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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Nite Queen: Thank you. Don't worry, no cliffhanger this time!

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Romm: Welcome and thanks for taking time to write a review. It's really appreciated.

Nycgrl: A perfect character is just too predictable and, well, not really believable so, I made her just like me: a real mess! Good to hear from you again!

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A special thanks to my beta-reader Aurias for her great work and all her encouragement.

A/N: I'm sure all of you have read Order of the Phoenix by now… and you all know what happens to our favorite character. That particular event really, really shook me. For a while I had no heart to write a Sirius story, knowing his fate. Then, I got angry, not of J.K. of course, but of those Death Eaters. I decided to get my revenge…so I change part of the chapter to include the little action piece at the end to get some steam out of my system. Angry seems to agree with me, it turned out to be one of my favorite scene.

I also received some very great reviews over the last month, from old and new readers, and I could not deny those who wanted more. If this chapter is here now, it's because of you…Thank you, I love you guys!!!

On an optimistic note, this story has now more than fifty reviews! Hurray!

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Chapter 13: Down Memory lane

Sylvia woke up with her head feeling like a gong in a full-fledged Tibetan ceremony. She could not help but moan as she slit-opened her eyes to a painfully bright room. She closed them instantly and tried to remember what happened and where the heck she was. She could feel arms around her, pinning her hands to her body and legs wrapped around hers. Slowly, memories start coming back from the back of her head, painstakingly fighting the urge to forget and the hurts it caused on its way to consciousness. Dumbledore had asked her something… something to do with Tim…yes… and Sirius was going with her. But what was it, and why? Then, suddenly like a floodgate opening, it all came back. She gasped and tensed as the memories of pain, panic and despair washed over her all at once. Instantly, the arms and legs encircling her tightened their grip and a voice spoke soothingly in her left ear.

"Hush. It's all right. It's me, Sirius. You're okay. Just don't move for now, take your time. I gave you as much potions as I dared, you still had a seizure but not as strong or as long as last time. I held on to you to prevent you from hurting yourself." She heard him take a shaky breath, "I'm going to let go now, all right?"

"No, please!" She didn't want him to go, didn't want to open her eyes, to come back to the hard reality of her situation. She felt safe like this in his arms; she could float away from her problems, forget everything and just be happy to be with him, protected and warm. She felt…cared for. It was almost an alien feeling; it has been so long…

"Sylvia, I'm sorry," Sirius' voice continued, "but we have a job to do. As much as I would like to stay with you like this forever, this is definitely neither the right place nor time for it." He untangled himself from her, slowly, reluctantly.

She turned around on the bed to face him and opened her eyes…that ended up as an unwise thing to do as pain lanced through her instantly like hot needles going straight to her brain. She closed her eyes and fought the waves of pain and nausea with determination.

"You have to go slow. With the attack and the amount of potions you just ingurgitated, it's pretty normal to feel, huh, out of sort."

"Out of sort?!" She snorted mentally for it was preferable to keep her mouth firmly shut at this time, "That's the understatement of the century!!"

"I don't dare give you anything else for now." Sirius went on, "You can recuperate while I take a look around."

She stayed there without moving for a while, with bouts of nausea and acute pain alternating with moments of dreamy contentment. Finally, after what felt like hours, her migraine faded out a little and she was able to let her eyes adjust to the sunlight without too much pain involved. At this point, she suddenly was confronted by what she had tried very hard not to think about: she was in her old apartment. At least Sirius had sense enough not to bring her to the master bedroom. This was the little guest room that was rarely used in her time. Fortunately, she did not have horrible memories link with this room so she could test her strength without having to fight another panic attack every time she turned around.

She slowly eased herself up on her elbow, stopping every now and then when she felt a hint of dizziness or her stomach starting to roll uncomfortably. Eventually she found herself sitting on the edge of the bed, taking a brief inventory of her condition. She was getting stronger by the moments, the migraine had receded to a common annoying headache, her stomach wasn't rolling as if she was on the deck of a ship anymore, her breathing was back to normal and her hands were barely shaking. She took a minute to steady herself and decided to try her legs. She got up prudently with a hand an inch from the wall just in case she needed support, but her legs took her weight with little or no problems.

