Linda Yates

When Claudia woke up in the morning, she stretched in the bed trying to find Sirius' warm embrace, but he was already gone. Or perhaps he never came to bed in the first place. She got dressed for work and, on her way out, found him in the garage with his head buried in the motorbike manual.

"I'm off," she said.

Sirius did not look up, just mumbled something incomprehensible.

"Bye then."

Sirius was attacking some bolt with a wrench, still avoiding eye contact. Claudia sighed, turned on her heel, and left him to it.

The moment Claudia stepped into the office, she knew her day was going to be interesting. Barraclough was standing in front of a wall, which was newly covered in photos from the crime scene.

"Did we get more evidence from the patrol officers?" Claudia asked when she looked at them. Her memory was pretty good and some of them looked new.

"No," Barraclough said. "These are from the muggle police."

"Muggle police?" she said with a slight frown. "I thought the obliviators modified their memories. Or are they still investigating?"

"They are not," Barraclough uttered.

Claudia waited for an explanation, but none came. She rolled her eyes. It really was like trying to get blood out of a stone. "How did we get these, then?"

"The obliviators messed up," he said. "They forgot to take the film. They retrieved it few days later but only now decided that we ought to see the photographs."

Claudia walked closer to the wall and began examining the recent evidence. "This is new," she said, and pointed at a picture of the victim's leg. "These spider-web marks all over the skin. I don't remember seeing these in the pictures we had."

Barraclough walked over to his desk and open a file. "You're right," he whispered after a while. "Something doesn't feel right. We better ask internal affairs to look into those patrol officers. If they tempered with the crime scene…"

Adebayo, the second Senior Auror in Moody's team, strode into the office, cup of tea in his hand. He stopped by the photographs and zoomed in on the same one that Claudia was looking at. "I've seen these before," he said with a slight frown, and pointed at the marks.

"Do you remember when?" Barraclough asked.

"No. But I remember describing these exact same marks in the crime scene report." Adebayo shook his head. "It was two or three years ago. Someone should go through my old cases to see if they can find it."

Both of the senior aurors looked at Claudia.

"Great," she mumbled, and grabbed the photograph. "I'll be in Records."

She shuffled towards the very end of the corridor that housed the aurors' offices, cursing under her breath. "Why does it always have to be me… Doing the most boring stuff."

There was no one manning the front desk in the Records room, so she rung the little bell that sat on the counter for such instances. Then she rang it again. And again. Until an old wizard emerged from among the filing cabinets.

"Adebayo asked me to go through some of his own case files," she said before he had an opportunity to speak. "Where can I find them?"

"All the cases are sorted by numbers, dear," the clerk explained. "You can find which auror worked on what in those ledgers over there." He added, pointing towards a vast room where ceiling-high shelves were creaking under the weight of chunky volumes.

"Ever considered using magic to sort these damn things?" she asked once she realised how impossible this task was going to be.

"Obviously," the clerk smirked. "But that would make the system too easy to temper with."

Claudia sighed and dragged her heels towards the ledger room.

"How do they pick them?" she heard the clerk whisper after her. "Each year, they get more arrogant."

One by one, Claudia started going through the ledgers, containing information about the cases investigated by the Auror Office. Each line contained a case number, the lead investigating auror, date of the crime, brief description of the case, the perpetrator (if known), and a location of the file. She took out a piece of parchment and began writing down the case numbers and locations of all the files that had Adebayo down as the lead auror.

She had been at it for an hour or so and was just contemplating going to the bathroom when her eyes widened upon seeing the description of the next case.

Case number: 001 284 981;

Investigating Auror: Samuel Adebayo;

Date: [Redacted];

Description: Ministry security (details withheld);

Perpetrator: Linda Yates;

File Location: Room A, Aisle 2, 12.1.

"Linda," Claudia whispered. It was an unusual name for a witch. It must have been her! The Minister's former Principle Private Secretary that her father framed for the kidnapping of the American potioneer.

Claudia scribbled down the case number and location of the file and run out of the ledger room as if it was on fire. She paced through the maze that was the Records department, looking manically for Room A. Soon she found it. She yanked on the door handle, but it did not move. When she stopped trying to force the door open and looked up, it was suddenly clear why. There was a huge sign hanging above the doorway that read:

'RESTRICTED FILES – NO ACCESS WITHOUT AUTHORISATION'

Without thinking, Claudia made her way to the front desk. She needed to know what was in that file, and she needed to know now.

