Disclaimer: Guess where it is? In the first chapter of course! Refer to it! Memorize it! Live it!

The day had actually started off pretty well for the man known as Sirius Orion Black. First off, he had woken up and had NOT had to deal with Kreacher's usual mumbling as he ate so that was a plus. Next, a quick look into the Daily Prophet told him Quidditch news was good with the World Cup coming up soon and Bagman was soon going to have to owe him another few hundred Galleons for another lost bet when the Bulgarians found they couldn't beat the Irish. To cap off his morning, the two witches he had as company the previous night had been up for another round in the morning.

Safe to say he was VERY late when it came to reading any more of his mail.

Then his day went to hell.

A glance at the letter revealed the cause:

Katherine Potter was back.

Another look over the parchment and the truth remained the same:

Katherine Potter was back.

Hoping his eyes were truly deceiving him, he had downed more than a few potions yet the same truth remained no matter how much he disliked it:

Katherine Potter was back.

He had to accept it in the end, the inevitable:

Katherine. Potter. Was. Back.

His plea for it all to be a prank fell on deaf ears, there was no way anyone could mistake the handwriting of James Potter, rushed or otherwise.

Padfoot,

She's back. Can't spare much of the details. Get to the old grounds as quickly as you can.

Prongs.

Something that hardly even qualified as a letter was in his hands and it had ruined his day better than anything his family could have ever done. Selling the complete loyalty of their entire House to the newly risen and self titled Dark Lord Voldermort? Nothing compared to what he had in his hands. His family nearly disowning him for his audacity to refuse the Dark Mark and become one of Voldermort's loyal Death Eaters? Nothing when compared to what he had helped do to his best friend, the man who was more of a brother to him than his own flesh and blood. Nothing could ever match the lie he had let himself live for years.

"She's beautiful Lily."

"Just promise me you'll keep her safe Sirius."

"Lily...why not tell James?"

"The less he knows the better. If he knew, if he even suspected..."

"I know what he would do."

"Just keep her safe."

"You already have my word Lily."

"I know I...I need to be sure Sirius."

"We've done the Vow. I'll do all I can or die trying."

"Thank you."

"Thank me once we can share a drink over this."

The last exchange between Sirius Black and Lily Potter had been done in near complete secret. The only witness was Katherine, a growing girl occupied with the harmless toy wand Sirius had given her that day when he had arrived at the small house the family of three called their own even during such dark times. He could remember that it shot red and gold sparks with every flick. A Gryffindor classic. The words exchanged that day, the Vow that passed through his lips and engraved itself on his skin, followed but he ignored them. Those words, his Vow, had only lead to torment after torment that he knew would have no end no matter his wishes. His vow to the wife of his best friend had made it a certainty that soon he would have no one left. Everything he had done since that day had been to keep her safe but sometimes it was all better off as just a lie he told himself. No one should be labeled guilty with half of the things he had done to keep his promise to Lily. No one but a bastard like him.

His day had started off so well only to become this. If he didn't know any better he would call it a curse from some dying adversary of the Blacks, damning Lord Black to the life he lived now.

Before he knew it, he had downed two shots of firewhiskey but even the burning in the back of his throat failed to let him ignore what he now needed to do. The next damnation of Sirius Orion Black rested in the future and he needed to do it. It was in part due to his Vow with Lily Potter and in part because it had to be done. A refusal would leave him damned regardless as everything he had done before would be rendered pointless. All the sacrifices. All of his evil acts. A third short of liquid courage was what he needed before he put it away.

He had work to do.

"Kreacher!" The house elf appeared without his usual remarks, perhaps sensing that Sirius Black was not a man to bother with them today. His patience for such antics was below zero. "We're heading to Hogwarts!"

Sirius Black dimly remembered all of these events as he walked down the halls of Hogwarts with Severus Snape at his side, the two heading to the infirmary to see Katherine's condition themselves, both having their own reasons for doing so.

One considered it an annoyance to chaperone the adult Wizard on his visit to the infirmary but found it better than sitting in at the meeting he would not bother sharing more of his input in. One considered what he had done in the past under the veil of war and safety and what he would have to do yet again with no such blinders to his actions.

'I hope it was all worth it Lily...James is going to kill me someday for what we did.'

Kat woke up in pain. It was the simplest way to describe the sledgehammer being slammed against her skull over and over again, painful enough she could only moan and shut her eyes. Light would only drive it up to jackhammers beating against her head. The only good thing was that her arm no longer hurt, it was nothing but numb at the moment, like the rest of her body.

"Kat..." A whisper came from next to her, a voice she could vaguely recognize, a blurry image of a face with a pair of hazel eyes and black messy hair all that came to her mind, the pain only briefly leaving before it returned with a cruel vengeance. She cried out when it felt like knives were being driven through her mind, twisted free before slammed in again ad again. Hands were suddenly on her shoulders and the voice came back, panic in its tone. "Kat!" Their grip hurt. Everything hurt but the fingers hurt the worse. She cried out and they tightened in their source's confusion. "Kat what's wrong? Do you need Pomfrey? Pomfrey!" Confusion shifted to panic it seemed. "Pomfrey!"

The hands we're suddenly gone, the voice still shouting for whatever 'Pomfrey' was and Kat could hear the source of the voice running away, a door slamming shut behind it. She didn't know what he was talking about and she didn't care. She just wanted to go back to sleep and away from the pain.

Her wish was granted as darkness once again consumed her, the pain was nothing but one of many harsh memories now.

When she woke up again, the blackness no longer welcoming her, the first thing she noticed was that she didn't feel pain any longer. The next thing she noted was that she could now open her eyes without fear of it.

Immediately, green eyes met hazel and memories came to her unbidden and unwanted.

AN: Now everyone there's a reason for why this took so long...just give me a couple months to find it. But hey! Late is better than never. Enjoy both chapters 3 and 4.

I still feel like this thing is either turning into something or slowly burning to death. No idea if I found a phoenix or if its just a bird on fire.