The night was growing old as Cassie apparated into a rather grimy, rundown portion of London. The sickly glow of the streetlamp that she had appeared under was the only source of light, for the sun had set hours ago and all the windows on the surrounding houses were dimmed. The streetsign across the road hardly fell into the weak light, making its large white print reading Grimmauld Place decipherable only by a quick mutter of "Lumos." Keeping her wand aglow she made her way stealthily down the block, the number of the particular house she was looking for still fresh in her mind. Though it was protected by various secretive spells, Cassie was still able to find the house, as Professor Dumbledore had revealed its location to her the previous night.

Number thirteen Grimmauld Place, residence of the late Mrs. Black and now the headquarters for the new Order of the Phoenix sat grubby and dank in the middle of the block. Not a light was visible through the windows, which were glazed over with a thick layer of filth. Cassie ascended the house's steps cautiously, all too aware that she was in danger of falling since many of the bricks she was toddling on were coming loose and breaking beneath her feet. She gave a forceful rap on the door and pulled her cloak tighter around her in the unusually chilly August darkness, her hood keeping her face shadowed against the yellowy glow of the light that was suspended from the door's overhang.

The door swung open seemingly on its own accord, and after she had stepped over the threshold swung shut behind her. She would have thought it was a spell that operated the door and would not have bothered to turn around had her ears not picked up a slight grumbling noise piercing the silence of the otherwise silent hallway. Looking back behind her she saw that a house elf was leaning up against the door and lending her an evil eye. He was an elderly creature with grubby, wrinkly skin and sagging jowls. A dishrag that looked as though it had not been washed in over a decade served as his loincloth.

"Half-blood filth…Soiling poor mistress's noble house…" he muttered, pressing his back deep into the wall and slinking over and past its corner until he was out of Cassie's direct range. He then backpedaled his way down the center of the hallway and into a doorway at its end from where a steady glow of candlelight was spilling.

A bit creeped out but not in the least deterred by the elf's strange behavior, Cassie continued down the unkempt hallway, keeping her head low and occasionally weaving from side to side so not to come in contact with the many cobwebs. In trying to avoid touching one that was suspended from the rusting chandelier, Cassie stepped to her right and in doing so brushed up against a thick curtain that was positioned just shy of a rickety stairwell, an action that was immediately followed by the curtains flapping open and an onslaught of murderous screams blaring in her ear.

"Filth! Vile scourge! My traitor's half-blood whore!" the whining, lamenting screams echoed throughout the hall, clouding Cassie's ears with a painful ringing.

She stepped away and placed her back flat against the opposite wall to observe that it was a portrait that had been veiled by the curtains she had disturbed. The woman that it pictured, who would have been supremely gorgeous had her mouth not been stretched wide in screams, was seated in a Queen Anne chair. She was a slight woman with a paper-white complexion that looked very eerie against her charcoal hair and blood-red lipstick. Cassie had only seen the woman in person once while she was still alive, but recognized her immediately.

Cassie had met Mrs. Black, Sirius' mother, for both the first and last time the summer before she and Sirius had become a couple. Cassie had been sitting with her mother in the Leaky Cauldron after they had finished searching for Cassie's needed school supplies when Mrs. Black had walked in with her son. Sirius had noticed Cassie right away and greeted her and her mother warmly. Mrs. Black stopped alongside her son and offered only a cold, distant nod. She stood aloof as Sirius made small talk with them, only really coming alive when Cassie's father came into the picture after concluding his conversation with Tom the bartender. In his jeans and plaid shirt he stood out worse than a sore thumb, a lone muggle in a sea of magic. As he greeted Mrs. Black, extending his hand for her to shake, she grabbed Sirius by the collar and dragged him out of the pub, ordering that he should have no more involvement with "that little half-blooded wench". It was the following summer, after he had Cassie had realized their love for each other, that Sirius had run away from home and sought refuge in the home of the Potters.

Cassie had poised herself to spring forward and quickly pull the curtains back over the wailing woman, but before she could do so the order of "Shut up, you old hag!" came floating down the hallway, accompanied by the tall, pallid figure of Sirius Black. Letting his wife go seemingly unnoticed, he stepped in front of her and heaved the curtains shut, which prompted Mrs. Black to lower her terrible screams down to low, disapproving sobs and moans.

"Just can't get the damned thing off the wall," he said, turning about and coursing a hand through his hair, "One hell of a sticking charm."

He said this while averting his eyes to the slowly crumbling ceiling, but once all the words had fled his lips he brought them to lock with Cassie's, his warm smile gradually spreading from ear to ear.

"Hi Cassie," he said simply, reaching out and removing Cassie of her hood.

"Hello Sirius," she replied, her own smile coming to overtake her face.

After a moment of looking deep into each other's eyes Cassie sprang to life and threw her arms around Sirius' neck, a delightful shiver shooting down her spine as he took her around the waist and buried his face into the curve where her shoulder met her neck. He gave a sinful smile into her flesh and she a gasp as he enhanced his grip to lift her clean off her feet and spin her three times around in greeting. Once he set her down again he pressed his lips to hers in a hearty, almost suffocating kiss.

