Sirius Black's POV

I returned to Raylynx's house.

I stumbled inside and then fell flat on my face just inside the door.

I couldn't move. My body ached all over.

I don't know for how long I was out, but when I woke up, I was extremely dizzy and light-headed.

I paused, almost sure that something had woken me up, as opposed to my just coming to on my own.

Did I hear something in the direction of the living room? Or am I just imagining it?

But then, a strong, cold beak pressed itself against my cheek.

I looked up to see Buckbeak standing over me, concerned.

"Oh, it's you," I croaked. I picked myself up off of the ground, groaning as I did. My rib felt quite tender, from when that bastard Lucius had kicked me as hard as he could. I looked down at the wand in my hand. It was pale-colored, thin piece of wood with an engraving of roses sprouting from the bottom. I frowned down at it. This wand hated me; I could just feel it. Whoever that lady had been, she did not perceive magic the way I did.

Still, it was all I had, since I'd gotten my own wand taken away from me. I pressed the wand tip against my side. I winced as I tried to mend myself. I didn't do a very good job. Giving up, I simply put Numbing Spells on myself. Thankfully, those seemed to work.

" 'M all right, Beaky," I breathed out, patting Buckbeak on the head. Buckbeak had squeezed himself down this rather narrow hallway to get to me. I had to gently push him out and lead him back to the master bedroom.

"You're probably starving as well," I realized. "I'm sorry. I've been gone a couple days, I know. I got… caught up."

Buckbeak neighed unhappily. Then, he sniffed the air a few times before giving me the stink eye.

"I smell that bad, huh?" I said knowingly. "All right, just… just give me a moment." I walked out of the bedroom, though my vision swirled. I held onto the side of the doorway for a moment before I made it back to the bathroom.

I forced myself to take a shower. The hot water stung painfully on all of the lashes ripped in my skin. I gritted my teeth as I washed myself.

After I'd changed, I stumbled over to the living room. I knew that there were some Healing Potions stored away in the hidden bunker. I was just about to climb down into the bunker when I heard a pitiful little squeak.

I turned towards where I thought the noise was coming from – the fireplace.

There, concentrating very hard on trying to light up the logs, was a very familiar little salamander…

"Quincy?" I said in awe. "Is that you?"

I knelt down in front of the fireplace to get a closer look.

Quincy looked up at me. He stuck out his foot and bleated feebly.

I quickly pulled out my wand. "Incendio." A roaring hot fire burst into being, catching onto the logs quickly. Quincy gratefully scampered atop the logs, letting the fire lick all over his body.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I muttered, frowning. "How'd you even get here?"

"Listen, you're cute and all," I said, squinting down at Quincy, "but if you ask me, you're more trouble than you're worth…"

"As are you!"

I whirled around, heart leaping into my throat in shock as I saw Raylynx standing behind me. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were blazing.

Upon seeing me, she burst into tears. "You complete idiot, Sirius Black!" she wailed. She ran up to me and shoved me hard, hard enough to make me stumble back- though admittedly, that didn't take very much at the moment. The back of my legs hit up against the couch and I barely kept from falling over. Before I could steady myself, however, Lynx barreled into me. We both fell back against the couch, my arms automatically catching her. I winced as we collided together. Despite the Numbing Spells, the way she was pressing herself against me made my ribs flare up in pain.

"Wait - " I started to say, grimacing.

But Lynx had already gripped the collar of my cloak and was kissing me all over.

Oh, fine, I thought. What if it feels like a million needles sticking into my side, when she's kissing me like this?

As she pelted me with kisses, I subtly hid the wand in my hand by sticking it between the cushions of the couch behind me.

Finally, Raylynx fell back. She was breathing hard as she asked me worriedly, "Are you all right? Did something happen? Where did you go? Why didn't you respond? I tried to reach you, to contact you. I was calling out your name from the fireplace - "

"Lynx, calm down," I said, trying to soothe her.

Instead, she screeched, "Calm down? You're telling me to calm down?" She shoved her hands against my chest. "How can you say that to me, you unfeeling bastard?"

