(Chapter Eighteen)

(Summer, 1975)

In the mid-afternoon heat, the suburban neighborhood was alive with activity. Children went tearing down the street with their bicycles, one of their mothers shouting after them to be careful, while sprinklers languidly spun around to keep the lawns safe from the beating sun. Many of the house wives had gathered at Mrs. Musgrave's home, chattering excitedly together, seemingly pleased to share the weekly gossip. Amongst them were a handful of teenage girls, presumably attempting to learn how best to spread rumors by their female role models. Petunia Evans was included in the group and from her vantage on their shaded veranda, her sister could see Petunia eagerly attempt to catch the attention of Mrs. Musgrave, the most intolerable gossip of them all.

"I wish Petunia wouldn't hang about that lot," Lily's mother sighed, her brow puckering with worry. She was seated next to Lily, fanning herself idly with the latest issue of Petticoat that Lily was sure was one of Petunia's many magazine subscriptions. "Especially now that she's out of school. They're going to give her all sorts of ideas."

"What kind of ideas?" Lily teased her mother. "Nothing worse than what's in her magazines, I'm sure."

Mrs. Evans grimaced, glancing at the magazine in her hand. "I suppose that's true."

Petunia, being two years ahead of Lily, had graduated from school and had enrolled in a typing class in London that would start at the end of the summer. She, along with one of her close girlfriends, were planning to rent a flat and enroll in the program together so that they could go straight into the work force. With little to no money, their parents would be paying for Petunia's portion of the rent until she began working for herself, an agreement that they had come to when they discovered that there was no such thing as "wizard college" and Petunia had no intention of pursuing higher education. Petunia had declared this announcement of moving and all the details thereafter almost immediately after Lily had stepped off the Hogwarts Express, looking so smug that Lily rather thought she meant to inform her that she had to move instead.

Rather than feel envious, Lily had experienced a stab of remorse that she and Petunia would not have the time to repair their fractured sisterhood. With Severus no longer in her life, she felt that Petunia might be more open to rekindling their sisterly affection, but doubted it would happen within a matter of months and she could not imagine that she would accept receiving an owl in London while she was at school. Petunia had made it very clear early on that she found it embarrassing that an owl dropped off letters to their parents, let alone to her, so Lily had kept her correspondence infrequent.

Watching Petunia presently, though, Lily had the sense that even if she had wanted to try and spend time with her sister, it would be near impossible. Petunia's only aspiration in life was to be a house wife like many of the women in Mrs. Musgrave's inner circle and it seemed she was attempting to soak up as much information as she could before the end of the summer. Lily would never fit into Petunia's idea of the perfect female and she certainly had nothing to offer to conversations about people she did not know. The chasm that had opened between the two sisters was wide indeed, something that Lily suspected could not be repaired at this point in their relationship and certainly not before Petunia moved to London.

London, in fact, was the reason that Lily was sitting outside with her mother rather than doing her summer homework or engaging in some other recreational activity. She had not yet asked her parents for permission to stay in London for two weeks, yet she had already told Sirius that she would meet him there mid-summer. He had sent her an owl recently giving her the date and where to meet him only that morning and, as it was only a week away, she felt that she could not put off the request any further. She had debated being honest with her mother, at least, but in spite of how progressive-minded she might be, she doubted that she would allow her to stay overnight for multiple days with a boy of whom she had not even met. Her father's reaction would be predictable, being a very traditional British male. She could not even fathom broaching the topic with him unless an offer of marriage was on the table. As little as she liked it, Lily had come to terms with the reality that her parents would be added to the growing list of people that were unaware of her and Sirius.

Because of that, she had resolved herself to lying to her parents about what she was doing in London. Even if someone saw her in Muggle London with Sirius, it would not look entirely unusual and it would be easy to explain away with the story she had concocted. Even so, she felt that asking permission from her mother was the safer choice rather than attempting it on her father first.

"Mum," Lily spoke up after watching the group of women after some time. "Do you think I could spend some time in London next week? My friends from Hogwarts are going to be meeting there and asked me to join. I'd only be gone for two weeks and have my own money saved up from my allowances, so I wouldn't need anything."

