December 26, 1992

Sirius pulled the blankets up and tucked them under Callie's chin. Her skin still felt like ice as she snuggled into his chest. Her shoulders were still tense. He brushed the hair from her neck and kissed her shoulder. "Try and get some sleep, love."

She hummed softly. "Yeah, I probably should."

"Yeah, you should." He pulled her closer. "What's one thing you've always wanted to do?"

She smiled slightly. "Visit Paris. I want to eat bread and cheese on top of the Eiffel Tower and drink coffee in the little cafes."

Sirius smiled. He could picture her one of those little French hats strolling along the cobbled streets. "Alright. When all of this over, I'll take you to Paris."

"We can't go on a trip together until we're married."

He chuckled. "Yeah, I know. Otherwise we'd be doing something much more interesting right now."

She shoved him lightly. "I mean it!"

"I know you do," he laughed. A feeling of dreadful nervousness washed over him, replaced by peace. He knew what he wanted. For once his life, he knew exactly what he wanted. He went for it.

"So let's do it," he whispered. "Let's get married."

Callie pulled away sharply and looked up at him with wide eyes. He chuckled as she scanned his face for the punch line. "Oh my god," she muttered. "You're actually serious."

He nodded. "Yeah, I am." Sirius took her hand and kissed it. "So, what's your answer?"

She took a deep breath and let it out. "I… I don't know. I don't know that now's the time."

Sirius nodded. "Okay. Think it over." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "After all this mess is over, which it will be tomorrow, we'll both have a lot more time on our hands."

She nodded. "It's not that I don't want-"

"Sweetheart, I know." He pulled her into a hug and felt her slowly relax. "Take your time deciding."

Sirius stepped out of the Potter's guest room, running his fingers through his hair and unable to suppress a grin. Had he just proposed? He, Sirius Black, rebel, had just proposed marriage. Without a ring, no less. Well, he'd have to fix that as soon as-

"You were in there for two hours," a too familiar voice said. Sirius looked up and saw James leaning against the wall opposite the guest room door. "What could possibly have kept you in there with the door locked for two bloody hours?"

Sirius quickly dropped his hand and his grin. He pulled the door closed and latched behind him. "She's really upset, mate," he said, and it wasn't a lie. "And not to mention freezing. She was out in the snow in practically nothing for hours."

James' eyes narrowed. "Oh? And what's she wearing now?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You're her brother, mate, and you're married. Isn't that question a little inappropriate-"

"How long have you been sleeping with my sister?" James demanded.

Sirius blinked. He mastered his face into indignant surprise. "I'm not sleeping with Callie," he said, quite honestly. "If I was, you'd be the first to know."

James pushed off the wall and took a step forward, drawing himself up to his full height, a full half-inch taller than his friend, and did his best to look threatening. "She's my sister," he informed, quite uselessly. "We have rules in the Marauders against fooling around with siblings."

Sirius couldn't resist a bark of a laugh. "Yeah, rules we made when we were sixteen! You're the only one with a sister, mate; you know that rule applied to you and only you." He grinned. "But if you'd like to try Reg out, I won't get in the way." With a smirk, he turned to walk downstairs.

He felt a hand close around his arm in a vise-like grip. James pulled him back. "What were you doing with her?" His tone was becoming decreasingly amused and increasingly angry.

Sirius reminded himself that it had been a while since James had seen any action, and the man was bored as a stump hiding at home when even his child got to go out. "Comforting her," he said, his tone insistent. "The woman just found she might be the one to kill the Dark Lord. That's an enormous load to just dump on a person. The better question is why aren't you with her? You're her brother, after all."

"I know exactly what your idea of 'comforting' is," James snapped, ignoring the baited remark. "You've been making eyes at her this whole trip. Aren't you still with Marlene?"

"No," Sirius replied as calmly as he could.

"Yeah, like that'll last."

Sirius took James' wrist and twisted it to make him let go. "Listen," he growled, "what the hell are you so worried about?" James tried to tug his wrist free, but Sirius didn't let go. "What if I did love Callie? Would that be so horrible?"

"Yeah, it would!" James snapped back. "You're my best friend, Sirius, but your track record with women is nothing but a pile of broken hearts!"

"I'm not seventeen anymore! God, I'm thirty-three! Can we move past that!?"

"Yeah, you're thirty-three. And she's twenty-seven! Practically a kid!"

