FIC for: avendya
Title: The Crooked Path
Recipient: avendya
Fic or Art: Fic
Rating: PG
Characters: Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Regulus Black, Andromeda Tonks
Summary: The year after MWPP leave Hogwarts, Black family secrets seem to be entangling Regulus. Sirius recruits Remus and Andromeda to find out what and why.
Remus watched Sirius and Andromeda from across the table in the dingy pub, their heads together over the map they were sketching. The exiled cousins of the Noble House of Black were hard to ignore, with their carelessly graceful gestures and easy laughter. Even the Muggle patrons of the Lonely Man cast curious glances at their table.
"There were two gates into the kitchen garden." Andromeda took the pencil from Sirius' hand, and drew in her tiny notebook with quick, decisive lines. With her sensible pony-tail and her lips pressed together in concentration, it was almost as though they were all back at school and she was a prefect helping them with an essay, not married and the mother of a boisterous toddler.
Sirius looked wistful - an expression Remus was unaccustomed to seeing - and he wondered what it was like, those long summer holidays they had shared, surrounded by an extended family certain of its place in the world. How strange, to be so assured of one's own superiority. He looked at Sirius: slouched in his seat, oozing charm in his Muggle clothes, winking at the waitress hovering near-by, the picture of a disgraced aristocrat at ease with his new life. Sirius and Andromeda were pure-bloods, and it showed in their manner and bearing, despite being driven from the family for the choices they had made.
"You know, I think Uncle Alphie was growing more than vegetables in that garden." Sirius leaned back in his chair, carefully casual. "Remember those weird mushrooms? He told me they were full of Siren-Spore, and everyone in the county would know if I touched them."
Remus played with the salt, picked at the chips congealing in the cheap wicker basket, effortlessly excluded from the conversation. Watching the two of them was like watching birds dance; seemingly meaningless movements filled with hereditary cues that allowed one to identify the other as kin. One false step and you're no longer part of the flock, which justifiably pecks you to death. He didn't like the brittle smile on Sirius' face.
"I remember the year you and Regulus raided the greengages before they were ripe. That was a fascinating afternoon at St Mungo's." Despite her grin, Andromeda's eyes were measuring. This wasn't the comforting reunion either of them were pretending it was.
Sirius shook his head. "I haven't eaten the wretched things since. Poor old Reg." Under the table he pressed his hand against Remus' leg, and after a moment, Remus covered it with his own. This was Sirius, this was Padfoot. And Padfoot needed him.
It had been early this morning when Remus heard movement outside his window, and found Sirius sitting miserably on a dustbin, damp with dew.
"I think Reg is in trouble."
Remus made him tea in a chipped mug, slopping plenty of condensed milk into it, and Sirius slurped it down gratefully. Remus perched on the bench, and Sirius slumped on the rickety wooden chair, circling his hands around the warm cup.
"He'd kill me if he knew I was following him." Sirius scuffed at a knot in the floorboards. "It was a joke, at first. I used to jump out at him, as Padfoot, to give him a fright, make him think he'd seen the Grim."
"You know, you don't actually have to play stupid practical jokes just to have a reason to see your brother." The problem with being an only child, Remus had learned, was that he tended to think that common sense would override Sirius' need to antagonise his brother.
Sirius looked up at Remus with a sly smile. "It's pretty funny, though. Go on, admit it."
Remus shook his head. "No, it's not. What if something happened to him? What if he did something stupid because he thought he was going to die?"
"Do you think he would do that?" The merriment had fled Sirius' face.
Remus shrugged. "I think impending doom changes one's perspective." Sirius looked back at him, stricken, and Remus relented, taking the empty mug and replacing it with his hand. "Did you see Regulus doing something stupid? Do you think he's in danger?"
"I followed him to the Cauldron, and he Flooed from there to the Hermitage." Remus looked blankly at him and Sirius waved his free hand in explanation. "Hawthorne Hermitage - it was Phineas Nigellus' summer home. We all used to go there in summer. Except for Uncle Alphard, he lived there all the time."
