A/N: Happy New Year everyone! As promised, a new chapter before the new year. Hope you all enjoy it!


Threat

The minute he came home from St Mungo's Sirius and I had a huge fight about me almost being discovered. He yelled at me for being an idiot and for being so reckless. I exploded. The nerve of that man, accusing me of recklessness when he was the one barging into a Death Eater-infested house.

We were at each other's throats with our wands in our hands when Remus popped in to visit. He broke us apart, telling us we were both idiots and that the only reason we were fighting was because we were worried about each other. Glaring at the both of us, he ordered us to work it out and Disapparated.

His wand still in his hand, Sirius stared at the empty spot Remus had occupied. "I hate it when he does that."

"So do I," I agreed, pocketing my wand. "Still doesn't give you the right to call me reckless, though."

"Not reckless? You walked into a public place, dressed as a Muggle, and in the company of a blood traitor. To visit another blood traitor! How is that not reckless?" Sirius was getting angry again.

"Well, excuse me for being worried about someone who tries to TAKE ON A WHOLE GROUP OF DEATH EATERS ON HIS OWN!"

"I had to try and save Caradoc!" he argued.

"Yes. And I had to go and see if you were still alive!" I riposted.

Sirius was silent for a while. "I'm sorry," he then said.

I sagged. "I don't like you taking risks like that."

"And I don't like you taking risks like that. Do you realise what could have happened?" he asked.

"Yeah," I answered. "Exactly the same as what could have happened to you."

Sirius nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"I'm scared, Sirius."

He looked up. "We'll be fine," he reassured me.

I shook my head. "How can we be fine? They're picking us off one by one. We'll never make it through this war alive, not all of us." My lip trembled. "I don't want to lose you."

"Hey," he said softly. "Come here."

I walked into his spread arms and hugged him tightly. "Please be careful," I begged. "Don't take anymore risks like that."

"I won't," Sirius promised. "If you won't overreact, and stop to think for a moment when something happens."

"I will."

"Good." Sirius sighed. "No word from Caradoc?"

"No. Nothing."

"I don't think he made it. There's just… nothing to bury," Sirius said morbidly.

I shuddered. I didn't have any hope either. I knew some of the other Order members thought he was kidnapped, but the Dark Lord knew he was a member of the Order. His Death Eaters had strict orders to take out all members.

"Come on, you need to rest," I said, taking him to his bedroom.

"I'm fine," Sirius protested.

"Do not argue with me," I threatened. "I've been invited to Lucius and Narcissa's wedding yesterday. It would be wise not to upset me right now."

Sirius chuckled. "Give my warm regards to all of them, will you?"

I merely growled in response.


Albus and I had another serious talk about what had happened. I consented not to take anymore risks like that for the protection of the Order. I told him Sirius and I had already talked about and that it wouldn't happen again.

Summer passed quickly and bloody. Sirius landed himself in hospital again when Death Eaters finally attacked Dangerley Hall. This time he was joined by Gideon and Fabian and two more Aurors, who had all been injured trying to protect the family. Only lady Dangerley had survived.

The Dark Lord had finally forgiven the failed attack on Griselda and Lothair Marchbanks. Three more members of the Wizengamot were murdered; two by Bellatrix – who was rapidly becoming a favourite of the Dark Lord – and one by Lucius. Several Ministry workers were kidnapped and tortured for information when they had refused to ally with the Dark Lord. I had overheard where they were held and Aurors managed to free them. Only two survived their wounds.

As if to emphasize the need to keep myself under cover, the vampire community detected Professor Morton's link to Dumbledore. Voldemort ordered them to kill him. We found his body at the edge of a moor three days later, completely drained of all his blood.

My father, usually very calm and composed, raged about this treachery and the things he would have liked to do to his childhood friend if he had known about it. Both my mother and I cowered in our fauteuils, although it was for very different reasons. I waited in terror for my father to link the treachery of his friend to the fact that his daughter spent three days in such ill company when she had run away from her impending marriage. I prepared myself to Disapparate as soon as he suspected me of knowing about the treachery.

It never came. Whether he never connected the dots or just believed I had known nothing about it, I would never know.

My mother never mentioned Corbin Morton again.

Dumbledore made the Potions Master, Horace Slughorn, the new Head of Slytherin. I'd never liked him – nor his subject – and there was no way he would be of any use to the Order. By losing a spy the Order had lost yet another battle in the war against the Dark Lord.

A war, though not openly discussed, that still had an impact on Lucius and Narcissa's wedding, and in particular on me. Some people still avoided me. Rita Skeeter's articles had not been forgotten. I could not care less and threw arrogant and evil smiles to anyone who looked at me, until my mother had to reach for her smelling salt when she began to feel faint from all the stress. Rolling my eyes at her acting I went in search of some champagne.