"I need access to Room A," she mumbled when she found the clerk manning the reception. "Please."

"You need authorisation from your inspector for that, dear," the clerk said.

Claudia sunk her fingernails into her palm. Why did he need to call her 'dear' all the time?

The clerk then opened a drawer in the filling cabinet behind him and took out a blank form. "Get him to fill out this."

"Fine," she said through gritted teeth, and went back into the ledger room. She would need to finish going through these before asking Moody for authorisation. She needed to make it look like a coincidence. There was no way she was ready to share with her Ministry bosses what she knew about Linda.

Luckily, there were three more of Adebayo's cases that were located in the same room as Linda's file: Loriss, Cerbus and Persimmom were the perpetrators.

After lunch (and armed with a filled-out form), Claudia summoned enough courage to go knock at Moody's door.

"He isn't there." Barraclough said when he saw her. "What do you want from him?"

"I need him to sign this," she waved the form in front of Barraclough's face, "some of the files you want me to read are in Room A."

"Show me the list," he said and outstretched his arm. "I wouldn't worry about any of these. None of them are murders," he added as he scanned the list.

"But-" Claudia began. She needed to get her hands on Linda's file, and was not going to give up without a fight.

But Barraclough interrupted her. "Go through all the others and if you don't find anything, then I'll ask the boss to sign this."

"Fine," she mumbled, and dragged herself back to Record.

Claudia spent the next few days buried under ledgers and case files. Usually, she stayed late, as there was not much reason to go home. Sirius was still sulking and was working on the bike when she went to bed, and when she woke up. Claudia was not even sure whether he slept at all.

When she woke up on Friday, about a week after the Order meeting that ruined Sirius' mood, she finally felt his warmth. His legs were stretched over to Claudia's side of the bed and their feet were touching. Smiling to herself, she turned over to see his face. Sirius was also slowly opening his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"I know it sucks," she replied, and brushed the side of his face with her fingers.

"I know you do."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," Sirius sighed and paused. "Not yet."

Claudia shuffled closer to her boyfriend and gave him a long hug.

"I need to go to work," she whispered into the crook of his neck.

"I need to get back to the garage," Sirius replied, with a slight chuckle.

"Do you really –"

"Don't," he jumped in before she could finish. "It's making me even more tetchy than thinking about Regulus."

"I'll try to be back early," she whispered.

After that simple interaction, the hours spent in the Records room did not seem quite so bad. And after lunch, she finally found what she had been looking for - a reference to the spider-web marks. The case was unsolved, but there was a suspect called Rosier. The same name that the Umbridge women mentioned. That could not have been a coincidence!

Claudia flicked over a page and sighed. She had never been more disappointed to find an answer to anything. She was never going to get access to Linda's restricted file now.

She flipped over another page, and her eyes landed on something.

There was a name of a possible associate in the file. One Horatio Cerbus. The surname sounded familiar.

Suddenly, she realized. It was one of the other Adebayo's files in the restricted room. That was her way in!

Claudia ran the length of the corridor and begged Barraclough to make Moody sign off the authorisation form. Barraclough agreed, Moody was in, and within the hour Claudia was sitting on the floor of the Restricted room, holding Linda's file in her hands.

She opened the first page, and a frown appeared on her face. Over half of it was blacked out. Claudia got over her momentary disappointment and began to read.

'There were only three people that knew that the [redacted] was part of the delegation: [redacted].

Summary of the case:

- Motive – Clearly done on YKW instructions. Unclear whether willingly or under the Imperious Curse.

- Means –The suspect did not act alone. Witnesses describe several hooded figures ambushing [redacted] on the way to [redacted].

- Opportunity - [Redacted] presence was kept secret. The suspect was the only person who did not offer an alibi.'

Claudia did not get to read any further.

"What did you find?" someone asked, startling her.

"I was just…" Claudia began and looked up. It was Barraclough "Got stuck looking at this case."

Barraclough took the file out of her hand and his eyes narrowed.

Claudia quickly continued. "I did a summer placement in the Minister's office last year, and her name was mentioned. Sorry, I got curious."

"Put it away."

"It doesn't seem like a lot of evidence," she whispered, testing the ground.

"It wasn't," Barraclough said with a frown. "But sometimes things get taken out of our hands. Sometimes, orders come from up high to stop an investigation and send the suspect to Azkaban."

