Sirius was to be proved right. As soon as she was back in Antwerp, Mercuria set to work. First, she bought the equipment she needed. Then she took some lessons to learn the different techniques. As she had been drawing all her life, painting a picture was not difficult for her. In no time, she was handling the brushes as deftly as her drawing pencils. Instead of sitting at a desk and making drawings, she now stood in front of three easels on which she made paintings in different techniques.

Initially, Sirius had contemplated to reduce the number of his visits to Antwerp because he didn't want to distract Mercuria. But when she made it unmistakably clear to him that she was not willing to spend all her time working and painting portraits until Christmas, he provided her with a most welcome distraction now and then. Much to his own pleasure, of course. When she was convinced that her skills were sufficient for her purposes, she bought some cheap works by unknown artists. "What do you need them for?". "I must practise to remove elements from these paintings so that the change cannot been noticed. I've discovered that it's quite easy to restore parts of a painting which have been painted over. You must just carefully lift off the top layer of paint to make visible again whatever lies underneath. For an amateur, this is difficult. But I'm afraid that a wizard will have no problem doing it. In this respect, your anonymous letter writer was wrong. To remove this stupid casket completely from the picture, I first must take off the original paint from the canvas. Only then can I paint over the spot and the box can't be restored any more. it is difficult and I must practise". "What about Wizarding portraits?". She looked at him perplexed. "It will take me a while to get started on that. I must master the technique off pat. I'm not yet good enough".

Gradually, Sirius' concerns increased. The whole enterprise now depended on Mercuria's skills to paint a Wizarding portrait. But until mid-November, she had not made a single attempt yet. True, she could now expertly remove details from existing paintings. But whether this would also work in Wizarding paintings, they still did not know. Sirius wondered what he could do to speed up the process. The next time he visited her, she surprised him. "Yesterday I tried to paint a Wizarding portrait for the first time. I popped a pill to give me some visions and then I started to paint. But it didn't work out. Perhaps it is good that you are here. I hope your magical aura will help". She tried all weekend, but success just wouldn't come. "You must pursue it. I know you can do it. Why would we have written the letter if we weren't sure it would work?". Mercuria nodded dejectedly.

Meanwhile, time was running out for them, and Sirius was getting more and more desperate. Throughout the first weekend of December, Mercuria had been painting avidly. In the afternoon she had taken another pill to speed up the process. She had almost finished two of the paintings on her three easels. Finally, Sirius had undressed and lay naked on the bed. He propped himself up on his elbow and rested his head in his hand. Thus, he watched Mercuria brush listlessly and frustrated at the two pictures. Her gaze drifted away from her works more and more frequently, wandering over to him. After a while she stared unabashedly at his lap. "I'd better call it a day. There's no point now. I'm just too tired for this". Sirius laughed dryly. "Finish the third picture. Then you can collect your reward here. Come on. The sooner you're done, the sooner we can have some fun".

Mercuria sighed. "I hate portraits. I just hate them". Sirius watched as she mixed the colours on her palette and suddenly turned vigorously to the blank canvas. Her brush flew across the linen and Sirius saw a landscape emerge. Somehow the area looked vaguely familiar. Suddenly he recognised the motif. The back of the Potter's house in Godric's Hollow. In the foreground was the sheep meadow they had crossed on the evening of the day, when Harry was born. The house on the horizon was tiny. Nevertheless, he noticed that the windows were illuminated. In their euphoria, they had forgotten to put out the lights when they had rushed off as James took Mercuria for a ride on his broom. In a window stood the pot of orchids which Mercuria had knocked over the next day, Sirius remembered well.

Mercuria cleaned the brush and set it aside. "Once again, it didn't work. But I do deserve a reward now. Don't you think?". She undressed and lay down beside him on the bed. As Sirius leaned over to kiss her, he saw a movement out of the corner of his eye in the painting she had last drawn. The door of the tiny house opened, and someone stepped outside. "Wait a minute". "Sirius, what are you doing? I did the best I could. I don't know why it's not working. I just don't feel like it anymore. Look at me for goodness's sake". "Look at that". He pointed at the painting. She turned and glanced at it. Someone was approaching them from the house across the lawn. They exchanged a look. "I don't believe it. That's just impossible". Mercuria shook her head. Sirius glanced at the painting, fascinated. He had his arm around her.

