Chapter 1
"Another Morning" Sirius said, as he awoke to find himself in his childhood room. Nothing about it had changed. The permanent stick charm had kept all of his posters and photos up. He lay staring at the Griffindor banner on his ceiling wondering if there is any point in getting up.
Sirius had been back at Grimmauld place for a few weeks and it was already driving him mad. Every object, smell, and sound he heard in that house only made it worse. Reminding him of his horrible family.
Slowly he was getting rid of it all. Not fast enough for him. It seemed all he did now was clean and yell at his house elf, Kreacher.
Before he could lock himself in his misery there was a knock at the door and Remus Lupin poked his head in the door.
"Morning" Remus said as cheerful as possible. "It's half past noon, Dumbledore would like a word."
Sirius sighed. At least now he had a reason to get up. He put on the dirty robes he had worn the day before and followed Remus down to the kitchen.
Dumbledore stood by the counter, wearing violet robes and his usual friendly smile. "Afternoon," Dumbledore said with a chuckle at Sirius's bed head. "Some tea, maybe" With a wave of his wand, a mug full of steaming hot tea flew into Sirius's hand.
"Thanks" Sirius said, taking a swig, letting it burn his throat. "You wanted to speak to me"
"Yes. I did Indeed." Dumbledore looked more serious now. He took a sip of his earl gray tea, sorting out his words. Dumbledore knew this subject would upset him. "After your daring escape from Azakaban..." He smiled, "Well I don't need to tell you what a fit the ministry was in."
"No you don't," Sirius said darkly.
"Yes well, the ministry wanted someone to blame…for the publics' sake…So they choose the person that was closest to you."
Sirius didn't understand what he meant at first. Then…how could he have forgotten. The women he thought he had lost forever. The reason he didn't let Azakaban drive him into madness. Connie.
Dumbledore sat silently, letting Sirius lose himself in the last memory he had of her. In Azakaban this memory often haunted him. The look on Connie's face when he was sentenced to life, he remembered watching her heartbreak as they took him away. She had pushed her way though the crowd grabbed his arm and whispered, "What am I suppose to do without you?"
Sirius turned to hug her. A dementor grabbed his shoulder with a decaying hand. He instantly broke into a cold sweat. He tried to shake the hand off.
Connie reached for him as ministry members pulled her back.
"Sirius! No!"
"Connie!" He yelled, pushing the dementor hand off, with an overwhelming feeling of despair.
He collapsed and Connie kicked the person holding her in the shin. He released her and she kneeled by Sirius.
She lifted his chin. "Sirius…"
He took Connie's face in his hands. "I love you."
She threw his arms around him, as hands came down on them. "I love you too, Sirius, don't ever forget that."
Sirius held on her hand as they were torn apart.
Barty Couch strode forward. "What's the problem?" The spell hit their hands and they let go.
Dumbledore gently cleared his throat waking him from his memory. "She's been in hiding" He continued.
"In hiding?" Sirius asked, "Where has she been hiding?"
"With a friend in Italy," Dumbledore said, casually. "She's had a lot of trouble, not getting caught. She's not an anamagus like you. But she'll be staying here now."
Sirius took a deep breath. "Of course, she has to stay here." He said thinking it over. He'd often thought of seeing her again but now he didn't know what to expect. Would he still love her? Have they changed too much to love again? Sirius drank the rest of his tea. He would have to wait to get his answers.
