It took a moment for Regulus' eyes to adjust to the bright light, but before he could even see he knew he was somewhere unfamiliar.

Somewhere he'd never been before.

He felt sick, as though his body had been thrown through the air like a rag doll. The past few seconds were a complete blur and his last clear memory was of Ignatius pointing his wand at him, and Esme suddenly grabbing onto his arm.

His hands reached out against the cold stone floor of wherever he was. Then he sensed movement beside him, but was not immediately alarmed.

At last, Regulus opened his eyes. He was first met with the dark grey floor that he was leaning over, and was now becoming uncomfortable under his knees. Slowly, he then turned his head to the side to see Esme clambering to her feet, with her wand in hand.

There was a sudden flash of worry through the boy, where he thought he should have his own wand drawn.

"Are you alright?" She asked him, holding out her empty hand for him to take.

"Um..." He looked around the grey room they were in as he was pulled up to his feet, and finally replied, "I'm good. What-where are we?"

Regulus noticed a large portrait of a young girl, only about twelve or thirteen, hanging on one of the walls. It was one of the enchanted paintings that moved and, judging by what the blonde girl was wearing, it was perhaps from the Victorian era.

Esme explained, "I have a vague idea, but I'm honestly not entirely certain."

The room was small and barely furnished except for the large painting, a single leather armchair and a small table beside it which was holding a small stack of leather-bound books and a glowing amber lamp.

On the opposite side of the room were a few steps leading up to a small wooden door - presumably to the outside.

"Why are we not back at the house?" He asked quietly.

Before Esme could answer, the door on the other side of the room opened and a very tall, slender man entered.

"But that can't be right..." Regulus whispered, his eyes opening wide with surprise and shock.

Esme put her wand away in her back pocket and greeted the man as if she knew him.

"Aberforth Dumbledore, yes?" She smiled at the man.

Regulus gulped, "Dumbledore?"

"Indeed." Aberforth nodded solemnly, then suggested, "Perhaps just Aberforth."

Regulus only nodded in response.

"Professor Dumbledore said we could come to you if we needed to." Esme stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "And I couldn't think of anywhere else to go just now."

Aberforth hummed knowingly.

All the while, Regulus was feeling more on edge that he'd been left out of the loop and he desperately wanted answers.

"When did Dum-Professor Dumbledore tell you that? Why aren't we back at the safe house."

"I-I tried to take us back there." She explained, "That was where I apparated us to first but Yaxley had grabbed my shoulder and he came with us and... Well then we couldn't stay there anymore and I panicked, not wanting to duel him, and brought us here."

Regulus gulped. His hands were starting to shake again as the adrenaline coursing through his veins was wearing off. Ignatius had tried to kill him. Esme had saved him. They were now... In Aberforth Dumbledore's house?

One thing was for certain, life with Esmerelda was never dull.

"Are you alright?" Esme leant in to ask him quietly, taking ahold of his hand to stop his fingers from trembling.

He mumbled, "Still alive, aren't I?"

She nodded, "Hm, yes, I'm glad you noticed."

"Tea?" Aberforth offered, pulling his wand out and giving it a flick, causing a steaming tea pot to float into the room and settle down on the table.

Esme shook her head, drawing the conversation back to what they had needed to discuss much sooner. "I still haven't heard from Du-Albus. We don't know what's happened at Godric's Hollow."

"But we can't go back." Regulus sighed, "And we don't know if Dirk got to Sirius. We don't know anything."

Her expression softened, "Huh, I guess we're really out of the loop. I don't like it. I've got a bad feeling."

Aberforth had poured himself a cup of tea, and sat down in his arm chair as he spoke softly, "It is perhaps best if the two of you recharge for a bit. There's nothing either of you can do in such a state. My brother is aware of it."

"Aware of what?" Esme asked.

"He got your message." Aberforth clarified.

Esme and Regulus both frowned. "Then where was he?" He asked, "Why wasn't he there? Do you know what's going on?"

"I don't understand anything my brother does." Aberforth replied.

But much later that night, as Esme sat up awake in the dark, she couldn't get this nagging feeling to stop. The constant pestering. This thought. It wasn't a good thought.

Albus Dumbledore was aware. Aware?

Of what? If he'd gotten the message from Esme's patronus, then why hadn't he turned up at Godric's Hollow?

Had he gone there later? But, why?

"Regulus..." She tapped the boy lay asleep beside her, "Reg!" She hissed.

"Hm?" He sleepily responded, rolling over and pulling the duvet over his head.

She prodded him again, "Reg!"

"Yes, yeah, hm." He mumbled, "I'm-I'm awake. Er... What is it?"

She explained, "Something's just occurred to me and I can't get it out of my head. What if I'm right? I need you to listen and then tell me I'm wrong."

"Alright, you're wrong." Regulus sighed.

"What? No. Wake up!" She complained, "You haven't even heard it yet."

Slowly, his head emerged from under the covers and he tiredly rubbed his eyes open before sitting up. "Okay, I'm up. What is it?"

"I think Dumbledore deliberately didn't go to Godric's Hollow." She admitted quietly.

This immediately wiped away any dreariness still lingering over Regulus as his eyes widened and he asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Aberforth said he got our message. So why wasn't he there? I can only think of one reason." Esme whispered.

"Which is?"

"Do you remember the prophecy?"

He frowned slightly in thought, "The one Snape overheard? About a boy born at the end of July? I know that, that's why the Potters went into hiding."

"No." She shook her head, "Not that bit. The Dark Lord will mark him as his equal. There are two boys that fit the requirements, and the Dark Lord would choose which of them is his equal. Nobody else could do that, only the Dark Lord."

Regulus was struggling to follow along as he questioned, "I don't know what your getting at."

Esme massaged her temples as she at last explained, "The Dark Lord is the only one who can mark his own equal. I think... Perhaps... It's possible that Dumbledore wouldn't interfere with the Dark Lord because this... This selection of the chosen one had to be made."

A terrible fear now tightened its grip on Regulus as he shivered in the cold. He'd been so ready to tell Esme that she was just thinking the worst of people and being overly critical but... It made sense.

"I don't..." He couldn't get out his words.

Esme grumbled, "I'm wrong, aren't I? I've just missed something."

"I think we need to go back to Godric's Hollow." Regulus said.

She frowned at this, her eyebrows furrowing as she asked, "What do you mean? W-when?"

"Now." He stated, "I think you're right. There's every chance that Dumbledore would let the Dark Lord go to Godric's Hollow to do whatever needed to be done."

"But if it's a prophecy, what can we do to stop it?" She thought.

But that didn't matter. Whether they could make a difference or not was irrelevant, because they needed to try.

"It doesn't matter." Regulus shook his head as he said, "We can't let Lily and James be put in harm's way just because of a prophecy. It isn't okay."

"I know. You're right." Esme agreed, "Let's go back then. We'll figure something out."

He then asked, "Do we tell Aberforth?"

"No." Esme replied, "But I do need to put shoes on before we go."

"Hm," Regulus hummed as he got up to his feet, "I don't really fancy coming face to face with the Dark Lord whilst in pyjamas."