I groaned in pain. "Love, if you came here to hit me, you've caught me at a bad time."

"I thought you were dead, Sirius!" Raylynx cried aloud.

Ah, that explains all the tears… Ignoring my protesting ribs, I reached up and tenderly wiped away her tears.

"Well, I'm not," I said, feeling a bit foolish as I stated the obvious. I tried to sound reassuring, but my voice came off a bit weak.

Raylynx stared at me accusingly for a minute longer, trying to get a grip on all of the overwhelming panic and anxiety I'd just put her through. I wanted nothing more than to pull her towards me, but I didn't think I could move without giving away how much pain I was feeling right now.

But I suddenly found myself wondering how the hell she had got my wand and how she had known to come looking for me. Does she know? I wondered. Does she know that I went to the Bureau of Information and Security and that Selwyn and Malfoy trapped me there for days?

The way that Raylynx was acting made me think that she didn't know the specifics. I was pretty sure she'd be berating me left and right if she knew of how reckless I'd been in chasing down information about Regulus. But instead, she was just purely worried, which made me think that she'd only heard that I was in trouble. But how?

"Wait, how did you - ?" I paused, and quickly corrected myself. "Er - What did you hear that made you think I was dead?"

"Lucius Malfoy came to my office and gave me this." Raylynx fished out my wand from inside her cloak.

Oh, thank Merlin, I thought. She handed my wand back to me as she continued, "He told me that you were dead. I raced upstairs and called for you using Floo Powder, but you didn't respond," Raylynx explained, her voice still panicky. Her lashes were still wet with tears. She reached up and mopped her sleeve at her eyes.

"I'm all right," I told her again. "Please don't cry."

"I'm crying out of frustration," she bleated out. "I come racing over here, feeling like my heart's going to burst with anxiety. And I find you lazing about in the living room."

Well, not quite lazing about, I thought to myself. But I didn't say anything and simply offered her a weak smile.

"But Sirius, how the hell did Lucius get your wand?" Raylynx asked me.

I hesitate, wondering how much I should tell her. I owed her the truth, and I knew that. But seeing her worried face made me hold back. Because I would stop at nothing to figure out exactly how and when Regulus died, and if Raylynx knew about my mission, she would never get a moment's rest and always be worrying about me. She didn't need that, especially when we both knew that she had to be at Hogwarts to protect Harry, no matter how much danger I might be in.

Finally, I said, "All right. I went out for a stroll."

"A stroll?" Raylynx sat back, with evident disbelief written all over her face. "You went for a stroll?" she repeated sarcastically.

"Yes. Don't give me that look." I said, lifting my eyebrow at her.

She sighed. "Fine, a stroll. To where, may I ask?"

"Diagon Alley."

Her mouth dropped open. "Sirius, are you mad? You went out into the middle of one of the most populated destinations in the Wizarding World? Have you forgotten you've got a huge bounty on your head?"

"I haven't forgotten," I told her, and the words came out a bit tersely as I remembered how close I'd just been to having Malfoy, of all people, actually collect on that prize.

"I went for a reason," I said.

She watched me expectantly, waiting for me to explain.

'I wanted to see if I could purchase a Demiguise Cloak," I said.

I fibbed a little as I continued, "Malfoy recognized my Padfoot form. Worm must have told him or something. So, anyways, I got into a bit of a tussle with him. I managed to avoid him and Apparate back here, but I must have dropped my wand…" I conveniently left out the fact that I had actually gotten said Cloak and that it was still, thankfully, tucked away inside my traveling cloak, which was on my bed in my room. I'd put up enough of a fight that Malfoy and the Selwyn girl were content with merely tying me down and taking away my wand. They did go through my outer pockets and took away all of the money I'd brought with me, but they didn't fish through my inside pockets, where I'd stashed away the Cloak and the document that I'd gone for in the first place.

Remembering that Regulus' document was still in my Cloak, I was suddenly sobered by the fact that regardless of all of the chaos that had just taken place, the truth remained that… my brother was gone.

