DISCLAIMER: I do not own any characters in this story apart from Sylvia and Timothy. All the rest is the product of the genius imagination of J.K. Rowling.

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Kat-Tak: Thanks!

Sirius the homicidal maniac: Thank you for pointing the mistake to me. Now, what's life without a little mystery? I promise you will learn how that happened…eventually.

Sothis star: Wow! What a review! Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Padfoot1979: Glad you liked the end! You will be pleased by this chapter, for Remus is there while Sirius is gone!!! What will happen? Scroll down to find out!

A/N: I'm totally sorry about this horrible delay. Work, a sick daughter and more work are the reasons. Not very good excuses of course, for this abominable, inexcusable, atrocious wait, but…there you are, life is cruel.

The other reason is: this freaking chapter is killing me!!! It is more or less the middle of the story, not much happens in it, and I could just not live with that. I wanted Sylvia to find a way to help Sirius disguise his animagus form. But nothing really worked logically and the thing just got out of hand in a weird, demented way. The problem with this was that it opened yet ANOTHER plot line and would make the story just that much longer. I wanted to stop doing that and start making everything comes together. I guess something in my sub-conscious didn't want that to happen. Anyway, as I reread the mad thing for the xth time, trying to find a way to rewrite the whole da...(sorry!) part for the xth time, I found myself unexpectedly warming to it. It does have interesting possibilities… I very nearly deleted the whole Solidaris conversation, but decided against it. I'm still not sure if it really adds to the story… So instead of wavering endlessly and before you give up on me completely, I decided to put it out for a vote. If you think it is worth keeping, let me know. If not, I'll delete the thing from the chapter and re-post it. It is out of my hands now! (I swear it is not a ploy to get more reviews!!! Uh! Wait! You can leave one anyway!)

Last but not least, I have a piece of wonderful news. The Sirius Black Fan Club web site has asked for my permission to put In love and War on their site, thanks to the recommendation of Sothis Star. Thank you my friend a million times.

Well, enough of rambling, here you go.

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11- Work in progress

Sylvia went through her day after her outing in London in a state of daze. She could scarcely believe the whole thing, it was as if she dreamt it somehow. Only Sirius' note and the testimony of her calendar told her that yesterday had indeed happened. She went through the motion of cleaning the cabin and eating without really caring, her attention completely captured by her memories of the day before and its subsequent implication. Those seizures especially needed to be taking care of, but the thought of submitting to Madam Pomfrey's piercing eyes while explaining the origin of the attacks…that didn't sit too well with her. She guiltily decided to wait before sending a note to the Hogwarts nurse, maybe tomorrow the world would have righted itself and her mind would be in less of a shamble. Then, there was the mystery of exactly how she had undressed and got into bed without remembering any of it. She might have done it half asleep or even in a fit of sleepwalking. Or maybe Black had done it. That was the thought she had tried to avoid all morning. She really didn't need the image of his strong hands on her naked flesh going around in her mind. She needed to function without having uncontrollable hot waves shooting through her at inopportune moments. Really! So, naturally her thoughts turned to her next worry; the fact that Tim was STILL looking actively for her, going so far as lay a trap. They were not just waiting for her to feel safe and pop up somewhere. Even after more than two years, Interpol was using several teams of agents and probably a lot of money in their search. How much longer was this going to last? Will she have to hide for the rest of her life? The liberty and the pleasure of going out and meeting new people without fear or suspicion that she had experienced in Diagon Alley was calling to her. It made her realize that she could not live like a recluse. She needed to have people around, to have friends whom she could trust, to smile and laugh freely without being afraid all the time.

In frustration, Sylvia threw her glass of water into the sink where it shattered in several large pieces. Her flash of irritation dissolved quickly but the childish gesture made her feel better. Her thoughts were going nowhere. There was nothing she could do about any of it right now. She might as well use the nervous energy in a positive way. She turned resolutely to the door and went outside, putting her wandering mind into the attentiveness of an upcoming bout of rough training.

