A/N: I'm glad people are excited about this series, it makes me feel special. Just to let you know, Whimple, Devon is where my English buddy, Adela, lives, and I felt a village with such a cool name deserved a place in a fic.

I really don't know where this idea came from. It just turned out this way. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Sorry!

DISCLAIMER: Blah!




"It's good to see you, Dilnavaz!" squealed Arabella, pulling her into 3 Privet Drive,"So much to tell you!"

Dilnavaz couldn't help but smile, too, as she entered the house,"I know, Arabella, I know."

"I can't believe about Mundungus, he was so harmless at school. Then, bang, he's the bad guy," Dilnavaz continued, sitting with Arabella at the shining table.

Arabella paused,"Like Peter."

"Harmless, yes, but Peter stayed that way," Dilnavaz said carefully, warily watching her friend pour the tea.

Arabella shook her head,"No."

Dilnavaz gaped at her for a moment. And once again, the answer seemed obvious.

"They didn't...switch, did they? Sirius and Peter?" Arabella looked back at her, tears in her eyes.

"Peter told Him."

Dilnavaz sat, shocked, feeling ill very suddenly,"Oh, God."

Arabella reached out a hand to pat Dilnavaz's shaking one,"Dumbledore's got Sirius hidden, with Romulus. He's innocent."

Dilnavaz didn't seem to hear her,"Bella, Peter betrayed them? Lily and James?"

Desperate to keep her friend from crying, Arabella quickly explained everything the best she could, with her limited understanding.

"I know it's hard to believe," Arabella said gently,"But, you can trust me, right? Romulus, and Sirius, and me?"

Dilnavaz swallowed,"Yeah, I trust you, I believe it, but I can't seem to swallow it."

"Would you feel better if you saw Sirius in person?"

Dilnavaz stared at her, mouthing soundless words.

"My mum's fireplace is connected to the Floo Network, we can get to a Floo station near their cottage," Arabella stood, leaving her full cup of tea on the table,"Oh, come on, 'navaz!"

Arabella pulled Dilnavaz to her feet before she could protest, and shoved her into the living room.

"No, please, Bella, I feel awful sick," Dilnavaz stuttered, pulling back.

Arabella ignored her, conjuring a fire and tossing the green, shimmering, Floo powder into the flames.

"Whimple Floo Station, Devon," she yelled into it, as she pushed Dilnavaz into the coloured fire.

Dilnavaz clutched her stomach as she whirled down past the flashing fireplaces. Her insides were squishing about, oh, dear Lord, she was going to be sick...

She found sure footing suddenly falling into a moss-covered graveyard. It was sunny and clear, with a robin's egg blue sky above.

Arabella stumbled out of a church cellar door (hiding the Floo station) to Dilnavaz's right.

"Right, then, the cottage is just beyond that fence," Arabella pointed up ahead to a thick patch of foliage.

Dilnavaz dragged behind her,"Can't I just go over in that brush for a moment? I swear, I'm going to throw up..."

Arabella led her through a little path between some weeping willows,"Oh, you'll feel better once you see Sirius, and Romulus, and Remus..."

Dilnavaz stopped dead, rocking slightly,"Remus? He's...he's in there? I'm not going."

"What?" Arabella whirled around,"Oh, 'navaz, you can't be serious."

"Of course I can't. He's in that cottage down the path," Dilnavaz teetered and sat down heavily on a log.

"Ha, ha, funny, funny. Really, you've got to be joking. This thing was years ago," Arabella stood, hands on hips,"You're going in to see them, even Remus."

"The bloody hell I am," Dilnavaz put her head between her knees,"This is really too much for one day, Bella, I'd like to go home and have a nice little shot of Fire Whisky, thank you very much."

"Guaranteed there'll be some in there for you. This is stupid. Years ago, Dilnavaz Patil! This all happened years ago! It's meaningless now!"

"So did Peter. Peter betrayed them years ago. Sirius was jailed years ago. Lily and James were killed years ago. That still matters," Dilnavaz muttered, choking back tears. Blimey, why was she crying now?

"This is different."

"Different?" spat Dilnavaz, looking up, ashen faced,"Different? How? Tell me, how? Still betrayal, right? Still broken hearts? I'm not going in." With that, she leaned over the log and began to retch.

When she had stopped, Arabella pulled her to her feet, and half dragged Dilnavaz down the path,"You're so stupid, 'navaz. Wimp."

Dilnavaz protested weakly, wiping her mouth and tears away. She wasn't seeing him now. This was too much.

