Chapter 37: Broken Vows
"Prongs, hey!" Sirius exclaimed as his friend suddenly appeared in his fireplace.
"Padfoot"—James coughed.
"How'd your meeting go with Dumbledore?" Sirius asked as he helped his friend out of the fireplace.
James shook his head and looked Sirius squarely in the eyes. "Is D here?" he asked quietly.
"Er, no…she's out shopping…"
"Good…" James replied, taking a seat in the living room.
"So what happened?" Sirius pressed on, looking at James with concern.
"Well…I explained to him how we thought Remus was the spy"—
"And what did he think?"
"He seemed a bit wary…didn't reject the idea, but he didn't agree either…said he wasn't sure, but we should definitely keep an eye on him…"
"Right."
"But here's the problem…Lily and I are having one too many close calls with Voldemort. The other night's incident makes it three times now…we reckon we should take Dumbledore's advice and go into hiding…"
"I agree with him," Sirius replied. "But what's the problem?"
James sighed. "Well, we'd have to tell our closest friends we're hiding…otherwise things can get sticky…"
Sirius looked at him questioningly. "…And?"
"Well, there's the Remus factor. Do we tell him? I mean, I suppose he'd find out anyway…and I'm worried that if we didn't tell him, and he found out, then he'd catch on to the fact that we think he's the spy…he can't know that we know…"
Sirius nodded in understanding. He rubbed his chin pensively. "We should tell him." He finally said.
"…and he should know who the secret keeper is too, shouldn't he?" James asked. "I mean, we're still not even positive that it's him…"
"Secret keeper?" Sirius asked.
"Oh yea, Dumbledore said our best bet was the fidelius charm. That requires a secret keeper"—
"Right. I know how it works." Sirius replied. "Who's going to be your secret keeper? Dumbledore?"
James shrugged. "He offered to do so, but I told him I trusted you to be it."
Sirius gaped at his friend. James was after all, putting his life, as well as his wife's and son's lives in his hands.
"I trust you with my life" James said with a small grin, seeming to read his friend's mind. "The unspoken agreement of the marauders…we die before we let anything happen to our fellow men…"
Sirius nodded, but frowned slightly. "Well, clearly not all of our fellow marauders believe that…"
James sighed. "We need to give it more time, Padfoot…we need to be fairly certain that it's Remus before we take any serious action…"
"What about hiding?"
"Well, that can't really wait…we'll be doing it soon…which reminds me, Dumbledore wants to see you too. Said he'll stop by later on tonight…"
Sirius nodded in response.
"So…" James said slowly, glancing around the room casually. "How's Dominique doing?"
"She's alright…" Sirius replied.
"And how are you guys doing?"
"We're ok…this whole day's gone by fairly pleasant. I suppose though it's because she's been out the whole day…"
"Shopping? All day?" James asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh no, she had work this morning…Crouch had her come in at like five A.M… came back around one for lunch, and then took off."
James nodded. "Hey…" he said suddenly, "I've got an idea…"
"that concerns…"
"how we figure out if Remus is the spy or not!"
"do tell…"
"We use D!"
"D?"
"Yes! It's perfect…she's still very close to him…if she spent enough time with him alone, and perhaps pretended to be leaning towards Voldemort's cause…maybe he'd give something away…or let something slip…"
"I dunno…" Sirius replied, looking skeptical, "Remus rarely confides in anyone…"
"But if anyone, it'd be Dominique, right?"
"I thought it'd be us…well, I guess it used to be us…" Sirius replied glumly.
"Well…should we give it a try?" James asked.
Sirius shrugged as he pulled out a box of cigarettes from his pocket. "I dunno if she'll agree…she's still skeptical, you know…"
"Well this is for that very purpose! To clarify things up!"
"I dunno…I'll talk to her…but I can't make any promises…"
"Just turn the old Padfoot charm on her, mate!"
"I dunno," Sirius said again as he twirled his cigarette between his fingers, "these days Dominique seems awfully good at repelling that charm…but I'll see what I can do…"
"Alright, well, I've got to get going now. You see what you can do…and I'm thinking we perform the fidelius charm in a couple of days. I still need to talk to Lily."
"Sounds good. Just let me know when you're ready…" Sirius replied as he waved his friend goodbye and watched him disapparate.
About an hour later, as Sirius was getting ready to go to work, he heard a cracking noise from outside his room.
"Back so soon?" Sirius called out, not even looking up to see who it was.
"Nothing at the mall to hold my interest long enough…" the voice replied.