Remus shook his head. "How many houses does your family own, anyway? No, don't answer that. Why is it so bad that Regulus went there? Is it haunted?"
"All of the Black houses are haunted." Sirius said dismissively, but rested his head against Remus' knee. "The Hermitage - it's just not somewhere you should go by yourself."
Sirius paid for dinner - after all it was his brother that had brought them there - and, at Andromeda's prompting, bought some mixed nuts for her to take home to Ted. It was a long walk down narrow lanes to the Hermitage, though its towers had been looming above the crest of a low hill for the last half a mile.
"If it's such a dangerous place, why did your uncle live there all alone?" Remus was nervous: the moon was waxing gibbous, and the light gleaming on the wet grass made everything look unpleasantly slick.
Sirius snorted, and something in the hedges rustled, startled by the noise. "Uncle Alphard wasn't afraid of anything. Besides, he was drunk most of the time. He started the day with a glass of port, and went downhill from there."
"Apparently, he bathed in Butterbeer." Andromeda walked with her hands in her pockets, as though they were on a country ramble. "Or so he told Bellatrix. Or so Bellatrix said he told her."
"You know what he always said: 'You're never alone with a bottle in your hand.'" Sirius spoke first, but he and Andromeda finished together. They were sticking closer together too - brushing elbows as they walked.
"So, this place is safe, as long as you don't go alone?" Remus watched the two of them from the corner of his eye. They were both checking over their shoulders, in an instinctive rhythm, first one, then the other. It was like a childhood superstition, just as he would avoid stepping on a crack in the pavement.
"That's right," Andromeda realized she'd broken the pattern to look across at Remus, and frowned at him.
"And this is where you took your summer holidays? Couldn't you just go to Brighton or something?"
"There's lots of dangerous things in Brighton, Remus. This, it's like there was an uncovered well or something - perfectly safe as long as you don't fall into it. And at the Hermitage, the rule is that you don't go wandering alone." Sirius was in perfect step with Andromeda, long easy strides that ate up the distance between them and the dark walls ahead. "It's just how it was."
"So, the two of you are fine, then. Why do you need me?"
Sirius stopped suddenly, and after a few steps, so did Andromeda. "Remus, I need you. Reg won't listen to either of us, our parents have seen to that. He might listen to you."
They slipped easily over the crumbling wall in the kitchen garden, and went winding through overgrown beds to a wide gravel path that circled the house. Remus shivered; a brisk wind was picking up leaves and bits of rubbish. The moon slid behind the tallest of the towers, and threw a long shadow across the lawn. Something gleamed up high in the brickwork, something that gave a soft chime when the wind slid over it, and set Remus' teeth on edge. It was a bell, with enough silver alloyed into it to make Remus feel faintly nauseous every time the wind pushed against it.
According to Sirius' memories, the kitchen door was not warded against Alohomora, and indeed it opened to allow the three of them to creep into the servant's hall and up the stairs. The main part of the house was riddled with silver - in the door handles, in filigree lace trim hung in corners, even inlayed into the marble floor. Remus' skin was crawling with revulsion, though he didn’t dare say anything - Andromeda didn't know he was a werewolf. He wished Sirius had warned him - maybe James would have been the better person to take.
Sirius strode into the centre of the entrance hall, Andromeda close behind him. Remus stood a little aside, his face turned away from the enormous curling staircase, so he wouldn't have to see his own reflection in the acres of silvered mirrors on the landing. The roof was lavishly painted with nymphs frolicking in a silver-leafed stream, who tittered and covered themselves with inadequate diaphanous shawls. Remus caught himself staring open-mouthed at the ceiling, and blushed, looking away.
"Bloody hell, Remus, keep up!" Sirius and Andromeda were on the landing, reflected over and over in the mirrors that lined the walls. Remus stepped up onto the staircase and swayed, each step had a silver carpet rail running the breadth of the stairs. He stepped back down onto the marble, carefully placing his feet between two lines of silver inlay.
