The Black Brothers

"It's still here!" Sirius cried out truimphantly.

"We didn't remove anything." Hermione coughed at a cloud of dust Sirius stirred up. "We haven't been up here at all." She coughed again. "Obviously." She soon had her wand out and started blasting away the dust.

Sirius held up a wine bottle victoriously. "I knew this stash would come in handy one day." He picked up a few more bottles and tucked them under his arm. "Come on, let's go."

"Regulus?" Hermione inquired to the man in a dark corner of the attic. He was sifting through boxes, like he was on a mission.

"Lumos." She held her wand out for him to see what he was looking for.

"Thank you."

In the wandlight, she noticed a half-open box at her feet that appeared to be filled with large leather bound books. Using her free hand, she opened the one on top to discover it was no mere book. Moving pictures of witches and wizards in fancy dress robes turned up their noses at her.

"Wow."

"What? Come on, there is a warm fire and fine elf-made wine to be drunk." And he gestured to the door as best as possible with an armload of wine bottles. "Downstairs."

"Sirius, it's old photo albums of your family." He was lucky she was too busy flipping through the pages and did not see him roll his eyes.

"Just grab them and let's go. Regulus! What are you doing?"

"Just a minute... Ha!"

Hermione watched him pull a thin wooden box out of an old trunk. He was grinning from ear to ear, which looked almost manic in the sharp light of her wand. He emptied the box and tossed it aside, revealing a wand of some dark wood, presumably walnut. Still smiling, he pointed it at Hermione.

With a swish and a flick, the photo albums rose in front of her. She let out a breath she did not know she had been holding. What about him made her so nervous?

Sirius was absolutely dumbfounded.

"Father's wand."

"Is Mother's in there too?"

"Yes, but do you really think it would work for you?"

"Fair point."

-o-O-o-

Harry Flooed into the house, exhausted and exasperated after several hours at St. Mungo's. Teddy was so asleep the Floo did not wake him. It was not difficult to find where the occupants of Grimmauld Place were. Muffled voices and shrieks of laughter led him straight to the drawing room.

Hermione was sandwiched between the Black brothers on the sofa. All three were leaning over a book on the coffee table, pointing at the pages and laughing hysterically. A couple of empty wine bottles lay discarded on the floor around them, and Sirius was drinking directly from a third.

"So Uncle Cygnus realizes his hidden stash of firewhiskey is gone and grounds Bellatrix for a week!" More laughter erupted from the trio. Sirius managed to stop laughing long enough to continue, "She never found out it was us!"

"What is going on here?"

"Harry!" Hermione stood up so quickly she almost fell over. "How is Teddy? Is he okay?" Her eyes were shining and her cheeks pink from the combination of laughter and drink, but she was quite sober. And alert enough to recognize the irritated expression on Harry's face.

"Well." He shifted the sleeping boy higher in his grip. "It is the Stone. The bad news is, it's already left his stomach, so taking it out was too dangerous."

"You mean..."

"We have to wait it out. The Healer thinks because he is a Metamorphmagus he should be able to pass it with no problems." Sirius made a face. "Because it's rather large, she estimated it would take approximately eight hours."

"Did the Healer think there would be any problems on account of the, er, special properties of the Stone?"

"I couldn't tell her what it was exactly; she did test it for Dark magic, and it came up negative. Luckily, it appears as if Dumbledore cleaned it very thoroughly after destroying the Horcrux part of it, so there was no residual Basilisk venom. I had her check. I thought she was going to send me to the psychiatric ward."

"Horcrux?"

"Basilisk venom?"

Harry sighed. "Did you tell them everything?"

"I guess I left out some parts." She frowned, feeling guilty for having fun while she should have been worrying about Teddy. "Maybe you should explain it."

-o-O-o-

Hermione was just starting to come to terms with her attraction to the mysterious Regulus Black. It was highly illogical to feel this way, but hormones and logic never went hand in hand very well. She had other things to worry about more...mainly Teddy...than the number of times their fingers brushed while flipping through the album (six) or the way he had blushed when they had found the photo of him and Sirius playing in the garden, absolutely starkers.

Still, she managed to keep her composure. Her face was flushed, a reaction she could blame on the alcohol, even though she only had two glasses. He was quite handsome, a little thin, a little pale, but strong, with finely cut features. Certainly alluring, but the way he was sitting now, listening to Harry's story with his cousin sleeping peacefully in his lap, had her twisting in her seat. He held the boy close to him, absentmindedly stroking his arm.