"I've missed you," he said, resting his forehead on hers.

"I've missed you, too," she said, "It's been too long."

The last time Cassie had seen her husband was a month prior when Harry had emerged from the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament only to announce that Lord Voldemort had risen again. Terribly grim circumstances indeed. Since that time Sirius had been living quietly at the home of Remus Lupin, which was just as well since the Minister was now very intent on keeping an eye on Cassie since their meeting at Hogwarts the previous month, incase she should decide to join her husband in the circle of Death Eaters, as he had put it. It was entirely too long a time for two people, separated for over a decade and only reunited collectively for an hour or so, to be apart. But Cassie was at least glad that the past week he had spent at Grimmauld Place in the company of the Weasleys, Hermione Granger, Remus Lupin, and others, and having to eat Mrs. Weasley's cooking had put some weight on him so he no longer looked and felt like a decaying corpse.

"Yes, it has," he said, giving her forehead a kiss before releasing her from what had started out as a gentle embrace but had grown somehow into a loving death-grip. "But everyone's waiting for us in the kitchen. Come on."

Taking her hand and wrapping it around his middle, Sirius moved to escort his wife into the kitchen, but before they could so much as take a single step, there came the smart remark of, "Not everyone's in the kitchen. We're not allowed, remember?"

Looking to the stairs they found that sometime between the beginning of Mrs. Black's wailing and their emotional greeting the four youngest Weasley children had slunk down from their rooms to perch themselves on the landing above. Fred, (who had undoubtedly been the smart mouth), and his brother George where wearing grins similar to the clichéd cat who swallowed the canary, and Cassie guessed that they had been summoned down by Mrs. Black's wails just in time to see Sirius give her that powerful kiss.

"You know very well that you're not allowed into the meetings," Sirius said, "And wipe those grins off your faces. Like you've never seen a kissing couple before, Misters Weasley."

Even with the smile that had begun to creep onto Sirius' mouth with his last comment and his obvious joking, the two immediately did as he said, making Ginny and Ron snort with suppressed giggles.

"But why can't we be part of the Order?" Fred questioned. "I think we're old enough."

"And brave enough." George added.

Fred nodded. "And willing enough."

"And--"

Sirius waved a hand to cut them off. "No, you're not old enough. Willing and brave maybe, but certainly not old or able, or wise enough. And that's that. We've been through this already, boys."

Sirius and Cassie then continued on into the kitchen, leaving the twins to scowl evilly at their backs. Sitting at the long kitchen table were the rest of the new Order of the Phoenix. Molly Weasley was the only one standing, placing the last pot of food in the center of the table before taking her seat next to her husband. Some of the other faces Cassie recognized from the old Order, including Remus Lupin, Alastor Moody, Minerva McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore, who was seated at the far head of the table. Many more of the faces were new ones. Standing out among of the newcomers was a witch with bright magenta hair who was sitting next to Remus, and a black, bald-headed wizard with a large hoop earring through his left ear whom was seated across from her.

"The gang's all here now," Sirius announced, raising his voice high above the chatter. All at once the dozens of eyes that had paid them no mind upon their entering turned to face them, seemingly in unison. Most of the turning eyes were accompanied by dumb, automatic smiles. The only ones to truly react to Cassie's entering were Molly and Arthur Weasley, Remus Lupin, and the witch with the brightly colored hair. Remus reached her first and immediately engaged her in a friendly hug, giving way to the Weasleys after their embraced ended. Molly gave her a bear hug, an action that Cassie perceived as overemotional and the act of a very stressed woman. Remus then escorted Molly back to her seat, bloodshot eyes and all, before reclaiming his own chair. Arthur gave Cassie's hand a firm shake and a pat on the back. The magenta-haired witch stepped up and shook her hand furiously.

"I believe you've met my second cousin, Nymphadora, Cass. Nymphadora, I think you've met my wife, Cassie," Sirius introduced them, earning himself a scornful glare from the very colorful witch.

"It's Tonks, Sirius. Tonks. And when on earth have I met her? I don't even remember meeting you, unless you count today."

Cassie on the other hand could recall meeting Tonks after digging briefly around in her hidden memory banks. Tonks had only been a tot clinging to her mother Andromeda's hand at the time they had met, which was a little while after Cassie and Sirius' wedding.

"Tonks, I remember you. You were so little last time I saw you…Sirius, I don't think she'd remember meeting me. That had to be at least twenty years ago,"

"You're confusing me now…But it's great to meet you…again, I guess." she laughed, then scurried back to her seat to allow Cassie and her husband to take their seats, which were located right next to each other at the left hand of Albus Dumbledore.

All chatter then ceased as Dumbledore rose from his seat. He was the perfect embodiment of authority, head held high, standing tall and proud while his wise, kind eyes quietly scanned the people seated before him. Unlike many of those seated before him there was a definite calmness in his behavior. His eyes were well rested, his hands steady, his tone even and unwavering as he spoke.

