I'm baaaaaaack! I missed you guys :)

As there are no thanks to be said this chapter, I suppose I only have one word left to say:

Enjoy!


I held the pillow to my face again and breathed in deeply. Ginevra's scent assaulted my senses, the same way it had for forty-two days. If I took a mental step back from my life, I could see how strange my behaviour was, but to me, she was like a goblet of Oak Matured Mead to an alcoholic who hadn't had a drink for three months. I was the alcoholic. Letters every week or two (depending on how often Hermione and Remus wrote each other) weren't enough for me, and nor was the now worn photograph of us both that seemed attached to me like my mother's awful portrait to the wall downstairs. I knew it was rash, and far too soon, but I really had fallen for her in a way that I had never felt about Remus. She was the light in my life, and the only reason worth living most days. I saw hardly anyone apart from Order members who would occasionally flit in and out of the house. Even Remus, who was living with me in my parents' godforsaken home, was almost never around because he was either at his place, going up to Hogwarts to meet with Dumbledore and McGoogles or with the werewolf packs, trying to persuade them to at least be neutral in the War if they weren't going to listen to Dumbledore.

I heard Buckbeak squawk upstairs and I sighed, putting Ginevra's pillow down so I could go and spend some time with the Hippogriff. Walking up the stairs slowly and deliberately, so Beaky could hear me, I ascended the three floors between Ginevra's room and my mother's old room, which was where Beaky now 'lived'. Looking at the name tag on the door with revulsion for a moment, I opened the door and stepped inside. I bent down in a low bow to the beautiful creature and did my very best to not blink at all. After a moment, Beaky bowed back to me and I smiled before moving forward to stroke his head softly.

"Ah, Buckbeak. We're in the same sort of boat, you and me. You're on the run from the Ministry, I'm on the run from the Ministry, we're both animals. We've a lot in common, us." I said, stroking his head and looking into his enormous amber eyes. He reminded me of Moony quite a bit; quiet, intelligent, nice to talk to. And the eyes.

"Make a habit of talking to Hippogriffs, Mr Black?" McGoogles asked from the doorway. I yelped, making Beaky's feathers ruffle rather violently, and I could have sworn one of his wings connected rather painfully with my back.

"Merlin, Professor, you scared me! You can't sneak up on a fugitive like that, they're rather jumpy, you see?" I joked, whilst trying to make my heart rate return to normal. McGoogles' thin lips twitched upwards in a small, rare, smile.

"I apologise, Black. You don't have to call me Professor anymore either. You can call me Minerva, if you wish," said my old Transfiguration teacher in her thick Scottish accent.

"Ah, first name basis now? You take your time, I've been waiting for you to do that for twenty years. However, all jokes aside, you can actually call me Sirius instead of 'Black' or 'Mr Black'." I replied, flashing her my most charming smile. I knew I didn't fool her though, because old Minnie saw everything, whether you wanted her to see or not.

"Very well, Sirius. Can I make an observation?"

"Certainly Minerva. Tell me, what is it you see?" I asked with a smile, widening my eyes at her spookily.

"You are much saner than anyone who has been in Azkaban. You are, in fact, much saner than you were only six months ago. Something, or someone had intervened, and is in the process of saving you from yourself. I know you have suicidal thoughts, Sirius, I see it in your eyes. You eyes are dead, empty of life. And yet the light is slowly returning in them. Why is that? Who is it that is intervening in your life? Who is it that is saving you?" Minerva asked. I had frozen halfway through her little speech and I stared at her, as though I were willing her to forget her observation. To be fair, she was much more observant than I had given her credit for. Even when I was a teenager who had just been disowned from his family, she wasn't that 'deep'. Or maybe she was, and I had never previously noticed it. I looked away from her when her green eyes fixed on mine again, and I let them stray to the mess that was my mother's old bedroom. The previously emerald coloured walls were now chipped and cracked. The dust that had been on the walls for at least a decade had dimmed the colour somewhat and covered it with a dirty grey hue. I had gotten rid of her enormous bed when I had first been deciding what to do with Beaky, and her dressing table had been moved elsewhere, not by me, though I had my suspicions that it was Remus. All that remained was a broken chair in the corner. I considered what McGoogles had said to me, and subsequently, my answer.