Her confidence grew fast, she walked around the room, noticing the few small changes that had been done to it in the few years she had been gone. The little white curtains she had installed so long ago around the window had been replaced by white plastic blinds, the delicate antique bedside lamp she had been so delighted to find for a ridiculous low price in a garage sale during her first year of marriage had disappeared to make place for a sturdy commercial lamp and the small rug that used to be in her childhood room and that her mother had given her as a wedding gift was nowhere to be seen. Apart from those little changes, it was the same room she had decorated herself enthusiastically when she had first moved in. She grimaced at the memory, remembering how infatuated, trusting and naive she had been then, refusing to see the signs of what was coming.

"Don't think about it, there's nothing you can do about the past, but you can do something about the future. Don't think about anything else but that or you won't be able to do much." With that firmly in mind, she reached for the door and walked out of her little sanctuary.

As prepared as she thought she was, the familiar sight and smell of the sitting room made her stomach go straight to her throat. She closed her eyes against the memories threatening to overwhelm her. Instead, she filled her head with images of her cabin near the lake, of her pride in her work, of her feeling of freedom and accomplishment. She thought of Max who gave her a chance to start over, of Elizabeth and Melanie who have supported her, of Dumbledore who was counting on her and especially of Sirius: she recalled every moments since she had met him as a stray dog, to the wonderful time they had in Diagon Alley. She thought of the gentle and wise Remus and of the young boy, Harry Potter, who needed her in order to destroy his own nightmare. She used all those new memories to wall out the old ones, and carefully opened her eyes. She was taking aback to find Sirius there, just in front of her, she had not heard him approach. His eyes were full of concern.

"Are you all right?" He asked her for the thousandth time today.

"I'm not sure. I…I think I need your help." At his ready nod, she continued hesitantly, thinking her way through the idea while talking. "I want you to establish the link… and then send me over it all the positive memories you have of me, my life, my work, anything good, anything you can think of. I think …I hope I can keep the attacks at bay if I can somehow make clear to myself that all this crap happened in the past … and that I have another, better life now. The attacks make me relive over and over again the worst parts of my time here, …it's as if my mind is stuck there. Maybe…maybe if I can force myself to be in the present instead, I think that I could at least function while I'm here. And do my job."

He nodded again with a smile of relief that she had found a way to deal with the problem and closed his eyes to send the now familiar probing caress to her thoughts. She gripped it with eagerness and she rapidly felt the link fall into place. Only when the solid and confidant presence of Sirius hit her did she really understand how close to the edge she actually was. She was tottering on the brink of an attack with only her recent memories as a weak defense. Sirius came to the rescue with strong positive emotions and images flooding her, making the nightmare recede back into the shadows. She was surprised at how many good things he linked with their time together at the lake. He sent her the simple pleasures of the times he warmed his dog hide under the sun while she was working nearby, the deep rightness of their partnership during combat training, the happiness he felt when, coming back tired from a mission for Dumbledore and spotting the cabin with all the lights on and a full meal waiting for him in his bowl on the porch, all the little things that made him feel like coming home to a place where he was accepted and missed.

Sylvia smiled at all the warm feelings that now enveloped her like a blanket, protecting her from her own memories. "I better be cautious with this, I could easily get addicted to it."

"~We'll be careful~", was Sirius' comment with a hint of a nod accompanying the thought.

Sylvia froze and faced him with daggers in her eyes, "~HEY! That was a personal thought!!!~"

Sirius looked at her bewildered "~It was? It felt like a sending! How could I have hear it if it was personal?"