"I can't see why not," Mrs. Evans replied vaguely, "although I don't know how your father's going to like that, Lily."

Lily could feel her stomach sink.

"Really?" she asked in as casually surprised a tone as she could muster. "Why not?"

Mrs. Evans smiled gently at her, at last looking away from Petunia and her current pursuit. "He's been looking forward to spending time with you this summer. It's going to be a little lonely around here once Petunia's gone to London and then you've graduated at your school, too. We want to take advantage of all the time we can get with you girls – especially you. We don't see you all year long and you get to be with your friends the entire time."

"I'll be back next summer, though," she mumbled. "Petunia's the one that probably will never come back home after she moves out."

"Yes, well," she sighed, glancing at her eldest daughter worriedly, "don't think that hasn't crossed my mind."

Lily waited a time, giving her mother time to mull over the request before asking, "Do you want me to ask dad instead?"

"How about you shorten it to a week and I'll talk to him?" Mrs. Evans suggested at last.

"Alright," Lily answered with a smile.

Mrs. Evans returned the smile and then set Petticoat aside. "What's going on with you and Severus? He hasn't been around this summer."

Lily lifted one of her shoulders in a noncommittal gesture. "We've just grown apart, I guess."

"That's too bad. The two of you seemed inseparable."

"Sure, when we were kids," Lily said with an attempt at a laugh. "It's been a long time since me and Sev have been that close."

Mrs. Evans appeared thoughtful. "Sometimes," she said carefully, "we each have to go our separate ways when we get older."

"I know." Lily pulled up her legs, resting her chin upon the top of her knees. "I'm not worried about it."

"I'm not so sure of that." Mrs. Evans rose to her feet and planted a kiss on the top of Lily's head very briefly. "I'd think about it if I were you, dear. Now, I'm going to get your sister before she gets any more involved with Mrs. Musgrave than she already is."

Lily watched her mother briskly step down the veranda and make her way down towards the group of women. Sighing, she dropped her forehead against her knees, closing her eyes. The heat made her mind fuzzy and although she could hear the telltale signs of an argument between Petunia and their mother, she closed out the words. She knew that her mother was right. Even though she had told Severus off and had been appalled at his attack upon Sirius, she still felt the loss of his friendship and the pain associated with it. She had tried to look on the bright side of losing him, such as gaining Petunia or not having to fight with Marlene and Alice about him constantly, but there was very little that could ease her grief.

To her, Severus had represented her transition from Muggle to witch. He had been her walking encyclopedia, her biggest supporter their first couple years in school, and her first real crush. It hurt to lose someone who had been so integral to her childhood development. It would have been different if it had been a gradual shift in their friendship, a slow withdrawal and eventual disconnect; this had been violent and hostile over not only her status as a Muggle-born, but a secret relationship of which Severus was not even supposed to be aware. It was as messy of an end to their friendship as it could have been.

Part of her worried that Severus would tell others in the school about her and Sirius, while something in her told her that he would not breathe a word of it to anyone. If he had, he would have told James by then or at least someone that would let it slip to the rest of the school. Strangely enough, he had kept it to himself for reasons unknown to her.

There had been many times over the summer that the thought of visiting Severus had crossed her mind. Perhaps, now that time had passed, there was the possibility of reconciliation or they would be able to come to some sort of common ground. She had thought to write to Sirius asking for his advice on this, but decided against it. Of all the people, she doubted the person who had nearly been killed by Severus would be supportive of her attempting to continue to associate with him. Yet, even as she recognized that, she knew that Sirius would also be the only person who would expect her to remain friends with Severus in spite of everything.

Opening her eyes, she raised her head from her knees and blinked slowly, groggy from the heat. Her mother was marching Petunia back to the house, both of them looking furious. Petunia threw Lily a scathing look, as if she had done something.

"Sorry I can't be like perfect Lily," Petunia spat angrily as she threw open the door. "Not everyone wants to be a dead bore! Someone of us do want husbands some day!"