Sirius turned around to see Dominique, standing at the entrance of the bedroom. "Though you still managed to bring home several shopping bags full of toys…all undoubtedly made of leather, silk, or diamonds…" he replied as he knelt down to tie his shoes.
"No diamonds this time," Dominique replied, "a set of pearl earrings maybe, but no diamonds…"
"An extraordinary feat...We should have a party…"
"Before, I forget, I also got you a toy"—
"Listen D, I need to talk to you"— They spoke at the same time.
"Sorry?" they asked in unison.
"You got something for me?" Sirius asked.
"And you needed to talk to me?" Dominique asked at the same time.
"You first…" they said at once.
"First the present…" Sirius said.
"First tell me what you wanted to say to me…you've got to go to work in a bit…" Dominique replied.
Sirius sighed in defeat.
"Well," Sirius began slowly, trying to find the perfect arrangement of words so as to not offend Dominique in any way, "James was just over…told me they're going to go into hiding soon…" He glanced up to Dominique, who simply nodded for him to continue. "Well, this whole Remus thing…we're still not sure about it"—
"What'd Dumbledore say?" Dominique cut in.
"He was also a bit suspicious…wanted us to keep an eye on him…"
Dominique nodded in understanding.
"…so, here's the thing we want you to do"—
"Who's we?"
"James and me…"
"Right."
"Well, we were thinking…of course for the purpose of confirming our suspicions of Remus," Sirius added quickly, "we wanted you to try to get something out of Remus"—
"You want me to spy on him?" Dominique asked, looking at Sirius incredulously.
"Not spy on him, per say…" Sirius said quickly, "just, uh…spend more time with him…try to get him talking…look for any signs that might indicate"—
"Forget it, Sirius. I, unlike you, plan on remaining loyal to my friends"—
"I am loyal to my friends"—
"Just James! Anyway, who are you to talk about loyalty, suspecting Remus like that"—
"Well you're not anymore qualified to talk about it than I am, D." Sirius replied curtly, his temper rising. "Who is, anyway, during a war? I've had the same circle of friends since I was eleven years old. And from time to time, we've risked much more than house points and expulsion to save each other's arses…that was loyalty. And now, one of them has gone and double crossed us, and when that happens, loyalty goes to hell"—
"How can you say that"—
"D, can't you understand? We're in a bloody war, here! You can't just trust someone because they're your friend!"
"Then who am I supposed to trust??" Dominique asked angrily.
"The people on our side!!"
"Remus IS on our side!"
"Prove it!"
Dominique looked warily at Sirius. "Why should I? I've never had to prove your innocence, why should I prove his"—
Sirius laughed. "Because his loyalty's been put into question. No one's questioned mine."
"Well I'm questioning you right now."
"You honestly think I might be a spy?" Sirius asked, looking almost amused.
"Well, you're just as much a possibility as Remus is"—
"Right," Sirius interrupted curtly, "after all, I am a Black…but wait, I forgot…I was disowned for being a blood traitor…and unless I'm mistaken, I don't think Voldemort is particularly fond of people like me…"
"I'm not accusing you, Sirius. I'm simply saying that Remus cannot be a spy…so sorry if the analogy confused you." Dominique added with a bitter note.
Sirius sighed as he grabbed his briefcase. "Listen, I'm going to work now, so this conversation is done. I'm sick of arguing with you over Remus. If you want to believe he's still our friend, fine. I really don't give a damn anymore. But under no circumstances are you allowed to divulge this secret by telling him our thoughts on the matter. We're still suspicious, and you better not tell him that. Do you understand?"
Dominique stared after her husband, her mouth falling slightly open in surprise. "Oh yea, I understand. I understand a lot more than you think I do…"
Sirius turned around, looked questioningly at Dominique. "And what's that supposed to mean?"
"I mean that I've come to an understanding that you are not the man I married two years ago."
"People change…"
"People are supposed to change for the better!" Dominique shouted angrily after her husband, who was walking down the hallway.
"I have!"
"No you haven't!" Dominique shouted as she followed Sirius into the kitchen. "You've become insensitive and arrogant, Sirius Black…you don't care about your friends, you don't care about me"—
"I do too!"
"Just James!"
"That's not true," Sirius said angrily, "you're just still hung up over Remus, but I care about the rest of my friends."
"And what about me?" Dominique continued. "You don't tell me anything"—
"What the hell are you talking about, D? I just told you everything yesterday"—
"That wasn't everything. I know there's a lot more you're keeping from me." Dominique replied curtly. "And to top it off, you're still friendly with Anna"—
"Oh would you just drop it with Anna? I'm sick of you fuming over her!" Sirius said.
