Cassie was sitting at the kitchen table, watching as both food and utensils zoomed around the kitchen at her will, preparing dinner. Just as the chicken had basted and thrown itself onto a roasting pan, Sirius appeared in the doorway, crossing his arms and leaning up against the jamb. Looking at him, Cassie could swear that his eyes, which appeared to be carefully following the chicken as it shoved itself into the oven, had regained a bit of their cheerful shine.

She went to him and ran a hand over his clean-shaven cheek, tucking a few strands of his hair back behind his ear. He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch, his blood running hot as she leaned in to place a gentle, fleeting kiss upon his lips. All notions that she might resent him because of his absence then disappeared from his mind. There was a warm, sensuous feel that flowed through her lips and into his skin, sending a piercing shiver down his spine and making the hair on his neck stand on end. He placed his forehead down against hers as she took him by his forearms and pulled him close, a smooth sigh escaping her throat.

" You look like you could use a good meal." she said airily, placing a hand to his stomach, which was beginning to growl savagely.

" I certainly could."

" It'll be awhile though," she said, looking up and locking her eyes with his, "Would you want to take a walk in the yard meanwhile?"

" Sure." he gave a brief nod as Cassie smiled lovingly up at him, taking his hand in her own.

Sirius allowed himself to be led outside through the backdoor, only to be greeted by the sight of a thriving garden. As they stepped out onto the stone path that wound its way through the garden, they found themselves surrounded by luscious shades of green from which sprouted odd, yet wonderful flowers. Sirius couldn't help but smile as they danced in the breeze to the musical chirps of the birds perched in a large oak near the rear of the yard. It had been twelve years since he had walked outside without his hands in cuffs and a whip to his back. He had almost forgotten just how beautiful life and the world around could be. He had grown used to cold stone walls and heartless guards. For twelve years the screams of dying men, their minds overcome by madness, had been the sound to which he fell asleep at night. His whole world had been consumed by ugliness. But looking at the stunning colors displayed before him and the heavenly glow in his wife's eyes, everything in the world seemed perfectly in order.

"It's beautiful." he said, slipping an arm around Cassie's middle. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I try me best to keep it that way." she said, wrapping her arms about him. "Come on, there's a gazebo under the tree."

Keeping a tight hold on each other, they followed the stone pathway to the rear of the yard, where, sitting under the large oak tree that towered over all else, there sat a decorative wooden gazebo that housed a bench swing. They sat down on the bench together, steadying it and jumpstarting it into a gentle swing. For awhile they sat in silence. Cassie had her arms wrapped tightly around Sirius, as if she might lose him should she let go. Though not at all oblivious to her embrace, Sirius was more concentrated on the blue sky and the greenery than he was on her. But his attention quickly shifted as she sighed on his name. He looked down only to be entranced by a pair of murky brown eyes that were staring expectantly up at him, eyes that no matter how many times he saw them still managed to make him feel at peace, loved, and whole.

"Sirius, If you don't want to say anything, it's fine. But, I really want to know what happened," she said, closing her eyes and burying her face in his shoulder, "What happened to you the night the Potters died? And everyday afterward."

Sirius quickly averted his gaze into the clouds, watching them shift lazily in the breeze. The betrayal, the loss, and the pain that he had been through was nothing that he thought he should share with her. It would only upset her, and himself. In a way, he still had trouble looking back and seeing what he had lived through as a reality. He couldn't help but think of it as some sick nightmare that he had been sleeping through for the past twelve years, one of the seemingly eternal nightmares that take on a life of their own, refusing to end until you tear your eyelids open and scream in the night.

"I wouldn't mind talking about it. In fact, maybe talking about it would make it more of a reality," he laughed in spite of himself, "I still can't believe I survived so long. But, none of it is anything you want to hear."

She looked sternly up into his wandering eyes. She then cupped his chin in her hand, her long fingers brushing across his pale lips. She gently turned him about to face her, looking him straight in the eye, willing herself not to glaze her eyes with tears. "It is something I want to hear. Something I need to hear. Please, Sirius."