"~I don't …" Sylvia angry reply was cut short by a sharp memory of herself barking at something at her feet with her hands on her hips in front of her cabin. The memory seemed to take exceptional notice of the way the sun glinted in her hair and the way her T-shirt clung at her body. That was a memory of the first time she had fed Skif! Then the memory sped up to the time later that day when she had gone to swim in the lake …naked.

"Oh my God!" Sylvia turned red and went to the sofa to sit down. She didn't care where she was anymore for her legs were just suddenly not strong enough to support her! "You saw me?!! You looked while I was swimming?!! You…you..." She tried to collect her thoughts but she was just too embarrassed, angry and confused to utter anything.

Sirius slowly came to sit in front of her. He was as white as her shirt and she could feel his shock and unease tinged with a little guilt coming through the link. "You mean you SAW that? You're not supposed to SEE memories! Just feel the emotions coming from them! And I was not sending, I'm sure of it!" He shook his head, coming back to the present. "I'm sorry Sylvia. It's just that…seeing you angry reminded me of that first day I met you. You were so …beautiful and I was so curious… well, you know…I had no idea we were going to become friends. I'm very sorry."

She examined him for a few minutes, felt the truth behind his words, then took a deep breath and let it go in a long sigh. "It's okay Sirius, I understand. Still, it's embarrassing to say the least! It's going to be awkward having to apologize or explain every one of our memories and feelings if we can't even keep them for ourselves! Not to mention it might be dangerous and confusing in a fight. We really don't need another complication. I didn't see memories from our first link last night. Why and how is it happening now?"

"I'm not sure. This thing is like nothing I have ever experienced or heard of. Maybe it is caused by my own peculiarities, maybe it has never been done with a muggle before and it functions differently with one. I just don't know. Let me think about it, okay? In the meantime, we might as well do what we came here to do since this memory cushioning of yours seems to be working."

She nodded her consent and they both got up to get to work.

She went straight to Tim's study without looking right or left. With Sirius' silent and emotional support, she was able to go to the desk and open the lower left drawer without too much trembling. It almost felt like walking in a warm light fog though. The more traumatizing the scene, the more cushioning he had to provide, making her feel like she was not really there, touching things with an aloofness that was somehow out of character. Sometimes he would miss a memory and it would slip through his shielding and assault her with an uncaring clarity, leaving her a little bit more shaken each time.

She quickly took all the stuff out of the drawer, putting them on the carpet and giving her access to the small secret compartment under the false bottom. She opened its tiny catch, revealing some papers.

"Is that it?"

"Yea. Better take a look at it to see if it's new stuff though. Maybe it's the old ones and he has found another place to hide the new ones. Can you do that? I need to start taking pictures of that vase."

"Sure. Go ahead."

She got up and took her new digital camera out of her handbag. Her senses and memory still shrouded in Sirius' spell of warmth and happy thoughts, she faced the corner without hesitation and made a pretty thorough job of shooting the big, ugly thing from every possible angle.

She was getting to the end of the memory capacity of the camera when Sirius called her. "Are you almost finished? I have made all the copies. Dumbledore will be pretty happy, there's lot of information in this. If you're done, then we can finally get the hell out of here."

She took her last picture and turned to answer him. She stared at him for a full minute, aghast at his condition. He was covered with sweat and was visibly exhausted. He smile wanly at her, "keeping you safe and happy here is a very difficult job. I hope I never have to come to this place ever again."

She swallowed at the realization of the amount of strength he had given for her sake and went to him, putting a hand on his cheek, "Thank you Sirius, I could never have done it without you." To underscore her words, she sent him all that she felt and that words alone could not express; her respect, her admiration and all of her deep love for him…

They went back to the flat at a leisurely pace to let her adjust to the gradual ebbing of Sirius' memory cushion on her. It was like a dream slowly sliding through her fingers. Reality came back to her and with it all her uncertainties and self doubts. Did she really stood in Tim's study and kept her sanity? And how would Sirius respond to that last sending that she had given? She could feel nothing out of the usual coming out of the link from her partner, only a lot of fatigue and some worrying but no hint as to what exactly he was worrying about. She risked a sidelong glance, but his dogface was, just as always, neutral and serious. She pushed the question out of her mind for now. She needed to plan how to do this spying stuff efficiently. Reproducing the vase shouldn't take more than a few days. She would make it just a little bit bigger than the original so that it would hide it and the virtual camera. It should be ready for Tim's return. Now, they would also need to keep a record of whatever they see. There was this little piece of technology that some of her teachers at Tech. School used to show presentation on a television set. She was pretty sure it was still on the market. If you can put it up on TV, then you can tape it.