"Minerva, the only reason I kept any remnants of my sanity was purely the fact that I knew I was innocent. It wasn't a happy thought, so they couldn't take it away from me. I won't pretend that they didn't like to hang around me. I felt guilt and sorrow I had never dreamed I could feel. I was responsible for the death of my brother. I had orphaned a child. I hated that. I am healing, slowly, but I can't tell you how, or why, I just am. I'm still dead, though. I still want to die. It's just that now, I have something to force me to live." I said, still not meeting her gaze.

"That would be Remus, I suppose?"

"No, actually. He's barely here, because Dumbledore has him on all of these bloody werewolf missions. Not to mention he has better things to do with his time than dwell on the past and try to restore me." I replied bitterly. I knew exactly who was healing me. Of course, it was Ginevra Weasley. She was my reason to live. I hated to say that, because my reason should have been my best friend and my godson but they weren't. That wasn't to say I didn't love them with everything I had, but she was my reason. As Lily always used to say, she was The One. Of course Lily thought it was Remus, but clearly she was wrong. No, I was in love with a fourteen-year-old girl, and she was, for lack of a better word, my soul-mate. The irony of that was astounding, considering I had in fact had my soul sucked out of me once before.

"He would though, if he were here more," said Minerva.

"You don't know that." I said. I finally looked her in the eyes again. "Minerva, everything has changed since James and Lily died. I lost twelve years of my life. I lost my best friends and my lover and I even lost my soul. I lost everything, and there are some things I just can't gain back."

"Well, I was only dropping by to say that we're all going to be at the meeting tonight, so I wondered if you could let Molly know. Arthur has already been notified by Kingsley. I must get back to Hogwarts, Sirius, I have a lesson to teach in twenty minutes. The Fifth Years in fact. Shall I pass on a message to Harry?" Minerva asked me. I nodded.

"Yeah, tell him to keep his chin up and ignore the disgusting old toad. And that we'll see each other soon." I said. Minerva nodded and walked down the stairs, ghost-like and not making a single noise.

After about ten minutes, I walked back down the stairs and grabbed a small pinch of Floo powder, throwing it into the fire before sticking my head in the emerald flames. I yelled "The Burrow", and had the oddest sensation of my body staying still while my head span uncontrollably.

"Sirius!" Molly cried, falling to her knees at her end of the Floo connection. Sirius could see past her and into her house. He could also smell fresh treacle tart, making his mouth water. "What is it?"

"Nothing, Molly. Just letting you know that there's another meeting tonight. Minerva said it would be tonight, but she didn't give a time, so just come over when you're ready." I replied, smiling at her.

"Oh give me a moment to pack some things up. I'll come over to yours, and I can cook there whilst we prepare for the meeting. Have you eaten yet?"

I thought back over my day and just as I remembered I actually hadn't eaten, my stomach growled and rumbled. It was an odd sensation to say the least, feeling my stomach rumble when my head was about two hundred miles away. "No, I haven't, but no matter. Shall I make some tea?"

"Yes, Sirius, that would be nice. I'll be over in about ten minutes, and I'll bring some biscuits that I made this morning. Is beef stew alright for dinner tonight? I can make something else if you want, but it's getting rather chilly now that we're in November, so it might do to just keep us all nice and toasty."

"No, Molly, beef stew sounds perfect, thank you. I'll put the kettle on." I said, before smiling as warmly as I could and pulling my head out of her living room, and back into my kitchen. As much as we acted civil towards each other, things were still tense after the argument we had in the summer over Harry. I was eternally grateful to her for keeping her home as open to him as his father's was to me, and also for being as close to a mother to Harry as he'd ever know, but the way she had spoken to me that night was unforgivable, and she knew it. On the other hand, as much as I hated to admit it, she had a point. She had thought of Harry as one of her own while I was locked up in Azkaban, unable to care for him. And even in the past two years, I'd not done much apart from buy him a broomstick and offer him occasional advice.