"I think I'll wait here." Remus said carefully, looking up at Sirius, willing him to understand. On the landing, washed by light coming through the windows, Sirius seemed to be cast in silver, his face frozen in an expression of realisation. Andromeda, her colouring warmer than Sirius', was distinctly less impressed.
"What's the matter with you, Lupin?" She stepped down from the landing, with her hand outstretched. "The sooner we find Regulus, the sooner we can all get out of here."
Sirius grimaced at Remus, and put his hand on Andromeda's shoulder. "I think Remus had better wait here - what if Reg tries to sneak out while we're upstairs?" Remus met his gaze and nodded slightly. He drew his wand, and affected a casual posture.
Andromeda rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Regulus wouldn't be that stupid, would he? Oh, of course he would." She marched back up the stairs, and off down a corridor. Her voice came floating back. "He is your brother, after all!"
Sirius fixed Remus with a look that was both apologetic and determined. "We won't be long, I promise. Stay there. Call if you need us." Then he vanished down the hallway after his cousin, footsteps making no sound on the carpeted floor.
Remus rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, listening to the nymphs whispering to each other, and far above, the sound of the wind against the giant silver bell. Silver didn't usually bother him, but there was just so much here - and from the way it burned and stung to the touch, it was close to pure, too. The wind gusted against the bell again, and Remus' head began to thump. He winced, and pressed his wand against his forehead. He wasn't meant to be here: everything, even the walls of the building, were primed to exclude him.
Movement from the shadows beneath the balcony caught his eye, and he turned towards it. The nymphs had stopped their chatter, and watched him silently from the roof.
"Regulus? Is that you?" Remus squinted into the darkness. "It's Remus Lupin, I came with your brother. We're looking for you."
There was no answer. Instead, a cowled figure in black moved out of the darkness towards him, inhumanly tall, utterly silent. It slid along the floor with gliding steps, hands hidden inside the enveloping robe which brushed over the marble floor without a sound. It drew almost close enough for Remus to reach out and touch the coarse black fabric of the robe, it turned sharply to the left, and continued moving, eerily silent on the marble floor. Remus backed away from it, until his heels brushed the first step of the staircase. The figure made another sharp turn, and Remus realised that it was following the silver inlay on the floor. Unable or unwilling to cross those long gleaming lines, it was walking along them with measured steps, like a maze. Remus could cross the lines, though the sensation wasn't pleasant, but what would happened if he moved beyond the patterned section of the floor? Freed from the lines of silver, the figure would be able to rush straight at him. At least here it was forced to move slowly.
"Sirius!" Remus moved as far away from the figure as he could, flinching whenever he crossed a line of silver. "Sirius, I think you should come back now!" Each time he moved, the figure would pause, then realign its course to move as directly as it could towards him. Where was Sirius? Remus stumbled, and lost ground to the creature, scrambling across the marble floor, hissing as his fingers brushed the silver. A hand took his, and helped him up.
"It's just the Hermit. He won't hurt you, if you're with a family member." Regulus had cobwebs in his hair, and his eyes were red-rimmed. He had a dusty bottle tucked under one arm, and Remus could smell firewhiskey on his breath. In the centre of the hall, the figure paused, as if in contemplation, cowled head tilted to one side.
"What are you doing here? It's dangerous to come here on your own." Regulus had grown since Remus had last seen him at Hogwarts. He looked very much like Sirius now, a little thinner, the wary Black expression a little more ingrained. Remus was fairly certain that Regulus had been crying.
"I didn't come here alone; I'm here with Sirius and Andromeda. This was your brother's idea. He was worried about you."
Regulus scowled. "Has he been following me? He has no right!" The figure took a gliding step towards them, and Regulus schooled his expression, and turned to face it. "Everything is fine. He's with me. You can go now." The tone was aloof and dignified, a nobleman dismissing his servant. Remus suppressed the urge to slap him.
Unfortunately, the command was ignored, and the figure continued pacing silently towards them. Regulus sputtered. "Go! Go away. I'm not alone. You can't hurt me." He turned to Remus, his voice slightly hysterical. "Why doesn't he stop?"
