Chapter Thirty: Side Effects

Summary: Thirtieth chapter. Nineteen to go. That about sums it up.

The days that followed past with little incident. The only significant alteration, in fact, came from Sirius. Nearly every day, after his afternoon check of the perimeter of the house, he would disappear to his room, complaining of being tired. And that would be all Harry or Arabella would see of him until dinner.

His appearance was also becoming a concern. He was looking more and more haggard as the days went on. Like a man who wasn't getting nearly enough sleep. Dark circles were becoming prominent under his eyes and he seemed less alert than usual. None of this made the slightest sense to Arabella. Not only was he sleeping all night, that she could tell, but he was also sleeping most of the afternoon every day. Arabella had asked him several times if everything was all right. The last time she had asked him he had snapped at her. Another trait that was becoming all too familiar to her.

Finally Arabella decided it was time to seek answers elsewhere. Making an excuse that she needed to see Dumbledore, Arabella had insisted on a trip to Hogwarts alone. The trip had cost her an hour's worth of arguing with Sirius, who insisted it was too much of a risk. They could owl him instead. Or have him come to the house.

But Arabella had been adamant, stating she had to look up some spells in the books in the library as well. And so finally, beaten down, Sirius agreed. Arabella consented to travel by portkey and Dumbledore had arranged for her to be met in Hogsmeade by three other aurors who would escort her safely to the castle.

Arriving at Hogwarts, Arabella was met at the castle steps by Dumbledore.

"Arabella." He stated with a welcoming smile. "Always a pleasure, my dear. Always a pleasure. Although I must agree with Sirius. From what I understand of the situation, I think this trip is a great risk for you. I certainly hope whatever you need to discuss is worth it."

Arabella looked apologetic. "Actually, Headmaster," She replied, "you aren't who I really came to see."

"No?"

"No. I needed to speak with Severus. But if I had told Sirius who I was really coming to see he would have insisted on the reason. You were a...convenient decoy. I'm sorry."

Dumbledore shook his head. "Not at all, Arabella. And you're in luck. Severus isn't at the castle much these days. But today I believe you would find him in his dungeons. I don't suppose asking what you need to see my potions master about would do any good?"

Arabella looked apologetic again. "Not at the moment." She said. "First let me talk to Severus. Then I'll tell you what I can."

Dumbledore nodded and led Arabella down to the dungeons. A loud knock on the door was answered by a scowling Snape. But his scowl slowly changed to an almost inviting smile when he saw Arabella. Almost. There was still a small hint of a scowl visible to her.

"Arabella Figg." Snape stated in a low, drawn out tone. "What a surprise to find you and the Headmaster at my door." He stepped aside with an over-exaggerated sweeping bow. "Do come in."

Dumbledore stopped at the door. "Arabella stated she wished to see you alone, Severus." He stated. "So I will return to my office. Do stop by before you leave, Arabella, won't you?"

"Of course, Headmaster."

Snape closed the door as Dumbledore left back down the corridor. "And what brings the great Auror Figg to my dungeon?" He sneered at her.

"Put the past where it belongs, Severus." She stated shortly. "I need to ask you about the potion you brewed for Sirius."

A sure way to get Snape's attention to the seriousness of a matter was to question one of his potions.

"There was nothing wrong with it." Snape jumped to his work's defense. His tone clearly indicated that anyone who was going to question his ability to properly brew a potion had best come well prepared indeed.

Arabella held her hands up in front of her. "I'm not questioning your potion, Severus. At least not it's effectiveness."

"Then what is it you want, woman?"

"I guess I'm here to ask about...side-effects."

Snape raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms in front of him. "Side-effects?"

"Sirius hasn't been sleeping well since taking that potion. Or more accurately, he sleeps, but it doesn't seem to do him any good. He's tired, cranky, and he looks like a man who hasn't slept in days."

Snape looked thoughtful. "The potion should have no side-effects." He replied after a few moments consideration. "Least of all the ones you've mentioned. The regaining of his magical abilities is likely to stress the body somewhat. As well would it if he is over-using his magic too soon. Has Black attempted to work any spells?"

"He checks the spells and charms around the entrances to the house as well as the perimeter. But that's all he's done. He hasn't so much as floated a feather past that."