"Well how am I supposed to stop, Sirius? She likes you, and I mean as more than just a friend, and you know it! But you don't seem to mind though, do you?"
"What do you want me to do, ask Crouch to never put us together for any assignments? Tell Anna to bug off and never speak to me again?"
"Yes!"
"I am not doing that, D! I like her, and I'm not going to ditch my friends just because you don't like them!"
Dominique glared at Sirius. She sighed, shutting her eyes tightly in frustration. As she opened them, she looked squarely at Sirius. "Look, all I want you to do is get your bloody priorities straight. I hate it when you're with Anna and I really wish you'd stop seeing her. And I'd wish you'd remember that I'm your wife, and that you can tell me things. You always put James before me, and make me second string. You weren't like this before, and all of this really hurts!" Dominique said, choking on her last few words as she began to cry.
"I'm sorry," Sirius replied calmly, "I don't want you to get hurt, but I cannot, and will not change things."
"When we got married you vowed that you'd die before you'd allow yourself to hurt me!" Dominique cried.
"It's not my fault you're so brittle!" Sirius said angrily. "It's not my fault that you get jealous easily, and it's not my fault if you failed to see that I always have, and always will put James before anyone else! I've known him since I was a kid, and he's done more for me than everyone in this damn world combined has done for me, so don't you dare tell me that I've got my priorities wrong!"
Sirius looked down at his watch and realizing he was already ten minutes late for work, he cast a final look at Dominique before disapparating out of the kitchen.
Still crying, Dominique headed towards the sink and filled herself a glass of water. She sat down at the kitchen table, staring out the window that overlooked the countryside, as she drank. She remembered the long walks they used to take out there, in those endless fields of wildflowers. They'd pick bouquets and bouquets of flowers and decorate them all over the house…
Dominique pushed her empty glass aside and folding her arms on the table, she rested her head in them, and sobbed quietly.
"Sirius, are you ok?"
Sirius looked up from his desk, only to see a tall young woman with long blond hair standing over him.
"Er, hey Anna"—
"I said hi to you when you came in, you totally ignored me!"
Sirius shook his head, running a hand through his long black hair. "Sorry, I'm a bit out of it…"
"It's ok," Anna replied with a smile, "hey I needed to get that report from you, on Macnair's whereabouts…"
"Sure, uh…I just need to find it…here, have a seat." Sirius replied, pulling out his wand and conjuring up a chair.
"Thanks"—Anna pulled the chair over to Sirius's desk and took a seat next to him—"So, what are you doing tonight?"
"Definitely not my wife…" Sirius muttered as he opened his briefcase and began shuffling through his papers.
Anna laughed. "I take it you two aren't exactly on the best of terms right now?"
"Not exactly…" Sirius replied as he abandoned his briefcase and began going through his desk drawers.
"What happened?"
"Oh…nothing much…I don't care much to talk about it…I'm sure we'll resolve things…we always do…ah, here it is…" Sirius said, pulling out a roll of parchment from his bottom desk drawer. He extended his hand out to Anna in order to give her the report, only to find her looking at the photos he had plastered on the walls of his cubicle.
"Is that your wedding?" Anna inquired, pointing to a picture of Sirius and Dominique standing together, in each other's arms, laughing. "I love Dominique's dress…"
"Oh yea," Sirius replied, "she was awfully fond of that dress too…she told me on our wedding night that she had been trying it on every night, like a week before the wedding…"
Anna smiled. "That's cute…" she replied, still looking at the photo. "You know, it's hard for me to imagine her like that…all giddy and stuff…"
"How do you mean?"
"Well, as long as I've known her, and it's only been a few months, I know…but she always seems so serious…I dunno, maybe it's just me…I know this may sound silly, but sometimes I get the feeling that she doesn't like me…"
"No, it's not just you…I get that vibe from her too sometimes…" Sirius replied, smiling wryly as he handed Anna the report, who in return laughed.
Anna shook her head as she took the report. "I don't get why you're with her then…I'd never treat my husband like that."
Sirius looked up briefly at Anna, to see that she was smiling slightly. "Perhaps she should take lessons from you then…" he replied in an amused tone as he reached into his desk for another report that he was working on.
Anna laughed. "I should probably get back to work…but listen, it's been ages since we've done anything together…do you want to do something tonight?"
