Disclaimer; Don't own anything but plot/OCs and some spells.

A/N: This couldn't have been done without the brilliant SilverTippedWings who has helped me a lot.

On another note, I'm mesmerised by how brilliant the reception to this story was for the previous chapter. Why are you all so amazing? Also, almost everyone who followed A.D.P reviewed and I'd like to thank you so much for that.

Maybe I could get a similar reception for this chapter? ;)

Warning: there is light smut ahead.

Important Note: if you haven't read His Two Paths, go to my page and read it first.

xoxo

2. Celebrations

It was the thirtieth of July, Neville's second birthday. And tomorrow would be Harry's. Whilst Moody and the other Aurors and Order members worked furiously with Dumbledore; creating plans and discussing Britain's Wizarding World, Lily and Alice were hosting a small birthday party.

For both Neville and Harry.

SJ wailed through the whole thing, receiving a few glares from the two year old and soon-to-be two year old. The party lifted the mood and atmosphere, bringing smiles to the faces of everyone. The party was in the largest lounge, with alcohol and a big cake (courtesy of Alice's brilliant cooking). The WWN was switched on to The Prophecy's Top Ten Hits and everyone swayed to the music and chatted eagerly.

Whilst James and Remus joked around, dancing together, Sirius sat in the corner of the lounge, running his fingers over the Dark Mark Lord Voldemort had given him. Sirius had followed James's advice from a few weeks ago and told Dumbledore everything. He had never seen the old man so aged and worried. It had scared Sirius.

Instead of getting weaker, he was growing. Voldemort's roots were sinking deeper into the foundations of Britain's Wizarding World. He was changing everything. Sirius knew they needed to hurry and do something, anything that could throw Voldemort off balance. But he was invincible. So he and James had destroyed the Slytherin locket, they still had an unknown amount left to get rid of.

Sirius hoped there was just one more. Perhaps the Ravenclaw diadem? Last time Sirius had checked, Voldemort had put a hiatus on making the diadem a horcrux; resting his sole attention onto killing Sirius and the other Marauders.

But now he thought Sirius was dead and the other Marauders were in hiding...

Maybe the Ravenclaw diadem was a horcrux now. Regardless, Sirius needed to find it. He wasn't going to go through what happened last time.

Sirius turned to look at Frank, who plopped down beside him on the comfortable sofa. Sirius grinned at him. 'Do we really have to wear these hats? Seeing you in it makes me feel even more stupid.'

Frank laughed half heartedly. 'Alice tried to get Moody to wear one, he told her to go away, or his exact words were "fuck off before I jinx you".'

Sirius grinned. 'Wow. I think Moody's forgotten how to treat a lady.'

The older man shrugged. 'I don't think he knows how to treat a lady full stop.' Frank had a bit of an Irish undertone to his rather cockney accent. 'Sirius...'

'Hmm?'

'D'you ... d'you really think you can kill Voldemort?' he was worried. Sirius could guess from the way Frank was talking; urgently, scared, panicked.

'Frank? What's happened?' Sirius whispered. He was scared now. Although Frank was three years older, he felt protective of the man.

Frank buried his face in his hands. 'Alice is pregnant. And I ... I can't do this. I can't raise another baby in a war. Especially when we're losing! I'm so scared ... for all of them! For my wife and my son and my unborn child.'

Chewing on his lip, the handsome Black looked down. He couldn't look Frank in the face. 'I ... I'm not sure. I want to. I need to. But I can't promise anything. I mean he killed me last time I checked.'

'You came back.' Frank said shortly.

Sirius almost smiled. 'I know, surprising isn't it?' then he sighed. 'I don't know how I came back. But I promise you Frank, I'm not just saying this, I promise you for as long as I live I'll try and take him down. I have a son too!'

As if on cue, there was a loud wailing noise and the sound of Harry arguing. Sirius looked up and laughed. Harry was actually telling SJ off; moreover, SJ actually shut up! Sirius turned to face Frank. 'Congratulations mate, on the baby. How many weeks gone?'

'Three weeks.' The older man said, ducking his head.

