"REGULUS! NO!"

Sirius had launched himself over the table the moment he realized what he'd done, but it had been too late, his grasp - intended to grab onto his brother - had grabbed onto empty air and he had simply landed on his chest splayed across the table with two plates of eggs and bacon and kectchup smeared on him.

"Shit!" Remus had yelled, jumping up as well, eyes wide, and Marlene stared in shock and horror at the place at the table Regulus had been, while Peter, too, had scrambled to turn and grab hold of him, but, like Sirius, had missed.

"NO!" Sirius screamed, "NO!"

There was a ringing silence.

"Bloody fuck fuck fucking hell fuck no shit no, fuck!" Sirius cried, he looked at Remus, "Where'd he go!?"

"I don't know!" Remus shouted.

"What do we do! What do I do? We have to save him! I have to - I - What do I do!?" 

"I don't know!" Remus shouted louder.

Sirius's voice was shrill, "HOW DO I HELP HIM IF I DUNNO WHERE HE WENT?!?!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Remus's voice was climbing, too.

Peter stared at the empty space at the table.

Everything had descended downward from there - because there was nothing to do, there was no where to go, no clues or hints left behind, and Sirius freaked out because he just wanted to go and DO something, to help, but there was no way to know what to do or where to go and the longer he didn't do something, the more anguished and panicked he became. Remus didn't know what to say to comfort him, there didn't seem to be anything to say, really, and he wouldn't hold still long enough to hug him or touch him, and a sort of manic frenzy seemed to set into him.

"He doesn't have his wand, doesn't have his wand, what do you do when you don't have your wand before the Dark Lord? You die, that's what. You're annihilated. You're dead. You're destroyed. You - He can't even disapparate. He can't call for help. There's nothing to be done, he can't do anything. He's alone. On his birthday. He's just a kid. He's my brother. I just got him back. I just got him back and now he's gone. He's good as gone. He has no wand. No defense... No wand, no wand... What do you do when you don't have your wand...?"

Marlene paced, too, and she offered to go and get Emmaline and Frank and Alice and anyone else that could be mustered, but Remus said to wait until they knew what was happening. After all, alarming everyone would only mean that they were there to worry the same as the four of them were - and they could do no more than they were anyway.

Peter sat on the couch staring at the fire in the floo with vacant, worried eyes, his face extremely pale. 

Remus wanted answers on what the perimeters of such magic were - if there was anything to be learned by figuring out what kind of spell Voldemort had cast that would make his followers forcibly disapparate to him at the sound of his name. Could it happen to anyone or did one need to bear the Dark Mark? How dangerous was this? He took a stack of books from the shelf, and began his search.

In Godric's Hollow, Lily and James were in the backyard, the snow falling down quiet over the field - but they were anything but quiet. "Potter's got the Quaffle, but Potter is on her tail - he's knocked it out of her hands and the crowd goes nutter! What's Potter going to do! Potter takes the quaffle, headed for Potter's rings and Potter scoooooores!!!!!!!!" 

"Your commentary is quite confusing now that we've got the same last name," Lily laughed.

"But it sounds ruddy brilliant, doesn't it?" James laughed. He threw the quaffle they were playing with to her through the air and she swooped her broomstick down to catch it. "I could say it all day long and not get tired of it."

"What does that make our score, then?"

"I dunno, you're winning, though, I reckon."

"You've made quite a few very impressive shots, though, you must've overtaken me by now," Lily said. Her nose was pink from the cold.

"As I said, I'm not keeping score, really."

Lily threw the quaffle back to James and landed the broomstick, taking a time out. She rubbed her palms together as she tried at warming up her hands, holding her broomstick with her knees. "Blimey it's cold," she said.

"What d'you expect on Christmas day?" James landed beside her and walked up and took her hands in his. "You are cold. Maybe we should go inside and call it quits. Warm up... by the fire... under the tree..." he stepped closer, staring into Lily's eyes suggestively.

Lily grinned. "Under a Christmas tree! James Potter, that's very --" she stopped mid sentence, and a funny look came on her face. She touched her nose and her hands slid over her mouth and along her jawline.

"Evans?"

She winced.

"Lily?"

