A/N: after a good discussion with the lovely CitrusChickadee I have decided to change Mrs Figg's camera phone to a photo album in the previous chapter. They definitely wouldn't have had the technology at the time the story was set, and both of us agree it doesn't take much to imagine Mrs Figg carrying round an album of cat photographs in case someone does (or doesn't...) inquire after them.

...

Chapter 3 - The Ministry of Magic

Harry had to admit, it was better than potions.

Fighting for the Order was exhilarating. It gave him a sense of purpose like no other. And what was more, he was one of the very few that knew about the horcruxes too.

It turned out that Kreacher had the real locket all along.

Sirius had reluctantly summoned the elf back to Grimmauld Place and asked him if he had stolen it back following the man's purge on the house the previous year.

"Kreacher did." The elf said in his bullfrog voice.

"You did?! Where is it?"

Kreacher led them both to his 'den' and extracted the silver locket from his bed clothes where he had presumably stashed it. He looked deeply upset as he handed it over to them.

"Poor Master Regulus…" The elf said sadly as he turned away from them. "Kreacher never did complete his noble work…"

"Huh?" Sirius said, frowning at him.

"Kreacher could not destroy the locket." The elf said, and as he turned back Harry could see fat tears leaking from beneath his eyes. "Master Regulus said it was important. And Master Regulus trusted Kreacher. And Kreacher… Kreacher failed him…"

Harry stared at the elf and, though he knew the creature didn't deserve it after what he'd tried to do last summer, he felt an overwhelming rush of sympathy for him as he wailed on the floor.

Hermione had helped him to see the creature didn't really think the way wizards did. He didn't care about 'sides' in this war. He simply served whoever was kind to him. And Sirius, Harry had to admit, never had been.

"Yeah well good thing you didn't succeeded in getting Harry or me killed in June because that's what we're going to do now." Sirius said brusquely.

"Master is going to destroy Master Regulus' locket?" Kreacher said, sniffing and looking up at Sirius. "He is going to act on Master's orders for Kreacher?"

"Well not for him," Sirius said, "but yeah, we're on the same side for once I suppose."

He looked distinctly awkward and Harry remembered again how uncomfortable he'd been at the news that he'd got his brother wrong for all these years.

"Thank you, Master." Kreacher said, looking up at him with an expression as close to respect as Harry had ever seen him wear when looking at Sirius.

Sirius looked even more uncomfortable at this. "Er, sure." He muttered.

"Well done, Sirius." Hermione said as they left the elf's den and entered the kitchen again where she and Ron had been listening into the exchange.

Now Hermione was staying at headquarters as well, she had become much more comfortable with Harry's godfather, who she seemed to have been slightly intimidated by at first. "You just have to be nice to him." She smiled at the man, and Harry wondered if she was going to start up a conversation about SPEW, which she hadn't mentioned for a while now, to all their great relief.

"Poor Kreacher." She went on sadly. "He must have been terribly upset."

Kreacher, however, appeared to be significantly more cheerful after having told them the story of Regulus and the locket.

Hermione managed to convince Sirius to let him stay at Grimmauld Place ("it would mean so much to him to know you're doing what Regulus wanted him to do"). And Harry had to admit he did make an excellent treacle tart.

They did indeed succeed in completing the work Sirius' brother had set out to do.

"How many wizards does it take to destroy a horcrux?" Sirius joked as he, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Dumbledore crowded in the study to examine the locket.

"Just one." Dumbledore told him. "But they might need some support."

He turned around to the group, all who inadvertently took a quick step back.

"I don't like that thing." Ron said, looking at the locket as if it were a spider (of which Harry knew his hatred all too well).

Dumbledore smiled at him. "Time to face your fears perhaps, Ron?"

"I don't mind." Sirius said, glancing quickly at Ron before turning back to Dumbledore. "It was my brother who started it, it seems to make sense that I finish it." There was an odd look in his eye that Harry couldn't quite put a name to.

Ron breathed a sigh of relief as Dumbledore nodded. "Alright. But be warned, it will try and trick you…"

Sirius gave Dumbledore a sceptical look. "There is absolutely nothing in this world that would stop me trying to take down Voldemort."

Dumbledore said nothing, he just handed him the sword of Gryffindor (which he had told them would destroy the horcrux).

"Harry, you will need to ask it to open." The old wizard said, turning to him.

