AN: Thank you for all the support! It is very deeply appreciated!

"My plan worked, didn't it?"

If Severus had a wand and wasn't staring down a century long purgatory sentence, he would hex that smirk off of Sirius' face.

"Ha!" Sirius shut his book. "I was right."

Severus scowled.

"You have to admit I'm right now, which must kill you," Sirius paused. "At least it would if you weren't already dead."

"Well, the afterlife is the place for miracles. I was bound to see one at some point."

Sirius' glow brightened. "It must be horrible to admit that someone other than you is competent."

"I am more than capable of admitting someone is competent. You are usually less than capable of any task."

"So now I'm only usually incompetent instead of always."

"Resume reading your book!"

"Why would I stop talking when the conversation is going so well?"

"Because I need to think of a formula to strengthen a heart, and I can't do that with you yammering away."

"Is Hermione's dad's heart bad?"

"If you were a competent spy you would know the answer to that."

"She didn't mention anything about his heart when I was watching her."

"If you'd been able to read between the lines you would probably have figured it out."

"Oh because if you were spying on Hermione you'd know everything about her in five minutes, wouldn't you?"

"I would know more than you do."

"I'm a good spy."

"That is debatable. You have yet to prove yourself a good spy"

"You can't prove I'm a bad spy though."

"Sirius, just read The Euthyphro so I can think."

"I already finished it."

"So the words weren't too big for you?"

Sirius frowned. "No."

"Then why do you look so confused?" Severus smirked.

"Because I don't think I have any clue what piety is now. Socrates destroyed any definition Euthyphro offered."

"An unfortunate aspect of reading a Socratic dialogue is that you are rarely left with a concrete answer."

"I don't know why I read it. It didn't tell me anything about eudaimonia, though it did teach me that Socrates likes to annoy people with questions."

"He always was a little too much like Ms. Granger for my liking."

Sirius frowned. "You don't like anybody, do you?"

"I like Socrates just fine. He is even more enjoyable when you don't have someone babbling about him," Severus replied.

Sirius' glow became a dim red.

"Now please be silent so I can think of a solution to Ms. Granger's problem. Then we can both leave and never interact with each other again."

"Fine," Sirius shifted through the stack of books. "Do you have any other ideas for a simple Plato play?"

"You can read The Trial and Death of Socrates."

"Isn't that a bit of a spoiler though? I would prefer not to know the whole story of his life, especially how it ended."

"If you care more about philosophy than you do about creating a narrative then it's fine to read The Trial first."

"I care about having something to do," Sirius muttered before searching through the books for the title.

Severus paced from one end of the room to the other. Ms. Granger's notes had been more detailed than he'd expected. It was only a pity she had fallen asleep in an armchair before he could finish reading them. Tomorrow night would be dedicated to finishing them.

"Hello again."

Sirius startled as Severus stopped.

"Sorry," Dismas gave them a soft smile. "I suppose I should have knocked before coming in. I'll try to remember that in the future."

"No, you are fine," Severus relaxed.

"Yes, but you tow look busy, and I didn't want to interrupt anything."

"You are not interrupting a thing. I was only meditating upon a problem."

"What would that be?"

"This mission is too simple," Severus replied. "All Ms. Granger needs to do is cure her father and she will be content with life. I fail to see how two souls in Purgatory are needed for this task."

Dismas turned to Sirius. "Do you think all Hermione needs is to be cured"

Sirius shrugged. "If it is then I won't complain. Shaving a few centuries off Purgatory and reading some Greek philosophy isn't the worst thing that could happen to me."

"Do you enjoy reading Greek philosophy?"

"I do," Sirius' glow intensified. "The Euthyphro was more interesting than I thought it would be."

Severus rolled his eyes. Either Sirius was a bigger teacher's pet than he remembered, or he thought feigning an interest in philosophy would shave off even more time.

"I would continue read Plato, and try to work your way up to Nicomachean Ethics. It really is the book that will make your mission the clearest."

"I will once I read about Socrates' trial," Sirius replied. "Unless I get distracted by something more interesting like The Gorgias."

"I'll let you read then." Dismas turned to Severus. "Can I speak with you outside?"

Sirius' eyes grew. "He gets to go outside?"

"For a moment, yes."

"He's isn't going to the pearly gates, is he?"

"No, we'll be just outside."

"Can I step outside for a second too?"

"No, in a few hours Ms. Granger will be awake, meaning you have more spying to do."

Sirius groaned before picking his book back up.

Dismas held out his hand to Severus. "Would you mind coming with me?"

Severus stared at his hand. What possible reason could Dismas have for wanting to go outside with him? There wasn't much to report, other than he was gaining Ms. Granger's trust.

The memory of the saint warning him about wrath popped into his mind.

Severus' glow pulsated. Dismas must know about the flare up! Severus may have just jeopardized his chance at a happy afterlife because he couldn't keep his emotions in check!

Would he ever not have a mistake held against him?

"Are you coming?"

He took the saint's hand. Without a sound they appeared upon the clouds.

Severus stabilized his glow. "What did you need to speak with me about?"

"Anything you'd like," Dismas flicked his wrist. A nearby cloud twirled until it took on the shape of a chair. "I just thought you would want a debriefing."

Yep, he knew.

"Saint Peter is going to speak with Sirius about being down on earth again, but I thought you might like someone to talk to so you could work through your emotions about being on the surface again," Dismas took a seat.