I put the kettle on and waited for it to boil while I considered just how much better a job I could be doing of being his godfather. The more I thought about it, the more I realised how ashamed James would be of me if he could see me right that moment. He'd be furious that I wasn't doing more for his son, though he would still pity me.

"Sirius, the kettle's done," said Molly, dusting herself off while the kettle was in fact shrieking.

"Sorry about that, Molly, I was lost in my thoughts for a moment." I replied, taking the kettle off the stove and filling up two large mugs. I put out a little jug of milk and a small pot of sugar before sitting opposite her at the table. "Is there anything you'd like me to put away?"

"No thank you. You can help me cook in a bit." Molly told me, before digging through one of the many bags she had on her person. Finally she found what she was looking for, and she put a large tin full of biscuits on the table, before setting out an assortment of mini cakes. "Go on, dig in. You look absolutely starved."

I picked out a vanilla sponge slice and took a bite out of it. Cream oozed into my mouth, mixing with the raspberry jam and the vanilla from the cake, and I chewed slowly, savouring the taste of it. "This is delicious."

"I'm glad you think so," replied Molly, beaming. She looked oddly touched, and I noticed that the bad blood between us was starting to dissipate.


"You can't ignore whatever the hell is going on and I can't stand aside while Harry has these awful bloody dreams!" I yelled at Snape, who suggested we just hope that Harry's nightmares vanish.

"Sirius, you're right, but what else can we do?" Remus asked desperately from my side. "There's nothing that will help Harry without making him weaker, and therefore more susceptible to whatever mind link they have."

"Well Snivellus isn't going to give us the answer, is he?" I snapped back. "For Merlin's sake, Dumbledore, you've got to have some sort of solution."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, those his expression was sombre. "I agree with Severus and Remus here, Sirius. There is nothing we can do for the time being. They aren't doing him any harm."

"Not doing him harm?" To everyone's intense surprise, the shriek came from Molly Weasley. She was always respectful of Dumbledore and especially polite to him, yet there she was shrieking at him. "Harry hates it! I hear him toss and turn and talk. I went into his room one night in the summer when he was asleep, and he was sweating and writhing around on the bed like he was under the Cruciatus Curse! It might not be doing him physical harm, but emotionally, he's a mess!"

"Now, Molly, dear, Albus-," Arthur started, clearly trying to pacify his wife, but she refused to listen.

"Molly, that is enough." Moody said, making the words die in her throat. If there was one person who had any semblance of control over Molly, it was Mad-Eye. Then again, it was probably because he scared the living daylights out of her in a way that only a Boggart could achieve. "Albus is right. Until this brings him physical harm, or begins to scare the other kids, nothing should be done. Constant vigilance! Potter will be fine. He's faced worse than a few nightmares in his time."

"Mad-Eye, they're not nightmares. He truly knows what's going on; he can see Voldemort torturing and killing other people. He saw the Diggory boy die only last summer. That's traumatic enough, don't you think?" I asked, hands flat on the table. The only reply I received was Moody's mad eye whizzing around in its socket.

"There's also the subject of the Death Eaters... We have a list of names, thanks to Harry, but Fudge still refuses to see reason." Dumbledore said. "We need to find a way of reprimanding them. Kingsley, is there anything we can do?"

The man in charge of 'hunting me down' looked as calm as ever. "No, Albus. Fudge is still displeased that I haven't caught Sirius yet. I think he suspects that I'm feeding him false information, but either way, if he knows I'm aligned with you, he'll sack me. If anyone should try and get Fudge to investigate, it should be Arthur. If I get sacked, someone else will be assigned to looking for Sirius." Kingsley finished in his deep, slow voice. The idea of someone else coming to hunt me down sent a chill down my spine. Thanks to Kingsley, they had no idea I was in London, but if someone else was on the job... I'd be sent back to the Dementors for sure.


"Great-great-grandson, wake up! Wake up! Sirius Orion Black, you wake up this instant!" Phineas Nigellus Black shouted from the empty picture frame on the wall. I sat bolt upright in my bed and scowled in the general direction of my great-great-grandfather's portrait.