"Without a trial?" Claudia asked. "That doesn't seem fair."

"Politics." Barraclough mumbled. "Just get the Cerbus case file and let's get out of here."

Grudgingly, Claudia did as she was told.

Once back in the office, it quickly became clear that the Cerbus file was of no use. He was long dead. That meant, unfortunately, that there were not going to be any more trips to the room that housed Linda's file. Claudia would need to find another way to keep digging.

As she was packing her things that night, she noticed Dankworth and Fernsby whispering in the corner.

"Do you like Quidditch, sweetheart?" Dankworth asked her out of the blue.

"Yes," Claudia replied tentatively.

"Every year, there is a Quidditch tournament between the different auror teams," Dankworth explained the meaning behind his question. "I commentate, and Oscar here," he pointed at Fernsby, "captains our team. We won the last two years!"

"Good for you," Claudia said flatly, and continued to pack her things.

"Do you want to come and watch?" Dankworth asked. "You can keep me company in the commentator booth."

"I rather play," Claudia said. Even just saying those words gave her butterflies. She missed Quidditch so much.

"Right. Sorry." Fernsby scoffed. "We only needed one chaser, and I already asked Green."

"Come on, Oscar, let her come," Dankworth pleaded with him. "If she wants to play with the big boys."

Fernsby stared at her for good twenty seconds, before letting out a huge sigh. "Do you have your own broom?" he finally asked.

"Yes," Claudia said and rolled her eyes. "I have my own broom."

"Then, I'll see you tomorrow at eight," Fernsby sighed. "It's at the Wimbourne Wasps grounds. Take the Floo."

With those words, Fernsby was out of the office and Dankworth followed him like a puppy dog.

Claudia practically danced through the door to the apartment that evening and was pleased to see that Sirius was inside rather than in the garage. He was sitting in one of the armchairs and chatting to James, bottle of beer in hand.

"What made you so happy?" Sirius asked with a hint of a smile when he saw the expression on Claudia's face.

"I'm just glad to see you out of the garage," she said, and walked over to sit on his lap.

"Really?"

"And there is an Auror quidditch tournament tomorrow," she whispered, and a huge grin appeared on her face. "And I'm playing."

"Good grief. I thought Quidditch was behind me."

"Shut up," she laughed. "Want to come and watch?"

"I would." Sirius sighed. "But I have to go and sit by a drop site all day. Again."

"Are the Order missions really duller for you than watching Quidditch?" James asked. That was quite hard to believe, as Sirius hated watching Quidditch.

"Yup."

"It's just because they don't trust us yet," Claudia tried to reassure him. "I'm sure it's going to get better."

"Not sure how much longer I can take it," Sirius growled.

James stayed over for dinner, and they spent the entire evening reminiscing about the Quidditch games they got to play while they were both in Hogwarts. The only person who did not have fun was Sirius. He did not enjoy the Quidditch rivalry between his best friend and his girlfriend while they were all at school, and he was not enjoying it now.

When Claudia arrived at the Quidditch grounds the following morning, Green was the only other person there. That was not surprising since she was half an hour early.

"Do you know how the tournament works?" she asked in an attempt to kill time.

"It's a knock-out between the different Auror office teams," Green replied. "Each division has two or three teams, and the patrol officers have a team too."

That made sense, Claudia thought, and remembered her induction. The Auror Office had three divisions. Division A, where Claudia as well as Frank and Alice worked, was the Investigation Department. It comprised teams investigating serious crime relating to dark magic, as well as teams specialising in dark substances and magical fraud. Division B was called 'Special Operations', was housed in a separate wing of the building, and everything around it was always hush hush. They collected and analysed information, and also protected foreign diplomats and high-profile magical and muggle folk. Mr Adler, Alice's dad, worked in the protection team. Then there was Division C, which was mostly composed of aurors towards the end of their career. They did internal investigation and run the evidence inventory and the records room (where Claudia spent so much of her time recently).

"Games are limited to sixty minutes. So, the tournament is all over in a day," Green added, interrupting Claudia's train of thought.

"What about the snitch?"

"If you catch it, the game is over as normal," Green said. "If no one catches it within sixty minutes, the game stops and whoever has more points wins." He looked towards the clubhouse. "Here comes the captain."

Claudia turned her head and saw Fernsby marching towards the centre of the pitch with Dankworth and a group of people she did not know in tow.