She set to work as soon as she arrived at the apartment, restless with the need of putting some work between her and the vague memories of what happened at her old home. She checked on the Internet to make sure the technology she remembered still exists, then called a retailer to order it. Only when she felt the link slowly disappearing from her mind did she notice that Sirius had changed back and fell asleep on the sofa. She smiled and put a blanket around his broad shoulders before going back to her computer and the download of the vase pictures to her hard disk.

She stopped working only when exhaustion claimed her and she felt she could safely go to bed without suffering from nightmares. She had done well. The virtual vase was slowly growing to become as ugly as the original. She actually had to fight her artistic urges to improve it and frequently had to catch herself from doing so. She yawned and stretched, since Sirius had occupied the sofa, she had no other choice but to take the bed. She took off her clothes, put an old long t-shirt on, and dropped on the mattress, oblivious to the world in a moment.

***

Two days later, after their usual morning training session, the two of them went out to get the piece she had ordered and to take a peek at Tim's place to make sure he was not back yet. The vase was almost ready; they intended to put it in place the day after. Sylvia's mind was full of the work she still had ahead of her and Sirius, in his animagus form, was following her thoughts through the link and asking a question now and then.

"~Do you need to go back to the flat to install that thing?~" he asked with a little apprehension.

"~Not me, no. I really don't want to get back there, I can send the construct invisibly from the apartment. I would like you to be there though, to make sure it covers the entirety of the real vase and that there's nothing suspicious about it. With the camera attached to it, I can see a good angle in the room, but I can't see the whole place. It would be easier to have a person there to make sure everything is all right than to place another camera. Without me to limit you, you can go there and work without problems.~"

There was a little pause before Sirius answered, "~I would not say that. In order to cushion you from the memories there…I had to see those memories first. I…" She felt the dog at her side shake his head and felt through the link the anguish and the anger he experienced, "You're a very, very courageous woman, and I hate that place just as much as you do, maybe even more so." He hesitated for a while before going on, softly "~As for that MAN, if I ever get face to face with him…I'm really not sure if I will be able to…"

Sylvia never learned what Sirius was about to say, for just as they got in front of a dark alley, something invisible grabbed them and ushered them inside the small space between the two buildings. Out of balance, they ended up entangled in the leash, on their back, in front of a crowd of six Death Eaters, wands out pointing straight at them.

With a snarl and a menacing gesture with his wand, the masked man in the front commanded them, "Get up on your feet, you damn dirty muggle, and you too, Black the stinking doggy. You have a lot to answer for. The dark Lord is not happy with you, dog. You should've listen to your mother more carefully."

Getting slowly to her feet, Sylvia discreetly detached the leach from her partner's collar and frowned. "I know that voice. Where in heaven have I heard it before?"

"~You heard him in Diagon Alley, that's Lucius Malfoy~" was Sirius' answer.

"~Oh! Yea~" She was astonished by her own calm, no panic attack for her now. The fact that these people were not link in anyway to a traumatic event in her past, her training and the battle readiness that emanated from her partner was enough to put her in that particular state of mind where nothing but her opponent exists. No past, no future, just the present and the necessity of survival.