"Sirius?" Raylynx said, noticing how my eyes fell away from her face and stared out into empty space. In a gentler voice, she asked, "Why did you want a Demiguise Cloak?"

"I… I had to go on a bit of a mission," I murmured.

Raylynx paused. "A mission? From Dumbledore?"

"No. Not from Dumbledore," I replied. "It was something important to me."

Raylynx frowned deeply, clearly not understanding what I was saying. "What is so important that you have to risk your safety?"

"It's something I have to do for myself," I said finally, still not looking at her.

I knew that Raylynx wanted to demand answers from me. She wanted to know what the hell I could possibly think was so important as for me to wander out into Diagon Alley on my own.

However, if anyone could understand the need to resolve things for oneself, it was her.

She knew that some journeys are so essential to who you are that you couldn't even explain to others if you tried. That was why she had left us during the First Wizarding War. She had had to find her own path, and follow it through to the end, for reasons that only she fully understood. And when you love someone like that, all you can do is to let them go, no matter how much that frightens you, and then to let them back in when they return, no matter how much that hurts you…

We fell into a deep, moody silence. Well, I fell into a moody silence. Besides me, Raylynx fell into a patient silence.

She felt torn. On the one hand, she wanted to be what I had been for her – a place to come back to, a place free of judgment and burden. But on the other hand, she was terrified of losing me.

As it was, I knew exactly how she felt.

"Come here," I murmured to her, finally tearing my thoughts away from Regulus. Ignoring the whine of pain running down my side, I reached for her and pulled her into my good side, the one that wasn't suffering from having been kicked repeatedly with unrestrained force.

She was a bit stiff in my arms for a while, struggling to understand what was going on while trying not to press me for any more information. But finally, she let out a short, exasperated sigh.

"What?" I asked her.

She shook her head and turning into me a little, she buried her head against my neck. I felt her soft breaths against the side of my neck.

After a moment, she whispered, "I'm so glad you're all right, Sirius. When Lucius threw down your wand on my desk, I really thought for a moment that… that something had happened to you."

My arm tightened around her. "I'm sorry for making you worry. I'm always making you worry…"

"Aren't you tired of me yet?" I asked her, half-joking and half-serious.

I finally felt her lips curve up into a small smile against my neck. "No, not yet," she replied lightly, and pressed a soft kiss against my skin, right below my jaw.

She rested her head on my shoulder and we both stayed like that for a while. My eyelids began to feel quite heavily. I badly needed to rest, but on the other hand, my Numbing Spells were beginning to wear off, and a sharp fire-like feeling was slowly building up down my entire left side.

But I stayed where I was, feeling Lynx snuggled up against my side. As the minutes ticked by, I wondered if she had fallen asleep, as she was apt to do around me for some reason, but she murmured aloud, "Sirius."

"Yes, love?"

"When I came in here, you were talking to something or about someone… about not being worth it? Or something like that."

I snorted. "Yeah, about a very specific something – your pet."

"My… pet?"

"Quincy."

Raylynx suddenly jolted up into a sitting position. "What? Did you just say 'Quincy'?"

"Yeah, he's here," I said, nodding towards the fireplace.

"What in the world?" Raylynx said, getting up from the couch and walking over to the fireplace to see Quincy snoozing atop the logs. "How in Merlin's name did he get here?"

"I was going to ask you," I told her honestly.

"Quincy, you little smuggler. When did you master the art of jailbreaking?" Raylynx scolded him. But Quincy was in a deep sleep, and didn't hear a word she said.

As I stared down at the flames in the fireplace, I finally brought up the topic that we both needed to address, however much we wanted to avoid it: "Lynx, we've got to talk about something."

She knew immediately what I was referring to. "Harry's name coming out of the Goblet," she said knowingly.

I nodded. "His name coming out of that Goblet after Worm's escape and the Dark Mark at the Quidditch World Cup… They can't just be coincidences."

"No, of course not," Raylynx agreed. She sighed and remarked, "The problem is that we don't know anything beyond the fact that it can't just be coincidence. Who is behind this? Who could possibly have Confunded the Goblet of Fire right under Dumbledore's nose?"