Sirius laughed harshly. "A kid? Twenty-seven is not a kid. When you were twenty-seven you had two kids, a wife, and owned your own place! When I was twenty-seven I was killing Death Eaters and protecting the innocent. She's been legal for ten full years, James; she's an adult capable of making her own choices. She's old enough to track down pieces of Voldemort's soul and kill him! You know who is two young for that? Your son! So why can't you just be thankful-"

"But that's six years of difference!"

"I know how long that is!"

"Merlin's beard, what is this about?" Remus demanded, stepping onto the landing. "We can hear you two from the garden."

"Sirius is sleeping with Callie and he won't admit it!" James shouted.

"I am not sleeping with her!" Sirius yelled back.

Remus rubbed his temples. He looked at Sirius wearily. "You need to tell him."

"Tell me what?" James demanded.

"Now is not the time," Sirius insisted.

"Mate, if you don't, I will."

Sirius ran a hand through his hair and let out a deep breath. "Fine." He turned to James. "Look-"

The bedroom door opened. "Sirius, we'd better get going," Callie said, brushing past all of them.

"I thought you were asleep," Sirius said, quickly seizing the opportunity and following her away from the conversation with James.

"Yeah, I was," she snapped. She turned to James. "And Sirius and I are not having sex, okay? I thought you knew me better than that."

"Then what were you two-"

"We can talk about this after Voldemort is dead, right? Good. Come on."

James leaned back on the couch, absentmindedly playing with a golden snitch. Bugger Sirius and his bloody need to have every girl he could get his hands on! His friend was an idiot, he'd always known that, and he'd done some stupid, stupid things, but never something that hurt like this. They may be in their thirties now, but damn if this wasn't a stupid, stupid move.

He felt the cushion beside him shift as his wife sat down beside him. She watched him for a long moment. "James, what's the matter?"

"It's Sirius," James said automatically.

Lily tucked her legs beneath her and settled in for a long talk. "What about him?"

"First he nearly gets Callie killed multiple times in the Ministry, then he screws around with her!"

Lily let out a deep sigh. "It was you who asked him to keep an eye on her when she first joined up. And the way I see it, she'd be dead a dozen times over if he hadn't been there for her." James scoffed and opened his mouth to speak. "I'm not done. Darling, you know them both very well. Did you honestly think nothing would happen between them?"

James thought for a long moment. "No. I didn't. I just hoped I'd be wrong."

"Haven't you noticed how happy Sirius has been lately? I, for one, haven't seen him like this since before he joined the Department. And he was certainly never like this with Marlene."

"I guess I haven't seen Callie this happy since Mum and Dad died," James admitted. "Before today, that it is. I just don't understand why that idiot didn't come clean and tell me about it!"

"Because he knew you'd be in their business and wouldn't shut up."

"Well, I deserve that right. She's my little sis."

"And he's as good as your brother." She paused. "Look, I'd be the first to admit he's a total idiot, but he's also your best friend in the world. He'd never do anything to hurt you, you know that. And there's no one short of Dumbledore himself that could protect her better than he can."

James wrapped an arm around his wife and sighed. "Yeah. I suppose you're right."

"As usual."

"As usual," he agreed.

Lily smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. She entwined her fingers in his and looked at the roaring fire. "They'll be okay," she promised. "They've got each other."

It was all wrong. Sirius lost sight of her for one second. Just one. That shouldn't have been enough time.

The mansion was on fire and crumbling around them. Aurors and Death Eaters were both disappearing, retreating. He tore an opening through the flames and leapt through. He screamed her name above the roar of the fire. Smoke burned his eyes and made them water. His throat was raw from the smoke.

He'd promised her. He had promised her it would all be okay. Before they stepped foot into this godforsaken house, he'd sworn she'd be alright.

"Sirius!"

He scrambled in the direction of her voice. A beam fell inches from him and he dove to the side. He yelled for her again. He could barely see the edges of the room through the flames. The windows cracked and the ceiling creaked. Fire spilled out of the fireplace, illuminating a dark shape with a hand tight around Callie's throat.

Sirius screamed and aimed a spell. The fireplace blew apart. His vision went black.

Remus ran into the Potter's living room, a letter clutched in his hand, face pale. "It's from Marlene."

James sat up. "What does it say?"

"She wants us both at the Ministry. That's it."

James' brow knit together. The blood drained from Lily's face.

"Maybe… maybe the war's over," James offered lamely.

"Both of you need to go right now," Lily muttered. "NOW!" she shouted when neither of the moved.