Snape retreated into thought again. Finally he spoke again. "The reassignment of his magical ability, as I mentioned before to you both, will take some time. The things you have told me Black has been doing could be putting the process under a strain, which is in turn straining him. If he insists that the protections need checking, I suggest he delegate that responsibility to you from now on. He sounds as though he needs to rest. Which includes a temporary ban of the use of magic on his part."

"That should help?"

"As I explained before," Snape repeated, sounding like the teacher he was, explaining something to a particularly dull-witted student, "the potion should have no side-effects...if my instructions are followed. For those who chose to ignore such warnings, I can hardly predict the outcomes of such acts. I suggest you check with Madam Trelawney in those matters."

Arabella sighed to herself. "Well, thank you, Severus. I appreciate your time."

As she agreed to do, Arabella stopped by Dumbledore's office and gave him a brief run down of the situation before leaving for Hogsmeade. After that, she prepared to return home. She had gotten all the answers she could out of Snape. All she could do now was follow his instructions and see if Sirius' condition improved.

Arabella had taken a short amount of time in Hogsmeade to do some light shopping, her fellow Aurors happily agreeing to accompany her. Harry still needed a few things for school and she was running low on a few necessities. Mostly for the kitchen. When she finally arrived home, she was greeted as though she had been away for days. Assuring Sirius and Harry everything had gone fine, she retired to the kitchen to start dinner.

The rest of the evening past as normally as it could these days, with Harry heading off to his bedroom at the beginning of the muggle news program.

As soon as the news program ended, Arabella stood up and yawned. She bid Sirius goodnight as he promised to be up soon.

Arabella was already in bed when Sirius showed up nearly an hour later.

"This is soon?" She asked when he came in the door.

"It is from checking the protections." Sirius replied. "That takes time, 'Bella."

"Well, it isn't going to take time anymore. At least none of yours."

"What do you mean?"

Arabella sighed quietly. "Sirius, I didn't go to Hogwarts today to see Dumbledore," She stated. "At least not entirely."

"Then who did you go to see?"

"Severus."

"Snape? Whatever for?"

Arabella curbed her response as much as she could. "I wanted to ask him about the potion." She stated. "I thought things should have returned to normal by now."

"Snape said it would take time, 'Bella." He reminded her.

"True. But even Severus thought that...maybe it was taking longer than it should. And he thought that perhaps one reason it was taking a little longer was...that you were over-using your magic. He thought that it might help if you...refrained from any magic use for a while. Until your abilities return completely."

"What little I do has nothing to do with my ability to do magic...or lack thereof."

"Snape seems to feel it does."

"And he is suddenly an expert on magical ailments?"

"You're not sick, Sirius. You were poisoned. Something Severus does have some expertise in."

"So now you're listening to the advice of the great Severus Snape?"

"When it sounds like good advice, yes. And I would suggest you do the same."

Sirius stood for several moments, as though unsure of how to respond to her. But suddenly, without a word, he turned and left, slamming the door behind him.

Arabella fell back on the bed, sighing loudly. Why did the man have to be so stubborn!

It was nearly a full hour later before Sirius returned to Arabella's room. Seeing no light on under the door, he pushed the door open as silently as he could, thinking she was asleep and not wanting to wake her. But as soon as he closed the door and turned around the bedside lamp snapped on.

Sirius had expected her to look stern, or cross, or even down-right angry. But instead he met a somewhat half focused, sleepy expression with a touch of concern working its way into it.

"I wondered if you were coming back." She said sleepily, pulling herself up in the bed.

Sirius sat down on the edge of the bed next to her. "You shouldn't have waited up for me to finish my tantrum." He said, caressing a hand down her cheek.

Arabella took his hand in her's and lightly kissed the back of it, then hugged it tightly against her as she stared up at him through pleading eyes. "Please listen to Severus." She said quietly. "At least let me help you from now on in checking the protections."

Sirius paused, then nodded, leaning down to kiss her head. "All right." He consented. "You can help."

Arabella rewarded him with a smile as he got up. "Thank you." She replied.

Sirius gently pressed his lips to her hand before releasing it. "Go to sleep." He said softly.