"Oh"—Sirius put down his quill—"I would, but I just remembered that I'm expecting someone over tonight…"
"Oh…well…how about later this week?" Anna pressed him. "Are you free?"
"Erm…I'm not sure, I'll have to look at my schedule…" Sirius glanced at Anna and smiled. "…though why you want to spend more time with me than you already do, is beyond me…we see each other about every day."
"yes, but it's always work…I think it'd be fun to do something outside work, you know? Just go out and have fun…" Anna replied.
Sirius smiled. "Why, you don't think our work is fun? Hunting down dark wizards and getting them thrown into Azkaban…I personally get a real kick out of it…"
Anna laughed. "I meant having fun together! Just you and me…you know?"
"Like a date?"
"If you want to call it that…" Anna replied.
Sirius looked Anna in the eyes. She was leaning forward slightly in her chair, looking at him with slight amusement.
"Why would we call it that?" Sirius asked slowly, his gaze locked in Anna's.
"Well…if the two of us are going to a nice little place for dinner, and you're paying of course," she added with a grin, "and we have a nice time…which we always do when we see each other, then…it'd be a date…"
Sirius nodded, still looking at Anna. "That is a date." He replied slowly.
"Yes, it is," Anna said softly, still leaning in closer to Sirius so they were only a few inches apart, "a very nice date…"
"I'm going to pass…"
"Sorry?"
"I'm married…"
"yes…"
"And I love my wife…"
"but"—
"…and I can't do this to her…I'm sorry, Anna."
Anna nodded as she stood up. She cast another look at Sirius before turning on her heel and leaving.
Dominique looked above at the waning moon as she flew through a heavily wooded area about 50 miles from her own house. She only hoped he would be well. After all, a waning moon meant Remus was still recovering from his transformation…
Several minutes later, Dominique landed in front of an old brick house. Usually, it was very well kept, with the lawn sparkling clean and all sorts of flowers blossoming around the house. Now, however, the grass stood several inches high, slightly browned by the hot days, and lack of nourishment. Weeds had begun to grow around the tulip beds, and the birdfeeder that hung from one of the trees had long since been empty.
Dominique walked over towards the dirt road, and kneeling down, she picked up several pebbles. She returned to the house and clutching her broom in one hand, and the pebbles in the other, Dominique headed towards the backyard. She looked up, and stared at the top window on the farthest right hand corner of the house. Taking careful aim, Dominique chucked a pebble at the window. She waited several seconds, and when nothing happened, she threw another. Just as she hit her last pebble, the window finally opened, and Remus was staring down at her curiously.
"D"—
"Sorry, I know your mum sleeps early, and I didn't want to wake anyone up by flooing or ringing the bell…" Dominique said quickly.
"Except me, right?" Remus asked, smiling wryly at her. "Come on up, just"—Instantly, Dominique disapparated, and reappeared in Remus's room, smiling at him—"apparate up here…" Remus finished, rolling his eyes. "So what brings you here at this hour? Is Sirius out working still?"
"yea, well, by now he's probably on his way back home…"
"Wait, did something happen between you two?" Remus asked suddenly, a look of concern overtaking his face. "Is everything ok?"
Dominique sighed and shook her head as she plopped onto Remus's bed.
"No, nothing's ok…we had a fight…"
"Over what?"
Dominique frowned, not wanting to mention that the fight had been over him. "I don't know…anything and everything…it doesn't even matter anymore, we fight so much…" Dominique looked up at Remus and wiped her eyes. "Maybe it was a mistake…"
"What? No, no, if you going to say it was a mistake to marry him… D, you love him! And he loves you"—
"No he doesn't"—Dominique said as she began to cry—"he doesn't care about me anymore…he doesn't care about my wants and needs…he never listens to me…"
"Oh D, come on, you know that's not true"—
"But it is," Dominique protested, "I mean, I've told him dozens of times to stop seeing that stupid woman"—
"Anna?"
"Yes! And he won't!" Dominique cried. "they're always so chatty, and they spend so much time together, I'm just waiting for Anna to walk into work one day announcing that she's pregnant"—
"D, don't say things like that, Sirius would never do that to you…he'd never dream of hurting you…"
"Oh please…he doesn't care about that anymore…I told him it hurts, but he doesn't care…he doesn't care if I don't like Anna, or if I don't like cigarettes"—
"He's still smoking then?" Remus asked. Dominique nodded in return. Remus sighed. "It's very difficult to quit…"
"Well he should never have started in the first place!" Dominique snapped.