"That is hardly a way to get a husband, Petunia," Mrs. Evans said in a hard voice, "and if you took after your sister more rather than that woman – "

"Took after?" Petunia repeated in outrage. "I'm the older sister! She should be taking after me!"

The door slammed so loud behind Petunia that Lily winced. Mrs. Evans put her fingers to her forehead in exasperation before following behind the older of her two daughters, closing the door a good deal more quietly behind her. It was so common for Petunia to drag Lily into an argument with their mother that she did not even get angry at it anymore. Somehow, she managed to compare the two even when their parents had said nothing to that effect. When they had been younger, Lily would get fired up and throw herself into the flames; now, she simply ignored Petunia and went about her business as she did now. Whatever animosity Petunia felt towards her was clearly something she did not want to outline specifically to her and Lily certainly was not going to attempt to broach the conversation. She did not think it was worth the time and given Petunia's propensity towards arguing, she suspected it would only lead to a full-blown fight.

That night, Petunia did not come down for dinner, not even when their father called up the stairs for her. Her parents had exchanged a knowing glance between each other and after dinner, Lily heard them talk in low voices on the back veranda. Once she had finished washing her dishes, Lily headed back up to her room, aware that they did not want her included in their conversation.

Even though she knew that Petunia did not want to talk to her, she approached her door and put her ear on it to check whether her sister was crying. She had learned through the years that a crying Petunia was often an angry one where she was concerned. Instead, she heard Petunia talking angrily, almost to herself, "...completely irrational, Vernon! They scolded me for a whole week straight about that, but Lily got to sneak away with that prat from Spinner's End...I know! Spinner's End! It's humiliating!"

Scowling, Lily pulled away from her door, all ideas of comforting her forgotten. It's just a street, Petunia, she said silently to her sister, disgusted with the level of snobbery in her voice.

She was about to turn away when a sentence caught her ear and she leaned in again, thinking she had been mistaken.

"I'm excited, too," Petunia was saying presently, her voice a little breathy. "Not that I don't enjoy the back of your Austin, but it would be nice to take our time. With our own place, we can actually be like a real couple. I can cook for you, too! I've been practicing!" There was a pause and Petunia released a hysterical giggle. "Oh, Vernon, you're so naughty!"

Lily's eyebrows had risen in disbelief as she pulled away from the door again. She was not sure she could listen to her sister outline more of her private life. As she walked away, she heard Petunia's giggles through the door and shut her own door against the offensive sound.

Lying on her bed, she frowned up at the ceiling. Given how Petunia had been talking about Vernon Dudley during Christmas break, she was not surprised to find that their relationship had progressed so quickly. It was more shocking, though, that it appeared Petunia had lied to their parents about just who her flat mate would be in London. Clearly Petunia had not thought through the possibility that their parents might visit, too dazzled by the idea of playing housewife before marriage. Given her temper earlier, Lily would not have been surprised to discover Petunia blackmailing the poor boy into marrying her later down the road as long as she got what she wanted in the end.

Oh, well, Lily thought dismissively. It's none of my business what she does in London. I don't have any ground to stand on from where I am, anyway.

Rolling onto her stomach, she hung over the side of her bed and dug through her trunk until she found the small bundle. In it were all the letters that Sirius had sent her and on the top was her copy of the photo of them from Slughorn's Christmas party. She ran her thumb over it, watching the photo repeat itself, her smiling as Sirius dove into the picture frame. She hoped she did not sound as ridiculous as Petunia did when she was talking to Sirius, but she could feel the flutter of anticipation in her stomach looking down at them together. Soon, the two of them would have a whole week to spend together. It was the one opportunity they would have to be normal, especially in the Muggle world where so few of their kind would be wandering.

Glancing up, she reached up and snatched at the most recent letter she had received by owl from Sirius. Searching through it, she found the small snippet that she had been focused on in the letter.

I miss you, he had written. Let's move the date up a bit. Next week?