Her palm went out and she caught herself on James as her knees went out. "Oh," she murmured. Then, "Oh!" Her fingers balled to fists in James's coat.

"Evans, what's on? What's happening?"

"I - I don't know, I feel... Gods it's so weird a feeling. I feel..." She stopped talking, staring vacantly. "Something is wrong with Regulus, but I don't - I don't know what."

"Shall we go and check on him?"

Lily tilted her head, her eyes moved as though searching her mind, as though trying to place what she was feeling. There was pain, but there was more of -- of defiance? More of an argumentive feeling than anything. There was little or even no fear. She shook her head. "I - I don't know. This isn't like the other night, I --" she paused, closing her eyes. "I don't know, I could feel him so much better just a moment ago, and - well now the feeling's going away."

She looked at James in confusion.

James laughed, "Perhaps him and Sirius have had a row."

"Maybe that's it."

"You know how those two are."

"Yes, that's true," Lily laughed nervously.

"Remember when Sirius slammed his foot in the door and they had a right old fight over whether Regulus's foot was off or not? It's probably something like that, yeah?"

"Yeah," Lily said, though she still felt confused about what she'd felt.

"C'mon Evans," James said, "We're supposed to be forgetting about stuff. Remember? And they're probably just being brothers having a row. They'll have forgotten all about it by the time we next see them. C'mon, let's get inside and get you warmed up, 'ey?" He winked.

The feeling was faded almost completely now, and so Lily nodded and let James lead her inside, ignoring the feeling and letting herself fall back into their own little world, leaving the anguish outside.

Sirius had fallen silent by midafternoon, simply sitting in the corner of the room hugging his knees and rocking himself. Remus had sat beside him with one hand on his back and the other turning pages of his book as he searched, a stack of them beside him that he'd already gone through. Peter still sat on the couch, having only gotten up once or twice to pace around the room and return back to his perch. Marlene was drinking tea cups of firewhiskey, watching the clock and stealing nervous glances back at Sirius and Remus and biting on her lower lip.

There came a knock at the door.

Every single one of their heads snapped up to look at it at the same time and Remus took out his wand and stood up. Marlene followed suit, and so did Peter. Remus walked 'round the coffee table and up to the door and peered out the side of the little curtain that hung in front of the window in the door, and, seeing who it was, he opened it up and let Gideon and Fabian Prewett inside.

Sirius stared wild-eyed at them.

The twins had solemn faces.

"Hi you lot," Gideon murmured. It was the most serious any of them had ever seen the Prewetts, who generally kept a joyful tone even in the midst of the worst of moments. Even the time that they'd taken the lot of them in for flying illegal vehicles over London - even then, the Prewetts hadn't been as solemn as this. 

"Hullo," Remus said.

Fabian spotted Sirius and a pained expression came upon his face. "D'you already know, then?"

"Know?" Remus asked, glancing at Sirius, then back to Fabian, "We've had a bit of a rough morning..."

Gideon said, "Were you lot involved?"

"Involved?"

"In what happened to Regulus?" Gideon asked.

Remus's face paled.

"I don't reckon they know Gideon," Fabian said. 

Gideon took a deep breath, "Sirius we need you to - to come and -" he stopped.

Fabian said, "Sirius, your brother's just been brought to the Ministry."

Sirius's eyes flashed as he leaped to his feet and ran over hurriedly, nearly tripping on the coffee table in his haste. "To the Ministry? Is he alright then?! You have him? We can get him out! I have proof he's innocent, whatever he did - I - I'll vouch for him, I'll --"

Fabian shook his head sadly. "No... Sirius..."

Gideon put his hands on Sirius's shoulders and looked him directly in the eyes. "Sirius, it's his body what's been brought in."

Sirius stared back into Gideon's face. 

Remus's eyes closed as he absorbed the blow of the meaning and Marlene's hands had flown up to cover her mouth. Peter's jaw dropped.

"What do you mean his body?" Sirius's voice was calmer than it had been all day.

"Sirius, I'm so sorry," Fabian said, and he glanced at Gideon, the pair of them sharing a meaningful look before Fabian continued, "Sirius, I'm sorry, but your brother is - he's dead."