Upside Down Mirror: Granger Yet

Intruding

The last place on earth Sirius Black wanted to be was number twelve Grimmauld Place.

The moment he stepped into the front foyer of the Black family ancestral home, Walburga Black screamed at him, yet she wasn't even physically there. Instead, what yelled at him was a giant portrait of her instead while his mind contemplated how he might rid himself of the monstrosity.

"Why do I have the feeling she used the Permanent Sticking Charm on that thing just to spite me?"

"Because it's what you would do?" Remus retorted from behind him as they headed up the stairs as Sirius explained rather dramatically the horrors of his childhood home as they inspected each room. Sirius didn't need to look over his shoulder to know Remus was smirking at him, his best friend's amusement being evident from his tone of voice.

He also didn't like the implication. "I'm nothing like her."

They continued up carefully inspecting each room, slowly proceeding from the ground floor, up past the drawing-room with the horrendous tapestry where they took a quick peek in so Sirius could make some lukewarm comments regarding the blasted thing while his eyes took in the changes which occurred since he was last there—the additional faces including his own blasted off along with the dates of death.

Passing by his parent's old room, Sirius quipped some more snark not hiding his disdain for the two as they headed up while avoiding discussion at the ground level as they headed past the study about how he might find Regulus lurking there, a book too large for the youngest Black perched in his lap, engrossed in whatever Dark Arts the book contained.

Up and up they went Sirius, taking in the peeling wallpaper from the walls along with the cobwebs. There wasn't a sign of life, except for Kreacher peeking out from the stairwell on the ground floor leading down into the kitchens which resulted in Sirius ordering Kreacher to not bother him. They arrived at the top floor.

"And here we are, where the Black family kept the children out of sight and out of mind except for when I blared my music loudly. Regulus, on the other hand, was always good at being out of sight," Sirius started, looking at the sign over the door declaring Regulus didn't want anybody entering his room without permission. "And the attic is of course further up. Nothing else to see, so let's head back downstairs."

"We aren't going to inspect these rooms?"

Sirius turned around and started heading downstairs. "I can't imagine the old hag wanting to step foot in my room let alone tarnish the sanctum of her precious little prince."

A loud thud from one of the rooms made Sirius stop a couple of steps down. His entire body stiffened up, but then his mind registered which room the sound came from. He turned on the steps and headed towards Regulus' room. Without hesitation, he reached for the door, yanking it open.

There, in the room was an unexpected intruder which made Sirius feel angry. Taking a deep breath, Sirius pulled back his fist and swung full force into the stranger's face, knocking them back onto their bottom.

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my brother's room?"

The person in question looked at him, confusion reflected in their familiar-looking silver-gray eyes as they wiped his mouth where Sirius hit him. Their nails were black and they dressed in black, including a black choker, yet even more strange was the young man's hair which was clipped at the side with two silver hair clips and braided on the right.

They didn't respond. "I asked you, who the hell you are!"

The person in question lowered their hand from their mouth, their confusion turning to a steady glare directed at Sirius before he replied with, "None of your bloody business."

Sirius fumed. Without thinking, he reached down, grabbed the intruder by the front of their long-sleeved black shirt, and started dragging them out of the room past Remus who was still looking at the spot where the stranger landed when Sirius slugged them. "Out! Out of my house!"

"Your house?" The person sounded skeptical of what Sirius said as they continued to glare, though now they didn't look him in the eye and instead at the walls of Grimmauld place as Sirius pulled them down the stairs. He felt them stumble slightly as he continued down the stairs, though Sirius honestly didn't care.

"You heard me. My house." Sirius stated as they arrived at the third floor where the stranger looked over towards where the master bedroom was, their facial features softening slightly. They opened their mouth as if they wanted to say something, only for Sirius to start down the next flight of stairs, pulling them with him while still pointing his wand at their throat.

"Sirius," Remus called out from above, yet the way he spoke indicated he thought Sirius was overstepping or doing something which would lead to trouble later on down the line.

Sirius ignored him and continued down the stairs to the second floor with the stranger, angry at how they had suddenly appeared in Regulus' room. "Of all the places."

"What?" the person asked.

"None of your damn business!" Sirius snapped back, parroting what the intruder said earlier. "Of all the places, he had to land in Regulus' old room." Sirius ground his teeth together and his hand gripping the other man's arm tightened around his arm as they headed now down the stairs from the second to first floor.

"You're hurting me," the other person said, not that Sirius cared given the fact they intruded upon Regulus' old room, a place even he didn't want to touch even though he'd always hated the green Regulus chose to decorate his room in.

"Do you think I care?" Sirius snapped, tightening his grip even more and moving his wand into the intruder's neck as he continued down the stairs while Remus called out to him again. Arriving finally on the ground floor, he shoved the person slightly. "As I said, get out of my house!"

The person stumbled slightly, then turned to look Sirius in the eye. Their eyes watered slightly, their mouth forming a slight pout while they grabbed onto their left arm which hung limply at his side with their right arm. "I got it! I got it! I'm not wanted!"

The intruder let go of their arm and reached out for the doorknob of Grimmauld Place as Remus called out. "Sirius. Wait. I don't think..."

Before Remus could say he didn't think it was a good idea, the person touched the doorknob and pulled their hand back as if the doorknob burned them. Sirius watched them turn over their right hand so they could stare at the minor burns which appeared on their fingertips. Their eyes widened in horror.

"No. No, no, no!" The person sucked in their breath, the panic they were in quite obvious, yet Sirius didn't care.

Not until there was a rather loud bang that knocked the person backward making their head hit the ground hard, but the sound of the bang—Sirius looked at the young man as he let out a groan. "Did you just try to apparate out of here?"

The person let out a humming sound which sounded like an affirmative while Sirius continued looking down at them. They lifted their right hand up to touch the back of their head while looking completely dazed while they didn't move their left arm. Sirius started, then hesitantly reached out to touch the doorknob, with one finger then grasped the entire knob, only for nothing to happen.

"Remus?"

"Yeah..." Remus reached out and did the same thing. "Nope. Just him."

"He's an intruder?" Sirius looked down at the person, his eyes wide.

"I don't..." Remus frowned. "His wand."

Sirius' eyes blinked, remembering he'd not made sure the person didn't still have their wand. "Was that what you were trying to tell me? That they still had their wand?"

"No. They dropped it, and I picked it up, but..." Remus held out his hand in which he held the intruder's wand.

Sirius sucked in his breath, the negative feelings which boiled up from someone intruding into his dead brother's room growing as did his hate for the person in front of him.