Remus had an idea why it didn't stop - if it were some kind of family guardian, it would almost certainly object to a werewolf in close proximity to the only remaining heir to the Black name. He was hardly about to explain that little problem, so with one arm in front of Regulus, Remus moved them backwards until they were both standing with their backs against the great double doors at the front of the hall. He winced as his shoulders made contact with the door - there was silver in the etched panels. The figure bore down on them, reflected in the wall of mirrored panels on the landing. The silver at Remus' back tickled and burned, even through the wool of his coat. Those mirrors have to be silver backed, he reasoned, and raised his wand.
"Accio Mirror!" With a splintering sound, one of the panels peeled off the wall, and soared, largely intact, towards Remus and Regulus. Remus put one hand out to guide it, then angled it backwards, capturing the figure's image in an endless series of reflections. There was a sizzling noise, then the black robe collapsed to the floor, steaming in the cool air. Remus gingerly leaned the mirror against the wall, and sucked his fingertips; they had blistered on the silver backing.
Regulus edged forward and prodded the robe with his foot. "That was bloody amazing." He respectfully proffered the whiskey bottle and, grateful, Remus took a long swig
"What are you doing here?" Remus took another swig then handed the bottle back. "I thought, from what Sirius said, it was certain death to come here alone."
Regulus shrugged, deliberately casual. "It's not so dangerous. I'm not quite as easily frightened as Sirius." He met Remus' eyes, and blushed, scuffing his feet on the marble floor. "Was he really worried about me?" At Remus' nod, Regulus looked a little bewildered. "I come here to talk to Uncle Alphard's portrait. He says that firewhiskey is a good deterrent for the Hermit." With that, Regulus put the bottle to his lips for a nonchalant swig, then sputtered as a torrent of firewhiskey rushed down his throat. Remus hurriedly took the bottle from him and clapped him on the back to help him catch his breath.
"Oh, that's why I brought you along, is it? To wreck the house, drink the booze and feel up my brother." Sirius sauntered down the stairs, his offhand demeanour slightly blemished by the glass crunching under his feet. Andromeda trailed behind him, her head buried in a hand-painted picture book. She had several more books tucked under her arm; obviously intended for Nymphadora. Regulus bristled. Remus put his hand on the boy's shoulder, and offered the whiskey bottle to Sirius.
"If you don't mind, Sirius, I've had quite enough of the Black family home." It was true; Remus didn't have the energy to mediate a family squabble.
Andromeda closed the book with a snap that made them all jump. "Right. It's time we all went home. Who's going to Apparate Regulus?"
"I'm not a child, Andromeda. And those books don't belong to you." Regulus set his jaw.
Remus laughed; Andromeda and Sirius had both taken on the same mulish expression as Regulus. "Please, let's all be civilised about this. Regulus, you can come with me - I'll take you close enough to Grimmauld Place that you can walk home. Andromeda, it was lovely to see you again, please give my love to Nymphadora and Ted. Sirius, I'll meet you later."
Remus Apparated to the closed scrap-yard at the head of Grimmauld Place, and showed Regulus the hole in the wire fence that he and Sirius used to use.
"Here," Remus handed the whiskey bottle through the wire. "It seems a shame to go without it, after all the trouble you went to."
Regulus took the bottle, and tucked it away inside his robes. He squared his shoulders, turned towards home, and for a moment looked so much like Sirius that Remus felt a pang of sympathy. For all their privilege, it certainly wasn't easy to be a member of the Black family.
"Hey, Reg!" Remus ducked through the hole to catch him before he left. "You know, if you ever need to get away from things, or you want to talk or something, you can drop by my flat. It's not very flash, but it's private. And Sirius is there, sometimes. One day you might want to talk to him."
Regulus gave an ironic smile, it was an oddly practiced expression.. "As though I didn't get enough of talking to that bastard when he lived at home." With a lofty toss of his head, he turned to walk towards Number Twelve, then turned back, giving Remus a wave and a crooked smile. Remus waved back, and watched him walk all the way to the door of Number Twelve, then disappear inside. Then he Apparated away to his flat, where Sirius was waiting for him.