She got up the next day with an even worse feeling of dissatisfaction. She wanted to do something, something to solve some of her problems. She could not just sit here and wait for Tim to get her or for the convulsions to do his work for him. With a sigh, she resolved to sit down and try to write a quick note for Madam Pomfrey. She made several attempts before she was able to get something that didn't look like the rambling of a madwoman or the whining of a child. She reread it again, satisfied that it was concise, straight to the point, giving her symptoms in a scientific and detached manners, asking for medical expertise without the shameful pleading. She sent the note with a small owl that appeared at her call. Its plumage was so close to the colors of the surrounding forest that she didn't see it until it was straight under her nose, and lost it pretty fast once it was back in the air.

Now, she could only wait and see. Unfortunately, her actual nervousness wasn't really up to that. She nearly jumped out of her skin when a knock at her door startled her out of her pacing.

Ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble, she called with her best Rowena voice, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Remus. I'm alone."

"Remus?!" Relieved and curious, she opened the door with enthusiasm. "What in heaven are you doing here? Come in!"

She invited him to sit down at the kitchen table and busied herself preparing some tea. "I'm here at Dumbledore's request." Remus told her, "He could not come himself to give you these as he had promised." He took several large books from a bag and put them on the table.

One title read Great Beasts of Britain. Sylvia took the heavy book and flipped it open. Pictures of weird creatures came to life in front of her eyes. She gasped and almost dropped the volume. A dragon in one picture was moving around and even disappeared from the edge of the picture once. Another picture was showing a kind of strange huge bipedal character that reminded her of Frankenstein. It was purposely eating something that suspiciously looked like raw meat.

She looked up to see Remus' amused eyes. "This is amazing. Are these really pictures? Or is it some kind of videos?" At her new friend's blank look, she continued, "Never mind, this is going to be perfect to show me how they move, so I should be able to mimic the movements of the muscles under the skin without too much problems. It's great." She eagerly checked the other books, some visibly were photo albums of some kind for there were also people working with the creatures or posing in front of them. Another one was a list of all the magical animals that have ever existed, which were extinct, what was the natural habitat, feeding habits, mating, anatomic description, drawings…it looked like a weird biology manual. She was fascinated but she forced herself to come back to reality and asked Remus with as much professional demeanor as she could muster under the circumstances, "So, which creature does the headmaster wants me to do first?"

The thin man took a sip of tea before answering." I'm also here in order to help you choose. And to practice this new spell Dumbledore has invented. I'm not sure I understand what he meant by 'allowing to extract a virtual image from a computer.' He also wants me to try different kind of shield charms for …whatever it is the spell does extract. I'm afraid I may have to force myself on your hospitality for a few days."

Sylvia nodded, "That's a good idea. We can do tests as we go along. I did wonder how I was going to do that without a wizard." She smiled warmly at her friend, "I'm really glad you're here, Remus. You can stay as long as you want. I was just thinking that after my experience in Diagon Alley, it was very difficult to get used at being alone again."

He winked, "Believe me, I know exactly how you feel. Humans are not made for solitary confinement…especially after meeting someone like Sirius Black!!"

Of course she blushed like a schoolgirl, she tried to hide it as much as possible by jumping on her feet and hurrying to the counter to get the sugar, all the way followed by Remus' gentle chuckle. She was feeling much better already.

***

The next week went smoothly, Remus being a considerate and unobtrusive guest. They talked at length while working, explaining to each other the complexity of what they were trying to do. Remus, it seemed, was just as curious about the muggle world as she was of the wizarding one. He showed her what to look for when a wizard or witch was about to cast a spell. She studied the barely noticeable unconscious flexing of the shoulder muscle that gave it away, until she knew she would spot it immediately. Remus also taught her to follow the wizard's eye to the incipient target, giving her a half-second to get out of the way. She knew that if she was to live through the battle Dumbledore was preparing, she'd better get ready to understand all she could about charms and hexes, learning what they could do, how they were cast and especially how to avoid being hit by one. Just having a wizard in her cabin was an incredible experience, she discovered she could never see enough of magic. Remus was so matter-of-fact about using it in his everyday life that it looked totally effortless and natural. There were times when Sylvia wondered why she could not do it, she felt like she almost was lacking something. No wonder some wizards thought muggles were almost sub-human. It was also a pleasure to watch him warming to her, telling her stories of the marauders' pranks, even telling her about the difficulties about the life of a werewolf. She was shocked to learn that close-mindedness was not solely a muggle privilege. She heard in his voice the familiar knowledge of an endless loneliness, of dreams that would never be and of staunch loyalty to those who accepted him as he was. She could barely imagined how he could accept it all without turning bitter.

