was gone. He didn't know what happened, but his formerly kind friend was shard of himself. However, since that fateful day, that day he went to apologize to Sirius, it all changed.

The Potters had shown him kindness in a way he had never been shown before. From game nights with Lydia, to debates with Sirius over the silliest of things. And Benjy Fenwick, a muggleborn, a type of person he was trained to hate, immediately welcomed him into his life. He taught him about many interesting things, like movies, science, and art. Benjy had shown him beautiful paintings, fascinating pieces of literature, and compelling melodies. He was always willing to listen to his problems, and made interesting things with him, like the curse breaking wagon. Benjy had helped him discover his love for the earth, for its valleys and oceans. For its beauty. The beauty of life. Now that kindness is gone.

"What happened?" Regulus shakily asks, seeing how Lydia and Sirius were unable to form the words.

"He was fighting five of them," Moody explains, sadness dripping from his voice, "he beat all of them but one. Rabastan Lestrange. Lestrange knocked him down, and cut him up. Mutilated him. We've only got parts of him. Lestrange took souvenirs."

"I want them," Lydia mumbled amidst her tears, "bury them in the Potter Funeral."

Lydia was heartbroken. Her lover, the man she had committed her life to, was gone. She had first fallen for those chestnut eyes in her second year. Watching the charming muggleborn engage in debates in the library, Lydia first fell. She would only continue to fall throughout her school years. She learned of his kindness when she saw him help a first year that had hurt her arm. She saw his passion when he practiced presentations in the library. She knew her crush had turned to love when he offered her his coat one bitterly cold day. She first felt his love, though, when he held her through her parent's deaths. When he'd sit in St. Mungo's with her, when he'd bring her lunch, when he distracted her from her worries at work, and so many more kind things. She knew she would marry him when he helped her plan her parents consecutive funerals, with not one complaint. There were no doubts in her mind when he asked her, that rainy day, to marry him. With the family ring Sirius must have retrieved, she thought her life would be perfect, that it's be many years with her chestnut eyed love. But fate wouldn't have it it seems.

"Take your time," Moody stood up, before putting his hands on Lydia and Sirius's shoulder's, "he was a great man."

"I'm going to catch that rat," Lydia growled, eyes flashing silver, frightening Moody, "and I'm going to pummel him into the ground. He won't get away with this. You'll see me in the office next week Moody. And I expect you'll have a lead on Lestrange's location."

"This is not looking good for Rabastan," Bellatrix whispered to her husband, "she's furious. Maybe he shouldn't have gone so far."

"He couldn't have known," Rodolphus shakes his head, "we only know because of these films. I can only hope he escapes unscathed."

The hall was somber, many staying silent, allowing the deceased man's family the silence to grieve.

"We'll do our best," Moody agreed, "where should I leave his remains?"

"Mippy," Regulus called, sensing Lydia's unwillingness to do it herself, "please retrieve a proper coffin for Benjy's remains. We'll bury him tomorrow."

"Yes Master Regu-" Mippy would have continued, had Regulus not put his fingers to his lip. Mippy simply squeaked and left.

"I expect an explanation," Moody stated bluntly, "but only when you all are ready. I'll take my leave now. Take care Kiddo." Moody left the house, and the remaining occupants sat in silence.

"Thank you Reg," Lydia whispered softly, "for taking care of it all. Why don't you go to sleep? It's been a long day."

"I'm not going to leave you alone," Regulus declared, before looking at Sirius and amended, "I was talking about both of you. I'll get cocoa and supper, and we'll all mourn together."

The scene ends with them mourning, and switches to the second task.