"What?" I asked crossly. "What is it that is so bloody important that you felt the need to wake me up at... hang on, Tempus... 2:44am?"

"I have a message from Albus Dumbledore. He says that the Weasley... children, hmmph... are on their way, along with Harry Potter. Arthur Weasley has been attacked and they shall be arriving by Portkey in the kitchen any minute now. This, apparently, is all I'm good for... carrying messages to my blood-traitor great-great-grandson. Hmmph, the Black family name apparently counts for nothing now." My great-great-grandfather continued to grumble, even as he left the portrait frame. I leapt out of my bed, grabbed a dressing gown and ran down the stairs as fast and quietly as I possibly could. I arrived just in time to see a flash of blue light before five teenagers landed roughly in my kitchen.

"Hello. I heard about Arthur. Sit down and I'll make you all some tea. Do you want something to eat?" Four heads shook from side to side, while Ginevra sat, staring at nothing in particular. In a few minutes, we all had a cup of tea in front of us. The boys all drank their dutifully, and Fred and George looked as though they were having a silent conversation. Harry sat as numb as Ginevra, while Ron kept darting furtive glances at him.

"You should all go on up to bed. It's been a long night, and you're in for a long day tomorrow. Go on, your mum will be here in a few hours." I said, and the boys all filed up to bed. Ginevra had apparently not heard me, but tears began to course steadily down her cheeks.

"Shh, Gin, it's okay. It's fine, your dad is at St Mungo's, and they'll do everything they can." I said, sitting next to her and wrapping my arms around her. She pressed her face into my chest as sobs shook her body, and I held her tighter as I rested my chin on her head. I don't even know how long we were sitting there, with her in my arms, sobbing, but I held her and rocked her and whispered comforting words into her ear, trying to just get her to calm down. She fit just right in my arms, I couldn't help but note, and she smelled divine. After a while, her sobs subsided into hiccoughs.

"What if it's not okay, Sirius? What if they can't save him?" Ginevra asked, once her eyes ran dry.

"We'll figure it out. I don't think he's going to die, though. I think he'll be just fine." I said, and I kissed her forehead. Ginevra settled further into my arms, and I looked down at her before she strained upwards to kiss me softly on the lips. Even as she did so, I wondered if I was telling the truth, whether Arthur really would be okay.

"I missed you," Ginevra whispered. My heart soared just a little bit, and I smiled at her sadly.

"I missed you too," I murmured. "You should go on up to bed."

"Alright," replied Ginevra, disentangling herself before standing up. We looked at each other before she opened her mouth to speak again. "Thank you for letting me cry like that, and thanks for just being there."

"Hey, where else would I be? Stuck here, remember?" I laughed and shooed her off to bed. As I watched her walk away, I realised just how many walls she would have had to break down to let me see her like that. She'd literally never been that bad before, and it broke my heart to see her like that. A sick little part of me hoped that when I told her to go to bed, I'd find her in mine, but I knew that wasn't going to happen, even as I saw Molly stumble out of the fireplace.

"Sirius," she said, sorrow filling her voice. "Where are my children?"

"They're in bed, don't worry. Harry's here as well. How... How's Arthur doing?" I asked hesitantly, laying what I hoped to be a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"They're trying to stabilise him. Whatever snake it was, its venom is unlike any other they've seen before, and they've been trying a host of antidotes on him. They managed to bring his temperature right down, but the venom is stopping the wounds from closing, so he's having a Blood Replenishing potion every hour. He's not all that good though. I'm worried he won't pull through." Molly choked out, her face in her hands.

"I'm sure he will, Molly. If they're anything like I remember, the St Mungo's Healers are the best thing Arthur can get right now. Go to bed, Molly. Try and get some rest. Like I told the kids, it'll be a long day tomorrow."

Molly nodded, lower lip trembling, and walked out of the kitchen slowly.


This was quite weak compared to some of the other chapters, but I've been feeling really shitty of late, so I apologise for this. Anyways, until next week,

Lottie.