Remus nodded. "I'll agree with you there…I know it's not one of his best habits…but you can't hate a man over a bad habit"—
"It's not just the smoking though," Dominique replied, "it's everything, how he treats me in general…he's just always preoccupied with a million other things, he acts like I'm just getting in the way or something…"
"D, come on, he doesn't think that of you…you've got to make allowances for him…you know the Potters are in danger", Remus added, "…and he and James are best friends, you know…imagine how much that's weighing down on him…"
"Lily's one of my best friends, Remus!" Dominique exclaimed. "You think I don't care or something"—
"No, of course I don't think that," Remus said quickly. "Listen, I've known them longer than you have. You don't understand how close Sirius and James are. They're like brothers"—
"Yea, so he's told me…" Dominique said dryly.
Remus sighed. "Let me guess, you think Sirius cares more about James than he cares about you"—
"I don't think that, I know that…" Dominique replied, "Sirius said himself that he's always put James before anyone else, and he always will…"
"He didn't mean that, I'm sure…"
"Yes he did…"
"Look D, the one thing you've got to understand about Sirius, is that he likes to put 110 into everything. In his work, in his relationships, everything…He likes to give himself whole heartedly to the cause…he's always been like that…I just think he has a lot of stuff going on, and he's finding it a bit difficult to put in 110 into everything now…just give him time...he needs to sort things out…"
Dominique sighed and glanced at Remus briefly before dropping her head into her hands. "I'm tired of giving him time…" she said. When Remus did not answer, she continued, "I don't understand how you can speak so tolerably about him…"
Remus still made no response, but only smiled half heartedly as he put a hand on Dominique's shoulder.
"He's one of my best friends…"
Dominique looked up at Remus, eyeing him closely as if to decipher his countenance.
"What?" Remus asked suddenly.
"Nothing…" Dominique said quickly, as she looked away from Remus. She shook her head and got up from his bed. "Let's just drop all of this…no point in discussing this…"
"Alright…" Remus said, looking at Dominique curiously. "So…how's everything going with the others? Has James or Lily got any ideas on who the spy might be?"
"What?" Dominique asked quickly.
"Er…you know…the spy who's feeding information to Voldemort…have they got any ideas yet?"
"Oh—no…they haven't…" Dominique lied.
"Oh, ok…"
There was a moment of awkward silence between the two. Finally Dominique knelt down and grabbed her broom. "I'm going to leave…" Dominique said quietly. "I want to talk to Dumbledore…"
"Alright," Remus said, as he got up to open his window. "I'd recommend you fly, instead of apparating…give yourself some time to cool down…"
Dominique nodded as she mounted her broom. "Right…"
"Well, I'll see you then…" Remus said.
Dominique nodded again. "Yea, see you…" And with that, Dominique took off.
As Sirius apparated into the living room of his house, he felt at once uneasy. Something felt wrong.
"I'm home, D!" he called out, dropping his briefcase onto the coffee table. Half expecting Dominique to call back with something sarcastic like "Really? I thought it was a death eater!", Sirius glanced around the place before proceeding towards the bedroom.
"Dominique!" He called again.
He peered into their bedroom. No one was there. However, he did notice, that her purse, which usually sat at the foot of her side of the bed, was gone. 'Must've gone out shopping again…' he thought to himself as he pulled off his cloak and threw it on the bed. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and dumped it onto the dresser, when suddenly…
Sirius stepped closer and scanned the surface of the dresser. Usually it was quite messy, with an array of Dominique's brushes and combs, and other cosmetic tools whose functions he knew not. Now however, the dresser's surface was practically clean…
With a slight feeling of uneasiness overtaking his stomach, Sirius went to the closet and opened the door. He froze in his place when he saw that Dominique's trunk was missing, as well as her broom…
Remus sighed as he paced around the living room. Why had Dominique wanted to go see Dumbledore? Hadn't his words been enough comfort to her, or at least enough to calm her down for the moment? She wouldn't do anything rash…but then again, she was married to Sirius…he was bound to have rubbed off on her…
Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by a familiar, low rumbling noise, that came from outside. The noise grew louder and louder, and Remus headed towards the window to peer outside…
Out of nowhere, a large motorcycle materialized in front of him, and slowly came to a stop on the Lupins' front lawn, blinding Remus with its headlights. The rider pulled his wand out, and tapping the bike twice, the motorcycle fell silent, and its lights went out.
Remus rushed to the door, but before he could so much as touch the knob, the door flew open.
"Sirius"—
"Where is she??" He demanded, letting himself into the house.
