Chapter 2 – What now remains
June 1995
A loud crack sounded behind Ariana's back. She whirled around, wand at the ready to maim a potential threat, but it's just Nymphadora Tonks.
"Tonks, could you not scare me like that?"
One look at Tonks' colourless face warned Ariana that her world was about to collapse around her.
"Ariana... Sirius is at the Burrow... I know you two have history..."
She couldn't hear Tonks complete her sentence; she only heard a loud ringing, as if a bomb had just gone off nearby. A metaphorical bomb did just drop. Sirius Black, the convict who sold out his best friends for the Dark Lord, was back. Sirius Black, the man she had once loved and planned on spending the rest of her life with, was at the Burrow.
Tonks' voice came fading back in.
"Oi, Arry, are you alright?"
Ariana doubled over and emptied the contents of her stomach onto the bookshop's floor.
Tonks swore loudly and pulled out her wand to clean the mess. Ariana wiped her mouth with the back of her wrist and hoarsely mumbled, "I need to go."
With a loud crack she was gone, leaving Tonks to notify the store's owner of the unmanned shop.
Ariana appeared as close to the Burrow as possible and, as if in a trance, made her way through all the wards on the Order's headquarters. She swung open the door and looked straight at the face of Sirius Black.
"You bastard!"
Ariana flung herself with all her might onto the emaciated man. She was screaming and biting and hitting, doing her best to cause as much physical damage as she possibly could. She was hauled off him by familiar arms. She felt Remus' warm breath on her ear as he pleaded with her to calm down, to hear Sirius out...
"Why are you defending him, Remus? He killed Lily and James! He is a traitor! He is a filthy bastard not deserving of life!"
Ariana aimed one last kick at Sirius before completely collapsing into Remus' chest, sobbing hysterically. She moaned as if in physical pain. Her face contorted in agony, all her emotions that she hid deep within herself in 1981 came bubbling to the surface. The betrayal felt fresh and her chest hurt as if she was having a heart attack. Remus slipped his left arm underneath her knees and carried her to the living room. He sat down with Ariana wailing and weeping in his lap. He motioned for Sirius to sit across from them.
Remus saw Sirius' expression: his face was also contorted. Remus saw that his love for Ariana had not died in the almost fourteen years since they had seen each other. Ariana clearly still had strong feelings toward Sirius, be it hatred or love.
For the next two hours Remus and Ariana listened to the tale of Sirius Black's unfair imprisonment. Peter Pettigrew was the real traitor and Sirius was the one who was persecuted. The tale of his escape was extraordinary to say the least. The hippogryph Buckbeak was somewhere in 12 Grimmauld place, the place where Sirius would now be hiding out. Ariana remembered that was the name of Sirius' parents' house and as she vowed never to return to her father's home, he vowed never to return there.
On shaky legs Ariana arose from her spot curled up on top of Remus Lupin.
"I need to talk to you in private," Ariana whispered almost inaudibly, keeping her gaze on the floor and grabbed a hand full of floo powder, stepped into the fireplace and stated, much more clearly, "12 Grimmauld Place".
She stepped out of an extremely dusty fireplace into an even dustier living room. Clearly Sirius had not been here long; there were no wards on the house yet. The whole house seemed terribly dark and dreary. She was struggling to open some curtains when she heard the sound of someone arriving via the fireplace.
Sirius' face was a mask of sadness and regret. He slowly walked to Ariana and she stood perfectly still taking in the man that looked so different to the man she once called her lover. His face was sunken and his hair was matted and long. He had vagrant-looking facial hair and his eyes did not glitter mischievously.
He placed his cold hands on either side of her face.
"I am so, so sorry for what I put you through," Sirius whispered.
Ariana held unblinking eye-contact with him for ten long seconds.
"You know what, fuck it," Ariana said and pulled down Sirius' mouth onto her own.
His lips were dry and his tongue felt almost inexperienced caressing hers. Fourteen years could do a lot to a man, make him old, emaciated and could make him forget even the most primal of his skills. Even though Sirius wasn't nearly as proficient a kisser as he used to be, he was just as passionate.
Sirius pulled Ariana against his bony chest and moaned deeply into her mouth. She felt his hardness pressing into her belly. She quickly divested Sirius of his shirt and started kissing his neck and chest. She nipped at his skin, remembering how he used to like that. Sirius kept moaning and running his hands through her hair. As Ariana was going to undo Sirius' pants, he yanked her up by her shoulders and then picked her up under her bottom and plonked her down on a likely plague-infested couch. She made to stand up from the filthy-looking furniture, but Sirius pushed her down on her stomach.
"I haven't tasted a woman in fourteen years. I'm starving and I'm about to make your pussy my main course," Sirius rasped from between her legs. He pulled down her jeans and panties in one fluid motion. Ariana's eyes rolled back at his words and she thanked Merlin she kept her downstairs neat for her drunken conquests.
Sirius's lapped and sucked on Ariana while she screamed her pleasure until she came undone. With pleasure-blurred eyes she saw him pull off his pants and then felt his weight on her. He entered her in one thrust. He stilled and shuddered and Ariana wrapped her smooth legs around his back. He set them a frantic pace that was doomed to be over quickly. When he came inside of her he yelled her name and rolled off the couch onto the floor, not one bit bothered by the fact that it hurt. He had just had the best sex of his life. Ariana peered down at him.
"Well, I think I just gave you a warm welcome."
"As good as ever, Ariana, maybe even better, have you been practicing without me?" Sirius asked with a wide grin.
Ariana blushed and stammered out that she didn't think he was ever coming back.
"Shhh, I know sweetheart," Sirius soothed her and stroked her sex-hair. "It's okay."
Ariana removed herself from the couch and lied next to Sirius on the floor. She snuggled her head into his chest and sighed.
"Sirius... it's all fine and well you're back, but... what now?"
"I don't know, Snapette, are you willing to take back a wanted convict?"
His use of her old nickname moved something in Ariana. She grasped Sirius' chin firmly in her hand.
"You barge in here, tell me a wild story, completely changing my view of what happened thirteen years ago and now you want me to just invite you back into my life?"
Sirius looked away, mortified that he actually expected the beautiful Ariana to just be there now he was back, to just take him back into her heart. He didn't know if she had a husband and children now, he might have made her an adulteress by this tryst.
"Of course I will take you back; my life has been such a train-wreck since I lost you. I lost my apprenticeship; I work at a bookstore for fuck's sake! I was meant for greater things, but I fucked up, I fucked everything up so badly. Oh, Lord, Padfoot, I failed. I am a failure."
Sirius felt her tears wet his chest.
"I am so sorry for the pain I have caused. From now until my last breath I will try to make it all up to you. You are still young, 32 if I'm correct. You can make something of yourself."
Ariana nuzzled her head into his chest in agreement.
