This wasn't easy for him. Sirius found that torture did not come naturally as it did to most of his family. It took mental and physical fortitude of an unusual nature. The act now weighed heavily upon his limbs and conscience. Ignoring the scattered screams of your childhood playmate is not something anyone expects to find himself doing.

Bella stood leaning against the wall, held up only by the manacles at her wrists. The light in her eyes was distant and fast fading. Even for one accustomed to random torture sessions at the hands of their lunatic leader, six nonstop hours was getting to be a bit much. He gave her another half hour of consciousness at best.

With her trapped as she was, he had all the time in the world. Upon entering this room, he had intended to use it to his full advantage. He had taken his time coming to this moment. Gotten it just the way he wanted. Hours had been devoted to the planning. He would grind his cousin into powder. When he had finished, there would be nothing left. She would finally feel the abandonment of all hope. That point was now almost upon them. For the barest second, he allowed himself to relax. A grievous mistake.

The curiosity that had been wrenching at his self control this entire time broke loose of his hold and demanded satiation.

He crossed the perhaps seven feet separating him from Bella with a relative slowness of gate. When he stopped, he was at a distance that would have brought them nose to nose had her head not been slumped slightly forward and to his left.

In response to the sudden proximity, his brain brought forward a long stuffed away memory. A ball; he was nearly twenty. He had quietly sneaked into the airy mansion of his childhood summers to see, for one last time, the girl who wouldn't leave his head.

He had found her and they had laughed and danced as of old. She seemed to be glowing and the sparkle in her eyes matched that of the brilliant new adornment on her ring finger. For Bella, life was about to begin. At that moment, his had seemed to be drawing rapidly to a close.

They had ended up, panting from the exertion of dancing, on a small moonlit balcony overlooking the copious roses and fountains that filled the mansion's gardens and the night air with a softness befitting evening's mood.

He took her hand and, with a slight jerk of his head towards the front gate, invited her to follow him to his new life in the attic apartment with leaking chimneys where he'd found not only meaning but, for the first time, a sense of power over his own fate.

For a long moment she stared straight into his eyes and then shook her head, ever so softly, with her eyebrows pushing together in the middle. She planted a soft kiss on his cheek and slipped back inside. Her hand grazed the other cheek, bringing it toward her as she left.

The memory fled as quickly as she had and he found himself leaning up against the woman that girl had become, hands resting on the wall at either side of her head. As distasteful as the position was, he found it conveyed the correct sense of tense urgency in which his next question ought to be delivered.

"Do you regret it?" He whispered hoarsely in her ear. Bella took in a tremulous breath.

"There is, in life, a moment, a decision, that everyone is forced to make. It sets them on the path they will follow for the rest of their days. You were there when I made mine. I must walk my path, wherever it leads" She answered, echoing his delivery.

"Then you do." A statement. "Why did you never correct it?"

"I wasnt even brave enough to follow you, much less forge a path of my own." She laughed mirthlessly. Her head was still pointed away from him. Sirius took her chin and forced her to look him in the eye. His eyes took on a new intensity as he abandoned his original end in favour of a half crazed new one.

"You still could." he said, taking care to let every word sink in. Bella's eyes widened, first in disbelief and then terror.

"Oh, no. You're going to end this cleanly. The fun is over and you've got the answer you were looking for." She paused to ascertain the effect of her words and, seeing none, went on " I've followed my path and intend to keep doing so. There will be no changing of hearts at the last moment. No teary reconciliations or prodigal returns. You're the hero. This is the part where you slay the villain and return to your loved ones."

Sirius continued to look dumbly into her eyes for another second before answering "They're right here." Bella looked even more frightened and continued to plead her case.

"What about Harry? Remus? I'm sure they'd forgive a lot but not welcoming a former Death Eater, who also happens to be your killer, into the fold."

Sirius gave a laugh and grabbed her face, causing her to simultaneously wince and push her head as far back into the wall as possible."But, darling," He gave her lips a quick peck "they don't even know I'm alive. I'd intended to deal with you and then go break the happy news of your death along with that of my return."

"What's to stop you from doing that right now?" Her voice was low and urgent. He both laughed and kissed her again before declaring.

"That was before I realized I'm still in love with you!"

"No, damnit!" Bella growled. "I want to die! You are going to stop this nonsense right this minute and send me on to heaven or hell. I don't care which!." She was cut short by the sudden weight her legs were forced to bear after the manacles disappeared. It proved to be too much for her weakened state and she collapsed, unconscious.

A grin spread over Sirius' face as he set about tending to the small injuries he had caused her person and laying plans for obtaining the aid he would need to deal with the larger ones.