Recipient: avendya
Fic or Art: Fic
Rating: PG
Characters: Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Regulus Black, Andromeda Tonks
Summary: The year after MWPP leave Hogwarts, Black family secrets seem to be entangling Regulus. Sirius recruits Remus and Andromeda to find out what and why.
Remus watched Sirius and Andromeda from across the table in the dingy pub, their heads together over the map they were sketching. The exiled cousins of the Noble House of Black were hard to ignore, with their carelessly graceful gestures and easy laughter. Even the Muggle patrons of the Lonely Man cast curious glances at their table.
"There were two gates into the kitchen garden." Andromeda took the pencil from Sirius' hand, and drew in her tiny notebook with quick, decisive lines. With her sensible pony-tail and her lips pressed together in concentration, it was almost as though they were all back at school and she was a prefect helping them with an essay, not married and the mother of a boisterous toddler.
Sirius looked wistful - an expression Remus was unaccustomed to seeing - and he wondered what it was like, those long summer holidays they had shared, surrounded by an extended family certain of its place in the world. How strange, to be so assured of one's own superiority. He looked at Sirius: slouched in his seat, oozing charm in his Muggle clothes, winking at the waitress hovering near-by, the picture of a disgraced aristocrat at ease with his new life. Sirius and Andromeda were pure-bloods, and it showed in their manner and bearing, despite being driven from the family for the choices they had made.
"You know, I think Uncle Alphie was growing more than vegetables in that garden." Sirius leaned back in his chair, carefully casual. "Remember those weird mushrooms? He told me they were full of Siren-Spore, and everyone in the county would know if I touched them."
Remus played with the salt, picked at the chips congealing in the cheap wicker basket, effortlessly excluded from the conversation. Watching the two of them was like watching birds dance; seemingly meaningless movements filled with hereditary cues that allowed one to identify the other as kin. One false step and you're no longer part of the flock, which justifiably pecks you to death. He didn't like the brittle smile on Sirius' face.
"I remember the year you and Regulus raided the greengages before they were ripe. That was a fascinating afternoon at St Mungo's." Despite her grin, Andromeda's eyes were measuring. This wasn't the comforting reunion either of them were pretending it was.
Sirius shook his head. "I haven't eaten the wretched things since. Poor old Reg." Under the table he pressed his hand against Remus' leg, and after a moment, Remus covered it with his own. This was Sirius, this was Padfoot. And Padfoot needed him.
It had been early this morning when Remus heard movement outside his window, and found Sirius sitting miserably on a dustbin, damp with dew.
"I think Reg is in trouble."
Remus made him tea in a chipped mug, slopping plenty of condensed milk into it, and Sirius slurped it down gratefully. Remus perched on the bench, and Sirius slumped on the rickety wooden chair, circling his hands around the warm cup.
"He'd kill me if he knew I was following him." Sirius scuffed at a knot in the floorboards. "It was a joke, at first. I used to jump out at him, as Padfoot, to give him a fright, make him think he'd seen the Grim."
"You know, you don't actually have to play stupid practical jokes just to have a reason to see your brother." The problem with being an only child, Remus had learned, was that he tended to think that common sense would override Sirius' need to antagonise his brother.
Sirius looked up at Remus with a sly smile. "It's pretty funny, though. Go on, admit it."
Remus shook his head. "No, it's not. What if something happened to him? What if he did something stupid because he thought he was going to die?"
"Do you think he would do that?" The merriment had fled Sirius' face.
Remus shrugged. "I think impending doom changes one's perspective." Sirius looked back at him, stricken, and Remus relented, taking the empty mug and replacing it with his hand. "Did you see Regulus doing something stupid? Do you think he's in danger?"
"I followed him to the Cauldron, and he Flooed from there to the Hermitage." Remus looked blankly at him and Sirius waved his free hand in explanation. "Hawthorne Hermitage - it was Phineas Nigellus' summer home. We all used to go there in summer. Except for Uncle Alphard, he lived there all the time."