Harry looked at the locket. Why was Dumbledore asking him to do this? And then he realised. He would need to ask it to open in parseltongue.

He squinted at the locket and saw the little serpent engraved on the side. "Open" he hissed, the word coming out as a low hiss, and the locket did so.

There was an eye there. It was a human eye, dark as Tom Riddle's had been before they became red and inhuman. It blinked up at Sirius, the would-be murderer of this piece of Voldemort's soul, but as Sirius raised the sword to stab it, it began to speak.

"I have seen your heart, Sirius Black, and it is mine…"

"Stab it!" Harry yelled, wondering why his godfather had paused as if in some kind of trance.

"Oh yes, I understand you far better than you realise… I see what it is you want. What you long for…"

"What are you waiting for?!" Harry yelled again, but Sirius either was not listening or could not.

And then shapes were emerging from inside the locket. They burst forward amidst eerie, chilling smoke.

Sirius did no more than stare as a family appeared in the little room. Harry didn't recognise them at first. The woman was quite beautiful, the man was handsome and the young boy was smiling happily if a little haughtily at them.

"You could have been one of us…" The boy said in a voice that reverberated chillingly round the space. "We could have been family…"

"We cared for you." The woman said, and Harry realised it was Sirius' mother, though of course he would have been forgiven for not recognising her at first. She was nothing like the screaming, hideous portrait in the hallway. "We loved you…"

Harry glanced quickly round the room. Hermione and Ron were looking nervous, Dumbledore was frowning slightly and Sirius just stood there, totally transfixed as he stared at the ghostly family.

"You didn't need to leave us." The little boy said, and Harry realised this must be a young Regulus Black. "We missed you terribly."

"But it's too late now." The man, who was presumably his father, said. "We're dead."

"Because of you."

"Sirius." Dumbledore spoke, and his voice was suddenly very sharp.

Sirius turned to look at him and when he turned back there was nothing but hatred in his eyes.

"You're wrong." He told the ghostly family and then, his face twisted furiously, he raised the sword high above his head and brought it down where it smashed into the locket, sending pieces of silver flying across the room.

There was a long, drawn out scream that faded into nothing, and the spell was broken. The locket was no more. The horcrux had been destroyed.

Sirius collapsed into a chair and put his head in his hands.

Harry didn't know what to say. Sirius didn't care about his family. He'd always said how he'd not thought about them for one moment after leaving home at sixteen. That it was the best decision he'd ever made. But clearly he still had his doubts. Like everyone, he had his demons. And now everyone knew about them.

"Sirius." He said, moving over and putting an arm around his godfather's shoulders. "It's OK."

The man returned his embrace, for which Harry was glad, and they stayed there for some time.

"I told you." Dumbledore said, rather unhelpfully, when they finally broke apart.

Sirius glared at him. "Well why didn't you offer to do it then?!"

"You had it under control." He moved over and clapped the man on the shoulder. "Well done. Why don't you take a moment? We'll be next door." And he, Ron and Hermione left the room.

Harry was glad Dumbledore had given his godfather his privacy, as he could see how hard this was for him. With the others gone, he covered his face with his hand again and Harry wondered if he had, for the first time he'd known him, succumbed to tears.

"It's not true." He said thickly at last, looking at Harry through watery eyes. "What they said… it's… it can't be true."

Again, Harry had no idea what to say. He just shook his head. "You mustn't regret anything."

"But that's just it… learning what Regulus did… that he was really on our side… and I left him…" He looked away again.

"You didn't know." Harry said firmly. "You were doing what you thought was best."

"I saved my own skin." Sirius said miserably, looking at the floor now. "I hated my brother for being a Slytherin but I behaved just like one. I left them all because I couldn't stick it anymore. How cowardly can you get?"

Harry shook his head in bewilderment. He seriously wished Hermione or Dumbledore were here as he was sure they'd do a far better job with Sirius than he was, but even he could see his godfather was talking rubbish here.

"You didn't do anything wrong." He tried again, but something in the piece of Voldemort's soul had sent his godfather into a cycle of perpetual self-blame and nothing he could do or say would shift it.

"He'll come around." Hermione said reassuringly as he voiced some of his concerns to her later. "You know he hates being back in this house. It's not your fault."

Harry nodded, though her words didn't really help. Sirius always knew how to make him feel better, why couldn't he, Harry, do the same for him?