Madam Pomfrey came to see her during midweek. She asked her only a few tactful questions and scowled at the state of her frayed nerves but didn't say anything. She gave her a little barrel of potion from which to drink everyday to prevent seizures, and other potions to help her recover from a panic attack. She could not do better than that in the state she was in. She told her the same thing the doctor had said; that only a calm and worry-free lifestyle coupled with a good therapy could repair the damage. Although the longer she waited, the harder it would be to uproot the problem at the source, her body and psyche was getting used to it and making the reaction a natural one, part of her defense system. Madam Pomfrey seemed to think it might be too late and that Sylvia would probably never completely recover. It was likely, she said, that Sylvia would be submitted to attacks all her life. She finished by giving her a book on relaxation and imagining techniques that could help her keep her nerves under relative control. The visit didn't help to raise Sylvia's spirit much, and that evening, she was anything but a gracious host to her friend. Remus seemed to understand and retreated to the sofa with a muggle novel she had lent him, letting her cope with the reality call she had just received by drinking to oblivion. She had never hated Tim so much in her life.

Thus the week went, turning the two into close friends as the challenge of the work at hand, the similarities of their difficult social life and Sirius' friendship brought them together a little more everyday. It was not before the next Sunday morning that Sylvia received a note from their friend. The little bird that was carrying it just swooped in from the open window (Remus had charmed it to stop anything from entering but owls, air and warmth) and perched itself on the headboard, hooting and picking gently at her ear to wake her up. She finally did and took the parchment while the bird fluffed its feathers with an air of satisfaction and took off. She looked at the folded paper with some trepidation, what would Sirius write to her? Was he all right? Taking her courage in both hands, she opened it.

The note was brief and to the point in true Black fashion.

Everything's in order here.

Heard from D. that R. is with you. Would you please stay with him for the full moon period? That's very hard on him. He hates going through it alone. Hope you two get along, R. is not an easy roommate. Tell him to behave.

It is safe to send me an owl back for the next two days, after that, better not risk it. Should be back in about a couple of weeks.

Give my regards to R., take care.

S.

Well, she pitied the poor girl who might one day dream of receiving an overflowing love letter from Sirius Black; his style was definitely not up to it. She could not believe she had prayed to receive some news, being worried sick about him. She would never forget the sight of Skif caught in mid-air by that dark shaft of light. The Death Eaters know about his animagus form. They could still find and kill him.

She decided to answer right away since it was still pretty early. It took her a while for she kept writing too much or putting things that could be interpreted in a romantic fashion. Finally, she decided to do the same thing he did: Say nothing.

Dear S.

Don't worry about R, I will take care of him. He's a wonderful man and I feel honored that he thinks of me as a friend. He had told me everything and had already decided to stay here for a few weeks.

Madam P. came to see me; everything is under control on that particular problem. Our work is going well, R. is a tremendous help and a very respectful guest.

Be careful out there,

S.

There, that should do it. There was nothing about missing or thinking about him. It was in the same style, didn't say too much in case someone was able to intercept it and still covered mostly everything.

She got dressed when she heard Remus moving around and went to tell him about the note and the answer that he could send back with the owl.

***

A few days later, they started the morning work session by the usual extraction spell. Remus was getting pretty good at it and was currently examining ways to adapt shields charms to the conformation of the image. This was difficult, since the charm did not feel the image in any way, and every time the image changed or moved, the charm had to be recast to conform to the new form. Remus was tempting to create a charm mixed with a part of the extraction spell so that both would be linked and react instantly to one another. Today, he seemed to feel like he would be successful and cast his mixture of spells with confidence. He kept an attentive eye on the forming of the image, the shimmering of the shield telling them if it was correctly attached to the 'skin's' image.

Sylvia made the little fairy on her screen move its head and wings, to test the adherence of the shield. Sylvia smiled as always when she saw the graceful and beautiful form she had created. Remus had said Fairies were very rare now as only a few groups have survived modern times. Pollution of air and water were deadly to them as their magic was so much linked to both. It was amazing really, how well muggle fairy tales were able to convey the reality of the small creatures. When she had stumbled upon the pictures of a group flying around, she was surprised and delighted. However, their powers were renowned to be extremely diverse and efficient. Remus thought that Voldemort might get anxious if he were led to believe Dumbledore had achieved to get the help of fairies. So, the two friends chose to do a fairy first. Sylvia was glad they did, working on this reminded her of her childhood, a time when she believed that there was a place in the world for beauty for the simple sake of beauty, truth, love and wonder.