She smiled to herself and then sighed, turning onto her back. Somehow, even the guilt of lying to her parents could not erase the happiness of seeing those words written to her. She had missed him from the moment they had separated at Hogwarts, gone to their separate train cars, and the possibility of seeing him every week had faded.

She had been overjoyed when he had confessed his feelings to her and the residual effects had not quite faded. She had relived that night over and over each night, hearing his voice say the words so casually that her heart went tight with emotion. It was not at all like when she had liked Severus, which she realized now had never had the depth that she felt with Sirius. Similarly, she had never expected to receive such sentiments from Sirius, even if she had secretly hoped for it. He had always seemed too remote in that aspect. It felt something like a compliment that out of all the girls in Hogwarts, it was she that had captured his attention and heart, and she was the one who would be spending an entire week with him at his family's townhome.

Outside of the excitement of exploring London with Sirius, there was also the lingering possibility of what could happen between them while in the private confines of the home. Thinking of Petunia's words to her sweetheart over the phone, along with Alice's own awkward first time, a sliver of anxiety managed to break into her blissful, dreamy state. She did not get the impression that Sirius had any sort of expectation in that regard. He was unlike the other boys in that way, keeping a respectful control on most of those situations, although she had never bothered to ask him why he held back. She had initially thought it was due to James, but now she was not so sure. He had made comments to the effect that the rumors about him were not all that accurate, so it had crossed her mind that perhaps he was more unpracticed than believed. He certainly seemed skilled from her vantage point.

Regardless, the worry had crossed her mind occasionally and had spurred her into reading some of the more risqué magazines in the drug store. She would sneak them back home and wait until everyone was asleep to read the stories from women writing in about their experiences and articles titled 10 Ways to Drive Your Man Wild. Some of it sounded so ridiculous and manufactured, however, that she had stopped spending her allowance money and resolved herself to worrying about it in silence.

If it happens, she had decided one such night, then if it's awkward like Alice said, we'll just get over it and try again, I guess.

Now, with the week so much closer, Lily rather thought that sounded much easier said than done.

She forced the thought away from her mind, returned the letters and photo back into her trunk, and shut it firmly. Thinking about it, she had learned from her friends, rarely led to good results. She would banish it from her mind for now and focus on the more exciting nature of the situation – spending time with Sirius as his girlfriend.

Sirius took a bracing drink of tea, flipping through the notes that Regulus had handed over to him. The two of them were sitting in his younger brother's room, parchment spread out over the covers. Mrs. Black had been, thankfully, occupied the majority of the summer by her guests and thus far Sirius had been able to avoid both her and the vultures that were the family's daughters by hiding away in Regulus's room or being out of the house altogether. When he had been preparing for another long day of wandering the streets away from home, Regulus had ushered him inside to ask him his opinion of something. Only once Kreacher had delivered their tea, casting a baleful look towards Sirius, did he pull out the stacks of parchment.

"This looks advanced," Sirius said at last, feeling Regulus's eager gaze on him. He took another drink of tea and then grimaced. "This tastes awful. Does yours taste as bad?"

"We're drinking from the same pot," Regulus replied in amusement. "I highly doubt that Kreacher sabotaged my tea to get at you."

"Then he's clearly losing it." He set his cup aside and pulled up one of the sheaths of parchment, his brow puckering. "What're your intentions for this, anyway? It looks like a trebuchet of sorts."

"Of sorts, yes." Regulus pulled out another sheath of parchment and set it in front of him. "In theory, it would work by binding a magical spell here and then launching it into a barrier and splitting off to find living subjects. I can't quite figure out that last bit, though. Some sort of searching spell, I imagine."

Sirius carefully set the parchment aside, saying cautiously, "Life-searching spells? You'd have to use Dark Magic for that."

Regulus had been shuffling through a book and distractedly answered, "Yes, obviously, Sirius. There's no simple charm for that." He laughed to himself. "Can you imagine? Learning a charm for soul-hunting?"

"What use do you need for this?" Sirius gestured towards the parchment. "You might as well be creating war weapons."