/

"So, all prepared for tomorrow?" His godfather said bracingly the night before their prepared mission at the ministry.

It was being led by Moody. The plan was that they would break into the government headquarters and attempt to undo the imperius curse that had been placed on Thicknesse. It needed a team as of course, as Moody warned, the minister would be heavily guarded by death eaters.

Snape was to be joining them, which no one was particularly happy about, but as he was the best legilimens (outside Dumbledore of course), he'd been tasked with attempting to free the minister from the mind control curse. Moody had to admit he wasn't sure it could be done, but together they were going to try.

The group was to be Harry, Ron and Hermione (all disguised of course), along with Moody, Tonks (who insisted she was fine to go), Kingsley and Arthur.

As Tonks, Kingsley and Arthur still technically worked for the ministry, they would lead Harry and the others in with them.

Arthur had given he, Ron and Hermione several hairs he'd taken from the back of a couple of wizards and a witch's robes as they would be entering the ministry by polyjuice potion.

"I'll have to write and thank Fred and George." Arthur said, somewhat reluctantly. "I've taken some of those skiving snackboxes of theirs to make sure they don't make it into the office and see their doppelgängers."

Harry thought it was a very good plan. They didn't need to do much except make sure Snape and Moody got to Thicknesse's office - Moody, as an ex-auror, was going in under the guise of wanting a chat about joining the ministry again. The only thing Harry was worried about was the fact that Snape might show his true colours at any moment on the mission.

"Is the only reason you're not joining us because Snape's going?" Harry asked Sirius presently.

The man snorted. "No. Whatever anyone else says I'm not that petty. Dumbledore wants someone else to stay at headquarters." He added. "But I'll be on call if you need backup."

Harry nodded. He had to admit it felt a bit strange doing this without his godfather. He'd relied on Sirius' protection so much over the last few years, but he knew he could do this. He was of age now, and he wanted a chance to fight.

/

"Good luck!" Sirius and Dumbledore waved them all off the next morning.

It was very early, the sun barely just rising, as they donned their robes, took the polyjuice potion, and made their way to the entrance to the ministry.

He, Harry, would be accompanying Kingsley. Hermione and Tonks (they were all still calling Tonks Tonks, even though she'd now changed her name to Lupin), were going together and Ron was going with his dad.

Harry had taken the appearance of a short, red haired wizard who Arthur told him was called Marcus Cuttleslowe and who worked in the department for the control and regulation of magical creatures. Hermione had taken the appearance of Percy's ex-girlfriend Penelope Clearwater, who now worked in magical law, and Ron was the ministry janitor.

"Oh it doesn't matter." Arthur said impatiently as Ron protested his role. "And quite frankly, the janitor's probably the only person we can trust at the ministry right about now. We ought to show him more respect."

The motley crew entered the ministry which was still very quiet so early in the day.

"He gets in early." Moody growled, presumably speaking of Thicknesse.

Harry knew it. He'd been part of the stakeout group observing the ministry from the outside in preparation for the task. Thicknesse always arrived with a tall, thin wizard who Moody identified as Yaxley.

"We'll need to take him out first." The ex-auror had said. "But we wait for the opportune moment."

"And how will we know when that is, Alastor?" Snape had drawled.

"When I say so." Moody had said decisively.

Harry had to admit he was glad Moody was leading the mission. He felt very safe in his hands.

"Can we stop for a coffee?" Ron, as the janitor, asked the group as they passed the coffee stand.

"Ron, we are on a…" Arthur began, but Moody waved an airy hand.

"If you have to." He growled. "Get me a cappuccino when you're there, will you?"

Ron was just busying himself at the coffee bar when a tall, broad, dark haired man appeared in the atrium.

He looked appraisingly over at their little group. "Hello Kingsley. Nymphadora." He said, totally ignoring the rest of them.

"Good morning, Runcorn." Kingsley replied politely while Tonks looked coolly back at him, saying nothing.

"And Alastor Moody, unless I'm much mistaken." The man said, smiling unpleasantly at Moody. "My my… we are getting desperate, aren't we?"

"I'm here to speak with Thicknesse." Moody told him. "I think we can all agree that the situation is desperate."