James kissed her quickly and ran upstairs to check on the kids. Remus pulled a sweater on over his head and grabbed his wand. Together, they raced to the Ministry of Magic. A receptionist stopped them but a sharp order got them through to the Auror Department. Marlene met them at the door.

Chaos ruled the room. People ran back and forth, some towing Death Eaters with hands and mouth bound, others carrying stacks of paper.

"What happened?" James demanded.

Marlene pushed her way through the crowd. Her temple dripped blood onto the floor. "They were expecting us," she said. "We have a mole."

"Sirius," Remus demanded. "Is he-"

"He's fine," Marlene assured quickly. "He got caught in an explosion and he's got some injuries, but he's fine."

"And Callie?"

Marlene hesitated. "Missing."

James stopped in his tracks. Missing. Missing was what Peter was before… "What the hell do you mean she's missing?"

"I mean we can't find her," Marlene snapped. "She didn't make it out."

James thought he might be sick. His legs refused to move. Oh, Merlin… not Callie.

"Where's Sirius?" Remus demanded, voice trembling.

Marlene merely gestured. Remus followed the gesture with his eyes and saw his friend. For half a second he didn't recognize the man. His clothes were torn, the side of his face was scorched, and blood dribbled down his arm. But that was nothing compared to his eyes. Remus had seen that madness and that anger only once before. That look meant two things: Sirius was tearing himself up inside and someone was about to die.

"Do whatever you can," Remus said and gently squeezed her arm once. This wasn't easy on her, either. He took James by the hand and pulled him over to Sirius. Marlene followed them. "What can we do?" Remus asked.

"Which Death Eaters do we have in custody?" Sirius asked, not looking at them. His voice shook.

Marlene ran down a short list of names. Sirius stopped her at a very familiar one. "Malfoy. Get him into an interrogation room."

"Sirius-"

"Do it!"

Marlene hesitated, but turned and shouted orders.

"Where's Callie?" James asked, almost too quietly to hear.

Sirius froze for half a second. Remus could see a few seams snap where he was holding himself together. He looked James in the face, grey eyes dark as storm clouds. "Do you want to get her back? Then do exactly as I say."

"Malfoy's in two," Marlene said.

"Remus, come with me," Sirius ordered, pushing past Marlene. "Mar, you know what to do?"

"Yeah. I don't like it one bit, but yeah."

"Keep everyone out of that room. No one in or out unless I say so."

Remus glanced at James before following Sirius into the interrogation room. Thank Merlin he was allowed in, because someone needed to tighten Sirius' leash immediately. "Sirius, calm down. This is not going to help her."

Sirius ignored him. He let Remus into the room and closed the door behind them. Behind a table sat a very disgruntled Lucius Malfoy. Remus nodded in greeting and stood to the side of the room.

"I don't know where Potter is," Malfoy stated coolly before Sirius could ask.

"Really?" Sirius asked, grabbing the chair in front of Malfoy. He turned it around and straddled it backwards. "Because I happen to know that you were behind the breakout of Azkaban. It was your idea to go quiet for a while and replenish your troops through replacing prisoners in Azkaban with everyday Muggles, wasn't it?"

Malfoy said nothing but Remus' eyes widened. That should be impossible. He found that the longer he looked at the Death Eater the less sympathy he held.

"She'll be dead by now," Lucius simpered.

Sirius smiled then, the corners of his mouth pulling into a wicked curve. "No. She's not dead," he promised. "Because if she is, I will murder every one of you, starting with your lord and savior."

The coldness in his voice sent a chill down Remus' back. This was the heir of the Black Family, he reminded himself, and their fury didn't just drain out if you tried to be good.

Lucius matched Sirius' smile with an ironic one of his own. "Idle threats do not become men of action, Black."

"It's not a threat. It's a promise." Sirius stood and leaned against the table, his face level with Malfoy's. "Why would a man who was trusted with a plan like that not know where Potter was taken?"

"The Dark Lord doesn't burden me with all the details."

Sirius' eyes widened as if the man had said something brilliant. "I see now. Yes, that makes sense."

Quick as lightning, his hand darted out, grabbed a fistful of Lucius' long hair, and slammed his head into the table. Malfoy's nose cracked and dribbled blood when he picked his head up, eyes watering. After taking a moment to recover from the shock, he wiped his nose in as dignified an air as he could.

"So," he drawled, "you do love her, then. Bellatrix was right."

Sirius' face betrayed nothing but cold hatred. "Where is she?"