The cottage came into view. It was quaint, like fairy tale quaint. Hansel and Gretal quaint. A little whitewashed house, with a thatched roof and dark glassed windows. The only thing out of place was the garden, over run with weeds.

Dilnavaz straightened up as they approached. Oh, sod it all, this was useless. Arabella was as stubborn as she was.

Arabella knocked on the door sharply, then turned to glare at Dilnavaz.

Romulus answered. Or was it Remus?

"Hello, Arabella, Dilnavaz," he said curtly, nodding to both of them. Oh, thank goodness, it was Romulus, Remus would never have welcomed Dilnavaz like that,"You alright, 'navaz? You look terrible."

"Thanks for the compliment," she hissed.

"Bad Floo powder trip," explained Arabella hastily,"I just told her about Padfoot, y'know. She's in a bit of shock."

"Please, Arabella, don't make me go see Remus," Dilnavaz moaned, making one last attempt at escape.

"Ah," said Romulus quietly,"Remus. I forgot about the tension between you two."

Dilnavaz shook as she was pushed into the cottage. It was very bright in here. She blinked several times, trying to clear her vision, unsure whether or not this was due to her dizziness or the actual whiteness of the room.

A large, black, shaggy dog was in one corner. She focused on him immediately, not wanting at all to see Remus,"Nice to see you out of prison, Sirius. I've been wondering about you."

Sirius resumed his normal form, grinning. He looks so thin, she thought blankly, he's so weak looking. Oh, what time can do.

"Hello, 'navaz," he replied calmly, mouth twitching. Ah, so he did remember about Remus and her, the devil,"Anything to drink?"

"Fire Whisky, if you've got it," she said a little shakily, looking around. Remus was in a chair, stiff as a board, to the left.

"Hullo, Remus," she whispered. He nodded, and she sat down in the chair farthest from him, avoiding his eyes.

She was being stupid. She was only doing this because she was embarrassed. Honestly, he was the one who should be embarrassed, after what he did to her.

"Fire Whisky," Romulus slid a tiny glass of amber liquid across the table to her. She gulped the drink, letting the burn numb her senses.

Romulus glanced at Remus,"This is strictly business. We all want to forget these old differences, right?" Dilnavaz nodded without caring. "No chance hiding it. Whatever was between you is gone now. It isn't something you want to remember."

"There are plenty of things I'd rather not remember," said Sirius with a hollow tone.

"That's why we're here," Arabella noted,"To try and change the past, to shape the future." Dilnavaz didn't understand a word of that, her brain felt clogged.

"I think I'd like to go outside for a moment," she said airily, standing,"No, Bella, I won't run away."

Dilnavaz stumbled down the path to the graveyard. She leaned up against a tall monument, and, crying a little, fell asleep.

* * *

She was awoken by someone standing over her. She opened her eyes. It was evening, the sun was just slipping beneath the horizon, great tendrils of coral pink stretching across the twilight sky.

"I don't appreciate being woken up like that, Remus," she mumbled, standing and brushing dirt off her slacks,"Someone hanging over my shoulder like a ghoul, honestly."

"Sorry," he muttered.

She felt like banging her forehead against something. Or slapping Remus around the head.

"About what?"

"About everything."

Don't come any closer, she screamed mentally, I swear, I'll whollop you! He didn't move though, just stood there, brooding. She still felt like punching him.

"It's a little late for that."

"No, it isn't." Dilnavaz started to say something scathing, but bit her tongue. Remus sighed and walked away from her a few steps, looking up at the darkening night.

"So, I hear you've got a new last name," he sneaked a glance at her.

"He left me eight years ago," she replied simply. No, don't talk about my divorce, not him, just leave!

"Is he the guy you left me for?"

"Why are you asking? So you can flaunt it at me that it didn't work out? That it was a mistake? That I should've stayed with you, back at seventeen?" she spat.

He glared at her,"No, of course not. You're over-reacting. You always used to do this."

"Used to. Used to. Well, you used to tell me you loved me. Used to tell me we were meant for each other. Then, just run off with that little Alannys McQuirkle, why don't you?" she threw up her hands. She wasn't over-reacting! How was she supposed to act, after he had left her without a goodbye so many years ago, then was trying to apologise now?

"Huh. Then there was you and..," he began.

"Shut up! I won't listen to his name! He caused me more pain and heartache than you did, okay?" she screamed.

Remus jumped a little, looking terrified for a moment, then regained his posture,"That's hard to believe, 'navaz, the big deal you're making out of all of this."

