Disclaimer: Nope.

Author's Note: Hello everyone. Thanks for all the reviews! I'm so glad most of you liked what I did with Cho.

I wholeheartedly agree - it's an exceedingly stupid reason why people don't like Cho. She was crying all the time because the boy she loved was murdered. What a shock (sarcasm). It's the thing that probably makes me the angriest in the entire series. I could literally rant about it for hours.

I'm glad you liked that she and Hermione talked. The fact that they're friends now will be very relevant later on in the story - after all, we all know how important Hermione is to Harry.

And yes, I also think that Cho and Harry are extremely wrong for one another. I was very surprised when, in an interview, JK Rowling did the same thing with George and Angelina, and she actually had them have children together. Granted, we don't know how serious Fred and Angelina were - we only saw them attend the Yule Ball together, so it actually might not be as big of a deal as it sounds. Maybe they weren't even boyfriend and girlfriend - after all, many people attend dances just as friends. I definitely did, in my highschool years.

There's one more thing I want to say - I can't thank everyone enough who is still liking this story. I know I've said it before, but this story has become so, so personal to me. I'm putting my entire heart and soul into this work. Out of the two stories I'm writing, this one ... many elements of it are inspired by my own emotional journey. I know there are a lot of feelings in this and I'm really hoping it doesn't get too overwhelming for everyone. As you all know, I began writing this story pre-Covid and I truly had no idea what it would become post-Covid lockdowns. This is as much my journey as Harry, Sirius, Hestia, Sturgis, and everyone else's. I hope everyone who sticks with this story continues to enjoy it. I don't think I've ever written anything that's taken as much of my time, energy, attention, and devotion.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. This one definitely advances the plot. This scene between Sirius, Bill, Kreacher, and Moody has been a LONG time coming.

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It was one of those things that ex-Auror and current Order member Alastor Moody despised doing, but it was also something that he was good at. He wasn't normally one to toot his own horn, but he was definitely in his element when it came to this - sussing out dark artifacts and deciding what to do with them.

He, Sirius, and Bill Weasley were in the attic of Grimmauld Place. It was just after noon on Wednesday, and Moody had just given Harry a Potions lesson. His disgust with Severus Snape's teaching methods couldn't be more clear - the entire time, he could deduce from Harry's body language that he expected to be bellowed at for the simplest thing. The boy was certainly lacking in potions skills, but he could hardly blame him, could he? How was he expected to learn when Snape was always breathing down his neck?

Moody was a hard instructor himself, and knew that he could be rather uncompromising. He was certainly not known for cutting anyone slack. But instead of insulting the boy like he was sure Snape had constantly done, he told him what he was doing wrong and how to correct it. Harry had smiled at him at the end of the lesson, promising to do better next time. Alastor Moody had no doubt that he would keep that promise.

He and Sirius had agreed that after the Potions lesson today, they would look at the dark artifacts that were in this house, run tests on them to see what they did, and either destroy or collect them. After some further discussion, Sirius had agreed for Bill to attend as well, looking very relieved that they were going to get rid of all the filth that infested this house. Sirius's parents seemed to possess these dark objects in spades - they had been very proud of their collection, and Sirius was disgusted.

Moody and Bill would then take everything they had collected to the Ministry for further analysis - that was, everything that Bill could not destroy himself. The young man was a cursebreaker and possessed an extraordinary amount of knowledge when it came to the destruction of these foul objects. Anything too complicated for Bill would be disposed of by those in the Ministry who knew how.

Sirius had gone through the entire house, grabbing any dark object he found and bringing it to the attic. He did not want Harry coming into contact with any of them, and had therefore told the boy not to go into that room. Harry had been all too happy to oblige - he certainly didn't want to experience any of their effects. Even now, Bill and Moody could see the anger Sirius still had towards his parents as they sifted through the objects.

Moody and Bill had brought all manner of dark detectors. There were many different instruments that worked in a number of unique ways, giving you many clues as to what each object was. Some of them could cause hypnosis, acting a lot like the Imperius Curse. Others could cause addiction, giving you that adrenaline rush that made you want to be in contact with the object again and again and again. Others could change your behavior, making you do things you never would on a normal day. Sirius, though admitting to being curious about them as a young boy, had vowed to stay away from them once he realized what kind of people his family truly were.