"Yes…" Runcorn said, frowning now. "Far too many muggleborns have not registered with the committee. How we are supposed to cleanse wizarding society if they refuse to submit to our laws…"

"Perhaps they are questioning the validity of the laws." Hermione, as Penelope, piped up from beside Tonks. "After all, it usually takes a period of six months for new legislation to pass. It needs to be debated and approved by the Wizengamot first, and how is that to happen when there is no supreme mugwump currently in position?"

Fortunately it seemed Hermione and Penelope's personalities were similar enough that this challenge went unquestioned by Runcorn.

"Well by all means speak to Thicknesse, Moody." Runcorn said, eyeing the man superciliously. "Perhaps he plans to convince the mudbloods by force. Let's hope so…" and he wandered off over to the coffee stand too.

"Bastard." Moody muttered once the man had gone. "Come on then, let's go. Cheers, Weasley." He said, taking his drink from Ron, and the strange gathering made their way into one of the glass lifts that zoomed up through the many floors of the building.

"He's on the top floor." Moody said, though of course they all knew this already. "You still with us, Severus?"

"Yes." Came Snape's disembodied voice.

"Good."

Harry glanced at Ron and rolled his eyes.

"I saw that, Potter."

On the fourth floor a very morose looking wizard came in.

"Hi, Reg." Arthur greeted the man.

The man called Reg gave a start and then gave Arthur a weak smile.

"I'm so sorry about Mary." He said quietly.

The man's eyes filled with tears.

"Oh Reg." Arthur said, squeezing his shoulder gently. "It'll be alright. This will all be over one day."

"I know." The man called Reg said sadly. "But what condition will she be in then? We've been married fifteen years and I've never been apart from her for so long before. I can't bear thinking of her in a cell in Azkaban while I'm comfortably here, going about my business. I wish I could do something."

"Come to my office later." Arthur said. "I've got something to share that you might find interesting…"

Harry wondered if Arthur would tell this man about the Order. Clearly his wife, Mary, had been sent to Azkaban for something, and if Harry could guess, it was surely for something under the new death eater regime. One more person on their side was one more against the death eaters. There was hope for them all…

"Have a good day." The two wizards wished one another as Reg got out on the sixth floor.

The lift stopped one more time on their journey to the top floor. This time it was a young man with red hair and horn-rimmed glasses.

"We're full." Moody growled as the doors to the lift opened and Percy Weasley, who clearly needed no more excuses not to get into a lift with his father, awkwardly looked away.

Harry glanced at Arthur. He had an expression like a bulldog chewing a wasp and his fists were clenched by his sides. Harry knew Percy Weasley was still not talking to anyone in the family.

"Nearly there." Moody said bracingly and, sure enough, when the lift stopped next, at the very top floor, they all got out.

"Right." Moody said, his eyes fixed, somewhat nervously (which was a first), at a point towards the end of the corridor. "Off I go…"

Harry knew what the plan was. The office to the minister of magic was of course very well guarded. There was a secrecy sensor as you approached, so Snape would not be able to follow invisible.

Kingsley and Tonks had of course volunteered to go, using some excuse of another for wanting to see the minister, but Moody insisted that it be himself who went first.

"You'll have your chance to fight." He smiled at the aurors. "Let me go first. I'll tell them I want back in at the ministry. I'm interesting enough to at least hear out, and then when I'm in there I'll stun Yaxley and take out whatever other defences there are for you lot to follow on. It'll be a doddle." He grinned again.

But as Harry watched the man walk off into the darkness, he couldn't help but wonder how this plan was really going to work…

His heart began to race as Moody vanished from sight. "Can't we go after him?" He asked the others, but he knew what the answer would be. Not until Moody's signal.

But Moody's signal never came.

There was a loud bang as what sounded like a door was flung open and moments later the man Harry recognised as Thicknesse emerged from the darkness of the corridor in what appeared to be a towering temper.

"Kingsley!" He barked on seeing the man. "Yaxley has just been stunned. I have killed the man who did it, but I want to make sure there are no other infiltrations into the ministry. We need to enhance our security. Anyone could just walk into my office!"

Harry's heart skipped a beat. What did he just say?

"Minister, what do you mean?" Kingsley said, and Harry could hear the definite note of panic in his voice too.

"An ex-auror. Alastor Moody. He said he wanted to discuss joining the minister again. He stunned Yaxley then turned his wand on me. Fortunately I got him first."