"It went about as well as could be expected." Severus' eyes fell on the cloud chair.

"Sorry again, for being so rude. Would you like a chair of your own?"

Severus nodded.

Dismas waved his hand, creating another cloud chair. "I can show you how to make one for yourself later."

"I would like that."

There was silence for a moment.

"I'm sorry," Severus began.

"There's nothing to be sorry for. Most spirits don't know they can create shapes out of clouds."

"No, I mean I flared up at Ms. Granger."

Dismas cocked his head.

"I know it was wrong and I displayed wrath. It was a mistake."

"It's good for you to acknowledge that anger can get out of control. That's some progress right there."

Severus knelt before him. "I know wrath is a sin and…"

Dismas became orange. "Stand up! I am not a member of the Trinity!"

Severus leapt and collapsed on the ground.

"First of all," Dismas' voice was softer. "I'm not the dark lord. I have no intention of beating you if you make a mistake."

Severus kept his eyes on the saint.

"Second of all, flare ups happen, even in heaven."

Severus raised an eyebrow.

"Granted, in heaven, flare ups are rare given that we usually don't have any unpleasant emotion which would necessitate them. In Purgatory they are common, though, and are part of the process of purgation."

"How does anger help with purgation?"

"You have to work through certain emotions. Many of them are intense. There is no sin in feeling them though, and if handled properly they can lead to spiritual growth."

"I still should not have become as angry as I did with Ms. Granger."

"Did you reconcile with her?"

"Yes."

"Is she afraid of you?"

"I do not believe she is."

"Then it's a nonissue."

"I won't get any additional Purgatory time for it?"

"No," Dismas' glow softened. "Flare ups are normal. As long as nobody was injured there is no reason to think twice about it."

Severus' glow returned to its yellow hue.

"Out of curiosity though, why did you have a flare up?"

"Ms. Granger told me someone had published a book on me which was full of false accusations and outright slander."

Dismas burst out laughing.

Severus pursed his lips.

"I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you." Dismas calmed himself. "I'm laughing because I've only had two flare ups; once during St. Mark's trial and another during St. Matthew's."

Severus' lips curled up. "Because they said you'd insulted Jesus upon the cross."

"Exactly. They may have both been straight shots, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to let them know exactly how I felt."

Severus chuckled before sitting down.

"Now, you mentioned your mission being too simple."

"Indeed," Severus scratched his chin. "It seems all I need to do is find a heart strengthening potion and use it on Hermione's dad. Still, that seems so straightforward, and quite frankly, something she could do herself given enough time."

"You're correct. Achieving eudaimonia is not as simple as a single accomplishment."

"Then what is this mission actually about?"

"That's for you to figure out. I cannot do it for you."

"Could you at least put in a request that the Trinity give me this cure so we can move onto the actual reason you sent me to her?"

"This is your Purgatory sentence, not theirs. You need to help her in the way only you can, and let Sirius help her as best he knows how."

Severus groaned. "I was afraid you'd tell me to put more trust in him."

"It's all part of the process."

"I wish it was not."

"If it makes you feel better, every soul in Purgatory is groaning because the purification process is difficult."

"It gives me little comfort, though I appreciate knowing others are going through this unpleasant process."

"Believe me, you are far from alone."

A comfortable silence fell between them.

"If you want a hint," Dismas began. "I can give you one."

"Any help would be appreciated."

"When I was twenty-one I believed that riches would give me true happiness. If I could steal more I could become richer. If I became richer I would gain more power. If I had to take a few lives because they wouldn't give me wealth, then it was a small price to pay."

"I can relate to that thirst for power."

"Indeed you can," Dismas brightened. "Barabbas, Gestas, and I used to tell each other what we'd do with the gold we'd robbed. After each raid the stories became more outlandish, but those nights were some of the happiest in my life."

"I take it Gestas the other thief who hung with you."

"He was."

"Also, I thought Barabbas was a revolutionary, not a thief."

Dismas shook his head. "He was about as revolutionary as Pontius Pilate. We were nothing more than a band of exceptional thieves."

"What did you do once you got the money?"

"It depended on our mood. Sometimes we spent it on food, other times we threw lavish parties for other bandits we knew, other days we bought jewels we would give to the women we flirted with. Still, it was never enough. We always wanted more."

"In other words, your accomplishments were never enough. You needed something deeper, something more sustainable."

Dismas turned a dark blue as his eyes grew distant.

Severus ran his hand the armrest of his chair. A piece of the cloud disintegrated at his touch.

"We often don't know what we want," Dismas' voice was quiet as his glow darkened. "It can sometimes take others to see what we need."

Severus bowed his head. "I was afraid you'd say that."

Another moment passed.

Dismas put his hand on Severus' shoulder. "Do you want to see how to make a shape out of a cloud?"

The saint's hue had returned to yellow. Severus gave him a small grin.

"Here." Dismas stood. "All you have to do is think of the shape you want to create, flicker your wrist a few times, and that's all there is to it."

Severus stood. "Do you have to move a certain way?"

"No, just wave it and have the will to transform the cloud."

Severus shrugged and envisioned a butterfly. He waved his hand. A fluffy butterfly emerged from the clouds.

"There you go!"

Severus' glow brightened as the cloud flew away.

If this was a foretaste of heaven, then Severus was now very interested in devouring it for all of eternity.