Moody was glad that Sirius and Bill were in the room. There always needed to be more than one person present when conducting tests like this. As experienced a wizard as he was, even he couldn't boast that the objects could have no effect on him. After all, he'd found a music box just now that caused him to lose track of all thought and start acting erratically as the music played. Bill had told him that his eyes, both normal and magical, had been transfixed on the thing as he rocked back and forth, an eerie smile on his face as he listened to the music. "I reckon I could have told you to jump off London Bridge and you'd have done it," Bill had murmured after raising his wand and using a powerful spell to break the enchantment on the thing and smash it to smithereens.

"Bloody bastards." The look on Sirius's face was furious. "My parents were so proud of themselves. How dare they have had artifacts like this."

Moody sighed, angered by his own failure. When even someone like him could be affected by these demonic objects ...

"Thank Merlin you told Harry to stay away from these things," Bill said with a growl in his voice. "It's a good thing Mum doesn't know what I'm doing today. She would have forbidden me to do it, even though she knows what I do for a career. Do you know how many times I've had to tell her I'll be careful?"

"Your mother is right to be fearful, Bill," Sirius said, his gray eyes haunted. "My parents were downright evil. It took everything in me to be honest with Harry this morning - he wanted to know what we were doing. I explained the entire procedure to him, and he wasn't at all happy about it. It took an effort to convince him that since there would be three of us working together, we'd all be okay."

"He's not going to come in here, is he?" Bill said in a worried tone. "I wouldn't put it past him to check on us."

"I agree," Moody growled. "That kid's lost all his self-preservation instincts. Damn Albus," he muttered, thinking of how many times that young lad had risked his life because the adults, chiefly Dumbledore, hadn't been paying attention. The taunts from Harry's so-called family rang through his head - whelp. Freak. You should have died. Their Occlumency lessons continued to haunt him. "But he's not going to come in here - Sirius made sure of that. Emmeline's having a lesson with him now, and we'll be out of here before it's over."

Sirius's eyes were so full of sadness and rage at that moment, and Moody knew he was thinking about what Harry had been through. "There will be no more darkness in this house," he proclaimed.

It was then that Bill picked up an object that would change everything, though none of them knew it at the time. It was a heavy gold locket with a serpentine S in glittering green stone inlay on the front. The thing looked very sophisticated, and there was something very dark and eerie about it.

Bill instantly put it against one of the dark detectors he possessed. This one measured exactly how dangerous the object was so that the three of them could deduce how to handle it correctly. The moment he did this, the detector lit up like a Christmas tree, and began to make a loud humming noise. "Shit," Bill whispered.

Moody and Sirius were surprised by the softly spoken swearword. Moody had known Bill Weasley for quite a while and the man was not known for using much bad language. But something about this object had caused him a great amount of distress. And Moody couldn't say he wasn't distressed, too - he had never seen a dark detector react to anything in quite this fashion.

"What is it?" Sirius asked, his entire body tense and alert.

"We'd better not touch this thing." Bill sounded horrified, something that Moody hadn't ever heard before either. "This dark detector is going bananas."

"I've never seen one act like this before," Moody admitted quietly. "And I've been working with dark objects for years."

"Me, too." Bill agreed. "This is bad. This is very, very bad."

Sirius grew even more agitated. "What the hell is it?" he growled.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it needs to be destroyed." Bill's voice was unyielding.

"Well, can't you just destroy it like you did that music box?" Sirius's face was a storm. "What's holding you back?"

"What's holding me back is that this thing needs to be taken to the Ministry. It's COMPLETELY SUFFUSED with dark magic!" Bill roared, seeming to lose all sense for a moment as the dark detector continued to go insane. "If I attempt to do what I did with that music box, all three of us will more than likely end up DEAD!"

Moody laid a comforting hand on Bill's shoulder. "It's all right, Bill," he said quietly. "We'll take it to the Ministry. They'll know how to get rid of it."

Sirius looked enraged. "What is that thing?" Instead of bellowing, which was his usual reaction when he was angry, his voice was a whisper. "And why is it in my house?"

"I'm ... I'm sorry, Sirius," Bill said after taking several deep breaths, Moody's hand still resting on his shoulder. "I didn't mean to take it out on you. There's just ... just something about this thing that ... that ..."

"It's all right, Bill." Sirius looked a mixture of stricken, angry, and terrified. "If you take it to the Ministry, how long will it take them to find out what it is?"

"I ... I don't know." Bill admitted quietly. "But we'll be removing it from this house today. It's downright dangerous and has no place here."

Sirius's facial expression was feral. "Good," he literally growled. "I just want to know what it was doing here in the first place."

"Does ... does Kreacher know about any of the artifacts in this house?" Bill asked hesitantly, knowing that Sirius did not like to speak about the dratted house-elf.

Sirius sighed, trying his best not to lose control. "I can ask him." His voice was quiet and resolute. He snapped his fingers and said, "Kreacher!"

