God Bless the Broken Road

James knocked on the door again. "I know she's home," he muttered to Ed. "I saw the curtains move."

A moment later, the door opened. A pale woman, a little younger than James, stood in front of them. Her hair was dark, her eyes coal black and haunted. James remembered the sparkle in her eyes on her wedding night, when she had danced with Regulus, and felt incredibly sorry for her. "Can I help you?" she asked softly.

"Mrs. Black?" Ed asked, confirming identities.

"Ha--Hall," the woman said shakily. "Oh, God, no one's called me that in years..."

Hall...not Simon Peter? James nudged Ed and took his place. "Mrs. Hall..." he tried, then shook his head. "No, I can't and won't call you that. Beckers?"

Ed raised an eyebrow, but the woman stared at him in astonishment. "James? But--"

"I know, I'm dead." James showed her his badge. "This is my partner, Detective Green. Could we talk to you for a minute?"

She hesitated, then stood aside. "Come on in...my husband is at work, so it should be all right."

"Your husband doesn't like detectives?" James asked with a frown.

"Simon Peter has several colourful adjectives to describe the long arm of the law in general. Aurors are his particular bane, but he won't tell me anything."

Ed took the seat he was waved into. "Mrs. Hall..."

"Please. Call me Becca." Becca grimaced slightly. "I don't know why I married him, except I was still hurting...now, gentlemen, what is it you wanted to ask?"

Ed took a deep breath. "Do you know a man named Kenneth Kissell?"

There was a sharp thunk from the wall. Becca looked at it nervously. "Kissell? It sounds familiar, but I can't place the face. I think he's a friend of Simon Peter's."

"All right, well, you let us know if you remember." James took a deep breath. "Beck, I have a couple of questions I need to ask you, and I need you to be as honest as possible. I know they'll be hard to answer, but I really need to know, okay?"

Becca opened her mouth, but just then a small, sleepy voice called, "Ma-ma?"

Becca turned, smiled a little sadly, and held out her arms. A small girl with reddish-brown hair and coal-black eyes toddled over from the door, dragging a pink blanket and rubbing her eyes. "Are you okay, baby?" Becca asked, scooping her up.

The girl nodded, resting her head on her mother's shoulder. "Uh-huh."

"This your daughter?" Ed asked.

Becca nodded, stroking the child's hair gently. "Yes, this is Caroline. Carrie, can you say hi to the detectives?"

"'I," Caroline said shyly, eyeing the detectives suspiciously. She looked up at her mother. "Ma-ma, Da-da go 'way?"

"No, baby," Becca soothed her daughter. "What makes you think Daddy's going away?"

"Da-da say 'tectives gonna take 'way," Caroline mumbled. "Say they come, 'e go 'ide, no come out."

"We're not here to take your daddy away," Ed assured her. "We just want to ask your mommy some questions."

Caroline studied him suspiciously, then popped her thumb into her mouth. "'Kay."

James smiled a little sadly. I wish she'd had that chance with Ellie. "Becca, I hate to ask it, but I've got to. Did Regulus try and leave the Death Eaters?"

Becca tightened her grip on her daughter and nodded. "They promised they could save Ellie...that's the only reason he joined. He didn't want to be part of it...I didn't want him to be part of it...but we'd have done anything to save our baby. But..." Her voice wobbled violently. "But Ellie d-died...August, 1980...just after your Harry was born. Regulus said he was going to leave...but first he was going to make them pay."

"Did he say how?" Ed asked.

"No...but I know when he did it. It was in September. Because that's when they killed him."

James leaned forward on his knees. "I know this is hard on you, Beckers, but just one or two more questions. Did he come home with a locket at any point?"

Becca frowned, then nodded. "Yes, yes, I remember it. He said it was a present...he looked sick, he was in bed three days, but he said it was important that I keep it hidden."

"Do you still have it?"

"Somewhere. Is it important?"

"I think so."

"If I find it, I'll get it to you. Where will you be?"

"I'm staying with the Weasleys. You can get in touch with me there." James stood; Ed and Becca did too. "Thanks again, Beckers. Take care of yourself." He gave a gentle tug on Caroline's pigtail; the little girl actually giggled. "If you see that brother of yours, tell him I said hello."

Becca turned pale again, but said only, "I will. See you later, James."

"Ciao."