Sirius was more than good to his word. The next morning he stood by while Arabella preformed every check of the entrances and the perimeter. He didn't attempt so much as raising his wand. As the days went by, with Arabella getting permission from the ministry to bend the under-aged restriction on magic use, he began even having Harry come with them, insisting it was good training for him.

But as the days went by, as Arabella hoped to see some improvement in Sirius' condition, what she saw was things only getting worse. His afternoon naps were now coming earlier in the day and lasting longer. Eventually he was barely up before he was going off to have a lie down for a few hours. A few hours that would easily stretch to dinner time. After a week had past of this new behavior Arabella had decided it was time to go back to see Snape to see if he could suggest anything.

Planning the trip for the next day, Arabella had decided not to say anything to Sirius that night as they prepared for bed. She felt it would be better just to present it to him in the morning when all the plans were already made. But that night she found it very difficult to sleep. The trip had her nerves on edge. Not because of the travel itself, but in the event that Snape had no answers for her. What if he had no idea what was wrong with Sirius. What if no one knew? What if things only continued to get worse?

Trying to relax, Arabella rolled over in the bed. She was just settling back down when a figure standing at the window caught her eye.

Sirius.

Arabella started to say something to him. Call his name. But she stopped herself. Instead she lay as still as she could and simply watched him.

For the better part of a half hour she watched as he stood at the window. The light of the nearly full moon shone in through the window and slowly worked its way across the carpeted floor, marking the time in inches. By the time he finally abandoned his silent vigil it was close to three in the morning. Arabella thought as he walked across the room that he was finally coming to bed. But instead she watched as he settled himself into a chair. She intended to stay awake and see what he would do, but her own exhaustion overtook her before she even noticed it, and she soon fell back asleep.

An hour and a half later Arabella woke to find herself still alone in her bed. Adjusting her position with the pretext of someone moving about in their sleep, she turned until she caught sight of Sirius again.

Still seated in the chair, he was now rocking back and forth on the edge in a steady rhythm, his head resting on folded hands. His expression hidden from her in the darkness.

Determined now not to fall asleep, Arabella lay as still as she could in the bed and watched. For the next hour Sirius did little more than sit on the edge of the chair and rock back and forth. The only change in his odd routine was the rate at which he rocked. Sometimes it was very slow. But without any apparent reason he would suddenly quicken the pace for a few minutes, then return to the slow, rhythmic movement. Over the next half hour Arabella shifted between watching Sirius to watching sunlight slowly seep into the room as the sky began to lighten slowly.

Quite suddenly Sirius seemed to notice the coming dawn as well. He abruptly got to his feet and slipped his robe over the chair he had spent the better part of the night sitting in. As quietly as he could he crept across the room and very carefully slipped into the bed next to her, settling heavily down into the mattress.

Arabella willed herself to remain as still as she could. Thankfully Sirius soon rolled over so he was now facing his side of the bed. Opening her eyes she stared for a very long time at his back. What had he been doing that night? What was the purpose of it? How long had it been going on?

But while the first two questions offered no easy answers, the last was all too painfully simple. How long had it been that he had suddenly taken to having afternoon naps? To looking so tired during the day?

Putting on her usual cheerful morning expression, she reached over and ran a hand down his arm. Sirius immediately rolled over to face her again.

"Good morning." she muttered past a smile that took ever ounce of her will to hold onto. "How did you sleep?"

Sirius yawned and stretched out under the covers. "Excellent." He murmured, hugging his pillow with a smile. "I'll swear I think you're mattress must be the softest one in the house."

Arabella's expression shifted before she realized it. A mixture of irritation and confusion hardened her features.

He had deliberately lied to her.

Sirius didn't miss the change in Arabella's features. "'Bella? What's wrong?"

Arabella pulled back slightly, managing to recapture her smile and put it back in place. She quickly shook her head. "I was just thinking." She said thoughtfully. "You said you slept so well last night, but I was sure I woke up last night and you were gone."

Sirius gave her a wolfish smile. "Miss me?"

"I wondered where you were."

"You were just having a bad dream." He assured her, the smile never leaving his face. "I never left the bed last night."

"Not even once?"

"Not even once."

Again Arabella forced the smile into place. "Then I guess it was just a dream." She replied, watching past her fading smile as Sirius got out of bed.