The filthy, bedraggled elf suddenly materialized into being in the cold attic. "Master Sirius." He looked at the man with a sneer on his wrinkled face. "What is Master Sirius doing in the attic?" His voice was a low murmur. "And he has Alastor Moody with him, the filthy mongrel who put away many of the Dark Lord's supporters. And Kreacher is not happy to see one of the Weasley brats here too. Oh my poor Mistress, if only she knew what was infesting this noble house."

"Shut up, Kreacher." Sirius's face had gone red, and it seemed like it was taking an effort of Herculean proportions not to punch the elf. "I don't want to hear your garbage again. What I want to know is what the hell this locket is doing in my house, and whether you know anything about it."

With great care, Bill picked up the dark detector in which the locket was wrapped in, and showed it to Kreacher. "Do you know anything about this?" he asked.

Moody could see instantly that yes, indeed, Kreacher knew something about this locket. His facial expression was ... if there was one word that Moody could use to describe it, Kreacher looked completely grief-stricken. It was something he never thought he'd see written on this particular house-elf. "Kreacher cannot tell Bill Weasley that," the elf croaked.

"Oh yes, Kreacher can," Sirius snarled, ignoring the obvious grief on Kreacher. "It's apparent that you know something. Now what the hell is that thing? Where did it come from? You will tell me - it's an order!"

Sirius's voice had grown louder, and when Kreacher responded, he began to wail as he covered his face with his tiny hands. "Kreacher cannot tell Master Sirius! He was ordered by Master Regulus never to tell his filthy traitor brother, the one who broke Regulus's heart when he left him behind for the vile, despicable Potters!" he sobbed.

Sirius's face grew incredibly pale. "Regulus? What are you talking about, Kreacher?" The mention of his dead brother's name had seemed to take the wind completely out of his sails. He hadn't appeared to even hear anything after that, not even the insult towards James Potter and his parents, nor what his running away from home had apparently done to Regulus.

"Kreacher cannot tell! Kreacher cannot tell!" The elf collapsed to his knees, tears streaming down his face. "Kreacher promised! Kreacher promised!"

Bill knelt down in front of the elf so they were at eye level. "It's all right, Kreacher. It's all right," he murmured, trying to soothe the elf.

Color had returned to Sirius's face again, and it was flushed with rage. Moody could tell right away, though, that this was a defense mechanism, as Sirius's initial reaction upon hearing Regulus's name had been grief and, above all, guilt. "How dare you mention that coward!" he roared at the wailing elf. "His death was his own bloody fault!"

"Master Sirius is the coward, and Kreacher knows it!" the elf bellowed right back, tears still pouring down his wrinkled face. "Master Sirius ran when Master Regulus needed him!"

"LEAVE!" For a split second, Sirius's eyes were filled with sheer madness, and they scared Moody. "I order you to leave this room, Kreacher! Go back to your den! NOW!"

And Kreacher did. In a split second, he was gone.

Neither Bill nor Moody knew what to say in those moments after the elf's departure. Sirius was panting, his eyes sparking with memories and traumas neither of them knew. They wanted to go to him, to comfort him, but Sirius was practically vibrating with emotion and they knew that all they could do was wait it out.

Finally, Sirius looked up at them, the madness having disappeared from his eyes, only to be replaced with something undecipherable. "Regulus has something to do with that locket, and Kreacher says he can't tell me," he said quietly. "But I'm going to find out." His voice was hoarse.

"How?" Bill asked softly. "What are you going to do?"

"Kreacher was right about one thing." The admission seemed to cost Sirius everything. "I've been too much of a coward to face what happened to Regulus. I haven't gone into his room once since I came back to this house."

"You are not a coward, Sirius." Moody looked him straight in the eye. "You have faced things many witches and wizards could never dream of."

But Sirius only shook his head. "I need to go into Regulus's room," he said quietly. "I need to find out what Kreacher was talking about."

"Do you want us to go with you?" Moody asked, already knowing the answer even as the words escaped his mouth.

"No." Sirius squared his shoulders and looked at his two companions. "I appreciate the offer, but I ... I need to do this on my own." In a voice so quiet that both men could barely hear him, he whispered, "He was my brother."

And Moody realized that beneath all the anger Sirius harbored towards Regulus, there was a deep well of grief hidden there, so much guilt and regret that he had yet to acknowledge. "Are you sure?" he asked, almost as quietly as Sirius.

"I'm sure." Sirius responded, his gray eyes full of ghosts that had yet to be exorcised. "I need to know."