"Toast?"

Esme hummed and nodded.

"Butter and jam?"

Esme nodded.

"Eggs?"

Esme hummed and nodded again.

Regulus raised his eyebrow at he watched the exchange over the top of his glass of orange juice. "You've got yourself a right little servant here, don't you, Esme?" He smirked slightly.

Esme didn't respond. Instead, her attention was completely tied to the book that was sat in her hands - Secrets of the Darkest Art.

It was her third time reading the book over and still she couldn't believe a word she was reading.

Regulus too had read the horcrux entry many times (doing his best to avoid reading the other contents of the book) and it had taken him a while to understand the complexity behind the dark magic.

Though, of course, they had told Piper they only had the book to research up on defended against hexes and curses in case they were attacked by Death Eaters.

"Oh, would you put that horrid book away already? I just hate looking at it." Piper grimaced as she caught sight of it out of the corner of her eye as she buttered a stack of toast.

She hummed again.

"Esme." Regulus stated.

This caught the girl's attention and she took a moment to look around before sighing, closing the book, and tucking at away under the table.

The three of them were sat on cushions on the floor around the small coffee table having breakfast together.

They had all been cooped up in the small flat for several months at that point, and the school year at Hogwarts had just come to an end - hiding out together and waiting to hear of any drastic news from Sirius. He would visit at least once a week to update them on what was happening in the Order and steal all of their food.

It was alright for Piper, as she was still working. But Esme and Regulus were starting to feel as if they were losing track of time as they rarely ventured outside, other than to go on a short walk around the hills.

The school year at Hogwarts had just ended and it would now be impossible for Antoinette to cover for Esme at home.

That meant that soon the Death Eaters would know she was missing and the first person they'd check on would be Regulus, who they'd discover was missing too. And that sure wouldn't look good.

"What's up?" Esme asked.

"Breakfast." Piper pushed the plate towards the girl opposite here, "There."

She pursed her lips tightly together the mumbled, "Oh, great. Um, thanks."

Regulus snorted quietly, "You're not hungry, are you?"

"Not... Not really."

"Water?" He offered, pouring a glass out and holding it out to here.

She took it, "Please and thank you."

Esme and Regulus' plan, for the time being, was relatively simple.

They didn't want to involve anyone in the horcrux fiasco as it would only risk their safety. If the Dark Lord found out the locket had been stolen, anyone who knew anything about it would be at risk.

Of course, explaining why they had both left school had been a little more difficult to lie about. Eventually they'd come up with the story that the Dark Lord had required Kreacher for a job the house elf hadn't been allowed to disclose to them and Regulus had feared the house elf was spying on him, so Esme had gone to make sure he was safe and the two of them had fled to safety.

What made it easy to spin was that the lie was not so far removed from the truth.

"Are you really sure you guys don't want to stay here?" Piper asked as she picked up the milk and juice in order to take them back to the kitchen.

Regulus shook his head, "No. It's really best we get to a proper safe house now they'll know for sure we're missing and not just at Hogwarts."

"It's definitely best we leave tonight - don't want to risk leading anyone here." Esme confirmed.

"Do you perhaps think..." Piper called back from the kitchen, "That all the time in here has made you two a little paranoid?"

Before Esme could climb to her feet and retort, there was a loud crack from behind some tall stacks of boxes on the other side of the room.

It was followed by a toppling of cardboard boxes and a sudden yelp.

"Ow! Did you do that on purpose?" A familiar voice complained.

"Yes, my plan this morning was to get hit in the head with a bunch of boxes. I sure am glad I succeeded." A different, still familiar, voice bitterly replied.

Esme didn't bother to turn around, but loudly announced, "It's about time you two bothered to turn up!"

"Delightful to see you, Avery, as always." Dirk Cresswell came into view, rubbing his side where he'd been hit by the corner of a box.

"I'd hope so." She hit back with a grin.