"I don't know," Malfoy replied. He saw the look in his eyes. "Go ahead and torture me. It will do you no good. Nothing you can do to me will rival what I've experienced at the hands of my lord."

Sirius smirked. "Really?" He studied the man's face for a moment before standing and walking to the door. "You know something? I believe you." He opened the door and stuck his head out. "Mar, bring him in."

Remus felt something change in the air. Whatever Sirius was planning wasn't good, but he'd never expected who walked through the door. A child, Harry's age, with a mop of hair like his father's and fear that pride failed to mask in his eyes. He tried to speak, tried to scream, but no sound came out.

"Draco!" Lucius said, standing. "Black, what is this?"

Marlene handed the boy over to Sirius and looked him dead in the eye. "I am not comfortable with this."

Sirius shut the door in her face and set a hand on Draco's shoulder. "Thanks for coming, Draco. And look who else is here! It's daddy, straight from Azkaban. Say hello to your father."

Tears of fear streamed down his face. He tried to say something again.

Sirius looked at Lucius and placed his hand on Draco's neck. "Where is she?"

Lucius looked at his son, then at Sirius. "You won't do it. You'll be arrested."

Sirius pulled his arm back and slammed his fist into Draco's face. Draco cried out in pain and hit the floor. Remus darted forward and grabbed Sirius' arm to stop him. "Are you insane!? This is a child!"

Sirius shot his friend with the Body-Bind spell. He turned back to Lucius casually. "You know, right before the most important person in my world was taken by Voldemort, I told her it would be okay. I lied, because that's what you do for people you love. You lie. So go ahead, Lucius. Lie. Because if you don't give me the information I want, you'll watch the most important person in your world die before your very eyes."

Draco cried out in fear and tried frantically to get away. Sirius reached out and snatched the collar of his shirt, throwing him against the wall.

"I don't know where she is, I swear!" Lucius shouted. He tried to move to defend his son, but the magical binds kept him tied fast to the chair.

"Still think I'm bluffing?" Sirius asked. He backhanded Draco, cutting his eye. "You should remember my family name, Malfoy." He kicked Draco hard in the stomach, causing him to throw up all over the floor.

Tears spilled from Draco's eyes. He looking in his father's face desperately.

"You're not even using your wand!" Lucius shouted manically. "You don't have the guts to do it, Black! You're soft!"

Sirius' eyes flashed. His mouth spread into a wicked grin. "You really think so?" His eyes turned down to Draco and his wand tip found his heart. "Crucio."

Draco screamed. His body twisted and writhed, smearing blood onto the floor. Lucius begged Sirius to stop. Sirius looked the boy's father in the eyes without remorse or guilt, and broke the spell.

Silence fell, unbroken by Draco's silent sobs. Sirius watched the Death Eater, challenging, promising he could do more. When Lucius didn't speak, Sirius lowered his wand again. "Avada K-"

"STOP!" Lucius screamed. "I know where she is! I know where she is! For the love of god, Black, stop!"

Sirius kept his wand tip pointed straight at Draco's chest. "Where?"

"She's in Azkaban! The Dark Lord has control of the dementors; they're all there!"

Sirius gave him a long look, trying to detect a lie. He didn't see anything but desperation in the wretched man's face. He stepped over Draco before releasing the bind on Remus.

Remus leaned against the wall to get his balance. "Are you insane!?" he shouted breathlessly.

Sirius didn't spare him a glance. "Come on." He left Draco sobbing on the floor. Lucius shouted questions at them, demanding to know what would happen to his son. Sirius ignored him and locked the door behind them.

"What the hell!?" Remus asked. "I know you're terrified for Callie, but you can't just go around torturing children!"

"He's fine," Sirius insisted. "In about an hour the so-called child will turn back into Mulciber."

Remus stared open-mouthed at Sirius. "You mean you used-"

"Polyjuice potion, yeah," Marlene answered, rejoining them. "Did it work?"

Sirius nodded.

James swore. "Merlin's pants, mate, you don't pull any punches."

"You're both mental," Remus reminded them. "Completely mental. I suppose I was in there to make it believable?"

"Couldn't have done it without you, Moony." Sirius flashed him a grin that didn't make it to his eyes. "Want to join us in Azkaban?"

Remus sighed deeply. "Why not? I've always known we'd all end up there; it's just taken longer than I thought."

"They can't stop us as long as we're together," James promised.

Sirius shook his head. "You say the sappiest things, Prongs."