Remus shook his head. "How many houses does your family own, anyway? No, don't answer that. Why is it so bad that Regulus went there? Is it haunted?"
"All of the Black houses are haunted." Sirius said dismissively, but rested his head against Remus' knee. "The Hermitage - it's just not somewhere you should go by yourself."
Sirius paid for dinner - after all it was his brother that had brought them there - and, at Andromeda's prompting, bought some mixed nuts for her to take home to Ted. It was a long walk down narrow lanes to the Hermitage, though its towers had been looming above the crest of a low hill for the last half a mile.
"If it's such a dangerous place, why did your uncle live there all alone?" Remus was nervous: the moon was waxing gibbous, and the light gleaming on the wet grass made everything look unpleasantly slick.
Sirius snorted, and something in the hedges rustled, startled by the noise. "Uncle Alphard wasn't afraid of anything. Besides, he was drunk most of the time. He started the day with a glass of port, and went downhill from there."
"Apparently, he bathed in Butterbeer." Andromeda walked with her hands in her pockets, as though they were on a country ramble. "Or so he told Bellatrix. Or so Bellatrix said he told her."
"You know what he always said: 'You're never alone with a bottle in your hand.'" Sirius spoke first, but he and Andromeda finished together. They were sticking closer together too - brushing elbows as they walked.
"So, this place is safe, as long as you don't go alone?" Remus watched the two of them from the corner of his eye. They were both checking over their shoulders, in an instinctive rhythm, first one, then the other. It was like a childhood superstition, just as he would avoid stepping on a crack in the pavement.
"That's right," Andromeda realized she'd broken the pattern to look across at Remus, and frowned at him.
"And this is where you took your summer holidays? Couldn't you just go to Brighton or something?"
"There's lots of dangerous things in Brighton, Remus. This, it's like there was an uncovered well or something - perfectly safe as long as you don't fall into it. And at the Hermitage, the rule is that you don't go wandering alone." Sirius was in perfect step with Andromeda, long easy strides that ate up the distance between them and the dark walls ahead. "It's just how it was."
"So, the two of you are fine, then. Why do you need me?"
Sirius stopped suddenly, and after a few steps, so did Andromeda. "Remus, I need you. Reg won't listen to either of us, our parents have seen to that. He might listen to you."
They slipped easily over the crumbling wall in the kitchen garden, and went winding through overgrown beds to a wide gravel path that circled the house. Remus shivered; a brisk wind was picking up leaves and bits of rubbish. The moon slid behind the tallest of the towers, and threw a long shadow across the lawn. Something gleamed up high in the brickwork, something that gave a soft chime when the wind slid over it, and set Remus' teeth on edge. It was a bell, with enough silver alloyed into it to make Remus feel faintly nauseous every time the wind pushed against it.
According to Sirius' memories, the kitchen door was not warded against Alohomora, and indeed it opened to allow the three of them to creep into the servant's hall and up the stairs. The main part of the house was riddled with silver - in the door handles, in filigree lace trim hung in corners, even inlayed into the marble floor. Remus' skin was crawling with revulsion, though he didn’t dare say anything - Andromeda didn't know he was a werewolf. He wished Sirius had warned him - maybe James would have been the better person to take.
Sirius strode into the centre of the entrance hall, Andromeda close behind him. Remus stood a little aside, his face turned away from the enormous curling staircase, so he wouldn't have to see his own reflection in the acres of silvered mirrors on the landing. The roof was lavishly painted with nymphs frolicking in a silver-leafed stream, who tittered and covered themselves with inadequate diaphanous shawls. Remus caught himself staring open-mouthed at the ceiling, and blushed, looking away.
"Bloody hell, Remus, keep up!" Sirius and Andromeda were on the landing, reflected over and over in the mirrors that lined the walls. Remus stepped up onto the staircase and swayed, each step had a silver carpet rail running the breadth of the stairs. He stepped back down onto the marble, carefully placing his feet between two lines of silver inlay.