Regulus seemed to be aware of his company and halted flipping through pages, raising his head to stare at Sirius. The amusement from a moment ago had faded into something like wry disappointment. His smile turned somewhat bitter at the edges as he closed the book. "Ah...Sorry. I forgot."

"Can't imagine how you could," Sirius bit out. "How many times have you heard me and mum shout each other down about the Dark Arts?"

"I'm not asking you to help me, Sirius. It's nothing like that." Regulus set the book aside, lifting one of his shoulders in a careless shrug. "You know the Dark Arts, even if you don't use them, and let's face it – you're brilliant. I kind of looked at this as a sort of theoretical experiment that we could share together – nothing more than that. I'm not asking you to help me create anything. It's just an intellectual discussion."

Exasperated, Sirius sighed. "Is it, though?"

"Do you think men like Dumbledore haven't dabbled into theoretical Dark Magic? There are essays from men who would never touch it that are long buried in old texts. Reading them, you'd think that they were Dark Arts supporters all along, but I've looked up some of them. Most of them are historians or work in the Ministry."

"Just because you have a good job doesn't mean you're a good wizard."

"I mean that their newest essays or lectures are stoutly anti-Dark Magic," Regulus clarified. "You can delve into the theoretical without sacrificing your personal philosophy."

"This isn't theory," Sirius said in a firm tone, tapping one of the parchments. "You're trying to make a weapon."

Regulus considered him for a moment and then shrugged. "Alright, sure. Is it any worse than what you're doing with James and Remus?"

"The map isn't meant to harm anyone!"

"It could. What if it got in the hands of a first-year?" Sirius scoffed in reply. "I'm serious. If a first-year student came in and got their hands on that, wandered out into the Forbidden Forest or into Hogsmeade when they're that young, there's no guarantee they'll be safe. The map gives them the means to tout rules, to put themselves in danger. Or are you planning to enchant it to also have security charms?"

"That's a bit of a stretch, isn't it?" Sirius grumbled defensively. "You make it sound like we're luring children out to get murdered."

"Some might see it that way." Regulus began to collect his parchment into a neat stack. "Just like how you could view this project two different ways."

Sirius frowned, watching Regulus collect the pieces of parchment, aware that he had no reasonable rebuttal to this observation. He knew Regulus was right, of course. Even Lily had mentioned it once or twice that she hoped the map never got into the hands of someone particularly foolhardy. His opinion had always been that if it did, it was not their fault as the creator what that person got up to with it. It was never intended as a means to encourage dangerous activities, but only as a tool for those who were already inclined towards mischief like themselves.

Neither Lily nor Regulus had mentioned it, but a thought occurred to Sirius that if the map had gotten into the hands of the wrong person – someone like Snape – then it would be easy for them to use it as a means of attacking another student. Or worse, if Hogwarts was somehow broached by an adult enemy, it could be used against the professors or headmaster. Upon thinking this ominous thought, Sirius made a mental note to discuss with James and Remus a safety guard as an addition to the map – something to make it more difficult for one to discern its purpose. Up until then, they had been intending it to simply be an open map without any spell or enchantment to activate it.

One of the many reasons, Sirius decided, that teenagers should not invent some things.

"You're going to find it yourself anyway," Sirius reluctantly told his brother, causing Regulus to look up from his stack of parchment. "You'll need a conduit to attach a soul-searching spell so that it connects to a curse. It won't work otherwise."

"A conduit," Regulus repeated, his face lighting up. "Blimey, I'd completely forgotten!"

Sirius's mouth twitched, a dry smile lifting his mouth at the surprised pleasure that exuded from his brother. He could not twist it in his head like Regulus had that this so-called project of his could be anything but evil. Using any sort of spells and curses that sought out living souls would land a person straight into Azkaban. No self-respecting witch or wizard would use that type of magic – or at least in Sirius's perspective, they should not.

"So, be honest," Sirius told him, leaning back on the palms of his hands. "What're you really wanting to do with this?"

Regulus hesitated a beat and then collected the bit of parchment and clamored off the bed to file them back in one of the drawers in his desk. "I don't think you'll like to hear it."