"Here you are," he said to Claudia when he was within earshot. "Patrol team is short of a chaser and I said you'll play for them." He paused and pointed to the group he came with. "The captain is over there."

"Fine," she scoffed and walked over to her new team, hoping with all her heart that she will be playing against Fernsby's team and will get to knock him off his broom.

"Patrol are notoriously awful," she heard Fernsby say mockingly. "I bet she'll fit right in."

And by a stroke of luck, their first game was indeed against the team her favourite colleague captained. Unfortunately, Fernsby was playing keeper and, therefore, knocking him off the broom was out of the question. It would get her disqualified.

"And they are off," Dankworth's voice carried across the pitch. "Avery's got the quaffle under her arm. She dodges one chaser, then another… She is now one-on-one with Fernsby-yy!"

"Aaaa-nd she scores!"

Claudia punched the air in triumph.

"You got lucky," Fernsby growled and got back to the centre of his hoops.

"I don't need luck," Claudia scoffed and flew back to join her team again.

She scored another goal, and then another. Fernsby was a decent keeper, but his chasers were not giving him a chance. They made too many mistakes and the keeper could not deal with the barrage that followed.

"And Fernsby lets in another." Dankworth laughed loudly. "I can hear the ego shattering all the way over here."

Claudia glanced at the keeper. He was bright red in the face and huffing. "Time out!" he screamed. It was now half-way through the game.

When Fernsby's team emerged from the timeout, Green was in the keeper gear.

"I see Fernsby is going to try his luck as a chaser now." Dankworth's mocking tone was cutting through the heavy air. "Watch out Avery!"

Fernsby's switch did make it a lot harder. He was good. The barrage of goals slowed down. The opposition even managed to claw something back, but ultimately it was not enough. The final whistle went, and the patrol team had their victory. When they were celebrating on the ground, Claudia looked over and saw Fernsby throwing a fit. She was pretty sure she saw him snap his broom in two.

Dankworth found her in the crowd. "I think I may have misjudged you, swe-"

"Call me 'sweetheart' one more time and I will kill you," she growled, her confidence sky-high after that performance.

"I believe you."

"Good." Claudia smiled, and they both burst out laughing.

Unfortunately, Claudia's good mood did not last for much longer. The patrol team crashed out from the tournament in the next match.

The following Monday in the office, Dankworth finally treated Claudia like a human being. He certainly did not try calling her 'sweetheart' again. Fernsby has dropped the groaning and mocking. Claudia could even swear he went a little red every time they made eye contact. But she did not get to enjoy the improved atmosphere for long, as Barraclough pulled her aside.

"I'm going to Azkaban to question Colten, and you are coming with me."

"When?"

"Now."

"How are we getting there?" she asked.

"A portkey from a secure area in the Ministry," Barraclough uttered. "Follow me."

Claudia followed Barraclough to a secure area on the lowest floor of the Ministry. They had to walk through several gates, each guarded by a pair of aurors, until they reached a small office. There was a middle-aged witch manning a desk.

"Hi Aiden," she smiled at Barraclough. "Long time no see."

"I know," Barraclough whispered. "I've been avoiding this for weeks."

The witch picked up a quill and a long piece of parchment. "Who are you going to see?"

"Benjamin Colten. I'll need an hour."

"Can I have your names and service numbers?"

Barraclough handed over his badge, and Claudia copied him.

"Wands please," the witch said once she took note of the information on Barraclough's and Claudia's badges.

"I thought they were going to change the regulations, and we could keep wands on us," Barraclough sighed.

"I'm afraid not yet," the witch said.

Their wands confiscated and their persons thoroughly searched, Barraclough and Claudia were shown trough yet another gate and towards a portkey.

"It will leave in one minute, and travel back in one hour," the witch said. "Good luck."

Claudia gripped the portkey in anticipation. She had never been to Azkaban before.

"Have you ever met a dementor?" Barraclough asked.

"We studied them at Hogwarts," she said. "Are they really as bad as the books say?"

"Worse," Barraclough replied. "Just remember the effects are temporary."

With those words, the room around Claudia swirled and soon she landed on her knees on a cold, stone floor. She did not even have a chance to look up before she felt a horrible chill. An image of her mother flashed through her head. 'Stand straight and smile, you worthless squib!' It was as if her mother was there. Her voice was all Claudia could hear. 'You're an embarrassment to all of us!'

