[A/ N- I should just make you all mad and say that the door wasn't shut all the way. But I'm not going to do that. I'm high on this part of the story, and intend to continue with it for now…. And possibly into tomorrow. Please enjoy. Oh, and the song is the ending theme off of the anime Noir. You need to listen to it anyway, it's just beautiful.]

"How do you do that? I haven't seen you use a wand since fifth year. It was always whispered words and intricate hand motions," Sirius's voice, though quiet, and muffled against her shoulder, rung out in the dark emptiness of the great hall, the stars twinkling eerily above them.

"It's pure magic, as a form of expression," she explained, her own face buried in his hair. "Wizards find it difficult to understand because they find it difficult to do."

"But I could do it, if I chose to do so?"

"Yes. Better than most."

"You're just saying that because of us."

"No… yes," he could feel her chuckle. "The consort of a full- blooded sorceress has full access to her strength. So yes and no. It depends on how you grasp it."

"How do I do it, then?"

"How do you summon a chair?"

"Accio chair," she felt him move his wrist in the necessary motion.

"No," her voice was flat. "Wands and incantations won't help you, there's no wand, and no incantation. What are you thinking when you summon a chair?"

"I want the chair to…." He stepped back and looked in her eyes, visible mostly from the starlight's reflection. "That's all it is?"

"I wouldn't use that terminology. It's not simpler. But that's all."

She watched as he closed his eyes and pursed his lips in concentration, hair falling in his face. His hands squeezed hers, and a dull glow, much like candlelight, filled the room. He opened his eyes and looked around in astonishment.

"Exactly," she whispered, her smile almost as bright as the glow in her eyes.

"You're right. It's not easy," he closed his eyes momentarily and sighed. "Sinia… what are we?"

"How do you mean?"

"Are you my fiancé?  My lover? My wife?" the confusion in his eyes was evident. He hadn't been able to ask for a while.

She looked down for a minute, contemplating. "You are my air," she looked up into his eyes. "That I forget about some days, cling to others. That I need to live, that is inside me, around me, mine and mine alone, yet never so singularly distinctive. I don't care about titles, so long as you're there."

"I never am," he countered.

"Then neither am I. You exist. It's enough."

He closed his eyes and concentrated, and a guitar chord delicately lilted through the air. Sinia's eyes widened in recognition as the song continued.

"You never did tell me what the words mean," he whispered accusingly.

"I don't know," her voice was small, her eyes glossy with tears, as the delicate voice lilted through the air. He reached out to pull her toward him, and she settled her temple against his jaw, and the danced in small circles around the room.

"I owe you a ceremony. This is the best I can do," he kissed her hair gently, as she looked up into his eyes.

"There's a time and a place for everything, Sirius," she buried her head in his shoulder. "I never needed a ceremony."

He sighed quietly, as the song ended. "I hate to go. I have to go. You'll be in trouble if I don't."

"When they get a hold of you, I'm slated for the dementors as well," she whispered. "Why does it matter?"

"Because we are only together in the dark, in secret, in shadow," he looked in her eyes. "I want to kiss you in a crowded street. In daylight. Where someone will see, where someone will witness. I grow tired of waking and wondering if this is a dream."

"One day we will," she smiled quietly. "I give you my word."

"Don't make promises-"

"This one I will keep. I know not when, nor how, nor where. But I will. I love you."

"I you," he replied, kissing her forehead, "Blackwings. What do we do now?"

"Leave, would probably be your best bet," Sinia and Sirius's heads turned automatically to see the snarl on Remus Lupin's face. Sinia's eyes iced over in a possible rebellion. "Snape is just now leaving this general direction."

"How'd you know we were here, Remus?" Sirius asked.

"Marauder's Map. Really, do you think it wouldn't have shown me?"

"Then you would have seen him!" Sirius's eyes lit up with hope.

"Seen who?"

"Peter!"

"Peter's dead, Sirius. You killed him, remember?" Remus was almost shouting. "Or was that a happy memory for you?"

Sirius winced at the words. "Remus… Moony… I can explain."

"I don't want to hear it."

"It's not his fault, Remus," Sinia argued, turning to face him.

"Stay out of this, Sinia. You'd forgive him anything."

"Where do you get that impression?" her voice was ice. "Would it kill you to hear what he says?"

"I've been lied to enough, how would it help me to sit through more of the same?"

"He's not lying."

"How would you know? You're blind to every flaw he has!"

"And you to mine," she snapped. "If you told me the moon was cottage cheese, and it would make me human, by wizarding standards, the next question I would ask you would be how to get there. I trust you both on an equal level- why do you not trust me?"

"He killed James, Sinia!" Remus roared. "When will you see that? He traded Prongs for you!"

"He traded me for Prongs, if that's your belief!" Sinia screamed back. "You were there, Moony! He's egotistic but he wouldn't have put any of us through that!"

"Then why did he accuse me of being a traitor?"

"It was Peter. We didn't know- you thought I was!"

"You had an excuse?"
"I was engaged."

"You're inventing stories to justify what you're doing, again."

"It was Peter, Remus," Sirius's voice was barely audible.

"You need to leave," Remus's voice was cold as ice. "I don't want to see you ever again."

"Even if I'm right?"

"You're not right. You were insanely wrong. Be happy I'm not throwing you to the dementors now, though Snape may have some fun with your girlfriend before that happens. Leave. He's coming."

With that, Remus stormed out of the great hall, and Sirius turned to face Sinia, whose eyes were still trained on the doors.

"He isn't kidding, either. I have to get you out of here." She turned to face him. "This will hurt. Whatever you do, focus on staying in one piece."

"What are we doing?"

She locked his hands with hers and he felt her hands grow warm as magic flowed between them. He suddenly felt lightweight, spacey.

Surreal.

"We're sliding," he heard her whisper.

[A/N- oh, I ain't done yet. You still don't know who it was! You think you know, but I got a lot of plot bunnies for this story up my sleeve!]