If she was scaring the wits out of him, so be it,"Oh, really? Do you know what he used to do, hmm? No, I bet you don't. I never talked about it with anyone, not even Arabella." She pulled up her left sleeve to show him her forearm.

A thin, white, grisly scar cut it's way up her inner arm, bright against her dark skin,"He used to beat us, my daughters and I. See? Still got the scar from when he blasted me with his wand. If you had never left me, I would never have gone with that...that man. My daughters wouldn't have been terrorised. Do you know what it's liked to stand back and watch your children be beaten, but can't do anything about it?"

He didn't say anything. He didn't look up at her, which she was glad for, because she was crying again.

"Found a way to blame it on me," he said weakly,"Well, congratulations, Dilnavaz, you've made me the guiltiest I've felt for a good fifteen years." With that, he turned on his heel and walked down the path back to the cottage.

She stared at his retreating back, remembering the old days, until Arabella came out a few minutes later and took her back to the cottage.

Dilnavaz fell asleep on the sitting room couch after lying awake for an hour, wondering about Peter, whether he felt guilty, whether Remus still loved her.

She dreamt dark, powerful dreams, the type of dreams that stayed in the back of your for a long time, bubbling and boiling.

She only remembered a shadow of them when she awoke. It was still dark in the room, still in the deepest part of the night. It was stuffy in the sitting room, so Dilnavaz stepped over Arabella, curled up in a sleeping bag on the floor, to go outside for some air.

She stared over at the graveyard, the forest green shadows of the tombstones stretched out over the grey ground.

Something moved to her right. She gave a gasp and twirled around, looking for the source of it, wondering suddenly whether she was still asleep.

She was hoping that her sudden movement would've scared it off, or distracted it enough so she could get back in the house.

Instead, the thing moved out from under some branches. It wasn't a thing, it was a man. A man whose face and voice were etched into her mind.

She stepped back, closer to the door,"Get away from me, Mohinder."

"Please, Dilnavaz, I swear, I'm not that man, I'm changed!"

She grabbed her left arm nervously,"That's waht you always said."

He began wringing his hands,"The drink isn't on my breath anymore. I know what I've done, I realise it now."

"Really? If you truly understood what you've done, you'd stay away from me," she hissed.

"No, I trust you, that's why I'm here," he bit his lip, looking unlike she had ever seen him. He was scared, scared senseless,"I've found something. To...to deafeat You-Know-Who."

This took a moment to register,"The hell you have. You're telling me a bunch of crap, get out of here."

"No, no, no! Listen, I...I can't tell you. If you knew, they'd be after you, too. I can't put you through more pain."

She grimaced,"Not that it's possible. You're crazy."

"They're after me," he ignored her comment,"They want to know what I know! Please, I need to be hidden."

"So why are you talking to me?"

"Fidelius," he whispered, his dark eyes pleading, hands clasped and shaking. Fidelius. Like Peter. Peter, oh she hated him now like she hated this man!

"I...I can't do that!" she stuttered,"I can't believe you're asking me! This would put me, my daughters, everyone I love in danger!"

"But I trust you," he said, as though this solved everything,"I'm changed, I tell you! They'd never think of trying you!"

"Who are they?"

"Death Eaters, a giant, oh, God, Dilnavaz! What harm would it do if I was lying? But I truly know how to beat him, I can't let it slip! Please." Dilnavaz remained silent. She was beginning to believe him. He had told her the truth before. The only lie was when he had said,'I love you'.

"There's no reason why I should, lie or not."

"For Lily and James. Would you do it for them?"

Don't say things like that! she thought, No, please! I can't think about them now.

"For Lily and James," she said quietly,"And Harry."

He paused, looking at her carefully,"So you will, then?"

She was either asleep or crazy, because she heard herself say,"Yes."

They both pulled out their wands.

"I, Dilnavaz Patil, take upon this secret in my soul," she whispered, raising her wand, somehow knowing the spell. She felt a tingle through her limbs, and something white poured from her wand, hanging between them in a twinkling mist.

"Mohinder Patil is hiding in Exeter, Devon, 12 Adtrim Avenue," he said slowly. The mist flickered, flowing back into her wand.

"This secret will not escape my mouth, for a bond has been created between these two wizards. Should I or the other choose to tell the secret, the bond is broken. Your secret is hidden forever in my soul," Again, the electric feeling.

"Thank you, thank you, Dilnavaz, a thousand thanks. Namastai," Mohinder salaamed and backed away into the woods.

"Namastai," she whispered, trying to sort out what she had just done, what it had meant.






A/N: Oooo that took alot to write. I hope you enjoyed it! R/R!