"Probably not," he agreed. "Hasn't stopped you before."

Regulus laughed with a tiny little smile, though Sirius could only see his side profile from his vantage. It was sad around the edges. "Yeah, true." He shut the drawer, turning back to look at him. "Have you been reading The Daily Prophet at all?"

"I try to avoid looking at that rag."

"You shouldn't." Regulus leaned against his desk. "It used to be that the journalists were staunchly opposed against the Dark Lord, but these days...well, the tone's turned a little ambivalent. It's not overt or on the front page yet. It's mostly editorials in the back pages and smaller journalists that are writing in a way that supports him. By the time I'm out of school, I think we're going to be forced to take a side."

"And you're going to choose the Death Eaters?" Sirius asked incredulously. "You're joking. You don't have the stomach for that! You don't even give a damn about Muggle-borns – that's a basic requirement or have you not noticed?"

Regulus had averted his gaze and was drumming his fingers alongside the desk. After a time, he slowly said, "It's not so much choosing the Death Eaters...if I can make them something, maybe it will give our family an advantage to be left out of everything. It could help us." He returned his gaze to Sirius, looking worried. "It could help you."

"Don't sell your soul on my account," Sirius said swiftly. "I'm supposed to be taking care of you, not the other way around. And there's no guarantee that's going to happen."

"Do you really believe that? You've heard the same things I've heard while at home, Sirius." Regulus rubbed his face idly and then dropped his hand, shrugging in a futile sort of way. "It's only a matter of time and they'll see purebloods that turn away from their vision as bad as Muggle-borns – especially a family as old as ours."

"You're getting a little too preoccupied with politics for a fourteen-year-old."

"Oh, I know!" Regulus smiled, dispelling the brief moment of gloom. "I'm always jealous of our classmates that seem to have such normal holidays."

"'Normal,'" Sirius snorted. "Wish I knew what that was."

"Thanks for your input on my papers, by the way. I knew you'd know."

"Unfortunately." He stood up, stretching. "When are you and mum supposed to be going to Italy, anyway? I've been so busy avoiding everyone that I've forgotten."

"Oh, in a few days. This lot will be cleared off by the time we leave with Kreacher. Ah, I forgot to say – the townhome's all cleaned up and put together. It was done weeks ago. You could probably go there today if you really wanted to avoid people."

"I'll play the good boy until you all leave," Sirius responded. "I'd rather she not know where I am after the fight we had when I got home. If I disappear when she can see me, then – " He rolled his eyes and made a noose gesture towards himself that caused Regulus to laugh.

The fight that he had been referencing had been one of the worst ones between him and his mother. She had tried to curse him, which was not all that unusual except that her aim had been a little more direct than usual. He was accustomed to the usual list of complaints – lazy, worthless, waste of flesh, disappointment of their blood and the like – but cursing him had become new. It had started last year and seemed to have progressed to curses with intent this year. It had been triggered because he had gone out of his way to insult one of the families with which his mother wanted to arrange a marriage. The girl, who was at least two years younger than Sirius, had burst into tears and had left the rather ostentatious evening dinner in an embarrassing fashion. Sirius had found it highly amusing to watch the parents puff out in outrage.

This had been the first time that Mrs. Black had seriously attempted to arrange a marriage between him and any of the other families. During the screaming match that followed, she had made it clear that she expected him to be engaged by the end of the summer or else she would disown him. This suited him just fine, as he had no intention of entering into an arranged marriage with anyone, let alone someone his mother chose for him. Regulus had thankfully put up a barrier between the two of them before the fight turned more violent and would not drop it until Sirius had left the house. He had been walking around for two days that time and when he returned, his mother had been happy to pretend as if he did not exist. Sirius was fine with that, although he had known it would not last the entirety of the summer.

"What're you going to do if one of these days she really does throw you out, Sirius?" Regulus asked him presently. "She's already talked to three other families about an arranged marriage between you and their daughters. I guess one of the dads has heard about you from his other kids that go to Hogwarts and said he wasn't interested. The other two girls aren't bad looking from what I saw."