After a brief pause in which he tried to organize his memories, Sirius launched himself into the tale Cassie requested he tell. He explained how Peter had been chosen as the Potters' Secret Keeper because he himself was too obvious a choice, and how he and the Potters thought it best that no one have any knowledge of the last minute decision. He told of how he had gone to the Potters' house the night of their deaths, giving his motorbike up to Hagrid so that he could take Harry safely away from the scene. And then there was his encounter with Peter, who he had drawn a dagger as he was cornered in a London alleyway, severing his own finger and blowing up the entire street behind him as he transformed into his animagus form to escape, leaving Sirius with all the blame on his shoulders. Lastly, Sirius painfully recalled his time in Azkaban. The first few nights had been the worst; the walls seemed to be creeping closer to him every time he blinked, while the shadows shape shifted into evil forms that swirled across the room, laughing at his misfortune. He had become somewhat of an insomniac, unable to sleep because of the constant screams and moans from the inmates down the hall. Eventually, he grew accustomed to the horrid loneliness and cruelty of prison and trained himself to drown out the sights, sounds, and smells that he dreaded. He wrapped himself in a calm acceptance that many of the wizard guards and visiting Ministry officials mistook for cold-heartedness. He had once asked the Minister for his newspaper as he stood talking with one of the guards outside of his cell, only to have it thrown through the bars at him, the Minister's face an ugly mix of fear and contempt, the fear managing to stand out much clearer than its counterpart. And, of course, there was that fateful night where he had transformed himself into his dog form and wiggled through the barred windows of his cell into the darkness, a clean getaway.

"I snuck in Hogwarts afterwards. Remus should have told you what happened in the Shrieking Shack already," he concluded, "If it wasn't for Harry and Hermione I'd be a dead man. They flew a hippogriff up to the tower they threw me in after they found me knocked out by that dementor. And now, well, here I am."

Cassie couldn't think of anything comfortingly appropriate to say as he ended, her mind in complete disbelief at all he had been through. "Sirius, I can't imagine having to go through that. I really can't. I'm just glad you're here, fugitive or not."

Sirius stood up so quickly that Cassie believed she had somehow touched a nerve of his, making him want to escape her presence. But he was smiling as he turned about to face her, extending his hand and helping her to rise from her seat. Their eyes locked as he took both her hands in his own, running his thumbs over their smooth backs.

" Cassie, I never thought that I'd see you again and have you think of me as anything more than just a lost friend. I didn't think you would still---I mean--I thought--" he stumbled miserably.

"You didn't think I'd still love you. You thought that I'd be remarried, have a couple children. You thought that all these years I thought you were a traitor who deserved to rot away in prison. You thought I'd hate you."

He nodded sadly. "That's exactly what I thought until a couple days ago. I couldn't believe it when Remus told me…well, told me that you still loved me."

"I do love you." she said earnestly.

" I love you, too." he said, and without giving it a second thought, he leaned in and kissed her full on the lips.

Cassie didn't hesitate to return the gesture. She permitted his tongue a few passes over her lips before she parted them, allowing his tongue to mingle harmoniously with her own. It was bliss that neither had experienced since they had seen each other twelve years prior, a feeling that both were reluctant to conclude. The kiss's end was mutual, with both partners pulling out of it together. The world seemed to stand still as Sirius kissed the soft flesh of Cassie's neck, feeling her sigh as it rattled up into her throat.

His eyes sprang open as her soft sigh turned into a shrill intake of air, which was accompanied by a sharp snapping sound and her hips colliding with his own. Giving a startled leap, she rushed to stand behind him, planting her hands firmly on his broad shoulders. Sirius laughed as he saw that floating behind where she had stood was a sopping wet dish cloth, one that had apparently struck her hard across the backside. Cassie dropped her head limply down onto his shoulder, prolonging his light laughter.

"Well," she said, looking him the eye as the dish cloth zoomed back toward the house and through the ajar back door, "Dinner's ready."