The Other Snape

Chapter 21

"No," Sirius whispered, thumbing the name, "He died...trying to stop Voldemort."

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"Stop him?" asked Ron, "But he was a Death Eater!"

"Regulus was my friend," Amelia said quietly, "He knew what he was doing. Well, as much as any Black knows what he or she is doing. Some purebloods weaseled their way into Voldemort's inner circle and tried to stop him from the inside. Regulus was one of those people. He found out Voldemort's secret before anyone else. Then he stupidly died without telling me anything!"

She stomped her foot in frustration.

Hermione opened her mouth, but someone beat her to what she was going to say.

"Lunch," said Mrs. Weasley's voice.

She was holding her wand high in front of her, balancing a huge tray loaded with sandwiches and cake on its tip. She was very red in the face and still looked angry. Everyone was a bit apprehensive, but still hungry, so they went and got food. Except for Harry, Sirius, and Amelia

Amelia sat down by the Family Tree and put her head down.

"There's Phineas Nigellus . . . my great-great-grandfather, see? Least popular headmaster Hogwarts ever had . . . and Araminta Meliflua . . . cousin of my mother's . . . tried to force through a Ministry Bill to make Muggle-hunting legal . . . and dear Aunt Elladora . . . she started the family tradition of beheading house-elves when they got too old to carry tea trays . . . of course, anytime the family produced someone halfway decent they were disowned. I see Tonks isn't on here. Maybe that's why Kreacher won't take orders from her — he's supposed to do whatever anyone in the family asks him. . . ."

"You and Tonks are related?" Harry asked, surprised. He felt like he heard these things before but couldn't grasp them fully.

"Oh yeah, her mother, Andromeda, was my favorite cousin," said Sirius, examining the tapestry carefully. "No, Andromeda's not on here either, look —"

He pointed to another small round burn mark between two names, Bellatrix Black and Narcissa Black.

"Andromeda's sisters are still here because they made lovely, respectable pure-blood marriages, but Andromeda married a Muggleborn, Ted Tonks, so—" Sirius mimed blasting the tapestry with a wand and laughed sourly. Harry, however, did not laugh; he was too busy staring at the names to the right of Andromeda's burn mark. A double line of gold embroidery linked Narcissa Black with Lucius Malfoy, and a single vertical gold line from their names led to the name Draco Malfoy.

"You're related to the Malfoys!"

"The pure-blood families are all interrelated," said Sirius. "If you're only going to let your sons and daughters marry purebloods your choice is very limited, there are hardly any of us left. Molly and I are cousins by marriage and Arthur's something like my second cousin once removed. But there's no point looking for them on here — if ever a family was a bunch of blood traitors it's the Weasleys."

But Harry was now looking at the name to the left of Andromeda's burn: Bellatrix Black, which was connected by a double line to Rodolphus Lestrange.

"Lestrange . . ." Harry said aloud. The name had stirred something in his memory; he knew it from somewhere, but for a moment he couldn't think where, though it gave him an odd, creeping sensation in the pit of his stomach.

"They're in Azkaban," said Sirius shortly. Harry looked at him curiously. "Bellatrix and her husband Rodolphus came in with Barty Crouch, Junior," said Sirius in the same brusque voice. Amelia looked up at the last name, eyes shining with tears, but looked back down again, obscuring her face. "Rodolphus's brother, Rabastan, was with them too."

And Harry remembered: He had seen Bellatrix Lestrange inside Dumbledore's Pensieve, the strange device in which thoughts and memories could be stored: a tall dark woman with heavy-lidded eyes, who had stood at her trial with a proud stance, her chin propped up like any pureblood.

"You never said she was your —"

"Does it matter if she's my cousin?" snapped Sirius. "As far as I'm concerned, they're not my family. She's certainly not my family. Not anymore. I haven't seen her since I was your age unless you count a glimpse of her coming into Azkaban. D'you think I'm proud of having relatives like her?"

"Sorry," said Harry quickly, "I didn't mean — I was just surprised, that's all —"

"It doesn't matter, don't apologize," Sirius mumbled at once, looking at Amelia, his hands deep in his pockets.

"Don't try to apologize, Sirius," Amelia said, her voice muffled by her shirt. Honestly, how did these two know each other? Everyone had always said that Amelia was a Dark Witch and Sirius...just wasn't.

"It's ideal for headquarters, of course," Sirius said. "My father put every security measure known to Wizard-kind on it when he lived here. It's Unplottable, so Muggles could never come and call — as if they'd have wanted to — and now Dumbledore's added his protection, you'd be hard put to find a safer house anywhere. Dumbledore's Secret-Keeper for the Order, you know — nobody can find headquarters unless he tells them personally where it is — that note Moody showed you last night, that was from Dumbledore. . . ." Sirius gave a short, barklike laugh. "If my parents could see the use it was being put to now . . . well, my mother's portrait should give you some idea. . . ."

He scowled for a moment, then sighed.

"Harry, you remember this, don't you?" Amelia asked, her voice muffled by her shirt.

"A bit," Harry said, "Why do I even—"

"Hurry it, you three," Mrs. Weasley called, "or there will be no more food. Then we must get back to cleaning."

"Ugh, honestly," Amelia groaned quietly when Mrs. Weasley left, "Can't we just wait for 'Cissa to come here and clean the place up?"

"She doesn't know about this place, idiot," Sirius answered.

Amelia scoffed, "Reggie said it better."

A/N: Regulus and Amelia's friendship is my lifeeeee.