"You were right," I murmured. "About the TriWizard Tournament opening the doors to intruders…"

"Yes, but even in my darkest thoughts, I never imagined that Harry, as a fourth year, would have to actually compete in the Tournament," she said, exasperated. "I mean, if it's really Karkaroff, I've sorely underestimated his abilities. I never thought that this was a possibility."

"Lynx, it may not be Karkaroff," I warned her. "We can't erase the possibility that an insider is behind this all and using the Tournament as a cover to move."

Raylynx's eyes widened slightly. "You're thinking of Peter," she realized immediately. "You're thinking of how he used the fact that we were so focused on the Death Eaters that we never stopped to consider that he was the traitor."

"Exactly. I'm not saying that it is an insider. I'm just saying that we can't ignore the possibility altogether…"

Raylynx sat back on the floor, thinking hard. "Who… Who could it be? Who would target Harry in such a way?"
Suddenly, she winced and put her hand on her head. "Ow," she muttered.

"Lynx?" I called to her, concerned.

"No, I'm… I'm all right. I've just been getting these headaches, that's all."

"It's probably the stress," I remarked.

"What are we going to do?' Raylynx asked, letting her anxiety bleed into her voice.

"We've got to figure out who's behind this," I said firmly. "And we've got to put Harry on his guard."

"How?"

"Let me speak with him," I assured her. "I'll make sure he understands the situation that he's in."

"The situation he's in…" Raylynx repeated numbly. She looked up at me, eyes taut with worry, as she told me, "Sirius, the first Task is dragons," Raylynx told me, her eyes flashing with worry.

"Merlin," I breathed out. "They're really throwing the Champions straight into it, eh?"

"But dragons, we can get past," I said. "It's the witch or wizard behind this whole conspiracy that we've got to watch out for."

Lynx nodded, in agreement with my statement. However, she still looked extremely anxious.

I hesitated and then I asked, "Lynx, should I come back to Hogwarts with you? I have to admit, after hearing that Harry's name came out of the Goblet of Fire, my first instinct was to run to the castle."

"No." Raylynx shook her head. "Stay here, Sirius, and be safe. If the worst comes to worst – I'll come and find you."

"But for that to work, you need to be here," she reminded me, suddenly looking up at me.

"I will," I told her, though I couldn't quite meet her gaze.

Raylynx's eyes were heavy as she watched me. She knew, deep down, that I was lying. But for tonight, she let it go. Instead, she got to her feet and resuming her place next to me on the couch she kissed me tenderly, pressing her lips against mine in a vain effort to still the overwhelming anxiety that was fluttering madly in her chest.

Just then, the clock chimed out, indicating that it was now well into the evening.

With a deep sigh, Raylynx pulled away. "I have to go back…"

"I want to take you away," I murmured, keeping my hand on her cheek. "I want to take you and Harry and Moony away somewhere safe, where no one can ever hurt us again…"

"Do you think such a world exists?" she asked me softly, looking up at me.

A cold blade of pain shot through my heart as her words made me think of Regulus. If someone like Regulus couldn't make it through this world intact, could all four of us have a chance?

No, I thought. There is no such world for us.

But I couldn't tell her that.

She read the answer in my eyes anyways. Her gaze fell to my chest, her eyes sad and tired.

I smoothed back Raylynx's hair and I hugged her to me one last time before I let her go.

"Don't forget your salamander," I told her.

Raylynx nodded and scooped up a sleeping Quincy and gently slipped him into the front pocket of her cloak.

While her back was to me, I forced myself to stand up. When a bolt of pain shot up the left side of my body, I blew out a long, silent breath. Trying to hide my limp, I started to walk Raylynx to the front door. But she pressed her hand against my chest and murmured, "Stay here. I don't want to risk anyone seeing you as I leave."

I normally would insist on walking her out anyways, but tonight, I nodded, relieved of being spared the pain of having to drag myself to the door.

"I'll think about how to get past the dragons," I told Raylynx. "Let me know when Harry can speak to me again."