"That's James. I'm sure". They sat up on the edge of the bed and watched as the person approached hurriedly. Then James filled the whole painting. He beamed at them enthusiastically and bowed. "Good evening to you. I hope I'm not interrupting anything important". He chuckled. The two stared at him for a moment, dumbfounded. "James, you wouldn't believe how relieved we are to see you". Sirius let out a loud whoop and hugged Mercuria so tightly that she squealed. "Finally, finally. I was getting desperate. Dear, I think I know what the problem was. You must paint something from the Wizarding World to make it work. Wizards. Witches. Their houses. Whatever. All this time you've been painting portraits of Muggles. Your boss. Your neighbours. The owner of the shop on the corner and others. But this is the first painting with a motif from my world. And that's the only way it'll work. Oh, love. You're amazing. I knew you could do it. Let's celebrate. It's gonna be okay". He summoned a bottle of champagne, filled two glasses and they toasted to each other. Then he addressed James. "James. We are very happy that you showed up. But now we would like to have a little privacy for a while. You know what I mean?". James smiled understandingly. Sirius waved his wand at the easel and turned it around so that his friend faced the wall. Then he lay down again and pulled Mercuria into his arms. Tenderly, he brushed the hair off her face, bent over her and gently kissed her. The euphoria of their success pushed their lust to extremes and when they finally fell asleep, they both knew that they would never get any higher than on this particular night.

The next morning, Sirius said, "Listen, I have to return home. There will be a gathering of the Order of the Phoenix this week. And after that I want to finalise our plan with James. This means that perhaps I might stay at home next weekend. In any case, I'll come in a fortnight to pick you up. But I will send you an owl with some photos that you can use as a template for more paintings. Do profit from these two weeks to practise. We will only get one chance and then it must work". He mounted his motorbike and crossed the Channel for Godric's Hollow. There he sat down with James and filled him in on the latest developments. Together they selected some photos, which they sent to Mercuria by owl post.

In the meantime, the overall situation had worsened. More and more people vanished without a trace. For some time already the Ministry of Magic had not been able anymore to protect the population effectively. The members of the Order of the Phoenix gathered for a secret meeting at Hogwarts. Most had escaped from at least one ambush or direct attack by now. Some, such as Alice and Frank Longbottom had even survived two or three. Just like Lily and James, they had had a son in June, whom they had left with Frank's mother. They worked as Aurors and were indispensable to both the Ministry and the Order. Alistair Moody had been involved in a duel with Ewan Rosier, during which he suffered severe injuries and lost an eye, but eventually overpowered and killed the Death Eater. Sirius recalled the day at that lake in Cokeworth, when they themselves had been challenged by the young man. Despite the depressing situation, after their discussions the group celebrated and the more the evening progressed, the more cheerful they became. When they said goodbye to each other the next morning, they took a photo. Dumbledore promised to give everyone a printout the next time they met. Sirius wondered how many of them would still be around then.

Before the Marauders and Lily went home, they stopped for a drink at the Hog's Head, as they used to do in the good old days. Sirius stared out the window and only listened with half an ear as his friends discussed the information they had exchanged with the others during the Order's meeting at Hogwarts. He watched a woman, who walked down the road. A small boy of about two years followed her at a small distance and deep down inside Sirius knew that this was highly important, but he didn't know why. As they turned around a corner and disappeared from his sight. Sirius tried to grasp the implications of what he had just witnessed, but it didn't dawn on him. Instead, he suddenly startled, when he heard Lily say, "Peter, Remus, why don't you spend Christmas with us? Sirius will be coming, of course and I'm sure Harry would love having a lot of people around. What do you say?". Both accepted delightedly. Lily continued, "Perhaps you could even stay until the New Year". Sirius saw that James was struggling hard not to show his dismay too plainly. They had planned to leave for Pensouth the morning after Christmas. If Remus and Peter decided to stay until the New Year, they were now facing a serious problem. How were they going to explain their absence to them? Remus and Peter would certainly ask why they were travelling at the end of the year, of all times. But what explanation would be plausible enough if James and Sirius didn't want to let them in on their plans. Which, of course, was absolutely out of the question. They could postpone their venture. But that was impossible, too. Rosier would return home in the New Year. Of course, they could still break into the house then. But thus they would have to eliminate Rosier and his family. Which was precisely what the letter was designed to avoid. The success of the mission depended entirely on no one noticing that the casket had disappeared from the portrait. "Come with us to Godric's Hollow," James hissed at Sirius as they said goodbye to their friends.

