In the nightmares that Sirius used to have about leading an army into Semprapuria, it was always his brother Regulus on the other side, looking disgusted with him. It helped him stay focused to remember that Regulus had gone down fighting for his side so he could win. The one family member who he always felt conflicted over was an ally at the eleventh hour, and he would not dishonor his brother's sacrifice by succumbing to his own cowardice.

James was meant to take on Riddle himself in any case. James was an exemplary warrior king, and he would be able to best the upjumped Barron, Sirius had faith.

He had somewhat less faith in his own ability to maintain the face of a stoic soldier while he placed his own mother under arrest. He knew deep down that she was evil, but it didn't change the fact that once upon a time he'd wanted her approval more than anything else. Walburga Black was the woman who had been so disappointed by her heir… She was a traitor and even worse than that, a puppet. She was still his mother. He couldn't erase the pain she'd caused him any more than he could erase the grey of his eyes or the black of his hair. All he could hope to do was to put those feelings aside until the war was won.

Years of training had brought him to the place where cutting through an army was something of an out of body experience. He didn't really come to until he saw that James had Riddle at the end of his sword.

Tom Riddle was a lot of things. Most of those things ranged from contemptible to downright nauseating. One thing that Sirius had to give him was that he was a gifted swordsman. He didn't go down easy. But Neither did James. James benefitted from a righteous cause, and perhaps a small amount from training next to Sirius, at least he liked to think.

He'd seen James come into his own as a swordsman, and as a sovereign ruler as well. The man in front of him inspired loyalty. It was unquestionable to anyone who saw the fight between the King and the would-be Queen-maker. Power on its own was not enough to really lead. James had the genuine good will towards the people of Phoenixordo, and the bravery to take down her enemies himself. James was every inch the King his father had been the moment he ran his sword through the traitor's heart.

After that, the battle was over, as far as the soldiers were concerned. They fell to their knees en masse before King James.

Now it was only the dragon between himself and the Princess.

Luckily this was not really a fairytale. The Princess wasn't some unknown ideal for which he was fighting. She was a woman who was as clever as she was beautiful. Princess Marlene was the woman who had laid claim to his heart, and he would be proud to make her the Duchess of Semprapuria very shortly.

Walburga Black had not aged much in seven years. Looking at her still felt far too much like looking in a mirror. Beautiful and cold, untouchable; that was the air his mother gave off. She held her head high as she surrendered herself to the victors. She was exactly the sort of person to be able to go through the act of surrendering without ever having given up a shred of her prized dignity. It was disgusting, how much she prided herself on being right. She knew that it would be well within his rights to take her head off right then and there. He wouldn't, because he was better than his enemies. He had some sense of how to best curb the danger to the Kingdom of Phoenixordo, and he knew that executing this woman would be nothing but a petty power move and at the end of the day, it would hurt no one but him.

"Walburga Black, you are here by placed under arrest, for treason, by order of King James VII of Phoenixordo.

"Does it make you feel proud?" She glared at him. "Your people will starve, your land is decimated, and your home destroyed, all by your hand."

Sirius stepped in front of James, whose eyes flashed dangerously. This wasn't his fight.

"The destruction is by your hand, no one else's Madam. The people will not starve, because their monarch is a true King, who knows his station exists to care for his subjects." Then he stepped up closer to his mother. "Does it make you feel proud? You've destroyed your family for the greed of your heart. You killed your husband and caused the suicide of your youngest son."

Walburga held her head high, "I still have you."

Sirius smirked, "You never had me. Besides, your heir died, that's the story you've propagated for nearly eight years, isn't it? As far as you're concerned, I'm a nobleman that King James has awarded your Duchy to." He stepped back, but before he turned he looked at the woman who he'd once called his mother.

"You, Madam, have no one."

Then he spun on his heels and motioned to two of his men, "Remove the prisoner."

Sirius walked from the room, his held high.