She came back to the present and looked up to see if her friend was satisfied with the result of the test. Remus had been getting grayer since the last couple of days. The full moon was closing in and he visibly was reacting to it. He tired more easily and was barely eating. Sylvia kept a close but respectful eye on him, waiting until he asked for her help. Right now, he was frowning a little for the shields on the wings were not up to speed with their beating. But overall, Sylvia could see that it was working quite well. The fairy would feel completely solid to anyone who didn't know better. She scanned her work with a critical eye. Not bad, not bad at all. Only the texture was left to do and that was the hardest and longest part of the process. The texture was what made an object seem realistic or not. Blotch that and even with a smooth moving character, no one will be interested in it. Appearance is everything. The wings were what worried her the most. According to the picture, they were supposed to be full of lights and shadows, as if there were tiny mirrors attached to them. They were also half-transparent and glimmered with an inner light that made the colors change from moment to moment. That was going to be tricky.

She started to go through her texture catalogue on CDs, choosing the ones that were the closer to what she needed, then she opened them in a photo editor software and mixed some of them together, trying to find the right combination. After a good two hours of work, she had something that was close, but was still not exactly what she wanted. She sighed with fatigue, slumping back on her chair. Remus was there in an instant.

"What's wrong?"

"That." She gestured towards the screen. "I'm trying to get the right texture for the wings. What I've got looks more like transparent silk than an opalescent delicate membrane. I just don't know what could make it work. The problem with those magical picture of yours is that I can't scan them, so I can't zoom them up close to get more details."

"You know, I might be able to help you here. Wands are not just used for combative or protective magic, we use them for other things too." He smiled.

"Oh yea! Like what?"

"Like painting."

Sylvia felt her mouth hang open at those simple words. "Painting?!"

Remus nodded with pleasure at seeing her so surprised. "Yes. Our artists use their wands the same way yours use brushes, only without paint. I wonder if I could not work with what you have here and try to improve it a little bit by painting over the shield. Put it on the wings and I'll see what I can do."

"Err…okay."

Fascinated, she watched her friend circle around the big virtual fairy and added with little touch of his wand here and there, depth, shadows and little splash of colors that mixed with the rest for wonderful results.

Looking at him work, Sylvia asked, "Why didn't Sirius used that to change his animagus form's color? He is very recognizable as a black dog. He would be safer as a golden, or white or even a mismatched colored stray."

"Of course, but he can't do that to himself as a dog. And each time he'd change again, he would be back to his initial black."

"Oh. So, there is no way to disguise him, is there?"

"Well, he can be dyed for short periods of time, but not for long and morphing will get him back to black. Any disguise to his human form won't transfer to the dog, and since there is no way yet to link one of your virtual image with a body, I have to say, no. There isn't much he can do."

"What is an animagus form exactly anyway?"

"Well, one's animagus form depends strongly on one's inner nature, or more precisely what one feels is his or her nature. Sirius has always seen himself as loyal and playful but also as a loner and someone who feels better in the shadows than under the spotlight. He has always had problems with self-confidence, feeling his friends are so much better than him. James was a natural leader, Sirius was perfect as the loyal second. And that is why the image of a black stray dog fits him so well." Remus looked under the fairy's left wing. "Could you bend the image to the right a little bit? I have problems reaching the bottom of the wings." Sylvia obediently did so.

They worked in companionable silence for the rest of the day when, suddenly, after dinner, Remus got very pale and clutched his left arm. Through the kitchen window, Sylvia could see that a big, fat full moon was just appearing over the trees. Sylvia got up and went to him, "Let me help, Remus. You need to lie down."

"No. My…potion…in my bag…fast." Sylvia left him and ran to his satchel where she found a vial which she brought to him as fast as she could. He took a long sip of it and sighed. "I should be…safe now. Please…leave me alone." His face contorted in pain and he fell to the floor before she could catch him. His skin started to ripple and distort, his clothes ripping. She watched with fascinated horror until he roared, his changing voice full of unbearable agony. "GO AWAY!!!" At that point, she fled.