Before Claudia could relive any other heart-warming memories from her childhood, a door creaked open, and an ageing wizard entered the room. He was accompanied by his horse patronus, whose aura immediately illuminated the room. Cassandra's screaming was gone in an instant.

"Let me take you to the interrogation room," he mumbled. "And stay close to my stallion."

He led them down a corridor of the Azkaban fortress. Everything was made of stone, and you could smell the sea air. It was so overpowering. It felt like breathing in ocean water. But Claudia barely took any of that in. All she could focus on were the desperate shrieks and cries of the inmates that pierced the heavy air.

"Through there," the guard said and pointed towards a rusting door. "It's charmed so you should not feel the dementor's effect too strongly, and I will come and get you once you're done."

Barraclough opened the door to the interrogation room and stepped in. For the briefest of moments, Claudia was neither in the relative safety of the interrogation room, nor under the protection of the guard's patronus as he began walking away. But even those two seconds were enough. The chill and the screams were back. 'You'll pay for this!' Cassandra's voice echoed through Claudia's mind again. Instinctively, the girl grabbed the back of her head to stop her mother yanking on her hair.

"Get in here," Barraclough barked, pulled her into the room and shut the door behind her. Claudia could feel her chest unclench a little.

The aurors pulled up a couple of chairs and sat down behind a long table. Moments later, the door opened again for a second and a thin figure in tattered robes stumbled inside. With some difficulty, this person – who Claudia assumed to be Colten – gripped a free chair with their bony fingers and crashed into it.

Claudia did not know where to look. She remembered Colten's picture. He used to be very handsome. Yet, after barely three months in Azkaban, he looked worse than a ghost. This could not have been right. Not if he was innocent.

"What's your name?" Barraclough began.

Silence. The figure simply hummed.

"Do you know why you are here?"

More humming.

"This place makes them useless," Barraclough sighed and reached into his breast pocket. "Managed to smuggle this in. It usually helps."

"Chocolate?" Claudia whispered.

"The only thing that gets them talking." Barraclough replied and passed Colten a sizeable piece. The detainee took it with a shaking hand and began to chew on it.

After a minute or so, he looked up at the aurors. "Who are you?" he croaked.

"We are investigating your case," Barraclough replied. "Came here to ask you a few questions." He paused to see if Colten said anything else. He did not. "Who were you meeting in the club?"

"An old school friend," Colten replied slowly.

"Mrs Rosier?" Barraclough asked.

Colten shook his head. "Not that night, no."

"But you were having an affair with Mrs Rosier?"

Colten nodded. "But that night I was meeting Oleander Mulberry."

"What do you remember?"

Colten took another large bite of the chocolate. A little bit of colour returned to his face. "He was acting strange, as if he was in a haze." Colten paused. "Until the very end. He gripped my arm tightly and whispered, 'watch out for Rosier, he is out to get you'."

"Was there anything else strange about his behaviour?"

"I'm so tired," Colten whispered.

"Please, anything else you remember?"

"Tired."

"Anything else you can tell me about Rosier?"

No more words came out of Colten's mouth. He was back to humming.

"Great," Barraclough scoffed. He stood up and walked over to the rusting door and banged on it twice before returning to his seat.

Minute or so later, a tall, hooded figure floated in. Instantly, the room went cold, and the water that condensed on the walls froze. A new image flashed through Claudia's head. Her mother was gone. This time, she saw herself sobbing in the showers after she lost her head with jealousy during the final Quidditch game in fifth year, and cost Slytherin the cup. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on something good, anything good. But to no avail. 'He doesn't love you.' She heard her own voice say inside her head. 'Why would anyone love you?'

She heard the door shut, and the room warmed up instantly. The memory was gone.

"Do you think Mulberry might have been under the Imperius Curse?" she asked Barraclough when she recovered her composure.

"I think so," Barraclough replied. "First, the marks, and now this? We really should find Rosier."

"Should we head back?" she asked.

Barraclough did not answer immediately, just stared at her. Claudia could practically hear the cogs in his brain turn. "No," he whispered finally, and stood up again. He walked over to the door, opened a latch to reveal a small window, and yelled into it. "Bring us detainee MM 047."

"Who's that?" Claudia asked as Barraclough returned to the table.

"Linda Yates," he whispered. Claudia did not say anything, just stared at him with her mouth open, so Barraclough continued. "The boss is still mad about the orders we got to drop the investigation. And I could not stop thinking about her since you found that file."