Harry felt himself break out in a cold sweat. Thicknesse's words were ringing in his head, which felt suddenly both empty and buzzing with a thousand hornets simultaneously.

He was barely aware of the conversation Kingsley was having with Thicknesse, barely aware of Tonks running, screaming, towards the end of the corridor.

He was numb. Frozen. Because Mad-Eye Moody couldn't be dead. It wasn't possible for Moody to be dead. He was their leader. He was invincible. It was on his orders that they were acting!

Thicknesse turned and looked in the direction Tonks had gone, towards his office. He raised a cold eyebrow. "There's nothing she can do for him."

And then Arthur Weasley, in a fit of rage Harry had never seen him in before, drew back his fist and punched the minister square in the face.

"Stupefy!"

The spell came from nowhere, but it hit Thicknesse in the chest and he collapsed to the ground.

"Someone will have heard that." Kingsley muttered, though Harry would be surprised if they hadn't already heard Tonks' screams. "We'd better hide him."

He quickly cast a disillusionment charm over the minister's body and, together with Arthur and Ron, dragged him into a nearby meeting room.

Harry was still feeling dazed. He didn't know whether to stay here with the knocked out minister for magic, or go back to where he was sure Moody couldn't be dead.

Yes, that's what he'd do. If he could go there he could see the man with his own eyes and then he'd know for sure.

But then he remembered he was in disguise, and he was wanted for questioning with a great deal of money over his head for his capture. He paused. He couldn't pass the secrecy sensors to get to where Moody was.

Hermione, or Penelope, was crying. Ron, as the old janitor, moved to put an arm around her. It did make for a rather odd sight in their current forms, but it didn't matter. Grief was grief.

"I'll go and see to Tonks and Yaxley and…" but he trailed off, clearly unable to say exactly what none of them wanted to think about. "You stay here and see what you can do with Thicknesse. Ron, Hermione, would you keep guard?"

Hermione sniffed loudly and got to her feet. Ron nodded, and the two of them left the room together.

Snape revealed himself. Harry had to admit it didn't fill him with reassurance to see the man.

"Enervate." He said, pointing his wand at the wizard (who was also visible again), and then 'confundo', as he opened his eyes.

Thicknesse blinked stupidly up at them. "S-Severus." He said on seeing Snape. "How's… Hogswash?"

"Hogwarts is well, Pius." Snape, who Harry realised Thicknesse believed to be on the death eaters' side, replied. "But it would be better if we had your support… legilimens."

Harry watched, memories of his disastrous occlumency lessons painfully resurfacing, as Snape penetrated the wizard's mind.

After a few more tries at this he turned to Arthur. "I know who did it. It was Yaxley."

"Yaxley!" Thicknesse said, looking up in alarm. "Where's Yaxley? I'm not allowed to go anywhere without him…"

"I'll go and get him." Arthur said, and he left the room too.

Now it was just Harry and Snape and a very confused minister for magic.

"Is he dangerous?" Harry asked Snape, looking nervously at Thicknesse, who was now staring into space.

"Possibly." Snape said indifferently. "We do not know what the nature of the imperius curse Yaxley put on him was. "Fortunately the caster is so close by. It makes things easier this way."

Harry was grateful to have a straight answer from the man. He nodded and the two of them waited for the others.

"He's under the imperius curse." Kingsley explained as he entered the room with Arthur, a very puffy-eyed Tonks and the death eater.

Harry wanted to ask if getting someone to take the imperius curse off someone else by using the imperius curse would really work, but it certainly seemed to, as moments later, Thicknesse was blinking round the room looking quite terrified.

"Him!" He said, pointing a shaking finger at Yaxley. "He attacked me!"

"We know." Kingsley said calmly. "It's alright. Let's go back to your office. We'll sort this out there."

They didn't get to Thicknesse's office however. At that moment the door was flung open. It was the old janitor (Ron), who looked to be in a state of utter turmoil.

"D-death eaters!" He stammered. "Loads of them. Help!"

"We need back up!" Tonks said in panic.

"Someone send a message to headquarters." Kingsley said.

"I'll do it." Harry said, suddenly grateful Sirius had the foresight to insist he took the two-way mirror with him that morning. Of course his patronus communication would have attracted too much attention.

Thicknesses was still looking very confused. Then he looked down at his robes. "Am I minister for magic?!"

Well, at least they'd succeeded with one part of the mission…