Sirius grinned. 'You old dog, my room is right next to yours!' he smiled again at his friend, winking. 'I'm happy for you. And I hope everything turns out right.'

Frank clapped Sirius on the shoulder. 'You too mate—' he was about to say more when interrupted by a small figure, shooting towards him. Neville Longbottom landed on his Father's knee, his ridiculous pointed hat almost taking out his Father's eye. 'Nev, you almost took out my eye!'

Neville giggled, his black hair glistening in the bright lamplight. 'Sowy, daddy.'

'It's okay. Are you having fun at your birthday party?'

Sirius was sure Neville didn't understand anything his Father said, but the small boy, bless him, nodded and dribbled a little. 'Daddy,' he whispered, leaning over to mumble something into Frank's ear. Sirius almost laughed when Neville grew confused and instead leant over to whisper into his ear.

'I had aci-dent.'

Sirius looked down at Neville's pants and sighed in relief when he saw the nappy bump. 'You heard him Frank; he needs you to change his nappy.' The smell followed shortly after and Sirius gagged. When Frank left, he was once again sitting alone. But after a few minutes, Remus sat beside him, with the werewolf's baby on his lap.

'That baby may as well be yours. You take care more of the baby than the Mother does.'

Remus grinned handsomely at him. 'She's gone to recruit. And Dumbledore told me she's bringing back the ingredients for a potion, the one she drinks to keep her mind during the transformations.' His voice was level and normal, but his face betrayed the ecstasy and excitement he was feeling.

'Imagine ... keeping my mind during transformations. Then you guys wouldn't need to accompany me.'

Sirius shook his head forcefully. 'We'll still come with you because it's what friends do! We want to entertain you, to keep you company, to help you forget about the pain of transforming in the first place.' He leaned over and took baby Shia's hand. She grinned at him, glistening white teeth, sharp and straight.

'She's gorgeous,' Sirius mumbled, touching Shia's cheek and smiling at how silky soft it was. 'Is she half Spanish or something?'

'Quarter Moroccan, three quarters Irish.' Remus explained. He looked down at Shia's face and grinned at her as wide as he could. 'She is gorgeous...' he said almost sadly.

'What's wrong Moony?' Sirius said sadly.

'Honestly?' he asked. When the other man nodded, he sighed again. 'Ever since I learnt that werewolves can have babies without passing down the curse, I've wanted one. I'm so tired of this war. I want to ... I want to fall in love and settle down and have kids. Emily's a vampire. I need to be realistic; we're never going to have a life together. The feeling between us is really just lust. She's saved my life a lot and she's great fun but ... how did you figure out Rose was The One?'

Sirius was thrown off course by how abruptly Remus changed subjects. He decided to answer truthfully. 'I'm not sure she's The One, at least not for me. I mean that doesn't make me love her or care about her any less, but I know there's someone better for me out there.'

'And if you found that person? Would you choose a perfect relationship over the one you have with Rose?'

Sirius paused for a moment, chewing on his lip. Then he shook his head. 'No, no I wouldn't choose a perfect relationship over the crazy one me and her have. Where's the fun in that?'

'PADFOOT!' James roared over the music. The music stopped and he came over with Remus to where everyone was crowded around. He fought through the seventh years, sending a wink to a few of them, until he was beside James. There was a table in front of them with a bigger cake than before, large and with broomsticks and snitches on it, glistening and whizzing around in the icing.

Harry and Neville were being held by their respective parents, grinning and chuckling. 'Cake!' Harry declared. Cautiously, and with Lily's hand wrapped around his smaller one, Harry cut a slice of the cake, slicing the snitch into half. Neville did the same and then there was a loud chorus of "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!"

SJ started crying and Sirius took his small son away from all the noise, to the kitchen. He poured himself some whiskey and sung softly to the song now playing loudly on the WWN. In hurried Rose, bottle of firewhiskey half empty in her hands. She swayed a little.

'I haven't spoken to you all day.' She commented. Then she pulled the hat off and threw it to the ground. Rose was pretty, she wasn't always pretty; in her childhood she had been goofy, chubby and incredibly pale.