Raylynx nodded. Then, she walked over to the master bedroom to say hello to Buckbeak. He was a bit grumpy, though, from going hungry these past couple days. He wasn't really up for a friendly petting session tonight. I heard Raylynx's cheerful greetings faltered and she ended up murmuring a few choice words at him before she had to scurry out as he nipped at her.

Raylynx returned to give me a last good-bye kiss. But it lasted a bit longer than she originally intended, with neither of us willing to let the other go.

"I have to go," she murmured again, a little breathlessly this time.

I shook my head slightly and kissed her again, reaching up to hold her face in my hands as I did so.

She moaned a little, frustrated. "I have to go, but I don't wanna go," she murmured, her eyes closed.

I smiled a little at how cute she looked. I tried to make the moment lighter by telling her, "Well, savor the moments where you can leave me, because once everything's settled, I'm never letting you go again, Lynx."

"I'd like that," she said softly, opening her eyes to look up at me. She reached up and put her small, warm hands over mine. "I'd like that very much."

"Some day," I murmured, and it was a promise.

She stood on her tiptoes to press one last kiss against my lips before she tore herself away from me. Making sure Quincy was still curled up in her pocket, she left me, almost running out. I heard the front door open and close behind her.

I immediately fell back on the couch, holding my side and wincing as I finally allowed myself to acknowledge the terrible pain coursing through my body. Without Raylynx's kisses to distract me, I felt the full brunt of the physical pain that Malfoy had inflicted on me. And though I tried not to think about it, deep down in my heart, the horrible voice reminding me that I had failed not only James and Lily, but now, Regulus as well, kept speaking out, and as the physical pain throbbed down the left side of my body, so the familiar, dark voice kept drumming on in my mind, reminding me that when it came to the important things in life, I was worthless, worthless, worthless…

Harry Potter's POV

"Harry, Professor Kingsley asked me to give this to you."

Hermione, who had just come down to dinner from Ancient Runes, handed me a piece of parchment.

I looked down at it.

"What does it say?" Hermione asked, interested.

"It says to come up to her office at midnight," I relayed, folding up the note and putting it into my bookbag.

"But Hagrid's already asked you to go with him at nine thirty," Hermione said, frowning. "Do you think you can make it back in time?"

"I'll try," I said. "I guess it depends on what Hagrid's got planned for me… If I don't make it, I can apologize to Professor Kingsley next time I see her."

"I don't know why you didn't take Ancient Runes, Harry," Hermione told me airily, pouring herself a jug of pumpkin juice.

"Because Ron was signing up for Divination," I replied honestly. "Anyways, how was I supposed to know that the Ancient Runes professor was my godmother?"

Hermione smiled. "I guess that's true."

"Any luck with Ron?" Hermione asked me.

I frowned at her. "What d'you mean 'any luck with him?' This isn't my problem. I'm not the one who needs luck, or a good kick in the - "

"You're being silly. You miss him. I know you do."

"I don't miss him," I said indignantly, even though this was a downright lie. I did miss Ron. I hadn't realized how much I'd counted on his humor to get me through bad days…

And since Rita Skeeter had published that horrendous article, every day had been a bad day.

Only a few hours later, my day had abruptly been jolted into a horrendous day. Because Hagrid had introduced me to my very first task and they were –

The door in front of me opened. "Hello, Harry. Come in."

"Dragons," I blurted out. The word "hello" got lost in my brain and all I could say in front of Professor Kingsley was… "Dragons."

"Ah," Professor Kingsley said shortly. "You've seen them, then?"

I nodded numbly.

"Well, I can't say that it won't be difficult, but we can get past a dragon, Harry," she reassured me.

I stared up at her. Can't say it won't be difficult? Professor Kingsley's got a knack for understatement sometimes…

"We can do it," she promised me.

"Did you have to get past a dragon?" I asked her.

"Hm?"

"Fred and George told me you were the past TriWizard Tournament Champion."

She sighed. "Yes, I guess I was."

"So, did you have to get past a dragon too?"

