Sorry I haven't had a chance to write any personal responses this time. Please forgive me, please!

Goodbye

As the weekend drew ever closer the fear in Sirius's heart grew tighter and harder to bear. He did not need Ebony to tell him what he felt he already knew. She was no longer interested in forming a relationship with him.

It did not matter to him that she had never spoken such words aloud; she had already repeated them a thousand times in his head. Sirius wasn't a friend of optimism, positive thinking had once convinced him that an innocent man would never be taken to Azkaban, and he wasn't going to let it fool him again. When Sunday finally arrived he had never been in worse spirits.

The Gentle Witch was a small tea room situated on the edges of a derelict village. Sirius surveyed the building with interest. The place had a quaint, old fashioned air to it; it was obviously not a popular haunt amongst young wizards, if Ebony wanted to meet here it was because she wanted them to be out of sight.

Slowly and resentfully, Sirius pushed open the door of the café. A wind-chime tinkled, welcoming him into the warmth. The smell of tea and home made cakes was overpowering as was the unnecessary brightness of the décor. The place was empty but for a small, wrinkled witch who stood behind the cracked, stone counter.

Sirius smiled at the lady and sat down at a small, circular table by the window.

Why wasn't Ebony here?

Worry boiled up inside him, burning in the pit of his stomach.

Was she even going to turn up?

Before Sirius could dwell upon this question the elderly witch bustled towards him brandishing a menu.

'We aren't serving hot food yet,' she cackled 'But I can do toast and sandwiches.'

'Er, nothing for now.' Sirius mumbled half heartedly.

The witch wrinkled her nose haughtily and huffed, 'This is a business, not a hostel,' before stalking off into the kitchen.

Sirius sat alone for fifteen minutes during which time he had managed to upset himself to the point of tears.

Why was Ebony not here yet? Was she even going to bother coming?

The gingham pattern of the table cloth began to hurt his eyes as he stared at it relentlessly; trying to convince himself that the second he looked up Ebony would arrive. When he did finally lift his eyes to meet the rest of the room, he did not see his sister, just the wrinkled old which who was now looking extremely impatient.

After a further five minutes of playing with the frill on a nearby napkin, Sirius finally heard the voice he had been waiting for.

'Sorry I'm late.' Ebony breathed as she slumped into the chair opposite her brother. 'Dad was asking all sorts of questions.'

'He doesn't know you're here.' Sirius concluded stiffly.

He noticed that his sister looked very flustered, she had obviously been running.

'No,' she replied softly, lowering her eyes to the tablecloth.

Sirius sighed heavily; he knew exactly where this conversation was heading. If Ebony was lying to her father about meeting him, then the old man obviously disapproved.

Before he had a chance to speak his thoughts he was interrupted by the old shop-keeper who was once again thrusting a menu under his nose.

'You'll be wanting to order now,' she pushed snootily. 'Like I said, I can't do hot meals but I can…'

'Do toast and sandwiches.' Sirius cut across sharply.

The old lady looked as though she was going to snap back but Ebony smiled at her sweetly and said 'Two tea's please.'

With a forced smile the witch hurried back into the kitchens and returned seconds later with two mugs of luke-warm tea.

'She always gives you cold tea if you give her cheek' Ebony complained.

'What you've actually been here before?' Sirius asked in an annoyed tone. 'Only this place looks more like a grannies meeting place and I was beginning to feel as though you were trying to keep us well hidden.'

Ebony shot her brother a look of frustration and said. 'I come here a lot actually, to do my homework in peace. Dad's always making a racket with his television.'

Sirius look puzzled until Ebony explained. 'With mum being a muggle he became interested in their stuff, but he never did figure out how to make the damn thing quieter. You should see his room, littered with plugs and light bulbs.'

Sirius had no idea what a light bulb might be but he was in no mood to ask, he just wanted to know why this meeting had been moved from Ebony's house to a deserted café.

'The thing is,' Ebony began slowly, 'Dad doesn't want me to see you anymore.'

That was it. That was what Sirius had been waiting for. A dull ache formed in his chest as fear welled up inside his head.

'He can't stop you' said Sirius, 'He doesn't have to know.'

'No.' Ebony snapped. Her dark eyes shone with tears as she spoke. 'I'm sorry Sirius, I can't lie to him.'

'So you'd rather lose me would you,' he raged, earning himself a warning glare form the shop keeper.

He continued in a quieter tone. 'What he doesn't know won't hurt him. You can't let him come between us.'

'I can't lie to my father, please understand,' Ebony pleaded.

Sirius's face turned scarlet, his eyes burned with rage. 'I'm sure you've lied before,' he said through clenched teeth.

Ebony ran a shaking palm through her long, black hair as she looked up to the ceiling, seemingly waiting for divine inspiration.

'You didn't see him' she said, avoiding eye contact with her brother, although he could tell from her voice that she was crying.

'He went mad.'

'He didn't hit you?'

'No.' Ebony replied quickly. 'Of course not, but he was angry. I've never seen him angry before. He was hurt Sirius, he was afraid; I'm not going to make him feel like that.'

Sirius exhaled deeply before arguing. 'He knows that I wouldn't take you away, he agreed to let me visit.'

'Yes, well.' Ebony said quietly, 'he obviously didn't realise how upset it would make him. He's old Sirius; I can't do that to him.'

Ebony surveyed her brother through tear-filled eyes. He looked every inch the condemned man; his facial expression was probably the one he had worn when sentenced to life in Azkaban. He sat with his head held firmly in his hands, long dark hair half-hiding his face.

'We can always write….during term time.' Ebony suggested hopefully.

'I will see you again Ebony' said Sirius stubbornly. 'Nobody will stop me. You can give into him all you like but I won't, this isn't the end.'

Ebony screwed up her face bitterly. Sirius was certainly not going to make this easy for her. It pained her to hurt her brother but she could not hurt an elderly man. Theodore Martin had raised her, dedicated his life to making her happy, she could not throw that back in his face. He had barely spoken to her since Sirius's last visit; he scarcely left his arm chair. She had to put things right. She had her whole life to get to know her brother; her father, she knew, was in failing health .And, after all, Sirius had already waited many years to find her, a few more wouldn't hurt him as much as the betrayal would hurt her dad. Knowing that she could not fight her brother any longer, Ebony slowly got to her feet.

'I ought to go, dad will be waiting.'

She knew that this was a lie but it seemed easier to walk away than to tear her brother's heart further.

'I won't go away Ebony.' Sirius warned. 'I am staying at Lupin Farm if you need me, it's on the road to Little Hangleton. I will be living at Hogwarts after new year.'

Ebony did not reply. She silently made her way towards the door.

'Bye Sirius,' she whispered before leaving the café.

Sirius did not move for a long time. He didn't think he could even if he tried. He sat for an hour staring out of the rippled glass window, the bright, winter sunlight stinging his eyes. It seemed to Sirius that a curse had been hovering over his life since birth, well in truth, Ebony's birth. It seemed that the powers above did not intend him to be happy and so cruelly tainted his life with false hopes and shattered dreams.

After offering Sirius numerous cups of unaccepted tea, the old witch at the counter became impatient with her only customer and ushered him out.

Strangely, Sirius did not think of Ebony that night. He did not think of anything, his mind became a blank screen but his heart felt as though a part of it had been ripped away. An empty void, recently vacated, ached with overwhelming sadness. It was not until Sirius had drifted off into a fitful sleep that Ebony was allowed to enter his subconscious thoughts, where she remained until daybreak.