But then as her body grew into that of a woman's, her hips curved deliciously and her stomach flattened and her legs grew longer. Her hair (up until Sirius hacked it all off with scissors) had once come up to her thighs in thick long golden locks. Now it barely brushed her jaw, but she suited it. The sharpness of her jaw was alluring.

Sirius could kiss her jaw all day.

'I know.' He replied, son in one hand and whiskey in the other. He was still screaming. 'You know, me and Prongs would pour a little whiskey into Harry's milk and he'd go right to sleep. Maybe we should try that now.'

SJ, as if sensing the danger, shut right up. Then he gave his parents a watery chuckle and grinned at them, showing them the small beginnings of teeth he was growing. Sirius James was teething. And it kept them up for hours at night.

'Let's take him to bed,' Rose suggested, opening the door for Sirius and following after him. It was a quick walk to their room. Rose whispered a spell and the door opened. It was rather clean inside, cleaner than it had been when Sirius woke up and left the room quickly.

'I cleaned up this morning after I almost fell to my death over those bloody toys Prongs' brat keeps dumping here.' She explained, getting her son's blankets from the drawers and clothing the small crib. Sirius set the small boy down, smiling at him and pressing a kiss to his forehead.

'He looks more like me everyday,' Sirius commented, leaning on the crib and staring down at the small boy.

'Hmm,' Rose said from behind Sirius, on the enormous bed they sometimes shared. "Sometimes" because Sirius would be in one of those moods, a mood he had never experienced until his imprisonment with Voldemort. And in this mood, he couldn't even bring himself to look at Rose, let alone be close to her.

Sirius remembered the times when the only thing he had to worry about was getting to the Ministry on time, scared that Moody might jinx him again. He remembered when the only thing he was frightened of was seeing one of his past One-Night-Stands in Diagon Alley, demanding him to answer why he hadn't owled them the morning after.

He had told Dumbledore a few weeks ago about the dreams, and now Dumbledore made him come to his chambers every few nights. They would talk, Sirius would stir memories into a pensieve, he would watch them, he would grieve...

Sirius shook his head, willing his body to get rid of the horrid memories. He never wanted to remember how heartbroken he had been when Voldemort returned to mortality. He thought back on his own return to humanity; Regulus had been there, or rather, an Angel of Death, taking on the form of Regulus.

It seemed to think he would be most comforted with the image of his brother, but if anything, it hurt Sirius even more. He chewed on his lip before jolting back to reality; it happened a lot, his thoughts drifting and wandering from subject to subject. He marvelled at how awful his attention span was now. Thanks to those damn hallucinations.

But were they really hallucinations?

Again ... he was getting lost. It was like his mind was a cavern, with endless loops and nooks and crannies – in his own mind, Sirius could be anything. He could do anything. History could change into whatever he wanted it to change into.

He suddenly realised Rose had been very quiet the whole time they had been in this room. He turned slowly from the crib, half expecting her to be asleep or reading another one of her Chatter Daily magazines. But instead, she was sitting patiently on the end, watching him.

She was naked.

And Sirius was instantly turned on. He looked away only to look back instantly. 'Rose,' he moaned, shaking his head and pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes. 'Put your clothes back on.'

'I heard you,' she said, ignoring him, 'a few weeks ago with James when I got up to go toilet. It was just the beginning of the conversation; I was scared you'd both hear me. You said you hadn't had sex since October. Sirius, it's practically August. That's almost a year. Don't you get ... don't you even want to have sex?'

'Of course I do! What respective twenty two year old doesn't? But not with you Rose.'

Her face fell, and she covered her body with her hands, ripping the blanket off of the bed and draping it over her body. Her golden skin was flushed red. 'I-is it because I've ... you know ... had a baby—and I've gone fat and—'

'No,' Sirius whispered, then he turned to look at her embarrassed and shy and sad face. He couldn't believe how horribly he had worded it. Sirius approached her slowly then sunk to his knees, until their faces were level. He touched the skin of her thigh peeping out under the blanket, and stroked gently. 'No, of course it isn't ... you're gorgeous Rose, you know that ... I just don't want – don't want ... I ...' he could hardly pay attention, she was naked right there, giving herself to him.