"I don't care if they're good looking or not," Sirius answered, scowling. "I'm not going to marry my cousin."

"If you two would talk instead of yell at each other – "

"I've tried that route, it doesn't work."

"You've never given it a fair chance."

"And neither has she."

Regulus sighed heavily, but he was smiling. This was not a new conversation. Sirius was aware that Regulus wanted nothing more than his perfect little family and if he could have given his little brother that, he would have done as much. Unfortunately, while his mother clung onto antiquated traditions and draconian tactics, he had no way of compromising with the woman and thus, no way of playing the perfect son and brother. Even their father, as dispassionate and removed as he was, would have been a better alternative than this. He at least would not meddle in their affairs and had his own demons that he had tackled within his personal life. It was something to which Sirius could relate.

"Has she tried setting you up yet?" Sirius asked him.

"She's not worried about me finding a wife. I keep dating pureblood girls. It keeps her happy."

"Are you even happy with any of them?"

"Some of them." Regulus smiled faintly. "I like Camilla well enough, though mum isn't a fan of her. Thinks she's too old for me."

"It would figure," Sirius grunted. "She'll find a way to have a problem with any of them that you do like."

Regulus said nothing to this, seeming briefly lost in some thought. There was a faraway look in his eyes, as if this was something he had considered before on his own. Sensing some inner melancholy, Sirius reached out and squeezed his shoulder bracingly. Regulus stirred from his thoughts, looking up at him vaguely.

"Where've you gone?" Sirius asked.

"Nowhere," he reassured and the smile did not reach his eyes. "Hopefully this trip to Italy goes alright. I'm worried she's going to chase Camilla off. She and I aren't really doing the best right now. She's was right mad at me at the end of term."

"For what?"

"Oh," Regulus waved a hand dismissively, "just politics."

Sirius eyed him, catching the evasive answer, and then released a short, bitter laugh. "You mean you argue about me."

"Not just you. Like I said, mum doesn't approve of Camilla. She has an issue with our family, I think."

"So, what does the old lady think?" Sirius teased. "That I'm a blood-traitor and mum's controlling?"

"Something like that."

"Come on, tell me. I won't cry myself to sleep, I promise."

Regulus sighed, rubbing his face again and averting his gaze. Usually, his brother had no trouble repeating gossip to Sirius, since it was usually something the Slytherins would say to his face. Whatever it was that his girlfriend was saying must have been distressing indeed if Regulus felt the need to conceal it from him.

"Mum writes to all my girlfriends when she finds out who they are," Regulus said at last. "She said it was her way of weeding out the bad ones. I didn't mind when I was younger because it wasn't like I was serious about that or anything. It's been more of an issue with Camilla. I've dated her all last year and half of our fights have been because of something mum's written to her about. She wants me to stand up to her, thinks it's abnormal for her to have this much involvement. Didn't seem all that weird to me. I've seen worse parents out there."

"I've never heard of a girl getting letters from her boyfriend's mum," Sirius dryly remarked.

"Yes, well, I hadn't thought of it until she started complaining about it because she hadn't even met her yet. She got frustrated and brought up that rumor about you from earlier in the year – just wrote to mum and said that if she was so worried, she should be spending more time writing to you about your Muggle girlfriends. That's why mum's been trying to arrange all these dates."

"Muggle girlfriends?" Sirius repeated, cold dread washing through him.

"Of course, that made mum write to me, asking me who you've been dating," Regulus continued. "I told her it was all nonsense, that I hadn't seen you with any girls. I wasn't about to tell her that Snape had ran a rumor about you and James having a threesome. There are some things she doesn't need to know, especially when they're not true. She would have pulled you straight out of school if she heard something like that."

Sirius was barely listening to him, though. A panic had seized him without warning. Someone completed unrelated to him had written to his own mother ratting him out. It did not matter if it was a rumor that had ran around the school or not. If his mother ever suspected him of dating a Muggle, she would have used every ounce of her power and prestige to find out who it was and make sure he suffered the consequences of making such a poor decision. The thought of Lily being hunted by someone in his mother's inner circle made him physically sick.