Few minutes later, another ghostly figure in Azkaban's prison robes entered the room. Like with Colten, Claudia would not have recognised Linda from the pictures she had seen – she was hunched over, had sunken eyes and paper-thin skin.

Barraclough took more chocolate out of his pocket and passed it to Linda.

"I'm Aiden Barraclough and this is Claudia Avery," the senior auror introduced them. "We wanted to ask you a few questions about your case. Is that ok?"

But Linda did not reply to his question. Or any other of the questions he asked her.

"This is pointless," Barraclough sighed after ten minutes or so. "I'll get the guards."

As he got up and walked towards the door of the interrogation room, Linda finally looked up. "Avery?" She whispered.

"Yes," Claudia replied.

Linda wrapped her own arms around her torso and looked away, rocking slightly. "Frederick…"

"Frederick's my father," Claudia muttered. She saw Linda bite her lip and stare at the wall with renewed determination. The young auror continued. "I know what he is. And I know what he did to you." Linda did not move a muscle. "And I will prove it."

Slowly, Linda turned to Claudia. "I was with him that night," she whispered. "That's my alibi. Talk to my flatmate."

"Did he know about the potioneer?" Claudia asked.

"He knew everything."

With those words, the door flew open again, and a shriek filled the room. This time, the shriek was not inside Claudia's head. It was Linda's. The dementor floated over to her, grabbed her by the shoulders and dragged her out of the room.

Claudia tried to fight her own terrible thoughts, but it was a fight she was rapidly losing. 'He will never love someone like you!' Her voice echoed through her head again. 'You are an ugly, worthless ghoul.' Mercifully, the auror stationed in Azkaban appeared, and his patronus lightened up the room.

"What was that about?" Barraclough whispered as they were leaving the room. "What did she say to you?"

"A lead," Claudia whispered. "She told me her flatmate can confirm her alibi." She paused, wondering for a second whether she should tell him about her father, his role in the kidnapping, and his affair with Linda. But, for reasons she did not entirely understand, she chickened out.

"Good. Well done," Barraclough attempted a meek smile. "At least it wasn't an entirely wasted journey."

They took the portkey back to the Ministry. Claudia went straight home. It was late, she was exhausted, and a little shaken.

Without a word, she snuck into the apartment and, still in her coat, sat down on the sofa. She could not get Linda's face and shrieks out of her head. She was in that horrible place, all alone. The dementor's nasty hands gripping her shoulders and dragging her away…

Just as she was thinking about that grip, she felt someone touch her and jumped up from the sofa. Her heart was in her throat, and she felt like throwing up.

"I'm sorry," Sirius mumbled. "You ok?"

Claudia dropped back down into the soft cushions.

"Barraclough took me to Azkaban today," she whispered. "To interrogate Colten," she paused and took and deep breath, "and Linda…"

"Was it as bad as they told us?"

"It was so much worse," Claudia sighed. "The cold, the shrieks, all those awful memories just flooding back. Every doubt that you ever had, just amplified…"

"Did the patronus not help?"

"We weren't allowed wands," she explained. "The interrogation room was ok and we did have a guard with us… But even for those few moments, when we were unguarded." She shuddered, and Sirius squeezed her in his arms. "I don't understand how someone can take it for months, years even," she added.

Sirius whipped out his wand, closed his eyes, and - with a smile - uttered, "Expecto Patronum."

A silvery dog shot out of the end of his wand, circled around the sofa, and finally put his head on Claudia's knees, wagging its tail.

She closed her eyes too, thought about the trip they took on her seventeenth birthday, and produced her own patronus - a little nimble fox.

The foxed skipped towards the dog and nudged him away from Claudia's legs. Then, they proceeded to chase each other around the living room.

"What's your memory?" Claudia whispered as she relaxed into Sirius' embrace. She could feel warmth and happiness spreading through her body again.

"Not going to tell you."

"Come on," she gently poked Sirius in the ribs.

"When we made the map work. Maybe when I transformed for the first time." he said seemingly as in a dream. "Or when James ate that vomit-flavoured bean."

"I hate you."

"Fine." Sirius chuckled and pulled Claudia even closer to him. "When I woke up after that New Year's Eve party at James' house and watched you sleep in my arms. That is the happiest I've ever felt," he added softly, and kissed her. "You?"

"When we won the Quidditch Cup," she smirked.

Sirius' eyes narrowed. "Now I don't know whether you are joking or not."