Why was he turning her down again? Was it because he didn't want her? Or because he didn't want to let her down?

Sirius stood up and kicked his shoes off. He'd never know unless he tried. 'You're a bitch. And you've ruined my life. But I love you, somehow, or at least I think I do.'

She looked up and gave him a watery chuckle. Rose reached up to take off her pendant and Sirius froze. 'No!' he said before he could stop himself.

She looked up quizzically. Rose slowly lowered her hands, looking at him. She was frightened when she saw a glint of something dark, something one hundred percent not Sirius. Rose watched him. She watched him run a hand through his jaw length black hair, the way he wiped his face, as though trying to clean it.

Then he looked up. His eyes were lighter, back to normal. Almost back to normal. He smiled rather reluctantly at her. 'You look beautiful with it,' he said slowly. 'Keep it on.'

Sirius advanced on her, climbing on top, still fully clothed, and kissing her lips roughly. Now he had the opportunity to finally have sex with Rose and break his abstinence. He decided that he needed to seize the day, you know, all that Carpe Diem bullshit, Sirius thought. He deserved it. He deserved a few short lived moments of happiness and pleasure.

He let her unbutton his short sleeved shirt and didn't object when her lips travelled lower.

xo

James and Remus listened at the door, and then they winced when Rose started moaning and making noises. Sirius told her to be quiet a numerous amount of times, 'Shush,' he would say, 'God Rose,' was another thing he often repeated.

And his moans made James and Remus feel like perverts, like dirty old shirt lifters. But they carried on listening anyway, ignoring their own personal little problems. The sound of the bed hitting the wall increased in speed and volume. Flesh slapped against flesh as Sirius grew fiercer and fiercer.

'Fuck, Sirius,' Rose would cry. And this time she screamed, yes, screamed as loud as she could. They could hear Sirius's cocky, arrogant chuckles and then the rhythm picking up again.

James was about to make a witty comment when fingers enclosed around his ears. He half glanced at Remus to see that Lily had done the same to him. 'You dirty old pervs, what's wrong with you?!' Lily cried. 'You can't listen to ... listen to two people ... two people ... having ...' she stopped talking when the noises increased again in volume.

Rose was really quite vocal.

With a wave of her wand, Lily silenced the sounds of love making. 'I swear James Potter ... I'm insulted you're listening to other people having sex. Is what we have so boring you get off when other people do it?'

James paled and took her hands. Her face was as red as her hair. 'Of course not Lily, I'd never get bored of sex with you. In fact, I think it's better each time we do it—'

'Then why are you listening to other people f—' Lily began but her husband silenced her with a finger to her lips.

'It was just a joke. Me and Remus were messing around babe, hold your horses. Look, I'll prove to you how much fun I have by letting you do that thing you love doing, the thing that personally, I think is an insult to my masculinity but ...'

Lily grinned. 'Really?'

'Really.' She smiled at him and just like that, James knew she had forgiven him. He leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to her lips before winking at Remus.

'Now, let them make love in peace.' Lily huffed, grabbing her husband's hand and then her best friend's, pulling them in the opposite direction. She ignored both Marauders when they started snickering again.

Honestly, Lily thought, they were like a bunch of teenage virgins.

xo

Sirius huffed, wiping a trickle of perspiration from his girlfriend's(?) forehead. Then she smiled softly at her, basking in the lazy and jelly feeling of pleasure settling into their bones and muscles. Slowly he turned to face her, his head flopping over his arm. Their eyes met and they started at each other for a while, neither talking.

He lifted his hand (which felt like it weighed a tonne) and stroked the locket lying on her breast, almost wincing at how cold it was compared to the heat radiating off of her body. Surely she would get suspicious...

'You did better than you thought you would,' Rose commented lightly. 'I think it's because you wore two condoms though.'

Sirius laughed softly, pressing his ear to her chest and smiling tenderly when he could hear the distant beating of her heart. 'I promised myself I would never touch you without at least two layers of protection between us.'