I pretended not to hear the sniggers behind my back. I knew I was being laughed at. Single, working witch, dumped by her fiancé. Oh yes, Evan's reputation was taintless.

No one knows that only last week he let two Muggle-born children bleed to death, watched by their mother, I thought bitterly. I remembered the look of pure glee in his eyes. 'Sectumsempra', such a wonderful curse Severus had invented.

Shuddering slightly, I downed my champagne in one gulp. I plastered a smile on my face when Narcissa came to talk to me.

"Niamh, are you all right?" she asked.

"Of course I am," I answered. "Why wouldn't I be? Have I told you that you look gorgeous?"

"Yes, this is the third time," she replied dryly. "Listen, I hope you're okay with me marrying Lucius?"

"Of course I am; that's the third time for you too," I winked. "What we had was a long, long time ago."

"Yes, I know, but the announcement came right before you and Evan broke up, so…"

I raised a hand to interrupt her. "Don't worry so much, Cissy, you'll get wrinkles. I'm fine."

We took a seat. I looked at her. She fidgeted with her dress, suddenly appearing very vulnerable. "Are you all right?" I asked softly.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"You and Evan… That wasn't love, was it? It was arranged."

"Yes, it was arranged," I answered. And made possible by your scheming. My jaw clenched almost involuntarily.

"Do you – you think you could've been happy with Evan, had you two married?" she asked timidly. She bit her lip.

Unexpectedly my heart softened. "Cissy, I'm sure you and Lucius will be happy."

"They didn't ask for my opinion, you know," Narcissa suddenly blurted out. "Lucius talked to my father and before I knew it, there was this ring on my finger."

"I know the feeling," I muttered under my breath.

"I only know what you told me about him… Sure, we've talked a few times, but I really haven't seen much of him…"

"Merlin's hairy balls," a familiar voice said behind us. "Please tell me you're not marrying a man you haven't tested first."

"Tested?" I repeated, laughing.

"I have done just that," Narcissa sighed.

Lana quickly drew up a chair and sat herself elegantly upon it. "Oh dear, I knew I should've asked this earlier. How could you do that? What if you two don't have a... click?"

"Lana, every witch doesn't have the need to subject their future husband to a bedding skill checklist," I said. "It's no disaster."

Lana stared in the distance for a moment, clearly trying to imagine that, but failed. I chuckled at my friend's face.

"Yes, well, that's not the case here. And it's not as if Cissy's a virgin, she just hasn't been with Lucius yet. This is a potential problem, Niamh," Lana said sternly. "Don't be so casual about it. Your friend could be stuck in a marriage with a man who has no idea what he's doing."

Both women suddenly looked at me.

"What?" I asked. "Oh no, you're kidding me. No, absolutely not. This is not a suitable conversation for a wedding."

"Well, you're the only one of us who knows," Lana said. "I mean, I would be willing to test him for you, Cissy, he looks good enough, but on the day he married…" She clucked her tongue.

"I am not discussing this with his bride," I said through clenched teeth.

Two pairs of eyes looked at me expectantly.

"Merlin!" I cried. "Fine, you'll have nothing to complain about, alright? Nothing. By Morgaine and Circe, I can't believe you made me say that!"

"Excellent, that's settled then," Lana purred satisfied. "And if you get sick of him, you'll just have to cast a strong Conception Charm, give him an heir, and tell him to go and find himself a mistress."

Narcissa chuckled. "Thanks, Lana."

"Anymore of my former liaisons you want to discuss?" I grumbled.

"Actually, now that I'm single again, I've always thought Evan was rather appetizing." Lana licked her lips in a predatory manner.

I scoffed. "Do as you please."

Lana immediately picked up on the strange note to my voice. "What do you mean? Is he any good?"

Oh, this was just too good an opportunity to pass by. My conscious did not even put up a fight. I took it as a good sign. Revenge is a dish best served cold. And after all these months the insult of being cast aside had cooled off, but it still simmered. "Well…" I began.

Lana gasped. "No!"

"I have not even said anything yet!" I protested.

"You don't have to. I can see it in your eyes."

"See what?" I asked befuddled.

"A cold fish," Lana groaned. "Damn it! What a waste."

"Incredible," I commented in genuine awe.

"It's a gift," Lana said smugly.

I smirked. I had said nothing, and yet I could be sure rumours of Evan's… supposed failure would be spread. "Be discrete, will you? I still have to deal with him."

"Don't worry," Narcissa said. "I've heard he's been with the entire female half of the pure-blood society lately. He'll never trace the rumour back to you."

I took a new glass of champagne and raised it at my friends. "Cheers."


Something was bugging me. It had been ever since the wedding, which had been over two months ago. Sirius had begun his Auror training, along with Alice Hayden – now Alice Longbottom – and James had entered his second year. This meant he had to go along on Auror missions as an assistant. Lily was worried out of her mind. She even got me to promise her to Stun and hide her husband immediately should I ever come across him on one of my missions. James was deeply insulted and Sirius laughed his head off.

