Chapter Forty Two: Nocturnally

22 December, 1982

"Sirius, are you sure it's a good idea?"

Marlene's voice was heavy with concern and uncertainty, but Sirius paid no mind and simply continued walking. There was nothing else he could do anyway. They had discussed and come to a decision, and now they were too far in to back away. A nagging sensation in his mind agreed with Marlene, kept telling him to return, but he shut it down forcefully. He was certain he was doing the right thing, and he wouldn't let anyone, not even himself, change his mind.

He has given much thought to the plan, and he couldn't see anyway it could go wrong. Upon his instructions Nathan has attended a meeting, assuring the Order members that Sirius and his sister were okay, and were only absent because Marlene was down with a nasty food poisoning and Sirius was looking after her. Dumbledore had instructed a small group of the members to perform a guerilla attack in one of the death eaters' hiding places, on this very day. Right now, they were probably trekking through the hillsides to unleash a surprise attack on the enemy, but Sirius doubted it would be a surprise. Somehow, he was absolutely certain that they would be met with failure once again.

If his plans were accurate, then more than likely the death eaters would be focused on taking down the guerrilla groups, and their sneak attack at Diagon Alley would be met with little to no resistance. This place was a favourite haunting place of most of the death eaters, the reason being their supplies of resources, especially food. They had taken over parts of Diagon Alley the first chance they had got, their plan being to starve their enemies out. It was working quite well. Only the few blood traitors from the Sacred Twenty Eight families, like himself, had kept the process slowed down, thanks to their immense wealth, given that they had managed to get their hands on some.

However, even Sirius wasn't conceited enough to think that the three alone would be capable of winning a battle, and thus, he had persuaded a few other of their friends to come along, or rather, Gillian did. At the current moment, they too, were somewhere in Diagon Alley, performing their secret attacks on unsuspecting death eaters.

"It's eerily quiet," Nathan said as he came up to stand beside him, though he wasn't able to see him due to the disillusionment charm they had applied on themselves. Sirius silently agreed, allowing his eyes to roam over the place he'd visited so many times before, whether to buy his books or just to grab an ice cream with his friends. It has always been full of life, students chattering happily among themselves and running from one shop to another. It was heart breaking to see the change – with the shops shut and the owners peeking out through the windows with fearful looks in their faces, eyes lighting up momentarily as one or two people passed by their shops, hoping to get one visitor. Only those who provided no potential threat to the death eaters were able to roam the place freely, though they had to go through security checks in order to enter.

Thankfully, the number of death eaters were low today, as Sirius had anticipated, and they were easily able to take down the two at the entrance without attracting enough attention. Not that they posed any threat either – Voldemort wouldn't ask the strongest of his followers to do a job as fickle as guarding the gates.

"So, Knockturn Alley first," Nathan stated, making sure of their plans, though they had been over it countless times before. Sirius nodded, then remembered that he was invisible.

"Yes, Knockturn Alley." He continued to trudge down the deserted street, and could feel Marlene and Nathan's presence on either side of him. Soon, they were in front of a narrow, very dark alley, and they all stopped simultaneously.

"Gillian should be inside by now," Marlene spoke in a whisper, the darkness before them somehow making the situation seem ten times as dangerous as it really was. Sirius wholeheartedly believed in his plan, and he believed that it was going to work.

"Yes. Let's get in."

Unlike Diagon Alley, Knockturn Alley was far more guarded and secured, though despite the largeness of each of the guard's physique, he didn't feel intimidated. They weren't death eaters, they were simply their lapdogs meant to do their bidding in exchange of not getting slaughtered. Sirius doubted they were able to perform a simple disarming charm effectively.

The three walked into the shadows and hid themselves, despite the disillusionment charms on them. Somehow, it felt to Sirius that the pressing darkness would be able to reveal them, and when Marlene suggested that they apply the charm on them again, he knew she was thinking the same.

They waited for their signal to arrive, though they weren't sure what it would actually be. Gillian and the others were supposed to provide a distraction so that they would be able to accomplish their task with ease, and Sirius kept his eyes on the sky, expecting sparks of some sort.

The sparks didn't come, but the signal did alright. Suddenly there was a commotion at the other end of the alley, far into the darkness so that it was impossible to see. But it was quite clear that something was happening, and the lapdogs noticed it too. They exchanged glances with each other, before running off in that direction, wands out and ready. The sparks arrived now, but the three were already out in the opening, muttering "Lumos" and getting rid of their disillusionment charms.

There were numerous shops here and none looked anything like the ones in Diagon Alley. Dark artefacts occupied the shelves by the windows and lamps with a greenish glow lit the inside of the shops, adding to the eeriness of the place. It was known fact that this was a favourite place of the death eaters, and any permanent damage would bring down a tremendous doom upon them.

Sirius licked his lips as he headed down the alley. On one side was Borgin and Burke's, and he could see the door was shut and curtains drawn. It was rumoured to hold all of the Dark magic and products ever produced by wizardkind, and it was what they were targeting.

But they couldn't ignore the smaller shops either.

Sometime later, a few shadows emerged stealthily out of the darkness, and Sirius knew them to be Gillian and her friends. Nods were exchanged, and immediately they dispersed into smaller groups, each taking a different shop. Sirius and Marlene went over to Borgin and Burke's.

A very narrow lane led into the back of the shop and that was where they went. The back was even darker, if it was possible, and their spell did next to nothing to eliminate the darkness. They crouched down on the ground and extinguished the light, plunging them into an abysmal blackness.

But they didn't mind because soon, the place would be lit up more brilliantly than the wizarding world has seen in a long time.

❇

i hope their plans succeed