But it had been an age since the group had reunited, and it was such a relief to all of them to finally be in good company again.

"Long time no see." Levi greeted with a wicked grin as he patted the girl on the head.

Esme frowned, "You know, I'd almost forgotten what a wind up you are."

"My pleasure reminding you." He quipped.

"Oh I'd gotten so used to the peace and quiet without you two bickering." Regulus mumbled to himself as he picked up yesterday's newspaper.

Upon seeing the front cover of the Daily Prophet, Levi's attention immediately peaked and he went over to sit beside Regulus. "Did you see how Wigtown Wanderers did in their last match? We're on our way to the top!"

Regulus gritted his teeth together, narrowed his eyes, and then took a deep breath before declaring, "Esme's right - you really like to wind people up, don't you? Because, mate, nobody in their right mind could actually believe Wigtown Wanderers are the best!"

As Regulus and Levi suddenly dissolved into yet another debate bordering on argument about quidditch teams, Dirk sat down beside Esme, and Piper joined them.

"Thanks for covering for me at Hogwarts." Esme patted the boy on his arm as he nicked a piece of her toast and took a bite out of it.

"No problem." He responded, "You guys have been alright though, right?"

She nodded, "Yeah, fine. Everything is alright."

"If you ignore the fact that you've started talking aloud to the articles in the paper." Piper laughed lightly, then quickly changed the topic, "Anyway, Dirk, how did your exams go?"

He chuckled lightly, "Um, yeah, I think it was alright. Could have gone better."

"You say that every year." Esme tutted, "And every year you come out with the best marks."

"How did you do, Levi?" Piper asked, drawing the boy away from his heated discussion, "In the NEWTs?" She clarified.

"Shocking." He instantly replied, "I'll be thankful if I can get a pass in Muggle Studies - even given the fact I'm a halfblood and my dad works in muggle relations."

Esme let out a laugh, "Well at least you might be better of than Regulus and I. Or at least more qualified."

"Yeah but you could stick 'fought in a wizarding war' on your CV. All I could include is I slept in late a lot for classes, and watched loads of quidditch matches." He responded with a snicker.

"Oh, mentioning your dad reminded me." Dirk piped up, "About the Ministry."

"What is it?" Regulus asked, "Have they said what they're doing about the Dark Lord?"

Dirk cleared his throat before explaining, "I got a letter from one of the men I worked for whilst I was interning at the Ministry last summer. He said that officially, though it hasn't been published yet, the Aurors are specifically hunting down Death Eaters. They have a list of suspicious people and families that are now being put under watch."

Esme felt a lump rise up in her throat as she cast a quick glance over to Regulus opposite her.

"So that's it." She croaked out, "We really can't go back home. It's official."

Piper tried to comfort, "Well you don't know for sure your families are on that list."

"Please." Levi rolled his eyes, "Anyone with half a brain would know those kinds of families had some links to You Know Who."

"I mean... I guess we knew it wouldn't be a good idea to go home anyway. It's just a bit of a different thing to know for certain that we can't do it." Regulus admitted as his shoulders slumped down.

Then, almost on cue as to break the tension in the room, there was a gentle tap at the window in the kitchen.

"I'll get it." Regulus quickly climbed to his feet, hoping to get just a moment by himself to come to terms with the news. "It'll be the mail."

As he entered the kitchen, he briefly heard the conversation flitter towards what they were going to do now.

He closed the kitchens door behind him and took a heavy breath as he ran a hand through his hair.

Regulus was very much a home body and even though Grimmauld Place had never been that warm and comfortable safe haven for him, it had still been his home. It had still been where he was always trying to get to.

He unlatched the kitchen window and allowed the small grey owl to waddle across the window sill and onto the kitchen counter.

Untying the two letters from its ankle, he saw one small white envelope addressed to Esme in neat, black cursive writing.

Then the other letter was larger, black, and much more battered. On the back of it was Regulus' name... Scrawled in rushed bright red ink.