"What do you want with us, Mr. Malfoy?" She asked, happy to see the Death Eater disconcerted for a few seconds from hearing her utter his name. Seconds she used to scan the surroundings, cataloguing quickly the objects she could use as a weapon, and the space available to them to make a stand. The two of them still had their backs to the opening between the walls - A serious mistake from the Death Eaters' part. If they could create enough mayhem, they might be able to slip back to the street with only a few dozen steps and a handful of dangerous seconds. Apart from that, there was this little niche huddled between two stacks of crates. With their backs to the wall, the crates would prevent their enemies from attacking from the sides, the only option left would be to try and get them up front. In such a small space, their enemies would get into each other's way. They would have no choice but to attack by one or twos. A definitive advantage, unless the Death Eaters were intelligent enough to think of using the crates themselves by pushing those on her and her partner's head. Well, nothing's perfect, it was a risk she personally was ready to take. She was dubious of their opponent's combat and strategic skills and from what Sirius had told her, they were into it for fun rather then learning. Even more interesting was that big piece of wood lying in the dirt close by, as that would make a very nice cudgel.

Following her thoughts, Sirius added, "~ I don't think we can make it outside. Don't underestimate them, especially Malfoy. Last time you fought Death Eaters, you took them by surprise, today they're ready, and they'll be much faster than you think. You're right about that niche though, it's perfect, and I can charm the crates so that those bastards don't throw them down on us. I'm gonna change back once we're there, right now if there is so much as a glimmer on my fur, they're likely to hex me.~"

After those few seconds of intense concentration, Malfoy regained his confidence and retorted to her question with words dripping with all the scorn that the master of the world would show for an ant, "With you, I want nothing muggle, nothing but your death!" he raised his wand straight to her chest with all the drama of an actor. That gave her the time she needed.

"Dumbledore, man, am I happy to see you!!!" she screamed, looking straight at the back of the alley, while just at the same moment, Sirius' dog head snapped up and he barked once as if in welcome. What was the chance the two of them would react at exactly the same time if this were nothing but a ploy? Not much.

The Death Eaters' heads swiveled as one, as expected. She charged at once on her left for the short man standing between her and her destination, one fist going straight and hard to his plexus while her other hand grasp his wand out of his loose fingers. There is no peace without disarmament after all. She snapped the wand in two while continuing her plunge toward possible safety. She lowered herself to take her appointed cudgel from the ground just as a flash of light passed over her head with a whistling sound. As she went down into a tumble, she saw from the corner of her eyes the shadow of a cloak behind her, she reacted instinctively, finishing the tumble by turning on her shoulder, throwing her arm in a large arc with the club at the end. She heard a satisfying "Oomph" as the stick connected and the shock went up her arm, almost making her release her makeshift weapon.

She came up on all four, trying to get her bearing and an idea of the situation. Just then, Sirius, still in animagus form, attacked from her right side directly at a man coming for her. His powerful jaw took the man's forearm and twisted it so that the wand scattered from the now limp hand. The man screamed and pursued her as she snatched the wand and resumed her running, hoping over obstacles and keeping low.

She was keenly aware of Sirius' presence just behind her, his animal blood fury mixed with the man's hard and cold concentration, was easy to follow. She could almost feel the power of the beast long strides in her legs and the fierce taste of blood on her lips. She knew that his energy was feeding hers through the link just as she knew that he could feel the beating of her heart and taste the sweat running down her face. It is through the link that she felt the Death Eater coming from Sirius' left side to intercept him. In a half second of joined knowledge, they agreed. She had the most chance of taking that one down. Without even faltering in her footstep, she dropped her cudgel, grabbed an old canvas half eaten by mice resting on a rusting charcoal and, suddenly turning around, threw it over the guy while Sirius rushed past her to the niche. As soon as the Death Eater was blinded, she gave him a rapid round of a kick to his middle and two fast-punched to the head. As he bent in pain, she finished him with a side handed cut on the nape of his neck. Swirling around, she stooped to retrieve her weapon, and then sprinted to catch up with Sirius now in human form, wand in hand.