James finally caught up to him a few hours later. They'd both been attending to the logistics after the battle, but Sirius had finally found a moment's peace in one of the gardens. It was woefully overgrown and browned, but it was quiet. Marlene's favor was clutched in his hands.

Even though they were alone, he thought that James deserved the respect of a true King. He'd earned it. Sirius went down on one knee in front of his dearest friend and sovereign King.

"Your Majesty."

"Really? Wow. I suppose we're doing this now," James drew his sword and carefully touched each of Sirius's shoulders with it's broadside. "Rise Sirius Black, Duke of Semprapuria."

That was going to take some getting used to, but nevertheless, he stood. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Well, Your Grace, you lived," James took on a very casual tone, and gestured for Sirius to sit down next to him, against the wall. After all was said and done they were just two young men, doing their best to live up to the responsibilities life had dealt them.

"As did you, Your Majesty," Sirius looked up from the gold fabric in his fingers.

"I was most impressed with how you handled the prisoner." James put his hand on Sirius' shoulder.

Sirius sighed, "James, was I too harsh? I publicly shamed her. I accused her of the murders of her husband and son. I left her with no one."

James shook his head, "You were kind, Sirius. The words that I wanted to speak before you stepped in front of me were much more harsh."

Sirius grunted as he started running his hands over his wife's favor. He hadn't felt kind, nor impressive in the moment. He had done it though. Loving his King and Country was only strengthened by loving Marlene. He knew that he couldn't have done any of this alone. He thought back on his words to his mother. A smile crept up his face at the realization that he had made the right choices in defying her in every conceivable way. She was alone. Sirius was sure there would be more dragons to fight in his future, but he could take comfort in knowing that he would never be alone.

"Ah," Remus' voice sounded from behind them. "There you two are!"

"Are we needed?" James looked furtively around and for a moment Sirius was reminded of hiding in Lord Dumbledore's stores while they stole sweetmeats.

Remus shook his head, "Not really, I just wanted to make sure we had plans for bringing the trebuchets home." He slid down the wall to sit on James' left.

James groaned, "What are you even going to do with them, Remus?"

Remus looked perplexed, "What do you mean? These four will allow me to do experiments to determine how to make them better. I can make you the most effective besieger on the continent in five years time, and you won't have to lay siege to anyone for me to do it."

James pushed his head back into the wall. "How much power is needed to move these monsters?"

"Well, it took thirty wagons to move the lumber out here," Remus mused.

"Thirty wagons for those four giants?" James exclaimed.

"Of course not," Remus started drawing numbers in the dirt before them, "that was per trebuchet."

Sirius burst into laughter. James glared at him.

"Do you have any ideas? We did this for you as well, you know?" James poked his shoulder.

"Actually, yes." Sirius looked over at Remus' numbers in the dirt as he continued his figuring. "I think Remus here is going to find that he'll need the whole army to pull the trebuchets back to the capital. So why not leave them here? He can do all his experimenting here, we can employ the soldiers who swear loyalty to you and I to help guard them, and then when they've run out of usefulness, you let me use them as firewood."

Remus froze, "You, you wouldn't really do that, would you?"

"Come now Remus," Sirius chuckled. "I'd certainly wait until you had a new set at the capital to play with."

Remus looked in the direction of his machines on the other side of the castle and sighed. "I would need the whole army and probably every rope in the kingdom to move them. If you're willing to let me work with them here then I'll consent to them being yours when I've built a new set at the capital."

"But," Sirius interrupted before James could speak, "you turn them all to face away from my castle. I have enough to rebuild as it is."

Remus chuckled, "Well, if James is willing to let me use the army to turn all four of them, I think we have a deal."

James grinned mischievously, "I'll tell them that they can either turn the monsters, or pull them home, that ought to do it."

Sirius laughed as he tucked Marlene's favor away. "Let's get everything in order, the sooner things get done, the sooner we get to go home."

James stood and held his hands out to his best friends, "Come on then, let's go prove how strong we all are."

Remus and Sirius laughed as they took James' hands and walked back into Sirius' castle.