Good morning/afternoon/evening/ungodly hour of the night, dear readers. I said I was working on some one-shots about a month ago, so I think it's time to post what I've got.

If you're new, and you haven't read The Forgone Trial, I'd recommend reading that first. If you have read my previous story or you're not going to follow my advice, I hope you enjoy.

Dawn was highly disappointed to learn that, despite its good reputation, A History of Magic was not a thrilling read. The tome might have been preferable to other textbooks, but it was not by any means light reading material.

That did not mean she would set it aside to gather dust. She was determined to soak up every drop of information on magic she could find. If that meant slogging through a dreadful book on a summer day, so be it.

Besides, getting through another chapter meant that she didn't waste a trip to St Mungo's.

Inter-dimensional diplomacy was taxing work—especially when she was being prodded by Ministry workers who wanted to figure out why she could brew a usable potion but not use a wand—but it provided Dawn with the perfect excuse to wander around Britain's magical community and potentially end up at the wizard hospital where an accidental acquaintance of hers was residing.

Her luck that day had run out, as Sirius was asleep when she arrived during visiting hours. She didn't have the heart to wake him up, so Dawn sat in a chair to read for the duration of her stay.

She had visited once before to confirm that Harry would be going to Alola for most of July to stay with his friend Moon. Sirius had been surprised by the offer, but he hadn't fought against it once Dawn assured him that his godson would be safe with the Alola Champion.

With July starting within the next few days and more work scheduled at the Ministry anyway, Dawn made the decision to visit the ex-convict. She was admittedly curious as to how he was faring. Ever since he quite literally dragged her into the conundrum that was his wrongful imprisonment, she'd been intrigued by the man. Sirius had emerged from twelve years in Azkaban relatively sane and had evaded Ministry capture until he revealed himself and his target that night in the Shrieking Shack. That was a feat that no one else could claim. If the Ministry's new training programs and defences were effective, he'd be the only one.

Dawn had gone through the chapter on witch burnings when she saw Sirius stir. It was subtle at first; his eyes briefly twitching; his wrists turning against the hospital bedsheets; his brow furrowing. When a hitched breath escaped his mouth, she began growing concerned. She reached out to him, her fingers grazing his arm when he recoiled as if burnt.

In hindsight, she should have known the man would be prone to nightmares. He had lived in one for twelve years, and while he of all people deserved a respite from constant torment, his mind was unlikely to allow it.

Dawn set her book aside, opening her purse and rifling through its contents until her fingers hooked around a length of string. She removed the object, letting the feather charm dangle from her hand for a moment before she laid it over the sleeping man's neck. The effect of the Lunar Wing was immediate, chasing away the nightmare and leaving behind a dreamless sleep.

It was another half-hour before Sirius woke up. Dawn was immersed in her book once again and didn't notice his eyes opening.

"When did you get here?" he asked, catching her attention. Dawn marked the place she was at and shut the book.

"Some time ago," she answered vaguely. "How are you feeling?"

"Fantastic," he replied flatly.

"For some strange reason, I don't believe you," Dawn said, folding her hands in her lap. Sirius grimaced, looking away from her and up at the ceiling.

"I didn't ask you to be here, or to believe me."

"If I didn't believe you, I wouldn't be here. Neither would you, for that matter."

He flinched. It was true, to an extent, that he would have been done for if Dawn hadn't stepped in when she did. On the other hand…

"You threatened to put me into a coma," he stated, meeting her eye again.

"Because it kept you from running before the truth got out," she replied. "Besides, you dragged me through a tunnel into that abandoned shack."

"Because you had the rat in that fancy purse of yours," Sirius said back.

"It appears to me that we have an even score, then," she said with an air of finality. Sirius stared at her, not saying anything, until he turned his gaze back to the ceiling.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"To see how you've been faring."

He waved his hand over the bed. "I'm alive. Not much more than that."

"You're upset," she stated.

"I'm sick of being here," he said. "Pretty sure a hospital's job is to keep people from getting too sick, but apparently I'm wrong about that."

"You need time to heal."

"I've wasted plenty of time being in places I didn't want to be," he said coarsely. "What I want to do is find a place to live, get my wand back, and go for a walk outside. Not be stuck in another room against my will."

"You're sick," Dawn said. "Not in the tired, you-despise-this sense, but literally physically and mentally ill sense. Don't attempt to claim otherwise," she said when Sirius opened his mouth to argue, "you've been surrounded by Dementors for over a decade. You were on the run for almost a year. You've hardly gotten the chance to have a decent meal or a proper night's rest in all that time."

"I tracked down the rat and evaded the whole damned Ministry," he muttered. "I survived all that… and they think I couldn't handle buying a house."

"You had a reason for doing all those things; you were motivated by the possibility of freedom," Dawn said slowly. "Everything else has been pushed to the side by that drive, but with Pettigrew in prison and your innocence proven, there's nothing keeping those things at bay. There's nothing motivating you now."

"There's Harry," Sirius countered.

"The reason you escaped in the first place was to make sure he was safe. You know he's safe now that Pettigrew is out of the picture."

"I promised him a place to live," he said. "Promised James… that I'd take care of him if anything happened…"

He was beginning to drift off. No matter how much he argued, the fact was that he was unwell and wouldn't be able to take care of himself, much less a child, until he was healed.

"No one's going to try and stop you from keeping those promises," she said. "But you won't be able to raise Harry unless you're well."

He laughed; a raspy, bark-like laugh. "And some bed rest and hot soup can cure twelve years in Azkaban, is that it?"

"It's certainly a step in the right direction. You need rest and some decent food to start getting better."

"Yeah, well, it's not like I'm getting either here," he said half-jokingly.

"I'll sneak something in next time," Dawn remarked, sliding the book into her purse and standing up. Confusion marred Sirius's face.

"Next time?"

"If you're fine with me visiting, of course," she said. "I believe visiting hours are almost over for today, and I do have some other places I need to be. I know today was a bit of a surprise—"

"Why did you come here?" he asked. "Why do you care what happens to me?"

She looked at him, meeting his eye cautiously, as if she were waiting for another reaction or outburst. When he didn't say anything more, she looked away.

"Interesting people are so rare nowadays," she commented. "I have to talk with the few I manage to find, do I not?"

Dawn slipped out of the room, her words echoing in the Animagus' ears. A slow, almost smug smile spread across his face. It dissolved when a flash of colour, completely out of place in the drab hospital room, caught his eye. He raised a hand to his neck and wrapped his fingers around the feather pendant.

He did not exactly know why, but he was compelled to slide the pendant over his head and around his neck. And when he did drift off to sleep, his dreams were free of the Dementors' lingering torment.

So things have been a bit crazy for the past month because I decided to switch what I'm studying in university, and I went from moderately paced classes to assignments due every week and labs for every class. On the plus side, I can honestly say that I'm not bored during the lectures and that I've gone from doodling in my notebook 75% of the time to only 35%.

On top of that, I have a few more story ideas bouncing around in my head, none of them related to TFT, and I've gotten more than 5000 words worked out for one of them. I don't know the direction I'm taking with it, however, so it's more of a writing exercise now than anything.

And I still don't know who to ship Moon with. I'm leaning towards one character but everything else is so tempting. Only thing I'm sure about is who I am not shipping her with. It's the shorter list at this point.