p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;" /p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"strongspan lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Welcome to the old world/span/strong/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"A perfectly muggle-looking motorcycle rolled towards London with its perfectly muggle-looking rider. The breaking charms, similar to those on a reliable racing broom, now kept the vehicle from randomly crashing into nearby cars or causing an accident any other way. The flight spells were only needed where the potholes would have distracted the rider from his thoughts. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"There was a lot to mentally sort through, and Sirius was out of shape after his twelve years in Azkaban. Some details were clear to him, like that he would make a proper comeback on Lily's sister and her husband for mistreating Harry in his absence. He had a shopping list for the seventh-year witch who needed rare or expensive materials for practising for her Potions exam. He had faint ideas of what to do with the numerous Gryffindors who wanted to become animagi. He didn't know when or how could he become worthy of the title of godfather, much less, if Harry would want to really stay with him for the Christmas holidays. Maybe he was only trying to avoid being alone in the old castle, with only his owl Hedwig as company. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"His own, tiny black owl, still unnamed and consequently rejecting any name suggestions, had left Hogwarts before he and Remus had showed up for breakfast. Sirius worried he was too boring for the active little bird. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"London welcomed him back. For hours, he was driving the capital's roads, enjoying the music of his motorbike's strong engine and the irritated shouting of some muggle policemen. They weren't angry with him, for a change: someone had parked a pompous car in the way of several others, causing a traffic jam that now blocked an entire street. The motorbike, of course, could pass between them easily. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Turning back, however, Sirius noticed that if the wrongly parked blue Mercedes were just a few centimeters shorter, the queue of clogged vehicles would be able to pass. Quietly, in the cover of his new Hell's Angels jacket, he pointed his wand at the trouble-causing car. As an educated wizard, he knew nobody would ever thank him shrinking some rich jerk's brand new car, but as a former auror, he was also aware nobody would mind or notice if he interfered with muggle affairs, either. As long as it doesn t go like last time./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Honestly, it made him feel like he was sixteen again. Mischievous, unstoppable... But he was painfully aware this was only an illusion. He was no longer sixteen, he was exactly twice as much. No longer unstoppable, but instead, bitter to a fault. Shrinking a muggle car could not help his intense feeling of betrayal, although it sated his thirst for justice for the moment. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"The policemen, seemingly just as impotent as the majority of Ministry of Magic s workers tended to be, continued arguing with each other about the removal of the obstacle. They didn't seem to notice that now that the original problem had been solved, they were all that remained of the problem. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Hey, you, bluecoats! I want to rob the nearest bank, would you please tell me where it is?" /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Get lost, oldtimer!" Now there was a genuine insult in that. His Triumph Boneville might have been outdated, but it wasn't an oldtimer. And he would show them!/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""With pleasure!" He gunned the engine, and drifted around the men twice before rushing away. Messing with authorities was fun, with or without magic. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"But again, something was missing. As he passed the shrunk Mercedes, with one policeman now chasing him on foot, we wondered where the chill of the mischief had gone. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"He blinked back: the clogged traffic finally started to get moving. The policeman was shambling back to his colleague, who seemed somewhat amused. Sirius gunned the engine again, and left them./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"But where would he go? Home was not yet an option. Visiting some Order members neither, he didn't even know who survived and who didn't. There was the St. Mungo's, where a healer was still waiting for him to show up after twelve years of imprisonment, but Sirius didn't feel the need for that visit yet. He forgot to buy a few more bottles of what roborant Skeeter had sent him after the interview, but there had to be apothecaries in London, so he headed for Diagon Alley. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Witches and wizards turned after him as he drove past between them. This was the kind of attention he was forbidden to enjoy while in the muggle areas./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Mom, I want a bike like that."/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Absolutely not!"/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""But mom..."/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""What is that thing he's riding?"/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Who let the muggle in?"/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"He laughed in the face of the witch who had asked the question. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"He bought a copy of the Daily Prophet, and was pleased to read the TRIAL TODAY headline. While he was at Hogwarts, Skeeter didn't waste time, it seemed. Avery was her first prey. As the ex-auror remembered, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had failed to gather ample evidence against the former supporter of the current dark lord. According to the article, someone had uncovered him selling potions to muggle criminals. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Sirius grinned, and asked the seller if she had a copy from the previous days' papers. Then he went straight to the owl office and subscribed for the Prophet, so that he wouldn't need to ask similar favours again./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"From here, he went to the muggle zone again, this time on foot. The Ministry of Magic wasn't far, and he enjoyed walking on two feet in the sun. He recalled sneaking around this area on all four during the night trips with Daire, Skipps and rarely Vaqqu. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanOnce Daire had deactivated the alarm of a butcher's shop, and of course, Padfoot had jumped on the opportunity of a free dinner. But he was a free wizard now; he could afford the luxury of being seen anywhere./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"He didn't take any of the Ministry's main entrances. In peacetime, those were scarcely used, as apparation was more popular than getting flushed down a public toilet. But neither did he feel inclined to apparate to the visitor zone. Luxury away, he took a smaller pathway only a few were familiar with./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"On a perfectly muggle statue's stand, he found the tiny crack between two blocks of marble. He ran his fingers on it, and his hand fit into the fracture despite it being only two centimeters long and about one millimeter wide. The next moment, his entire body was pulled into the stand, to the top of a marble stairway. He pulled out his wand./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Lumos!" /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Nothing happened./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Lumos maxima!'"