"Yes. I did."

"And how did you do it?"

She thought about it. Then, she said, "By screaming and falling a lot…"

Seeing the horrified look on my face, she amended quickly, "Well, no, that's not how – I mean, it is, but that's not… I can offer better suggestions than that, I promise you."

Blushing slightly, she gestured at the fireplace and said, "Actually, Harry, I called you down here because Sirius is waiting for you on the other end of the fireplace. But if you don't want to speak with him tonight, we'll understand. I can just tell him."

Sirius was waiting to speak with me? My heart soared. Sirius was exactly who I wanted to see right now.

"No, no," I said quickly. "I want to speak with him."

Professor Kingsley smiled. "Well, then, go ahead. I'll keep watch while you do."

She stepped out into her office, leaving me alone in her living quarters. I quickly dropped to my knees before the fireplace and then stuck my head in.

A moment later, Professor Kingsley's living room popped into view – as did my godfather.

"Sirius!" I said. "How're you doing?"

Was it just my imagination or did Sirius look a bit haggard compared to last time? Sirius certainly seemed to be grimacing as he knelt down before the fireplace, pressing his hand to his side.

But my godfather brushed aside my question and said, "Never mind me, how are you?"

"I'm -" I paused. I tried to say that I was fine, but I couldn't do it. I wasn't fine. "Sirius, no one believes me. No one believes that I didn't put my name in the Goblet – even though I didn't. Even Ron… And with that article in the Daily Prophet, people just won't give it a rest. I didn't say any of that stuff to that Skeeter woman, I swear. And now Hagrid's just shown me what's coming in the first task, and it's dragons, Sirius, and I'm a goner."

"Have you talked to Lynx about all this?" Sirius asked me.

"Yeah, and she's great. She made the others stop wearing these stupid badges… But she's a professor. She can't just go around obviously helping me out with the Tournament, you know?"

Sirius nodded. "That's true… But listen, Harry, dragons we can deal with. However, before we get to that, there are other things I need to warn you about. I promised your godmother I'd make you understand the bigger picture so you'll be better able to protect yourself."

"What?" I said, feeling my spirits slip a further few notches. How can there be something more dangerous than a dragon?

"Karkaroff," Sirius said plainly. "Harry, he was a Death Eater. You know what Death Eaters are, don't you?"

"Yes - he - what?" I sputtered. So, this is what Professor Kingsley meant when she had said there was a history with Karkaroff… And this is why Karkaroff's so tense around Moody.

"He was caught, he was in Azkaban with me, but he got released. I'd bet everything that's why Dumbledore wanted an Auror at Hogwarts this year – to keep an eye on him," Sirius told me. "Moody caught Karkaroff. Put him into Azkaban in the first place."

"Karkaroff got released?" I said slowly. "But why? Why did they release him?"

"He did a deal with the Ministry of Magic," said Sirius bitterly. "He said he'd seen the error of his ways, and then he named names. He put a load of other people into Azkaban in his place… He's not very popular in there, I can tell you."

"Are you saying that Karkaroff put my name in the Goblet?" I asked, struggling to make sense of all this. "I mean, if so, he's a really good actor. He seemed furious about it, like he wanted to stop me from competing."

"Yes, and I can't see Dumbledore being fooled by Karkaroff, either," Sirius replied. "But we can't know for sure, and Karkaroff could have someone helping him. Besides, we already know that Karkaroff's a good actor because he convinced the Ministry of Magic to set him free, didn't he?"

"Now, I've been keeping an eye on the Daily Prophet, Harry…"

"- you and the rest of the world," said Harry bitterly.

"- and I saw that Moody was attacked the night before he started at Hogwarts."

"But Moody sees false alarms everywhere, doesn't he? Ron says…" My voice caught slightly as I remembered that Ron wasn't speaking to me anymore. But I pushed that thought aside and finished, "Ron says Moody's paranoid – a nutter. He sees threats everywhere. And he teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts that way, too."