She grinned and then winced. 'Ow,' Rose said softly, touching the rose pendant and flinching. Then she shook her head and started smiling again, not noticing Sirius's narrowed eyes.

'What?' he asked softly.

'Nothing.' Rose replied, smiling. 'I'm glad we're friends again, I was worried everything...' she continued to talk whilst Sirius thought of her pendant. What if she went to investigate with James and the others? What if they found out what he had made? What if they found out what he was?

A monster.

Sirius was surely a monster. Only a monster would make a horcrux.

'We'll take it one step at a time.' He said slowly, almost reluctantly. Then he rolled over and stood up in all his naked glory, searching for his clothes. One by one, Sirius put them on. He peeked into the crib where his son was sleeping happily, a soft smile on his face.

When he had a pair of trousers on and some socks, Sirius looked back at Rose. Her eyes raked his bare chest and his face before she stifled a giggle, winking in answer.

'What?' Sirius asked.

'Oh, nothing ...' Rose laughed again. Then she turned over on the bed, revealing a naked behind and a very tanned and inked back. The trail of stars descended from the back of her neck, over her golden back, across one of her bum cheeks before settling on the top of her thigh.

The largest star, the one inked on the small of her back, had the initials of SB underneath. Sirius smiled softly at her and leaned forward to place a hasty kiss on the large star just as the door burst open. Sirius looked up, his lips still touching on Rose's back. It was Peter, Remus and James watching them with large eyes.

Sirius sighed, covering Rose's body with a blanket. She seemed not the slightest bit fazed that they had all just seen her naked and instead smiled. Leaning forward, Sirius kissed her deeply on the lips again and then nodded to the Marauders.

'What is it?'

He could read them like a book. It was Peter who started talking, scratching his forearm worriedly and looking back at the others with a half frightened glance.

'Sirius, you need to come into the lounge. The WWN announced something about Malfoy...'

The handsome Black didn't even put a top on; he barged past his friends hurriedly and almost ran into the largest lounge where Harry and Neville's birthday parties had been going on.

'What?' he panted. 'What is—?'

'— Malfoy is now just going to give us a few words on his speedy recovery ... Good evening Minister, congratulations on your speedy recovery! Now, Mr Malfoy sir, you have been Minister of Magic for several months now. Since you first came into the office, you have been paralysed from waist down. Now you have recovered from such a fatal tragedy, how do you think the newly recovered use of your legs is going to help further what the Ministry is trying to achieve in Wizarding Britain?'

Malfoy's serpentine, silky smooth voice filled the room.

'Well, Mr Connor, I believe that now being fully able once again, I'll be able to do fieldwork, something that has always been a great way for me to plan and to wriggle out problems and things I could have missed. I also think that if I've done such a great job with half a body, imagine what I can do for Britain with a full body?'

There was a half hearted laugh, probably emitted mostly from fear instead of genuine amusement.

'But really,' continued Malfoy, 'I believe that now I have managed to throw off Sirius Black's final curse on me, I'll be able to trump out the small amount of rebels still fighting in the name of Black. Now they can see he really is no better than everyone believes he is.'

The reporter started talking. 'What do you mean by that, Minister?'

'What I mean by that Mr Connor, is many people believed and still do believe that Sirius Black is stronger than the Dark Lord, who has recently, as many of you know, come to light in Wizarding Britain. This is a lie! Sirius Black merely has luck and fate and endless lives willing to sacrifice themselves for him on his side! I believe that he really is no better than any other ordinary wizard or witch on the road.'

'Yes Minister. What do you plan to do with the rebels who are still fighting on the side of Sirius Black?'

There was a silence, hard and resonating. Sirius was clenching his fists, trying as hard as he could not to explode and hit anything and everything.

There was a soft, chuckling laugh that entered the room. Malfoy was laughing! Sirius growled.

'Well,' the Minister continued, 'well they'll just go the same way all the Mudbloods are going. Now, I'd like to take a quick moment to acknowledge Madison Jeffrey. I am awarding her with Order of Merlin, First Class for the outstanding work and effort she has put into an experiment which has hitherto been attempted...'