"I think I'll wait here." Remus said carefully, looking up at Sirius, willing him to understand. On the landing, washed by light coming through the windows, Sirius seemed to be cast in silver, his face frozen in an expression of realisation. Andromeda, her colouring warmer than Sirius', was distinctly less impressed.
"What's the matter with you, Lupin?" She stepped down from the landing, with her hand outstretched. "The sooner we find Regulus, the sooner we can all get out of here."
Sirius grimaced at Remus, and put his hand on Andromeda's shoulder. "I think Remus had better wait here - what if Reg tries to sneak out while we're upstairs?" Remus met his gaze and nodded slightly. He drew his wand, and affected a casual posture.
Andromeda rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Regulus wouldn't be that stupid, would he? Oh, of course he would." She marched back up the stairs, and off down a corridor. Her voice came floating back. "He is your brother, after all!"
Sirius fixed Remus with a look that was both apologetic and determined. "We won't be long, I promise. Stay there. Call if you need us." Then he vanished down the hallway after his cousin, footsteps making no sound on the carpeted floor.
Remus rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, listening to the nymphs whispering to each other, and far above, the sound of the wind against the giant silver bell. Silver didn't usually bother him, but there was just so much here - and from the way it burned and stung to the touch, it was close to pure, too. The wind gusted against the bell again, and Remus' head began to thump. He winced, and pressed his wand against his forehead. He wasn't meant to be here: everything, even the walls of the building, were primed to exclude him.
Movement from the shadows beneath the balcony caught his eye, and he turned towards it. The nymphs had stopped their chatter, and watched him silently from the roof.
"Regulus? Is that you?" Remus squinted into the darkness. "It's Remus Lupin, I came with your brother. We're looking for you."
There was no answer. Instead, a cowled figure in black moved out of the darkness towards him, inhumanly tall, utterly silent. It slid along the floor with gliding steps, hands hidden inside the enveloping robe which brushed over the marble floor without a sound. It drew almost close enough for Remus to reach out and touch the coarse black fabric of the robe, it turned sharply to the left, and continued moving, eerily silent on the marble floor. Remus backed away from it, until his heels brushed the first step of the staircase. The figure made another sharp turn, and Remus realised that it was following the silver inlay on the floor. Unable or unwilling to cross those long gleaming lines, it was walking along them with measured steps, like a maze. Remus could cross the lines, though the sensation wasn't pleasant, but what would happened if he moved beyond the patterned section of the floor? Freed from the lines of silver, the figure would be able to rush straight at him. At least here it was forced to move slowly.
"Sirius!" Remus moved as far away from the figure as he could, flinching whenever he crossed a line of silver. "Sirius, I think you should come back now!" Each time he moved, the figure would pause, then realign its course to move as directly as it could towards him. Where was Sirius? Remus stumbled, and lost ground to the creature, scrambling across the marble floor, hissing as his fingers brushed the silver. A hand took his, and helped him up.
"It's just the Hermit. He won't hurt you, if you're with a family member." Regulus had cobwebs in his hair, and his eyes were red-rimmed. He had a dusty bottle tucked under one arm, and Remus could smell firewhiskey on his breath. In the centre of the hall, the figure paused, as if in contemplation, cowled head tilted to one side.
"What are you doing here? It's dangerous to come here on your own." Regulus had grown since Remus had last seen him at Hogwarts. He looked very much like Sirius now, a little thinner, the wary Black expression a little more ingrained. Remus was fairly certain that Regulus had been crying.
"I didn't come here alone; I'm here with Sirius and Andromeda. This was your brother's idea. He was worried about you."
Regulus scowled. "Has he been following me? He has no right!" The figure took a gliding step towards them, and Regulus schooled his expression, and turned to face it. "Everything is fine. He's with me. You can go now." The tone was aloof and dignified, a nobleman dismissing his servant. Remus suppressed the urge to slap him.
Unfortunately, the command was ignored, and the figure continued pacing silently towards them. Regulus sputtered. "Go! Go away. I'm not alone. You can't hurt me." He turned to Remus, his voice slightly hysterical. "Why doesn't he stop?"