"It seems that we have all found our way here," he noted, "Very good, very good. But there shall be no serious business tonight. No, we are only here in greeting. To come together and get to know those who were not here the last time around. There are many new faces, I'm glad to see. Let's have the conversation be light, and not speak of ill things. There will be plenty of time to speak of that. And now, please, let us enjoy dinner courtesy of one, Mrs. Molly Weasley." he concluded, smiling and raising his wine glass in Mrs. Weasley's direction, an action in which the rest of the gathering followed suit.

All at the table took Dumbledore's words to heart, and kept the matter of the Dark Lord and his deeds out of conversation, but surely not completely out of mind. The chatter was definitely not as prevalent as it should have been, possibly because, as Cassie thought, many members were still dwelling on the dark thoughts that they have shoved in the back of their brains for the time being. Their mouths spoke of Quidditch, magical mishaps, and the antics of their children, but their minds thought on the taboos Dumbledore had set forth. Cassie was no exception. Through the silent holes in her conversation with Sirius, Remus, and the colorful Tonks, Cassie couldn't help herself but to remember the previous month's events. She recalled how she had thrown her arms around her godson in a frantic, motherly hug. Her godson who was drenched with blood, sweat, and tears, and brought news that the Dark Lord had risen again.

After dinner was through, ending in a wide array of rich deserts with a side speech by Dumbledore that thanked everyone for being present, Cassie stood at the front door arm in arm with Sirius, seeing off everyone they had dined with that would not be spending the night.

"Good night, Professor," Cassie said as Professor McGongall stepped past them and out the door and into the night, doffing her hat and biding them both a wonderful evening in response.

Remus and Tonks were next to reach the doorway. Sirius and Remus hugged each other in a way only best friends and brothers could ever manage. When they were through, Cassie took her turn at hugging the werewolf, finding herself wondering when the next full moon might have been, for the falling night had brought on a rather sickly, pale look in his face.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay, Remus? We've got plenty of rooms," Sirius offered him, "They might not exactly be cleaned out yet, but…." He had seen the haggard look on Remus's face as well, and was wary on letting him out into the night.

"No, no," Remus said politely, "That's all right. I'll be fine." He gave a knowing smile, reading the worry on his friend's faces. "Moon's not that high in the sky yet. Still have my wits about me…"

At his last sentence Tonks looked at him with some confusion rippling across her brow. Confusion, but also mixed in with what Cassie read as both heavy interest and concern. There was high color in her cheeks. Cassie couldn't help but smile at the young witch. Take away the slight puzzlement and she had seen that look a thousand times before. She herself had most definitely worn it at least once in her life. Remus and Tonks then said their last goodbyes and walked out into the night.

"Ah, the match made in Hell, you two," Sirius and Cassie both turned from seeing Remus out the door to spot none other then Severus Snape approaching them, pulling on his traveling cloak with a quick, swishy twirl.

" Shove off, you git," Sirius snapped bitterly, but Snape didn't stop to listen. He stepped through the doorway and out of the house, not paying Sirius any attention, obviously wanting his words to ring loud and be the last.

With Snape's departure the house was empty of all those not planning to stay, so Sirius shut the door with a forceful poke at its middle, then locked it with a bit of magic. He spun about to find his wife making her way back in the direction of the kitchen. He caught up to her in a few quickened strides, passing up the stairs and the now silent portrait of his late mother. He took Cassie around the middle and laid his head down on her shoulder as she walked, trying to keep in step with her.

"And where are you going?" he asked, looking up at her with the best puppy-dog eyes he could manage.

"To help Molly clean up the mess we left her with in the kitchen," she replied, deliberately not looking into his eyes.

"Not planning on leaving me for home afterward, are you?" he said, playfully, stepping out in front of her and stopping her dead in her tracks.

"Now, why would I do that?" she asked rhetorically, letting his smile infect her. Her own grin spread her cherry lips to slightly reveal her teeth; that sly, roguish little smile that brought the color into her pale cheeks and a sparkle into her dark eyes. That little smile that she had first introduced to him on their wedding night.

"Good," he said, taking her into his arms where she stayed limply, her head propped up on his shoulder, her own arms squished to her sides by her husband's. "Because I want to keep you up all night, if you'll let me."

She laughed and inched just a bit closer to him, " Of course I'll let you. That's a silly thing to say. I want you to keep me up."

And just for a moment she thought that it was all a bit awkward. Times were dark, just as dark as they could really ever possible become, and there they were, lost in their physical and emotional love for each other, just as they would be if everything were right in the world. Just as they would have been if Sirius had never gone to Azkaban, just as they would have been if James and Lily were still alive and Lord Voldemort had never existed. But it came to her then that love was constant, and that the truest kind could overshadow even the darkest of situations. She loved Sirius with all her heart, and dark times or not, she was going to keep on loving him, and she knew he would do the same.

Instead of keeping her word to Mrs. Weasley and helping with the cleanup, she instead took the path that Sirius had put before her and traveled with him to the upper stories of the house. It turned out to be a very pleasurable, sleepless night for them indeed.