/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"His wand still didn't do anything. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Verdimillious!"/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"He felt a faint reassurance that no danger was in the proximity, although that spell was supposed to show details, not simply to inform him. Sirius sighed: that's what he could expect from a wand made from a sightless creature. He very carefully ran his left hand on the wall until he found the correct stone to push. It was a little higher than he remembered. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"The ground sank with him as the first block of the long stairway activated. He still couldn't see anything, so he had to shamble stair by stair. When he almost fell over, he put his now-useless wand away and continued on four paws. It wasn't quite the same as floating over the stairs, he decided, but much better than stumbling on two feet. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"The Ministry of Magic was built deep underground, and he was headed to a corridor that ran beneath the court rooms. It was slightly nostalgic to sneak around in a dark tunnel, and he never felt the absence of his friends this painfully. It wasn't the effect of any outer force, this time: rather, it was the first occasion when he had to face reality all on his own. Prongs was dead, Wormtail was in his rightful place, and Moony was at work. Odd, he mused, how the werewolf ended up being the only of the four of them who had a decent job. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Sirius honestly didn't know if he was good for anything. He had once been an auror, when those were needed, but investigating peacetime offenses was definitely not his thing. In addition, he couldn't imagine working with the wizards who had unjustly put him in Azkaban for what was intended to be a lifetime. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"The stairway ended at a spacious hall, although he remembered the ceiling was too low at some points. That was yet another reason for him to stay in his dog form./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"He saw faint lights on corridors leading to the various courtrooms. One also had a tiny streak of intense brightness, so curiously, he went to check it out./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"It was a one-man elevator, its bottom circle rested on the corridor ground, while the ceiling above had a circular hole. He could make out the shadows of a few bars: the elevator must have led to an interrogation cage. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Next to this beam of light he saw COURTROOM 13 written on the wall in the ever-changing color of glowing paint. Somebody must have added magic-bearing ink to the markers. Sirius wondered if the elevator would activate for him, but then, he didn't want to be trapped in a closed one-man cage in an empty room. With a sigh, he decided to return later. Now he was looking for Courtroom 7. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Again, the feeling of complete loneliness took over him. At least Moony could have come with him to the backstage area, but James was the one who most enjoyed being able to get to forbidden territory. And Peter was the mazerunning expert. At least, he comforted himself, Wormtail won't be running around for a while./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"He found Courtroom 7, marked with the same colorful glowing paint. The two-winged door was locked, but light was seeping from behind it at the edges. He pointed the cold wand at the supposed place of the lock, and it opened without an incantation. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"The courtroom was bright, but empty. Sirius could hear people talking on the other side of the walls. He took the Wizengamot's chair for the head of the Black family, perhaps best spot in the first row, then started to read through yesterday's paper. He fell asleep on the second page./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Icy wind woke him about ten minutes later. Sirius rubbed his neck before recognizing the friendly breath. Then he immediately jumped up, and breathed back at the dementor./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Daire looked completely healthy now, the tear on his cloak only visible if someone knew where to look. He was floating two feet above the ground, straightened out to his full height, the front of his hood hanging almost at neck level. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"His perfectly black, heavy cloak got a little wrinkled when Sirius threw both arms around the cold, bulky figure./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Missed you," the wizard whispered. "Are you doing fine?"/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"As much as anyone can in Azkaban, Daire replied, then asked the same question out of politeness. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Of course, you know exactly how I am," Sirius answered with a bittersweet smile. "Gradually moving back to the wizarding world. Getting back on speaking terms with some fellow Order members. Maybe my godson will one day accept me as godfather, although the longest we talked about were some stricktly censored stories of his father. Hagrid gave my bike back after twelve years. I taught the Gryffindors the mapping charm, and we discussed animagi, so I think I managed to pass on the most important things I once learnt at school. Turns out, our map is not only in good hands, but it also got us two young followers who unknowingly chose us as their ideals." At this point, he shared a few memories of the F and G twins, then, the meeting in the common room, and also, the lesson about werewolves that had led to it. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"At least the twins know Remus is a werewolf, the dementor breathed./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""That's what I fear, too."/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"But they won't turn him lose on Severus Snape like a certain young wizard had once attempted to, Daire added. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""You see trough me," Sirius murmured, rubbing the dementor's bony shoulder. In front of the Wizengamot seats, Daire continued his analysis of the events. The redheads might have had an instable respect for their teachers in general, maybe not without a reason, but they adored Moony, whom they already associated with the map they had had for years./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""I wonder how much they found out on their own," Sirius continued. "And if they'll grow up without making the mistakes we did."/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Errors and sins, the dementor breathed. He'd felt the murder attempt in Sirius's soul, one which his friend Prongs had prevented from becoming fatal./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""That's what makes you special, Daire. You know everything about me, and yet, you won't desert me." He remembered the talk he had had with Harry about being good, or at least, relatively forgiving in order to be acceptable. He shared the memory with the creature without any further question. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Daire carefully avoided all the details regarding Harry. In his opinion, Sirius needed every element of that, if he was going to fulfil his role as godfather. Instead, he focused on the older memories, those which Sirius was ready to discuss. His breath was more reassuring than ever, pointing out that the animagus had honestly regretted turning Snape on Remus. Remorse seals a soul-wound, not without a trace, but neither, without a meaning. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Sirius felt the icy presence among his own thoughts, as if the dementor was searching for something that wasn't clearly highlighted by emotions. There, he found it. The blond boy for whom Sirius didn't have any particular feelings, apart from some very tiny respect that a talented Slytherin normally deserved. But he was the son of Narcissa Black, and thus, the only blood relative Sirius had met since his release. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Nosy beast," Sirius murmured. "You fully well know my relation to my family."/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Daire breathed a request at the wizard. He wished for Sirius to strengthen that bond./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Highly unlikely," was the reply./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"The dementor picked up a memory, a much older memory, one that had once been a happy one, but had long turned bitter during Sirius's imprisonment. The day he had become an auror. The day he took their oath./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Leave my oath out of this!" The wizard snapped. "I regretted it too, O.K.? You just said remorse heals the soul's damage. There you have it!"/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"But Daire insisted. He brought up the words of the auror's oath, verbatim, clearer than Sirius thought he could ever remember. There was a part in the text about preventing crime. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Leave that oath alone, will you?" Despite being seated, Sirius felt his knees shaking./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"The dementor, unsatisfied, brought up another memory. This one centered around a young deatheater, a dead deatheater, and Sirius's heart sank. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Enough," he begged. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"The dementor retreated from the wizard's mind, as if regretting the distress he had caused. He didn't mean to feed, but he didn't apologize for making a point, either. Sirius was a free wizard now, he should cope with such treatment, especially since it was his own younger brother whose fate he had to be reminded of. The creature wanted his wizard to really consider what he was being asked./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""I'm not making a promise," he whispered. "But I will try to talk with him next month."/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Daire turned around and rejoined the other dementors on the corridor. Sirius felt slightly devastated. The words of his auror's oath still echoed in his brain, and so did the voice of his cousin's son. Then there was Harry's all-saying silence when Sirius had asked his opinion about the blond boy./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"" Hi, Mr Black!" A familiar female voice distracted the wizard from his darkening thoughts. "I haven't seen you at the entrance. You came early, I suppose?"/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Sirius recognized the witch for her sharp-curious voice./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Miss Skeeter, forever a pleasure to see you. I told you I happily come to any dark wizard's trial."/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"She chuckled. "True to your word, I see. I recall you had once been quite successful auror." The journalist wiped her glasses (now a pair with red crystals) with a flower-scented cloth, then put them back on her nose. "Will you not miss sitting with the others over there?" The indicated bench for the security personnel was still empty, but maybe not for long. Sirius cast a quick glance there, then turned his attention back to the blonde witch. She was looking at him with the kindest smile a predator can offer./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""For a while, I've been sitting with those cloaked guys instead," Sirius murmured, indicating atspan style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanthe dementors. Then, at a whim, he asked, "Do you want me to introduce you to them?"/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""You're mad?" /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""It was worth a try. That strong one at the pillar has been my keeper for about eleven years."/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"The witch observed the opposite part of the courtroom first, trying to get a few words from other wizards attending the trial, but hardly anyone was in the room yet. With no prey in her reach, she turned her attention to the dark figures floating around the open door. "How can you tell one from the other? To me, they are all the same."/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Their auras are different," Sirius replied. "Also, there are physical differences, like that constantly bent neck of the one on Daire's right, or see that torn cape, that's an indicator of spending too much time on solid ground. But don't focus too much on their appearance, it's something they have no influence on, and thus you'd be considered rude."/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"She stared. "Well, I certainly won't insult them, they're four hooded monsters without any differences." But it was still too early for interview-worthy wizards to come in. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Only a newly hatched dementor is as dark and depressive as wizardkind usually stereotypes them," Black explained. "The moment they take their first breath from a human, various patterns would rub on their own personality. This makes each of them quite unique."/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"She grimaced, but then looked into Sirius's blue eyes, and shook her head./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""I have to leave that to you. I'll have no business with them."/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"That sounded like a challenge, one that Black was eager to take./span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Say, have you never been happy in the presence of dementors?"/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Was that meant to be a tricky question?"/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Sirius shrugged. "I just wanted to help you with the only thing Azkaban was good for. If you go and make interviews with Mr. Important and Mrs. Everyone-Talks-About, your choice."/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"She shook her head. "I'm writing about wizards, not monsters."/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Those categories overlap, haven't we discussed that already?"/span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"But she was already gone, chasing an elderly wizard with her quill and notebook. /span/p
p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Daire returned to Sirius as he was staring after her, and he was polite enough not to ask how well Sirius was re-integrating into the wizarding world. He was being tactful, although quite observant./span/p