Sheyliegh and Sirius were out on a walk. The moon was shining bright

down onto the grass. There was a warm breeze that blew through the trees. It

had been so long since Sheyliegh and Sirius had been out on these very

grounds, talking. It had been since their last day at Hogwarts that they had

been here together.

Sirius was the one who broke that silence. "So, are you and Severus

getting along okay?"

"Of course. I mean we have our disagreements about things every once

in a while, but who doesn't?"

"You know, I remember when we were younger and you and I dated. Those

were some fine times when we were kids. We had so much fun together." He

walked over and sat underneath a near-by tree. "Remember that one time we

sat here one night and played truth or dare? I do. That was so much fun. I

remember Lily dared us to kiss."

"Yeah, but that was when Albus caught us while he was on a midnight

stroll. I can still remember the look on James' face." She let out a small

snicker.

"You know I never got that kiss." He looked over at Sheyiegh and

saw the moonlight reflect in her eyes.

Sheyliegh laughed at this. "Well I can't help you now. These lips

belong to Severus."

"Oh yeah. That's right. But you know, a dare is a dare. Come on Shey,

Sev will never know." Sheyliegh, by now had sat down next to him. Sirius

leaned over and got closer to her.

"Sirius it just wouldn't be right."

"Oh come on Sheyliegh. You kissed James."

"That was a long time ago. We were kids. I'm married." Sheyliegh

stood up and was getting frustrated. There was no way she was about to kiss

him when her husband was right inside the castle.

Sirius stood up now too. "Oh Sheyliegh. You always were the chicken.

Everytime we planned to do something fun, you always found an excuse to get

out of it. Either that or you would try to talk us out of it. We're out here

by ourselves. No ones going to know." He walked forward and grabbed Sheyliegh

around the waist and kissed her.

She pushed him away and slapped him. "How dare you! I just got

married four months ago! I have a husband! I thought that you were happy for

me!" She stormed off and left Sirius by himself.

***

Severus didn't stay to see what happened after the kiss. He turned on

his heel and stormed out of the room. He didn't wait for the stairs to stop

moving. He ran down them. When he made it to the doorway, he saw Sheyliegh

running up to the castle. She stopped right in fron of him-her eyes were all

red and full of tears.

"How could you?" Severus whispered.

"Sev, it wasn't my fault I-"

"Out of my way. I'll talk with you later." He took of again in long

strides, his robe blowing in the now harsh wind. When he reached the tree

that Sirius and Sheyliegh had been at, Sirius stood on the spot with his hand

on his cheek where Sheyliegh had slapped him.

Sirius looked up just in time to see Severus with his wand pointed at

him, muttering a curse. Suddenly he was laying on his back. The force at

which he fell knocked the wind out of him. While still lying down he searched

frantically in his robes for his wand. But it was too late. Severus had cast

another charm which made him hang upside down in mid-air.

"How does it feel Sirius?! No, there's no need to tell me how it

feels, I've already experienced it!" He let him drop back down to the ground.

Another charm-this time he had been put under the Cruciatus curse. Sirius

fell to the ground and began to twitch. He screamed from the pain so loud

that he could have been heard a mile away.

"Sev! NO!" Severus turned to look behind him. There stood Sheyliegh

and Albus. Sheyliegh was hysterically crying. Albus whipped out his wand and

said the counter-jinx. Sirius stopped twitching, but didn't move from his

spot on the grass.

Albus ran forward and leaned over Sirius. Sheyliegh stood in her spot

unable to move, talk, or do anything at all. Finally Severus came to his

senses. He realized what he had just done. The Death Eater within him was

showing his colors. Looking over at Sheyliegh. He could tell she was very

scared. Severus went to move torwards her. But she took one step back, and

then took off at a run torwards the castle.

***

The next morning was not a happy one for anyone. Severus had spent

the night in Albus' office because Sheyliegh had refused to let him in the

living quarters the night before. Albus had spent his night in the hospital

wing by Sirius' bed. Even the students were in a bad mood. Maybe it was

because that Professor Grubly-Plank was taking over Sirius job for a while.

Or maybe it was because they had been awakened the night before by Sirius'

screams.

Severus went to his morning classes, but there was no sign of

Sheyliegh. He went down to their living quarters. He knocked on the door, but

there was no answer. So he knocked again, this time louder. But still

nothing. There was no other choice. Whipping out his wand he muttered a spell

and the door swung open.

Walking inside he saw Sheyliegh laying on their bed all curled up in

a ball. She had the covers pulled tight around her. Severus sat down on the

end of the bed. Sheyliegh seemed to not notice that he was there at all. He

layed down beside her and looked into her eyes. She still seemed frightened.

"Sheyliegh, listen to me. I know what I did last night was wrong. And

I'm very sorry. I just couldn't help it. Seeing him kiss you... I just..."

"You're not the same Severus that I married." Her voice seemed very

far off. She refused to look into his eyes.

"I was as surprised at what I did as you and Albus were. But...

sweetie... listen to me." He leaned over and kissed her softly upon her lips.

"I'm so sorry. Let me make it up to you. I'll make it up to Sirius too. Just,

please forgive me. Please sweetheart."

Sheyliegh lifted her head and their eyes locked. She could tell that he

was truly sorry. It was pretty easy to read Severus. But before she could do

anything at all, Severus winced and grabbed his fore-arm. There was a burning

pain in his arm that was only too familliar. He looked back up into

Sheyliegh's eyes. The only way to make her understand what it was really like

was to show her. He raised up his sleeve. On the inside of his fore-arm the

Dark Mark glowed black. At first Sheyliegh looked somewhat frightened. But

then she reached out and touched to spot where the Dark Mark laid

pernamently. She told herself, if she was to be his wife, she was to

understand and accept.

"Severus, if he's calling you.."

"Then it's not good. I have to go tell Albus. He'll want to know."

"I'm coming with you. I'm your wife now, and I'm going to stand by

you in no matter how bad the situation."

So Sheyliegh and Severus walked down to Albus' office. When they

knocked on the door, they were beckoned inside. Once inside, they took a seat

in front of Albus' desk. "Severus, I know why you're here." His voice was not

as joyful as it usually was. He looked worried and exhausted.

"But how did you-"

"Karkaroff. He just left. He felt the mark burning this morning and

used the floo network straight away to tell me." He took off his half-moon

spectacles and rubbed the bridge of his nose. After replacing his glasses, he

carried on. "You know what this means don't you?"

Severus looked over at Sheyliegh. He knew exactly what it meant.

"What time do you want us to meet you there?"