"Yes, I know that's how people talk about Moody," Sirius said, "but I don't think so, somehow. I think someone tried to stop him from getting to Hogwarts. I think someone knew their job would be a lot more difficult with him around. And no one's going to look into it too closely; Mad-Eye's heard intruders a bit too often. But that doesn't mean he can't still spot the real thing. Moody was the best Auror the Ministry ever had."

"So… what are you saying?" I asked.

Sirius shook his head slowly. "I don't know, Harry. Your godmother and I are trying to figure it out, trying to piece all the pieces together to see where they might lead… Think about it. First of all, the Death Eaters seem to be a bit more active than usual lately. They showed themselves at the Quidditch World Cup, didn't they? Someone set off the Dark Mark… and then - did you hear about that Ministry of Magic witch who's gone missing?"

I shook my head.

"Bertha Jorkins," Sirius told me. "She disappeared in Albania…"

"Why does that make you suspicious?" I asked. "Her disappearance could mean anything, couldn't it?"

"Maybe," Sirius said. "But Harry, just between you and me, your godmother tried to hunt Voldemort down on her own once, and I know for a fact that she ended up in Albania."

"What? Professor Kings-?"

"Sh," Sirius said hastily. "I don't want her overhearing this, Harry. But I'm just trying to put you on your guard. The reason Bertha's disappearance worries me is that I trust your godmother. She's smart, smarter than I'll ever be, and if she found her way to Albania, there's a high chance that Voldemort really was – or is – in Albania."

"She didn't tell you for sure, though?" I asked, confused. Why would Professor Kingsley keep stuff from Sirius?

Sirius shook his head. "But that's besides the point. I don't need Lynx to tell me everything. Harry, listen to me. Bertha Jorkins was a Ministry worker."

"Yes…?"

"She would have known the Triwizard Tournament was coming up, wouldn't she?"

"Yeah, but… it's not very likely she'd have walked straight into Voldemort, is it?" I said, a bit sarcastically. "I mean, she'd had tried to run away or something, right?"

"It's not about running away. It's about being tricked," Sirius replied grimly. "And I knew Bertha. She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above your dad and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all. It's not a good combination, Harry. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap."

"If Voldemort knows about this Tournament, and Karkaroff's a Death Eater… Are you saying Karkaroff's only here on Voldemort's orders?" I frowned a little. "Sirius, I know you said Karkaroff's a good actor, but would he risk everything to put me into this Tournament?"

"That's true," Sirius relented. "And there's another thing about Karkaroff that makes me hesitant to say that this is him, or only him, anyways. Karkaroff doesn't strike me as the type who'd go back to Voldemort unless he knew Voldemort was powerful enough to protect him. But whoever put your name in that goblet did it for a reason, and I can't help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack you and make it look like an accident."

"Looks like a really good plan from where I'm standing," I said bleakly. "They just have to stand back and let the dragons do their stuff."

"Right - these dragons," said Sirius, speaking very quickly now. "There's a way, Harry. Don't be tempted to try a Stunning Spell - dragons are strong and too powerfully magical to be knocked out by a single Stunner, you need about half a dozen wizards at a time to overcome a dragon -"

"Yeah, I know, I just saw," I said glumly, thinking back to how Charlie Weasley and the others had struggled to keep the dragons under control despite the copious use of Stunners.

"But you can do it alone," Sirius told me. "There is a way, and a simple spell's all you need. It's called the Conjunctivitis Curse. It irritates the target's eyes, forcing them to swell shut."

"You see why it's useful?" Sirius asked me. "Dragon hide makes dragons resistant to most spells, but their eyes remain vulnerable. So, you've got to target their eyes."

Just then, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I half-turned my head, and a blurry vision of Professor Kingsley merged with the vision of Sirius sitting in Professor Kingsley's living room.

"Harry, we haven't got much more time if we want to be safe," she told me.

"All right, Professor," I said. I turned back and looked up at Sirius. "Sirius, I've got to go."

"All right," Sirius said gruffly. "Just – don't forget. Conjunctivitis Curse."