Lucius continued talking but Sirius barely paid him any attention. His fists were clenched so tightly they turned white. His face shook as he gritted his teeth, glaring as hard as he could at the Wireless, almost as though if he stared hard enough everything that had been said would become a lie.

Sirius hoped it was a lie.

But he knew it wasn't. He didn't know how he knew, but he just did. He turned to look away from everyone, meeting the eyes of Remus as he did this. The other man must have seen something he didn't like because he flinched and hurriedly looked away.

Sirius left the room as fast as he could, barging Alice on the way out. He couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it. But he knew he had to.

Lucius Malfoy had the use of his legs back. And that Madison woman had made a breakthrough. But what sort of breakthrough?

Sirius didn't stop running until he was in the bathroom. Malfoy wasn't paralysed anymore. He shouted as loud as he could, kicking the door shut and screaming a stream of profanities. Then he bowed over the sink and threw water onto his face.

No one could see his tears when his face was wet all over.

xo

It was three hours after the WWN broadcast. Sirius had disappeared, Remus decided. He hadn't seen the other man since his eyes turned red.

Remus shivered. There was something ... off about Sirius. Ever since the final fight with Voldemort when he was killed ... the handsome man was different. He talked different, he moved differently and he looked like a darker version on himself. It scared the werewolf.

Something had happened to Sirius. Maybe it was the Dark Mark the Dark Lord had given him, turning him rotten. But he handled the mark for months without becoming like he was now. Remus currently had James's Invisibility Cloak in his hands.

He was going to follow Sirius for his weekly chat with Dumbledore. Remus threw the cloak over his shoulders and then covered his head. He walked as slowly as he could, barely managing to evade bumping into some seventh years and Aurors. He just managed to make it to Sirius's room just as the handsome Black was leaving.

His hands were trembling and his deep grey eyes were filled with tears. Sirius walked as fast as he could, unaware that to his left stood Remus, sheathed by the infamous cloak. They walked in silence to Dumbledore's quarters. Sirius knocked and then came in, leaving the door open long enough for a figure to slip in. Sitting patiently in the corner of the large room, behind a desk and with a quill in his hand, was the Headmaster.

He looked up and frowned. 'Your eyes Sirius ... you need to learn to control it.' His voice was very similar to the one he used when scolding rowdy students. To Albus though, Sirius would always be a rowdy student. 'Sit down,' he said tiredly, going back to writing his letter. Sirius crossed the room, opening the cabinet and pouring himself some whiskey. He drained the glass and poured another before sitting down on the threadbare, aged sofa.

His body was still trembling and more than once, he buried his head between his knees. When Albus finished writing his letter, he set the quill down and stood up, sweeping robes of grey flowing around him.

'What's happened Sirius?' Albus asked patiently, taking a seat opposite Sirius. Holding his breath, the invisible werewolf took a seat on the floor, far enough so they wouldn't detect him but close enough to hear every word.

'Did you hear about Malfoy?' Sirius seethed. 'He broke the spell I set. He broke the Paralysis Curse I set on him!'

'But what does it matter Sirius? We found out the truth. We found out Malfoy was lying, he never killed Regulus. What—'

'It matters because he still made my brother's life a misery! He made my life a misery when ...' Sirius's face took on a horrified expression, 'when I was imprisoned in his home. And he's the reason Peter betrayed us. You remember what could have happened ... if I had followed through with my plan to make Peter the secret keeper for James and Lily...'

Remus bit his lip. What did they mean? "... if I had followed through with my plan to make Peter the secret keeper..."

What did that mean?! He didn't understand anything. But now he knew something was going on, something incredibly dangerous. 'Yes Sirius, I understand...'

'We need to go now. We need to get the horcruxes, destroy them and destroy Voldemort. I'm so tired Professor. Of everything. I can't do this anymore. I just want to give up.' He breathed, draining his glass of whiskey and reaching over to grab it from the cabinet. Albus however waved his wand the bottle vanished.

'We can't go into your memories Sirius, if you're drunk.' The Headmaster said in a firm, forceful voice. 'Now ... how are your dreams? Anything recurring?'