I didn't see Sirius often. With his training and his work for the Order, my own job and spying, we were lucky to see each other once a week. Fortunately we were able to meet at his house again. He'd had to sell his house, because Dumbledore suspected its location was known to Voldemort. I couldn't risk going there and Sirius couldn't sit and wait for the Death Eaters to come for him.

He had found a new flat fairly quickly, so we could see each other again, but still something nagged in the back of my head. After not having seen or spoken to Sirius for ten days, I finally was able to go to him.

He pulled me immediately in a hug. "Mhmm, I missed you," he mumbled in my hair.

I pushed him away and walked inside. "Yeah, missed you too," I grumbled. I kicked off my shoes and dropped myself on the couch.

Raising an eyebrow, he walked after me. "Something bothering you, love?"

"No."

"Okay…"

Sirius was obviously at a loss. And so was I. I gave an irritated sigh and tucked my knees under my chin, pointedly looking away from him.

Sirius muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like, "Women."

"I heard that," I growled.

Sirius rolled his eyes and went into the kitchen, only to march back out a second later. "Look, I don't know what's got your knickers in a twist, but I can't take the sulking. Tell me what's wrong!"

"I don't know what's wrong!" I replied angrily. "It's just… I haven't seen you in almost two weeks, all we ever do is sit in your house, because we can't go anywhere since that's too dangerous. We never go to a restaurant, or the cimena, or a club. I can never talk about you, because no one knows I love you. I'm sick of it. It's just not real."

"What isn't real?" Sirius asked, taken aback by my outburst.

"This! Us! We don't have a real relationship!" I shouted. "And when I was at that stupid wedding of Lucius and Narcissa it hurt. They don't love each other, they don't even have a relationship, but they can do what they want in public. It hurts!"

"We are real," Sirius said softly. I was too upset to see the hurt in his eyes.

"No, we're not. I have to schedule time in for you. And the lies; there's just one after another after another…"

"That doesn't matter," he retorted. He walked over to me and pulled me to my feet. "That's all just extra stuff."

He grabbed my hand and placed it over his heart. "Here, you feel this? That's what real. Me. You. This is all that matters. I love you."

Sirius placed his finger under my chin and made me look up at him. "It won't be like this forever. We just have to hold on."

"I'm so sick of this war," I groaned. "I just want it to be over, for things to be normal. I want to be able to walk down the street with you and not be a good pure-blood witch all the time. I want –"

"And you will," he interrupted me. "We will. It's only a matter of time. We may not be able to throw a huge party like Lucius-sodding-Malfoy does, but what we have is a whole lot more solid than what he and my cousin have."

"I know that," I admitted. "Your cousin's not too thrilled about her marriage, though. She took Lana's advice and cast a Conception Charm to get pregnant fast. I expect to be hearing the good news in a short time."

"Why would anyone take advice from Lana?" Sirius asked bemused.

"She's pretty good at giving advice," I defended her. Although she was pretty unconventional.

"She suggested I was gay after I dumped her!" he exclaimed indignantly.

"So is there something you wish to tell me, Mr. Black?" I asked sternly.

Sirius's jaw dropped in disbelief. "Are you bloody kidding me?" he sputtered.

"Well…" I began, "Lana is quite good at detecting… certain things."

"You are so going to pay for that," Sirius growled and threw me over his shoulder.

I squealed with laughter. "Put me down, you brute!"

Sirius grunted in a way that would have made a Neanderthal proud and took off to his bedroom, determined to avenge himself.


Three hours later we were thrown back into reality as I was summoned to the Dark Lord. I Apparated home for my cloak and mask and reported to Voldemort once I had pulled up my defences.

"Friends," Voldemort began, "I am displeased."

My heart chilled. That usually meant someone was going to be punished. I had been punished once. It was not something I wanted to experience again.

"I do not take well to being defied," the Dark Lord hissed coldly. "That traitor has been a thorn in my side for too long."

"Master, we will gladly kill whoever stands in your way," Lucius said smoothly. "Please grant us the honour."

"Kill?" Voldemort chuckled. "No, I want him to suffer. I want his heart wrenched from his body and offered to me on a silver plate."

"Who, my lord?" Bellatrix asked.

"You should know, Bella. He's your cousin."

"Sirius," Bellatrix hissed.

"Yes."

I felt faint, black spots appearing in my vision. This is not happening.

"Let me kill him, master," Bellatrix begged.

"No, Bella. I don't want him dead. I want him begging at my feet, knowing that I took from him what is his."

I panted, panic taking over. What does he want? What does he want with Sirius?

"He'll suffer," Voldemort said satisfied, "when I have the head of Nicole Carmichael."