Remus had an idea why it didn't stop - if it were some kind of family guardian, it would almost certainly object to a werewolf in close proximity to the only remaining heir to the Black name. He was hardly about to explain that little problem, so with one arm in front of Regulus, Remus moved them backwards until they were both standing with their backs against the great double doors at the front of the hall. He winced as his shoulders made contact with the door - there was silver in the etched panels. The figure bore down on them, reflected in the wall of mirrored panels on the landing. The silver at Remus' back tickled and burned, even through the wool of his coat. Those mirrors have to be silver backed, he reasoned, and raised his wand.
"Accio Mirror!" With a splintering sound, one of the panels peeled off the wall, and soared, largely intact, towards Remus and Regulus. Remus put one hand out to guide it, then angled it backwards, capturing the figure's image in an endless series of reflections. There was a sizzling noise, then the black robe collapsed to the floor, steaming in the cool air. Remus gingerly leaned the mirror against the wall, and sucked his fingertips; they had blistered on the silver backing.
Regulus edged forward and prodded the robe with his foot. "That was bloody amazing." He respectfully proffered the whiskey bottle and, grateful, Remus took a long swig
"What are you doing here?" Remus took another swig then handed the bottle back. "I thought, from what Sirius said, it was certain death to come here alone."
Regulus shrugged, deliberately casual. "It's not so dangerous. I'm not quite as easily frightened as Sirius." He met Remus' eyes, and blushed, scuffing his feet on the marble floor. "Was he really worried about me?" At Remus' nod, Regulus looked a little bewildered. "I come here to talk to Uncle Alphard's portrait. He says that firewhiskey is a good deterrent for the Hermit." With that, Regulus put the bottle to his lips for a nonchalant swig, then sputtered as a torrent of firewhiskey rushed down his throat. Remus hurriedly took the bottle from him and clapped him on the back to help him catch his breath.
"Oh, that's why I brought you along, is it? To wreck the house, drink the booze and feel up my brother." Sirius sauntered down the stairs, his offhand demeanour slightly blemished by the glass crunching under his feet. Andromeda trailed behind him, her head buried in a hand-painted picture book. She had several more books tucked under her arm; obviously intended for Nymphadora. Regulus bristled. Remus put his hand on the boy's shoulder, and offered the whiskey bottle to Sirius.
"If you don't mind, Sirius, I've had quite enough of the Black family home." It was true; Remus didn't have the energy to mediate a family squabble.
Andromeda closed the book with a snap that made them all jump. "Right. It's time we all went home. Who's going to Apparate Regulus?"
"I'm not a child, Andromeda. And those books don't belong to you." Regulus set his jaw.
Remus laughed; Andromeda and Sirius had both taken on the same mulish expression as Regulus. "Please, let's all be civilised about this. Regulus, you can come with me - I'll take you close enough to Grimmauld Place that you can walk home. Andromeda, it was lovely to see you again, please give my love to Nymphadora and Ted. Sirius, I'll meet you later."
Remus Apparated to the closed scrap-yard at the head of Grimmauld Place, and showed Regulus the hole in the wire fence that he and Sirius used to use.
"Here," Remus handed the whiskey bottle through the wire. "It seems a shame to go without it, after all the trouble you went to."
Regulus took the bottle, and tucked it away inside his robes. He squared his shoulders, turned towards home, and for a moment looked so much like Sirius that Remus felt a pang of sympathy. For all their privilege, it certainly wasn't easy to be a member of the Black family.
"Hey, Reg!" Remus ducked through the hole to catch him before he left. "You know, if you ever need to get away from things, or you want to talk or something, you can drop by my flat. It's not very flash, but it's private. And Sirius is there, sometimes. One day you might want to talk to him."
Regulus gave an ironic smile, it was an oddly practiced expression.. "As though I didn't get enough of talking to that bastard when he lived at home." With a lofty toss of his head, he turned to walk towards Number Twelve, then turned back, giving Remus a wave and a crooked smile. Remus waved back, and watched him walk all the way to the door of Number Twelve, then disappear inside. Then he Apparated away to his flat, where Sirius was waiting for him.