'The future Sirius, from Diagon Alley. He keeps coming back in my dreams. And I see bits of James and Lily dead. I ... Professor they never died in this course of history, why can I see them dead?'

Remus barely managed to stifle his gasp. He bit on his palm as hard as he could and was thrilled when the cackling of the fire drowned out the small noise he did manage to make. James ... Lily ... dead? No ... no! Remus wanted to scream.

They're not dead now, and that's all that matters. But then...

'Tell me more. What did Time Turner Sirius want?'

The young man shook his head. 'He told me I didn't do it right. I didn't change history the way he wanted me to. He said I've let everyone down.' Sirius started to hyperventilate. 'What if everyone finds out what I've done? Remus would never look at me again ... James'll kill me. I genuinely think he might just kill me.'

Albus leaned forward, taking Sirius's hands and silencing him with a frown. 'Listen to me Sirius ... what's done is done. Maybe changing the course of history is not what you should have done, but it's happened. Nothing can change that now. Besides ... maybe I wanted you to change history. Maybe I wanted you to become secret keeper...'

The other man tilted his head, his hands inside the Headmaster's largest ones trembled. 'I remember when you summoned me to your office. You seemed hell bent on me letting Peter become the secret keeper. I don't understand...'

'Sirius, it was me. The future me from ten days gave the future you the Time Turner.'

He took a moment to process the words, not noticing Remus a few feet away frozen in shock. 'Future me said he found the Time Turner in his robe pocket.'

'Yes, he found it. He didn't acquire it personally.'

'Why?!' Sirius cried as loud as he could. He ripped his hands out of the older man's and stood up, furiously marching over to the cabinet and pulling it open. He took out some brandy and drunk straight from the bottle. He started muttering to himself, biting his lip and shouting out more than once.

Professor Dumbledore waited patiently, watching the handsome man rant and rave. But Remus himself wanted to ask as many questions as he could. What ... what did this mean?

'Why would you burden me with this? Imagine if I didn't change the course of time ... imagine I convinced James and Lily, like history intended, to use Peter instead of me as secret keeper. Things would have turned out differently. The people who are dead now would still be alive!'

'And the people who would die in that now far-off present are still alive now because of it! Because of what you have done! Don't try and think of the "what could have been"s and the "what should have been"s because it's a waste of time.'

Sirius's body shook with anger. He threw the empty brandy bottle across the room (narrowly missing Remus's head) and watched in satisfaction as it crashed.

'You make me sick.' He spat at Dumbledore.

Albus shrugged indifferently. 'I know Sirius.'

To say Remus was shocked was an understatement; he couldn't believe what he was hearing. The Time Turner, the course of history changing, Lily and James, Sirius and his secrets...

'But let us not forget what you've made Sirius. Has Rose mentioned anything about it?' Albus said, smoothly changing the subject. He barely seemed fazed by the way Sirius had spoken to him.

He nodded slowly. 'Yes. It hurt her earlier. My emotions ... they were strong, 'cos you know ... we were about to ... anyway, she flinched, it burnt her I think. Only ... it's so cold, I'm surprised it could burn her.'

Albus nodded, standing up and reaching over to take something from his drawer. It was the penseive. The same one he shrunk and put in an envelope for Sirius a few months ago. Albus set it on the coffee table and looked up at Sirius. The handsome young man stared stonily back.

'Just leave Sirius, if you're going to act like an immature insolent child. I'm here to help you. I can't help you if you won't let me.'

Sirius clenched his teeth and balled his fists but after a moment, exhaled and calmed right down. He pulled his wand out from his pocket and pressed it to his temple. A strand of silvery white substance flowed from the tip, connected to his temple and to his wand. Then Sirius walked over to the basin and dropped the strand in.

Albus gave the penseive a little jiggle and stirred it with his wand. Then he gestured for Sirius to jump in first. Remus, forgetting why he was here, scrambled to his feet and stood right behind his friend. As soon as both men were in, he dived after them.

And what Remus saw was not what he expected.

A/N: what d'ya think?

Remember this is a sequel, first part called His Two Paths.