"How the hell did you"—
Sirius held up a small knife. "You really didn't believe me when I told you these babies can open any lock, did you Moony?" he asked as he replaced the knife in his pocket.
"Well, glad to know the contrary," Remus replied, "I feel safer already"—
"Look, where is she?" Sirius asked again, looking squarely at Remus.
"I'm assuming you're talking about Dominique?"
"Yea…where is she? Are you hiding her here?" Sirius asked as he turned away and headed out of the living room and into the kitchen.
"I'm not hiding her anywhere, Sirius…" Remus said with a note of irritability in his voice as he followed Sirius into the dining room. "She did come here though, but she left…"
Sirius turned suddenly to face Remus. "Where'd she go?" he demanded.
"Why? What are you going to do?"
"I just want to bring her home"—
"I'm sure she'll come home, she probably just needed a few hours to cool off…"
"Her trunk was missing, so was some of her stuff…"
Remus frowned. "She didn't have anything with her when she came…just her broom and her purse…but then again," he noted, "I suppose she might've put a reduction charm on her stuff…"
"Well, where'd she go??" Sirius asked again, more loudly.
Remus sighed. "Listen, I think first you need to calm down"—
Sirius took a step towards Remus, the latter whom looked slightly disconcerted, though he didn't back away. "No, you listen. She's my wife, and I will not have her scampering about Britain just because she's mad at me. Just tell me where she is, so I can take her home and settle things with her…"
"Sirius you can't settle things when you're mad…you guys will just keep fighting, and keep going in the same circles. You need to calm down"—
"Well, this is as calm as I plan on getting, so tell me where the hell she is!!" Sirius bellowed.
"So you can hurt her some more?" Remus asked angrily. "Do you even care about her anymore? She came crying here, because you ignore her, and you focus all your attention on James, or work, or other women…and I made excuses for you, feeding her crap like 'oh, Sirius is just stressed out and busy…he still loves you though…' just to calm her down! Did it work? I doubt it, but you know what, I don't think I care that much, because you aren't even making the effort to fix things with her…"
Sirius stared at Remus as the latter glared at him. "I put my foot down with Anna today, and before I left work, I asked Crouch if he could stop assigning us together..." he said in a more calmed voice.
Remus did not take his eyes off Sirius, but his expression softened. "She went to Dumbledore." He said simply.
Sirius nodded but as something seemed to have suddenly dawned upon him, he stomped his foot on the ground and swore.
"What?" Remus asked.
"I'm supposed to see Dumbledore tonight…ah shit…I better go…" Sirius said as he headed towards the door. He looked over his shoulder once to so say goodbye to Remus. The latter only nodded in return. "Thanks for stopping by…" he said in a tone that Sirius found to be a mix of sarcasm and disappointment. Shrugging off the feeling of uneasiness, Sirius waved and shut the door behind him.
"Dumbledore!" Sirius shouted, as he hopped of his motorbike half an hour later. He jogged across the front lawn to the porch, where the headmaster stood. "So sorry," Sirius panted as he pulled out his keys, "I hope you weren't waiting long…I was just…well"—
"Looking for something?" the headmaster asked.
"Er"—
"Or someone perhaps?"
"Yes, I was"—
"All in good time, but it's very urgent that we discuss the situation with the Potters…"
"Right." Sirius replied as he opened the front door, and showed Dumbledore into the living room.
"Well, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" he asked as he brought in a cup of tea for Dumbledore and took a seat across from him.
"Well, as Mr. Potter has probably told you by now, he and his family must go into hiding soon, in the next few days if we can manage. I explained to him that the best way to go about in this is using the fidelius charm. Are you familiar with it?" Dumbledore asked.
Sirius nodded.
"Well, as you know, a secret keeper is involved with this charm. I had offered myself for the task, but James insisted on using you."
"And I'm completely up for it." Sirius replied, "I'd die before betraying James."
Dumbledore nodded. "We'll perform the charm tomorrow then. Tomorrow evening, we'll meet at Godric's Hollow. That will be their hiding place. Few people as possible should know about this."
Sirius nodded. "Will do."
"Now, another matter that we must discuss…"
Sirius looked down at his hands, feeling very uneasy now.
"Dominique came to see me today…quite unexpectedly. We had a long talk…she had quite a bit on her mind"—
"Professor Dumbledore, sir," Sirius interrupted, "if you could just tell her to come back home…"
Dumbledore shook his head as he put his teacup and saucer down. He sighed and looked straight at Sirius. "Dominique wishes a divorce."