She waited in the sitting room, crying at the hurt she could hear in the few screams that evaded the kitchen. Visibly the Wolfbane potion could make him safe to others for the duration of his transformation but it did nothing for the pain he had to suffer. After what seemed like hours, she heard the unmistakable sound of paws hitting the wood paneled floor and she tensed, ready for a werewolf monster straight out of the movies. Instead, she saw a gray wolf, bigger than the norm, but still very visibly an animal. Only the eyes showed that a human being was trapped inside. They were just the same, tired and hurt but somehow smiling. He licked her hand where a few tears had fallen, just in the same way Skif/Sirius used to do. That made her smile. "They really are like brothers."

***

For the few next days, Remus slept on the rug most of the time, not eating and going outside only when absolutely necessary. He seemed to feel ashamed every time he did go, and always came back creeping inside like a kid hoping not to get caught after a prank gone awry, with his head and tail low between his legs. Sylvia always made a point of looking elsewhere when he came back this way, acutely aware of her friend's discomfort and pride. He seemed so self-conscious and chagrined to be stuck in this form, that she dared not touch him to pat him or to look him in the eye. She ached for him, yet there was nothing she could do to help. She worked on the rest of the textures, which were easier to create than the wings, and set out to copy, and slightly change each of the little creatures, so that she could give the impression of a swarm of distinctive fairies. She would next need to make a little programming, to make sure each of the little creatures fly around one another on different random paths while never bumping into each other.

Remus came back to himself one morning while she was still sleeping. She came out of her room to find him haggard, feverish and skinnier than ever, but human again. She helped him from the floor and into her bed over his meek protest. From his bag, she took the bottled potions he mentioned would help him recover, and helped him drink from them before he fell into an exhausted slumber. Sylvia looked at him and let the tears once again fall for this spent, hurting man who would never know peace, however hard he tried for it, for as long as he would live.

Remus recovering was slow but steady. After a few days, he was up and about, starting to worry about Sirius' lack of communication. From his last note, they gathered he was supposed to come back in four of five days, but the absence of any news was disgruntling. They both tried to keep their worry at bay by working and not talking about it. Nevertheless, the worry was there, unspoken but gnawing at them.

A couple of days later, Sylvia started on her programming while Remus put the finishing touch with his wand on the little fairies swirling around in her living room. The day was a stiflingly hot July summer day, and Sylvia had let the door opened for the few breaths of fresh air that ventured into the cabin from the lake. They were both grumpy from the suffocating weather and the tension from their worrying. They had vented it with a few snappish comments on each other's work as they both made mistakes. Things were not going well. Sylvia finally stopped trying with a few well-chosen oaths.

"This is not working. I have enough. You can continue if you want to but for my part, I quit for today!"

"Oh! I'm soooo glad you said that. I can barely see the difference between blue and green anymore. I just hate working in that smothering, unmoving air." Remus sighed and stood up, a hand on his aching back. "Maybe we should choose the next creature to make. What about that big muscled elf you goggled at last week?"

She snorted, "Why not, it looked silly enough. Maybe we could put Sirius' face on it." She was definitely crossed with Sirius for putting them through all that fretting.

Remus smiled at the suggestion, then his smile grew larger. "Sirius, in a roman-like toga, dozens of jewels and paint on his face?" He started to chuckle, then laugh outright at the image his active imagination depicted him.

The description was just too much for Sylvia. She doubled over in a sputtering fit of nervous laughter, liberating all the tension of the last couple of weeks. "What about… a wreath…on his head?"

At that, Remus laughed even louder, out of control; he leaned on Sylvia for support. She put an arm around him, half to help him, half to keep from tumbling to the floor herself. They laughed until they hurt all over, unable to stop. One thing did stop them.

"I see you didn't miss me too much!!"

The both of them turned their head towards the door where their laughter turned to elation at the sight of Sirius Black scowling at them darkly from the porch, with Dumbledore just behind him barely suppressing his mirth. The latter looked at the fairies, gently dancing in a non-existent wind and beamed his satisfaction at Remus and Sylvia.

"I see you did an excellent job together. But I'm afraid the next project will have to wait. As soon as Sirius is rested, I will need him, and you Sylvia, for another…hum, field trip." His face grew serious as he faced her, "I'm afraid it concerns your husband, my dear. And that it is very urgent."

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TBC