She turned around once more beside her partner, curious to see how many of their enemies were left. She knew Sirius had taken down two of them while she had three. By all counts, there should be only one left standing. Unfortunately, there were two others, running behind the one that was almost on them. She saw the right shoulder of that particular Death Eater twitch in that specific fashion Remus had taught her, a decade ago it seemed, in her cabin. She knew a curse was coming their way and she plunged to avoid being hit. But instead of flinging herself sideways, she went down on the man, catching him in the knees just as he was in the middle of his incantation. He fell on his side, she was on him in the blink of an eye, catching his wrist with her left hand and sending his way a series of blow to the head with her right one. These wizarding guys, they were used to fight with wands, not fist, she knew, so her best defense was to try to get them where she could beat them. Over her head, a dazzling mixture of strange lights and weird words were filling the air, testimony of the fierce battle going on between Sirius and the two remaining Death Eaters.

The man she was fighting finally went limp. Not trusting him, she went to his wand first. Just as she took it firmly in her hand, he suddenly raised his own fist and dealt her a mighty swing on her right ear. It WAS a ploy! Head ringing, she never saw the foot coming for a kick straight in her stomach, sending her in the air, to land, hard, on the side of the stack of crates.

"~WAKE UP, SYLVIA! FAST!~" Sirius was bellowing in her head, trying to get her to move. "~COME ON! You still have his wand! BREAK IT! NOW!~" She looked dazedly in her hand. Yep, there was a wand there. What did Sirius said she should do with it? Maybe she could try Abracadabra?!

She looked up as some black shoes came into her field of vision. A black robed man was hovering over her. Oh! Right. That was the bad guy and he wanted his weapon back.

"Give me that, little girl. You are finished."

She looked at him, showed him the wand with a smile, "You mean this thing?"

"Yes, you are down and you can't use it. I will give you a fast and painless death. Our quarrel does not concern you."

Still smiling, she said, "No." Then, she snapped the wand and fast as lightning, raised her foot to his crutch. Doubling over in pain, this time it was he who never saw the blow coming to his head, knocking him down for good.

Getting slowly up, Sylvia searched her head with her hand. It came back all bloodied. No wonder she felt dizzy. She looked at the scene before her, Sirius had visibly gotten rid of one of his opponent, the man was sprawl on the ground a few meters from her, half unmasked, he seemed quite young from the little she could see of his face. His skin had turned a nasty shade of yellow and there was a trickle of bright green fluid running down his face from the corner of his mouth. She then turned her attention to the other dark wizard, still going strong. She could feel Sirius was tiring. He had not been involved in a magical duel in years, while the Death Eater seemed to have acquired a lot of skill in the art.

Sylvia considered her options, what could she do to help? She looked around frantically, trying to find something useful. Her eyes fell on an old baseball lying in a garbage heap beside a wooden box. With two quick steps she had it in her hand. It had worked in the clearing close to her cabin after all; maybe it could work here too. The Death Eater was entirely focused on Sirius, giving her no heed. She took aim and pitched the ball as fast as she could. Thanks to the link, Sirius, aware of what she had done and what her plan was, hurtle a charm toward the ball as soon as it entered his field of vision, sending the projectile straight to the man's head at a furious speed. The Death Eater fell like a tree in the dirt.

"~Run!~" her friend barked in her head, already changing back to a dog. "~There is probably more of them coming.~"

He didn't have to tell her twice, she shot for the alley opening, hot on Sirius' heels. They did not stop their mad rush until they were safely back in the apartment, panting.

Sylvia closed the door behind her, and locked it before leaning on it, exhausted and dizzy with the pain lancing from the cut on her head.

Sirius turned to her, anxious. She looked deep into his eyes and, too tired to speak, opened herself to him once more on the link, wanting him to know that she was all right. His relief flooded her…and just behind it, was another strong emotion.

The next minute they were kissing like crazy, feelings, emotions and need merging as one, moments before their bodies did the same…

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TBC….

Sirius Black is dead…Long live Sirius Black!!!