"Voldemort came into possession of the Stone in his sixth year. He tracked down his family, murdered his Muggle father and grandparents and modified his uncle Morfin's memory, so that he would confess to the crime."

Muggle father?

Hermione saw Regulus' face twitch. He didn't know.

It was Sirius who spoke. "Voldemort's father was a Muggle?" His distinct laugh filled the room. "That is priceless." He took a final swig from his wine bottle and tossed it on the floor. Hermione glared at him. He did not see or care how uncomfortable this was making his brother.

"He took the ring the Stone was set in from his uncle, thinking it only a family heirloom bearing the Peverell coat of arms. He turned it into a Horcrux either then or later on; eventually he buried it on the site of the Gaunts' home."

"He was a Gaunt too? That explains his claims to be Slytherin's heir."

Sirius scowled at his brother. "Where do you learn all this tripe?" Regulus rolled his eyes. He'd made a lot of progress with Sirius in the last few hours, but his brother still managed to get under his skin.

"They're called books, Sirius."

Hermione could not hold back her snort of laughter. The amount of times she said the same thing to Harry and Ron...

"Do you all want to hear the story or not?" Harry asked, exasperated.

-o-O-o-

So old Snivelly was a decent sort after all. Sirius was not surprised over Snape's lifelong obsession with Lily; they were rather close for a few years, something he had teased her about often.

Dumbledore's death horrified him. Would he have been capable of murdering an old friend, Pettigrew aside, if it was their last request? It was just too much to process. He had to go somewhere to think. Without a word, he strode out of the room.

Regulus was shocked as well. He was not close to Severus, but knew he was trusted by the Dark Lord, more so perhaps than his cousin Bellatrix. Not that she would ever have conceded that. He spent the rest of his life defying the Dark Lord for the mere memory of a witch. A Muggle-born witch. Regulus felt ashamed. He had taken the easy way out, sacrificing himself before his comrades caught him. Could he have had the courage to risk unimaginable torture to see the fight through to the end?

His mind wandered to another Muggle-born witch, one that was sitting two feet away from him. He was not thinking about her heritage either; he had enough of that discussion for one day. He was wondering what those rosy lips would feel like when he kissed her. It was only a kiss after all, not a proposal. Distracted by his brother's dramatic exit, he did not see her rise and stand before him until she was leaning over, her arms brushing against his, as she reached around Teddy.

It was now or never.

He did not relinquish his grip, only pulling the little boy closer, trapping her arms against him. The odd angle of her standing and him sitting brought their faces close together. She did not shy away; in fact, through half closed lashes he saw a little smile. He leaned forward to make the connection they had been dancing around for hours.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Fuck. He had forgotten about Harry.

"I thought I would take Teddy for a bit, that's all." Regulus smiled inwardly. It was a terrible lie, but it meant she was feeling guilty too.

Teddy spared them all an awkward silence by starting to stir, the sleeping potion finally wearing off. He looked a little dazed, but in good spirits.

"You're awake." He smiled and reached for her hair. "Best get you to the bathroom, young man." Hermione was never so pleased to have potty training duty as at that moment.

-o-O-o-

When she returned, Sirius was back, and Harry had acquired a bowl of mashed potatoes for Teddy.

"The healer recommended feeding him lots of soft foods for the next few days," he explained, as she watched Teddy play in his food, smearing most of it on his godfather. Hermione was going through all the possible ways the little boy could be the reason behind the current situation.

Anything to get her mind off of Regulus and their near kiss.

"Do you all think it is more than a coincidence that you were... brought back while Teddy had something of yours?"

"I think he had everything to do with it," Regulus answered right away, "whether it was accidental magic on his part or some unknown power the Stone possesses." He held out a hand, so the toddler could balance himself while he hopped up and down like a bunny. Another thought crossed his mind. "Are there any objects here that may have belonged to the Dark Lord?"

Harry paled. There were a few relics he stashed here at Grimmauld Place to keep away from the remaining Death Eaters. His hesitation was enough. Regulus abruptly scooped up the toddler, who gave a squeak of protest.

"I don't think we need to risk him bringing back any dark lords. Or worse..." The Black brothers looked at each other solemnly.

"...Mother."