Having returned home, James and Sirius sat down in the living room, while Lily tended to Harry in the nursery. James poured them a drink and said, "What the hell shall we do now? We need to figure out how to get rid of those two before we leave for Rosier's house". He paused. Sirius looked at him, waiting for his friend to carry on. "Do you remember our conversation in summer? Mercuria wondered why the letter explicitly warned against letting the two of them in. I did a lot of thinking to figure out the reason for this". Sirius leaned forward and patted his friend's arm. "Sometimes you really scare me. It's like you can read minds. I've been racking my brains over this as well, brother". "At first glance it seems impossible that either Remus or Peter could be untrue. But still, who knows? In times like these, it is difficult to tell right from wrong. And even if it seems impossible at the moment, one of them could do something we would never expect. In any case, the letter is absolutely straightforward and unmistakable as far as they are concerned. Like Mercuria said, they are even mentioned by name". They pondered what this could mean. Finally, James said, "I can't retract the invitation without making them suspicious. I mention this, because I suggest that we should pretend to meet Mercuria for the first time". "Why?", asked Sirius. "I have a funny feeling. No one in our world should know about Mercuria. Because of Voldemort's artifact. And for other reasons. It's her best protection. Lily never mentioned to anyone that we visited Cokeworth that summer. I'll ask her not to bring up the subject any more. Therefore when you pick Mercuria up from Belgium, drop her off at the station and let her walk to our house from there. The station isn't far away. The train arrives at 3.45 pm". "Ok. How does she know where you live? Those who know about her think that she completely cut off contact with her family when she ran away from Cokeworth". James mused for a moment. "She has called Petunia and has asked about us". Sirius looked at him sceptically. "Not very likely, but they'll probably swallow it. Yeah, that's how we do it. Ok. I must be off". They hugged before Sirius left.

The moment Sirius left Godric's Hollow, it started to rain. It was bitterly cold, and a cutting wind blew into his face. His breath froze and rose in small clouds from his mouth and nostrils. In his thick fur coat, he felt clumsy and his mobility was limited, but at least he was warm and cosy. With his hood pulled deep into his face, he fought the icy wind that drove the rain at him, his goggles turned wet and foggy, so that he had to take them off and the light of his headlamp hardly illuminated more than three or four yards. When he passed the coastline, the sea below was churning and every now and then the spray would splash up so high that it hit the wheels. No weather to be hanging around outside. On the other hand, this also counted for his enemies. In these conditions, he didn't need to fear any pursuers.

Mercuria had already heard his motorcycle approach and opened the door as soon as his heavy footsteps echoed through the stairwell. Sirius pushed her back into the flat. He threw his cap and gloves carelessly onto the bed, took her in his arms and kissed her passionately. Then he dropped his coat to the floor and stepped out of his heavy boots. "Heavens, it's terribly cold. How are things looking?". "Fine, it's working. I have painted several magical portraits. By now I don't even have to take a pill to make it work. That's very good news. When I am clear in my mind, I can react much better if there are problems". They sat down at the table and drank hot toddy. "Sirius, I have already started packing. I only need a few personal items. They'll fit into a travelling bag. But how will we carry all the painting stuff? Since we don't know what kind of paintwork it is, I must be prepared for all of them. Watercolour, acrylic and oil on canvas. Plus, all the tools I need to remove the casket from the painting. Different chemicals and, and, and. We can never transport all that. Look, that huge box there, it holds all the things I packed. And that's just the stuff I'll really need. A lot I already sorted out".

Mercuria looked at him in despair. Sirius smiled amused. "Love, remember I'm a wizard. Your luggage is not a problem. I'll shrink it down to fit into a small backpack. Along with the rest of your luggage. I can also carry the backpack as a dog when we invade the Rosier's house. Don't worry. It'll be fine. But you'll need warm clothes. Flying across the Channel will be very unpleasant if the weather stays like this. And when we'll travel to the North, it might even be snowing". "I have everything I need to cope". "Listen. Lily has invited Remus and Peter to spend Christmas with them. James and I have agreed that we will pretend that we haven't met you yet". He explained to her what they had decided. "I have my own room in James' house. You will stay in it and I will move in with Harry. That means I can at least spend the night with you. But the two of them, and Lily too, mustn't know that we're a couple. So please be careful". "This means that you and James have been wondering too, why the two of them should be excluded from our venture. Sirius, let me tell you something. One of them, or both, will be a problem for you in the future. Please keep this in mind". He nodded. "Come on, let's go to that little restaurant across the street. I'm starving".

They enjoyed their last days together before they got ready to leave on Wednesday. Sirius minimised Mercuria's luggage and the box with her painting equipment so that they easily fitted into her small backpack. Before they started out, they dressed in their winter clothes. Mercuria put on white boots with a fur interior. She wore a floor-length white hooded coat out of plush and standing side by side they looked like a huge black bear and a smaller polar bear. The return journey was more pleasant. Although it was still bitterly cold, the sun was shining, and their coats kept them warm. At Godric's Hollow station, Mercuria got off the motorbike. Sirius handed her the travelling bag. "I'll take the painting stuff with me". Before he drove on, he explained how to get to the home of the Potters.