"Sirius? Are you okay?" Regulus asked in alarm.

"Yeah, fine."

"Don't go starting a row with mum over gossip."

"She obviously thought there was some merit in it if she wants to arrange a marriage," Sirius said cuttingly.

"I think she sees it as a risk and wants to avoid it," Regulus told him in a soothing tone. "Don't worry about it."

In an attempt to gain control of himself, Sirius said, "I'm surprised she didn't force you to break up with Camilla after she wrote to her like that."

"Me too, honestly. But Camilla comes from a good family and has good bloodlines." Regulus shrugged. "It's enough to keep her on mum's good side, at least."

Sirius caught sight of the door creaking open and scowled at the house elf that attempted to sneak inside without being noticed. Quickly snatching at Kreacher, he picked up the flailing house elf and then tossed him onto the bed.

"Coming to eavesdrop for the old hag?" Sirius sneered at the house elf.

Kreacher looked sufficiently appalled. "Never has my mistress been called thus – "

"I should lock you in the cellar again with the rats, let them chew on you a bit. Haven't you heard of knocking?"

The house elf blanched at this memory and muttered, "Master Regulus said I don't need to knock..."

"Bloody likely."

"C'mon now, Sirius, go easy on him," Regulus said as Kreacher bounded for the desk, hiding behind Regulus and glowering at Sirius from behind him. "I did tell him he could come in whenever he liked."

"You shouldn't. You know he'll repeat things to mum if it serves him."

"Only if its about the little brat," Kreacher mumbled to himself.

"What was that?" Sirius snapped, taking a step towards him and Regulus, who put an arm in front of Kreacher to block the two from each other. "I'd watch your mouth if I were you. You're not always going to have Regulus there. You better keep your foul, ugly little self out of my way while he's in Italy."

Kreacher's face turned as white as it could go and he jumped off the desk, sprinting towards the door with Sirius following suit. He managed to get to Kreacher at the top of the stairs, where he violently kicked him, causing the house elf to go bouncing down the stairs painfully.

"For Merlin's sake, Sirius," Regulus said exasperatedly, following the two out and scowling at him. "Leave the poor thing alone! What's he done to you?"

"Do I really need to go over all the things he's told mum about me?" Sirius demanded in return as Regulus passed him on the stairs. "You can blame him for about half the fights she and I get in. Ignorance is bliss – something he hasn't learned yet."

His brother simply cast him an exasperated look over his shoulder as he hurried to Kreacher, who was lying in a crumpled heap at one of the stair landings. Sirius watched Regulus pick up the house elf, who looked dazed but otherwise unharmed. Kreacher shot him a hateful look and Sirius made a rude gesture towards him behind his brother's back before heading back towards his own room.

Flopping onto his bed, Sirius rubbed his eyes and released a heavy sigh of irritation. Outside of dealing with Kreacher, his mind had not quite processed what Regulus had said about his mother and Camilla. Of course, his mother would become alarmed at the prospect of her rebellious, pureblood son dating a Muggle. It explained her sudden intensity when it came to their arguments and her vehemence in regards to arranging a marriage for him. He could only hope that Camilla or anyone else did not write Lily's name in a letter to her. It would not be her that would hunt Lily down, as his mother was not the type to dirty her own hands. There were those more willing to engage in the sport.

For now, though, Lily seemed safe behind a vague rumor. There was no other reason for Camilla to divulge more than she had already done. As long as he kept his secret while at Hogwarts, nothing more should get leaked to his mother about her. He could deal with that easily enough, but keeping Kreacher out of his business and avoiding his mother and her marriage opportunities was proving to be a challenge. He had already caught Kreacher trying to go through his mail more than once. It was proving to be a task just living there and the entire ordeal made his head hurt. He only had to wait a short bit more until he could be in London with Lily and away from his hellhound of a mother and her dutiful servant.

The sooner he was away from Grimmauld Place, the better.