"Thanks, Sirius," I told him. My heart swelled with gratitude as I looked up at my godfather. But I couldn't help thinking he looked very tired…

Seeing the concern in my face, Sirius said, "Don't worry about me, kiddo. I'm all right. Now go."

I nodded, and I pulled my head out of the fireplace.

a/n:

to Momochan77: He does know, poor Sirius. :( And yes, now it's an information hunt for Sirius. We'll see if it leads him back to Raylynx or not! There are still a lot of unknowns for him at this point. Also, as to your Tournament point - I'm both dreading and excited to write about the challenges because they are so description-heavy, but it'll be cool to go through them, especially from Ray's perspective (having been a Champion before and trying to figure out who's behind it all). I also secretly really love the relationship between Raylynx and the sphynx. I think that Raylynx is terrible with most magical creatures (as Remus mentioned), but the legendary, highly sentient creatures (like dragons and sphynxes), Ray has an affinity with because her magic taps into ancient, written (Runic) magic. So, it's been fun parsing that out bit-by-bit. Underlying this story is the whole Pendragon - Merlin - Morgana storyline that I made up and added to canon, but I'm purposefully keeping my powder dry as of yet! Anyways, thank you for your comment and I hope you've been doing well!

to Caroline 4rbes: Thank you for your kind comment! Nice to see you again. :)

to blankardtheeigth: Hi! It was such a treat to read your reactions as you went through the whole series. It made me laugh a lot, and it also made me go back and read old chapters (especially the Regulus ones). In a way, it is a shame that Raylynx was so set on loving Sirius. I remember when I was writing the earlier chapters and trying to bring Regulus into the story, I thought of the Regulus-Raylynx arc as sort-of about what they could choose and not choose, and the tragedy of thinking that you don't have a choice. Arguably, Ray would have been much happier and better off if she could "choose" to love Regulus, but she didn't feel like she could. Regulus, too, would have been much happier and better off if he felt he could have "chosen" to leave the Black family the way Sirius had. But neither of them felt like it was really up to them, because even when they tried to make the right choices, their hearts wouldn't follow. So, it inevitably falls apart because neither of them are actually holding onto each other, even though they want to be together (as friends, lovers, or what have you). Thinking about that relationship again now, after reading your comments, makes me quite sad. I think Regulus and Raylynx were literally like twin flames, but they never got to build on that and their paths went in opposite directions. I will say, however, that one of things that I always think makes Sirius and Raylynx work as a couple (once they're more mature, anyways) is that Sirius doesn't care what people think, and he knows what his priorities are almost single-mindedly (which is sometimes a strength and sometimes a weakness). Raylynx benefits from someone like that, someone who can just appear at the Yule Ball unannounced and pretend to be her partner without second-guessing himself (even if it is a bit arrogant). In contrast, Regulus could never let go of his personal mission of saving his family for Raylynx, so even if he wanted to, he couldn't reveal his identity by showing up to be Ray's last-minute partner at the Yule Ball. Jasper Riley, too, as much as he loved Ray, he ended up choosing to dedicate his time to be an Auror and a magizoologist, even though he felt the whole time that he should have been closer to Raylynx. He knew she was slipping away for a long time before they broke up. That was probably why he felt he needed to ask her to marry him (along with actually wanting to be with her, of course). So, to speak at a high level, because Ray spends so much of her time getting lost in her head and so often second-guesses herself, she really benefits from having someone like Sirius, who is much more grounded and confident and straightforward, to just help be her anchor every one in a while. Sirius' brashness and his humor, while arguably not as admirable as traits like thoughtfulness, bring a lot of warmth to Ray. And ultimately, I thought that Regulus and Ray were too alike to be able to help each other. Also - Sirius' and Ray's relationship development is by no means over! I've written a lot of snippets already about how they are when they're cleaning out Grimmauld Place together and all that and there are some shifts in their relationship dynamic as well, so I hope you'll enjoy that. All right, I'm going to stop rambling at you now, but I wanted to respond to at least some of your comments! Thank you for leaving me a stream of reviews. It was great to see how your reactions changed or were amplified as the story went on.